I really believe we will add to the squad, but it won’t be by much, Flamini is key to who he buys and I think if he goes, Barry will join. Robinho or Ben Arfa will come in on the wing and now Barca are out of Europe, Henry’s chances of an emotional return have rocketed, he will though look for an experienced centre back to bring in whilst the kids develop. I can’t see Senderos or Eboue going and I think we’ll hang on to Gilberto until Denilson develops.
Hleb will stay but Lehmann will seek pastures new.
The additions will come from the reserves, who I don’t know, but he really believes in his kids.
We can still win the league, but only if the other two collapse, 2 draws should do it but don’t get your hopes up.
I think he’ll make his signings the week after the Sunderland game and I think he’s been sounding them out already, well that’s what I would do, but with Arsene, who knows? …he does right!
We need a winger for sure, Rosicky can’t be relied upon, if Eduardo comes back early, he won’t sign a forward, with Bendtner and Ade showing signs of being the strikers we can rely on I can’t see him going for Benzema or Villa and that’s why I could see Henry coming home, a bit of experience to help them along.
We do need Adams back though, a defensive coach is what we’ve been lacking and if we can shut up shop at the back, and then we will win the quadruple next season…
Interesting that we had no chavs in the EPL team of the season, and more Arsenal players than from any other club, it shows that we’re not that far off, even if we don’t believe it ourselves sometimes.
There, now I can’t be more positive than that can I?
Good day yesterday Grovers and welcome aboard several new commenter’s, sorry it takes so long to approve sometimes, it’s the system, not us.
Let’s wish the cheating scousers luck over the cheating chavs tonight, they always have the refs on their side so maybe tonight as well eh?
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
April 30, 2008 at 09:14
15 hours of F-Day left, will he, wont he?
Is it a midnight deadline i wonder?
whats the chances of a press conference tomorrow?
April 30, 2008 at 09:16
High I imagine and he’ll do a lap of honour on Sunday.
April 30, 2008 at 09:18
hes already gone, milan have offered him 1mill euros more then juve and they were offering more then us. i cant see him satying for the love of it especailly when the likes of milan come calling.
its a silly policy at Arsenal sometimes. we will now have to spend 10mill to but a replacement cos we also sold diarra, how perfect would he have been.
why didnt wenger loan out diarra?
bollox
April 30, 2008 at 09:20
Morning and thanks for the post. Only reason I would have wanted Barca to win last night would be for Henry,if he played the 90,but that wasnt going to happen.
True, if Man-Ure and Chavskie lost/drawed their final two games AND(a big AND) we WIN both our final games, we’ll be laughing all the way to the pub and podium.Its now done to our boys to finish strong and hope that Manure take their eyes off the title race and Chavskie do the same to concentrate on CL,if the chavs win tonight that is…
April 30, 2008 at 09:21
who knows. Diarra is history – if the dozy git has so little ambition and belief in his own talent, then AW was right to show him the door.
Portsmouth ….. FFS
April 30, 2008 at 09:22
Geoff, no way on earth will Henry be brought back. He has a long term injury & Barcelona would want 12+ million because they are still smarting from paying 16 million for him in the first place. Bringing him back would ruin the team spirit & would put players like Cesc & Hleb back to square one always looking to pass to Henry. I gurantee that won’t happen, the only way it could be possible is if Barca release him on a free which they won’t.
Flamini will leave but Barry will join Liverpool. Its a lot closer to his home than we are & moving south would mean uprooting his family.
As for reserves moving up, thats a safe bet. It doesn’t mean they’ll be any good but its a definate because he needs 8 or 9 new players, with the likes of Gilberto going.
Marseille have reportedly offered a straight swap to Lyon for Ben Arfa for Nasri. Who knows if that will appeal to them, what is sure though is that the 2 million Arsene would offer for Ben Arfa will be laughed at!!
April 30, 2008 at 09:26
I’ll be glad but surprised if Flamster signs,cos its like the fight to sign him is between Inter and Juve, we Ia, afraid are not in the picture as we have a wage-cap which is below what the above two are offering. Looks like the carrots look juicier in Italy for Flamster lads.
April 30, 2008 at 09:27
lol where did you get we need 8 or 9 players? we need 3 at the most. robhinio, a CH and another midfielder.
April 30, 2008 at 09:27
Why do people keep talking about Mannone as being good enough for our 3rd choice keeper?? The guy is probably one of the worst keepers I’ve ever seen.
He was an absolute laughing stock at Barnsley on loan, even throwing the ball into his own net & last night against the reserve league champions he gets himself sent off!!
He’ll never be good enough for even a championship team.
April 30, 2008 at 09:28
Thierry was hopeless in his cameo appearance last night – no sign of the genius we knew and loved
April 30, 2008 at 09:34
Dear fellow Gunners,
Last night I posted a link to an article on the BBC site about a significant event in
footballing history. In 2000 Manchester United were beaten in the World Club Championship finals by Vasco da Gama of Brazil. Vasco da Gama picked up the trophy thanks to a 3-1 win against the Mancunian side. I wanted to bookmark it so I tried to get onto the site.
Alas, overnight it has been erased, there is a 404 message. As this is an important historical archive and should not be erased overnight, I’ve sent the BBC some feedback on this issue, I don’t think we should sweep such things under the rug just because what happened causes someone dis-pleasure. It worked last night and it has been taken down literally overnight.
99/12/99/world_club_championship/manchester_united/595844.stm
This is the address of the page, I clicked through to it via google.
Please cold you let the BBC know about this broken link since if they get feedback about this page from multiple people, they will not be able to just ignore it.
Should they not respond by repairing it, that would clearly display they want to erase history when it suits them and a blatant bias toward Manchester United, which clearly would be unacceptable from a public media broadcaster.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/front_page/3701180.stm
This is the feedback page, it should be directed to “football – web coverage”.
Regards
FC
April 30, 2008 at 09:36
Only because it looked like the whole team disliked him!
I felt sorry for him! He could still do a job for us… It would be like inviting your Nan to help you with some filing… she can do the job, just not as well as she once could!
In fairness, Eto’o looked shite and Messi just looke plain greedy.
Did anyone see a bit of Paddy in Yaya?
April 30, 2008 at 09:37
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/12/99/world_club_championship/manchester_united/595844.stm
April 30, 2008 at 09:38
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/12/99/world_club_championship/manchester_united/595844.stm
Sorry this is the broken link, didn’t copy and paste above correctly.
April 30, 2008 at 09:38
Hi.
Hope your’re right on Helb.
I take Barry as Flamini is gone – Money money
For the defense: 2 solutions:
My first:
I can see Wenger bring on Thuram on a free to play some part and coach the defense
Or (but I doubt it)
Buying a proven center back and get rid of one of the youngsters (He won’t bring one unless he sell one)
With Barry, Denilson and song, you can let Gilberto go for a few millions (as Barry being english, he will cost twice his real value)
And finaly, for Thierry, I don’t see that happening.
April 30, 2008 at 09:39
good wrap up of things will probly lay out
i rekon he’ll stay and so will hleb…not s sure abt henry tho…
diarra wuda been handy to have now…but his poor attitude wudv popped up sooner or later, so maybe wenger thought its best to offload him…but yeh a loan wudv been betr
April 30, 2008 at 09:39
I tried to post the broken link but it’s not coming up in the comments.
April 30, 2008 at 09:40
test123
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/12/99/world_club_championship/manchester_united/595844.stm
April 30, 2008 at 09:41
Amazing. All that attacking talent, worth squillions of pounds and yet Van de Saar didn’t have a save to make.
One MU shot and they score (typical)
April 30, 2008 at 09:41
Pedro – unfortunately i saw none of Paddy in Yaya…i was actually thinking during the game i was glad we didnt make it a double brother act at Arsenal by bringing him in when the rumours were around….
April 30, 2008 at 09:42
Ok it’s come up now
April 30, 2008 at 09:43
I got it too FC
April 30, 2008 at 09:45
What we need to bring experience player other than Arfa & Robinho(do we think possible) are of good age as for Barry & Henry they will be there to help the lads. Anyway Tony will be great along with Pat Rice.
April 30, 2008 at 09:46
While I’d like TH to come back I think that his injury issues [which I bet were behind AW selling him in the first place] mitigate against it. Can’t see Flamini staying so we need another MFer but can’t see why Barry is the answer. He’s certainly not a holding type and Song can do Flamsters job equally well in my opinion. A good winger might be useful – Robinho is terrific but will he cope with the EPL?. Vela has been playing wide left for Osasuna so he may be the answer.
I like Villa and we could do with a bit of experience.
Still think that he ought to let Eboue [no more than a squad player] go as long as Hleb stays.
I was not impressed with Fabianski against Derby but I guess they see something in him. Then again it’s not too long ago that Bob Wilson was tipping Stuart Taylor as the next England keeper. I do like the look of the Polish lad who plays for the u18’s. He does look the business.
April 30, 2008 at 09:49
Good post and got me feeling positive Geoff.
Just imagine if the chavs and manwho lose this weekend and we win……all down to the final day; maybe just maybe the pressure will tell on those two, who knows.
Flamini is gone so we can forget him.
Felt sorry for Henry last night; will he come back? I can’t see it myself. And if he did my only concern would be how that effects the rest of team. Although I do think he’d be much more humble and maybe act as a true mentor, who knows.
April 30, 2008 at 09:49
God I hope you are wrong again. We must except that players who chat to other clubs whilst being paid by AFC should go, and sod em. I think Flamini, Hleb, Gilberto, Jens and Big Phil should go….Arsene would get approx….£18 mill the lot My own personal wish is that Gallas is also offered out which would give AW another £7 mill.
Now the easy part….If Arsene does not buy a world class centre back or two, who are great in the air and fast on the ground, it will not matter who else he gets because we will win nothing until we can do a Man U or a george G, and hold onto the lead. If you have any doubts just add together the points we have lost AND TO WHOM, after outplaying them home & away and then collapsing ??
It actually adds up to an extra 14 points! And thats not counting the Boro loss at all!!
If AW gets the defenders we need more than anything else, he can the utilise Kolo in the makelele role he is suited too. Barry should be signed to replace Flamini. Kirkland would be my choice of first team goalie, and finally I would sign Robihno because Arsene tried to sifgn him before Madrid had heard of him.
Total cost would equal approx £56 mill…..lest sales would leave £ £32 mill which our kitty would cover. Some of this will be recovered with the sales of a few others who may not like being used as subs.
The team I would therefore like to see start next season for every away match is:-
Kirkland
Sagna New New Clichy
Kolo
Walcott Fabrigas Barry Robihno
AdeB
Subs: VP, Vela, Djorou, Eboue, Bentner, Denilson.
Rosicky would always be in the squad but like Eduado we have to forget them until fully fit.
For Home matches I would revert to 4-4-2Replacing Kolo with VP or Bentner.
JUST TELL ME WHO COULD BEAT THAT LOT????
April 30, 2008 at 09:49
I saw Paddy in Ya Ya when he got booked!
Barry would come because anyone with a brain would want to be at Arsenal.
If Flamini was a cert for the Lira of Italy (I know its euros) he would have already gone, I think he can see what this team can do, but to be honest, I sooner have Barry.
April 30, 2008 at 09:53
I want ROBINHO, we need a winger who can be replaced as a striker if needed.
Plus, we need a creative -dribbler-brazilian touch at front. This year it would have helped so much to concrete so many occasions.
So Bring him on !
2nd choice would be BARRY because we lack an English player and Flamini is on the Go anyway. We do need an efficient, strong and experimented like Barry.
Yaya Touré would have been good but I’m sure Barry is what we need.
Now…Let’s wait and SEE…
April 30, 2008 at 09:53
Well it is going to be a long summer of speculation, and everyones views are great to read.
Here is mine – Flamster will stay, my reason for this is that Arsene is so cool over the situation, either that, or he knows he is going and the deal for a replacement has already been done – Makou (whatever his name is, maybe the one – his agent has said talks are very forward with a london club) Either way, I think the boss has this sorted already.
Hleb – well I havent a clue, he gives nothing away, but has said that it is a bit too physical in EPL, so he may go. I think this stems from Dudus injury – Hleb was almost green in colour. If that is his reason for going and not money then I wish him the best…
I think Barazite Nordveit, maybe Thomas, Simpson and maybe Wilshere will be drafted into the first team squad – used to cover injuries and rotation in the ‘lesser’ games (no disrespect meant) A few more or the reserves ie Sunu, Fonte, Dunne will play the CC games.
Vela and Merida will be back from loan.
Hoyte, Senderos, Lehman and maybe Djourou will leave, they should be playing each week, but sadly not for Arsenal – Lehman, well he needs to retire in Germany GRACEFULLY!!
I hope Eboue stays, yes stays, he is more than good cover for Bac, but ONLY used in that position, NOT as a winger.
So we have to not expect toooooooo much, but what we all agree on is that we can score goals, ok we miss a lot, but Ade will be better as will Theo, RVP.
Dudu will need time to get his confidence back, but after Christmas should be his time, fingers crossed, and all the best to him.
Yes, no mention of Nik – Well, I hope he goes this summer. Dont shout at me, but I watched his interview on ATV, he does not come across as a guy who loves our club. Each question asked he had just one word answers, and appeared disinteresed.
Who is your footballing hero – ‘dont have one’
What team do you watch when you are home – ‘Dont watch football’
He is boring and if I were Ade, I would have slapped him too, for being so arrogant.
So, I would like to see him replaced by either Villa, Titi (he will be so different second time around) or Robinho
Defence – We need a ‘Thuram’ style player, over 6′ tall and about 27 years old. I havent a clue on who fits this description, but I believe Arsene already has him signed…
On the wing – well we all would love Ben Arfa, but if Hleb stays, i dont see him buying anyone in this position – we would have Theo, Hleb, Rosicky (he will be healed by then) Vela, Merida, Barazite who can all paly on either side. Yes I hope I am wrong.
So – In for me : Ben Arfa, Villa/Titi, CH and if Flamster goes, whoever the boss has already bought – I think it is either Makou or Barry – hipppeeeeee
Happy days ahead Gooners
April 30, 2008 at 09:53
By the same logic though Geoff he should already have come out and said he’s staying.
Agree; Barry would be the better bet
April 30, 2008 at 09:55
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2000/jan/08/worldclubchampionship3
If the BBC want to pretend it didn’t happen, so be it, above is a link to the text commentary of the game in which Manchester United were beaten 3-1 by Vasco da Gama.
April 30, 2008 at 09:57
Theater scuba, pure theater, that way we’ll be conned into thinking he’s a new signing.
Good post Rico, I agree.
April 30, 2008 at 10:01
for the last day of the league, ive gone as far as to take the monday off as A/L incase there is a miracle.
As in OZ all the games will kick off at Midnight (1500 for you guys), so i can watch 4 games at once on my new 58” plasma, so im having a night on it!
April 30, 2008 at 10:02
morning people… so rijkard is surely off now .. and barca are gonna have a shake up… can we get messi?
April 30, 2008 at 10:03
58 inches eh? I know all about that!
April 30, 2008 at 10:04
We know that Moaninio will go there so he won’t let him go, but we should be trying to attract those sort of players, I mean we have Cesc Fabregas!
April 30, 2008 at 10:07
i got a Cesc away strip this season, he is the ducks nuts!
So we reckon the signings will begin after the sunderland game, i hope so!
April 30, 2008 at 10:07
Any idea what the price tag on Gareth Barry is guys?
April 30, 2008 at 10:11
12-16 million
April 30, 2008 at 10:11
If we keep Hleb and Flams then Ben Arfa & a centre back will do.
There’s no need for wholesale changes.
April 30, 2008 at 10:11
The papers are saying £15mil, but Wenger will go in with 2 plus 2 more if he captains England and wins the next world cup!
April 30, 2008 at 10:11
I met Gareth Barry in a bar about 5 years ago and asked if he would ever play for Arsenal and he said,
‘I wish… but I’m not good enough!’
I don’t want a player like that at the mighty Arse!
I hear £15million for his signature.
April 30, 2008 at 10:13
I’d say that was very humble, I like him already!
April 30, 2008 at 10:13
no way we will buy Barry .. too expensive for us
think more along the lines of a French young promising stud
like Loic Perrin ..
the game last night was quite poor by all standards
one point I would like to make here is that even youngsters like Bojan, unless they are super talents like Messi, will need time to show their qualities
we shouldnt judge our ones too harshly sometimes..me included..but you dont win with youngsters
thats the bottomline
we are kidding ourselves if we think that we will ever win with a crop of 20/23 old ones
this is not a negative statement .. its reality
look around Europe
when Bayern failed, they invested 80MM Euros .. and they are always winning coz they got more dosh
look at every European league and you will realize that the teams that are always top are the money spenders .. without exception ..
