Gooner Talk

Marvin Martin, 23, Sochaux, Attacking Midfielder

Marvin Martin was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, of the 20 administrative districts – similar to the London boroughs. The ‘14th’ is about 5.5 square kilometres and contains the famous Le Santé Prison.

Martin was particularly small for his age as a young boy and grew up a supporter of Paris St Germain, unsurprisingly. As a 10 year old in 1998 he absorbed the carnival atmosphere and national coming together that hosting and winning the World Cup brought. Watching Didier Deschamps lift the famous Jules Rimet trophy, he described it as ‘the moment I wanted to become a footballer.’ Despite his dedication, the Clairefontaine academy rejected him due to his lack of height.

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28, Defender, Everton

As with all the articles I do on a player linked with Arsenal, this piece will attempt to cover a few interesting pieces of the player’s identity and biography. Over the past few weeks a number of journalists have stepped out to say that they believed Jagielka to be the primary target for Arsène Wenger rather than Gary Cahill. Wenger has made a £10m bid for the player which has been turned down, and this is the reason Jagielka will be covered in this piece.

The first thing that struck me when I heard of an Englishman who was snapping ferocious tackles in at Sheffield United under Neil Warnock was; where does his name come from? Turns out he is of Polish descent and was born Philip Nikodem Jagielka in Sale, Greater Manchester. His grandparents fled Poland after the Second World War. As a young teenager he started off as a schoolboy at Everton, before joining The Blades at 15 years of age. There his talent as a defensive midfielder, with a rocket propelled work rate and a physicality to dominate the midfield in the Championship, allowed him to make a real name for himself. A great season in 2005-06 allowed him to play a mammoth 46 games and score 8 goals. He won the Championship award for best player that season. The following year they were promoted. His year in the Premier League with United was ultimately a disappointment as they were relegated. However, his versatility lead to one of the highlights of the season. Forced to play in goal against Arsenal after Paddy Kenny was injured, they managed to secure a famous 1-0 victory. He even made an excellent late save from Robin Van Persie.

Jagielka’s life has had sadness as well. His grandfather was a potential and unproven murder victim of serial killer Harold Shipman. He said “When my grandfather died, he put his hand on my right shoulder and said, ‘I think I’ll stay here a while in case he wakes up so he doesn’t scare people. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I do now.” Whilst recovering from a cruciate injury last year, 3 masked men from an organised criminal gaang burst into his rented £2.5m mansion with knives and threatened Jagielka. They stole valuables and a Range Rover, which was later found abandoned.

Having joined Everton, he found a gritty and ambitious Scottish manager under David Moyes prepared to support him fully and smooth his rough edges. Having moved back into centre defence he showed the grittiness of an old school tough centre defender, with the passing game to take the ball and move it forward. Moyes pushes Jagielka, not just as a footballer, as a man and leader. Moyes said in March this year that he could potentially become an England captain but that ‘he needs to drive himself on to be that person; it has to come from within.’ The undertone of that comment is that Jagielka maybe lacks the aggressive, cutting edge of John Terry or Rio Ferdinand. Moyes also said ‘Sometimes he suffers from self doubt’, whilst ‘he should be looking at himself as a future Everton captain and he agrees that he has to start being a leader.’ Interesting that Arsenal supporters point to Jagielka as the natural leader, when even his own manager says he does not (yet) have that element in his personality. I would hope Wenger is able to spend the money to buy a taller player with less injury problems, younger and better passing skills. Therefore we return to Gary Cahill. Bolton Wanderers are waiting to see if Chelsea or Manchester City make a move for him.

Everton are notoriously tough negotiators, well known for driving prices extremely high and turning a seemingly simple deal into a long running saga. Turning down £10m for a player turning 29 years of age in less than a month is brave decision, despite the fact Wenger offered £12m last season. If Everton are asking for a £15m then that is a lot of money considering he does not even meet the mandate of what Arsenal genuinely need. In short, this deal is doomed until there is an immense shift in policy from Everton to sell or Arsenal to pay substantially more. A huge, angry, commanding centre back with natural leadership skills must be the requisite qualities for the next Arsenal centre defender Wenger purchases to deal with the set piece problems we have. Jagielka could play a simple and limited centre back role alongside Vermaelen or Djourou. He would likely allow them, as the more comfortable passers to bring out the ball. However alongside Laurent Koscielny, I just do not see that pairing as having the muscularity or presence to change anything about our current spinal weakness.

Jagielka would bring other qualities if he were to sign for Arsenal. He does not have an ego (a trademark Wenger plus), has a good work rate, a positive attitude and a knack for digging deep to grind the best standards of play from his team mates. If he had a nastier side, a tendency to grip opposition players by the throat as the dark art masters from Inter Milan do at corners, I would be keener.

For all Arsenal transfer analysis, tactical discussions and anything else then Follow me on Twitter: @Detective82.

