Monday 22 February 2010

Would You Or Wouldn't You?

I've seen and heard rumours that Gael Clichy could be on his last legs at Arsenal.

Now whether you believe that Arsene Wenger is ready to cash in on our number one left-back or not, I think that many Gooners are split on what Wenger should do.

The fee that I've seen bandied about is £16m. Now don't get me wrong, that is a lot of money, especially for a full-back but would that tempt you to let Clichy go?

About 18 months ago I would have said jog on. These days I have to admit that I would be tempted, especially when you know that Kieron Gibbs seems pretty capable of filling Gael's boots.

Clichy seems to have had a rough time in the last 18 months. He has been injured a lot and that has affected his form. He almost seems to have at least one clanger a game and the days of saying that he is better than Ashley Cole appear long gone.

To even compare him to Ashley Cole is a tribute to Gael Clichy. Without doubt (I have/hate to say it) Cole is the best left-back in the world. I still feel to this day he could have gone on to become an Arsenal legend and would probably even be our captain. As we all know he fucked that up.

I, and many others, said that Clichy made it an easy decision for Wenger to let Cole go. Gael was that good. Having said that, it appears that Gael has gone backwards over the last 12-18 months. I think it was the mistake against Tottenham in the 4-4 draw that begun his 'apparent' decline.

There is a saying; 'Form is temporary, class is permanent' and I would hope that this applied to Gael Clichy. We didn't say that Clichy was better than Cole for nothing.

Despite being tempted I wouldn't sell Clichy. Not even for £16m. Somewhere inside Gael Clichy is still that player who I believed would overtake Cole and become the best left-back in the world.

It could be a matter of belief. If Clichy regained that belief in himself I'm sure that he could become the player we wanted him to be.

I would hate to see Gael at another club. We talk a lot about loyalty to a club in football and when I see Clichy I see a player who loves Arsenal and is extremely loyal to us. Look at his interviews, he always conducts himself well.

In Kieron Gibbs we have a player for the future, Clichy is a player for now. I have no doubt that one day Gibbs will be Arsenal and England's number one left-back but I'd still give Clichy a chance to fulfill that promise he showed and get back on track.

Keep it Goonerish............

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Top post Wrighty7, I'm torn on the idea, perhaps he should stay for another season until we're sure about Gibbs, although that might be a bit of a gamble because he could continue to regress even more than he has done.
I reckon his decline began when we played Birmingham, the season before the last one, if memory serves me right.

Anonymous said...

It's very normal for players to be rusty after a long absence and the extra scrutiny doesn't help at all. Clichy and Walcott are in tha same boat. They bot need time and they'll come good.

anto said...

i dont tink after a few bad games we shud write him off.he seems to be standing off players more than he used to.but the signs are hes coming back to the player he was.gibbs has quality aswell but i hope hes not another injury worry,we have enuf players like tat

Anonymous said...

Odds are that this is going to be a disruptive summer for our defence, with Silvestre, Gallas, Campbell (and Senderos, too) all likely to leave, with hopefully new players coming in. We should try to minimise the disruption.

Clichy is 24 with his best years ahead of him.

His recent poor form has been caused by a few things:

1. return from injury. Against chelsea and united he was clearly unfit but taking one for the team
2. lack of support from those ahead. Evra gets done just as often as Clichy, just that odds are the likes of Rooney and Park are always there to help out.

Selling Clichy would be a massive mistake. Gibbs is promising, but is not ready to become a first team LB, especially on the back of this injury, with the likely resultant niggles.

Anonymous said...

Get rid, A mistake waiting to happen

anto said...

as much as i tink verm was an excellent signing does any1 else tink tat we have been a bit weak tru the middle this season?time after time teams cut rite tru us

Lauritz said...

Keep him! This is a no brainer, we can't keep selling first team players and just throw in a youngster all the time! Gibbs is NOT ready to be a first choice left back at Arsenal! Ship him out on loan and let him get some playing experience on LB! Was'nt Gibbs a LW not so long ago?

Anonymous said...

i was in the sell him boat but thinking about it now i don't think he gets the support like sagna/eboue do on the right. but whenever i see him play he keeps loosing his 1 on 1 battles anyway. how many times do you see sagna/eboue loose their 1 on 1s? i can count on one hand for the both of them together for this season

Anonymous said...

Wrighty:

You ask the question "would you or wouldnt you" as if it makes an iota of difference if we do. Most managers spend what they get in transfers Arsene sits on the cash so £16m added to the £150m we have sitting in the bank will make fuck all difference to us cause it aint gettin invested in the playing squad.