Mila/Real/Juve/Inter/Barca/ .. and even in smaller leagues, Ajax/Anderlecht/Benfica/Porto ..
if you are the richest club in your league, you will win titles
Chelsea and ManU are living proof over here ..
we managed to compete under Wenger as the underdogs in the beginning due to very very shrewd management and a couple of top buys .. TH14/Bobby/Paddy
now we cant and the competition has increased.. it has become very very difficult to knick players on the cheap
David Dein is perfectly right when he says that we need more money to win trophies
he is only stating the obvious .. dont know why people slate him for that
winning football games is not about ownership/management..etc.. its about being able to field the best players ..
April 30, 2008 at 10:13
arsene dont be stubborn…!!!!!we need..need…NEEDSSSSS others player like ROBINHO,BARRY,RAMOS and bring back HENRY1!!!!wwe also can bring the free players hav more experience like THURAM…we need strenght the squad…
April 30, 2008 at 10:13
t-buzz – 15mil i think
April 30, 2008 at 10:15
I’d like to see Barry arrive but it won’t happen, although he’s actually from Hastings originally his life is now up north & Liverpool are probably just as attractive to join as Arsenal. He may even feel joining Liverpool will be better for his England career as he’ll be playing every week with Gerrard.
April 30, 2008 at 10:17
Not a bad price, he’s the kind of player that gets recognised by his effort on the pitch, not by the papparazzis for falling out drunkingly from a night out.
I think its high time we got some more british blood in the centre cos we’ve already got the eagle eyes of Cesc, the cheetah-ish pace of Theo, we need Spartan attitude drive the boys forward to attack! lol
April 30, 2008 at 10:19
Or benched like Pennant, Crouch and Kewell. Gerrard’s not in the same league as Cesc.
April 30, 2008 at 10:20
lol
spurs want eto in a swap…
http://www.teamtalk.co.za/football/story/0,16368,2483_3496941,00.html
on a side note what is wrong with him… he looks really bad these days!!
April 30, 2008 at 10:21
on the same site.. elano petrov and a host of others plan to leave man city…..
elano would be a good buy.. he even plays at right back!!!
April 30, 2008 at 10:22
lol, as if that swaps gonna happen, id rather have eto’o any day!
April 30, 2008 at 10:22
We need a true world class centre back, two wingers, another world class forward at a bare minimum & thats if nobody apart from either Senderos or Djourou leave. Even if Flamini goes I think Denilson or Diaby can cover that position.
Vela is coming, so thats one. I’d like to see Barry & Benzema arrive, plus a really top quality centre back.
April 30, 2008 at 10:24
Jasonz, thanks to back my point on Thuram. I see that coming.
GMR, Benitez will never drop Mascherano. Then it depend if Barry wants to play a game every 4 weeks and between CL matches.
April 30, 2008 at 10:26
I just read that Portsmouth have issued a hands off Kranjcar statement.
Ungrateful cunts, all the players we’ve sold them.
April 30, 2008 at 10:26
man c players are behind sven, and will walk if he is sacked.
i love sven, best results of a manager of england for years yet gets sacked – dont blame him for the displays of this country, the players are mostly boring, cant change them….. as capello will find out, they are all too slow…
April 30, 2008 at 10:26
If Milan sign Flam, then where does Gattuso play? Probably WHL !
April 30, 2008 at 10:27
I’ll leave all my speculation for another time. But lads, get your math right while you’re waiting for the “miracle” league title.
If Mn U drew twice and we win out, we’d still lose the league on goal difference. We COULD catch Chelsea on goal difference if they drop four points.
To win it, we need United to LOSE a game and draw the other one. Good luck there. I’m sure West Ham can turn them over at OT, no problem.
Just wanted get the points straight.
And I’ll just say this about changes in the side. Forget wingers, strikers, etc. We need to tighten the back, sort out the centre half positions. That alone cost us the title, leaking silly goals after we had leads. We threw away at least 10-14 points. We should have won the league EASILY — even without a point at United or Chelsea.
Very, very frustrating.
I’m praying that the boss is ready to spend on some reliable, experienced, talented help at the back. The middle of our back four is a shambles — and Gallas was the worst player on the team in the second half of the year. How many of those cheap goals were on him?
Right this moment, assuming Flam leaves, Alex Song is our key replacement at TWO positions. I love his potential, but he can’t play ‘em both.
I’m hoping that the lack of rumours about Christian Zapata from Udinese means that AW is doing some business.
Cheers to all.
April 30, 2008 at 10:27
Well I think Alonso is on his way out at Liverpool. He could be a good buy.
April 30, 2008 at 10:28
Unless we score a lot Steve!
April 30, 2008 at 10:29
Good for Portsmouth. I don’t want Kranjcar he really isn’t that good.
April 30, 2008 at 10:31
What about Pirlo?
April 30, 2008 at 10:33
we usually do… second highest in the league at the moment…..72 and counting… but unfortunately we’ve conceded 31 goals…man u have conceded just 21.
April 30, 2008 at 10:34
Now there’s a player Geoff. Why not?
April 30, 2008 at 10:35
Whatever else happens I want Wenger to sign Benzema. The guy is awesome & if we don’t sign him he’ll end up at Utd, Chelski or the spuds!!
April 30, 2008 at 10:38
i don’t think we have a striker on the to-buy list this summer.
April 30, 2008 at 10:39
Netither do I choy. I see an attacking midfielder and a centre back
April 30, 2008 at 10:41
He won’t pay for Benzema, not when he’s got Bendtner, Ade, Theo, Eduardo and RVP.
What about swapping Bendtner for Arfa and Benzema plus cash?
April 30, 2008 at 10:43
I agree Wenger won’t sign a striker but I’ll be totally gutted to see Benzema end up at one of our rivals.
April 30, 2008 at 10:46
i would love barry in our team. he’s british and improving in every single game!
if flamini leaves maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.
i dont want titi back, prefer villa or huntelaar or benzema.
the worst that could happen is if manutd sign benzema and liverpool sign villa,
and spurs…. sign eto’o ; hah! (yeah right, those deluded fans)
cb, i’m not too sure whose the best one and available right now
on a lighter note, here are some new ads with our future captains (fabregas) and other arsenal players in them.
you guys probably have seen it but here goes
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tlz-P40IH1Y
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iLigMXkl0E8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RfIgpNpvyok
April 30, 2008 at 10:47
if we stop the goals leaking at the back.. we win the league simple..
cause we always score…
why do you wanna swap bendtner… he’s a 4th choice striker and doesn’t make too much noise.
April 30, 2008 at 10:49
Just the only way we’d sign Benzema, if one of ours was sold.
April 30, 2008 at 10:50
alonso is injury prone and we havd denilson who imo will be better.
we dont need to make wholesale changes, just tweaks. we nearly won teh Pl with this team , dont forget it wasnt all teh teams fault we have had some horrendeous decisions against us in that period of games. starting with clichys penalty at brum, drogbas goal offiside, ade and rvp both givben offside for villa and boro games. even ferguson said that we have been very unlucky with decisions and that saying saomething.
in the majority of the games we dropped points we still played well and outplayed the opposition. the chavs werent in the game till the last 15 mins and the game at man u was ours they didnt turn up till we scored.
on teh back of that we had several players missing thru injury and ANC duties, none of the other contenders ahd our injury problems then on top we had the assault on eduardo from that brummiee cunt.
give the kids a break they did really well and exceeded most peoples expectations.
next year they will be a year older in experience and physical strength.
I hope big phil stays and fights fore his place cos he has done well barring afew mistakes dont forget players like rio and adams at his age were also making howlers.
people just dont have patience anymore thank fuk we ahve a manager who does.
have faith ARSENE KNOWS!!!
April 30, 2008 at 10:51
If Bendtner was playing in the French 1st Division he’d be scoring goals as well.
I think sometimes as Arsenal fans, we forget that what we already have is quite good.
If we are going to sign a striker, lets get an experienced great striker… we have bags of potential already, and in my eyes, anyone who plays in the French league is purely that… potential.
Top quality centre back, a speedy winger and a some extra wedge for Flamini and Hleb.
If that happened, I’d feel pretty good going into next season!
April 30, 2008 at 10:51
he’s not going to replace a 20k a week player with a 80k a week player…
hahah
April 30, 2008 at 10:53
Happy 2 see Barry in as an experienced Englishman in Arsenal squad next season & Robinho is definetly the type of an attacking midfielder we need 2 boost our goal scoring.
April 30, 2008 at 10:53
Bendtner is not a team player, he is arrogant, and his return on goals is shite, he will never be Mr Arsenal, and i to would like him to go……
April 30, 2008 at 10:55
rico… what do u mean by return on goals… he has scored like 8 goals this season..with some 8 assists…. with the limited amount of starts he gets and 10 mins here and there…
and he’s 19!!!!!
wtf…
rvp was arrogant when he arrived… look at him now….
April 30, 2008 at 10:55
I don’t think you will get too many Mr Arsenals going forward Rico.
His return hasn’t been great in his first season (How many games has he started though?), but he is improving rapidly and he is only 19. I bet you, if he stays, he will score a bundle of goals next year.
I have to disagree with you regarding him being a team player, his is totally a team player, more so than any of the other Strikers.
*Well said Choy.
April 30, 2008 at 11:02
as my previous entry, his interview was horrid, disinterested in being where he was, dont forget this is only my opinion, he is out of his depth, at brum he was confident but now he has none.
trust me, if he stays and proves me different then i will be the first to put my hands up. he and ade just dont work at the moment – all barr derby which you and i could probaly have scored, they dont seem to have any understanding of eachother – in my opinion
but hey, what do i know…..
April 30, 2008 at 11:02
pedro.. dont know where you get the idea from that Nik might score goals in the French league.. what about I turn your argument upside down and tell you that he only scores coz he plays for the most offensive minded team in England and that if he had to rely purely on hos own talent, he would not make the grade in France ..
as even Wenger said, ANY forward will score goals at the Arse coz we craete chances
you are aying that any French player in the French league is only a potential player.. what about the English boys then??
surely France has a better track record than England in winning international trophies
wrong again .. what about our top players ..or ex-top players..Th14/Bobby/Paddy .. where did they emanate from??
Benzema/Ben Arfa/Nasri have more talent than the entire English divisions put together.. fact ..
sagna .. clichy.. where do these boys come from?? and dont tell me that they needed to come to the Arse before they learnt how to play..
btw I am NOT French .. so there is no nationalistic bias in this ..
we are better off buying decent French talent than some overrated overpriced English crap.. think about the summer .. and where the Rio/JT/Rooney..etc will spend it
April 30, 2008 at 11:06
I hear you BB and Rico, I don’t have the faith in Bendtner that Pedro does, he’s just a lump, I like my strikers to be like RVP or Benzema.
April 30, 2008 at 11:07
Wed definitely need a striker because even though Adebayor is class, every striker can have a dry run, Rooney has had loads. Wenger mentioned that we couldn’t expect him to get 50….cos if he mentioned that figure he must subconsciously or consciously believe he could have got at least another 20. So do many fans…
Carlos Tevez has over a 60% conversion rate with shots on target, he would have done better than Adebayor with our service. So would Huntelaar, he would be perfect. RVP would still be useful but Huntelaar with Ade up front would be perfect.
Ken Friar knows.
April 30, 2008 at 11:07
California Steve – im sure we’ve all done the maths, it would be a miracle indeed!
April 30, 2008 at 11:09
I don’t think anything f**ks me off as much as idiots who post “Arsene Knows”!!
What exactly does he know?? Well I suppose there is one thing he knows & thats how to con idiots who hang on his every word!!
April 30, 2008 at 11:10
Well said Pedro. Bendtner links up with another forward better than any of our other strikers. He sets up more chances for the rest of the team than anyone else in the squad bar Cesc and Hleb, and will be by Xmas ahead of Adebayor.
There is literally no chance Arsene will try and sign Barry, that’s a laughable notion. A 27 year old, average, no room for improvement, English, overpriced midfielder that doesn’t have the attributes to fit in at arsenal. It just won’t happen.
Likewise Henry, never in a million years. Henry was crocked in his last season at Arsenal, and was therefore sold, not playing him in the last half of the season for fear of showing his injuries had done permanent damage. There is no chance whatsoever Arsene is even looking at Henry, but out of respect for an absolute legend he wouldn’t reject the notion when questioned following Thierry saying he’d like to.
We have six fantastic forwards now for next season, any of whom could get 15+ goals
April 30, 2008 at 11:11
The Frenchman also gave some insight into the contract situation with midfielder Mathieu Flamini, who is the subject of a bidding war with a couple of continental clubs.
Wenger added: “I’m waiting for him to come back to me and tell me whether he’s going.”
April 30, 2008 at 11:12
At one point I personally saw no good in NikB as I saw him as too sluggish on the ball and didnt look like a team player. I thought the same thing about Adebayor in his 1st season too but look at him now.
Lets give the lad a chance,Steve Bruce desperately wanted him to stay at Brumm and Wenger was desperate to bring him back.
Brendon gooner, the 1st two clips were cool and very funny!!(:o)
April 30, 2008 at 11:13
I am saying the French league is weak comparably (To the Prem).
Nik played for Birmingham last year and scored 11 goals and made 7 assists? At 18 that is quite an achievement.
Do you not think Benzema plays for quite an offensive dominant team in France?
Since when did winning international trophies reflect on the quality of a national league that boasts the most international players of any league in the world?
‘Benzema/Ben Arfa/Nasri have more talent than the entire English divisions put together.. fact ..’
How can make such an outlandish comment with a straight face? Ronaldo, Joe Cole and Gerrard are weaker than 3 players who have won fuck all in the grand scheme of things?
And when did I say I wanted to buy English?
French League flops:
Malouda
Guivarch
Cisse
Wiltord
Diarra (Madrid)
There are always exceptions to the rule and at no point did I state that good players do not come out of France, I merely said that basing your whole opinion on one good season in France and a youtube video is naive.
April 30, 2008 at 11:13
But does he know how to stop players leaving on a free GMR? I don’t thinks soo, but we’re about to find out!
April 30, 2008 at 11:14
In terms of the French league argument, it is a weak league. That doesn’t mean that a player scoring goals in France isn’t good, but that a player doesn’t have to be good to score alot of goals in the French league, so to quote the goals a player has, and say there look how good he is, is wrong.
April 30, 2008 at 11:15
Well said A.
To say Arfa, Nasri and Benzema are better than all the players in the Prem combined is also laughable.
Especially as even the most Ardent football nerd cannot say they watch them week in week out.
April 30, 2008 at 11:17
Henry will not go back to Arsenal no matter how much he dislikes being at Barcelona. I do agree that he will leave but he will probably go to AC Milan or some big Italian club because he would probably feel guilty about leaving them and then making such a bad descision.
Robinho and Arfa will also not go to Arsenal as they want to win trophies and the English game does not suit their style of play. I could see Barry going because he is English and knows what arsenal are capable of when they are playing well and he knows that Arsenal are more likely to get trophies than Aston villa.
Wenger has been quoted saying that he does not want Villa and it seems that Liverpool do, plus they have Torres, a regular Spanish international that is friendly with Villa.
Now onto outs for the ‘gunners’
Lehmann will bugger off back to Germany
Sendseros will stay but doesn’t deserve to be playing for Arsenal
Eboue doesn’t deserve to be playing in the Championship let alone the EPL.
Bentner doesn’t deserve to play for in the austrian second division and teams should be paid to have him.
With all this talk about ‘nurturing the kids’, get some talent and then maybe you get guys to start coming in and teaching them. Wenger has had years at the helm and had the same plan; get players that show promise for Austria Manga and chuck them in the EPL against world class teams. People do not realise that again he has failed and refused to spend money that he has on real talent.
And on the fact people thinking that Arsenal have depth, what a load of balloni. 4-0 against the mighty Red Devils (Manchester United for those that do not know anything) in the F.A cup when BOTH sides played their B sides because of league games.
The fact that Arsenal crumbled after december in every competition shows that they have no depth.
One last thing, referring to my comments before, people who want to swap Bentner for Arfa and Benzema plus cash (I may have missed the joke), I do hope you are joking.
April 30, 2008 at 11:17
Hang on Pedro, Wiltord won us the league at Old Trafford.
And Benzema scored a cracker against the Mancs.
I think I could name more English flops than you just named French ones!
April 30, 2008 at 11:18
Exactly
You can have very very good players in the French League, but you can never know whether they’re actually that good until they play in a much stronger League
April 30, 2008 at 11:18
Was Wiltord the goal scoring sensation he was in France?
Was he worth the £13million? He ended up as a midfielder!
He was not as good as we had all hoped, he scored some good goals and some important one… but he wasn’t the player we had hoped for.
April 30, 2008 at 11:19
Ade is better than Nik fact .. look at Derby .. why did Nik not score a hat trick
and the pass to RVP on the 1st goal was poor .. he should have played the ball ahead of RVP .. rather than square/behind him.. luckily RVP is a great 1/2 player and gave him a perfect return ball from which he scored
whatever you think about the dikkheads on setanta, I shared their point of view
in particular Nik did nothing to claim a 1st team spot
April 30, 2008 at 11:20
Geoff, my original post did not say buy English, that is just BB assuming something different.
