Stuttgart 1 Arsenal 3

A BIT like Tony Adams while in jail for the 1990 Villa away fixture, I was able to catch “glimpses” of Stuttgart away (see Champions 90/91 video for reference).

Unlike Adams, I was not incarcerated. But this was essentially my first pre-season run out and I eased my way in gently, catching snippets here or there, but not letting it distract greatly from dinner at home and drinks with my cousin.

I faintly remember looking at the team sheet and realising something was not quite right. I was subsequently distracted, but it now appears that the little thing that was not quite right was that we were playing three wide men in midfield.

The result? It meant Emmanuel Eboue played centrally. Regular readers will appreciate it’s probably best I wasn’t properly paying attention.

Early on RVP tried absurdly to chip Jens when he simply needed to role it past him. Then Adebayor slid one wide when offside.

Talking of Adebayor, I think we need a little perspective.

The man has been a twat. But ultimately, he is only guilty of being greedy and falling somewhat flat on his face.

Hammer him if you must, but ultimately this summer’s debacle is probably no different to exactly what happened 40 years ago but was not subjected to persistent press and web scrutiny.

As I’ve said before: contract negotiations are never pretty and ultimately I’m happy to judge him on his goalscoring return.

Back to the match. There followed an off target 20 yarder from Samir Nasri, who, if I’m generous, looks about 12.

If Nasri is to replace Hleb, he’d better stop those long range shots. In fact, any shots whatsoever.

Talking of Hleb, I notice he failed to score in Barca’s 6-0 romp over Hibs.

Eleven goals in three years hardly points to that being a great surprise, but actually if you look at those 11 goals, it probably was.

Why? Because when he did score they tended to be whatever comes after the cherry on the icing on the cake. For a start, there was the crucial seventh in the, err, 7-0 win over Boro in January 2006. Thank God for that one.

Then there was one in the 6-2 win over Blackburn and another in the 7-0 win over something Prague.

Not to mention a couple in easy wins at Reading.

With the honourable exception of Fulham at home (and also the Porto goal), the 11 that did arrive hardly mattered.

But I digress.

After the break, Stuggart scored after one went through Gallas’ legs in a moment that surely ended any debate over whether he should ever captain Arsenal again.

That was a joke by the way.

I’m not for a second saying William Gallas is perfect. But his critics blame him for everything that happened post Birmingham and deny him any credit for what happened before that day.

The argument simply does not square.

I do think it was important for him to acknowledge there were failings last season. In a sense it drew a line under what happened.

I simply think the last thing we need at the moment is another change of captain. Cesc has enough to worry about and in any case, part of life is learning from your mistakes.

Gallas’ humility is a start on that front.

Back to Stuggart. We equalised with a finish from Carlos Vela that was genuinely very good.

An excellent second followed when Bendtner swapped passes with Vela and burst through to finish with both power and poise.

Then Gael Clichy, who I actually would seriously consider as captain, summoned reserves probably not entirely necessary in a pre-season game to keep the ball under intense pressure and square for Wilshire.

He took it down on his chest and slammed low and early past Jens, who probably did not appreciate being beaten by the 16 year-old.

It was an impressive comeback.

At this point I should probably finish. Instead, I’m going to broach a point that I imagine I’ll return to quite a few times.

It is the notion that without spending big money, we can not succeed.

Peddled by David Dein, it is promoted by the likes of Ian Wright.

It ignores 100% the evidence of last season, when we bought none of the high profile stars the likes of Dein and Wright say we need and yet we went from being miles away the season before to being four points off the Champions.

I am not saying we don’t need to spend some money. But I just don’t want a situation where every time we fail to win the first thing everyone (and particularly the players) do is to blame a lack of cash.

Ian Wright says: “If any Arsenal fan told me they expected the club to finish in the top four this season, I reckon they would be optimistic rather than realistic.

“They would be talking with their heart and not their head.”

Long term readers will know I never predict our fortunes.

