Sunday, November 3, 2024

Wenger talks Kallstrom injury, prognosis and wages

Arsene Wenger has revealed that Spartak Moscow will cover Kim Kallstrom’s wages while he’s out injured and confirmed that he was aware of the Swede’s injury problem before finalising the paperwork for his loan.

Facing the media after Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace the boss was, somewhat unsurprisingly, quizzed on the news his temporary signing won’t kick a ball in anger for the Gunners for at least a month going so far as to admit that he’d have pulled out of the deal had time not been a factor.

“Yes of course it crossed my mind,” said Wenger about whether he came close to reneging on Kallstrom’s contract offer.

“I would not have signed him if we had two or three more days to do something, but it was Friday night at five o’clock, so it was [a case of] you [sign] nobody or you do it under these conditions.

“I decided to do it because we might, because of the number of games we have now in February, we might need the players in March or April. There is a possibility [that he may not play] but as well there is the possibility that he scores us the winning goal that might be vitally important.

“At some stage in our job you have to make a decision. Are you wrong or right? You will only know at the end of the season. I made this decision because, since the start of the season, all our central midfielders have missed a part of the season – whether it’s Flamini, Wilshere, Arteta, Chamberlain or Cazorla.

“All of them have had injuries and it can happen that a few of them miss the next part [of the season] together. It’s true that in the first four to six weeks we have not sorted that problem out.”

“Yes,” continued Wenger when asked if Kallstrom’s Russian owners would contribute to covering his wages. “They pay the first six weeks’ wages.”

“[Being fit at the end of February] is the best-case scenario. I’m sure if you have played football you might have played with a micro-fracture of your vertebra without even noticing it because on a normal scan you don’t find out. He might play before that [the end of February] but he might play as well later.”

Turning his attention to the Gunners latest win, a result that sends them back to the top of the Premier League, Wenger hit back at media suggestions that his side aren’t capable of maintaining their challenge.

“In the last seven years you [the media] have ingrained that in your brain, and it’s very difficult to get it out now!

“I can understand that completely because we haven’t done it for a while, and as well I must say that we face quality competitors. We do not play against average teams and Man City have scored over 100 goals, so everybody thinks ‘can you beat these teams?’ I say yes and that is what we have to show.

“It’s all to do. The only thing I can say is that after 24 games we are there, and it’s now about how we finish the season.”

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GoonTang

Then why on Earth were we not looking to do any transfer business earlier?! Evidently procrastination gets the better of the best of us.

Ólafur

I’d imagine Kim was not our first target. It’s much likelier that he was the player we went for after several other deals turned out to be impossible to make in January.

arsenalista

like draxler. kallstrom was a backup and even if healthy would be a backup.

GoonTang

What I was trying to say was… Wenger/Arsenal, I love you, but FFS! Oh well, we will persevere. COYG!

thw14

Great result, great season, this is a very honest explanation, but it remains a ridiculous, ridiculous transfer policy. The need for a striker was felt in July. Apparently there’s no value then until the last day, on which we played a very similar game with Ozil which thankfully worked out okay. Fine. Enter January, Bendtner starts looking like a half decent alternative, so we think between him, Giroud, Walcott and Poldi we can work it out. Then Walcott gets injured, a good two weeks back. At this point we do need a forward, no question about it. Then the Ramsey… Read more »

Mark

I fully agree, why do we get stuck having to rush with decisions at the last minute so often. Wenger better get his business done early this Summer for a change.

Joel

Wenger knows as usual then.

jason

AHAHA I was half expecting him to say he made a mistake but he tried to give a logical explanation to justify it as he does…

Todays a good day with the ox scoring 2 but it will all depend how we get through these next 2 months..

Burak

That’s funny because I think someone else is also paying the wages of the striker we should have gotten.

Though I can’t complain, really. Overall, I think we’ve done fantastically well this season.

