Gyan Leaves Sunderland on Loan

What, me worry?

I'm not sure how this works outside of the transfer window, but Asamoah Gyan has left Sunderland. From Sunderland's official website:

Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan is set to join United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain on loan.

Officials from Al-Ain made contact with Sunderland earlier in the week with a view to signing the player on a permanent deal. After further discussions overnight however, it was agreed that the striker would join the club on a season-long loan.

Sunderland AFC would like to thank the officials from Al-Ain for the professional manner in which they entered into negotiations and the club wishes all parties well.

Manager Steve Bruce said: "Anyone who has seen Asamoah play will know that he hasn't been himself in recent months. This option suits all parties at the present time and the club is well-protected in the deal.

"Asamoah has three years remaining on his contract and of course my wish would be that he finds his spark again and we see him in red and white stripes next season in the form that first attracted us to him."

Gyan never settled at Sunderland, although he certainly had some highlights. This leaves Nicklas Bendtner as their only "experienced" Premier League striker, with Connor Wickham and the Bishop, Ji Dong-Won the other forwards. After today's match against Chelsea, Sunderland host Stoke, travel to Norwich and host West Brom. Bendtner under 6 could be a useful option and his schedule compares favorably against Adebayor's, who is similarly priced.

Swap Meet

Funny thing about this transfer window is that teams have seemingly stocked up on redundant players rather than addressing clearer needs.  Also, we've seen a further concentration of players at the top as the biggest clubs fill out their 25-man rosters with full internationals while clubs below them are looking to academy and youth players to play a larger first-team role.  How do we address this?  Not being shy of an opinion, we offer our solution:

Based on the rumoured "Nasri for Tevez" swap, here are some ideas for player swaps that would help both sides.

Drogba for Modric
Chelsea want Modric, but Spurs are playing hardball and demanding an exorbitant fee.  Spurs are desperate for a striker, any striker, to help keep them in the hunt for Champions League football.  So, let's swap players!

Meireles for Shawcross
Stoke are desperate for some source of creativity in their central midfield and we're all well aware of Liverpool's glut of players in that department.  Also, Liverpool are looking to shore up their central defence as Carragher continues to age and neither Skrtel or Agger can put together a consistent run of matches.   So, let's swap players!

Adebayor for Aquilani
Back to Liverpool's bloated squad.  This swap makes sense for both teams in terms of shoring up their squads where they lack depth.  Adebayor would be an excellent "understudy" for Carroll as he would bring many of the same attributes to the team - good in the air, headcase, etc.  In return, Manchester City get another creative player who could be cover for Silva or be an alternative to Milner in the middle of the park. So, let's swap players!

Cahill, Reo-Coker for Vela, Bendtner, and Oxlade-Chamberlain
Bolton are reasonably well represented in central midfield with Muamba, Holden, Pratley, M Davies, S Davis as "specialists" while Ricardo Gardner can also play there.  They also have a ready-made replacement for Cahill in David Wheater.  In return for sending their commanding center-back to Arsenal they would get the attacking tools that they desperately need.  Bendtner could play though the middle with, or in place of, Davies while Vela can play across the front line.  In Oxlade-Chamberlain, Owen Coyle would get another youngster to mould and would provide cover on the wings with Chyong-Lee out with his broken leg.  So, let's swap players!

What swaps would you propose?

What Makes a Good Squad Player

I had an interesting interaction with a reporter/writer that I was not familiar with until yesterday. His name is Tom Williams and he can be found on Twitter at @Tomwfootball. His original tweeted premise, on the occasion of Patrick Vieira's retirement as an active player, was spot on.

Measure of Vieira's impact: players like Abou Diaby mistakenly typecast as defensive midfielders just because they have a similar physique.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyTom Williams
tomwfootball

There is an entire generation of lanky midfielders - mostly French or French-speaking West African - who have been labeled "next Vieira" while their managers, journalists and supporters attempt to push them into the "Vieira role", defined as box-to-box action with a heavy emphasis on the holding role. Not as holding-only as Makelele, but certainly far better and more focused on that role than someone like Pirlo or Alonso who is more deep-lying distributor.