But I will say this. A year ago we had finished fourth, level on goal difference with Liverpool and eight points ahead of Spurs.

Our chances of finishing in the top four last season were dismissed.

In the event we improved by 15 points, comfortably beating Liverpool in fourth, let alone Everton in fifth. Spurs, it is fair to say, did not pose a serious challenge.

We finished 18 points ahead of Everton, whose total of 65 points was just one below the total managed by any fifth placed side this century.

Eighteen points is a hell of a lot. Of course, it offers us no god given right to finish in the top four this year.

But to suggest that we can is not the heart talk Ian Wright (hardly a specialist in mounting title charges) claims it is.

And this is the point I am trying to make: one of the worst things the players can do is to listen to the likes of Dein and Wright.

The second they believe that the disparity in transfer spending matters, the second it will matter.

Simply put, the evidence shows us that while transfers matter, the most important thing is the performance of individual players.

Of course, Sagna and Eduardo helped last season. But it was the likes of the transformed Adebayor, the improved Cesc and the tenacious Clichy who stepped up to do the business and take us so close.

Equally, in 2001 we spent big money on Richard Wright, Inamoto, Jeffers, Sol Campbell and Giovanni VB. All would apparently plug gaping holes in our squad.

But the reality was that only Big Sol made a tangible difference.

The real difference was made by Robert Pires finding his range, Thierry Henry learning to finish, Dennis finally getting over his World Cup 98 hangover and Freddie striking gold.

They were all players we already had.

And the point is that it is how the players we already have perform that will determine our fate, not whether or not so and so arrives for however much money.

Nor David Dein’s fantasy football.

Dein should now have the cajones to admit he would love to be proved wrong and see Arsenal thrive without the money he says we need.

The question is, however, would he? Is his love for Arsenal greater than his love for himself?

ps - David Bentley: cock-sure and arrogant he may be. But he is also good. We’ve had an incredible unbeaten run in the league against Spurs.

But nobody will be more determined to end it than him.

THE headline was a point made to me last night and frankly, it’s hard to argue.

Sylvian Wiltord was on it. Sol Campbell was high up. And even Ashley Cole figured.

But what of the man (who among other things) I remember for hitting two goals against Norwich on a very normal Autumn day 18 years ago?

Nothing. Despite the fact he can be spotted in the ground and gladly posing for photos with fans.

My apologies for the lack of posts.

The truth is that at the moment there is not a lot to say. We can comment on the strength of the squad.

But doing so is kind of pointless until we see what emerges from the transfer wash.

And we do not yet had any meaningful football to analyse either.

The body of the squad has been back for just two days. The two games there have been (neither of which I have been able to watch), were never going to offer us many clues.

The good thing about pre-season is that it can help ease a fan back in too.

I always tend to miss the first games, then catch bits of a couple and switch on late for one or two.

But by the last of the warm-ups my timing has usually returned and it is, in a way, a dress rehearsal for when the real action gets underway.

And when the real action gets going, so will this blog.

IT´S not a criticism, but Arsene´s transfer dealings thus far are hard to reconcile with the sentiments of the man who admitted that when it came to the crunch last season, his team “lacked experience”.

Out have gone Flamini (24), Jens (38), Hleb (27) and now Gilberto (31).

In have come Vela (19), Ramsey (17) and Nasri (21).

It leaves us with William Gallas the only outfield player over 27 and Rosicky and Kolo the only other two aged over 25.

Hleb´s departure was best for all concerned. Arsene´s words were damning in the feintness of their praise and echoed sentiments shared by many of us.

For all his skill, Hleb was not a winner. When it came to the crunch, he was found wanting. The goals never came.

And he ended his career sitting out the final three games after absurdly slapping a Reading player. There was no word of an apology for his idiocy - I trust Arsene hit him suitably in the pocket.

On Gilberto, he was a good pro who deserves our best wishes. I know there appears to be some unwritten rule about purging any sign of the Invincibles (just Kolo and Clichy now remain), but it seems hard to believe we could not have found a niche for him this season.

