Sorry for the delayed post, I’ve been experiencing technical difficulties over in Spain!
Well, yesterdays ‘come and get me’ plea from David Villa certainly raised the spirits but at the same time there wasn’t a Grover out there that really believed it would happen, though, never say never.
The last time the sun carried a ‘come and get me’ headline to Arsenal was when George Graham was in Charge and a certain John Barnes, who played for Watford, begged George to take him. George didn’t think the risk was worth it and John went to Liverpool where he went on to become the worlds best player for me he was better than Ronaldo, he really could change a game. George also had two youngsters, Andy Cole and Kevin Campbell; he sold Andy Cole because he thought was Kevin Campbell was the better prospect. So thanks for that George!
The moral of the story Arsene, is when a great player comes knocking, open the door, learn from the ‘Barnes’ mistake.
I thought Torres might struggle over here; he hasn’t, so that will tell you something about Villa, Huntelaar maybe like a Kuyt signing, so if I had to, it would be Villa. I think if we’d have had Torres in the side we would have won the Carling Cup and still been in the other 3. I don’t think Phil will become the player we want and Eboue is not a winger, Rosicky is a great player but his medical record is worse than Darren Anderton’s, so I would get shot of those three.
Lehmann has to go as his attitude to his own team is both appalling and damaging, so that’s 4 players, we need to buy replacements because we don’t have enough coming through the ranks and we were woefully short this season.
A lot has been made of the reserves and the talent coming through, but it wasn’t us contesting the final of the youth cup was it. I do find it confusing, academy, under 17′s, under 18′s, and reserve, but the two who stood out for me were Murphy and Wilshere, I wonder how long they’ll take to filter through, I mean they didn’t hang about with Cesc did they.
Finally, we are being linked with 17 goal striker, Amauri. He has a £25million price tag and it is rumoured Madrid, Liverpool and Juve are also interested. Apparently we have made it clear we will pay him £3.2 million a year. I’ll leave you guys to chew the fat off that one!
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
i think there may be some technical difficulties, as i type this the site is all over the place!
i cant belive we have 5 months of will they wont they ahead of us but will always make interesting reading, perhaps its time to buy a EPL based player to bloster the squad, so fuck it, drogba here is my come and get me plea,
got to feel for big phil currently, in an age of mercenaries its comforting to see he has heart and loves the club so much that he is devestated,
What is going on with the site Chris?
we didnt win the youth cup because of injuries to the main players such as lansbury randal and murphy and etc
We haven’t won it since Sidwell and co… its been a long time since he was 18.
£19million for a 27-year-old, i dont see it happening. strange how a player that good playing in a big league has hardly ever been talked about. I guess he has never played international football.
Kuyt can’t be compared to Huntelaar, Kuyt has scored 6 goals in 35 appearances,
17% strike rate.
Netherlands u21
Huntelaar scored 18 goals in 22 appearances
81% strike rate
Netherlands senior team
11 appearances, 6 goals (already on par with Kut goal wise)
54% strike rate
Kuyt’s Feyenoord form:
101 appearances, 71 goals
71% strike rate
Kuyt’s all time career form.
368 Appearances, 168 goals
43% strike rate
Huntelaar’s Ajax form.
80 appearance, 69 goals
86% strike rate
Huntelaar’s all time career form is:
113 appearance, 96 goals
85% strike rate.
Over the last 6 years Huntelaar has proved himself to be a consistent striker.
Kuyt on the other hand only got 50 goals in 150 appearances at Utrecht before he moved to Feyenoord.
In Kuyt’s last season in the Dutch league (2005-2006), Kuyt scored 25 in 38 games.
65% strike rate
Huntelaar scored 25 in 26 games.
96% strike rate
The same amount of goals in 13 fewer appearance, Huntelaar was already ahead of Kuyt three years ago.
Find me another player with Huntelaar’s record and consistency.
Huntelaar does bicycle kicks regularly to score goals, his strike is very accurate.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BQbNneMKzsU&feature=related
This guy can score in any stadium at all levels.
when i i clicked add comment it went all old school internet, but when i hit submit it was ok it is fine now and ive reloaded a few times, i think the bug is when you are the first to comment
As I said on the last post, I’d love to see Villa signed up, I’d love to see David Wheater gone and pinched from Boro and I’d love to see Agbonlahor taken from Villa but it isn’t going to happen. We will sign some two bit french youth player. I have never heard of Amauri and would much rather spend 25m on the younger, more recognised and more proven Villa.
What really cheeses me off is that this is our money that AW refuses to spend. The £1400 season ticket is my contribution to a fucking transfer kitty. Let’s say there are 45000 season tickets for arsenal (I know thats too many but factor in that 1400 is not an average price and the club level pay shed loads more) thats £63m per season on ground revenue. Add to that all the food, drink and programmes sold every match. We as the fans who pay the extortionate fees should have a say on who we sign. Genuinely I think Wenger should say ‘We have set aside funds for a fans’ target this summer.’ Every season ticket holder at the ground in the next few games gets a ticket with the chance to write 2/3 names on there and drop them into a suggestion box. Most of us would be sensible in our suggestions of who we’d like and when the results are counted and verified Wenger can go after the ones he thinks are most appropriate for the squad but at least he goes for someone we want. Fuck it, it’s our fucking club too and if I want us to take a punt on Villa and 20,000 others want to take a punt on Villa, then the board and AW can take a fucking punt on Villa. It’s not like he’ll be worse than Eboue or Adebayor.
Finestcuts, we don’t allow players agents to promote their player through the site!
Just kidding, nice breakdown though! Good video too.
Would you not agree that he would be a bigger risk than Villa?
Oh yeah, I get that sometimes. As long as it is ok now Chris.
sounds like the amount we paid for Denilson…
Just focus on one player to play for us. VILLA is so good and surely he can do the best for our beloved club, ARSENAL……..
sorry Brazilian striker is the sort of thing arsene will probably go for, but at 5 mil less
and younger, 63 goals in 3 seasons i think david villa has already qualified himself , if arsene doesn’t sign him there will be hell to pay !
His first touch is better than Villa’s, he is a prodigy and I have no doubt he could get more goals than Adebayor this season, the risk is only academic. If we evlaute the speed and accuracy of a player, Huntelaar has everything going for him to succeed at top level.
Huntelaar will score many goals, he’s a player we’ll all be hearing about for the next 5-6 years. This year is his step up to a top club. Schuster of Madrid has already identified him as being a clone of Van Basten and that is a massive statement. He’s been described as a cross between Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Van Basten. What you’d get is a proper fully trained, technically skilled Dutch striker that scores regularly. Top class Dutch strikers have shown their consistency. Kuyt wasn’t even the biggest susperstar in the Dutch League before he left for Liverpool. Sure, a 65% strike rate is good but he was never the best and never will be.
Huntelaar is the only player to match Eduardo. Huntelaar is as much of a risk as Eduardo.
I’m not sure what to think… And im really worried that Wenger is gonna be stubborn and rest on his laurels of recruiting within… At minimum, we really need a class stirker and centre back… Villa or Benzema would be perfect for the strikers role.. I’m not sure which quality centre backs are out there to be had to be honest, but someone in the mould or Terry or Vidic; someone who’s gonna throw their head at anything and give Ronaldo or Torres a good kicking…. As for the rest of the squad, of course there’s loads of players i’d love to see us sign, but we have a problem in the wide positions as I too, have given up with little Mozart and Hleb doesn’t score enough.. Perhaps Ben Arfa, Nasri, Diego, Robinho or Quaresma to come in and bolster the squad???… Oh and let’s hope the Flamster stays, but if he goes, does anyone else like the thought of Gareth Barry?? I also like that Migel Veloso, who’s a bit younger….
We have to buy quality otherwise I can see players (e.g. Cesc) getting fed up with the lack of ambition and leaving… Not to mention that I think we need to write to the Arsenal board about reducing the ticket price if they’re not gonna start spending the money on the squad…. We MUST win something soon.. This is getting ridiculous!! Even the scum have more trophies than us in the last three years… That’s disgraceful!!!
How many strikers have come over from Italy and suceeded?
Maccaroni and cheese?
Shevchenko?
That flop for Blackburn?
Not many in the recent past?
I’d go for Villa!
Oh, and I don’t ever want to see Huntelaar in an Arsenal shirt particularly as Kuyt was seen as a class striker in the dutch league…. He is a terrible excuse for a footballer!!
Are man!! I’m so frustrated!!!
pedro
Not only would i go for villa , he will go for us !!!
and told the whole world !
it will be interesting to see if arsene responds ..
i think he might get asked a question or 2 today or tomorrow !
I’m praying he will give us some glimmer of hope ..
If Huntelaar plays for a rival team, I gurantee we’ll regret it, if he doesn’t come to Arsenal I hope he signs for a Serie A or Spanish club.
