While Arsenal fall deeper into a crisis with the almost inevitable loss of Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas to boyhood club Barcelona, and with Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City all chasing £25 million rated Samir Nasri, many would say the loss of such key men will spell the end for the team.
But Swiss centre-back Johan Djourou insists he and the rest of his Arsenal team-mates can still compete with England’s top sides next term with or without their star duo.
The 24-year-old defender recently stated:
‘We know that there will be stories but we know what we’re aiming for and what our goal is. We want to be successful so we don’t really get distracted by this. If Cesc goes, he goes. He’s been a great player for us and he’ll always have been a great player for us, but it’s his decision.’
Nasri, who was at his best last season filling in for the injured Spaniard, is believed to be contemplating his future at Arsenal after stalling on a new deal.
With both players nearing the Emirates Stadium exit doors, Djourou believes young stars such as Jack Wilshere, and Arsenal’s newest recruit Gervinho, could ease the pain of losing the pair.
‘When you look at players who normally come out and express themselves, it’s when someone goes. When Thierry Henry went, Cesc expressed himself even more. Cesc and Samir together are great so you’d rather keep them. But if someone goes then I’m sure someone else will step up.’
In my opinion, Djourou is in compete denial. I don’t think we will be able to challenge for anything next season unless Arsene Wenger can find proper replacements for the players we may lose this summer.
Yes, we have a good crop of youngsters to rely on, but at the rate we’re going only Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky will be our most experienced players at the club, there’s Manuel Almunia, but he doesn’t really count does he.
Arsenal’s current formation has been implemented to get the best out of Fabregas and on some occasions Nasri. However, this will surely have to be revised this upcoming season should both leave the club this summer.
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can anyone explain to me what the meaning of AKB if? i see this one arsenal blogs daily but don’t know what it’s all about.
it saddens my heart how a supposedly arsenal blogs which lterally ought to support the team now tends to bring us down, demoralise the team and spread all forms of bad news and negative rumours,,, what then makes one an arsenal fan when all we see are people who are hell bent on pulling us down?
can anyone explain to me what the meaning of AKB is? i see this one arsenal blogs daily but don’t know what it’s all about.
it saddens my heart how a supposedly arsenal blogs which literally ought to support the team now tends to bring us down, demoralise the team and spread all forms of bad news and negative rumours,,, what then makes one an arsenal fan when all we see are people who are hell bent on pulling us down?
No one would want to speak puplicly about wether or not the club will suffer by losing key players… When your a supporter of a team you have to accept the good and the bad news. You don’t expect it to be sunny all the time… It may seem like I’m negative on the current situation but if you look at it without the anger u’ll realise that my opinion in some way is right! You of all people should know better that Arsenal have a bit of a weak mentality when it comes to coping without key men as well as when we’re under preassure. Even the players from the club at some point have stressed that. Unless Wenger can sort all this out all Djourou’s statement is doing is trying to keep every1 calm but what happens when reality settles in???
Hear Hear, some fans are to proud to admit that our club could go down the toilet by then end of next season.
WAIT A MINUTE…… why does everyone believe the tripe on the media????? 2 years ago Cesc was off to Barca – we were told by the media it was 100%, he did not go. Summer 2010 Cesc defo going to Barca – 100% – oh he did not go. Vieira summer 2001 – he is defo joining Real Madrid, the deal is all done he will be playing for MAdrid – oh he didn’t leave untiil we sold him summer 2005! STOP BWELIEVEING ALL THE TRIPE IN THE MEDIA!!!!! Only believe things when they happen – surely as Gooners we have learnt this. Over the years I have never known a club to be lionked with so many players (I don;t just mean last few years – I am going back to the late 80’s). I remember we were always linked with players like Tony Cottee, Graham sharpe, Adrian Heath, Peter Ndlovu, Robbie Fowler, David Seaman (oh ok so that one actaully did happen), Geoff Thomas (thank god that one didn;t) – I could go on the list is endless. What I am trying to say is that the media get f*ck all out of Arsenal and that is why they write about us more than anyone else – they don;t like that we run a “closed ship”. Don’t believe the hype or the tripe! I honestly do not think Cesc will be leavibng this summer. I also think Nasri will still be playing for us in September and I also think if he does not sign a new contract now there is a chance he could sign one during the season (not perfect I know but Arsene will not sell him to Man Ure). Arsene and Samir have not even sat down and spoken properly about this since end of season – so how can anything happen yet? It can’t – it’s obvious. Let’s start talking about crisis etc if we haven’t bought anyone come August 31st. Come on we are THE ARSENAL!!!!!!
