Goodbye Kolo & 1-0 vs. Hannover 96 29 July, 2009
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News.trackback
It’s a done deal, Kolo Toure has joined Adebayor at Man City for a reported fee of £16m. As good business as it is, this is a sad day for Arsenal fans. He joined us from Ivorian side Asec Mimosas in February 2002 for a mere £250,000 but quickly became an Arsenal great. We loved him for his tenacity and he was extremely good at what he did. He put everything into every game and that pace plus tackling ability he was a tough man to beat for any striker.
He won a lot here and was a vital part of the 2003/04 invincible squad. He leaves today as the last full member of that unbeaten side proving how much we have moved on since then. However, I think it’s fair to say he has been in decline and has not been the same player since he picked up Malaria almost a year ago to the day. You know he would still give everything but he’s just not the player he used to be.
This move has been on the table for quite a while now. Kolo handed in a transfer request in January when City came calling but we convinced him to complete the rest of season. Now we’ve sold him 6 months later and with a few million thrown in on top. It’s a great deal considering we only bought him for a quarter of a million but the fans wont care about that. Arsene always knows the right time to sell a player so I’m going to have to trust him.
We have to move on now. This Arsenal side has been going through a lot of changes in recent years and we just have to get on with it. Kolo will always get a great reception when he faces Arsenal and that’s how we’re just going to have to end it. He is one of football’s nicest blokes and I’m sure he will be missed just as much around the dressing room as he will in the stands. I hope things go well for him and he enjoys his big payday up north but I have to admit it does hurt seeing him holding another shirt, especially another Premiership one.
The future in defence is Vermaelen and Djourou. Gallas needs to be strong for us next season but I don’t see him staying much longer than that. We have to hope that Vermaelen can become our new Toure – chasing after every ball, dispossessing every striker and putting a halt to any attack.
So that’s two African’s to Man City in a short space of time and it looks like we could be down one more very soon. There’s no more news on Emmanuel Eboue’s situation but after tonight’s game he went up to the Arsenal section throwing his boots in the crowd and waving to all the fans. It looked a lot like he was saying his goodbyes and it wouldn’t surprise me if he leaves Arsenal very soon.
We used to suffer quite a bit when the African Nations Cup came around by the looks of things it could just be Alex Song who’ll have to leave us mid-season to represent his country.
Well talking of tonight’s game we beat Hannover 96 1-0 thanks to an 8th minute goal from Cesc Fabregas. It was the captain’s first appearance this season and he got it off to a great start rounding the ‘keeper after getting onto van Persie’s clever ball through.
We fielded quite a strong starting eleven playing a 4-3-3 with Cesc, Song and Denilson playing in midfield and Arshavin, van Persie and Bendtner playing the forward roles. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this formation this pre-season and it could become a more regular thing. It makes sense with the players that we have and it seems to be working for us.
Bendtner had a good first half, he was doing his best to make an impact and was unlucky not to score. Arshavin was a bit quiet but I’m not worried about that. The defence made a few slips letting the striker through on more than one occasion but managed to get back every time. Thomas Vermaelen had to come off early but I’m not sure what went wrong, hopefully it was just a precaution.
I quite enjoyed the game, it was a bit more competitive than the other friendlies we’ve played and against a better quality opposition. Robin van Persie was getting a bit too into it though and had to be brought off to save him from a red card. There was a bit of a shoving match when he went in late, nothing happened but it showed both sides were definitely up for it.
Last night an ‘Arsenal XI’ beat Maidenhead 7-1. The reserves are looking good this season and after the game Jay Emmanuel-Thomas told us he has his eyes on the Carling Cup. Hopefully one year our kids will do it, we keep going so close but it says a lot how our reserve side can compete in a competition like that and still be one of the favourites.
And finally Eduardo has been named in the Croatia squad for a game just three days before our opener against Everton. You just know he is going to get injured in that. He’s also been talking about the threat of Man City and admits it will be hard to win the league.
Ok well that’s it for tonight. Goodbye Kolo, you will be sorely missed.
Thanks for reading.
Im pretty sure if we played 4-4-3 we could win the league
Of course we would with the extra player and all
4 pre-season games and 4 lots of more un-convincing defending.To play 4-3-3 with this team in the premiership would be courting disaster and leaking goals.
