Fabianski Injured, Merida Negotiations Continue, Gibbs for England?

By: Martin | October 29th, 2009

Just several random things going on today, none of which really deserve their own post, so I figured I would just dump them in here together.

First, Lukasz Fabianski, who many were predicting would become Arsenal’s # 1 goalkeeper when he returned to health, hurt his thigh in last night’s Carling Cup fixture and will be out until after the international break in November. This was unrelated to his knee injury, so he wasn’t rushed back, just seems to be a random injury. Also, at present it’s kind of funny on the official site, which has a story entitled “Fabianski–I am so happy to be back again” just below the newest story, “Keeper Fabianski ruled out for 3 weeks.” That’s Arsenal in a nutshell right there. Wenger says he’s not sure who will start in goal on Saturday, but will decide after training on Friday. As I’ve said before, I hate this keeper by committee mess, and think Wenger needs to sort it out sooner rather than later. Competition for places is one thing, but having no idea who’s going to be in the net between one game and the next is detrimental to the team.

In “starting to become worrying” news, Fran Merida has yet to sign a new contract with Arsenal. His contract is up at the end of the season, and while he says he wants to remain a Gunner, he has already rejected one offer of a five-year deal. Several Spanish clubs, including Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, have been monitoring his progress and would no doubt love to have him in their set-up. He’s making a lot of progress, and I was happy to see him score his first senior goal last night. The fact that Wenger decided to keep him with the squad instead of letting him leave on loan is evidence that Wenger thinks he is a valuable asset and capable of contributing to the team. If he is patient, works hard, and continues to develop, he will be an important part of the senior set-up in a year or two. Speculating about the future is always dangerous, but screw it, let’s have a little fun for a second–can you imagine in 2-3 years a midfield of Cesc, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ramsey, Denilson, Nasri, Song, and Merida? All those guys look like they will turn into excellent players, and the thought of that group serving as a unit reaching their prime together is salivating. It’s encouraging that he says he wants to stay, but that’s what Flamini said, too, right up until he left for Milan. This bears watching, but hopefully we’ll get him back under contract soon. Also, I may be wrong on this, but due to his age, he’s not allowed to leave without compensation as long as we’ve offered him a contract, right?

Also, England boss Fabio Capello attended the match yesterday to get a view of Kieran Gibbs, who apparently put in an excellent performance. Gibbs seems awfully young to be representing England on the senior level, but has shown himself to be quite a player in limited action. And after Cashley, it’s not like England has an abundance of options at left-back. Gibbs may very well be better than Wayne Bridge right now, or possibly will be by the time summer comes around. And the fact that he can play right-back is to his benefit, as well. I can actually seem him making the squad and traveling to South Africa as kind of a fifth fullback/reserve defender type, who is handy to have around in practice and may never even make the bench for a game, but is good to have on the roster in case of injury. Wenger has backed him, and it would be a nice experience for the youngster, I hope he gets the call.

Hull Boss Phil Brown Finally, Phil Brown (pictured at right) was the subject of reports that he had been fired as Hull City boss a few days ago, but the reports were apparently wrong. He stays in charge for now, but all is clearly not well at the KC Stadium, and you’d have to think he wouldn’t survive a few more bad performances. I normally try to sympathize with managers under the gun, because they are often held to ridiculous, unrealistic standards by fans and ownership (Avram Grant was inches away from winning the Champions League, and got fired), but after “loogie-gate” in the FA Cup quarterfinal last season (you can read my original thoughts on it here), I have no respect at all for Brown, and won’t be sorry to see him go, I have to say.