Wenger gets a B...but barely.

Phew...so once again at the last moment, Wenger wakes up and realizes he needs to add to his roster. This season he added some quality in German play-maker Ozil. Good signing. Adding this world class midfielder to the likes of Carzola with speed on the wings in Ox and Walcott and you might have something.

Coming to a North London pitch near you

Then once Diaby comes back to full fitness...hahaaa...sorry had to throw that fantasy into the conversation. But why do I only give Wenger a B? Here is why:

• Why keep waiting to the last minute? I realize that Ozil probably could not have been signed until the Bale deal went down. But the fact Wenger was waiting for another team's transfer to occur before he got off the sidelines is a little disconcerting. It feels as if Wenger's transfers seem to hinge around last minute deadlines...why don't we sign a big name in, say, July instead?
• Not enough...still. Ozil is a huge signing, don't get me wrong, but Arsenal needs more. They need another striker - Higuain, Suarez (thankfully didn't happen), Benzema or Rooney - were all rumored on the Arsenal wish list. Yet all of them fell through. Add to this Ba and once again Arsenal was not able to get a player they coveted (I do think Ba was a long shot to go from Chelsea to Arsenal). What about Di Maria? More excess inventory at Real Madrid, rumored to be heading to Arsenal...why couldn't that deal be done? Adding Di Maria to the wings would have been a huge win coupled with Ozil.

End of the day I am glad that Wenger spent money and got a world class player in the deal. Giroud should also be very happy from all the service he will be offered from this world class midfielder. Unfortunately Wenger needed to add more pieces for me to truly believe the Gunners can challenge for more than a 4th place EPL finish and maybe a cup semi final.

You get a B Arsene, could have been an A if you had brought in Ba and Di Maria or a D if Ozil had not made it under the transfer deadline!

Jup Oranje already in trouble!

Another reason why the Euro is a great tournament, and why I am not a fan of the expansion for the next version (I liked it when it was only 8 teams, made for instant drama) - 4 games in and already we have teams in crisis!

Day 1 turned out to be not as drab as one might have thought. The Poland v Greece game ended with some controversial officiating - yellow card for going to head the ball? Really? Red card, penalty and save for Poland...game ends 1-1 so both sides will fancy their chances to advance. The advantage might go to the  Greeks since they face what appears to be a sieve of a Czech team while Poland has to face the offensive minded Russians.



What is really interesting is what happened today. Denmark sprung the surprise, defeating the Dutch 1-0.  I was only able to listen to the game on satellite radio and from the high lights I saw afterwards it appears that the Dutch missed on a few opportunities while the Danes did what they do best - play steady and collective football. In the other match, Germany secured the essential 3 points of a win, but I was not impressed by the pre-tournament favorites. Then again style does not matter, the three points do. However the Germans should consider themselves fortunate that Pepe could not find the happy side of the woodwork at the end of the first half and that Varela couldn't beat Neuer late in the match. The German offense seemed slow - where was Ozil? Looking at the statistics one would think that Portugal would have at least earned a draw - 2 posts hit and 7 corner kicks (Germany had 2).

This sets up a wonderful second day for Group B. With Germany facing hated rival Holland and Denmark and Portugal squaring off. Holland has to win the game, they could be fine with only a draw but that would place a tremendous amount of pressure on them for the final game. Germany, in case of a win, would be assured to go through and could rest players for the final game. Plus both teams hate each other! Should make for a juice match. In the other match, Portugal and Denmark face off again after being in the same qualifiers where they split their matches and the Danes finished top of group. Denmark will be happy with a draw, while Portugal has to also look for a win. Much of how this group will turn out depends on the Germany v Holland match. Holland must win, so it should prove to be a charged up match! Looking forward to that!

Ozil on his way out at Werder Bremen? Another blow to Bundesliga aspirations

So a post I wrote about Raul and the Bundesliga stirred up some great conversation about the place in Europe for the Germany domestic league. Clearly from a business and financial position the German league is in an enviable position.However the point I argued is that if the German league continues to lose its young stars - Khedira heading to Real Madrid example #1 - it will not live up to the lofty stature some believe it can. The potential move of Ozil would continue this trend. The latest rumor, which is not really a rumor since the noise has been there since prior to World Cup, is that the Turkish - German play-maker is looking to make a move away from his current club. The likely destinations appear to point to the EPL....surprise surprise. Clearly this is not a surprise. Werder Bremen is a solid Bundesliga side, but clearly not in the category of a Bayern Munich in terms of appeal and financial heft.

So does this spell the doom of Werder or the Bundesliga? Of course not. And a point that fellow podcaster Gooner made - the financial situation in the EPL, La Liga and Serie A will eventually catch up to them and this could allow the profitable Bundesliga to take advantage of that situation. While this might come to fruition, I think we will see the EPL and La Liga still attract and purchase the biggest names on the transfer market in the near future. While the Bundesliga will chase the likes of Raul and Ballack, great players and names but players on the tail end of careers. I guess this is better than Ligue 1 which seems to have its players all run off to Turkey....Gouvou, Boumsong heheehheeeee.....