Arsene Wenger needs another striker as he admits Eduardo is 9 months away from being match fit, that’s the average age of an Arsenal prospect! That means he’ll be back next January, so I think we need to find someone.
The two to three week signing thing has to be related to the French league and because he added the 3 week bit, it has to be the French cup, which means it’s Ben Arfa, I haven’t seen much of him outside of youtube, but if he’s as good as he looks, he’ll be just what we need, a proper winger.
Vela is a forward as is Walcott so if Eduardo is out for 9 months, perhaps they will fill the strikers role, but either way we need a replacement, we can’t leave his slot vacant in the hope he comes back as sharp as a tack, because he might not.
There was a lot of talk about signing Richard Dunne yesterday, why, I don’t know? I know he’s a premiership player, but it’s Wenger’s style to sign a player that has barely reached puberty, and in Dunne’s case, he’s at the point where the boss doesn’t even extend contracts, so I can’t see that happening.
Richards is too short and will cost too much so I can’t see where this centre back is coming from if he’s from these shores, my guess is the Prem player will be Barry or Johnson in midfield and someone like Kompany or Mertesacker in the centre back role.
I can’t see him paying £10 million for YaYa especially since we could have had him for nothing, I could see a Hleb swap plus cash for YaYa and Henry though, interesting concept don’t you think, midfield sorted – Eduardo covered, for practically nothing, or is that fantasy?
I watched the highlights and Theo looked great, and Randall looks like he knows where the goal is, maybe all the kids will put on a bit of weight and surprise us this summer.
Jens hasn’t disappointed – with a farewell pop at the boss, saying only at Arsenal would his job be safe, I wonder if the AKB’s will be looking for his email address to berate him for daring to have a go at their leader?
Jens may have a point though! This young team is good, it has promise, but if it goes on too much longer, it won’t be a young team any more will it? That will defeat the argument, twisted logic I know, but logic all the same.
A final bit of news, Pedro has made it possible for you to receive Le-Grove by email, there is a widget in the sidebar or you can click the here to register – then you’re away! It will save you time and improve your relationship with your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or husband, trust me, it really works!
Well another day of speculation so let’s make Arsene’s job a little easier, we know he reads Le-Grove, give him your ideas!
Scuba it was when Hleb and Cesc tired at OT and SB that we stopped dominating possession and got beaten.
Rosicky being out all season was a massive loss, he was expected to be the midfield goalscorer, Diaby couldn’t do the same job.
Yet we still scored more goals than the invincibles!!
Afternoon all,
Been so busy havent even had a chance to get on to post!! Shocked really!!
Just read the last few posts, and my take is this.
Hleb great player with the ball at his feet, great to watch and fantastic close control. A bit like a bloody performing seal with a ball on it’s nose… Great to watch but hardly any end product.
We would not be regressing if the fucking ice cream chomper moved on, we would become more direct and get some flipping shots on goal!
Win win me thinks.
I dont care what anyone says, there is no way replacing Hleb with Bobby Pires at his pomp would be of detrimental effect to the team! No way!!
Please see below for a reminder!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28S8kFG7hBM
Choy
Hleb and Rosicky drifting in doesn’t make it easier for other teams to defend, it means that Sagna and Clichy can overlap making it harder for opposition to defend. Pires and Ljungberg drifted in and made the biggest impact centrally as well….
ye -and we had Sombreros on the final as well Pedro…..tried to play offside ,,,too slow as ever, bang ,red card,bang -game over
No A – we got beat at Ot & SB because of crap defending.
Agree re Rosicky; hopefully next season he gets fit and stays that way – who am I kidding!!
Performing Seal? that’s getting very close to my love of Penguins, and we have none of them on our books and probably have no intentions of getting any, fucking cunts.
Odub obviously theres no way replacing Hleb with Bobby Pires at his pomp would be of detrimental effect to the team but Pires was the best player in the world at his peak! I’m sure bringing in Messi wouldn’t cause many complaints but it isn’t gonna happen! Henry, Pires, Vieira were the best in the world. VP, Hleb, Cesc are all very good but not yet at that level, and are very different players anyways
A… are you saying we didn’t used to dominate possession with the invincible’s!
40 shots a game and 1 goal sometimes!
All Arsene’s teams have dominated… all Arsene’s teams have had great wingers, we are lacking 2 at the moment.
A .. yes clichy and sagna overlapping.. now how many men would we have back defending our goal then?