I am saying if you want a striker, sign Villa, Eto’o or Henry. Player that have done consistently over the years in the biggest competitions in the biggest leagues.
April 30, 2008 at 11:21
BB, when did I say Ade was a worse player than Nik?
He is 5 years older and one of the best strikers in the league! Why would I compare them?
April 30, 2008 at 11:21
Yes I think he was, he served a purpose, what was bad management was letting him go on a free, but that seems to be an Arsenal trait.
April 30, 2008 at 11:21
You couldn’t name many players who were touted as world-beaters having taken the Premiership by storm but were found to be pants when playing in a proper league. You can with the French League.
Wiltord scored important goals etc but was no a top world player, which is what he looked like and was touted as in the French League
April 30, 2008 at 11:23
So ‘A’ are you saying that Arsene doesn’t know?
April 30, 2008 at 11:26
I think Ade is a worse striker than Niko
This season Ade did an absolutely fantastic job, but he doesn’t have the all round ability to play regularly for a top team, and especially not in any sort of forward partnership. He can’t play foil to another forward, he just doesn’t have the intelligence, doesn’t know when to pass, weight his passes correctly, know where to run etc. Players like Eduardo, Bendtner can set him up, but the number of times he messes up easy chances to put a goal on a plate for others is incredible. However his attributes make him a fantastic plan B, he can change the game if things aren’t going our way or start and win us games up north where we need his physical presence. That’s what Arsene expected him to be this season, but injuries and such like forced him to be our main focal point, and play our plan B to an extent the entire season.
April 30, 2008 at 11:26
Our record signing at the time scored 49 goals in 175 appearances.
12 goals a year!
April 30, 2008 at 11:29
Thats more than Theo and he cost £12mil when he was 15.
April 30, 2008 at 11:30
Doesn’t know what Geoff?? Arsene is a fantastic judge of players ability. People point to Reyes and Wiltord as failures of his judgement but Wiltord did a job, and he never expected him to be Henry-like, and Reyes was incredibly talented but just didn’t settle and had personal problems etc, something which is near impossible to predict. What I’m saying is that idiots watching youtube videos and having Benzeama score 60 goals for them in a season on football manager deciding they know better definitely don’t know.
April 30, 2008 at 11:31
We didn’t buy Theo as a ready made goal scorer with proven international experience!
Maybe if he’d played Theo down the middle he’d have score more than 12 this year?
April 30, 2008 at 11:32
I was being ironic!
April 30, 2008 at 11:33
Theo cost £5 million, and is much more than a £5 million player. Just like Reyes cost £7 million up front, and was much more than a £7 million player
April 30, 2008 at 11:33
Why did we spend £12mil on him then?
April 30, 2008 at 11:34
Because he has the potential to be worth £30 million plus….
April 30, 2008 at 11:34
pedro .. I meant the English players .. I didnt know that Ronaldo would qualify for an English passport .. but then maybe red nose will get him a scottish one ..
as far as Ben Arfa is concerned, I dont need youtube to watch him
I have seen enough to know that the guy is pure class
nobody is denying that the French league is weaker than the EPL
dont make me say things that I didnt mean to
my point is very simple .. do you think its easier to play in a league where none of the participating sides is perfect .. ie you need to rely a lot more on your intrinsic talent orather than playing for the mighty Arse where you got top players around you to support and direct you all the time
yes and I will concede you this..Lyon are a fairly dominant side .. hard to argue the case gainst winning 6 possibly 7 titles in a row .. but then Geoff made the point already .. look at the Mancs game and realize that Benzema is a good young player.. you might think that Nik is better .. your call.. you aint gonna convince me though
finally I never pretended that every French player is a genius .. as far as Diarra is concerned, he is NOT French..rather from Mali I believe
Pape Diouf .. henry’s ex agent .. apparently wants to swap Nasri for Ben Arfa
he is the current president of marseille .. thats how good he thinks he is
and he should know a few things
April 30, 2008 at 11:35
You love Theo Geoff! You have been his biggest supporter this year!
£12million on Theo represents much better value than £13 million on Wiltord!
April 30, 2008 at 11:37
Chris Sutton of Chelsea, that should top the league Geoff. Oh, what about Franny Jeffers of Arsenal also in contention .
April 30, 2008 at 11:37
can we talk defenders now please.. we are not not not going to get strikers…. we don’t need them…
April 30, 2008 at 11:37
I love all the Arsenal players with the exception of Song, Senderos and Lehman, but Wiltord did a job for us, just like Theo, I’m not as yet convinced of Nikki.
April 30, 2008 at 11:38
Yes and we went after Chris Sutton, who was in fact a centerback, so that answers Choy as well!
April 30, 2008 at 11:38
Ben Arfa is a very very good player, and could very well be on his way to the Emirates in the summer. Benzeama is also a fantastic player, better than Niko at the moment, but that’s irrelevant, Benzeama is very much out of our price range, and wouldn’t be signed anywhere in place of Bendtner because Bendtner has adapted to the Arsenal style of play, Benzeama could take a while, and we don’t want another transitional season.
April 30, 2008 at 11:39
Why don’t you love song Geoff??
April 30, 2008 at 11:41
He just looks ordinary to me A, and I can’t see how he was signed on the basis of exceptional talent.
April 30, 2008 at 11:44
BB, I have never argued about the qualities of nationalities. I have been arguing over the French league being weaker than the Prem.
Diarra is a product of the French league, just like Adebayor… etc.
Nasri, Arfa and Benzema vs Joe Cole, Lampard and Gerrard
I don’t think it’s even a competition? 3 upstarts vs 3 with trophies and pedigree.
Why are you arguing over English players quality?
Lyon are the dominant force in France… but they would not be top four in the Prem. So if you are the dominant force in the French league, you will be playing with the best players that league has to offer… so there is not difference? Lyon are a weaker team than Arsenal, playing in a much weaker league.
If you are a average player for Lyon, you will still score goals in that league.
We all know how great Nasri looks… so good Lyon are prepared to swap him for a player you rate as better than all the English players in the league?
Says a lot about how much Lyon rate Arfa…
April 30, 2008 at 11:46
A .. if you like to call me an idiot .. thats your choice .. FYI I hardly watch youtube unless you would like to call it redtube or youporn .. and I dont play football manager
got better things to do in my life if you follow me ..
fact is Nik struggled gainst Derby .. so did Theo for 45 minutes
when Ade came on, the whole team improved .. somehting that RVP cant produce either .. RVP is your real support striker .. I still think that if he was fit, he would be perfect for Ade in the way DB10 was for Thierry ..
Nik is young .. agreed, but he got his fair share of games this season .. has he improved?? up to everybody else to judge … but we will win zilt trophies with him spearheading our attack .. that much I know
April 30, 2008 at 11:46
I’ve personally never thought he looks ordinary. Prior to january I thought he looked like he’d end up partnering Christopher Wreh for Bishop’s Stortford, then in the African Nations and reserve games after he suddenly seemed to be replaced by a player who had exceptional technique, and coordination (the two things that made him look like a sunday league player beffore), to go with his strength and power. I still don’t know if he’ll make it at Arsenal, and improve into a top top player, but I do see him as a good player nowadays, and if I see his name on the team sheet nowadays it doesn’t fill me with dread. If he leaves Arsenal he’ll still be a good player. He’s the sort of player who could go to Lyon and be very good for them
April 30, 2008 at 11:48
redtube, now you’re talking! what’s football manager anyway, I’ve heard that before, is it a computer game?
April 30, 2008 at 11:51
I wasn’t calling you an idiot BB, I was calling the bandwagon jumper-onners who have decided Benzeama is the best player in the world from the media/youtube/football manager.
Adebayor can make an impact, coming on like against Derby, but is no Thierry, and VP is no Bergkamp. A fit VP would score 25 goals a season, and whoever is playing alongside him could get 15-20 too, as well as the midfield scoring alot more goals. With Adebayor starting regularly he can score goals, especially against crap teams like Derby, but the rest of the team scores alot less goals, because if Adebayor isn’t putting the ball in the back of the net, unless we’re playing long ball or from set pieces he offers nothing to the team, and moves break down as a result.
April 30, 2008 at 11:55
Pedro.. we bought Sagna from Auxerre .. not exactly a French heavy weight ..
lets be honest here as well .. Diarra is not exactly a complete afilure at Real either ..
if you take this argument forward, you will end up saying that TH14 was the crappiest player ever coz he plays shiit for the Catalans
as far as your judgement on Gerrard/lampard etc goes, I leave this up you again .. fact is no English side in ECC this summer .. you just wonder why??
and the trio of Benzema/Ben Arfa/Nasri are 20 ..
We dont really need Benzema, but we do need a Ben Arfa type player
we dont need Nasri either as we got Cesc
April 30, 2008 at 11:58
French players are generally better than English players. But players in the English league are in general much much better than the vast majority of player in the French league
April 30, 2008 at 12:03
A .. RVP is as yet unproven .. after 4 years at the Arse .. funny you dont see the DB side in him.. he is by FAR our best short distance passer .. quick and precise balls played into his team mates feet.. the radical opposite to Ade btw .. I am not building a throne for Ade here .. I am just looking at our options upfront ..
I am very unsatisfied with RVP .. people in general give him a lot of credit for very little achievement .. and as I said here before, bring the big man back every day .. TH14 forever .. he would be fantastic next year in ateam that has grown in confidence and doesnt need to play every ball to him .. plus would be good for Cesc as he gets on well with him .. also all the nightmare stories Thierry will tell Cesc will make him stay forever with us ..
April 30, 2008 at 12:04
Now Milan are after Ade, we should say ‘no fuck off, but we’ll buy Kaka and Pirlo’ at least they’ll get Champions league football with us.
April 30, 2008 at 12:06
I don’t think it’s fair to write off Bendtner as being useless at the age of 19. He was always going to need time as understudy to the top 2 strikers(whoever they are) before he develops into the finished product – there aren’t that many who are top notch at that age, Rooney for example.
Whenever I’ve seen Bendtner play I’ve always noticed he had a much better first touch than Adebayor and he can hold up the ball, in the way Smudger Smith could (although Bendnter is obviously nowhere near as good as that yet).
As for him being a bit monosyllabic in an interview – a lot of teenagers are- I really don’t care how a footballer comes across in interview – it’s how they perform on the pitch that matters. Why do we expect sportsmen to be professional orators ?
If we want insightful speaking we should listen to people who specialise in that.
Like interviewing Beckham – ask a dumb person some dumb questions,what do you reckon the answers are going to be like ?
April 30, 2008 at 12:07
The fact is, France did not qualify because the players you put forward put them through.
I wouldn’t take that argument forward to that level, because that would be dim.
Thierry was a flop a Juventus, we took him and turned him into a striking sensation.
There are no French teams in the Champions league final either? 3 teams left in the competition… all English, all with English players:
Gerrard, Cole, Cashley, Bridge, Terry, Scholes, Carrick, Hargreaves, Rio, Carragher, Rooney, SWP, Brown…
I think that says a lot about the quality of English players doesn’t it? Having a shite manager and injury problems had a lot to do with our failings on a national level.
I’d say the quality of the Champions league will be higher than Euro 2008, that is the opinion of Arsene anyway.
April 30, 2008 at 12:10
Geoff..good news .. selll Ade and buy Villa.. what do you think?? or shall we promote Rui Fonte .. or maybe Gilles Sunu?? .. that ugly cunt Ade wants more money .. so all our transfer funds will go to paying bigger wages .. u really made my day now
April 30, 2008 at 12:10
As your headline mentioned the other day, Pjanic, he seems like just the kind of player that Arsenal would buy, young, talented and from a French club, I read a while ago that we were scouting him pretty heavily.
April 30, 2008 at 12:10
No BB, i do see that side to him, but that isn’t the role he’ll play, as he’s a goalscorer more than DB was. He needs to be playing with a DB type player who’ll link up with him, and I think Bendtner is that player more than anyone else at the club.
I’m sorry but Henry will not, and should not return. He was crocked at Arsenal, Barca bought him not realising it, and were then pissed off to find it out. He isn’t nearly good enough for us anymore, and wouldn’t fit in with the way the team plays now.
Next season VP will be fit and our number one striker and could get 25 goals, along with the rest of the forwards getting in double figures
April 30, 2008 at 12:11
BB
You said:
as even Wenger said, ANY forward will score goals at the Arse coz we craete chances
What’s gone wrong then?. By that token we should have walked the EPL, unbeaten and maybe we should sign Kevin Davies. The fact is that apart from Adebayor no-one has scored regularly despite the chances and Ade is the biggest culprit.
He scored a goal against Derby that was virtually identical to a chance he had against MU when he missed.
No, goalscoring is an art in itself. Pires had it, TH14 had it, Eduardo has it but Ade is not a natural. Of course he will score more than the rest because he is the player who has regularly been deployed up front.
I think that Theo and Nik could have score as many had they played the games he has and RVP certainly would have.
April 30, 2008 at 12:15
I’m sorry Pedro but the standard of English players is very poor at the moment, there are precious few English players that have the technical ability to play for Arsenal. If we get a big offer for Ade I think we’d definitely consider selling. He isn’t the future as Arsenal, and will never be used in the same way, or be as successful as he was this season. Then we would definitely consider signing a forward. Fonte isn’t going to make it, Sunu has not even had a full season in the reserves and is far from ready yet, he may make a carling cup appearance next year as a sub.
April 30, 2008 at 12:15
Geoff Wiltord was top class and he heldhis own with players like Henry, Trezegate,Anelka and Cisse (sorry about the spelling) plus others. He was played out of position at AFC and I will take a bet he was more prolific than that over rated tosser Freddie. How did a Manc twat get a comment in mate. The jealous bastard is looking at the wrong team.
April 30, 2008 at 12:17
maybe stu… but give the guy credit for what he has done…
arsene acknowledges it too…. the strikers get great service….
and milan think 25 mill will is enough for him to join…
now that is tempting money
April 30, 2008 at 12:18
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=490918&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Walcott+is+the+O2+Arsenal.com+Player+of+the+Month
Well done champ! Take every award you can get!
Anyone have any links or updates on Flam? Typical, probably going to do a Diarra, and sign in the last 5 minutes of his deadline. Though tonight isnt it is it? Is he completely gone after midnight? or is he still redeemable?
April 30, 2008 at 12:20
The English teams almost got a bye to the final and I predicted the Chavs to get there at the beginning of the season when I learned the venue. I would dearly love the cheating Pool to prove me wrong about this. England players are so fucking over rated its untrue. Sven couldn’t do any more than he did with these no brainer tossers.
April 30, 2008 at 12:22
If we had Wiltord now instead of Eboue we would have pissed the League. I was so happy after his winning goal at OT when we won the League there. Fucking Awesome.
April 30, 2008 at 12:23
A, if technical ability won you the premiership… marvellous, we’d win it every year.
Why are the two teams with the most English players better positioned than us in the league and on course for the Champions league final?
Passion? No way… it’s ability.
Collectively, the English players may not have it… but they don’t seem to do too badly for their club teams.
Can you honestly say that all those players are weaker than their Foreign counter parts?
No way, Joe Cole, Rio, Rooney, Terry, Scholes, Cashley, Hargreaves, Carragher, Gerrard could all play for Arsenal.
Don’t drag me into a debate about English players, I am not anti Foreign but at the same time I am not going to sit here and agree with people that English players are not technically gifted… on the whole maybe, but at the top level, they are all as good as the foreigners.
April 30, 2008 at 12:24
Lets get Huntellar and Robinho plus a Goalkeeper. We can buy a CB cut over the past few weeks it seems that not many people have an idea who. Is there a CB that we all know that could do the job. I like Alex at the Chavs.
April 30, 2008 at 12:26
Pedro.. TH14 was part of the WC side in 98 .. under which coach at Monaco??
you know the answer ..
all these brave boys from our shores .. when they played the frogs a month ago, how good were they??or rather how embarrasingly poor were they??
even your so called flop Malouda was better than any of the English boys on the pitch
we are having a sterile argument here .. I dont want to say that every British player is crap .. by all means not
but when you mention potential and you think that Benzema/Ben Arfa are only potential plyers, stricto sensu techinally speaking you might be right, but to me their potential has been confirmed and they will be big big players in big big teams in the future .. I have no doubt about this .. maybe not for us .. same as Ribery..
there is a lot of quality being produced on the other side of the channel .. much more than here
and the reason why the Mancs are winning the league has got one name behind it .. and that guy is from Madeira .. some rotten island attached to Portugal .. not a Channel island
April 30, 2008 at 12:26
Cashley could play for us…….seem to remember he did once but we got rid of him cos Clichy is better
April 30, 2008 at 12:26
adebayor hes scored 30 this season but look at the ones hes missed. if hes finishin wont see shit maybe we would off bein playing 2night. its coz off him and eboue we ant won anything. and vp hes bein back for 2moths now how many goals hes got? they need henry back. the season ant over yet and adebayor is saying we gonna win it next saeson this is whta he and wenger said its allways about next year.