As Mr. Williams indicates in his Tweet, it is a huge tribute to Vieira that the desire to find the next one of him caused managers to stop looking at a player's actual qualities and just assume that he should fit a certain mold. My response, which was perhaps a bit extreme but still valid at the core was that not only some players - most notably Yaya Toure - have been mis-categorized as holding midfielders by managers, the media, and supporters. There are also players, like Abou Diaby, who have been miscast as being better than they actually are because of the hope that they will eventually fulfill that "Next Vieira" promise.

@tomwfootball mistakenly typecast as DMs in the case of say Yaya Toure, miscast as top flight footballers period in the case of Diabyless than a minute ago via yoono Favorite Retweet ReplyNeal Thurman
nealjthurman

Mr. Williams didn't think very highly of my opinion of Diaby as being "miscast as a top flight player" which got me to thinking about what makes a good squad player.  I think we'd all agree (even Mr. Williams) that Diaby hasn't shown enough that even a bottom half team would buy him with the intention of him being a regular starter.  Between injury and lack of consistent production (either attacking or defending) he just isn't as good as midfielders currently starting in the Prem.  Higher up the table he wouldn't be rated as of high enough quality.  Farther down the table, his abilities might shine a bit more in comparison to current starters but his inability to stay on the field for more than a few matches at a time would make him a poor choice.

In an effort to re-examine my reply to Mr. Williams' Tweet, I started thinking about what makes a good squad player in an effort to determine whether I over-reacted in saying that Diaby has been miscast as a top flight player (at least in England).  Here's what I came up with as far as constructing reserves:

Sunderland Analysis - Lots of Transfer Activity

I've already gone on record in thinking that NUFC are among the mid-table clubs that have done very well for themselves thus far.  They've gone from highly volatile and a bit long in the tooth to more solid if perhaps a little less potentially spectacular.  West Brom has quietly solidified themselves in the back with some solid acquisitions as well.  That brings us to Sunderland who have stepped up the pace dramatically in the last ten days with three (relatively) high profile signings in Connor Wickham, Seb Larsson, and Craig Gardner to go along with depth in Keiran Westwood and my new favorite Premier League player "Bishop Magic" Dong-won.

So, how to the new signings look? First of all, I really like the Wickham move.  Here's my logic:

Seb Larsson to Sunderland

Photo courtesy USA.Arsenal.com

Sunderland begin rebuilding their midfield.

Swede Larsson leaves Birmingham for Sunderland - Yahoo! Eurosport

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has agreed to sign Swedish international Sebastian Larsson from his old club Birmingham City.

I think this is a good signing. Larsson has always produced when given extended runs in the team and he seems like the type of player that would respond well to Bruce's more player-friendly management style.

My concern would be that he's not a good fit for the current Sunderland side. It's hard to imagine him and Kieran Richardson playing inside-out wingers around Asamoah Gyan. Larsson just doesn't strike me as the type of player who will cut inside and run at players. He won't be replacing Welbeck, and he's a different player from the returning Campbell. He'll stick to his flank and send in beautiful crosses. That's what he does. But for that to be effective he needs someone on the end of those balls. It's no surprise that his best spell with Birmingham came in the Championship with Nicklas Bendtner also shining.

So I would expect the other shoe to drop and Sunderland to be buying the target forward they've been missing since they sold Kenwyne Jones and then Darren Bent. And, because nothing is more fun, let me start the rumour right now -- Sunderland will follow this purchase by buying Nicklas Bendtner from Arsenal.

Why not?

Nicklas Bendtner could miss season start

Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner could miss the start of the new Premier League season because of a groin injury.

The striker had surgery to rectify the problem in November last year, but said the pain had returned during Denmark's World Cup campaign in South Africa.

