Small alert

It seems to me this afternoon, having read some of the comments on yesterday's blog, that there's a few of you out there that don't get me. A few of you who don't understand that wanting Arsène Wenger to reinforce the areas of the squad that need reinforcing is not calling for him to mortgage the metaphorical farm. So I'll say it plainly and then hopefully we can all move on and get behind the team as the 2010-2011 season draws ever nearer, okay? Good.

Here goes. I do not want Arsène to spend all the money in Arsenal's bank account on strengthening the goalkeeping and centre back positions. I do, however, want him to use at least some of the money he has available to him to strengthen these positions. We should not be going into the new season believing (or not) that Manuel Almunia has spent the summer becoming a world class goalkeeper. We shouldn't be going into the season praying for Thomas Vermaelen to stay fit throughout the season as if he were to get injured all we have alongside him is a player one year out of Ligue 2 and a talented, but injury prone, youngster. But, as it stands, we are poised to begin the new season exactly that way. And, I'm sorry if it offends you or you think I'm not fit to write for this website, but I'm only saying this because I'm worried. I'm also sorry that I keep having to say the same things, but that's only because there is scant evidence, so far, of problems being solved.

If there is a positive to be had this afternoon, aside from a 4-0 win against SC Neusiedl, it is that Sol Campbell's move to Newcastle will have focused Arsène's mind very firmly on a centre back signing- not, I'm sure, that it wasn't already. Per Mertesacker is a name that keeps cropping out and, as Rachid noted this morning, the price being quoted is one that appears to be the going rate for centre backs now- £10m. I don't know if that is too much for a centre back, is he worth it? To me, he would be worth it if it means we don't have to play a centre back pairing of Bartley and Nordtveit at some stage this season. I don't think this can be considered a far fetched prospect either, not if you think about the end of last season.

What doesn't seem very far fetched either is the prospect of a debut of fire for Marouane Chamakh. The striker, who netted his first goal for the club from the penalty spot last night, is in line to start the season opener at Anfield. I think it's safe to assume that he'll provide more of a threat than Andrei Arshavin- wait a minute, this is Anfield, is it too much to expect another Roy of the Rovers performance from the Russian? Probably, yes. Anyway, with Nicky B's ongoing groin trouble- not in anyway connected to imminent parenthood- ruling him out and RvP still on holiday, I think it would be a major shock not to see Chamakh leading our line in just over two weeks. Which, I think it's safe to say, is exactly what he's been brought for.

Billy Bragg spent a little time on Sunday evening talking about oxymorons. He mentioned phrases like "military intelligence", "american football" and "capitalist democracy". Another one might be the phrase "Rosicky has a small, small alert". Okay, so it's more of a sentence than a phrase, nonetheless I'm sure you'd all agree with me that when it comes to injuries and Tomas, nothing is ever a "small alert". We'll see you in December Tomas, good luck with your rehab.

That's December 2011, of course. Unless you're actually negotiating a transfer...

You know, I realise that much of what I've said over the last couple of days could be construed as whingeing, but I'm generally happy with what and who we've got. I think the manager does know what he's doing and I think that the infrastructure of the club is beyond what could have been dreamed of fifteen years ago. It just frustrates me to think that we seem to always be a couple of signings away. It wouldn't be as bad if it wasn't always signings needed in the same positions, I just don't see Arsène "making do" with a centre forward and wish he placed the same importance on defence.

That being said, I'm glad we have our guys in charge and not the lunatics in Barcelona. Okay, so they've won two Champions League titles in the last five years but if I was a Barcelona fan hearing about the level of debt they have and how they're going all out to sign a player, as good as he is, that they don't really need, I'd wonder what the hell the Barca board are playing out. If I was Cesc, I might even conclude that Barca's aggressive pursuit is more a vanity project and a feeling that I belong to them than about a genuine need for my services. No wonder Arsène dismissed all the talk coming from Barcelona as "only noise".

I guess that's what you make when don't get what you want, isn't it "Iniesta"?

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