Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson believes Arsenal should make West Ham skipper Scott Parker their number one target this summer.
The Sky Sports pundit still thinks his old club should look to acquire already made players who have Premier League experience under their belt, and pinpointed 30-year-old Parker, who won the Football Writers’ Player of the Year award, as the best option available to Wenger this summer.
The industrious midfielder is currently on England duty, but is thought to be considering his options following West Ham’s relegation from the top-flight.
Merson was quoted in the Daily Mirror saying:
‘He was the best midfield player in the country last season. Arsenal need to buy players who are going to perform now, not in two or three years because really they haven’t got two or three years to spare.’
‘He might be 30 but you know in the next two years he’s going to bring a trophy to Arsenal because of his energy. He’d also help bring along Jack Wilshire too.’
‘That’s the kind of player who I’d be looking at. He would come in and hit the ground running and it won’t be, ‘Oh well, next year he’ll be better’. Arsenal don’t have next year.’
Is Paul Merson right?
Should Parker be our number one target this summer, or are there superior midfielders out there for Arsenal to ponder over?
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yes buy him
this from a ex coke head. failed gambler, and failed manager? what it got to do with merson, who makes stupid comments like this just so he gets some cash to spend on the gee gees.
what merson don’t tell you is parker failed at newcastle and failed big time at chelsea,and lets face it got his current club relegated. he a good player yes but he not a arsenal player.
if cesc and or nasri leave the last thing wenger will want is buy 30 year old players who just got his last club relegated.if cesc and nasri stay where would he play in our midfield? song been brilliant and so has wilshere so mers shut the fcuk up and get back too doing your lines.
Prick – What have you ever done with your life !!!
don know either u guys notice this in every transfer window. During these time there are a lot of player that floating around been link with arsenal. its either becoz of media sepucaltion or the leak from the arsenal scout or negotation. these player that suddenly float usually a talented one, and bcoz of the speculation and rumour being link with arsenal there prize will go up drastically (usually only a few bucks). which causing stingy mr wenger don’t want to pay for, in the end these player will go to other club. so the one that wrap the benefit from the arsenal scout its not the team itself but others team that tend to wait which player that will turn out in wenger radar, becoz they would know these player usually are quality one and wenger won’t pay the extra few pound to aquire them when the price hike up a bit…end of the day, we would get the mediocore player left in the list, while the one that proven to be quality bought by the other team…easy to say as manager, just wait on the transfer news relate to arsenal then observe the player, wait for the on going negoation between arsenal and that player, once wenger refuse with that price and that particuar team can afford then go for a bid, bcoz during that time, the prize already stagnant..see, there is no need for other team to hire a scout actually. becoz arsenal team scout work for all, but there payment is from us ;p…..
That’s a loooooong comment to read mate, how old are you!?… In the future learn to use the f@*king English language properly….. ‘Bcoz’ that was just painfull!
THE ARSENAL PROBLEMS:
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I don’t think according to Wenger that Arsenal team gets it 95% and lacks 5%.
Arsenal has always been likened to playing like Barcelona and while this may look real to a layman but in the technical aspect they are not.Arsenal has a lot of inconsistent players to start with.The defense is horrible.Clichy bombs forward but lacks the finishing and is always caught out of position most times stretching the defence.Same with Bacary whose crosses are poor as well.Then comes the issue of eternal triangles.In the midfield you find Busquet(Song)…the difference here is that Busquet is quick on the ball,releases the ball once won immediately to regain his stamina and help out in case they lose the ball but Song likes to shield the ball,kills attack and very slow on his approach to the over all game.Iniesta(Wilshere)..While the former has better experience we find out that Wilshere is most times too adventurous with the ball,has to improve on his tackles and has to improve on his killer pass as well as taking shots outside the box when required. Xavi(Fabregas)The edge Xavi has over him is clear..composure,shots and technique.Xavi is the master passer and knows when to hold and release the ball something Fabregas lacks at times and also he does not try flicks that may or may not work.When you watch Barcelona play,you see that they go directly or indirectly in three’s,this helps them to win the ball back when lost and also to make short and needed passes when required.There is not much diagonal passes that we play.Barcelona hunts a team down once they lose the ball unlike Arsenal that uses the space marking technique.When you hunt a team down the player with the ball makes mistakes cos he has to calcuate and no time for that.Then the forwards..Messi(Walcott)..Walcott hardly knows what is 1 or2 touch,once you give him ball even if he is choked rather than return the ball,he tends to always run with the ball,his crosses are mostly ineffective and he is very inconsistent unlike Messi who brings his fellow players into play and frees himself for the eventual pass needed to cause the damage.Walcott simply has nO technique.David Villa(Van Persie)Both are good forwards but it is far much better for a left footer to play from the flanks than in d middle because this alleviates the burden on him and avoids injuries as well.Pedro(Nasri)The problem with Nasri is that he tends to dribble all the time,hangs on to the ball too long letting opposing midfielders/defenders who have been caught out of position to return.
THE WAY FORWARD:
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The team has to dump the space marking technique and go for a quick close down.Marking is not for Song entirely but the whole team.Mark in three’s like Barcelona.The defence has to watch their positioning.Buying tall players may help but not the total solution to our conceding goals from set-pieces,if you win the ball quickly as you lose it,where will the set pieces come from?Again how tall are Barcelona players that are conquering the world?Then arsenal has to stop the funny habit of not taking shots outside the box.Goals are not only scored outside the box but deflections also could happen.We have to take more shots outside the box.The final third passes has to be shortened as the delay in this lets the opposing players return to positions,we have to be quicker in the final third,not passing diagonal all the time.Then the bench has to be improved.Often the case we panick when one or two regulars are not playing and this should not be the case.We need quality bench.Arsene Wenger also has to tell the players the truth when they underperform rather than make excuses for them all the time.This will make the players sit up.There should be quality competition in the team.Szcesney has to work on his ball distribution and speak with his defenders more often.
PLAYERS WHO CAN HELP AND NEEDED:
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Arsenal needs a central defender who is adapted to the premier league.A mobile defensive midfielder..a quick comparison can be seen in Flamini vs Song.A world class striker because Bendtner,Chamakh are not credible substitutes and do not give competition to RVP.The two flank defenders have to work on their crosses as well.Let us hope to a successful season ahead.
To demongooner Parker did not fail at chelsea,he never got a chance. Frank lampard was in super form,it is not his fault that lampard was in such form. Parker is one of those players who can stand in front of the mirror and say he has earned every penny he has got…. there are not many who can say that specaily in our current team
Parker would be a much better holding midfielder than Song.
yeah, he is dead right
mersons a jackass but he said it perfectly. we need someone who we know is gonna play good now, not adapt to the bpl then show his true talent. and he’s gonna teach song wilshere cesc a thing or two
merson is spot-on.We need players now…not to have promise in 3 seasons time…weve surely had enough of that with 6 trophyless years to back it up.
Scott Parker is a very good player…he even played well for england recently. He also has a great spirit about him…..more than anyone in our dressing room…NO 4-4 collapses with him in our team!
I agree, we must sign Parker. He has strength, grit, leadership, all the qualities that Arsenal are missing. He including other quality signings could really help us win the premiership.