The Bosingwa Theory

By Cian Boyling
In Guest Bloggers
May 28th, 2012
11 Comments

Today at ’North London Is Red’ I am delighted to welcome my first ever guest blogger, Cian Boyling (@ciansblog). Cian is a young up and coming blogger and I’m sure you are going to enjoy reading his post and the debate that is sure to rage on afterwards. Thanks @thedanielcowan. Take it away Cian…..

Hello fellow Gooners. I’m the newest addition to this whole blogging thing so don’t be too hard on me. Thanks to Daniel for giving me the opportunity to post on his website.

So as the title says, I’m going to be talking about Jose Bosingwa who has been released on a free transfer by Chelsea. I think a player of his ability and experience could be of great use to Arsenal next season as we are severely lacking in players that have the experience of not just challenging but actually winning league titles. Gervinho and Chamakh have won the French league but apart from that no-one in our club has been part of a title-winning side. We are also lacking in players that have experience of the premier league. Bosingwa could bring both of those to us.

Bosingwa has won 2 Champions Leagues, 3 Portuguese Leagues, 1 Premier League title and 3 FA Cups. He has made 24 appearances for Portugal, starring in Euro 2008 and being included in the team of the tournament. He is now retired from international football which is another plus as he can’t get injured or fatigued while others are off on duty.

Bosingwa was outstanding in Chelsea’s unfortunate Champions League run and eventual triumph. After replacing Gary Cahill after 12 minutes against Barcelona he played out of position for 78 minutes and acquitted himself well against one of the best club sides of all time. Then in the final he gagged and tied Franc Ribery, one of the best wingers in football, and kept him quiet as a mouse. He also kept Messi quiet for an entire game in 2009, only our very own Koscielny can say the same thing.

José Bosingwa

Some may say that he is too obsessed with bombing forward and leaves the defence open and whilst I agree this was a problem when he was younger I believe that this season, in the games I watched him, he was not too reckless in his attacking. He had a good sense of when and when not to go forward, which is essential for all full-backs. He has lost a bit of pace but I believe him to still be one of the fastest full-backs in the league.

With Sagna out again and Jenkinson not yet ready for the role I believe we are in need of a right-back. If we signed Bosingwa we would have an international defender to cover for Sagna and we could loan out Jenkinson to gain experience. I believe this would stop us having to play Coquelin or Koscielny out of position. Win-win.

Acquisitions like this have a history of working out well. For example:

Paul Scholes came back into a Man Utd team lacking creativity and leadership.They had just lost to Newcastle 3-0 and their title challenge was looking shaky and their summer acquisitions were showing their inexperience of challenging for titles. The desire to win seemed to be dwindling. On 8th Jan he came back to help United beat City and United subsequently went on an unbeaten run in the league that lasted two months. He scored 4 goals and held the whole team together and was by far their best player. He brought back that winning mentality and experience of challenging for titles and helped them to second place on goal difference alone.

Paul Scholes

Sol Campbell came to Arsenal in one of the most infamous transfers in football history. Having played for Spurs, Sol obviously never won much so naturally his desire to win and his desire to be the best led him to Arsenal. He had what Bosingwa has; bags of experience. He had played for 9 years in the league already so like Bosingwa he was used to the league and he could slot straight into our team.He had already played in 3 major international tournaments,starring in 2 of them. Bosingwa’s switch could be similar to Sol’s; leaving on a free to one of his teams arch rivals.

Sol Campbell

Mikel Arteta has been our best signing for a long time. He was criticized for being a poor man’s Fabregas when he joined but in reality he is a completely different player and exactly what we needed. Arteta above all others, even RVP, brought a sense of calmness, confidence and experience to the situation the club was in. We had just lost our two most valuable players and had lost 8-2 to United, probably the clubs most embarrassing day ever. Arteta came in, took the hold of the defensive midfielder job and just simply controlled the pitch allowing the others to display their attacking skills. He quickly became one of our most influential and important players confirmed by the fact that we only won one game without him.