Not really, it’s actually a fairly defensive formation (more 4-2-1-2-1) that still has potency in attack. With Song and Denilson taking up defensive positions in the middle of the park, it allows Fabregas to concentrate on the attack while still providing midfield cover in front of the CBs. I’ve been speculating Wenger’d use this formation going forward, given the many striker/winger combo players we have and our defensive frailties last season.
Nice tribute to King Kolo. Always loved his determination and drive, as well as the occasional long mazy run followed by a hard struck (but rarely on target), crack at goal from distance. Best of luck to you Kolo!
So instead of losing those players for the cup we lose them now…Wenger must bring people in to strengthen the side!
long live King kolo!! will miss him dearly.. my favourite player out of this team// and so the last of the Invincibles move on.. sad sad day for The Arsenal..//
use the money from kolo to buy back flamini
You’re right. Toure was poor last season, and even at his best he was terrible in the air. 16 million is good business. Djourou really needs to step up this season. He has all of the necessary physical attributes to be great, but really needs to work on his reading of the game. I’d feel alot more confident with Hangerland in the team. Considering how high up the field we play, and with our apparent defensive weaknesses, i think 4 3 3 without an experienced DM would leave up in a world of trouble. Opoker rakeback
Djourou looked good today partnering with Vermaelen. Seems likely that this is the CB partnership for years to come.
f uck flamini!!!!
I never want 2 see him in an Arsenal kit…Arsene never bring back players anyway
f uck flamini…he’s on too much at milan now anyway…
u never get to wear the shirt again!!!
its just sad to see toure go away
Goodbye King Kolo…. We will all miss you greatly.
i don’t know I’m actually pretty sure that between Cesc, Denilson and Song or whatever 3 you want to use they can get the job done. I mean really come on Denilson and Song are the DM. They did very good today and that team was actually pretty good but we still owned them in the 1st half playing with them. NIKKI is going so good, this is his season I think.
what a loss we will definatly missed him alot.we need a sweeper and 100% a recovery good player who can fill his voild.am a huge fan of habeeb,yahabeeb yasalaam.
Toure leaving signifies an end of era but also hopefully, the beginning of a new one.
We need at least one CB and/or one DM. No question about that. Just imagine if two of our CBs get injured. Not really hard to imagine given our defensive injuries at the end of last year. Suddenly we are looking at Senderos and/or Silvestre as our CBs (assuming Song keeps playing DM since Arsene didn’t buy anybody) – at that’s a very discomforting thought.
Toure you will be missed,but go and get paid you will enjoy it alot lol
Anyway talkin bout the earlier match we played pretty well quite a few pple to pick out who played well Verma-Gallas,Song,Bendtner and everyone esle although i think those few deserve a mention cant wait for the Emirates Cup
Does anyone really believe Eboue is goin too??
I’m going to miss Toure (just like I missed Gilberto and Ljungberg) for pretty sentimental reasons. I sort of feel it was a bit of a waste, him being sent off to the African Cup then not getting a captainship. At least he wasn’t solely a money-grubbing ass, he knew he was never going to get back up to the standards of his glory days. I’d wish him well, but hope he let’s us score lots against Man City.
kolo toure es el mejor defensa
Senderos and Eboue for Verminator
Toure for Hangeland
Adebayor for Huntelaar
Loose change to go on a couple of young players.( and by the sounds of it on Vieria’s wages).
433 is a great formation for the following reasons:
1. The reliance in a DM is less because there a 3 midfielders playing closer to each other.
2. It is very flexible as we can pack the midfield by advancing Clichy and Sagna and/or holding the outside strikers; or we can open up the field if the strikers go wide.
3. It provides the best positions for players such as Arshavin, Walcott, Rosicky and Denilson. As for Nasri, not sure where he will fit, maybe he’ll play as a midfielder as he was playing at the end of last season.
4. It is the ideal formation for teams that play with lots of speed, penetration and interchanging of players. In other words, the Arsenal way!
P.S. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want new players at the club. My wishlist is:
CB – Don’t care
CM – Veloso!
ST – Dzeko, but will not be mad at all when Huntelaar comes
Hate to see us playing in Spunx kit。Whose the idiot that decided on “3rd Kit”?
Bring in Flamini （Peter Storey）type cruncher to midfield on 30 Aug！
What we need is a Patrick Vieira type player why dont we sign………………………Patrick Vieira!!!!!!!