Arsene Wenger has described loan signing Kim Kallstrom as ‘marvellous’ and intimated he’s ready to use the Swedish international from the start in future games.
The 31-year-old midfielder, who signed on loan from Spartak Moscow on deadline day in January, made his long awaited debut off the bench against Swansea impressing with his portfolio of passes and as a physical presence in the centre of the park.
Speaking to Arsenal Player about the experienced Swede, Wenger had nothing but good things to say:
“I’m convinced that he can be important for starting or coming on in the games because he has the experience, he has quality and his attitude is fantastic.
“He has an absolutely fantastic attitude. He’s a credit to the job because of his attitude, his focus and his determination. He works hard, he’s helpful and he’s marvellous.”
The boss also had warm words for captain Thomas Vermaelen who looks set to continue in the centre of defence in the absence of Laurent Koscielny.
“We know Thomas has paid a heavy price for having Laurent and Per who worked well together but he has an opportunity to show how good he is and I’m sure he will take it.”
Oh Kimmy that’s one hell of a ball
Remember the comments (including the ones on Arseblog) when we signed him? I remember them just slating off the guy before he even played a game, and kept insulting Wenger. Now people want him to start ahead of Arteta, saying he’s amazing, and of course no credit to Wenger. Meanwhile on the official page of Arsenal, a post saying Happy Birthday to Arteta is filled with pricks asking him to leave the club on his BIRTHDAY?!
I swear our fans used to be classy, where did these fickle idiots come from?
Every Arsenal-fan I know are classy individuals, but when I go on the internet and see discussions on a Norwegian sports website I regularily visit, there’s a lot of childish people claiming that Arteta is going to be the end of the entire team, as well as other trolls.
Doesn’t help with the Manure, Chelski and Mugsmashers-supporters on that site being absolutely oblivious to common sense.
Yeah, even most of the ones I know in real life are respectable. But the ones representing us to the rest of the world on the internet apparently are some of the worst fans I’ve seen in my life. That Arteta birthday post I was talking about, this was 5 min after it was posted. http://imgur.com/gTk36Oj Thank God by now 2-3 of the top comments are defending Arteta, but even if you go now you’ll probably be able to spot the ones insulting him with hundreds of likes. Seriously, some of these people disgust me. But yeah, don’t want to… Read more »
Hvilken nettside? VG, Dagbladet eller noen ting litt mer eksotisk?
Thats really sad about Arteta. simply cant do that to lego hair. Has his flaws but certainly shouldnt be treated this way! fucks!
They came from the internet..
So many bellend’s with access to a keyboard.
He have played 1/6th of a game for Arsenal, perhaps abit soon to declare him a success?. He did not play regularly for Spartak, So I think people are right to be skeptical about what he could bring to Arsenal.
Personally i will reserve my judgement until i see him play more games.
Spot on Rocky, he played 10 minutes and now he is a genius!
it would be typical of Wenger to give him his first start against Toure and Fernandinho where he will be potentially pummeled by two powerful pacey midfielders.
@Just A Gentleman
Success meant we obtained fans that were only interested in success, so when things go sour they act like spoilt little children.
It happened to Man City as well. Traditionally they always had ‘proper’ fans, the sort that would stick by them through thick and thin (most of the time is was very thin), but now they have the glory hunters who throw a tantrum whenever things go slightly bad. Imagine how they’d have reacted when Man City got relegated twice!
And Chelsea…no wait, their fans have always been hideous bottom-dwellers.
The fans who started to follow the club because of Wenger’s success are the ones who are most vocal for him to go. Not that others aren’t, its just they retain a bit of respect for arguably the greatest manager we’ve ever had and are perhaps a bit cautious with their views. Success increases quality on the pitch and lowers it in the stands.
When you are looking for cover for injured players, signing one that is ‘pre-injured’ is phenominally stupid.
Just a Gentleman, Football fans are generally fickle. And of course double double is also right. Too many gloryhunters who jumped on the wagon when Arsenal was owning the epl. For the newcomers i can understand their fickleness, but the older arsenal fans, who have seen a neanderthal style of play and an average club going for the occasional success once every while and have also seen the “great big back5” getting lobed in saragosa final in dying seconds…..well it makes me wonder what kind of ideas they had of Arsenal status on a world football stage before wenger came… Read more »
As a swedeI really like Källström and want him too do good but the truth is, he’s just not that good anymore. We should have bought him ten years ago and I truly believe he would have become a great player for us. A new Ray Parlour. Today he is ok. He would be good for teams like Cardiff, Sunderland and Hull but not a title contender. He got the spririt, the passion, the strenght and a great left foot but he lacks the pace, the stamina and the power for a high tempo PL game. Like the one against… Read more »
Wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately, the frustration for the fair weather muppets had reached a crescendo before Ozil was bought, tempered during the winning run, but the minute there’s been a drawback, it’s reared it’s ugly head again. All of these cats talk about being “winners” etc etc, they just don’t realize how good we have it. I mean god forbid you supported the English football or cricket team or the Knicks or Chicago Cubs. All traditional teams that have won fuckall in the last 40 years. Can’t understand where the joy of watching football (which is why you started supporting the… Read more »
God gave Kim Källström to you,
gave Kim Källström to you,
put him in the soul of everyone!
Wow. That’s A LOT of attitude..
Sexy bastard
Get it right, it’s Källström.
He deserves our respect!
^ Kim so blatantly wrote that
I still don’t even know how you do those things on your keyboard.
Ahaha touché…
So lined myself up for that.
He looked good the other night. And keen.
Maybe it was the fact he was “fresh” whereas the rest of our squad are just trolling around waiting for the season to end.