Imagine if people knew about Eduardo before Wenger bought him. I can just imagine…oh but he’s from the Croatian league…can he make the step up etc.
People were saying that about Eduardo when he joined as well….but Wenger can spot a top quality striker, and if he gets Huntelaar, I’ll have a strong belief that we can win the Premier League.
Isn’t he a bit similar to Eduardo?
Huntelaar is the closest thing to Eduardo in the way he plays.
Anyone see with winner for celtic this morning, that was gold!
Finestcuts…. Isn’t this the point?? We don’t want anymore players who “could step” up to the level… We’ve already got Ade, Theo and Eduardo in that catergory…. We now want players who are already doing it at the top level… i.e. Villa…
Villa would have to make the step up as well, Pires himself judged La liga to be weaker than the PL. Villa would make it here no doubt, but so would Huntelaar, and my suspicion is that Huntelaar would score more. all those shots Adebayor scuffed, the easy goals we could have had, Huntelaar would have knocked themm all in.
If we do buy a striker next year of the calibre of Huntelaar or Villa, we would be switching to a 4-4-2, as Adebayor can’t be dropped after banging in 26 goals, surely? If that is the case, I would go for Villa, one I would imagine with more ability and contribution to the build-up play. But really, it would almost bet anything Wenger wouldn’t go for either of them. The most “famous” player Wenger bought were Jeffers and Reyes (Henry, Bergkamp, even Veirra were all playing shit in Italy before moving). but PLEASE Wenger, we’d be the happiest set of fans of either one of them comes. Hell, I’ll be happy if Wenger buys someone whom I know who the fuck he is.
Added advantage….Huntelaar already plays alongside RVP for Holland, they would make the perfect pair. Huntelaar would slot straight in, would Villa?
Realistic wish list in given funds, availability and pulling power from the Club and the dumps too….
Out:
Eboue
Rosicky
Lehmann
Hoyte
Senderos
In:
Vela [loan return]
Villa [Valencia] £20m
Wheater [Boro] £8m
Boruc [Celtic] £5m
Gilbert [loan return]
Team:
Boruc
Sagna Toure Wheater Clichy
Theo Fabregas Flamini Hleb
RVP Villa
Squad: Almunia, Gilbert, Gallas, Djourou, Traore, Vela, Diaby, Denilson, Merida, Lansbury, Gilberto, Bendtner, Adebayor, Eduardo.
Finestcuts
get them both sell ade !
then we would have an up front combo worthy of the ticket price !
people… we need to shore up our defence first… coz it really won’t matter how much we score.. we’ll end up letting in a bit more anyway….
DC we have bendtner who isnt ready as well
what is the point of having ade 24 & bendnter who is 19 and is a similar level ..similar height – both plan B’s ….
in fact i rate bendtner as far as skills above ade ..
All this talk of transfer targets is great and I would love Villa to come but I remain (very sadly) convinced that Wenger is going to stay stubborn and stick with what he has, and he will prattle on about this amazing team, what a bunch of mentally strong winners they are etc. etc.
The trouble is he will make a rod for his own back. Guy’s like us (I think I can speak for you!) do our observing and moaning in the pub, on the internet etc but not in the ground, ie we are not going to be in there booing the team and all that kind of nonsense. But not all fans are like us. If we have an average start to next season the knives will be out for him quicker than ever from some sections of our support and I am sure the media will be waiting to pounce on him.
If he sticks with what he has I think he really is taking a massive gamble on the fans sticking with him. OK the AKB will but a lot of others won’t.
If he sign’s Villa, as an example, and he does not work out, then fine, at least he will have tried and no one can blame him for that.
I worry for him.
choy
who out of our starting back 4 isnt world class ?
toure-sagna -gallas -clichy ?
these guys only started having the wobbles once we stopped scoring and started drawing .
with song-traore -johan-and 1 more CD .. i think we have enough .. And lets face it , you have to score more than our opposition to win ! that was impossible with ade and co. since dudu was injured !
the more i think about it the Birmingham game did sink our season !
Le Grove, so you forgot to mention Gilberto among those who should take a hike? He’s benn so pant you’d not believe he was once Mr reliable. Toure has also been under par since he returned from AFC and his partnership with Gallas ain’t working so we need two strong centre backs. A Midfielder and forward whose 1st touch and finishing are excellent are a minimum requirement.
Another thing, we need to get rid of low quality personnel at our disposal: Hojte, Senderos are donkeys that will never become horses. There are others I just cant get on me toung at the moment coz why play people out of position when we have loads of people who are in squad but never play?
We also need a midfielder who can play in different positions and be able to give Fabregas a breather as he should’nt play as many games as yhe has done this season. The sight of Adebayor chasing lost causes and visibly knackered or Fabregas and Flamini labouring in the middle of the park was killed our ambitions this season. We need strength in depth to challenge coz players at Manure an Chelski look more fresh and up for it while ours just go through the motion- taking lead which they imediately lose or some teams shutting us out. Why cant wee shut up shop anyway? This hurts like hell
guys definitely no Boruc in, he is mader than the Mad German. besides he already re-signed with celtic
Ethan agreed… our slump started after Birmingham and we haven’t recovered… I also think that the team lacks real characters with the right mentality to keep fighting to the end when things aren’t quite going our way… The Flamster and Kolo are the only players I can think of who try to gee the team up when the team is down….
I think the defence is a bigger concern than the attack. both need strengthening but the defence is first priority. nothing wrong with either Gallas or Toure but together they are not a good pair. we need to invest in a proper well known been there done it aged 25+ centre back who is tall and fast and costs over £10m. we will always score goals under wenger. we always have. we nearly scored as many as united this season and remember all those 4-0′s they had!! at 1-0 every time we look shaky. if we could be a bit more solid at 1-0 then we can go on to 2-0, but if we can’t keep a clean sheet at 1-0 we will never win anything.
I have watched Amauri alot this season.
With better service than he gets he could be a sensation.
He looks as out of place at Palermo as Anelka did at Bolton.
Then, if we sold Adebayor and got in Huntelaar + Villa we would win the Premier league, we’d get 50+ goals altogether from the pair of them a season.
If we were ever to sell Adebayor and bring in a superior striker to replace him, this is the season, his value has peaked.
Interesting read regarding the clubs finances.
http://www.cityam.com/index.php?news=11752
I can’t tell if it is rehashed old stuff? The writer sounds like a miffed gooner though!
Goonerbeall! I’d keep Gilberto, I think we need to stop releasing all our experience. I hear he needs to stay over here one more year for citizenship… as a Brazilian, that would be worth its weight in gold I’d imagine.
Defence is definitely a big worry, lets get a big fucker in who takes no nonsense! Names anyone?
The best defenders are in the PL, so we won’t be buying any of them.
Laursen, Lescott, John Terry….we’ll never get any of them.
I find it hard to believe that the Birmingham game really affected the player’s that much but it seems it did. Where was their mental strength? (Tongue in cheek!)
The funny thing is we went to AC Milan ten days after Birmingham and played them off the park. There was no sign of anything being wrong there.
We also had detrimental decisions made against us, but we still could’ve avoided defeat had we scored more goals.
Do We Really need an Established keeper? Almunia is doing a good job, and Fabianski can jump up at any time, so if we got one as good as Fab, or slightly better, would that do? Do we need to replace Almunia as well?
I would prefer Villa personally, and think that we may be able to add Gilberto as part exchange, so £15m + Gil. I would take that.
Finsetcuts…. I know we’ve had some dubious decisions against us… But, that’s football mate.. What goes around, comes around!
And if a certain somebody had finished some of the ‘sitters’ that he has missed in most of the games that we’ve dropped points; we’d be sitting pretty at the top of the league right now!! The difference between a good striker and an average striker… The good striker only needs one chance to score… How many of those do we have at Arsenal right now??? Don’t say Eduardo.. he’s unavailable for a long time and may never be the same player again…. And I’m not sure what to think about RVP anymore….
Paul, weren’t Valencia in for Gilberto at one point? That would be a good deal!
Ollie, I don’t think we need a new keeper… however, Akinfeev looks a great prospect. With Fabianski and co I dount we’ll go down that route. Almunia has been solid anyway.
James, the Birmingham game is a weak excuse at best. Its an ‘Arsene Knows’ excuse… that and bad luck.
We lost it becuase we didn’t strengthen and our weak squad was exposed. I think that is pretty apparent.
No arguments there over the Birmingham game Pedro. I also think it’s a load of cobblers.
James73
yes we played well V’s milan .. It was a game that comes around once a season .
it it was against a top team ! it was a proud night to be an arsenal fan ..
But toure and gallas was striking up a good understanding prior to the ACN .
But dudu got injured the goals dried up .. And confidence levels dropped !