April 30, 2008 at 12:29
Guys, hang on here – who cares what nationality these players are, what we want is three good solid players who can fill the roles we currently lack in -
On Ade, what he does is hold the ball well, and has a big engine – no one else has that ablility – no – one else can play as well up front on his own. Nik looks lost right now, and against Derby he should have been out to prove his ability, but apart from his goal, his passing was poor and his finishing is not good. Like Theo, missed a good chance or two, but Theo has shown what he can be, he doesnt give up, looks for a good pass, and is not afraid to go for goal.
RVP was awesome at the beginning of the season, and but for his injury he would have got 20+ goals. We didnt have someone to fill that role after Dudu got injured – that is why in my opinion we need a ‘drogba’ kind of forward (ah, now he want to leave the russian empire……. OUCH!)
Sadly, it is cheaper to buy non english players and thats why the boss does it, also it is cheaper to buy ‘potential’ thats why the boss does it…..
what he MUST buy is players with experience, players who WANT to fight for a place, not those who will sulk when rotation is required – Lasagne (spelt for a reason)
at least this coming season we have no copa cup and no african nations cup, so we will not have late returners or players missing in january.
Sdaly though, a lot of our boys will be in europe, just pray they all dont get injured.
if arsene brings in three players on the cheap to fill the gaps and they all have the attitude and ability of Bac, then i for one will be chuffed – he has been awesome, and was he that well known????
April 30, 2008 at 12:30
The reason they are winning things and lets forget the Pool players cos they haven’t done much domestically is because they get preferential tratment from the Refs. How many on your list are regulars for their own teams? Yes J. Cole has terchnique and maybe Cashley and Gerradr but the others you must be joking. Rooney is not better than Ade and we all know he isn’t liked by a few of our fans. Only Rio, Carragher, Terry, Gerrrd are regulars for their teams. How many of your list were in the Premier team of the year too.
April 30, 2008 at 12:31
Yeah Ollie, welldone to Theo, Iam glad he wasnt sent to the championship to gain experience as some had suggested. He’s proving himself to be a true fighter.
I for one am tired of the whole Flamster bizness.
Flamingo can go/fly/ p!ss-off ,as much as I love the player, having to make us wait this late is annoying and unfair to the fans and the club as a whole!!Didnt Cesc extend his contract not too long ago? Did he make us wait this long? NO!!
Comrades, lets just assume he’s gone and fantasise about a possible replacement…or just go to youporn or boobtube and get ourselves excited!!! lol
April 30, 2008 at 12:35
Jean Tigana BB, what is your point?
April 30, 2008 at 12:38
I wouldn’t put any of our pups in, but I would have Villa or Benzema. As far as the current debate on English vs the rest, Arsenal had 4 players in the EPL team of the season, that’s more than anyone and none of them were English.
I think we should have more English in our team, like Barry and maybe Kirkland or Carson, with Micah Richards at the back.
I would like Joe Cole, but that won’t happen, and he’s a cheating chav cunt.
Anyway I remember Cashley, he was English, the best, but a disloyal toe rag, Clichy is miles better and got in the EPL team above Cashley as well.
There are arguments for both, but we have both so who cares?
April 30, 2008 at 12:38
i dont think wenger is gonna buy anyone this season. everyone feels sorry arsenal we are lke a joke team now. arsenal wel never win anything under wenger again. and how the fuck does ade no we are gonna win something next year? its bein 4 years since we last won anything but wenger keeps getinn away with it buy sayin next season we are gonna win the title.
April 30, 2008 at 12:40
Fucking English foreign cunts, sell them all, we will, and Arsene knows.
Well we won’t sell them all as we’ll give one away, know who I mean?
April 30, 2008 at 12:40
Kamel Ghilas – this name has just popped up as being Flamsters replacement
Spoof or true i wonder, never heard of him so it could be true…………….
off to do some research
I love this blog Pedro
April 30, 2008 at 12:40
Benzema is a fantastic player, anyone that can’t see that really doesn’t have a clue about football. He has a lot to learn undoubtedly but he is far more than just potential.
I don’t base any of my opinions on youtube its a pointless exercise. By all means go & have a look at a player after he’s signed to get some idea about them but nobody should use that to form an opinion.
I’ve seen Benzema play numerous times now & the bloke will be suited to premier league football, whether he can adapt to the country & everything else that goes with it, I can’t answer that, but from a pure footballing point of view he is a top quality player!!
April 30, 2008 at 12:42
Sorry bob, we won the FA Cup in May 2005 – not 4 years ago.
April 30, 2008 at 12:42
Kamel Ghilas? Where the hell did that come from Rico?
April 30, 2008 at 12:42
beg your parden, he had a trial with us in feb – i must be getting old!!
April 30, 2008 at 12:43
That’s what I said, he’s like a young Henry waiting to happen.
April 30, 2008 at 12:43
A .. I hear you .. next season he will be fit .. this must be his last chance season
ElTel .. thanks for backing Willie up..maybe we would have won the league this season had we had a similar player to him in our team .. and he wasnt a light weight either
he also scored super goals for his national side .. winning goals!!!!! I like that type of player .. not the Rosicky/RVP who are constantly injured .. or the Hlebs who never take a shot
Stu .. Ade is far from perfect .. and there are quite a few aspects I dont like about him .. first and foremost his lack of passing skills .. dont care about his personality .. most footies are greedy cunts .. see Flam
but point is he came on against Derby and improved the team .. scored 3 goals.. whilst Nik was by and large shiit .. Theo improved .. everybody looked better with him
give credit where credit is due
Pedro.. Hargreaves is NOT an Englsih player .. he is of Canadian descent and was formed in Canada/Munich .. unless you consider Bavaria an English mountain range
Carragher .. there used to be a joke in the league coming from Henry .. all you have to do is run at Carragher and he shits on himself
as a right back, he was bloody atrocious .. ok .. he is now a better centrebcak..but still
and its not every coach’s fault if England doesnt qualify .. right now at Chelsea, its the guys themselves that run the team .. they are big enough to do so..our youngsters wouldnt be able to .. surely most of the big guys you mentioned should do exactly that in their national side .. why does it always end in failure then??
April 30, 2008 at 12:44
The last time we had a four year gap was between doubles fear not, next year it will happen, even Ade said that.
April 30, 2008 at 12:49
pedro .. Wenger knew Henry from the days he was a coach at Monaco .. I know that Wenger wasnt coaching there any longer .. I know that much .. thx .. he was formed at Monaco under the watchful eyes of a certain professor .. thats why he jumped on him with his little biscuit once he felt the Turin experience was turning for the worse..
had he not known the player, he would not have bid for him after 6 months at Juve ..
April 30, 2008 at 12:49
BB if 2 horses have a foal, it’s still a horse not a pig because it was born in a sty and not a stable.
Hargreaves is still English as his parents are Brits.
Lewis was still British even though he went to Canada when he was 9.
Make you right about Carragher though, but with that name surely he’s Irish.
See my point, where does it end, is Owen English or Welsh, is Flamini French or Italian?
Don’t ask me about Ade!
April 30, 2008 at 12:50
bedner played well yesterday when ade came onto the field because he was playing as the second striker which is his best position IMO. did you see the ball for clichy to cross to ade that was a pure no 10 type of ball
April 30, 2008 at 12:51
My choice of the 2 would have to be Robinho and a CB… preferably Kompany.
Good to see Walcott has one player of the month this month… he has been brilliant for a couple of months now and i think the boy deserves it
April 30, 2008 at 12:52
I remember when Henry and Trezeguet ripped the Mancs at Old Trafford when Monaco knocked them out of Europe, I said we should sign them.
So whatever happened to Trez, weren’t we trying to sign him to keep Thierry last summer?
April 30, 2008 at 12:53
well… 20 year old eastern european playing in Bulgaria…. that’s the Wenger we know.
http://highbury1913.blogspot.com/2008/04/confirmed-arsenal-sign-dimitrov-for.html
April 30, 2008 at 12:53
Hargreaves is not English?
What is going on here BB… are we going on passport, decent, where they were born or where they were educated in Football?
So Trezeguet is not French because his started out at an Argentine club?
April 30, 2008 at 12:54
If Milan offer Arsenal 30 million for Adebayor, and Arsene replaced him with with another top quality striker which he’d buy for less, would any of you complain?
April 30, 2008 at 12:54
t-buzz -on nna, just posted on The Spoiler – Celebrity Sports Gossip 12:22hs
Wikpedia has details on the arsenal interest, not that that is very reliable
April 30, 2008 at 12:54
Trezeguet’s a foreigner?
April 30, 2008 at 12:56
Finest, I think Ade is fine, he’s only 24 (or so he says) I think next season, he’ll be sharper.
April 30, 2008 at 12:59
Robert Green anyone, I really rate him and he refuses to sign a new contract.
April 30, 2008 at 13:00
Yeah I don’t mind him staying at all, he’ll be key to us winning trophies next season if he stays, but what if Arsene was tempted by a huge bid and replaced him with Huntelaar who he’d get for 20,?He could spend 10 m on other areas of the team, plus anything out of the 25m kitty would give us a 35m budget for improvement for “top, top quality” if the agree to sign for us..
April 30, 2008 at 13:00
pedro.. believe me .. Trez is hardly French .. you never heard him speak .. when he first joined up, his French was piss poor .. Argentina is calling here
so yes .. I meant from a football education point of view..
geoff.. whats wrong with Ade?? he’s a proper brit .. born in Togo ..
just wonder what species would come out from a steamy session btw Eboue and Ade..especially when accompanied by certain movements in the hip region ..
April 30, 2008 at 13:02
Robert Green should go abroad if a top club here don’t sign him, he is quality and deserves to play for a title winning team in any country. I’d rather play for the top team in a league than a team like Wigan or Reading. Players who want to win trophies sometimes join top teams and refuse to leave for shitty teams in stronger leagues.
April 30, 2008 at 13:04
Don’t go there BB you’ll have nightmares. Finest if we have Green, Barry and Richards, that would be a third of the England team, that would shut the press up wouldn’t it?
April 30, 2008 at 13:05
goonerjay, that story came out yesterday it was all a hoax!!
It might be a hoax that actually happens in the end though, seen as we did have him on trial & considering how cheap he’d be!!
April 30, 2008 at 13:05
The trouble is, British youth are sometimes not adventurous enough. Young players from all over the world go to Italy and Spain and France to become top players, yet so many British players instead of looking to join a top team and become a winner look for a run of the mill footballing caeer. The money is blinding people to achievement. I’d rather be in a team that wins the German League than be in a mid table club in the Premier League.
April 30, 2008 at 13:06
Finest – if we get £20M plus offer for ade then we’d be mugs not to take it – £30M – AW could buy a whole new first and reserve teams with that!!
April 30, 2008 at 13:08
Scuba, at least 30m, the lad has outperformed Torres and Milan think he’s the bizzle. Torres’s fee plus % more for every goal more than Torres he has scored this season, that’s a fair deal.
April 30, 2008 at 13:08
Green, Barry and Richards excellent but come on the chances are what exactly – zero?!
April 30, 2008 at 13:08
Geoff.. dont need Green .. nor Barry .. now Richards .. I really like .. bring him on..
finestcuts .. its a question of money … too much of it around here
April 30, 2008 at 13:09
Finest – on that reckoning you’re not far off
April 30, 2008 at 13:10
Well if Adebayor stays he’s gonna win us key games, thats for sure, we need someone of top quality to help him out though, someone who can also score 30 and isn’t scrocked for half the season.
April 30, 2008 at 13:12
Yeah i noticed that GMR after i had posted the comment when i saw all the other bloggs saying it was bollox… i missed all the news yesterday, i’ve been on a training course for the last 2 days that i find more boring tha watching Chelsea play.
I hope the rumours of us in a head to head to sign Robinho are true though… our Champions League place will give us the edge over Spurs for a player of Robinho’s stature and i think he would be the ideal signing for us
April 30, 2008 at 13:13
Adebayor is a good addition to any team, and Wenger would not sell him for a discount thats for sure, he loves Adebayor to bits.
April 30, 2008 at 13:13
Well that 30M would pay for Barry & Richards although not much change -
April 30, 2008 at 13:15
Well it would give us 55mil to spend and Wenger can buy a whole team for that so….
April 30, 2008 at 13:16
What happened to the albino’s son at ManCity; young Casper, where did he go…. would he be a good prospect?
April 30, 2008 at 13:18
He’s hekping to keep Norwich up, he needs the experience really. He’s Championship/Premiership standard….better suited to a team fighting relegation than us.
April 30, 2008 at 13:20
Maybe if Eriksson goes, Richards will leave.
Maybe if Riijkarrd goes (how can he even THINK of playing 4-3-3 with Roladinho out?), Thuram and others will leave.
So we’ll have cover at CB.
Maybe if Flamini goes (why didn’t he loan Diarra?), then I heard he’ll bring in Kamel Ghilas from VITORIA.
Maybe we’ll get Robinho or Ribery (too bad Reyes couldn’t deal with it), because Vela will be where Walcott is on the other side of the pitch.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
April 30, 2008 at 13:22
I think thats what Shin wants to do, shatter the nucleus of the team and make a “super team”. If they do better than Erikson next year they’ll be bigging Shin up….
Lets wait and see.
April 30, 2008 at 13:27
It’s maddness really; erikson has got a good bunch of players that have done okay for their first season and now shin ain’t happy so it’ll fall apart – fucking muppet!! The players seem to be loyal to erikson as well – that can only be good if we go hunting…
April 30, 2008 at 13:28
We said here on Le Grove that Diarra should go out on loan, or rot in the reserves. I’m afraid you-know-who had a better idea, we said get Flamini to sign before you sell Diarra, but he didn’t, that’s not bad football, that’s bad business, proving that you-know-who actually doesn’t know.
Even if we got all that money, he wouldn’t spend it anyway.
Ribery is a Munich player and I think Thuram’s too old now.
April 30, 2008 at 13:34
well i hope i wake up in the morning to see the headlines:
“Flamini signs on the dotted line”
catch you all tomorrow lads!
April 30, 2008 at 13:35
Sleep well Evo, but don’t hold your breath.
I mean on the Flamini deal, if you hold your breath in bed you won’t wake up to see if he signed.
April 30, 2008 at 13:41
Flamini’s off to Milan, Berlusconi will sort his taxes out for him. Good luck Flamini, we’ll beat you when we’re next at the San Siro.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/04/30/milan-offer-mega-bucks-for-arsenal-star-mathieu-flamini-89520-20400032/
April 30, 2008 at 13:43
BB
i agree , ronald mac donald could score goals in front of our arsenal midfield ..
even mr bean !
but the difference with ade V bends is that bends is still 5 years younger than ade .
and will alway be 5 years younger .. Long term you have to weigh up who will stay .
we dont need 2 plan B’s … And if TH14 does come back , i think last night the poor blighter didnt have enough time to adapt coming on for 30 minutes ..
Least franky knows he’s a game winner still , an impact sub !
Confidence has let us down this season … Certain players like bert and senderos never got enough time on the pitch .. even walcott was stunted by limited time on the pitch .. We are closer than last year ill give arsenal that , but ade needs some serious refinements before ill call him class ..
can these guys get with the program for next season ???
its another wait and see scenario .
I gotta say i dont feel comfortable relying on that strategy ..
it hasnt faired us well in the past 3 / 4 years …
but if you guys want to believe wenger again .. just know your dealing with the devil.
Id just prefer 4 or 5 new players .. Who are ready now and proven ..
April 30, 2008 at 13:48
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3498457,00.html
We’ve got Cesc Fabregas, We’ve got Cesc Fabreagas
April 30, 2008 at 13:58
If we get Barry and Richards that would be a good move Robert green would be my choice though because Richards and Barry are not better than what we have at the moment but Green is. Richards could be better but it’s the potential thing again. Barry is a good player but not a superstar is he. Green would have kept us in the title if he was with us now. On paper we have a great defence. Sagna, Toure, Gallas and Clichy. We moan about this but they are class players. Our keeper isn’t good at all. I keep reading guys saying he hasn’t made any mistakes. Well sorry but after spending 9 seasons just behind Seamans goal I can tell you he isn’t good enough for us. He commands fuck all in HIS area. He goes walk about. (Mancs Home) and from dead ball situations he is awful. When did he ever save a 1on 1? Goalkeeper a World class CM scrapper and a winger is what we need.
April 30, 2008 at 14:06
Goalkeeper in Anyone from Gomes, Cudicini, Green, Kirkland or Buffon. CB Alex, CM Essien, Winger, Robinho, Robben,Huntellar and play RVP wide.
Gomes
Sagna, Alex, Gallas, Clichy
Fabregas, RVP,Essien,Robinho
Huntellar, Ade
Subs, Theo, Vela, Toure, Fabianski, Sicky,Dennilson.