Fuzz

I love Wenger

BigNewts

he does make me laugh…. “I would not have signed him if we had two or three more days to do something, but it was Friday night at five o’clock, so it was [a case of] you [sign] nobody or you do it under these conditions… Did no-one tell him when the transfer window started or is everyone so scared of him, it took them until the Friday to pluck up the courage to point it out that we could buy players again if we so wished…lol. To be fair though I still trust him 100% and I always will… Read more »

berlingoon

Oviously the strikers he wanted weren’t available. And the need for an additional midfielder came with the Ramsey setback and that’s what he meant when saying he had 3 days time. I’m pretty sure that he has worked the whole month on the striker front but it’s really not easy to get a guy with suarez quality in the winter. And I’m happy he didn’t went for a cheap alternative but safe the money and get our striker in the summer!

Mootilated

Herein lies the problem. I feel like Arsenal concentrate all their efforts on one target, and when that fails, they aren’t left with any other shortlisted players, or it is too late to ask for them. I think we need to fix this for the Summer. We got very lucky with Ozil.

berlingoon

All the years everybody was complaining that Arsene buys quantity instead of quality. Now he wants that quality striker and nothing less and everybody complaines that he do not have 5 plan b’s in his pocket. What do you guys think how many topstrikers available are out there? This aint Play Station!

Rufusstan

Look at it this way: On the 24th, they’ve probably decided not to bother. Schalke are taking the piss and no other strikers are available that are worth buying (by that — better than both Poldi and the Last Samurai) Jack crocks his ankle that evening, but the OX proves he is fit. On the 25th, they decide its not bad. Rosicky’s nose is almost straightened and on 27th Ramsey is in full training. So still no need. 27th, Ramsey pulls up in training. Probably wouldn’t know how bad until 28th at least (scans and analysis). 28th Flamini sees red.… Read more »

Polar bear

This is the only comment worth reading. Other comments, that are suggesting Wenger doesn`t know the calendar in the month of january should test their own IQ before questioning Wengers. Sorry, but you moaners have to look for answers if you ask questions. Well put Rufusstan!

smh

Well said.

Desert Fox

This.

Common sense and a sense of perspective do wonders for the soul!

_

You are almost right, except this: “Less than 3 days to identify a player.”

If they don’t have all kinds of targets ready, then they are doing pretty poorly. Anyway, I don’t believe that’s the case and what really happened during those 3 days was probably the club going through the 5 or so midfielders with a realistic chance of being available, finding out that they cannot get no one reasonable for a reasonable price.

Davy Jones

Im pretty sure every proffesional club got a long list of potential transfer targets for every position updated continuously by the scouting network just because of situations like this. If it is the case that Arsenal had to identify a target first and find out who they were gonna get, then somebody at the club is not doing their job.

Fattcheeked

Obviously he didn’t start looking for a midfield back up at the beginning of the window. Kallstrom was brought in as back up because of Ramsey’s setback. So if you’d care to use your heads before saying he should have started searching earlier, you’d understand no one would have foreseen Ramsey being out for a further six weeks and Flamini deciding to get suspended for three games.

Let’s not be rational about it tho. Let’s blame Wenger

Wengernomics

This was pure Wengernomics. I for one respect it.

In Soviet Russia, WENGA sacks YOU

“I would not have signed him if we had two or three more days to do something, but it was Friday night at five o’clock, so it was [a case of] you [sign] nobody or you do it under these conditions.

That would be a valid excuse if the window opened on Friday. We had a whole month to do the job.

SoqedHozi

ramsey was due back earlier then had the set-back, and with wilshere falling apart we couldn’t have expected that at the beginning of the window.

SciGunner

We didn’t need an extra midfielder before last Tuesday. Now piss off to your Soviet Russia

xxxrob

Easy there turbo we’re all friends here

sciGunner

I didn’t mean to be offensive. I should have added a smiley I suppose…

yb

Wengerian logic: he’s not just looking in the bargain bin he’s looking in the discounted damaged bin too…still love him though, #onearsenewenger and all that.

Raekwon The Chef

“I would not have signed him if we had two or three more days to do something”

The transfer window is a month long….