It must be frustrating for a defender to stand there 90 minutes let in 1 goal but cant score 2 down the other end at home ..
But who could be the solution?
I am struggling for mid 20′s defenders with pedigree?
kompany for one !
kompany for one ! 190 cm !!
Yeah… but he has about as much pedigree as Senderos, less in fact!
Anderlecht right?
It’s funny how in the Key battles, the don’t put Adebayor in…..the shots on target statistic would give us a clear indication of how many he’s missed. Hopefully he’ll feature in the future key battles articles.
Maybe we could give Roberto Ayala a one year contract while some of our defenders are being trained up. Argentina’s captain could be just what we’re looking for in defence.
yes but the times ive seen him he looked solid and i think he must be 23 max..
tall , i suppose you need to look within the EPL pedro if you want proven + experienced .
woodgate .. ?
Richards – lescott ..
But you know wenger he will pool from france quite possibly .. mexes ..
would be one !!
Argh.. Amauri? wtf?
i dont care if he’s the latest ‘sensation’ wenger found from his ever reliable scout. Arrrgh. I’m going mental over here.
Wenger, villa or huntelaar will score and compliment our passing movements more than anyone who’s available right now. think abt it,Huntelaar and his bicycle kick goals, villa and his great first touch unlike ade and his shots on goals from 30 yards out. And just the thought of superstar players will lift the players and fans. I cant bear to see any of other teams get villa and we’re stuck with amauri!
And since wenger likes to look at stats then he shld put ade on the bench. after the one particular stats on the previous post here shows that he had made 0 assist is enough proof!
If Arsenal fans put up banners with “Villa” or “Huntelaar” on it or Arsenal shirts with “Villa” on the back, anyone think the board will be pressured to deliver?
The calalans did it to take Henry, maybe we should let Wenger know that we’re not satisfied with what we have at the moment
I’d also get Samba of Blackburn in for RB cover, better than Eboue and Hoyte.
New funnies! Cheers Chris!
What about that big lump at Blackburn? Samba. He is French, 24 and been getting MOM’s this season.
OOps sorry cuts, hadn’t read your thread !
We’ve already got in Eduardo what Amauri has.
I say to any Gunner, Huntelaar is the answer. I ‘ve watched the lad on Sportitalia on many occasions. He is not just a top striker, but a top footballer, two footed player and very good in air. He has already scored two goals against us in two games, one at Emirates Stadium and last year in Amsterdam tournament. I would love to see Villa, but the only question with him will be his price.
i think we need to get rid of fabianski quickly.
lets face it
he gave up 5 goals against tot’h*m. yeah everyone has an off day but there is a reason he hasnt started since obviously and everygame i see him in he looks nervous constantly.
we need to bring height back to arsenal. we only have one person to score on corners and thats ade.
and defending corners its still ade.
Yup Big Raddy, Samba would definitely be useful as cover for Sagna.
pedro that funny didnt load!
The one thing that would help us get Huntelaar is if we partner with Ajax, we would get first choice on players.
TOP 20 under 27 DEFENDERS IN THE WORLD
in no particular order:
Kompany
Senderos
Metzelder
Ledley King
Gonzalo Rodriguez
Bouhlarouz
Anton Ferdinand
Milito
Ramos
Mexes
Hyppiä
Perea
Samuel
Rio Ferdinand
Cordoba
Cannavaro
Ismael
Thuram
Carvalho
Marquez
Top 10 best defenders worldwide, in no particular order:
Van Buyten
Terry
Chivu
Andrade
Gallas
Carragher
Nesta
Puyol
Lucio
Ayala
I expressed yesterday how frustrated i am getting with this constant refusal to buy big players.
Our Defence is shody, We don’t have a single wide player that can compete with the other 4′s wide men, no quality cover for Cesc and not a single reliable striker… Eduardo will be lucky if he gets a game next season, RVP can’t handle more than half a season, Bendter is nowhere near ready to lead the line for one of the worlds biggest clubs, Theo isn’t strong enough yet and Ade couldn’t hit a pigs arse with a cricket bat and has the first touch of a builder in steel toe caps… something has to give and if it doesn’t i feel a lot of the Arsenal faithful will start to lose patience with Wenger and i am very worried about our current crop of players getting pissed off with no big names coming in.
We have 4 games left this season to try and get our message through to Wenger that we want quality coming in this summer… any ideas?
Thought you could all do with a chuckle:
“Mr Guinness went out to Ship and Trades bar to meet Mrs Heineken a foreign national he met while in Malibu. He showed her his Mickey Finn and she went down to give him some Southern Comfort. He was delighted that he got the chance to Miller and put his Guinness head in Cider. He roared in glee as his Spitfire expelled his Snowball up her Jacobs Creek.
She felt WKD as she lay there in Aftershock at their coming together.”
that list is a year or 2 old .. im sure anton and senderos shouldnt be on there now ..
and richards and lescott should be added in lieu ..
Check the funnies now… sorted!
Did anyone watch the Copa del Rey last night? Getafe v Valencia. If you think we have had a tough end to the season, spare a thought for Getafe.
Tiny club, they get to play Bayern Munich in the UEFA. Draw away 1-1. In the Home leg, they get their main striker sent off after 4 mins. Then Getafe score. With one minute left Bayern equalise. So the 10 men go into extra time against a team with a forward line of Klose, Toni, Podowlski and Ribery…. they should be fucked. But No….. Getafe score twice in the first period of extra time. 5 mins to go – Getafe’s keeper drops an easy cross and Toni puts it away. Last kick of the game….. Bayern score again to go through on away goals.
Getafe and their fans are gutted but have the Spanish Cup Final to look forward to against a poor Valencia side. Getafe absolutely hammered them and lost 3-1 !!
Villa was totally anonymous apart from a clever pass to create the first goal.But he was playing in a Valencia team that got totally outplayed. As a result perhaps Villa will choos to stay and Valencia can afford to keep him.
Sometimes there is no justice !!
goonerjay
nice …
Ade couldn’t hit a pigs arse with a cricket bat and has the first touch of a builder in steel toe caps…
im lovin it !
People are screaming about the denfens e and sure i think we need cover .
but really AFC plays attacking football ! if you cant get goals in the back of the net
frequently then we will always suffer .. WE ARE NOT SOME BORING CHEVSKI FC who plays for a 1 – 0 win !
and with no scoring options upfront what did we really expect this season !
the sooner you all come out of your denial that ade is good and bendtner will do us
the sooner we can move on get some great players like villa .. van der haart eto etc .
and start winning things !
and yes we can get these players we just need something called money !!!
but we play attacking football and 20 goals in 34 games just shows you how much we miss TH14 .. and yes TH 14 used to pass to other players as well !
ade is fuckin bollocks .. HONESTLY ! Sell him now before he ruins our club !
He will never never never change !!! you either got it or you havent !
if you think he has it !! then i pity you !
He has clouded half of you because of his goal tally ! REMEMBER he wont allow anyone else any chance to score whilst he’s on the pitch !
If we must have a tall plan B option keep bendtner ! he is young enough to improve !
I didn’t read about that Raddy… sounds like an immense game.
If you want an example of what buying experience can do… all you need to do is take a look at Bayern.
5th last year I think? They sign Klose, Luca Toni, Frank Ribery, Ze Roberto, Hamit Altintop, Jose Ernesto Sosa, Jan Schlaudraf and Marcell Jansen in a summer… now they are looking odds on for the Uefa cup and the Championship.
Investment works if the right man does it.
By the way, I only knew 4 of those players…
lets face it all this speculation is just press talk. The one thing about all of Wengers transfers is they were done in absolute secrecy. Remember the shock of seeing sol Campbell being displayed at highbury. Trying to second guess AW is pointless, i don’t see him turning into a ruthless big spending manager overnight. What we want and what we get are two different things. Personally i’m getting ready for another frustrating summer courtesy of AW . sorry for pissing on the fire but u know it’s true Wenger doesn’t do transfer bidding wars.
Hello chaps….Word of advice.
Never go for a business meeting in a pub at 11.30 am!!! Fuck I’m pissed!!!
What’s been going on?
We are talking about possible defensive recruits and we are talking about Bayern Munichs resurgence and how investment worked for them.
Finestcuts has been busted as Huntelaars agent.
Oh and Ethan owned up to being an Adebayor fan boy.
Norfbank… Sagna, Theo and Diaby were pretty public signings. We knew about them weeks before they happened.
Pub meeting at 1130? Sounds good to me. I work from home 2 days a week… I could get away with drinking on my own… it would be a bit sad though!
Mate double vision while trying to read a blog does not work for me!!!
Nesta! Nesta! Nesta!! Nuff said, would solve all our problems! New captain, new defensive lynch pin, bags of experience, and for 20-30 mill Bargain!! Who’s with me?
Nesta is 32 though?
A touch old!