It won’t get better next year either as most of our squad will be going to Brazil, thus not giving players enough rest between seasons, I am willing to bet that at least 1 of our stars will get a big injury in the world cup forcing him to miss the first 3 months of the season.
I want him to do Charlie Adam right up the arse and then blow his load.
That is a repulsive wish. Why would anyone want to be within 10 miles of Charlie “Prince Goblin” Adam, let alone doing him up the arse?
Pretty sure bestiality is still illegal
Sign him up Wenger!
He’s a big fella. Gonna need a bit of presence against yaya. Why not give him a go. It’s going to be difficult anyway and everyone else looks fucked.
I just hope we don’t beat out his penchant for tasty long balls ( yes i know what I said ). The one for hfb against swansea could have been a real goal scoring opportunity, you know, for an actual striker.
Am not trying to defend Giroud on that one but our attacking mids have not been any supportive. Here http://giant.gfycat.com/DeadDisguisedEquestrian.gif we see Santi running behind Kim instead of following the flow when we make an attacking move. I have watched Santi do that severally this season; particularly in the game against Stoke.
He should definitely start. We need fresh legs and people with motivation, he’s fighting for a new contract at the very least.
And he shits all over mesuts single umlaut..
That pass also highlighted what was wrong with our counter attack play. While it was a great pass to pick out Giroud who had drifted out wide in to space, there were no midfielders running through the middle to support the attack, Only Poldoski on the far side. Arteta and Cazorla were in own half, too far to influence the attach.
Hey guys….”attitude”
That long pass Källström did left me believing that he’s going to be playing an important role in the next few games as we round up the season. I’ve also watched quite a lot of videos of him lately, and what a player he is.
Great pass but then what……
….we had Giroud with the ball with not a single player within 40yds of him.
Kind of service Suarez would thrive on.
Even his passes have attitude.
@Just a gent, football has always been full of fickle fans (or “idiots”, as you put it), its just in these days of “social media”, where anyone with an internet connection can have their say, it seems more prominent.
Sometimes you just gotta look at them, tut, shake your head and walk away.
Wonder when the ageism will be shown by arsene in kims case too.
Am a bit surprised at arsene wenger on his recent decision to bring in old and experienced players. But he can as well offload players who are not performing. Giroud lacks class and precision, arteta is simply a waste buzzing bee who cant make honey. Get them all out…
Dude had an impressive 15 minutes when the whole team looked shaky but i am not one to judge a player on that. He is a very good player but I say slow down. but i like the fact that he has the height, structure and strength, something in short supply in our midfield.
Isn’t it ironic we have spent most to the season drooling over the prospect of having all midfield options available. unfortunately it was never to be. And that has exposed Giroud more than would have been possible had walcott and Ramsey been fit.
What’s his attitude like though?
Well, urrr, I fink vat errrr, kallstrom has a great attichud, and errrr, he has a lot of deturrmination.
Why should there be something wrong with wantin something different???
Wenger never won a Champions League when he had the best striker in the world (Henry) and Viera, Bergkamp, etc and there were no serious super teams and teams like Porto won the Champions League but we expect him to become a genius and start winning meaningful cups now??? It’s a stretch.
He’s done done the bare minimum with the resources he’s always had. But now, there should be nothing wrong with wanting different.
Just saw the posts on the arsenal fb page to Mikel, wow we have some shit fans! This is what the internet has brought, idiots a place to make their stupidity public. Really embarrassing that they call themselves fans of Arsenal. Mikel is a great player that england would have love in their midfield. He is not playing in his favorite position but is doing a great job. Kallstrom is a nice addition to the mix but is just a gap filler, a bit of a xabi Alonso type. Real gunners support the players and the team!
To be fair, every football club has illiterate Facebook fans
and they probably aren’t even Arsenal fans, just trolls
Give K K a go what harm can it do. We need some fresh legs and he is an experienced pro.
Desperate is as desperate does !
Says alot about our team right now when a Spatark Moscow spare “may” be the business for us. You saw only 10 mins of the guy, maybe pipe down abit and approach all this with a handbrake.
Thierry Henry was a Juventus spare.
Patrick Vieira was an AC Milan spare.
A player can be shit for one club but then be fantastic for another club that suits his style better. Use Ozil as a reference!!
That left foot looks like a cannon!
Full of exquisite timing. Can’t wait to see him line up over a free kick 25 out.
Well we have been lacking in the direct free kick department for many years. Kallstrom scores some mean freekicks
Lineup against City
———————Szczesny—————–
Sagna–Mertesacker–Vermalen–Gibbs
———–Flamini———Källström————
Ox—————Rosicky————Podolski
——————–Giroud———————-
Subs : Cazorla in for Rosicky, Gnabry for Podolski and Arteta For Källström??
I think your lineup works. But I rather have Podolski on the bench. He is a terrific impact, 2nd half, past the 65 min sub. That is when he is at his most productive, watching the match unfolds and deciding what he wants to do.
I think Ox and Gnabry on the wing, Rosicky and Kallstrom pulling the strings in the middle
Sanogo up front and then Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski to come on as subs
Problem is that he is going to get overrun in the middle if he plays, just not enough pace and also surely not up to being able to last long with just last Tuesday’s game action under his belt since mid-Fall. He has only 20 minutes of Premier League action and we are going up against one of the best teams in England with one of the world’s best (and physically dominant midfielders in Toure). If he does start I assume Wenger will keep Flamini in there and have Artera a bit further forward as he did Tuesday with either… Read more »
As a swede who always want’s him in the international starting eleven I think he didn’t do to well against Swansea. For a midfielder that’s just been substituted on I don’t think that he ran enough…
Källström > Benayoun