Az Ahmed

Yes, it is a month long, but there 3 points worth mentioning – 1. You have to pay around 40%-50% over the market value to acquire a quality player in January (for obvious reasons – clubs not willing to sell as they don’t want to mess with their season). Mata is a prime example. Nowhere near £37M value, more like £20M-£25M. Draxler is not worth £37M either, he is good but not the finished article, just potential at the moment. He’s worth around £20M-£25M at the most. £37M is what you pay for the likes of Ozil. Proven world class… Read more »

Az Ahmed

As for the issue of signing a striker, I personally think we are scoring enough goals at the moment anyway. A striker would be good, but I think we need a DM and a couple of defenders.

Another suggestion I have pondered, why not use Vermaelen as a DM? He has the passing ability, is very good going forward and is strong and a great tackler. It’s a perfect fit to be honest.

Kaze

As for Mata, I do disagree. He is, in my opinion, an extremely good player in his position, in the top 3 (or 5 at least) of the world. He clearly did not worth 37 mil for MU because they want to play him out wide, but should Rooney leave and he can occupy that central role behind the striker, he will worth that money. As for Vermaelen, I have been thinking about the same since about last season. He did not play good at CB last year, because he liked to get forward and got caught so often –… Read more »

Arsenal for the treble?

Lets look at the bright side please, 31, over a century of international appearance, a cultured left foot, critical delivery of free kicks, almost a decade of French experience and someone else paying his wages while recuperating… Is there anywhere you can get all these with only minutes remaining till the transfer window slam shut?

Previgo

Wonder why a manager refuses to do his transfer dealings earlier and then decide to panic buy/bid on the very last day of the window, and he seriously expects teams to sell us their players at the very end of the window leaving them with little or no time to secure capable replacements, wenger must stop this rubbish and do our business earlier if he knows it makes no significant difference doing business in the last moments of the window

Desert Fox

You should write a very strongly worded letter to Wenger.

Just in case you need it:

C/O Arsene Wenger
Arsenal Football Club
Highbury House
75 Drayton Park
LONDON
N5 1BU

Be sure to list off your ideas on where he needs to improve as a manager in the 2nd half of the season. And keep us all posted on any developments.

Rad Carrot

Yeah, really don’t trust this guy anymore. His substitutions, tactics and his ability in the transfer market have gone from mediocre to infantile in recent times. Thank goodness the team is finding some cohesion at the right time.

AFCEdwards

Thank goodness the team has managed to find some cohesion? What? So it’s his fault when we do badly and the team’s when we do well? How do people ever take you seriously if you’re so simple.

AP

Him failing all his exams are not due to his laziness either. It’s just that the school didn’t set the questions to his liking.

rochester

Starting Chamberlain in central midfield, Sticking with Arteta after a substandard game, horrible decisions.(NOT) And “thank goodness the team is starting to find some cohesion” Nothing to do with who is putting the players on the field?
Wenger’s tactics and decision making are so bad that we’re top of the league.

Hutch

Apart from Man Utd, I am not sure which team exactly done well in the transfer window.

I think these things are a lot tougher than we can imagine.

Previgo

Thats no way to side wenger, chelsea sold mata for £37m and essien for around £4m then bought sala for £13m and matic for £20m they also bought zouma and loaned him back to saint etienne, if this ain’t “done well” i honestly don’t know what it is and to be honest, sala was somebody we would have done alot with for £13m

WengersNoseHair

Mata was a player they weren’t using. If a club offers you £37m for a player you don’t use then any idiot can complete that transfer. Some people have said that the £35m or whatever for Draxler is too much for a kid. Then how can you justify £13m for a 18 year old CB, Zouma? We got our three CBs for around £10m/£11m each. Matic they sold for, what, £3m or £4m, and bought him back for £22m, so yeah, I agree, a fantastic bit of transfer work right there. And they didn’t really need Salah, considering that they… Read more »

Previgo

You guys still thinks wenger knows best?

Previgo

One thing I don’t like about those who think they love wenger more than me “they refuse to acknowledge his wrongs”. In their eyes wenger can never be wrong, which is rubbish!

Ólafur

He can be wrong, sure, but one lackluster January signing does not negate every good thing he’s been doing the past several months.

AFCEdwards

The converse is also true of the people that dislike Wenger. Everything bad is his fault and there’s always an exterior influence when something goes well. The truth lies in the middle but the majority of the evidence points to Wenger being, while not the best manager in the world, the best one I want at Arsenal.