Roscicky was also known weeks before right?
Long before the World Cup, which was good cause he was on fire and the price would’ve gone up.
We need to sign before Euros, Wenger won’t pay inflated prices after Euro, and we don’t want players who aren’t internationals.
We’d get 5-6 years out of him, remember Maldini, Bergomi, Baresi, Costacurta all played till quite old (38+) Italians tend to last due to olive oil and fusilli!! (so I’ve heard)
Nesta would be perfect me think too….
True Trinidad Gunner , we need to sign whatever european players we want before the Euros! Any unknows in the Carribean we need to keep an eye on mate?
And does nobody else think that Gareth Barry could be a good DM player for us if the Flamster goes? And what’s the latest on the new contract saga? Why do all of Arsenals players seem to go through the same painful process when re-newing contracts… Are they really being that tight? If so, perhaps the board would like to review the season ticket price list???
I always thought Joseph Yobo was a very capable premiership centre half. Not sure how old he is though.
So sod the Villa campaign!!
Nesta, Nesta, Nesta, Nesta,Nesta,Nesta, Nesta, Nesta, Nesta,Nesta,Nesta,Nesta, Nesta, Nesta,Nesta!!!
DC apparently Gerrard has been sounding out Benitez re signing Barry for pool…cnuts!
Odub i’d say our biggest prospect right now is Kenweyne Jones. There are a few that are looking good though.
Up until a few years ago when we were in high school Kenweyne was a defender, but he’s looking pretty good as a forward. When we had the U-21 World Cup in Trinidad he played defence.
Kenwyne
He had a trial at United in 2002, wasn’t converted to striker till 2004
Good player Trinidad, Ade with a first touch, if you get my drift!
Thats a pretty good description
7 goals and 10 assists, out of Sunderland’s total of 33 goals for the season. Without any service really.
No way!
He has been getting loads of stick from the sunderland supporters! He is ade without an eye for goal! He reminds me of Adikinbiyi… or however you spell it?
No goal for 18 games… that is a tough sell for me no matter what club you play for.
So him, Nesta and Gomez in goal, and we’ll rule the world!!
Someone please call Wenger and let him know we’ve solved all his problems! Big up to Pedro and Geoff for providing the forum for the unofficial Arsenal scouting team to sort things out!
champions by march 2009!! with 2 months to spare! now tell me you dont like the sound of that people!
I like the sound of that Odub!
Well played, how do you want your bonus paid?
Odub, did you know that you had your own piece of fan mail in the spam the other day! Someone took particular offence to some of your comments. It was an AKB member, but it was funny that you’d been picked out… they said that they’d been reading your comments for a while!
What about Cannavaro? He will probably move on this year? Or Wright Phillips?
Really!!
Pedro,I’ve never purported to try and win a popularity contest so fcuk em is what I say!! I bet it was after the rant I posted re the 4-2 @ anfield! Was the same with what’s his name cutting and pasting my comments from the day before, I tend to post comments while emotional from the previous day’s game, so I probably sound like a nutjob! sa la vie!
Water under the bridge mate!!
Cannavaro’s about the same height as Gallas and Toure, which brings us back to the same dilemma re short centre backs! Plus he’s not having a great season at Madrid
No players from relegation battling teams please… We can do better than that i think!!
Nesta & Cannavaro
or
Toure & Gallas?
Hmmm….let me think????
Nesta & Cannavaro please!!
True DC. But we bought Flamster from a struggling Marseille outfit though, and Lauren (Ralph the legend) from Mallorca while they were struggling.
Cannavaro can jump better than both of those…..has a far better sense of timing… mind you, when to comes to gallas; so have I
Mate, KrissKross have a better jumping ability than Gallas!! Ok that was harsh, but what do I care? NO!! blame the vino!!
Odub… Fair point, I just don’t want us to buy players who aren’t up to the grade and ready to rock as soon as they put on that beautiful red shirt… Is Kenwyn Jones really that good? I haven’t have any decent recollection of watching Sunderland this year so he couldn’t have been that good when they played us…
That made me chuckle and I’ve not had any vino!! Loved it!
If you can’t have a rant after a game, when are you supposed to be?
If you’re an AKB, you just reflect and look for the positives.
Cannavaro could add some steel to the back, but he’d probably be injured.
What about Mertesacker? Look at the size of the cunt! 6ft 6 and built!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Mertesacker
nesta and cannavaro do you think AW would fuck up his tight wage structure for two 30 year old cb’s don’t think so scuba
DC you know what’s going to happen now dont you? KenwyneJones will now play a blinder against us when we play them next month!
The question DC; is can he be any worse than ade?
Norfbank: I can dream mate!! Please let me dream……
Mertesacker – good choice; thought be been getting injured alot though?
Jones is a good player, saw him against West ham earlier in the season and he utterly bossed them. Sunderland lost but Kenwyne was utter class; brought it down well, accurate flick ons, good first touch, unplayable in the air and brought others into the game well….reminds me of another certain centre forward playing in the premiership! Yep, that’s right Didier Drogba. lol.
Adebayor is so shit. Would rather have Kenwyne any day of the week.
Pedro – you asked about Emirates Cup tickets – last chance was today – did you book?
What a fucking monster though!
if wenger wants to show any ambition he has to go out and buy Micah richards young powerfull, quick, majestic in the air , and an English gooner aswell. Wouldn’t come cheap but you get what you pay for
No… me and blogger Geoff nearly lost our seasons last year because of that… we thought we’d give it a miss this year!
It’s a good line up though… did you get yours?
I second that Norfbank… he gets injured a lot as well.
Mertesacker fukcing massive Pedro!! Big show sized fella! i’d stil, go for Nesta though!
norfbank – don’t disagree with you mate but I think that’s about as likely as Nesta & Cannavaro….. more chance it’ll be a previously unheard of 14 year who hails from Mali and has been playing for 2 weeks in the french 5th division…..or something like that
he played more or less a full season last year but has had a few problems this year but surely can’t be worse than rvp and tommy sicknote. plus he’s still so young time to develop
fuck Kenwyn jokes.. I think ill keep Ade….
going to book tomorrow – thought I’d go club class
Real madrid game for me. Went to both last season – bit much to be honest
not sure about the emirates cup, might just meet you lot at the s&b, and get tickets on the door, wasnt sold out last season was it?
lol… look at anelka now.. how many goals has he got for the chavs?
i’m sure he scored more at bolton….
Odub – it took its time but did sell out – or so they said.
I fancy club class at the halfway line so going to make sure – plus if I pay early it might help AW’s transfer budget
just missed out on some tickets for the reading match via aisa, cheers for the heads up again Scuba.
I don’t think it was? If its a nice sunny day, it is worth a trip up there so we can bitch about how few signings we have made!
There don’t seem to be many players out there who get away with injuries? Unless they play for ManU… then they are injury free for years at a time.
Well played Scuba… every little helps!
we’re all going crazy aren’t we.. when wenger makes a signing we’ll be scratching our heads.. trying to pronounce the names of the players.. checking you tube.. google.. what not…!!!1
haha
cannavaro is about 5’9-5’10
gallas is about 5’11 and toure is probley 5’11 or 6’0
so how would cannavaro help us.
we need per mertesacker.
6’6 and fast.
hes 23 and already has 41 caps for germany with a goal from a corner.
quick tall young fast and an aerial threat.
my dreams would come true if wenger got him. probley cost around 10 mil. though but worth every penny
Wenger won’t pay 30 Mil for old center backs who wouldn’t make him any profits in a few years.
Honestly, we don’t really need them either, there are a good few younger ones who are just as good.
Was in Newcastle on a stag weekend, so watched it on a big screen in a sports bar!! Think I got the better deal chaps!! Ha ha!!
Choy we’ll be checking who’s who africa!!
NEWSFLASH!!
Arsenal sign Equitorial Guinea captain Juvenal Edjogo-Owono!!
Please name the younger ones who have the experience and knowledge those two could bring
heheh… who do guys think will win tonight
chavs or everton?
i think it’ll be a draw…
Cheers Scuba, just rang him left a voicemail message.
Pedro please delete Scuba’s message to ensure the wrong elements dont get the above details! Cheers!
The likes of Rosicky,Van Persie,Flamini,Fabregas,Walcott,Sagna,Clichy,Gallas,Toure,Fabianski,Denilson,Hleb,Carlos Vela,Eduardo and Song should stay.
Diaby,Senderos,Djourou,Gilberto,Almunia,Lehmann,Eboue,Adebayor and Bendtner should go.
Summer Buy
Diego-Ronaldinho-Zapata-Lucio-Benzema-Amauri-Gomes-Lescot-Robinho and Micah Richards
I’m off – Odub, let me know if you have any joy
Cheers
Same here choy. 1-1
Cheers Scuba.