April 30, 2008 at 14:06
Goonerjay that was very funny! El Tel I agree but I still think Barry is class. If Milan are offering that kind of money to Flamini, they must be fucking mad, he’s not worth it.
Think about it, £60,000 a week, tax free, that’s £100,000 a week in real money, fuck, that more than some people earn a year.
April 30, 2008 at 14:07
ethan .. look .. we will always be divided over Nik .. fact is that right now he isnt good enough to play upfront in a title winning exercise .. will he make the grade at a later stage?? who knows??
but one cannot deny that Ade scored 30 goals .. even I have to admit this and on our current form, he has the edge over Nik
Nik aint no Benzema, Ben Arfa either .. ie no super super talent
and he doesnt fit our style .. nor does Ade btw.. but we all want RVP to succeed .. fact is .. he hant ptoven himself in 4 years .. its becoming a difficult call now
TH14 would be a good transition .. dont need Eto’o .. surely not after this season .. he has been awful and his touch is as poor is Ade
not much else around then .. that is realistic..I have a feeling that huntelaar would be 2 expensive for us..Benzema too..Villa ..yes, but .. with a horde of clubs chasing him, I cant see his price going down..nad Berba is a Spuds sulk who will be milked by his club
TH14, Ben Arfa, a centre back and a strong midfileder for Flam .. and we are set .. plus a keeper if we can afford .. fukking 4/5 players .. it aint the end of the world
April 30, 2008 at 14:09
AW Team 2008
Almunia
Sagna, Toure, Senderos, Clichy
Cesc, Diaby, Theo, Hleb
Ade, RVP
Bendtner, Dennilson, Fabianski, Djoroue, Vela, Merida
April 30, 2008 at 14:09
Oh and Eboue
April 30, 2008 at 14:10
if some one bids 30 mill for ade.. what will wenger do..
that is the question my friends.
April 30, 2008 at 14:12
That won’t happen. It’s his 4th favourite behind Eboue, Senderos and Cesc.
April 30, 2008 at 14:12
It frankly amazes me that anyone can say Bendtner played shit against Dervy county on Monday. He was the best player on the pitch, especially in the second half when was deployed deeper to create and be the playmaker alongside Cesc et al.
As Wenger said, Adebayor came on when all the hard work was done by the team in the first half and he managed to convert a few piss easy chances by playing on the shoulder for the whole half. The situation was made for him as a player, and with his physical gifts against a crap defence it was child’s play.
However long term I would take Bendtner over Ade without question. He has far more intelligence in his game and can actually mesh with a fellow striker.
Problem with Ade is that his weaknesses as a player are supposed to be Arsenal’s strengths as a team and his strengths are Arsenal’s weaknesses.
That tells me is not designed to be a permanent fixture in this team, but rather a emergency plan B. His permanent inclusion in the team will slowly corrode our technical level and disrupt the rythm of our more technical players.
April 30, 2008 at 14:14
Geoff I would love to see Barry in our midfield. He is honest hardworking and can pass and shoot, not bad in the air either. I just don,t think AW will go for him. He isn’t a better footballer than Flamini or Diaby/Dennilson but Barry will take us back to how Prem football is played and he will be an asset.
April 30, 2008 at 14:15
El tel – whilst I agree with you re Almunia not being good enough I think it’s harsh to blame him for not winning the title……too many drawn games and chances not taken are to blame… we haven’t lost a game which was his fault
April 30, 2008 at 14:15
why is every one putting cesc at RW…that is eboue’s spot!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 14:17
It amazes me how anyone who has watched Nik this year can say he doesn’t fit in with Arsenals style?
Fast, skilful… good in the air! He has a great touch and he can pass the ball with the best of them.
He is much more accomplished than Ade was when he arrived at Arsenal and at 19, he will get much better.
April 30, 2008 at 14:18
Aaaaaargh!
April 30, 2008 at 14:24
Why the hatred for Ade. He certainly isn’t shit. He hardly has a game where the opponents defence doesn’t get worked over. I don’t buy that I could score for this team bollocks either. If you stand still you get marked. Ade isn’t the best in the world but he is very difficult to play against. TH14 loves him and most Opponents fear him more than anyone. I would much rather Ade than Rooney and co. Ade can play up front on his own better than anyone else. Come on Ade take over that Penalty taking Manc cunt in the next 2 games and quieten your haters. We would have been fucked without his goals this year. Big up Bendtner 2 he isn’t ready yet but in flashes he looked like he can become a much stronger forward. Well done to Theo, its taken an age but things are looking so much better since you have knocked on AW door.
April 30, 2008 at 14:24
Pedro – you’re flogging a dead horse mate – come on ade has scored 30 goals this year so is a superstar (?)…… still I’d go for Nik too
April 30, 2008 at 14:25
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April 30, 2008 at 14:28
El Tel – it’s not a case of hating ade just don’t rate him – but then isn’t this what the blog is about – sharing opinions regardless of if we agree or not….. if we both thought he was great it would be boring, no?
April 30, 2008 at 14:28
I don’t think Pedro is anti Ade just sticking up for Bendtner.
April 30, 2008 at 14:28
Yeah, I give up…
This all started because I said Nikki B would score goals for Lyon…
Anyway… Flamini replacements?
Song… JD… or someone new?
How about Gattuso as a stop gap for a year or two?
Its difficult to think of names who play in that role?
* Geoff is correct in what he is saying, I like Ade and I like Nik.
April 30, 2008 at 14:28
Pedro, problem with Nik B is that most times he can be so feeble with the ball and I dont think he’s that fast or faster than Ade, though better ball control. A guy with his stature should be more commanding on the pitch like Drogba(without the diving) or anelka.
I agree we should give him another season to show what he’s made of
April 30, 2008 at 14:30
I have another blog site for that Grovers, it’s called the ‘Agree with Geoff’ site with the mantra ‘Geoff knows’
It’s really fun, go look!
You should see the team we all agreed on! Kaka is in it.
April 30, 2008 at 14:31
t-buzz – better ball control is much much better than pace; NikB could grow into the role given more opportunities…..
April 30, 2008 at 14:32
i read a post on another blog…
man u didn’t concede to barcelona in 180 min.. we conceded 2 to derby in 90 min…
gets u thinking
April 30, 2008 at 14:33
Yeah t-buzz, he’s not perfect… but he has all the ingredients needed to become a great player.
Drogba was playing in the French 3rd Division at 19.
If we bought Villa, Nik or Theo would have to go… even then you’d have striker pile up because of Eddie, RvP and Ade.
I think we need a winger and a centre back first and foremost. A striker would be a real luxury buy because we have enough goals when we get our players back.
April 30, 2008 at 14:33
I think Arsena will buy that Floretina Serbian palyer i dont remeber his name and i think Arsen alredy have a replacement for Heleb if he gose and we need a good CB make Fabrigas Captain naxt term I hope finger crosed
Netx season is ours not only in England in world too
gooner forever
April 30, 2008 at 14:33
Flamini replacement – Gago from Madrid
April 30, 2008 at 14:34
Thats where we need to concentrate on….defence is too leaky!!
April 30, 2008 at 14:35
Spot on about Bendtner Pedro. Even if he’s an arrogant cunt it don’t matter. Theres no one more arrogant than the fat Rooney or the Winker. Almunia is our goalkeeper and although its not his fault we didn’t win the league if we had a better keeper we would have done. Birmingham away, did he call Clichy for the ball that caused the Pen, i was in a pub and when they got the free kick i said it would be a goal. He can’t set up a wall. Spuds away long range free kick, Pool away, long range free kick. Birmingham away long range free kick. Mancs home he decided to play right wing when they tapped the ball into open goal. The first goal in the same game deflected off Gallas and went straight through him. Boro home fucking nowhere. CL final 2 through the legs. Theres so much more but my memory isn’t clear. When has this guy ever bollocked HIS defenders? Mad Jens was going crazy the last match he played for us and by the way it was a clean sheet too. Can’t remember the last one.
April 30, 2008 at 14:37
my team for next year – not squad, best 11….
Almunia – we wont buy a keeper
Bac, Kolo/gallas, new ch, clichy
theo, cesc, new cm, vela
villa & ade
subs and rotation/rest players
Rosicky, RVP, Barazite, Eboue (yes eboue) gallas/kolo, fabianski, sunu/and who was young guy we signed in jan?? nordveit
April 30, 2008 at 14:38
How many times this season have we had striker injury problems, and last season, we need 5 strikers, then two can always be used out wide.
I like Eduardo, but there’s no guarantee he’ll ever be the same. If top talent becomes available we should snap it up.
If Ade has another good season, he’ll want to go, so will Bendtner, we should plan for today, not tomorrow, that why we’re in the shit with Flamini and Hleb, getting rid of Diarra was a howler.
April 30, 2008 at 14:40
Guys I am sorry you think I am calling you Ade haters. It was a generalisation from all the Gooners i speak too. They just don’t rate him. I dont like our keeper as you probably have guessed. I am not sayin gyou are wrong and i love the opinions too. Thats why i always come on here. Geoff Knows.
April 30, 2008 at 14:43
Yeah that is true Geoff… maybe if we bought a striker at his peak… he wouldn’t need to leave?
If Ade starts agitating for a move, i’d be surprised… he has been saying a lot of nice things in the press and suspect he is aware of the flak Wenger took to make him a good player.
April 30, 2008 at 14:43
I was called a cunt by my uncle this weekend for saying sack AW. My uncle loves AFC as much as any other Gooner. AW has made too many mistakes. This is a good side. Better than the CL finalists but AW made too many cock ups. The problem is what will we do when he goes. Can we go on or will we destruct. Thats the scary thought.
April 30, 2008 at 14:44
I dont know why we even need to knock our own players. leave bentner and Ade alone. they are both good young players that are improving and as supporters we should support them. they have both scored important goals this season and wenger puts them in the team because he believes they are good enough so there is little point in constantly criticising them.
have to say, with Blatter getting more and more insistent by the day that he will impose an English player quota I think Arsenal do need to start thinking about buying English now. we dont want to wait for the rule to come in and have to buy 3 or 4 English players in one summer, when their prices would be sky high. Better to do the business now if possible.
Barry would be a good choice to replace Flam. Micah Richards is a gooner but I dont think Shin would accept even a very high bid for him and he signed a new contract there. Ditto for Lescott, dont see Everton letting him go. Downing might be attainable but I dont really rate him. Not sure how good Wheater is but he is rated as better than Woodgate. There’s Mark Noble, who started out with us and I think he is quite a hard (dirty) player at times and has a decent shot on him. Dean Ashton is a good player but always injured. Gabby Agbonlahor is a superb player but will Villa ever let him go and being a local lad, wil he want to leave?
SWP from Chelsea is another player I really like and who wants away. Do liverpool still want Crouch? If not worth a punt. However, Jimmy Bullard would be top of my shopping list though. what a player he is and with Fulham going down he is easily attainable for not a lot. Thats 11 English outfield players who I think are buyable if wenger wanted them. Its a question of funds and I think even one of these players would clear out our kitty.
I dont really see how Arsene buying all these English players ‘improves the English game’ but ours is not to question why – Septic Bladder is a cunt and he sets the rules.
April 30, 2008 at 14:45
Scorers Team Goals Goal/shots
================================
Ronaldo Man Utd 28 23%
Adebayor Arsenal 24 24%
Torres Liverpool 22 25%
Santa Cruz Blackburn 17 24%
This is for those who say that if we had Torres in our side he would have scored 50 goals.
Adebayor has a better goals to shots ratio.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_2705370,00.html
April 30, 2008 at 14:45
sometimes el tel i look at what our players do at international level and when the leave,
does the wenger touch make these players better when he has them but when they leave…..
April 30, 2008 at 14:46
Point taken re Almunia’s laspes but if we had a taken our chances we’d have won most games by a distance and as someone else said 2 goals scored by derby shows it’s been more a defence issue rather than goalkeeper issue….. even King Seaman made a few errors during the season; as did Jens…..which was why Almunia got his chance. had we taken the chances at OT then the freekick would have neither here nor there – same for Birmingham game …. we can kick this one around all day long!!
April 30, 2008 at 14:46
mean lean
ade 64 offsides to torres 27 offsides, that is quite a difference
April 30, 2008 at 14:50
It doesn’t take into account shots on target, because the percentages would be far higher for all of them.
April 30, 2008 at 14:50
El Tel – you mean you don’t like Almunia; you’re kidding me!!
April 30, 2008 at 14:51
Of course it is and it is something he needs to sort out. But that is not the point. The point is alot of people are saying that he cannot finish and he is a shit striker which I find madness.
April 30, 2008 at 14:52
shit striker; no – just not good enough for AFC
April 30, 2008 at 14:55
MeanLean – you’d have thought at his age he’d have figured out the offside rule, no?
April 30, 2008 at 15:00
Ade has scored 30/season what more do U want come on !
April 30, 2008 at 15:01
let AW sell the followings:
sanderos——————–6m
djourou———————-5m
Hoyte———————– 3m
randall———————–2m
gilberto———————-5m
diaby————————6m
bendtner———————6m
TOTAL——————–: 33m
this 33, plus the 25m reportedly available and 5m received for diara 2m from aliadiere will be 65m
we can use this money to buy:
benzema———————20m
robinho———————-20m
lucio————————-10m
M. richards——————-15m
Total ————————65m
good business right there guys.
next, promote barazite, lansbury, & wilshere and bring back vela. we will win two trophies.
April 30, 2008 at 15:02
and why we all gooners should have our on live chating web !
April 30, 2008 at 15:03
I guess people want another Thierry!
Ade needs to improve his first touch, he lay off bullet passes and his holding the line ability.
Bar that, he is not far off. Who else has a better striker at his age?
April 30, 2008 at 15:05
Tomik what are u thinkin 7 palyers out 4 palyers in after that all problem about scoad depth that AFC dont have
April 30, 2008 at 15:05
Pedro – first touch and passing ability should be basic skills not something he still needs to learn!!!
April 30, 2008 at 15:10
So if he had a better first touch and stayed onside more… but only scored 14 goals, would you be happier?
His job is to score goals… no one will ever be as good as Thierry and Bergkamp were. Their team play and touch was unbelievable.
Ade will get better, Drogba was a donkey for a few years.
April 30, 2008 at 15:12
Morning Campers……… its been a while, so long in fact that I dare say not many of you will remember me, but that’s just a cross I will have to bare !!!!!
Anyway, just to pump my 2 pence worth into the Henry debate…… just fucking sign him. Any player that admits he was wrong and wants to come back and sweep the floors if that is all that is available is welcome in my book !!!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 15:18
stands to reason if he had a better first touch, ball control and stayed onside he’d score a lot more than 14 goals; and he’d have scored alot more than his 30 this year.
if he had that and only scored 14 goals then he’d be doing fine – he obviously wouldn’t have all the chances that we create to only score 14 goals…..
I don’t ever consider ade to be anywhere near DB10 & TH14 – I for one have never made any comparison
How will ade get better? Don’t you agree that what he’s lacking are basic skills?
April 30, 2008 at 15:19
Bud – are you suggesting Th14 plays sweeper next year; interesting thought but I don’t see it myself
April 30, 2008 at 15:27
Scuba, I am not saying that you are comparing him…
No one rated Ade at the start of the year then goes out and scores 30 odd goals this year and it is still not good enough?
Why? Because we expect our strikers to have the same ability as Thierry/Bergkamp… we don’t do traditional lumbering centre forwards at Arsenal… but in reality, he is exactly what we needed. Someone to be there for the tap ins, someone to head the ball in from a set piece and someone to scare the shit out of the oppositions defence.
If Ade had scored 35 goals, people would still be saying the same things about him because he doesn’t fit into the Arsenal fans ideal.
You speak to any other fans and they all rate Ade… even last year I had Chavs and Mancs telling me how good they thought Ade was!
Ade can improve the same way Drogba did… the same way he improved from last year… experience and hard work.
April 30, 2008 at 15:34
tomik, why sell Randall? Have you seen what he can do? He plays like Ray Palour, no way we’re gonna sell him!
Welcome back Bud….I know youre joking cos I dont see TH14 coming back to the Emirates.
Pedro, you said…
“Ade will get better, Drogba was a donkey for a few years.”
I agree, just unfortunate that even if Ade learns the offside and scores 34 goals next season, people will still slag him off. C’est La vi, such is life!!
April 30, 2008 at 15:39
geoff i said that 2 days ago !
buy a striker who is already established and who wants to play for us .. VILLA!
pretty hard for him to then say he wants to move on then…!
And thats my LONG TERM FEAR with ade !
you see his attitude after scoring a goal ! His ego will always be a worry ..
And when these big clubs come calling like (hleb and flamini )ade will just leave !
leaving us in another NEVER ENDING transitional period !
Villa has came out and said he wants to play for us , thats pretty settling to me !
