Game summary and analysis of the 2-0 victory away to Villarreal. Highlights below:

When considering what our team may need, I’ve tried to pick out reasonable targets. That means I won’t write about how much I want Michael Essien to play for us. Our squad has been lambasted by many as being too thin, but the fact of the matter is, other than one position in particular, we’re well set up for the future.

These are the players I would love to see play for Arsenal next year.

Blaise Matuidi, DMF, AS Saint-Étienne:

Just as I was about to write about this player, it seems like there have been small rumors about Matuidi being linked with us. This is not a big surprise, as we were looking into him about a year ago. From what I’ve read, we’ve had Grimandi scout the player for a full year now. Today, Arseblogger about him briefly, dubbing him the “New Black Flamini,” something which I find to be offensive. In fact, he has the potential to be far better. Think Makelele with a touch of Pirlo. Obviously, he’s not that player now, but he has the upside to be much better than Lassana Diarra. I was actually rooting for St. Etienne to go down, so we could have him for cheaper, but they managed to stay up. He’ll add much steel in midfield, a smart player and a good eye for distribution. Alongside Alex Song, Matuidi would provide the ideal complement to Cesc. And for those that complain about his short height, well he’s the same height as Makelele and “Lass.” I want this guy now.

Cristian Zapata, CB, Udinese Calcio:

A 22-year old powerhouse. Think Kolo Toure in the Invincibles team, but better and bigger. I think it’s time to replace Kolo Toure in the starting XI of Arsenal. I love Kolo, but he’s been on the wane for the last two years. Zapata could not be a more perfect replacement for him. He’s got pace. He’s plying his trade in Italy, which is about the best blooding a player could have for defense. He’s good positionally. He can use both feet, meaning he will be comfortable being fielded as a left CB, something Gallas has done as a soldier and been completely unrecognized for doing so. It will take some cash to prize this guy away, but he’s young and he can play for us for years.

Brede Hangeland, CB, Fulham FC, Gary Cahill, CB, Bolton Wanderers FC, Sebastien Bassong, CB, Newcastle United FC:

These three players would require no adaptation to the Premier League. They are all 6 ft 2 inches or taller. They are all probably overpriced. But they would fill a great need in this Arsenal team. They would be able to play the ball in the air and nullify the long ball tactics used by so many weaker teams against us. All of them have their positives. Hangeland played for the fourth best defense in the Premier League, and he’s an elegant defender. Gary Cahill has just been called up for the England team, is young, and is on the rise. Bassong has just been relegated, meaning he’ll want to leave Newcastle as soon as possible. He was educated at Clairefontaine, and he’s athletic. Any of these three would do, I would take the one that would be cheapest, to be honest.

Ezequiel Garay, CB, CF Real Madrid:

This player is everything I’ve stated with the trio above, but he plays in La Liga. He has not played a game for Real Madrid yet, as they bought him and immediately sent him back on loan to Racing Santander. It is a pipe dream, and he would need time to adapt to the Premier League, but this guy is the big man I want in our defence.

Edin Dzeko, CF, VfL Wolfsburg:

If Adebayor is sold, this is the player who should replace him. Along with Grafite and Misimovic, this trio set the Bundesliga (an underrated league) ablaze this year. A historic triumph, Dzeko scored 26 goals in 32 games. He is a great link up man, very good in the air, and classy. People have referred to him as the Bosnian Marco van Basten. He’s as tall as Adebayor, so any of the variation in our football that came as a positive when Adebayor played would not be lost. Simply put, he can be one of the best strikers in the world.

After running some tests in his office, a doctor returns and tells his patient, “I have some bad news and some worse news. Which do you want first?”

“How bout the worse news?” the patient asks.

“You have cancer,” the doctor says.

“Wow, that’s horrible. So what’s the bad news?”

“You have Alzheimer’s,” the doctor informs him.

“Well,” the patient responds, “at least I don’t have cancer!”

The situation isn’t nearly so dire for Real Madrid, but the whole “good news/bad news” thing always reminds me of it and it’s funny. So there you go.

As for Los Blancos, here’s the good news. They beat Recreativo, although just barely, at the Bernabeu this weekend, while Barcelona was held to a tie against Getafe. Combined with Valencia’s 0-0 draw with Sevilla and Villarreal’s 3-0 loss to Valladolid, this week’s fixtures saw them jump to second place in the table, just three points behind Barça. It was the first glimpse of sunshine Madrid have seen in some time, after consecutive losses to Juventus in the Champions League and a mediocre run of form in La Liga, including last week’s loss to Valladolid. Sneijder’s brilliant (and deflected) strike in the first half was enough to secure all three points, but Real escaped by the skin of their teeth in a nervy home match.

And the bad news? Higuaín left the game after suffering what looked to be a serious injury to his left leg. The way he pulled up had GolTV’s always emotional announcers pondering a possibly season-ending knock, but fortunately it has turned out to be no more than a severe ankle sprain. It will prevent him from traveling with the team to Belarus this week to face BATE in a crucial Champions League match. After those two losses to Juve, they find themselves in need of some good results to ensure their qualification for the knock-out stage. This doesn’t even include the recent injury news that saw Van Nistelrooy undergo season-ending surgery and Cannavaro sustain a groin injury. Real have officially become the most injury-stricken team in the Primera, with the tally currently at 20. 

In an interesting article at Goal.com, Cyrus C. Malek argues that Los Merengues should sign “for need, not want,” however you determine that one. He provides some convincing analysis of the team’s form the past two years and puts forward the two players he feels the side needs to pick up: Ezequiel Garay, the central defender currently on loan from Madrid to Racing Santander, and the Zenit St. Petersburg man Andrei Arshavin, whose stock rose dramatically after this year’s Euro 2008 competition. The only drawback in Arshavin’s case is the fact that he is cup-tied, having already played for Zenit in Champions League games this year. I can’t proclaim to know as much as analysts like Malek surely do, but I find his optimism about Saviola a little bit questionable, and I tend to believe Real could use one more quality striker to help them this season. Yes, Alberto Bueno has a good upside, but I can’t see basing the team’s future around him. Of course, with the news that Higuain’s injury won’t keep him out for an extended period, it may make it easier to soldier on until his return, but that assumes he will continue on the blistering pace he has set so far this season, which has him at third place in goals scored with 9, behind Samuel Eto’o (13) and David Villa (11).

Even with all the injury woes, given Madrid’s hefty checkbook, I expect the good news to outweigh the bad come January.