Mexes and Metzelder are around 26/27 … would rather pay big money for them and get more years
Well said zoom… lets sell the stadium as well!
Wishlist -
David Villa
Ben Afra/Quaresma
Mexes/Metzelder
Gomez
No, lets keep the stadium and share it with Sp*rs.
Can we do a manager share as well?
Pedro they already have!!! Emirates stadium!! New Highbury would have sounded better, but no, they decided to sell the naming rights!
Nesta FFS. He was playing when I had hair !
Eduardo is going to Brazil to rehab with Ronaldo (the real one) at his R9 Hospital ??
Re: Amauri…
I suggest all of you sit and watch a match wherein Amauri is featured (usually as the lone striker) for Palermo. He is brilliant playing for an underachieving team. Works his socks off for 90+ ..a bigger and stronger Tevez..direct and brave…Forget Villa, Arsenal will never spend that amount on a player. Amauri is the real deal and would push ANY of our strikers to the bench.
we needed money upfront… at least they didn’t name it oily stadium or something.
odub
we can safely say unless arsene gets hit by a bus , that ANY player who gets bought this season will be 27 or under !!
3 year contract . 1 year extension at 30+
I think the best we could expect is mexes !
but could you imagine gallas on the bench ??? and being captain?
HAHAHA ! as surely toure would be chosen in the starting line up prior to gallas our
captain … I think your all stroking a dead donkey !
He isn’t going to let gallas or toure sit on the bench ! he has more faith in them than ade ! and you’ve seen how much faith he had there !
I would expect someone 23 – 24 who’s proven but still a work in progress and 1 or 2 years off peak ! We all know arsene … and he thinks he has his starting 4 already ..
sagna – toure – gallas – clichy ..
who can you see him dropping ..?????????????
and this worked well prior to us having a goal slump !
So i think defensively we are dreaming that we will see an overhaul in defense
Hasn’t done Ronnie much good !! Let’s hope for better results with Dudu !
yes trini.. check http://arsenalanalysis.blogspot.com/
Big Raddy nothing wrong with that!! I had an Afro when AW won his first double in 1998!!!! Havent bought a comb or brush since!!!!
ethan.. when was the last time toure and gallas played together in the middle…
arsene will def get someone “experienced” in there…
toure and gallas’s honeymoon is over.. now they are back to reality… it ain’t working….
Are any of you guys going to the S&B before the early kick off on Saturday?
A defender that would give us aerial strength and overall quality would be Carlos Cuellar of Rangers. He won player of the year in Scotland and would be used to the pace of English football. He should be obtainable as well.
But Toure at RB doesn’t work either. So it’s either keep them together, or drop one.
Neither would settle as a bench warmer.
Sell Gallas and buy Mexes?
But then we have the problem of no cover at CB all over again
Either Gallas or Toure with 6ft+ partner works, because we keep getting found out when we play against the likes of Torres, Crouch and Drogba who are over 6fr 2.
Chaps I’m takiny my drunk ass home!
Have a good one, and hope we have a good build up to saturday’s game tomorrow!
Night all.
choy
ethan.. when was the last time toure and gallas played together in the middle…
arsene will def get someone “experienced” in there…
toure and gallas’s honeymoon is over.. now they are back to reality… it ain’t working…
trinidad answered for me
But Toure at RB doesn’t work either. So it’s either keep them together, or drop one.
Neither would settle as a bench warmer.
Im sure we will get cover IN SOME FORM .. .. and one of the above 2 will slowly be phased out ..
but if its gallas expect him to take a leaf out of jen’s book ..and go down screamin like a lil byitchee
Odub i hear you .. but then i think what would wenger do what would wenger do ??
the answer is nothing .. pray and hope they come good !
Raddy, I wont be in attendance this Saturday… but you can bet your bottom dollar bud and the gang will be and maybe Odub if he gets a ticket + Steve if he is going.
Shouldn’t any player be attainable for a team like Arsenal? We are the glamour team? I would have thought most players would be attracted to us!
We do pay good wages and you’d be surprised to read this quote from the Milan chief:
“Perhaps we pay a little less than other sides, but we give them a lot more glory.”
Interesting comment eh? There was us thinking they pay mega bucks to everyone!
I mean in terms of a club being willing to sell. Alot of clubs like Lyon play hardball and even Ben Arfa said he doesn’t want to leave. Cuellar might be happy at Rangers.
Another young potential player is Urby Emanuelson at Ajax. He plays LB or LM, is good going forward. He’s 21, made his Holland debut 2 years ago I think.
Potential? We don’t need potential !! We have lots of potential.
Nic B, Theo, Lansbury, Freeman, Fabiansky, Norstedt, Denilson, Diaby, Song, Traore, Sunu, Wilshire Vela etc etc
We need an established World star.
Agreed, that Emmanuelson struggles to get in the Ajax team! I don’t think we need anything on the left with Traore coming through!
Alot of the players that people are excited about ARE potential … not reserve team potential, but by potential I mean first team, young 20′s, good, but not at the peak.
Ben Afra isn’t a world star yet, Vela is only 19, Richards isn’t really a world star yet
I agree Pedro. Shame you or Geoff won’t be there on Saturday. I would have liked to meet you both. Next time….
Where’s Phobia?
Lehmann
Eboue Toure Gallas Clichy
Walcott Cesc Gilberto Hleb
RVP Ade
Bench: Diaby, Denilson, Bendtner, Senderos, Fabianski.
3-0 Arsenal.
Trinidad,. I would prefer AW not to sign Richards. Primarily because we don’t need another CB – we need our present CB’s to improve. Our first 4 are all great players.
I don’t know enough about Ben Afra, but if he isn’t fisrt choice at Lyon, then he isn’t good enough to take us from being top 8 in Europe to being no.1.
We should no longer judge the team against just the EPL. We want to be the best in the world. And for me MU are that, yet we were really unlucky against them. So, we have to tweak not crop !
That is a shame Raddy, next time for sure!
Phobia… a man of few words, a man of bad predictions…
He has been on every week for a long time now!
Is Sagna still out?
The only thing I like about Ben Arfa is I imagine King Arthur when his name is said… if he is a warrior down the wing, I’ll take him, but like Trinidad said, its potential isn’t it?
Ben Afra isn’t first choice at Lyon cause he and Benzema aren’t the best of pals … that rules them out of going to the same club.
It might be Benzema to United and Ben Afra to Arsenal.
We need experience in CB and CF (Mexes and Villa?) but I don’t think that raw natural wingers would be a bad idea.
I agree that we need wingers. Our first choice team has the width we need. Mybe we should look at the performance of the team prior to Xmas rather than post. We need a better squad, not a better first team, and I support AW’s policy of promoting from within.
Except, we need a player to come into the dressing room with a big reputation. Someone that the young guys have heard of, and then Cesc will think…. hey, Arsenal are going places, so I am going to stay
Our first 4 in defense are all great players yes, but they haven’t been playing great. Cliche and Sagna yes, but not in the middle.
Everytime we have to defend, we look shaky. Great players don’t let in 4 against Liverpool, or can’t keep a lead for more than 6 minutes.
They were great against Milan and kept them scoreless for 180 minutes, but they needed more of that and made stupid mistakes.
Every game for the past 8 weeks we let in goals due to defensive errors.
Our defense is leaking goals, and the forward line isn’t compensating
True
But this is a squad issue, and the problem of the reserves being too young and untested. And all players need a few games to gel. Just look at the difference in Golberto now he has played a few on the trot. He looks quality again
This is the team i’d love to see run out for us next season. We’d run away with the title too.
Adebeyor Villa
Robinho Cesc Flamini Hleb
Clichy Gallas Kompany Sagna
Boruc
Second team, rotation players competing for places
Rvp Eduardo
Vela Rosicky Diaby Walcott
Traore Toure Djourou Eboue
Almunia
Its unfair to blame the entire defence because Clichy and Sagna are world class, but each of them out of Toure, Gallas and Senderos have made alot of mistakes recently.
Gallas is too old to improve. He’s not a work-in-progress like most of our other players. Also Toure, they are supposed to be our rock.
I would like to see:
Buffon
Sagna Ferdinand Cannavaro Alves
Ronaldo Cesc Flamini Essien
Drogba Messi
They would win the league too !!
And we have as much chance of seeing this team, as we have of signing 4 big names !!
Did anyone read what King Arthur had to say?
“I am disappointed not to be playing more often. My future is not an issue, so far, but we will see in the summer.”
Gallas is a good defender, I feel he may be a touch complacent? Maybe I am wrong… maybe he just needs to play next to someone like JT or Carragher?
I think we need to shore up the defence, but an attack that has been as impotent as ours lately needs a look at to.
More goals from midfield and more clinical finishing from our strikers.