Arteta

It’s clear that players of experience and talent in the right team can make a huge difference and our January form demonstrated how important having full-backs is. So my opinion is that a move for Bosingwa would be a very smart move indeed.

So that’s my first ever blog guys, let me know what you think and please follow me on twitter @CiansBlog. Thanks again Daniel for this opportunity.

Well done Cian. It’s a decent proposal and one that I’m sure could have merit. I’m certain there will be lots of views from both sides of the fence.

Thanks for reading guys and helping me support my fellow Gooner bloggers. Please do leave your comments and don’t forget to click that follow button!


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11 Responses to “The Bosingwa Theory”

  1. G says:

    I agree with virtually every word in this blog, would there be anything wrong if we included Kalou in that context also, as gervinho will never settle in the EPL, he’s a runner granted, but cant shoot or head the ball,

    • Daniel Cowan says:

      I got a lot of stick for suggesting Kalou. I think he is a decent player and I agree that Gervinho can’t shoot for toffee… did you read Arsenal and the Curse of 9?

      I think Gervinho could come good next season but am not holding my breath.

  2. Leite says:

    Kalou isnt good,jose bosingwa is ok,why do you think Kalou doesnt start for ivory coast,believe me Gervinho is better than kalou

    • Daniel Cowan says:

      Kalou and Gervinho have both started together lots. Gervinho may be better but Kalou certainly suits the league better at this point in time.

  3. tembo says:

    To my thinking ithouht it is better to have Bosingwa than Kalou because, yes he is agood player but a on and off player and so far we the gunners these not the time recieve rejects, these coming season we are looking for good quality players. So watch out for solomon and Bosingwa, let us buy fresh legs with good experience.

  4. Anesh says:

    When I first heard that Bosingwa was on a free, I immediately thought that he would be an ideal back up to Sagna. Really, Wenger should seriously look at this…not sure about wage demands but it will definitely strengthen our back line. We do not need Kalou, he is ok but I’d rather keep Vela. Get yossi as well.

  5. Domhuaille MacMathghamhna says:

    It is ALWAYS a crap-shoot bringing in older, free transfers and both Kalou and Boswinga are clearly past their prime, if they ever had one. That said, Boswinga and Kalou might add strength and experience to the bench and if Wenger can transform Kalou into a half-decent player, then maybe it is worth a go. I don’t know their compensation demands but Boswinga on a 1 year ,pay as you play contract would make some sense. Kalou could be given a trial and if he seems promising then he could be offered a 1 year contract or as AW sees fit.
    There are better players out there, but maybe it is worth a go….only AW knows for sure if they’d fit into his plans.

    • Dan says:

      Kalou just turned 26 and is now entering his prime. I don’t think he would opt for a trial or one year contract when schalke and other teams will be offering him long term contracts.He’s better than Gervinho though.

  6. Breakfastegg says:

    Nice idea! I think Bosingwa on a free, as back up for Sagna, would be a good addition (for all the reasons you’ve written about). I really believe that fullback is a very technical position, and I’ve seen enough wingers destroy defences because of poor players in these positions (especially fullbacks trying to get forward all the time). So Bosingwa could do well as an experienced back-up player, specialist right-back and with a winning mentality. If that were the plan, I would sit him down and encourage him to defend as his first priority. Which is partly why I wouldn’t mind Koscielny playing there, as I have said in GoonerDave’s blog – just because I think Koscielny would be more defensive, and I’d like us to start the season with a pre-ageed upon, solid back four with the intention of defending well (although Koscielny has probably been our best CB).

    Keep up the good work!

    • Daniel Cowan says:

      Thanks for the comment Greg. I’m sure Cian will be really pleased with the response he’s been getting on this topic. I think he is going to be a very decent blogger in the future. I look forward to seeing more from him and hopefully a few more guest posts on North London Is Red

  7. Cian Boyling says:

    thanks everyone for the nice words.some good points being raised

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