Scuba
That’s the point though, our defence only came under the pressure that it succumbed to because we weren’t dominating possession anymore. If we’d had the ball they couldn’t have scored! That’s the way Arsene looks at it, and the way in which the current system is so successful
Pedro
I don’t think we dominated possession then like we do now. We used to be a power/pace team. Attacking quickly wave after wave after wave, with attacks often breaking down but we had so many that we scored a lot. Now rather than attacking in waves we hold the ball passing it back and forth keeping possession until we get the chance to walk it into the net. The new style is more successful defensively as us holding the ball for longer periods means the opposition have less opportunities to attack us.
A
that is a very wrong way of looking at it..
there are games like boro where we have had 60-70% possession.. yet we were still chasing the game…
possession does not not not mean we are going to win… barcelona manu CL semi final?
Odub, what a great video, he was the best, good looking and a great footballer, I read his book too.
Funny though one of his best goals was at the Villa and it wasn’t on there.
Gazzap, if that rumour turns out to be true I’ll be well annoyed. Who the f*** wants Michael Johnson. I don’t mind if we sign him as long as we don’t pay more than a million.
To be honest I hadn’t even really heard of him before we were linked to him. I watched him play against Liverpool & to say he was poor would be an understatement.
One cap for the England u21′s & that being in 2007 seems to suggest he just isn’t very good. He is 20 & even a no mark like Huddlestone is a regular in that squad.
A – I’d settle for less possession and winning a few more games – I’m with you Choy.
And sorry can’t agree that it was lack of possession that lost us those games – long balls hit up by the chavs and poor defending nothing to do with our midfield.
geoff.. i think his best one was against pool…. he he…
show me if hleb has scored such a goal!
Scuba, the reason those games haven’t been cited is because they were in December. Games later on are always deemed more important.
The big difference is our defence. Back then we had Campbell and Keown and now we have Senderos and defensive midfielders not up to the job. That’s we lost at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and got knocked out of at Anfield.
Pires was a freak. Of course I would take him over Hleb but I don’t think there are many of them out there.
Yeah but the thing is if we had less possession we’d win even fewer games, and lose alot more!!
The defence came under constant pressure because we stopped keeping possession, which had alot to do with our midfield!
and pires did not want out from arsenal!!!
he never went out to have ice cream!
Great link Odub. How I miss Pires. One of AW’s worst moment’s letting him go and that is not with hindsight, it was bloody obvious at the time! I wonder if there’s a youtube vid of Hleb’s goals for us? It would probably last about ten seconds………
Helb is technically very gifted but very frustrating. Maybe if his two league goals had been at least six (surely a minimum for the games he played) we would have finished top of the pile.
The fact that Barca got to the semi final is justification for their style of play. And both them and Arsenal got to the final two years before.
They pissed over United but again, like us, they’re defence let them down and their strikers never took their chances.
Barca’s philosophy is the not the problem. It’s just that have brought in too many unsuitable players and Ronaldinho just went to pot. Rikjaard has lost the plot a bit.
I must admit that i have a love/hate relationship with the Silly Season in the summers but this summer will be one out of the ordinary…
Already, (and we’re only in mid May) there has been so many rumours of possible signings that i’m just sick of it!
I have made a list of all rumours that i have read only in the last week, and i’ve put the players in reasonable ranking system starting with the most possible signing and down to the least possible one.
Here it goes:
Mario Gomez (Stuttgart) – 50%
Hatem Ben Arfa (Lyon) – 50%
Amauri (Palermo) – 25%
Raul Albiol (Valencia) – 25%
Gomes (PSV) – 20%
Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth) – 20%
Gervinho (Le Mans) – 20%
Jean Makoun (Lille) – 20%
Aquilani (Roma) – 15%
David Villa (Valencia) – 15%
Yaya Touré (Barcelona) – 15%
Obafemi Martins (Newcastle) – 10%
Joey Barton (Manchester City) – 10%
Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) – 10%
Vincent Kompany (Hamburg) – 10%
Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff City) – 10%
Richard Dunne (Manchester City) – 5%
Diego Capel (Sevilla) – 5%
Yohann Gourcuff (Milan) – 5%
Gennaro Gattusu (Milan) – 5%
Thierry Henry (Barcelona) – 5%
Micah Richards (Manchester City) – 3%
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea) – 3%
David Silva (Valencia) – 3%
Carlos Marchena (Valencia) – 3%
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) – 2%
Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax) – 2%
Karim Benzema (Lyon) – 2%
Samir Nasri (Marseille) – 5%
Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona) – 1%
There are of course more players linked with Arsenal but I only picked out the ones that I found interesting or possible to sign…(most of them only interesting though, not likely to sign)
For me i would be ok if we got Ben Arfa, Gomez, Touré & Kompany.
But would be even more happy if we got Ben Arfa, Eto’o, Touré & Sergio Ramos, but that is only dreaming and i know it!