Almunia
Sagna Toure Mexes Clichy
Quaresma Flamini Fabregas Hleb
Villa RVP
only 3 signings there, and add ben afra
Thats not bad at all
Big Raddy, only 3 of our players are good enough?
Wenger won’t replace Almunia.
He made a statement by replacing Jens with him, and kept the German on the bench all season.
He won’t undermine himself by moving him now.
It was a joke TG
I really think we will be seeing very little change in the squad. hough I think that if we don’t firm up the squad then we will fall short agian next season.
And if I was to pick a best team in the word, there would be NO Arsenal players !!
Firm up and stop playing Eboue on the wing.
He is killing Eboue’s reputation, if he left him as a RB .. Eboue would be referred to as a (half) decent defender.
Now, he’s a waste-of-time winger.
I agree, it has done Eboue no good to play out of position. He would have been fine as a back up to Sagna.
As it is his confidence must be destroyed, and he must hate getting the ball, knowing if he makes a mistake, 60,000 people will be shouting at him
Lots of Transfer speculation to kill time till August. Any body have ideas to fill in this time with other sporting events ..?
1) How about NBA Playoffs?
2) TwentyTwenty Cricket with the Indian Premier League?
3) Euro 2008 (though not until June)
Anything else ..?
Ben Arfa is class… i have seen him play several times and when i have seen him play he is THE Lyon player that stands out for me… great ball control and dribbling ability (most youtube videos show you that) and he has a wicked left foot.
He aint small neither so won’t get bullied in the EPL… I’ve been saying since December that we should have gone after him in the January window but i’ll settle for the Summer… i think he is already on par with Quaresma and at 20 can only get better.
He actually reminds me a bit of Ronaldo apart from he’s left footed and isn’t a cheat
Formula 1
Wimbledon (woman’s sport)
Wanking
The excuse is that Theo isn’t ready yet, and I know he isn’t a finished product, but … Theo for 90 mins is better than Eboue for 60 and Theo for 30 !
It is better for both Arsenal, and Eboue’s career, if he is on the bench or filling in for Sagna
Fabianski will be slowly introduced next season so I very much doubt we’ll sign a keeper and certainly not a top keeper. We could do with a top commanding centre back, but players like Mexes aren’t good enough, it would only be if players are available. The only rumour that fits that bill would be Lucio, who would be absolutely fantastic for us, but I doubt it’ll happen. Micah Richards likewise would cost too much. Quaresma won’t happen, he wouldn’t fit in with our style of play. Modric, Diego, Ben Arfa are all distinct possibilities and would be fantastic additions. That’ll be the position we’ll definitely buy someone. Possibly a tall commanding centre back but only if a top top player was available. Possibly a Poom style solid keeper. Any other signings will only happen if players leave the club.
That leaves the squad as Almunia, Fabianski, then Mannone or a signing with Lehmann very unlikely to stay.
Right back Sagna, Eboue reserve, Hoyte may well leave or be a third choice if not
Left Back Clichy, Traore as reserve, Hoyte likewise as third choice
Centre backs Toure, Gallas, Senderos, then a new signing, or maybe Djorou if he isn’t sold, maybe Song if he’s considered a centre back now.
Right Mid Hleb, reserve a new signing, and Walcott can fill in if necessary or playing 4-5-1/4-3-3
Left Mid Rosicky, reserve a new signing, and Vela can fill in if necessary or as above if differ formation, as can VP, Eduardo, and Diaby
Centre Mids Fabregas, Flamini, Denilson, Diaby, Song, maybe Gilberto although he’ll probably leave, maybe a new signing
Up front Van Persie, Bendtner, Adebayor, Eduardo, Vela and Walcott
I think I’d rather read a book!
Euro 2008 will be a good watch… I haven’t decided where my affiliations lie this summer?
France, Spain or Holland? I am such a plastic national…
If Flamini stays and get into the French starting 11, that is where I am supporting! I always have a soft spot for the Dutch.
Raddy, are the Danes there?
Pedro the Danes aren’t there mate… I was listening to Bendnter blame it ‘on a few mistakes by some team mates’ on Arsetv recently
unfortunately denmark aren’t there, or we’d have got to see Bendtner prove all the doubters wrong with how well he plays for them!
Been supporting the Dutch since I was 8
But look at the group .. Holland, France, Italy, Romania.
Their Midfield-Forward lines look like one of the best though :
Sneijder …Seedorf … Van Der Vaart
Van Persie ..Huntelaar .. Robben
No. We got knocked out when a crazy pissed Dane ran onto the pitch at the Parken, when we were playng Sweden. He attacked the ref and the game was abandoned. Then they gave the game to Sweden,
Very funny
Off out now, happy blogging.
That is some team Holland have. But then so do France and the current World Champs (god, they are boring to watch).
I would put a bet on an outsider.
i think db10 had a big influence on all us gooners because i must admit i always look out for how the Dutch are getting on in internation comps
Be careful out there Pedro
Having been in awe of the mighty TH14, I look for France.
I fancy Spain this year
Raddy i quite like the look of Spain too but i must say if my money was going anywhere it would be on Portugal
I always likened Arsenal, Ajax, and Holland.
A big part was Bergkamp, but the way Arsenal play isn’t very different from the Dutch.
Wenger built his attacks around Bergkamp?
Spain is quite like the Dutch where they look good on paper and play good ball, but never go all the way.
No to Portugal. Too many cheaters.
Bergkamp is a legend
And we can’t discount the Germans. It should be a good tournament
TG… Portugal are cheaters but the players they’ve got coupled with the coach i thinkwill go all the way… as much as i dislike them… specially that little nancy boy Ronaldo i think they will win it
Bergkamp IS a legend, and doesn’t get enough credit for it outside of Arsenal.
And things are looking good for him to replace Wenger at some point in the future.
Arsenal-Ajax partnership, DB10 doing his coaching internship at Ajax.
I was watching a Legends program on ArseTV a little while ago on Bergkamp and he was saying on there that one day he would love to come back and work with Arsenal… the man was a genius on the pitch. I don’t think there is a gooner alive that wouldn’t want to see him come back to North London
I hope an underdog wins Euro 2008 and that some super player will emerge from the tournament.
Did anyone see the Holland-Portugal game in the World Cup?
Worse cheating I’ve seen. Robben took a kick to the head in the pentalty area, Figo head-butted Van Bommel, then a few minutes later Figo drops dead when noone touches him.
All this time, whore-loving Ronaldo is crying on the bench because Bhoularouz kicked him on the thigh and took him out of the game.
Figo, Carvalho, Maniche, Ronaldo and Nani would all be int he final 10 if there was a Fifa Worlds worst cheat award
I liked Rivaldo as a player, but whenever I hear his name the only image is get is the WC semis against Turkey. He’s about to take a corner and the guy kicks the ball to him (from a distance) and it hits him on his thigh. He falls to the ground clutching his face like he’d been shot by a sniper.
The turk gets a red, and Brazil win 1-0
Rivaldo should make that top 10 list just for that !
arsen get Fabiano Santacroce (born 24 August 1986 in Camaçari, Bahia)he is a Brazilian-Italian footballer playing for Napoli.guys look at him;)
how about palacios to cover flamini,,,he looked quality to me even nzoqbia juss so we can rotate our squad we got a good first 11 we need a monster center back and a winger and a class finisher …then we can get get quality role players that can come off the becnh and do their job like ….the reason we faultered was coz we lack depth how can all of sudden a team that led up until 10 games to go be that bad..but we all knew we were just an injury away from disaster…but even though we we won like 2 games in like 13 games and we still had agood shot if it wasnt for poor defending against drogba,.liverpool and man u ,,,games we were comfrtably with a lead,,..our defence is the worst it puts pressure on our offence…our offence is only 2nd inthe league ,,,,,
The more I think about it the more I think we need a quality centre back. Someone who is big, strong, quick & dominates in the air. Then this would help solve our problem of defending set pieces. Yes we need a new keeper if Lehmann goes & maybe one more attacker but generally I think our midfield is our strongest asset if a bit lightweight at times.
Does anyone else agree?
Stevie, I would agree with you. Its such a tough ask though! I can’t really think of anyone? I don’t even think Micah is 6ft tall?
How about this… future Arsenal Managers…
Van Basten + Bergkamp?
It works for me should the worst happen. Total football at Highbury… or total football continued!
Well yes thats the only thing, Im not too sure who would fit therole…..euro 2008 might help us decide but Im sure Wenger has his eye on a few,….Micah is very good, could be a great buy, wonder how much hes worth £13M?
I reckon £20million… If Rio was worth £18 all those years ago, Micah has to be worth more.
There is no way Wenger will buy after Euro 2008… I would think he’ll try and do all his shopping pre tournament.
Who plays in the back line for Holland these days? They always seem to have good centre backs.
Your right leaving it til after euros would be a mistake, dont think he will the cos we know how coy he is with his signings.