AP

Even if not, he knows more than you.

WizardOfOzil

Wenger backpeddling furiously. How clueless must he be not to have realised that Kallstrom was injured?

And in any case, it was a striker we needed. If we were going to take anyone on loan for 6 months it should have been Falcao.

Bould's Eyeliner

so he could keep Walcott company in ACL rehab? hahaha….

Previgo

Agreed mate! Even if he is currently injured

Genorious

‘Currently injured’? He’s out till at least the start of next season- how could that possibly help?
Sorry everyone for feeding the troll, but sometimes…

WizardOfOzil

Wow so what that’s a no to Falcao then?? A bit unrealistic perhaps Right then, how about Giuseppe Rossi? He’s been banging them in for Fiorentina this season. Why not try and get him on loan?

Ólafur

Because Fiorentina don’t want to loan him out?

James

@Ólafur
He is joking because Rossi is also out injured with a torn ACL

Ólafur

Oh sorry, don’t follow Italian football!

Heroldgoon

its not that you don’t follow italian football its just that you don’t give a shit who rossi is. i don’t follow the french league but i fucking know Falcao has done his knee.

Cazuz yare

That is invalid excuse Boss, you are so selfish to splash the cash and surely you need striker. I am sure you French striker will continue this boring form of striker !!

No mind the gap jokes please.

Serves him right for doing his deals at the last minute…… Again!

jason

Yeah how I see it everyone makes mistakes and he made one he makes more good decisions than bad which is why we are doing so well now 🙂

Dial square

Just seen Wenger in Lidl’s,one minute before closing time, rummaging around on the shelf full of dented tins…

Heroldgoon

Wenger: “I had a decision to make Kallstrom – do I take him or do I take no one? It was 5pm.” Problem was not taking him but being sort pressured into making a decision when you had a whole of 30 days to carefully go by your plans or unless he had no intention of bringing in someone in the first place then that would make sense. Wenger is good, very good but in all transfers letting him overule signings all the time because he doesn’t dim it “value for money or “inflated player price” etc could see us… Read more »

Ólafur

If you’re referring to Draxler, that’s all speculation. I don’t think he was the one who stopped that deal.

But I agree that the club should keep this up now that we have some money to spend. I’m sure we’ll sign some top quality players in the summer.

Wengertheresonlyone

This chap is right..wenger is brilliant in all respects, but a dean character alongside him would have landed the likes of Hazard, Mata etc seasons ago. There seems to be a history of not tolerating the financial risk of following your footballing instincts in picking players.

GoonerfromIndia

I think it is not just the big names that will win us trophies. What is even more important, is to figure out if those big names are the right ‘characters’ for this Arsenal team. One of the reasons why we are doing so well this season is that the players are putting the team above themselves. They are playing for each other and the unity is for everyone to see. So, I don’t care if we don’t get a Falcao or a Cavani, because I know, come summer, the Boss will get the right man who will fit into… Read more »

WengersNoseHair

Chel$ki are far more desperate for a striker than we are, but even with all their bags of cash they couldn’t bring in a striker. What does the anti-Wenger brigade have to say about that, eh? No doubt the media won’t have anything to say about it either, only Wenger made a hash of yet another transfer window.

And, really, what would you prefer, Kallstrom or nothing?

Igor Stepanov's career

Aren’t Kallstrom & nothing the same thing?

I am willing to bet that he will not start a single game in his loan.

Gandalf's Kebab

I can’t be mad at him when he’s getting this many wins out of the team. Might gnash my teeth a bit if we end up under the cosh but you have to take our scouts, negotiating team, CEO and board into account too.

I don’t think we can claim to know the ins and outs of our transfer dealings, so if I’m going to read a condemnation I’d prefer to read one with something to back it up other than gut feelings.

Mooo

The curious case of Kim Klasstrom.