Yeah Paulinho I agree. Although I think Senderos is a good player we aren’t as strong now. With the past style we could attack in waves, over and over again, as when we lost the ball it didn’t really matter, we were so strong with Vieira, Petit, Campbell, Keown that we knew we’d just win it back. Now because we aren’t as strong part of our defence is being in possession of the ball for the majority of the time
Fuck me… I take a phone call for 2 minutes and I’m out of the debate!
Paulinho – I take your point but the point I was trying to make was that Hleb played in those later games – the comment was made about the games that Hleb didn’t play but the ones he did play in were the ones that done us – ie: those later games.
we were linked with joey fuckin barton?
We won’t sign Gomez, we don’t even need a striker!
Ray that list is far from accurate if you’re talking about likelihood
Arsene has stated he isn’t looking at any forwards or goalkeepers, so your most likely signing is one that is incredibly unlikely!
Gomez, Amauri, Gomes, Gervinho, Villa, Martins etc just aren’t going to happen!
Choy – that was to fool the spuds; they’re now bidding for him!!!
But we might sign Gomez to play on the wing. Just because he’s a striker doesn’t mean that Wenger would play him there.
Scuba
Hleb did play in the later games, and had a massive hand in us dominating them and getting ahead. Unfortunately he was fatigued and his impact lessened as he tired, resulting in us no longer controlling possession and the defence crumbling under pressure.
i think everyone who joins arsenal.. does play on the wing at least once in their stay at arsenal…
maybe not the goalkeepers though.
I think a problem that occured was when the formula of feeding Adebayor and relying on him to convert started to fail when we approached the business end of the season. This is when players such as Hleb should have maybe took responsibility and realised Ade couldn’t hit a barn door and went for goal themselves. But no, Hleb carried on looking for Adebayor when the world and his dog knew he was in poor form.
We definately need a striker because there aren’t really many goal scoring wingers available. This team creates many chances but we are playing with a striker who is a horrible finisher. Replace him with a good finisher than more goals. The midfield should be Walcott ???? Cesc ????.
A – Wenger needs a replacement for Eduardo, he will buy a striker i’m sure of it!
A – do you think we are a one man team? I seem to think that Hleb played his part but not the way you suggest. Once again we talk about dominating in those games but we didn’t win them, did we? Maybe if we had more of a direct approach (at times) we’d win a few of those.
The one point we all agree is the defence – and that’s where I think our real issues lie – that and not taking our chances; not making that domination count – and the main two at fault there are Hleb and Ade – one doesn’t shoot enough and the other misses too many chances
Ray he’s categorically stated he won’t – so we won’t!!
When a player is injured you don’t buy a replacement for him, especially not at a club with a strict wage structure like Arsenal.
Wenger alot of times says one thing and does another. He came out and criticized Adebayor because he knows he’s a horrible finisher and becoming lazy. I think he will buy a striker.
Scuba
I don’t think we have to be a one man team as such, but our style of play doesn’t work without Hleb playing certainly. We became something of a one man team due to the injuries to Rosicky, VP, and Eduardo meaning only hleb could link the play between forwards and midfield.
We didn’t win them because of Hleb and Cesc tiring. Against the big teams our defence and midfield (defensively) isn’t able to handle constant pressure, which is why we play the possession game we do. A more direct approach would put the defence under more pressure from the start of the match and we’d get turned over alot easier against the big boys. The possession game takes all the pressure off the defence, so although it is very attractive etc it’s also a fundamental defensive strategy
Almunia/Fabianski/Mannone
Sagna/Hoyte
K.Touré/Djourou/Nordtviet
Gallas/Kompany/Senderos
Clichy/Traoré
Walcott/Eboué/Lansbury/Gibbs
Y.Touré/Gilberto/Song/Denilson
Fábregas/Hleb/Diaby/Merida
Ben Arfa/Rosicky/Vela/Randall
Adebayor/van Persie/Bendtner/Villa
….and it’s Game, Set & Match!
As the saying goes…we will just have to wait and see…
haha, I don’t think that is a saying Ray!
A – but it seems that Hleb and to a lesser extent Cesc tire very easily (I don’t fully agree with that) when we have so much possession so why persist with it – play direct get a few goals and save your energy!! You say that the direct approach from the start puts more pressure on the defence – but when Hleb and Cesc end up tired with possession we concede anyway.
I see where you’re coming from but can’t understand why we can’t mix it a bit – something like direct possession – bang bang 2 – 0 to the Arsenal rather 70% possession and we lose 2 – 1. All this possession and we’re trying to walk the ball in the net – we don’t really do that all that often do we?