Sell all the trash and get players that are ready for next season !!
pedro i agree with you on nikb . He shows far more promise .. Yet i agree with BB
no one is to arsenals standard currently ! RVP included ..
WE NEED A CULTURED SEASONED STRIKER !
any other talk is just hopeful /wishful thinking ..
yes pedro ade can improve HOW LONG WILL THAT TAKE ?
my guess is 2 seasons !
April 30, 2008 at 15:41
Theo will fill the bill faster than ade or dudu even RVP if he remains fit for long enough ..
April 30, 2008 at 15:41
And as for Flam…
He doesn’t owe Wenger anything.
Arsene played him out of his position most of 2006 and used him as a squad player in 2007.
He’s playing better this season because he knew he was out of contract and wanted to get a better contract–and arouse offers from the other big clubs–can’t fault any player for that at all, has to make a living like you and I.
So he’s got we he wanted by working very, very hard and I wish him the best where ever he is playing next season.
If we pried him from Marsaille then Milan can pry him from us, good riddance.
April 30, 2008 at 15:42
Pedro –
I hear what you say and maybe I do have a fans ideal image in my head – however, my criticism of him has been his basic ability – the first touch, passing etc etc – I said it last year and apart from him scoring the goals I haven’t seen any real improvement in those areas; if anything they’ve been highlighted even more so because he has played a lot more games.
I think that Eddie, RvP or even NikkB could have given us that return and more this year becasue they are all technically better players than Ade. If Ade hadn’t scored the goals this year I’d bet that everyone would be saying exactly I what I think; it would be get rid of him etc, etc, I doubt we’d be hearing oh don’t worry he’ll improve next year….
For me it just ain’t going to happen and as we said yesterday let’s wait and see what happens next year.
I hope you’re right about him because I doubt that AW will go out and buy any more forwards!!
April 30, 2008 at 15:43
Goons_with_Guns
are you a gooner ?
He’s playing better this season because he knew he was out of contract and wanted to get a better contract–and arouse offers from the other big clubs–can’t fault any player for that at all, has to make a living like you and I.
I cant believe you said that?
your saying he only tried hard this season to feather his own nest?
well thats loyalty for you ..
fuck if your happy with that … i seriously feel for you
April 30, 2008 at 15:48
SG:
Put it to you another way: If Ade hadn’t scored his goals, went to ANC, do you think we would have had a fighting chance at the title this year, ffs?
And if so, who WOULD have scored those goals, hmm?
I’m with ML and Pedro on this one–even if he does need much improvement.
April 30, 2008 at 15:48
lol
April 30, 2008 at 15:51
ScubaGooner
I agree 100%
i dont hate ade for fun … I dislike what he brings to us as a striker !
i mean come on we have all been used to a class striker like TH14 – DB10
if you think he will do after having them as a bench mark ..
ade has not learned a cracker this season .. in fact his off sides have got worse !
his passing is non existent , and his 1st touch is dreadful .. how can anyone improve those fundamental skills without long term hard work !!.. you either have them or you dont currently .. it will take 2 years
of continual persistence .. by that stage he will want to earn more than 50- 60 k a year
do you think he is good enough to front arsenal ? he is a rouge lone wolf who is too greedy to pass to any partner on the pitch also ! Until those things change
my opinion wont change ..
April 30, 2008 at 15:55
I don’t want you to think that I am an Ade sympathiser… far from it! He isn’t world class yet, but he is working towards it.
He has a massive ego, but what athlete doesn’t?
As long as he is sticking the ball in the net and working hard, I am happy.
How shite was Eto’o last night? At least when Ade is playing poorly he is still putting himself about like a madman.
The proof is in next season, if he can do it 2 years on the trot, we are onto a winner.
You are right about the other 3… they could all be brilliant next year given the chance.
April 30, 2008 at 15:56
Adebayor has indeed scored 30 goals this season, but I’d be absolutely shocked if he ever got over 25 again in a season, and he won’t play every game next season, even if VP was to continue with his injury problems. I’d like to see him stay at the club, as he’s a very good impact sub and offers something different away from him in the tough battles, but he won’t be first choice for another full season at arsenal, and with the apparent lack of intelligence and way he seems to believe his own hype I think he could cause problems if he wasn’t selected all the time. If there is a big offer in the summer I think Arsene could well bit Milan or whoever’s hand off.
It’s like when Utd sold Van Nistelrooy. He was and still is a very good player in his own right, and scored alot of goals, but didn’t fit the style of play that Ferguson wanted to create, and subsequently although he would score goals, the team would score less goals overall than if a less prolific forward was playing who was able to fit in with the style of play. Exactly the same thing with Adebayor, though Arsene was forced to keep him in all this season due to injuries, and rawness of Theo and Bendtner, and Eduardo at the start
April 30, 2008 at 15:58
people dont seem to get it ? ade scored 30 goals because he is a greedy cunt who doesnt pass off ! cant you see it in all his turned over possession ?
the buck stops with him ! our typical play involves ade receiving the ball , either being offside – losing possession or falling over and standing up looking around like someone stole his fucking dummy ! WHO ELSE HAS A CHANCE TO SCORE ?
he dont pass to any other cunt ! he has made 3 fucking assists ALL SEASON !!
FUCK ME !!! all that time on the pitch .. over 30 + games …
He cant even score outside the 6 yard box !!!
YES HE’S FUCKING CLASS !
April 30, 2008 at 15:58
We need to be more ruthless with players. If they aren’t good enough now, get rid. We have too many potential players who we hope would get there eventually. Then when they get to the level, leave.
If Barca can put Ronaldinho on the table, after bringing so much to the club, why can’t we sell someone who had one good season, for a more proven player.
Arsene treats his players like plants until he gets a flower or fruit from them, but when they bear they feel they don’t owe Arsenal anything.
If Adebayor’s ego gets the better of him, I wish him no success in the future. Because he is where he is, only because of Arsenal.
April 30, 2008 at 16:00
I’m afraid Ade will never be world class. His lack of footballing intelligence will put pay to that ambition, and it’s something you can’t teach, vision, weight of passes, picking the right pass, making the right runs etc. Truly world class players have it from an early age, Rooney exhibited ten times the footballing intelligence of Adebayor at 16, Bendtner does at 19.
April 30, 2008 at 16:01
He can dance though. Robin can’t he gets a thigh strain.
Did I see Bud on here?
April 30, 2008 at 16:02
Bendtner, Eboue, Fabianski, Song, Denilson, Traore, Diaby, Hoyte, ….. they should play in FA and Carling cups.
Stop playing boys in the league.
April 30, 2008 at 16:03
Trinadad are you forgetting Henry, Vieira, Pires, Edu, Petit, Overmars?! How on earth can you say we need to be more ruthless using Ronaldinho as an example, we’ve always done that
April 30, 2008 at 16:04
I can’t believe two strikers can split the ranks like Ade and Nikki B do, it’s incredible, 30 plus goals and half of you hate him.
I don’t, but I’m not saying you’re all wrong, so many of you, you can’t be.
I think we all agree on getting a Villa or a Benzema in though don’t we?
April 30, 2008 at 16:05
Hey Trinidad Gooner, been on holiday?long time.
April 30, 2008 at 16:06
Yeah, Ronnie is too old to be a good example, but what do we do with young players who arent good enough? we can’t have a huge basket of potential, Arsene would sell better players to make room.
Overmars was a mistake though, he had good years left in him.
April 30, 2008 at 16:06
I guarantee you that Ade will be our first choice striker for as long as he is at the club.
He is Arsene’s favourite, like it or not… that is how it is.
Does he need to become world class? Just keep banging them in I say… We have enough players who can thread a ball through the eye of the needle… Ade is our traditional centre forward there to kill off the game (when he is not heading it over from two yards)!
I’d be interested to know how many assists Eto’o gets, or David Villa.
April 30, 2008 at 16:06
I don’t agree on getting a Villa and Benzeama. If we had unlimited money, and an unlimited squad size then yeah, get both of them, Messi, Ronaldo, Ferdinand, Buffon etc etc etc
In reality if we have to lose any of our current squad, or use up any of our transfer funds on them then no, a forward is not what we need.
If someone was to leave, then yeah they’d be good, both would fit in well eventually at Arsenal
April 30, 2008 at 16:06
Sorry Gooner-geezer, it took a while but you’re on now, Pedro hasn’t been paying attention! try again, you’ll get straight on, Ethan you were in there too, I think wordpress is doing something strange.
April 30, 2008 at 16:07
GwG – we’ll never know because he didn’t and as it happens we haven’t won the title but how do we know what might have happened had he gone and maybe we had to rely on Theo, NiKkB, maybe Eddie didn’t get injured – who the fuck knows.
Ethan – you and me alone mate!!
Pedro – I know you’re not his greatest fan but I think you hit the nail on the head – it seems most are happy so long as he’s scoring….. I can cope with his ego and yes he does work hard – mostly though because of his lack of ability and …. no no I’m going off on one again
Eto’o was poor last night but barca haven’t been there at all this year
April 30, 2008 at 16:09
I’m curious to see where Eboue plays next season.
Right wing again?
Arsene would not admit that it was a mistake trying to convert him to midfield.
The best place for him is the bench. Keep him as cover for RM (if we’re desperate) and RB
April 30, 2008 at 16:09
I guarantee you Pedro he won’t be, and he certainly isn’t Arsene’s favourite. VP is Arsene’s number one, and Ade was our plan B at the start of this season, and will prove to be again by Xmas at the latest as Bendtner, Theo, Eduardo, Vela show how much better they fit into Arsenal’s style of play. Ade’s 30 goals were a fluke, and even Arsene didn’t expect him to score half that, as he’s said. He’s done better than anyone thought he would, but isn’t that good
April 30, 2008 at 16:10
nikb has scored 8 goals this season !
and considering he has probably had only 1/4th of the time on the pitch ade has doesn’t that tell you something ??
April 30, 2008 at 16:10
hopefully Eboue will be playing for a different club next season Trinidad
April 30, 2008 at 16:11
I think he is Wenger’s favourite, him and Eboue, Cesc and Senderos, Ade’s always first on the team sheet.
Also don’t forget for years the fans were saying Wenger had no plan ‘B’ now he does people don’t like it.
April 30, 2008 at 16:12
Nah, Eboue can add a little to our carling cup team, we won’t get that much for him anyway
April 30, 2008 at 16:14
I think Arsene’s favourites are Cesc and RVP.
Adebayor becomes his 2nd favourite when RVP is injured.
April 30, 2008 at 16:14
Okay so long as its only the CC though
I’m off now so Ethan I’ll leave you to fly the flag
April 30, 2008 at 16:15
defenders
Lescott or Weater (boro i think?)
Midfilder
Diarra- Real madrid not using him properly
no strikers- we have enough
April 30, 2008 at 16:18
Well said Geoff… Ade was Arsene’s favourite when he was shite, now he is good you think he is going to drop him? No way… there is more chance of him selling Eboue than dropping Ade!
If anything, RvP is not his favourite, ever since he got himself sent off at Southampton… It took RvP ages to break through as well.
April 30, 2008 at 16:19
I watch Madrid most weekends and Gago isn’t there yet. A better bet is to try and take Sergio Ramos and move Toure to DM.
I don’t think he’s going anywhere though.
Madrid’s best player who’s available is Robinho
April 30, 2008 at 16:21
Noone is complaining about having a plan B, it’s the fact that due to injuries the plan B became our only plan this season. Arsene expected VP and Ade to start the season, to ease Bendtner in slowly alongside VP. Due to VP being injured that couldn’t happen
April 30, 2008 at 16:21
Read on:
“The reports about Milan are b******t,” Courbis told setantasports.com.
“I was not in Milan, and what makes me laugh is that a friend that read the story in the Italian press called me to complain I did not call him to have a drink there!
“Milan’s president’s priority is (Andriy) Shevchenko and they are not allowed to have two extra-community players so the reports make me laugh.”
Courbis claims he will sit down and discuss Adebayor’s future with Arsenal in the summer.
He added: “Obviously, it is logical that Emmanuel is demanded.
“I have to meet his club when the season ends to speak about his future.
“We have not received concrete offers.
“Today he is happy at Arsenal, he showed it on Monday (scoring a hat-trick against Derby in front of Setanta Sports’ cameras).
“But you know football, everything goes very quickly, but we will not talk before the season ends, as Arsenal are focused on trying to finish second.”
April 30, 2008 at 16:25
Ade has scored a lot of goals you guys, had he have had the support of another striker who scored the same amount of goals, this debate would not be taking place, because we would have won the league – Ade is not perfect, but those around him have failed us – GET OFF HIS BACK –
If Bendtner, Hleb, yes even Cesc, Eboue, Flamster and Theo – AND NIK taken their chances we would all be happy dancing with a trophy – they didnt, dont blame it all on one man, the one man who has to stay, can only get better – BUT he needs quality alongside him, I think it may be Theo, yes he is a pup at the moment, but the change in him from the beginning of the season is incredible. He now has an attitude, he doesn’t give up, never stops running, and the ball in not out UNTIL it has crossed the line – yes he needs to compose himself more, yes he needs to believe in himself more, but his final ball is so much better – no longer does he hoof and hope, he looks up and passes, not always perfect i know, but nor am i…..
If Ade continues to get 20+ goals, and a.n. other can get 20+ we re laughing up front…
Lets now sort the defence, not Lescott, not Richards – they are not good enough. with 10 we put 4 against toffess – lescott
Richards – he is another that is all hype
Sit back boss – look at the teams we could not score against, if the reason we failed to score was about quality defending then look at the defence and buy one – if it was about another glaring miss, leave well alone.
What about Curtis Davis….. the man Titi said was awesome…….
April 30, 2008 at 16:27
The point is when Ade plays the striker alongside him doesn’t get anything like as many chances so won’t ever be able to score the same amount of goals
April 30, 2008 at 16:29
We have to sit down in the summer and discuss his future, cheeking cunt, he’s got a fucking contract. This is the problem with Wenger, since he let Anelka go anyone that wants to go, just fucks off.
Overmars, Petit, Viera, Henry, Campbell, Hleb? even Cesc went for a chat, what happened to a contract’s a fucking contract Arsene???
April 30, 2008 at 16:30
Pedro.. agreed on two counts .. Monsieur Wenger loves his African giraffe .. aand he must be very happy with his scoring record .. especially with regards to our other options .. and Robinho is by far the best that might come out of Real ..
Ramos is class too but inaccessible ..
April 30, 2008 at 16:30
Eboue, Fabregas and Ade are definitely Arsene’s favourites, they’re his projects, they would not be where they are without Wenger.
April 30, 2008 at 16:30
Rico,Curtis Davies is at Villa on loan. He’s currently injured and out for 6months …an effect of playing against arsenal in a 1-1 draw
April 30, 2008 at 16:31
Ethan seems to have a real anger management issue. Do we really want someone who claims to be an Arsenal fan, slagging off our playerslike this. Particularly one that helped the team get as far as we did this season. Without Ade we would have struggled. And if anyone can score 30 goals as the main Arsenal striker, how does this leave Thierry? Just lucky I guess based on Ethan’s logic
April 30, 2008 at 16:33
No you didn’t Geoff !
April 30, 2008 at 16:36
Are you not allowed out any more?
April 30, 2008 at 16:40
Arsene should slap a 40M price tag on Ade, and if anyone is stupid enough to pay it, we can do alot with that.
If not, keep him and still spend some money
April 30, 2008 at 16:41
No new injuries, we’ll probably see almsot the same team as we did against Derby v Everton. I’ll go for a 2-1 scoreline, we’ll find them a tough match.
April 30, 2008 at 16:41
Small & Beautiful 11.30am Sunday…. anyone???
Pedro – You need to speak with Steve on Sunday about proposition, he understands more about what it is going to be. He will give you his number to call.
April 30, 2008 at 16:42
Oh .. off topic. The EA sports Euro 08 game, does anyone know if they have a real Holland team this time?
April 30, 2008 at 16:43
No, and don’t tell Mrs Bud i’ve been on whatever you do !!!!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 16:44
S&B for Pizza Peroni and maybe a bit of end of season sunshine!
I need to proposition Steve… my car needs servicing on the ASAP!
Where have you been bud? No Steve or Odub this week either…
April 30, 2008 at 16:48
You know what my game is like. It’s just been a f*cking poor month, so I have had to get my hands dirty. Had a few deals come in today, showed the troops who is the daddy, so pressure released again and am back !!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 16:49
It’s so refreshing to see fellow gooners share the same opinion I have of Ade. On the site I usually post on they think the man can do no wrong. No matter what you say about his detrimental effect on the team style they just pull out the old 30 goal routine. Can’t argue with carling opta can ya!
What’s been forgotten is how many absolutely dreadful performances that guy has served up this year. Back in december he was atrocious in the 2nd half versus Villa, the game against Newcastle, the game against Boro, and then the game against Portsmouth. I was screaming for him to get dropped and Wenger complied by leaving him out versus Everton. When Eduardo came into the team Wenger played a 4-4-2 again and Ade was back to the being a goal-hogger and space-hogger. Poor Eduardo barely got a sniff of the goal during this period.