Would you, wouldnt you = who gives a fuck.

BnT

Abdulhakim Ali said...

Clichy can go. He is struggling. Can we also pay Clichy's new team 4million pounds to take Denilson.

How can a player so mediocre play for a top club. He made 51 appearances last year. What is he Frank Lampard? He has played 18 matches this year and we have lost SIX. Not a coincidence.

Ferguson would have sold him right after a match if he jogged back like he does every game.

WE WILL NEVER WIN A TROPHY AS LONG AS DENILSON PLAYS 4 US. IT IS PLAYERS LIKE HIM THAT HOLD US BACK.

Anonymous said...

i would sell, i think gibbs should be given a chance and traore, clichy has become very unlucky like senderos, the ball ends up in the net everytime he makes a mistake, i think had gibbs not got injured it would have been a realproblem for clichy and alsopossibly ashley coles world cup plans because of his injury

Anonymous said...

Why sell him at all?? We haven't spent the money we made on Toure & Adebayor yet, so price is irrelevant.

It's all about squad depth & that's one of the main reasons we're struggling (yet again due to injuries) so I'd definitely keep Clichy (one of the most exp members of the squad at 23) even if he falls behind Gibbs.

Gibbs ball in could make the difference in him winning the LB place as neither are particularly solid at the back.

Anonymous said...

433 leaves Clichy too exposed,esp with a rubbish tackler like Nasri infront of him doesn't help.
442 shows his quality.

Joppa Road said...

I would be more inclinded to look at the training techniques that are going on at Arsenal. That seems to be where the problem lies e.g. positional awareness etc.

The Fairies said...

Form is Temporary - Class is permanent!

Thank you Martin Tyler & Andy Gray and FIFA 10

Anonymous said...

CliChy has become indecisive that's all. He is torn between getting forward and holding his position thus he is getting caught out. We can also have an arguement that the goalkeeper and centre halfs aren't communicating - I've never seen Almunia or Fabianski open thier mouths, there just too quiet. Personally I'd like our defenders to be just that Defenders!! We'd be a lot harder to beat for one. Cos when they do go forward the balls into the box are pathetic.

Anonymous said...

I agree with earlier comment. Why sell him for 16m just to put a grin on those fat directors' faces? It's not like Wenger's gonna buy anyone with the $.
In the summer Gallas, Silvestre, Campbell will be gone. Do we really want to recreate an entire backline from our youths? Cos it's not as if we'll be buying Subotic or Vidic type class defenders.
Let Clichy & Gibbs battle for starting spot.
Besides, since we're on the topic of selling, I can think of at least half a dozen TRULY crap players (you know who they are) that ought to be sold. The problem is, Who'll want them?

Anonymous said...

Sell Him. Traore is 10x the player clichy is at the moment. You didnt even mention him in your post.

Anonymous said...

He'll be back to his best next season. Normally, he'd be benched but Gibbs is hurt, and he'd get some time to sort his head out. But injuries keep fucking with us.

Take the summer off, or sit the bench in S. Africa, come back and compete with Gibbs for the spot. He'll be back.

He's also an old head in the team. Eveyone has a bad season or two in their career.

WC said...

A few years ago I would have said this was ridiculous but he's been a liability for the past couple of seasons and he's coming into the prime of his career as a walking disaster.

Can Gibbs replace him? Eventually but young Kieron is just that - young. If someone is willing to 16M for Clichy, be my guest. I can go to Marseille and ask for Taye Taiwo and still have a significant amount of change left over while getting a seasoned wing back at my disposal.

Real Social Dad said...

naughty w7 very very naughty
how did you you scrap a page together. lol
quality

crashcameron said...

am i an idiot? Or am i just horned up over a car i've seen once and it looked like the shiny beast i want in my garage?
i want Marseille's Taiwo at left back!
maybe they'll take Clichy straight up in a swap?

Anonymous said...

Taiwo is terrific. Can we take Lucho Gonzalez with us in exchange for Clichy, Silvestre and Denilson?

lp said...

IMO, clichy better than cashley. give him a year or 2 because gibbs still not performing well when we're up against big 4 teams.

Unknown said...

I don't think it is a lack of confidence on Gaels' part. If anything it is either over-confidence or pure lack of form. I say over-confidence because he continues to dive into tackles, misses them, which leaves huge gaps behind him. He is also often caught out of position. Maybe because in past he has been able to rely on his pace to get him out of trouble.

I don't understand how he makes the same errors over and over though. Surely when you make these mistake once you don't do it again...