Take a look at the goals at Anfield, OT, & SB – didn’t really come from lots of possession rather than a direct attack on goal – okay Sagna’s goal was from a corner
A why U like Sombreros so much? He is not top defender and will never be.period
Arsene Wenger has categorically stated that unless someone leaves unexpectedly he WILL NOT sign a forward, 100% it just wont happen. VP, Adebayor, Bendtner, Eduardo, Walcott, Vela are at the club. The latter two could be considered wingers as well but Arsene has said he sees them as forwards and will not sign anyone up front who would limit their and Bendtner’s development as strikers. It simply will not happen
I’d agree with Wenger on that one… any more forwards and we’ll have a major congestion problem.
2 wingers and a defender would do me.
What do you guys think?
I think we are quite direct at times anyway. I remember Bendtner threatening twice in the air in the last ten minutes at OT. This team can mix it up quite well. We’ve seen the countless times Toure and Fabregas do the long ball to Adebayor only for Ade to mess up the control.
Hleb also crossed for Van Persie at West Ham and Ade at Fulham.
What we need are more options on the bench to rotate with Hleb and sometimes, Cesc when they start to flag.
Arsenaldo when Senderos first broke into the team he was fantastic. He got player of the month awards in the invincibles season.
Scuba we play the possession football because if we don’t big teams will score alot of goals against us! Hleb and Cesc tired towards the end of games at the end of the season because of the ridiculous number of injuries meaning that they’d been forced to play nearly every match all season. That won’t happen again. It was only at the end after a very long season that they tired.
We don’t have the players to go bang bang 2-0 anymore, that’s what Utd do now.
Despite having only 25mil available, there is more scope for deals than just using this money to buy two players. For example we do not need to spenf this money to buy a centre back. It could be a straight swap deal with Gallas. With Gallas set to lose the captaincy it is better to get rid of him and avoid dressing room problems. Besides gallas and kolo are too similar ..
Pedro I’d agree. Though we don’t want wingers, we want attacking midfielders, of the Pires/Hleb/Rosicky mould. Ben Arfa can play that role, as could Diego. If Hleb stays we only need one of them. We will play more direct at times next season I’m sure. Against lesser teams Hleb or Rosicky will be rested for Vela or Theo.
A – we do have the players and I made the point about the goals that we scored because of being direct. As Paulinho said we play direct to ade but he usually fucks it up!
I love watching our possession play but all too often there is no result.
I don’t think we play possession to keep the score down against us – it’s a style, great to watch and it’s entertaining but the result of that should be that we score – and yes; by doing that we do stop the opposition from scoring.
Valid point about injuries and games played but then we have to lay the blame at AW’s door not enough quality in-depth – which has been the major point on this blog for a long time. Many times I have said that our first 11 are the best but as soon as we have to make changes it goes tits up! However; there were many games earlier in the season that we failed to kill teams off and that’s down to this walking the fucking ball into the net style
Anyway; I’m off now; good blogging with you and we can agree to disagree on these points all day long – we still love AFC!!!
I could be putting 2+2 together & getting 5 but judging by Hleb’s agents most recent words saying he won’t buy out his contract but everything should be sorted in the next 10 days, I think that Arsenal have a deal to sell him but don’t want anything announced until they sign Ben Arfa.
As I say it could just be a coincidence but the timeline seems very much in line with that of the French cup final.
see if Hleb and his agent acted like this in the first place, you would not mind so much
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3560802,00.html
“Hleb has been playing in London for three years now and isn’t sure whether in the future he can show the level of talent that he is showing currently.”
Does he think he will be found out next year?
I’m not sure what changing London for Milan does though!!
I’m not sure what changing London for Milan does, but thats life.
It might mean his form may be affected obecause his off the pitch set up is not particuarly rosy. A guy on another forum seems to have it on good authority that his wife hates London.
My first comment went AWOL & has now reappeared!! How strange.
well i think people are hitting on his wife.. so he needs to move to quieter climes..
lol
cnut
Hleb was at Stuttgart from 19 to 24. At Arsenal from 24 to 27. He probably thinks it would be nice to round off his years in a nice place like Italy where he has more of a chance of domestic glory and a less demanding league.
He probably looks at Chelsea and United and thinks we have very little chance of uprooting those two fuckers within the next couple of years.
It’s kind of understandable. London is a bit of a shithole compared to Milan.
‘The city lies at the centre of a heavily populated area, circled by a ring of smaller towns. The inner urban area has a population of 2.63 million making ‘greater Stuttgart’ the third biggest city region in Germany after the Ruhr Area and Berlin.’
Stuttgart sounds serene as well!