After all, we are hardly teeming with central midfielders.

In fact, we have Cesc, Denilson (four league starts last year), Olympics bound Alex Song, Ramsey (11 championship starts) and Abou Diaby.

That will be the same Abou Diaby who Arsene apparently wants to move into the middle, despite doing everything possible to avoid playing him there last season.

In short, we need reinforcements in the middle. Of that there is no doubt.

But the transfer market being what it is, it is easy to imagine deals being left right up until the end of August deadline, when hands are finally forced and compromises reached. (Witness Cole, Baptista and Diarra).

IN today’s Guardian Nigel Winterburn articulates a point that I’ve been thinking for a couple of weeks.

Our former left-back is not as explicit in his thinking as me, but essentially the point is this: in 11 years the only players to leave Arsenal totally against Wenger’s will were Anelka and Ashley Cole.

Now, in the space of three months, that number is set to rocket to five, assuming Alex Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor follow Matthieu Flamini out of the club.

Perhaps it is a statistical quirk. Perhaps it is nothing to worry about.

But it is unique. And it is a challenge for Wenger.

Two of the above three are 24, the other 27. Gilberto is 31, Jens far older.

Remember that Boxing Day assist David Seaman laid on for Alan Smith when his long goal kick hit the crossbar? That was the day Aaron Ramsey came into the world.

While the pundits say what we need is more experience, the squad is getting drastically younger.

I make it roughly 18 out of 23 arrived at the club age 21 or under. It is unprecedented.

Assuming Gilberto leaves, at 30 William Gallas is the oldest outfield player. I make Tomas Rosicky, who looks about 15, the second oldest outfield player at 27.

My judgments on our summer spending will come when the bolt firmly comes across the transfer window. But in the meantime, it’s interesting.

I don’t doubt him, but as I said, it’s undoubtedly interesting.

BEAR with me on this one, but hearing of Adebayor’s demands for pay comparable to Thierry Henry brings to mind one of the most famous put-downs in American political history.

When, in October 1988, Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle likened his previous experience to that of JFK before he assumed office, his Democrat opponent shot back:

“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy: I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”

So to Emmanuel Adebayor I say:

“Adebayor, I watched Thierry Henry: I knew of Thierry Henry; Thierry Henry was a hero of mine. Adebayor, you’re no Thierry Henry”

Anyway, my just woken-up tones were just broadcast on Setanta Sports News, offering a fans voice on the quotes from the boss that have emerged this morning.

They read:

“The strategy of the club is to sell every year and to buy less expensive players. We manage at Arsenal to maintain all our football ambitions — national and European —while having to free up - for 17 more years - an annual surplus of £24m to pay for our stadium.

“The club’s strategy is to favour the policy of youngsters ahead of stars and to count on the collective quality of our game.”

Like Arseblogger, A Cultured Left Foot and Vital Football, I’m hardly about to top myself over the revelations.

It’s the same take on an old story. We aren’t Chelsea. If absurd money is offered for a player who really wants to go, we will take it.

But equally if absurd money is offered for a player who doesn’t want to go and who we want to keep, we will turn down the bid. Ask yourself: when have we ever sold a player in such circumstances?

Equally, we have bought when we have wanted to too. The big money Reyes deal and the Walcott, Adebayor, Diaby triple whammy all came in days of supposed belt tightening.

What is true is that were Hleb, Flamini and Adebayor all to leave that would be three departures of players still probably yet to hit their peak. They would also be three departures that were completely against Arsene’s will.

In the past eleven years probably only Anelka and Cole could come under that category. So seeing that number soar from two to five would be a noticeable leap.

Will Hleb be at pre-season training on Monday?

My guess on Adebayor is that it could go either way. What is for certain is he won’t get £120,000 a week. But if a deal can be ironed out, I don’t think our financial situation is anything like dire enough for us to need to sell him.