Dont know about the dutch side but Im thinking Micah would be great, he already has plenty of experience in the PL & at international level at such a young age.
For Holland they’re usually playing Heitinga from Ajax as CB … he’s already agreed a move to Spain though. I think Atletico Madrid but I could be wrong.
So who are the players to watch out for in this years Euro 2008?
Did Serbia make the tournament?
I wonder if Cesc will start for spain?
Yeah its Atletico for 10 Million
He’s 24 and spent 17 years at Ajax
I duno but its gona be interesting. No doubt alot of quality players will emerge from it. Dont know if Serbia made it, yer I reckon Cesc might start for Spain
I tell you what, if Diarra plays ahead of Flamini in the middle for france, I will be disgusted.
If RvP goes out there and gets injured, again, I will be disgusted!
If Rosicky strings more than 2 games together I will… well, you get the picture.
Diarra is quality though, we should have given him more chances. Not sure who I’ll be supporting but Ive always liked Cech Republic so probably them.
Rosicky always turns up for the Czech.
im going for germany for the euro.
i would LOVE for lehmann to win so people stop talking about how almunia is better.
and the passing the team does is beautiful. i watched a friendly and 3 people from the defense get an assist. long balls are dangerous.
id like to see croatia but without eduardo i cant see them going too much furthr
Personally I reckon the only likely signings will be the two Malian goat herders spoken about the other day!
Croatia still has a good team even without Eduardo though. I don’t see them winning, but they could cause some problems.
2 games on the trot pedro, is that a different rosicky you speak off?
I’m hoping he doesn’t have Owenitis!
Out for 8 months… into the international setup… out for 8 months…
Steve Pires, can you dig me out a video of this goat herder you speak of? He sounds better than the Spanish gypsy we signed from Sevilla!
speaking of videos
if bored in the future put “monkey ed” into youtube, i only found it today and very funny, might be old to some of you though, totally off topic i might add
Pedro, you’re right about the Van Basten and Bergkamp duo,, I think thats what the Ajax Arsenal partnership will involve. Van Basten and Bergkampf will already be very familiar with our squad and when they move on, bring in any of their favourite Ajax players to boost the team.
Wenger has another 2 years, and after all this specualtion, I’m anticipating what transfer we’ll make this summer.
I’m still a fan of Wenger’s work, and with a clean slate, I think another successful season lies ahead.
We’ve progressed since last season but not as much as we could. The only step forward is 1st or 2nd next season, preferably 1st of course, and I’m confident we’ll get more points next season.
Wenger might decide to call it a day in 2011 (hope he doesn’t) and retire as a football manager, I can’t see him managing any other club. However Trappatone is 69, so if he goes for as long as Trappatone, we could have 10 more successful years under Wenger.
I believe Wenger will achieve the ultimate team by the end of his careeer, and that next season will be much better than this one.
And I’d love Euro 2008 to open with a big upset.
Germany 0 – Poland 2
I hope Poland win (they have a good chance of qualifying to their group, and if they do the form book says they’ll be knocked out in the first round) win, and if they get knocked out, I’ll keep supporting underdogs, i’m hoping for some big upsets, and they always happen in the cup!
Poland has a great manager in Leo Beenhakker .. former Ajax, Holland, and Real Madrid. He took Trinidad to the World Cup in 06 (where we lost to England due to Peter Crouch’s hair-pulling tactics)
I hope Wenger stays for as long as possible!
Yeah bug time Trindad, you’ll know how lucky we are to have him, he’s made a major change. He’s a master tactician, we finished first in our group, and got a win and a draw against Portugal with Ronaldo playing.
With Germna, Croatia and Austria in the same group, Poland are 3rd seeeded. Eduardo played a major role in helping Croatia, and Croatia could misss him, but he’ll be there with them so that’ll make them extra tough to beat, they’ll fight hard. Austria are the home nation, they could pull off some upsets even though they have a low ranking. Germany are not safe at all, this is a tough group.
Being in the same group as one of the host nations is calling for upsets to happen, refs are biased for them, and then dropping points against anohter underdog it’s easy to get unlucky.
Austria suprised me in their last friendly, against the Dutch. Austria was 3-0 up inside 40 minutes !!
Holland then scored 4
(2 by Huntelaar)
Yup no surprises there, the deadliest striker in the world, he can turn any game.
I hope he’s the one, people who haven’t seen him play don’t understand what the hype is about…
This week my tip you can take to the bookies is:
Ajax v Hercales Alm
Ajax win
Arsenal v Reading
Arsenal win
There is also a case of whether Van Basten can convince Huntelaar to stay another season, since he’s their Thierry Henry he’s quite happy where he is…..
Big Raddy and Trinidad Gooner have you not loved the European Brazilians from way before DB10s time. Cruyff and co were probably the best ever team never to win a world cup. The Dutch are a small nation who produce world class players every decade. Van Basten for Manager NOW with DB10 alongside him, fucking awesome. Am I the only one who thinks our midfield is the problem plus my boo boy Almunia. The keeper is usually only troubled 3/4 times in most matches yet we always concede.The Mancs best signing in years was the old Dutch keeper Van Der Sar. The midfield are all great players who would fit in to any other team BUT. They all play in the wrong positions and the defensive cover isn’t there. Yes the Flamster is a good player but in the past few months the Flamster has been playing further up the park with Cesc covering. Cesc is fucking awesome but he isn’t a defensive player. Diaby on left wing, that prick on the right wing. Hleb all over the place and Bert being unable to play in fits and starts. We have the best midfield in the Prem when Cesc, Hleb, the Flamster and Sicky are together. In recent months that hasn’t happened. The midfield goals dried up and we started conceding by being hit on the break or just plain fucked. The Keeper, well lets just say some of our fams are very easily pleased. He is a sad joke. The blame rests solely with AW. I do love and respect him but does he not see how easy it could be to win the Prem.
El Tel, he’s here till the end of his contract, if we don’t want him then, fair enough.
Wenger is trying to build a dynasty that will keep the club ticking along for years after he’s gone, some of you might only appreciate the things he’s done after he’s gone.
Enjoy the Wenger era while it lasts.
Hunt the Huntellar. I havent seen him play but if he plays for the mighty Ajax he will be technically good and strong. We could also get Villa and use him on the wing, Aw likes using strikers out wide. The keeper Gomes played well against us but again I personally havent seen much of him. A winger is a must and controversy from me here. How about Robben, our penalty ratio alone would improve and he would be a perfect match for our No.1 diver he also has won a Prem. Ronaldinhio let AW relight a fading star and not many complaints about season tickets me thinks. If not how about this one. I will get lynched by most Gooners for this but here goes Berbatov. if not Ronaldinhio then use him as our new DB10. Thats up front and midfield sorted. Defence now. Lets test the Chavs and nick their best defender Carvaliho (appologies for my spelling) if not then Gareth barry as I remember him playing CB before i think. and Micah Richards. Bye Bye and thanks to Eboue, Hoyte,Sicky and I think he’s the nuts when he plays Bert and either Bendtner or Ade.
AW doesn’t ever have to leave us and yes he is a legend but move him up to Director level. Let him negotiate transfers and oversee the new kids on the block Van the Man and DB10. This would be the ultimate as AW will not manage any of our rivals. He is the Professor so let him teach the new guys. How wonderful would that be.
This is how Liverpool dominated the League for 18 fucking years the Managers all came through one after another till the Mighty ARSENAL done them for good 89. The Mancs could end up like they were before that sick red nosed tosser arrived when he has gone. AW could be our Bob Paisley
Yeah but that’s after he’s finished as a manager, the earliest that would be is 2011, meanwhile I believe we’ll make progress and get more points next season.
the only reason arsenal didnt win anything…is because we have adebayor!!!
he is pants!!!
i cuda scored the open goals he misses every game…
he misses at least one tap in every single game!!
if we had torres…i bet his prem goal tally wuda been around 40!!!!!
Robben is a luxury player. I love Robben, but we already have too many injury prone players.
Read modric/mudruc maybe signed by Arsenal.I think he might be a bit too diminutive for the epl and could be unable to withstand the physical challenge.
Yes I know he’s far and skilful but bigger built players have been mugged.
As ever i expected wenger to say it .. and here it is …
Arsene Wenger has admitted that the 2-1 reverse at Old Trafford last Sunday, which halted Arsenal’s title charge once and for all, still wrangles. But he insisted that his team must aim to finish as high in the table as possible.
Speaking of Sunday’s defeat Wenger said,
‘It will never go out of my system, but we want to focus forwards and what is in front of us,’
‘Now is a good opportunity for us to show mental strength and to finish as well as we can, as high as we can because second place is still possible.’ Wenger told the official website.