Adebayor is a freaking fantastic impact sub though. Against mediocre teams anyway.
April 30, 2008 at 16:49
Odub’s in Spain I think, I’m guessing Steve’s company has barred him from the internet, Steve if you’re reading, email us, we’ll see if we can find a way around it.
April 30, 2008 at 16:50
My final note – My C**T of a boss is a ‘pool fan so come on you chavs, stuff em tonight – then i will be cheering on the mancs in the final – only because we are not there and a fine colleague took his own life a couple of months ago, he was a good decent chap… and supported old red nose’s team……..
here’s to my old mate, and may you rest in peace with a CL Trophy in your memory,
Next year, we will be there, and he would have wanted us to, he ribbed me about the ‘brits’, but always respected the football we played. A good man gone, kinda makes you realise….its a game, with decent suppoters following every team…
April 30, 2008 at 16:54
Paulinho, that’s why this is the site to be on, you can have an opinion, not get one and everyone feels comfortable and not threatened.
When we get an AKB twat on here having a go at us, he gets barred, they don’t like it, but 20 out of over 500,000 hits is acceptable over a 6 month period.
Out of that 20 half of them are other blog sites, half are just twats, no loss.
April 30, 2008 at 16:55
Ade has 2 games to score more than that greasy hair olympic diver.
2 against Everton and 3 against Sunderland?
April 30, 2008 at 16:56
Sad story but puts it in perspective Rico.
April 30, 2008 at 16:56
Geoff, just tell em Ken Friar knows.
April 30, 2008 at 16:57
Yeah, Geoff, you’ve cornered a nice little niche’ here. On here you can still be a gooner and not think the sun shines out of every crevice of the club.
April 30, 2008 at 16:59
Because it doesn’t Paulinho! Grovers speak their minds, we’re not sheep, as Finest says, Ken knows!!!
April 30, 2008 at 17:06
TRANSFER NEWS!
Goal.com
The 16-year-old Ergotelis starlet has reportedly been invited for a 10-day training camp, which will also include a mini-tournament in Italy.
“I learned a few days ago about the trial offer. But they said to me the interest has existed for quite some time,” said Karelis, who became the youngest player to play in a Greek Super League game last weekend.
“I will leave on 29 April and train for roughly 10 days. Afterwards we will decide all together what will be my future.
”I know that it will be very difficult to start with but I am going there to succeed.
”Even if I don’t make it, I think I’ll gain lots of useful experience that will help me improve in the future.”
April 30, 2008 at 17:09
Thrilling.
April 30, 2008 at 17:11
I didn’t even read it Geoff, I just cut and paste it… I saw ‘16 year old’ then I stopped reading.
April 30, 2008 at 17:12
Yeah, real grow-bag stuff that !!!!!!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 17:15
All our loanees + Jack Wilshere are being promoted which is good since Wenger knows these players well.
April 30, 2008 at 17:17
Right people, it has been a pleasure blogging with you today.
I am off!
Till tomorrow,or this evening…
Have a good one!
April 30, 2008 at 17:18
May see you later on the blog the Pedro, safe driving.
April 30, 2008 at 17:22
I think we’d see Villa to Liverpool and Van Der Vaart to Chelsea
April 30, 2008 at 17:26
pedro i hope your right ..
i must be watching a different ade thou .. because the one i see cant understand arsenals
game play . But I wont say he never will be any good .. i just think he isnt good enough currently .. he was arsenes only option with dudu whilst RVP was injured …
But now theo and bendtner will be pushing next season , you had better be right ..
Because if he is crap then we would have missed the boat to sell him at the highest price possible … NOW !
I still think we haven’t enough experience up front ..
until we sign Villa – TH14 i dont have much faith in next season ..
April 30, 2008 at 17:28
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed 16 year old wonder kid Jack Wilshere will be apart of his first team next season, and will also feature during the Carling Cup.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Daily Mirror, Wenger also confirmed Mark Randall, Henri Lansbury and last night’s hero Kieran Gibbs would also be promoted. However he held special praise for Wilshere
April 30, 2008 at 17:30
Seaman did have some poor games but he had presence. Mad Jens was a better keeper than all of them bar Pat Jennings. Unbeaten and 10 clean sheets in CL. I forgot OT away as I didn’t bother to watch it. Just hate the Mancs more than anything. That lot down the road had a Manager who said if we score more than them we will win. Defences win titles. Yes we could have scored more goals if all our strikers were fit but they wasn’t. How many times have you seen us concede a goal with only a couple of shots against us. This isn’t right. Didn’t Van Der Sar win the game at OT with some good saves?
April 30, 2008 at 17:32
Interesting but at their age surely too slight?
It doesn’t matter what we could sell him for Ethan, Wenger won’t do it.
I’m more interested as to why it will take Flamini till the 11 hour to decide.
April 30, 2008 at 17:33
No way El Tel. Seaman was Arsenal’s best keeper. I saw most of Jennings games, and Wilson’s. Seamo was an awesome keeper, it is sad that in his final season he turmned into a comic book character. But at his peak , Seamo was great.
April 30, 2008 at 17:36
hmmmm..demanded.. was the term his agent used .. do we really want to polish up this rough stone only to sell him within the year ??
Nevertheless, Courbis admitted that, although ADE is ‘happy’ at the Emirates, he will hold talks with Gunners chiefs come the end of the season.
“Obviously, it is logical that Emmanuel is demanded,” he continued. “I have to meet his club when the season ends to speak about his future, but we have not received concrete offers.
“Today he is happy at Arsenal; he showed it on Monday (scoring a hat-trick against Derby).
“But you know football, everything goes very quickly. We will not talk before the season ends as Arsenal are focused on trying to finish second.”
April 30, 2008 at 17:41
Huntellar and robinho up front if we sell Ade or Nik.
April 30, 2008 at 17:42
geoff
i wouldnt hold your breathe , stories from italy said he signed on the weekend ,
and it would make sense , as this deadline is midweek , i spose its like quiting your job before you got another to go too .. Its almost 6 pm in the UK .. i couldnt imagine arsene sitting behind the desk all nite … Im sure he held talks 1st thing … Arsene must know by now or even on the weekend is my guess ..
Its all so cloak and dagger .. quite pathetic at times .. im 90% sure hes gone ..
more money – rumors from italy ..
its all pointing in one direction …
In fact im sure arsenal would have made a statement by now if he had signed …
April 30, 2008 at 17:45
You are right Big Raddy Seaman was the mutts nuts its just that he stayed to long. Did he not break your heart in Paris when that twat hoofed 1 in from the half way line (well almost Half Way). Also the Gigololo’s goal in the Semi at Villa Park.
April 30, 2008 at 17:46
If that’s true he’s a 9 carat wanker and good riddance.
April 30, 2008 at 17:46
If I was Flam, I would be calling the removal company now. I can see no reason for him to stay. The money is better, the country is better (sorry, but it’s true), the food is better, the women are better, the stadium is better.
But people do strange things and maybe he will stay. My money says not.
April 30, 2008 at 17:48
But they have bad breath! catch you guys later tonight.
April 30, 2008 at 17:48
I was there El Tel. Gutted was not the word. And I blamed Dixon/Adams for the semi-final. They should have kicked the Welsh bastard out the ground!!
April 30, 2008 at 17:51
El tel
id be happy with any experienced class strikers !
especially from that stock !
also just thinking about that ade’s mr 20% comments .. why did he say OFFERS ?
or why are we fighting for 2nd spot ?
fuck me its a bit hard to fight for 2nd ? might as well try for 1st … !
ade’s been rumored to have AC interested in him ..
fuck these greasy bastards trying to poach every godamm player we own !
geoff lets get kaka !
April 30, 2008 at 17:59
Spot on again Raddy, that arse Dixon was my boo boy also the Michael Owen final when the same trio fucked it up. Seaman did get easily beaten on his near post though mate. If he stood there it would have hit him on the nose but he arched back. I was in Paris with a busted achilles and walked miles back to our camp site. Seaman also pissed me off with that stupid grin to the clock enders even after conceding.
April 30, 2008 at 18:00
Ethan they try poaching our players because they are footballers and not hoof merchants. We are also talking about other teams stars although i doubt if AW is bad enough to poach them.
April 30, 2008 at 18:04
But let us not forget his heroics in the penalty shoot out . Among the F ups let us not forget that he missed a pen against the Mancs. And Gazza’s semi final goal at Wembley ! He went with the wrong hand.
In Paris I had to walk to the centre and my hotel, the trains had stopped because those bastard French police wouldn’t let us out the ground. At my achilles was fine !!
April 30, 2008 at 18:05
When red nose buys a dud keeper he gets rid fast but we carry on and look for potential. Munia is over 30 and he is not going to get any better.
April 30, 2008 at 18:08
I agree. We need a top quality keeper
April 30, 2008 at 18:09
Those French police bastards make us walk the opposite way to where we were staying. We went there in a motor home 5 of us apart from the result it was a great trip. Seaman also fucked up for England against Brazil and although it didn’t bother me I took stick because he was 1 of ours. He also let in the last goal at the old Wembley. A thirty yard free kick against the Germans
April 30, 2008 at 18:11
Big Dave still alegend though mate. Big Pat and Mad Jens for me though. Jens just shading it for the unbelievable unbeaten season. And taking the piss out of old Horse face when his pen hit the bar. Was it this that started the fight?
April 30, 2008 at 18:30
haha so who are all the people who have a flamini shirt?
April 30, 2008 at 18:31
I have a DB10 shirt … lol .. i’ll keep it for when he returns as manager
April 30, 2008 at 18:38
I know the silly season is just beginning , but please please please tell me that this is not the sign of things to come when the press get excited about telling us about a 16 year old kid form greece is coming for a trial in APril ,,, fucking whoppee…
wengers still keeps saying if you believe the stories that there’s not as much money as people think there is for transfers.
This as all of us with a brain know is Bollocks , and i hope that next month at the shareholdres meeting the board get a grilling and come out with the truth we all know that we are loaded and can compete with other teams in the market.
I would like to offer my services to the commercial department suggest that if you make a buzz signing like VILA, ROBHINIO ,HUNTELAR , tHE INCOME GENERATED IN SHIRT SALES WILL PAY FOR THIS….
I ran down to the arsenal shop and couldnt wait to part with my redies to have the great DB and number 10 on a new shirt like hundreds of otherS
ON THAT SUBJECT PLEASE TAKE THAT NUMBER OF THAT ARROGANT BLUE ARSEHOLE WHO WEARS THE CAPTAINS ARMBAND, bETTER STILL Make CESC CAPTAIN NEXT YEAR AND SELL THE STROPPY TWAT…….
And Get A CB That can defend high balls in the box……
April 30, 2008 at 18:44
Why the fuck is a Cb wearing number 10?
1) Gallas isn’t a number 10 player
2) Out of respect for Dennis that shouldnt be given to someone coming in from Chelsea
April 30, 2008 at 18:44
Give the armband, and his number to Cesc
April 30, 2008 at 18:52
I have a God8 shirt. Never wear it tho’… he has turned into a sad man
April 30, 2008 at 18:58
Well thought out and well written piece and I just have 2 comments to add.
1) Tony Adams could well be our most important signing as he would be able to upgrade our defense without even adding new players. Our set piece and tactical defending would be improved leaps and bounds.
2) Forget Henry, we normally do not bring back retreads, his salary would be a burden on our payroll, would his ego accept the role of being a part-time player (complains about that at Barca now) and he would inhibit the improvement of Bendtner and Ade. The young guns need to establish their own identity in the post Henry era.
April 30, 2008 at 18:59
I quite liked John Lukic or however it was spelt, won with us in 1991 the we got Seaman in so he went to Leeds where he won the league following year, I thought he was treated badly by Graham.
Bit like Gilberto and Wenger.
April 30, 2008 at 19:02
we need center back, kompany, caceres or santacrose(“new Alessandro Nesta”).please arsen take one of them.santacrose from napoli is great, young player, he know some skills too.his father is brazilian and mother italian.check him on youtube: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0EXhPwMhbrI&feature=related
April 30, 2008 at 19:04
I reckon Flamini would have signed by now if he was staying….so hes long gone, now for qa replacement, hmmm………
April 30, 2008 at 19:06
As an afterthought, if we change the squad too drastically in one fell swoop it will negatively affect team chemistry, will take some time for us to be a cohesive unit and will make promising young players question whether they should be a part of Arsenal in the future.
Arsene’s penchant to promote from within the junior squad, his training philosophies and his willingness to provide them with playing time at an early age has allowed us to become the premiere attraction for the best youngsters in the world. Any departure from this philosophy will surely affect us negatively in years to come.
The term which we carefully need to consider is “tweaking” and not wholesale changes.
April 30, 2008 at 19:08
I know I’m crazy, but I still think he’ll stay. 19.08 F-Day.
April 30, 2008 at 19:32
ANOTHER NAME FOR THE SILLY SEASON LIST!
Bafetimbi Gomis
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3493023,00.html
another young frenchy…
Any news on FLAMONEY?
April 30, 2008 at 19:35
we just need a good cb winger and a Gk.. thats all
April 30, 2008 at 19:54
Lukic was a very decent keeper. He came back to us late in his career and i believe he played 1 CL game for us.
April 30, 2008 at 19:55
What about that Huth bloke for CB. I know he’s enormous but is he good enough?
April 30, 2008 at 19:57
Some Spud muppet bigging them up on another site. What sad sad cunts they really are.
April 30, 2008 at 20:07
i dunno geoff, i am not confident, about matty staying, its a shame but.
if ade does going knocking on AW door, at least that means a new contract and he cant fuck off on the cheap, these new rules are preety much going to dictate that new contracts are signed every year
April 30, 2008 at 20:14
I remember being on the North Bank singing the praises of Lukic. But Seamo was different class.
Huth is not good enough for the Chavs, so he sure ain’t good enough for us.
I’d take Carvalho
Right Chris, give Ade some money, but then the queue starts outside the bosses door.
April 30, 2008 at 20:19
raddy, if we loose a bunch of people this summer to the new rule, we will have no choice,
we cant bitch that flamini wasnt tied up and then allow our top striker to leave for buttons,
i am not happy about it either
cant belive i called ade our top striker either, but thems the facts!
April 30, 2008 at 20:34
Like they don’t earn enough, the authorities make life even easier for them, they must have more rights than unemployed, disabled, lesbian Pikey’s, that have been bullied and called names.
April 30, 2008 at 21:17
Go on you reeeeds!
April 30, 2008 at 21:26
sorry geoff I hate both the cheating hub cap stealing mugmashers and the Chelski chavs hope they both kick the crap out of each other both managers are Boring, Boring Boring, AND tHERE TEAMS ARE SET UP IN THE SAME WAY, so Bollocks to both of them and a message to you spuds fans that get excited every year in my lifetime i have seen the mighty reds win 6 league titles , Most of you twats have never seen 1 and never will so get fucking real and keep your uefa cup ambitions cause you will never see champions league football…………………………
April 30, 2008 at 21:49
I cant believe IM watching this 2 rugby teams on semifinal , but not Arsenal…It sucks . We R so much better and play much more atractive football…
April 30, 2008 at 21:50
Simon I hate the both, but the chavs have spent £300 million of someone else’s money and they tapped up Cashley, so I especially hate them, and they have to give their tickets away as they have fuck all support.
April 30, 2008 at 21:54
I was just about to say geof that I have the feeling chavs will be champs in CL this year …and they secured final
April 30, 2008 at 21:59
I hate the cheating cunts.
April 30, 2008 at 22:01
Pool have exhausted their luck in the quarters against us, and would be too much for them to beat chavs everytime in CL
April 30, 2008 at 22:02
I hate chelsea more but for some reason I want them to win. I cant even work out why but I just do. it could be that I am bitter about how Pool beat us or it could be that I dont believe pool can beat Manpoo in moscow. I cant stand Man u the most, so I want anybody to stop them and if thats chelsea then so be it. it could be that I just regard pool as bein not very good and i would be jealous of such a poor team reaching the final while we cannot.
my other theory with chelsea is that whatever they win, they will never be loved or respected by the vast majority of the British football public. the media dont like them. if lampard and terry weren’t there, they would be reviled even more.
Fat frank did well taking that pen though. respect to him for that.
April 30, 2008 at 22:04
well one of them I will hate to see being crowned champs in CL , but will be equaling enjoying to see the pain on the faces of the loosers
April 30, 2008 at 22:10
ANYONE BUT HENRY!!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 22:15
Fucking hate the Manc. The Chavs are going to win it for the Russian. Its rigged up. Seaman was way better than Lukic Big Raddy but success went to his head. Only interesting thing about CL final will be who will win the cheating. The ref will fear for his life i reckon.