Juan Mata, 23, Valencia, Attacking Midfielder

News that Arsenal are talking to Valencia regarding the transfer of Spanish midfielder Juan Manuel Mata has given supporters fresh hope that a marquee summer signing is not beyond the financial constraints of our club. There are several factors in favour of the deal. For a start; the financial situation at Mestalla remains precarious. Secondly, he is currently earning just £30,000 a week so Arsenal are in a position to more than double those wages. The timing feels right in essence.

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30, Striker, Internazionale

With Inter looking at Gaël Clichy and Samir Nasri, and Arsenal seemingly still hunting for a top class forward – not to mention Samuel Eto’o now considering a move to the Premier League – it did not take a world class bit of journalism to draw a link between the needing club and a keen player.

Eto’o first came to my attention in 2001 when Arsenal played against Real Mallorca away. Ashley Cole gave a penalty and got sent off, whilst Thierry Henry was booked for diving on a miserable European night. However, it was the power and potential of a young Cameroonian that caught my eye.

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28, Striker, Tottenham Hotspur

Certain journalists within the English media have been writing intermittently about Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe being transferred to Arsenal, among others, for several weeks.

Defoe is a sparky, fast, hungry poacher that gets into the right positions and listened to Ian Wright when he told him ‘Get your shots on target.’ An avalanche of goals over his career spanning two spells at Tottenham show the advice has served him well. There is indeed room in the squad for Arsenal to have a player selfish enough to take a shot where others select a pass. In a quick passing, 2 or 3 touch move; Arsenal strikers often find room in and around the box. My concern is that Defoe has not got the body strength to hold the line or hold the ball on his own as a main striker in the current 4-3-3. People have said this could not be true as Defoe and Wright were so similar, however people have quickly forgotten Wright’s remarkable physical prowess. Built like a flyweight boxer, 5’9, blessed with high strength to bodyweight ratio and brave enough to take on Peter Schmeichel (at a time when few dared to look at him) meant that Wright was a different animal altogether. Defoe, by contrast, stands at just 5’7 with a slim build.

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29, Forward, West Bromwich Albion

Peter Odemwingie is approaching 30 and highly valued at West Brom with good reason. He kept them in the Premier League. He’s quick, positive and difficult to play against. Odemwingie managed to hurt Arsenal twice in one season in the home and away games. When I considered reasons to buy, I recalled that one intelligent management practice used to develop current playing personnel -particularly defenders- is to buy players that have exposed weaknesses. 

Through playing your defenders directly against those players in 5 a sides on the training ground after signing them, those defenders will eventually become more able to play against that style of attacker. Alex Ferguson has utilised this technique on various occasions; successfully signing Andy Cole, and attempting but failing to buy Collymore, Shearer and Anderton (all of whom hurt Manchester United in various games). 

Djourou loses concentration at important times and that costs goals, which is why his worst opponent would be a quick workhorse like Rooney, Tevez or Odemwingie who snap around his ankles and seize on his errors. It is not the ambitious, world class striker signing we yearn for – but it just might prove a masterstroke. 

Surrounded by quick-pass technical players he’d get chances in front of goal and would some of them. His lack of height wouldn’t help at set pieces and Arsenal need height across the spine. As a quick, lean runner onto through balls; I don’t see Wenger playing him and Walcott in the same team either apart from at away games against slow defenders. There is a need for an additional player of Ofemwingie’s style. As I’ve written before; the balance of the Arsenal squad has too many players that run toward the ball and not enough that run away from it. Some players make chances and others take them. Most too players fit into one category, and very few fit into both – bar Nasri, Messi and hardly any others. They have a ‘dual game.’ 

Odemwingie is clearly a taker of chances, a less dynamic or lethal Javier Hernandez. My concern is that Odemwingie’s success has been borne out playing in a counter attacking team with space to run into. Most teams that play Arsenal sit very deep and absorb the other team possessing the ball, throwing banks of players behind it. Robin Van Persie is a touch player that learned to play on the streets, doing what we called ‘hogging’ – keeping the ball. He was exceptional at it growing up and this is why he can think so quickly and adjust in small spaces. Just look at his goal in the Carling Cup Final. Few players in the world would have scored that. Van Persie, like Bergkamp and more so than Henry, is readily adapted to playing in this team. Odemwingie? Not so much.

Ultimately, Odemwingie has his merits as an Arsenal signing. He could get 12-15 goals as a squad player next season. However – he is not a long or maybe even medium-term option given his age and the emergence of Benik Afobe through the academy. Interestingly, I suspect that if he joins then I am certain Carlos Vela will no longer be a part of Arsenal’s future. A better alternative for this type of player to the Arsenal squad might just be Lukas Podolski. Though not a natural predator as Odemwingie is, his winning German attitude and versatility to play on the wing are enticing. 

For all Arsenal chat, transfer news as soon as I get it and general discussion on the club, then follow @Detective82.

Welcome to RedDetective’s latest edition of his Gooner Talk Transfer Rumour Review column.

The weekly feature promises to look at a handful of players linked with Arsenal in the past seven days, giving you the chance to have your say on which star you would like to see in a Gunners shirt.

Feel free to leave your transfer rumour views in the comments section below.

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