Nicolae

Previgo,WizardOfOzil,Rad Carot do you guys wank eachother in tandem or take turns?
Falcao?Are you even…oh nevermind

Yeah yeah “Venga” sucks its just by the way of magical beans that the team has now found the “cohesion”

mike

Why is the scouting department not keeping up to date tabs on everyone above a certain level of ability at all times? surely this would enable Arsene to look at the list of reports on every position of the pitch and say this guy fits best and go hell for leather day 1 to get his man>? isnt this kind of the point of a scouting team? When Poldi Giroud etc were signed Arsene picked up considerable plaudits for acting in a timely manner, why not replicate this? make it the norm not the exception. The things were meant to… Read more »

Perry S.

in case anyone was wondering, we offered to pay for Klose as a short-term loan, but Lazio stopped the move. apparently Klose is pretty pissed about it considering Lazio have zero chance of going anywhere this season. he’s 35 and probably would have loved to see out the season in a title contending squad who also has European ambitions. sad, because we really could have used his experience and body.

Allan1340

Bla bla bla some of us just looking for something to blame Wenger for, unfaithful supporters why you don’t support other clubs in stead of AFC if u think everything our manager does is wrong?????!!!!!! We are at top of fucking table and even city won with difficulty with same Palace team you people think the world is black and white but in real world things are not just happened there is many things that we don’t know anything about, but we just open our mouth and fire something, this team and manager need our support we have to be… Read more »

zizou

hey hey, slow down there, brilliant!!

Heroldgoon

Somebody hand him a tissue paper coz Ox’s the shit!

cazorla

Shat up u f.kn big mouth

u had a de all month /January/ to buy players

if we Don win anything this year .

Wenga Out .

Desert Fox

*shut*
*you*
*fucking*
*don’t”
*Wenger*

There. Fixed it for you.

You. Are. Welcome.

Rachman Abdat

Copy & paste..

Christopher Bro

There is no need to sign anyone, just keep everyone in the squad happy and maintain everyone’s wages.

m e t h o d - man

If he had time 2 grab spartak moscow players why not welliton who is a decent, pacy brazilian striker with a good finish. A striker is so obviously needed. An injured player who isn’t as good as what we already have is very poor business considering our position. Diego went 2 atletico for 1.5 mil on the same day so he can’t say there wasn’t any good players available. We are doing so well but with city on form we need a game changer that can help us get that extra few goals and points. We are challenging for the… Read more »

Thermohaline Conveyor

Arsene Wenger is a legend, and we should all trust in him 100%, what he has done for the club, the players we have been pleasures with during his 17 years at the helm, the new stadium, the financial benefits from this, we’re stronger than ever. I’ll ask you all this question? Can you see an Arsenal without Wenger? I can’t, he breathes life into the club.

Heroldgoon

Watching Giroud try to dribble his way through a defence is a fucking eyesore. it’s like he’s fighting an invisible tsunami…….

Leave it yeah, Cazorla’s here

Fatboy Gooney

Top of the league,
Your having a laugh,
Top of the league….

So shut da fuck up moaning about wenger.

lewtooth

All the moaning and complaining about Wenger is boring now. Apparently according to some it’s a hard life being an Arsenal fan. Well if it’s that hard to watch a team who has the best defence in the premiership this season, a midfield which is bursting at the seams with world class talent, and a more than capable striker sitting on top of the league table!!!!! If it that’s hard then go and support someone else.

WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!!!!!!

santori

All these stupid comments about Wenger bringing in an injured player. Cos he has no idea how severe it is but considering the lack of options, it is worth a punt. Spartak is paying for the rehab period and there are still 11 games where kallstrom may be of invaluable back up. meanwhile all this even dumber talk about bringing draxler (who himself is injured) in for 37m when that price cold pay for 2-3 excellent players. With Chamberlain firing, Santi and Giroud recently finding the net, puts to rest the asinine rubbish spewed by the media about how we… Read more »

paulos

For all those suggesting the problem wouldn’t have arisen if the player had been brought in earlier in the transfer window: 1) The club trying to take a player do not ultimately set the schedule for when they take him – that’s down to the club offering the player. It shouldn’t have escaped your attention that the majority of loan deals for higher profile players happen on deadline day, which is mostly because the owner clubs want to keep their options open as long as possible in case of injury to other squad members etc. 2) His injury was not… Read more »