April 30, 2008 at 22:24
Just seen the news. The Chavs first goal should have been flagged for offside. They didn’t show the Pen only that fat cunt crying (time wasting). And my rant about keepers winning things will go on. The Pool also have a Spanish waiter in goal a midget one at that. Soft near post goals again. Drogshit is a cunt and I hope we never go for him.
April 30, 2008 at 22:26
Anyone but Henry, Drogshit, Berbour toff. Hate these shit heads. except TH14 who is a legend. If he returns he will lose his legend status.
April 30, 2008 at 22:45
Drogba may be a nasty piece of work but he is one hell of a player. IMHO the best striker in the world.
I hope they lost the final because MU are the better team. But money talks and I wouldn’t bet against a dodgy penalty or two in Moscow which is a home game for the Chavs
April 30, 2008 at 22:50
so anyone think this extra time and result will mean potential points drop this weekedn?
west ham are in with a shout to get a draw also, who knows
April 30, 2008 at 22:58
Geoff point taken ,CASHLEY is a BIG TIME WANKER, WHO WAS MADE TO LOOK GOOD IN A GREAT GOONER TEAM, At the same age Clichy is far better and will get even better with experience, i always though kenny samson was the best left back i would see playing for the arse but he comes close,him and sagna amazing fullbacks.
and as much as i hate manure at least they will try and play football and not just hoof it to the centre forward , But I will not watch the final in romans back garden ,I’d rather
Clean out the rabbit hutch ,infact i will on that night roll on Barnet in July………New hope!!!!
April 30, 2008 at 23:08
Come on you Hammers
Writing that made me feel queasy
April 30, 2008 at 23:15
Simon
Ash was a great player for the gunners. True he played in a fine team, but at that time he was the best full back in the world, and that includes Roberto Carlos.
Yes, he is a total wanker, but he was a fine player. That Clichy has the potential to be a better FB is definitely true. But he isn’t yet. In a couple of years we will know if Clichy is the player we all think he can be, until then, he is just the best left back in the EPL.
Let us not forget that Ashley played over 150 games for us, and during that time he was a vital cog in a brilliant defence..
I agree about Sansom and agree that Clichy could be better.
April 30, 2008 at 23:19
Just checked Ash played 228 games for us.
April 30, 2008 at 23:39
Evening Grovers.
I’ve written tomorrows post and it goes up at 0915!
Make sure you tune in.
Happy blogging, I am off to try and deal with the sick prospect of a Man U vs Chavski final…
Happy blogging
April 30, 2008 at 23:42
I don’t know whether you guys have been chatting about this?
Wenger:
“The next generation is (Henri) Lansbury, (Kieran) Gibbs, (Mark) Randall, Jack Wilshere. I don�t think he (Wilshere) will stay a long time in the Reserves.”
Interesting.
April 30, 2008 at 23:57
I dont know Big Raddy, the Clichy Vs Cashley is a difficult one.
Clichy is not in the Premiership team of the year for nothing
I will put another angle on it. When Cashley was at Arsenal there was no doubt he was the best LB in the world,
I don’t think he is the same player at Chelsea, and that is not just Arsenal bias, I really think his game has dipped since he left us. Ok some of the reasoning is personal but he fights for his place with Bridge and he should be on another level
However if you took Cashley at his best at Arsenal and Clichy at his current best then I agree Cashley slightly edged it, but not for long, Clichy long term will be the better player.
As for the game tonight, unfortunately Liverpools luck ran out against Chelsea and not us. I can’t believe I am saying this but I really hope Man Ure win it, I think given the abramovich affect, if they won the CL then it would be a travesty for Football, Blackburn buying the Premiership is one thing but the Champions League, sorry no
May 1, 2008 at 00:02
Well thats it
It is the 1st May,
Will he stay or will he go?
I guess we will find out today
May 1, 2008 at 00:30
pat
as for manure winning it…agreed, i cudn stand to see chelki winning a euro cup before the arse!…they dont deserve it! but im glad ‘pools out
as for the cashley v clichy debate…well cashley had the awesome pires/henry to combine with down the left, hence making cashley a whole lot more effective. I dont think clichy, tho he does get well fwd has had that many players he can get used to playing with down the left week-in/week-out…if rossicknote or vela stay fit nx season, then i beleive we’ll see clichy come on even more!
May 1, 2008 at 00:57
wow youve goten so many hits im a novice pleas give me some advice
May 1, 2008 at 00:59
[...] Arfa, Robinho, Barry, Henry and a centre back – pick 2 from these. I really believe we will add to the squad, but it won’t be by much, Flamini is key to who he buys and I think if [...] [...]
May 1, 2008 at 01:13
just spotted nelson vivas on setants, he is diego simones assistant manager at river plate.
boy done good.
May 1, 2008 at 01:24
yes pedro already been there said that at post 327 ..
that was young guns topic ??
jack is being promoted next season , should feature in C.C
May 1, 2008 at 01:30
deeOz … who’s talking gaff now mate?
i feel some degree of solace knowing the 2 teams that got into the C.L final
are the only ones we cant beat .. Fuck it if the liverpoo scouser cunts got into the final
id definitely know we aren’t the 3rd best team in the league. But Now i can breathe easy
that the 2 teams that are above us got into the final ! Least we know our enemy and who we have to compete with ! Love em or hate em least chevski is a london team ..
i havent hated chevski for as long as ive hated liverpool or man U ! any londoner
should be barracking for the blues …
even thou fuck them all , because we arent in it ! but still id rather see the Cup come to london !
May 1, 2008 at 01:41
must admit that watching the post-match interview with jt & drogs i felt it’d be better they won it over the mancs…i just dont want chelski to do it before the arse!
finals gona be a bore-fest…both will defend to the death and then try and nick it…
May 1, 2008 at 01:56
deeOz … who’s talking gaff now mate?
i feel some degree of solace knowing the 2 teams that got into the C.L final
are the only ones we cant beat .. Fuck it if the liverpoo scouser cunts got into the final
id definitely know we aren’t the 3rd best team in the league.Do you think they deserved to get into the semi’s with all the bad ref calls that went there way !?? im still bitter about it ! But Now i can breathe easy.. there out !
least we got done by the 2 teams that are above us, they got into the final ! Least we know our enemy and who we have to compete with ! Love em or hate em at least chevski is a london team ..
i havent hated chevski for as long as ive hated liverpool or man U ! any londoner
should be barracking for the blues …
even thou fuck them all , because we arent in it ! but still id rather see the Cup come to london !
May 1, 2008 at 02:00
geez that comment didnt go thru !
so i upgraded it …
fuck knows whats going on … well bet you no news is bad news RE flamini ..
Pat i notice you doubting yourself now ???Will he stay or will he go?
u told me HE will sign !!! 100% ???
May 1, 2008 at 02:01
Ethan_gooner, well put. It pains me to see Chelsea and Man U. in the final. It becomes an issue of “pick your poison.” It’s like someone asking you, would you rather see your brother, or your best friend date your wife or girlfriend? No matter what way you slice it, being out of the CL and the PL sucks. I thought that Barca would put Man U. out of the race after their draw at home, but Man U. out played Barca.
Let’s be honest, if Riise had not scored the own goal last week, I think that Liverpool would have pulled this out. The CL game is a tough call. Either team could win it. DeeOzGooner is right. They are going to play defensive football, and hope that Drogba/Ballack or Ronnie/Rooney will score on a fast break, or an unsettled play.
What I like even more is the speculation that if Man U. and Chelsea are tired after yesterday and today’s games, they might loose or draw on Saturday (The reality . . . Man U. and Chelsea will push on to the end, but isn’t it nice to dream up these little scenarios). Hey, we aren’t completely out of it, at least with regards to points. The realist says, Liverpool 4th, Arsenal 3rd, Chelsea 2nd, Man U. 1st. The optimist (OK, lets call a spade a spade . . . there is slim to nil chance that this will happen . . . ) in me says, Liverpool 4th, Chelsea 3rd, Man U. 2nd, Arsenal 1st.
Last, but certainly not least . . . who will we sign? I agree with many of the Grovers. Flamini is going to leave. If he was going to sign, he would have signed already. Hleb will most likely stay, though stranger things have happened. I would love to see Henry back in an Arsenal jersey. Though, the thought of Robhino walking out of the tunnel at Ashburton Grove . . . well the thought is pretty exciting. He is a fantastic player, and we know that Arsene loves those Brasilian boys. There are many others that have been spoken about, but the prospect of a true finisher alongside Ade . . . it makes me think of the days when Henry hoisted the PL trophy in the air.
Well, cheers lads.
May 1, 2008 at 02:02
he still cant find a pen ?! fuck me i told ya back in november .. the smartest choice is a money choice !
you need to remember the human psyche … for men it women and money ..
for women its just money !!!
i thought flamini was a bit of a woman so .. aint no surprises there !
May 1, 2008 at 02:04
i just read something from youngguns saying lanbury,randall,gibbs, and whilshere will be promoted.
surprised to see gibbs coming up before jay simpson?
i think jay needs to go on loan. any one think it would be good to send him to derby?
hed probley walk into the first team there, and from what i have seen on arsetv he looks like a real talent.
and i guess flamini is gone? or is this his last day to sign?
May 1, 2008 at 02:16
MG…its great to be optimistic! all i can say is that those two teams being in the CL final has kept any hope of us winning the prem alive!
manure have struggled recently wit the hammers & newcastles on the up so watch out chelski…plus both teams being tired will definately help…a couple of draws and we’re snatching at their heels..
i read that jay thomas got league1 pfa player of the yr? is that correct or is meant to be young playre of the yr?…
May 1, 2008 at 02:23
apparently keith edleman will be leaving the club very soon.
May 1, 2008 at 02:30
stupid…where’d ya get that from?
May 1, 2008 at 02:33
franky said it well .. something ive said all along .. but i gotta say he generalized too much UK TEAMS , arsenal definitely isnt a team in the EPL that sits back and defends …
He quoted that the british clubs have great players yet they sit on there defense to win games.. Well im glad he can see what i do !
Thats why we need 2 class strikers .. because we are classed as an attacking style of team . But we are ineffective as we dont have 2 world class strikers . We play the type of game where you need to score more than the opponents to win .. Chelsea and man U have the players but would rely on a strong defense as there backbone .. When people say we only need defenders and midfielders i think that is a wrong recipe , sure it would be great to have another class defender , but we really need a class striker or 2 with either theo or RVp and ade as plan B super sub ..
Lets hope TH 14 comes back .. but i dont think he will now they lost the C.L
it means franky’s all but gone .. and TH will now stick around to see if the next manager gives him a game …
I think that was the problem for him all season getting a real run in his natural position ..
May 1, 2008 at 02:49
Can we really see Almunia in goal next season?
Lehmann may be a complete psycho but he’s a complete psycho who is a great keeper. I’d always thought that his occasional brain fades were less than the crazy fingertip saves he is capable of making, no real matter, he’s off contract and i cant see him staying. Almunia IMO is a good but not great keeper, suitable back up but not a starter. Problem is that who’s an able replacement? anyone? ideally we’d want to get someone who’ll be round for years to come and is top line now with room for improvement.
Gomes? Lloris from Nice is being sounded out by Lyon as a Coupet replacement so he might be a go? Kameni?
Definitely need a Vidic/Adams like Centerback who can do the body work whilst gallas and Toure clean up with their pace. Again though who’s around and available? Mertesacker? can Sendeross grow some mental toughness to go with his build? Nordveit is probably too young for anything more than cup dutys or loan somewhere. We’ve been linked to Albiol but do we really want a player who’s been part of a divisive Valencia set up? Definitely agree with Adams coming back though it’d be a huge positive for the club to get him involved, he’s come through some very tough times since his playing days and has exactly the right attitude (and can show them how to defend set pieces).
If Flamini leaves Gareth Barry would be not only an able replacement but possibly an improvement in that position. He’s the heart and soul of Villa and brings the same never say die attitude and toughness Flamini had but with a better skill set.
May 1, 2008 at 02:52
hughsie
JAASKELINEN!! he’s top notch and i beleive he’s off contract end of season…and hopefully bolton will go down!
May 1, 2008 at 02:56
Oh, i had a thought regarding Flamini leaving. Would it every be considered a viable option to move Toure to the defensive midfielder slot and bring in a new centerback (or just play Song) . He’s got the pace, mentality and hardness to play the position and has good attacking instincts.
It’d also give us an option to bring in the tough “english type” centerback we need to partner Gallas to harden up our back four. Just a thought.
May 1, 2008 at 03:09
well he used to play there so why not? and he likes to get fwd and release those thunderbolts…something this team cud do with more of!
May 1, 2008 at 03:10
Hughsie
song ? sorry mate dont rate him ..
he looked shaky against derby ..
i think there will be only heart ache if we did ..
No the answer is remove gallas ..
sagna toure -XXXX-clichy .
we need a replacement for gallas .. he’s screwing up too much
and as for almunia well i think we need another goalie .
but i cant see arsene getting one .. fabanski was only purchused last season ..
Yeah maybe JAASKELINEN or green ..
but in all honesty i think wenger will over look this position this summer .
he shouldnt but i think he will
May 1, 2008 at 03:46
We need at least 2 players : 1 CB ( a real world class CB) and 1 wide goal-scoring winger (Ribery and Quaresma are the best). If Flam will leave, we need another CM (will Toure or Song be a good replacement ?)
May 1, 2008 at 03:49
I’d give Song a chance, i’ve been impressed by the way he’s taken to playing at Centerback. I’d give him another season to learn before i discounted him completely. Djourou obviously hasn’t come on like we wanted him to after looking quite promising last season and whilst he was at Birmingham.
Yeah Jaaskelinen certainly is one of the harder working keepers in the league and does his fair share of shot stopping, he’s definitely an option. Prem proven and only 30 odd so we would get a few years out of him.
Do you really see us selling Gallas? As far as screw up’s go he’s been in better form than Toure who’s been shocking since the ACON.
May 1, 2008 at 04:26
Hughsie
i cant see gallas going but at the same time im sure he will be pissed if we remove him from the captaincy . Might be no other option for wenger .. you know gallas ..
i think a fair few people on here will disagree with you on gallas.. to be honest i think both toure and gallas do a reasonable job.. i think it was confidence , or lack of .. whilst we were dropping points after christmas, i put it down to dropping points ans not scoring enough thru out that period where ade didnt score for 10- 11 games ..
May 1, 2008 at 04:31
that lost us the title .. dropping 2 points each time with about 7 or 8 draws that should have been wins ..
May 1, 2008 at 04:46
yeh even if we just converted 1 of those draws to a win we’d be strong contenders now…that bloody birmingham game comes to mind
May 1, 2008 at 05:00
deeoz ,
hey alot of people like to blame gallas , but its clichys fault plain and simple ..
we let the defender run rings around him and 3 points turned into 1 !
or if ade scored at least 4 or 5 goals instead of 0 we might of had 6 or 8 more points
during that time !!! Not sure how people can blame the defense when we cant score goals! Id be pissed off if i was gallas too .. seeing how many changes ade had and how many he didnt put away . it was arsenal worst goal scoring drought ! then we say weve score enough goals this season , yes against derby maybe or sunderland ..
but not against the teams that matter .. our strikers dont have enough class ..
also remember how many headers – put in’s gallas chipped in for this season or the scoreline would have been worse .. i can remember 2 occasions where he turned the game by himself this season ! something our strikers couldnt do !!!
May 1, 2008 at 05:02
Our lack of depth cost us the title, there were fixtures we were fielding teams where our starting midfield four were the only ones available. managers shouldnt have to factor in the injury issues we’d had this year into their plans – we’ve played 2/3rds of the season with out two of our best three strikers/attacking midfielders (eduardo and rvp) and alternately a rotating cast of midfielders, including our best left winger injured for most of the season.
Personally i cant think of a single game where we were able to field our ‘best XI’.
May 1, 2008 at 09:09
New post!
May 1, 2008 at 10:33
i think we’re already have a goal scorer and assist in our 1st team. We just need a new world-class defender to kick out that Gallas big head.
May 2, 2008 at 01:29
Johnson=get real he isnt even comfortable in a pub side like Man City.Krancjar=overrated big time not even half the player Flamini is.Robinho=definately staying at real.Panamanian guy=laughable at best.Aussie fella=complete fabrication.As summers before nothing will happen and when it happens we will all be surprised or underwhelmed by it all.And by the way the transfer market opens up 1 of june.
May 9, 2008 at 16:36
Pedro…
Your comment is a knee-jerk reaction (pointing blame to Arsene) to a larger problem at Arsenal.
The problem that Arsene has with his players leaving now is because the Board has not found a suitable replacement for Dien who managed all this business beforehand.
Arsene’s main task is managing the team on the field–not off it–and until the Board finds him someone that excelled at the services that Dien provided in his former role, Arsenal will continue to hemorrhage and we will suffer.
FIGURE THIS OUT NOW ARSENAL BOARD, IF YOU ARE READING!!!