@zaco : AKB simply means arsene knows best …
johan djourou is spot on with his comments ..lets all be factual .. did anyone ever imagined that djourou and jack wilshere will come in2 their own this season ? instead of being 2nd choice that turned to be the mainstay .. same with scezesny .. all theses lads featured in more games as expected .. with someone’s exit some1 will emerge from the shadows .. am betting my money that player will be abou diaby .. he has all it takes to be a top player , skills , dribbles , height , guile and strenght .. he has the ability to dominate games we all see it in him all he needs is run of games and be injury free..
It’s going to be a very interesting season and I think that AW is probably a very worried man at the moment. There is no doubt that things are sliding badly at the club and he is out of control of the situation. The great pity about this club is that their slow in seizing an opportunity to do a deal and there seems no-one that can cut a deal quickly. Everything takes forever and they seem to make bad judgement calls and lose players over time wasting. I’m not a betting man, but if I was, not making a top 4 place next season would (unfortunately) be a pretty good bet. I have been supporting this club since the mid 1960’s and I have never been more despondent. I would like to see a change of manager who can bring some excitement back to the club.
i dont belive it is your club i believe your just another in a long line of imbeciles passing of a blog as being arsenal just so you undermime the regime, spurs fan maybe or just some chanver looking for sponsors for you’re raggedy ass internet sight, again take a f*ck to yourself
i want to see carlos vela step up his game. something special is going to happen next season and i can feel it.
Djourou needs to concentrate on defending instead of making stupid statements. I mean is he serious when he says if Fabregas and Nasri go, Arsenal will be fine and still challenging for major honours. I thinking he had a glass too many when he came out with this statement.
The fact is he is not Arsenal quality, last season he made countless mistakes which cost us games (the boltan game comes to mind). He comes out with ridiculous comments, which don’t fool me and other Arsenal fans.
The fact is we have become an average team and unless Wenger buys big then forget about winning anything, in fact forget about even making a top four finish. In my opinion, Arsenal need two quality defenders, Baines and either Cahill or Samba. When Fabregas and Nasri goes, they’ll need to be replaced, Matta and Marin come to mind.
If we sell Fabregas and Nasri and don’t replace them, then the fact is, and sorry to say this, Arsenal are doomed!
Arsenal fans you have been warned!!!!!
I have just read this post and while I don’t know why it has been re-posted since it is a July blog, I have to say something about it. Arsenal had a bad start to the season with lots of suspensions and injuries, plus fresh faces that needed to blend in. But Arsenal has recovered very well and are winning a game every weekend including the big win at Stamford Bridge. The team is beginning to gel and getting good results too. But frankly despite Wenger’s assertions that he has a big squad, I feel that we need one more center back (sell Schillachi and bring in a quality player) one creative midfielder, and one good striker. What would happen if Van Persie had an injury or if he was hit by an out of form spell or a dry spell or even burnout. Again with Gervinho and Song going to the African Championships for about one month, we will definitely need too consider other options. having said all that, I think I agree with Djourou. Arsenal is coping well without Fabregas and Nasri. Va Persie has 13 goals in 12 games and I wonder how many he will score if he keeps his form and stays out of injury. It seems like a repeat of Thiery Henry all over again.