SG_Gooner

I wrote in yesterday’s sarcastic article about the injury almost the same words which Wenger used to explain the situation today. Get real guys! Wenger was never going to sign anyone in this window. A backup striker if one was available to his liking maybe. But no one who could fit OUR SYSTEM was either available or suitable or released. By now after 8 years of frustrating winter transfer windows we should know that Wenger will never be held random by selling clubs and Thank God for it. I rather have a manager who thinks of the long term success… Read more »

SG_Gooner

I wrote in yesterday’s sarcastic article about the injury almost the same words which Wenger used to explain the situation today. Get real guys! Wenger was never going to sign anyone in this window. A backup striker if one was available to his liking maybe. But no one who could fit OUR SYSTEM was either available or suitable or released. By now after 8 years of frustrating winter transfer windows we should know that Wenger will never be held random by selling clubs and Thank God for it. I rather have a manager who thinks of the long term success… Read more »

gooners n roses

I for one quite curious to see how Kallstrom plays with us. Clearly a different type of midfielders we have in years.

goon

Transfer market open for month long but sometimes it takes more than that to stuck a deal..its not like bargaining in the flea market..not as simple as that..plus, its not Wenger faults if he refuse to buy mata..remember what mourinho said when arsenal try to bid demba ba?.

Ali-1

THE QUESTION HERE IS: Why on earth did you sale Gervinho? The way I see it, if not sold Gervinho would have provided the much needed cover for us. He plays central, wide and even strikes!

Indian gooner

He was poor when he played for us.Roma was a change of scene coupled with a coach who understands him.

Drew10

I read one comment about “another transfer window where we have be let down. Wenger out” I had to point out that was this the same Wenger that presided over transfer windows that brought in Ozil, Flamini, Giroud, Podolski, Mertasacker in the last few transfer windows?

Surely any football fan knows that the Jan transfer window is about just topping up your squad if you can. It is very rare that you can bring in someone who a. is of proven quality and b. is not cup-tied for CL.

Anyone who can’t see that is an idiot.

Rectum_Spectrum

everyone’s a critic of wenger, even arsenal fans, because they know for sure that nothing else was attempted earlier. i’m not saying it was, i’m saying i don’t know either so won’t blindly criticise.

give it a fucking rest, jesus…..

Indian gooner

Do all the nay-sayers promise they will get back and admit they were wrong..in May,,after kallstrom does a flamini-esque perfomance and gets us to the trophy?

Robbie

It still amazes me how the wannabe arsenal managers bang on about Wenger, the buying policy… Yadee ya dee. Buying a player is not like going supermarket shopping, choosing who you want from the shelves. There are so many variables. Sure we might want say Diego Costa, maybe he don’t want to come, we don’t want him for good reason. The selling club won’t sell! There are so many potential problems too many to list so please, leave it to the expert. Wenger has shown he knows best when buying. His successes far out way the failures. Would you rather… Read more »

UFB

I remember Kim Kallström playing for Lyon, and he was a very strong, solid player, difficult to overcome, a pillar on which the team could rely. And he could score goals. The same kind of player than Arteta. Apart from the fact he is injured, which is kind of… disturbing, I think he is a great signing: the guy is good and brings a strong experience (inculding in winning trophies, actually). Another point. A new rumor for the next transfer window. A French sport website said that, thanks to the Puma agreement, Arsenal already has a deal with Falcao for… Read more »

Wenger admirer

Why did we leave the Kalstrom signing to the last minute? This seems to be the question everybody is asking, but the answer is so simple and obvious: Because the extent of Ramsey’s absence was not confirmed till last Wednesday (or even Thursday?) So that left about 24 hours indeed to do something about it. I do not understand how the club ‘should’ have anticipated ANOTHER injury/setback before it actually happened. That is the only thing what ‘baffles’ me: how so many critics of Arsene’s transfer dealings completely ignore the simple fact of the bad timing of Ramsey’s setback, confirmed… Read more »

Julio Baptista's humble alter ego

Spot on mate, I’m so grateful there are people like yourself out there who have common sense. You’d think we were Man U, the way some fans have been whinging.

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