The 22-year-old said he struggles to get out of bed at times and has cut short a holiday to return for scans.

"I have spoken to Arsenal throughout the holiday and I am having a big scan when I return this week," he said.

The "Arsenal injury crisis" starts early this season. Good think they've secured Chamakh.

Bendtner Doubt for Birmingham

Other absentees against Birmingham will be Thomas Vermaelen through suspension, and possibly Nicklas Bendtner, who went off injured against West Ham.

Wenger admits that the Dane is not yet back in training, but hopes to have him back in time for the weekend.

He said: "He should be OK. He is not back in training yet because he has an ankle problem, but he will have a late test tomorrow morning and should be available.

"I have not picked the team yet, but I expect him to be available.

I'm not likely to sell him at 5 and change. But something to think about for anyone with him closer to or at current value.

UPDATE:  All that goes double for Drogba.

LATER UPDATE:  All that also goes double for Rooney.  Though of the three, he seems the most likely to miss out this week.  So maybe it goes for half.

Fantasy Injury Focus - Arsenal

The great entertainers, and the great source of fantasy points over the years.  Also, a great source of injury frustration as year after year players come in and disappear into the training room only to reappear briefly and inevitably too early, finding themselves injured all over again.

The latest blow is of course Robin van Persie being ruled out for two months with ankle ligament damage. But that's by no means the extent of Arsenal's woes. They were already missing Bendtner, Walcott, Vela, Djourou, Clichy, Denilson and added Diaby (calf) and Gibbs (foot or ankle, depending on who you read) to the list after their latest international commitments. And Arsenal have only just gotten Rosicky and Nasri back from their long-term injuries.

So what can we expect from Arsenal against Sunderland? Wenger is very stubborn when it comes to formations. He stuck with 4-4-2 forever, and will likely use his new 4-3-3 regardless of who is available to play. Almunia is entrenched in goal again. The back four likely is Sagna - Vermaelan - Gallas - Silvestre, though another option would be to bring Senderos into the center of defence and move Gallas to left back where he has been unhappy, but very effective for Arsenal and Chelsea before that.

The midfield three will likely be Cesc playing in front of Song and Nasri with Nasri replacing Diaby and having more license to get forward. Ramsey would also be an option, having played really well against Wolves. The front three would seemingly have to be Arshavin - Eduardo - Rosicky.

Eboue is a wildcard in all of this. He would give the squad more balance as Nari, Rosicky, Eduardo and Arsahvin all favor the left if they can't play through the middle. Maybe, just maybe, Wenger does go back to the 4-4-2 with Rosicky and Eboue on the wings and Arshavin and Eduardo pushed up front together.

However they line-up, Sunderland probably won't have to face a barage of crosses or long punts into the box. This will be a diminutive team with Song the long 6-footer. Arsenal may win tons of corner kicks, but I would be stunned if they were to convert any of them. Expect lots of CWs, but very few SCs.  On the other hand, Reid may have a big day if he gets the chance to aim crosses at Bent and Jones (and Turner et al coming up from the back).

Clichy suffers stress fracture

We won't see Bendtner or Clichy again for a month

via Sky Sports:

Arsenal defender Gael Clichy is facing a month on the sidelines after suffering a suspected stress fracture in his lower back.

The left-back is an integral member of Arsene Wenger's first XI but has been forced onto the treatment table after sustaining the injury.

France international Clichy will miss Wednesday's UEFA Champions League clash with AZ Alkmaar and the next European clash against Standard Liege on 24th November.

The problem will also keep him out of the reckoning for the forthcoming Premier League games against Wolves, Sunderland and London rivals Chelsea.

Gibbs is 6.23 and looks a good bet all of a sudden.

Also, with Bendtner out for a similar length of time, a Premier League fantasy manager's eyes will wander to Eduardo (8.28) or the perpetually returning Rosicky (9.06).