I expected this , and it just shows how predictable wenger is ..
and his lust to show improvement with this squad to save face !
predictable yet sad …
From the last few days i have noticed that we all want the same sort of players to grace the emirates we all recognise we need a GK,CB,LM,CF
We should get rid of Eboue,Gilberto,Lehmann and in my opinion Gallas a legend in his own mind
and the names we are all shouting about are basically all the same Villa,Richards,Modric,Kompany,Quaresma,
I think the only way we all will get our way is to buy a copy of football manager and take control of our beloved club that way because unfortunately we all know
Villa – will not come,we will sign a CB we all have never heard of anyone remember signing Stepanovs,Cygan,Senderos,Djourou,
A keeper who never meets our expectations – Wright,Manninger,Taylor,Almunia,
I appreciate everything AW has done for us and more often than not he has got the transfers right but heres a team he might not want to own up to
Wright,
Luzhny,
Vivas,
Stepanovs,
Cygan,
Eboue,
Garde,
Inamoto,
Boa Morte,
Jeffers,
Wreh,
afc53
i concur,
You know all i wanted wenger to come out and say is he will consentrate on giving some youth a much needed run in the last 4 games, and keep 1 eye on the title race to ensure we maintain our position , and say to all the fans , dont worry next season ill be getting a FEW players to fill the gaps ..
END OF !
this,’ we will be 2nd’ theory , is just another act of denial which i stated a few days ago
knowing wenger would come out with it sooner or later .. Im sure after the everton game he wished he’d never said it .. As much as 2nd would get a slice more of the money than 3rd , its still a losers spot ! What is more important is giving some youth some experience !!!
Morning all,
Message for ScubaGooner, cheers mate, spoke to Tony and got the tickets for tomorrow’s game and will be linking his mate tomorrow.
I’m off line from around 11.30 as I’m moving offices so if you need to get my no off Pedro via Bud.
Anyone else going?
Ethan, dont get me wrong AW is a fantastic manger and has brought in a new era for us but the last 3 seasons have been hard to swallow
I celebrated like mad when we beat the spuds to the 4th place spot now i look back on it and think 4th thats not good enough.
We have the facilities,Youth set up,Money,Backroom and Management to dominate for years to come but what we lack is REAL WORLD CLASS PLAYERS
Come On The Arsenal 3-1 Tomorrow
NEW POST!
I have just read about Chelskis clearout and saw Maloudas Name on there I think he would fill a gap on the left
tbh i don’t think wenger should go for amuari as he is one year older than a certain david villa and after what torres did here in one season, i certainly think villa can achieve and maybe even double that as i rate him as a better player than torres…so mr wenger please go for villa but if you really want amuari than buy them both…you have got the money si why not
Dont go believing all the tabloid tosh ??? remember the fake story circulating the web last year that landed on the front of the sun(cunts).Wenger have already stated that he wont by big and that he want the squad to stay together.25 mil for Amauri is a joke by any stretch of the imagination but if rafa wants himself another completely overrated,good luck to him.
….and would Wenger please stop these prediction games.Everytime he states this or that he ends with eggs on his face.Wednesday he said that we had to go all out for second spot,thursday night it bacame impossible when chelski won.We have just blown the most promising second in years and then he keeps on with his stupid predictions that just ends in nothing.It is time someone but a gag on Wenger he must stop talking till we win the championship because frankly i am tired of all his bullshit.
U must be having a laugh about Malouda, he has been overley average this season.
Aside for transfers Ive left it a bit late to get a ticket for one of the last home games…theres a few tickets availble for tomo but Im not paying £66!!! Never mind
Anyone ging tomorrow ? I’ve managed to get a ticket,area 1. Hoping for a right, royal whooping for the berks from Berkshire !
Nope left it a bit late to get one, will be watching it at home with high expectations….we’ve been playing so well attacking wise lately.
Ok everyone, the thing I’m most happy about in reading these comments is that you all have the same sentiments as me. After I post this comment I’m gonna email Mr Wenger and attach the link to these comments so he can see that EVERYONE is saying the same thing! I especially agree with ‘TH14′s sense of arrogance’.
When I was a kid I used to go down to Highbury ON THE DAY and go watch my heroes, WRIGHTY, THE MERSE, BIG T.A., LIMPAR, SMUDGER AND OF COURSE ROCKY, ROCKY, ROCKY, ROCKY ROCASTLE. We would regularly pay £5-10 and no waiting lists! I appreciate that the extra revenues we have now are supposed to have taken us to the next level but what is the use in being on the next level if we aren’t gonna compete??? Now I have a season ticket that I waited 8 years for and then had to pay £1300 for! Now that works out at around £50 per match (alot more than £5-10!!!) Now I don’t mind paying that type of money IF WE ARE GONNA COMPETE AND WIN THINGS!! We moved into a new stadium to compete with the biggest clubs in the world, we have consistantly got into the last 16 of the CL which makes us one of the top 16 clubs in the world, LETS START ACTING LIKE IT!!! This is how the simple economics goes, Mr Wenger has a masters degree in this subject so will know the maths already!
1. A full Emirates Stadium for the 2nd year running @ £3M per home match plus cup matches (we’ll be consevative and say 6 home cup mathces) = 25 home matches which then in turn equals £75M. Times that by 2 and its clear to see that we have generated AT LEAST £150M and thats not including the friendly Brazil matches and concerts that we have at our new home.
2. Merchandising – Not sure on the figure but its gonna be a good few million isn’t it?!
3. The sale of players last year. In the summer we made £25M profit and then you can add another £5M from that idiot Diarra, Thats £30M.
That makes £180M without the merchandising or the rental of our stadium and that is conservative!
4. Our repayments are going to be a chunk but we re-financed not that long ago so what is it? £60M Altogether for 2 years?
Well that gives us at least £70-90M in surplus cash and heres what I would love to see happen!
Firstly I believe very stongly that we need more players at our club that actually supported the club as a boy. As much as our current crop is good, they won’t have the same passion a gooner would have. I don’t want to see Adebayor laughing and joking with Ronaldo after we got beat by Manure, what was so funny?
Here are the players we need to lose…..
EBOUE – A true liability, he has made us a laughing stock at times, doesn’t score goals and his final ball is diabolical.
LEHMAN – Has given us decent service but with his age etc its time to move on.
HOYTE – Just not good enough.
ROSICKY – Too injury prone! When you are taking Bobbys place in our team you need to score at least 15 goals a season.
HLEB – The only one I might convince can possibly stay, BUT he takes on the world and has no final ball or goal scoring killer instinct, which aint good enough!
We need players to replace these lot and then we also need to add to the squad.
Heres who I would buy……..
ASTON VILLA:
ASHLEY YOUNG – A self confessed gooner, English, yet to peak, very fast, very skillful and great at dead ball situations!
GABBY AGBONLAHOR – Is a brummie lad but WE HAVE TO STAMP OUR AUTHORITY AND START ACTING LIKE A TOP 4 CLUB. He’s fast, pacey, very direct and again ENGLISH.
We could certainly use Rosicky and Eboue as makeweights plus about £20M
MAN CITY:
MICAH RICHARDS – Another self confessed Arsenal fan who is the right age, the right strength, technique and pace to be an Arsenal legend plus he can play right back or central defence, ENGLISH.
JOE HART – A top keeper in the making and ANOTHER, YES ANOTHER ARSENAL FAN!!! David Seaman was his idol apparently and guess what…He’s English!
Again we could use Justin Hoyte and Jens Lehman to soften the blow to City plus around £15-20M.
The last player I would bring in is one of the following 2.
DAVID VILLA or KLAS VAN HUNTELLAR.
Either one of these 2 please and it will boost our squad no end as everyone has been discussing. Hopefully we can get a deal for around £15-20M for one of these. And maybe use Hleb as a makeweight if we really need to.
Then we will obviously bring through a few youngsters:
Kerrea Gilbert – Back from Cardiff
Carlos Vela – Back from Ossasuna
Jay Simpson – Back from Millwall
Nacer Barazite
Henri Lansbury, etc etc
I strongly believe that these signings will add majorly to our club and this spree would cost no more than £60M, remember, you need to speculate to accumilate!
As someone said earlier, we should have more of a say. We believe very stronly that we have one of the 3 best managers in the world, BUT we are the ones who pay week in week out, we buy the tops every year and programmes every time we visit. WE WANT TO SPLASH SOME CASH, THATS WHAT US THE FANS WANT. WE DON’T WANT TO SEE LIVERPOOL BUYING TORRES AND BABEL, WE SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THEM BOTH!!! WE WOULD HAVE WON THE LEAGUE WITH THEM!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LISTEN TO THE FANS, PLEASE! ALSO, I HEARD THAT WE WANT TO SIGN KRANKJAR, WELL WHY DIDN’T WE JUST DO A STRAIGHT SWAP FOR DIARRA IN JAN?