I think a lot of people would disagree with you there!
London is a great city… especially when you earn £40k a week.
He could live in the suburbs… St Albans isn’t exactly rough is it?
i have said it many times…..
forget all centre backs like kompany
Lucio is the one we need, 29 years old, experience, tall, comannding
£10m and he is ours
Gareth Barry should be signed but not at £15m – £10m max
Hatem Ben Arfa is a winger we should sign
SWP also should be bought and thats it we done
why is it so quiet in here?
will wenger sign some one at 29?
if he looking for experience and commanding
Lucio is the man, and he looking for a fresh challenge
If Hleb is that wanted we should sell him, get a shed load and spend that on a better player, if Madrid want him, swap him with Robinho or if Barca want him swap him with Ya Ya and Henry and so on, or get in Diego, don’t keep him though, if that’s how he feels, he’ll disrupt the squad, but we need to make an example or next year it’s Cesc.
Either that or stick him in the stiffs.
How reasurring to listen to Ronaldo.
@Pedro you need to get out in St.Albans…. they have bouncers at McDonalds! Trust me it’s rough….
The Ben Arfa reports look very credible, if he signs he’d be a great addition. As well as that, my dream signing for this summer would be:
Huntelaar
Barry
Mexes
Stillic
Those + Ben Arfa would have us totally sorted for all eventualities, Top Quality Up front, in the middle, on the wings and at centre back + 1 up and coming “Fabregas” style player.
That would cost us a bomb though:
Ben Arfa 12-18 mil
Huntelaar 20-25m
Barry 20-25 m
Mexes 20-25m
Stillic 3m
Total: 75-95 mill ie. very improbable
Although there are lots of other good suggestions that I wouldn’t turn down like:
Dunne, Krancjar Gomez
Is Wenger really gonna take a gamble on RVP’s fitness and just have Bendtner as backup and if RVP + Bendtner are out stick Theo there? I’d say that’s incredubly risky because we need someone who is 100% ready playing next to Adebayor to ease the load. Add to that, Adebayor might be injured.
Hi Pedro/Geoff and Le-Grovers,
How would everyone feel about Kolo Toure stepping up into midfield and Le Boss signing a big dominant defender to play alongside Billy?
Billy and Kolo havne’t gelled completely and seem to be to similar to play together.
Both play better with a “lump” next to them.
Remember Kolo and Sol? Billy and the big Chav Terry?
Wrighty, we’d never in a million years get Terry. And no I don’t fancy Kolo there, we want a proper midfielder playing in that position.
I think we are fine upfront. $ established strikers (OK two are kids but svored 16 between them).
Should RvP break down at the Euros, AW will have time to sign someone on loan (which seems the best option). There are plenty of ageing strikers that could do the job for a few moths and a shitload of dosh. It worked for MU with Larssen, so why not for us?
However, a big unit at DM, is a priority.
No matter who we sign unless the FA tidy up the coruption from the Mancscum and to a lesser extent the Chavs
No I don’t mean signing Terry, just meant an example of when Gallas played alongside Terry at Chelsea.
Both Gallas and Toure play better with a big defender and allows them both to clean up whatever is left over.
Big raddy, but Wenger doesn’t go for stopgaps though. Looking at that possibility from a purely academic perspective, which “quality” 30+ striker who would do a good job for a year can you think of? There is only Henry who could do that for me. That’s the only possibility I can see of Wenger going for a stop gap option 30+ option, and there is no indication of that happening.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Mex%C3%A8s
Mexes is the answer, but I doubt Roma would sell him.
If we could have stop-gap Id sign Gattuso in a second
Lived in London all my 46 years and it has deteriorated into a fucking shit hole. Another death yesterday and thats 3 this week. I would move now if I had the dough and a wife who doesn’t want to live within a mile from her parents. Love the ARSENAL though and this makes the difference. I live in the suberb as it was years ago Blackheath.
Mexes is the answer in central defence for that role Wrighty, but I doubt Roma would sell him.
http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Mex%C3%A8s
He did do it with Davour Suker mind ?!?
You are right Wrighty a big CB to attack the first ball and Toure or Billy to clean up.
Hi Grovers
“There are no problems with regard to his playing opportunities. Alexander is just tired of the noisy and chaotic life in the British capital and feels like living in calmer surroundings” Hleb’s agent said
Can i offer my deepest sympathy to MR. Whippy who’s having to live in horrible London, earning more in a week than most of us do in a year!
It must be hard adjusting coming from beautiful Minsk, with the lovely communist bleak architecture and pollution from the numerous power stations.
Why do people treat us like mugs, I’d have more respect for him if he said he wanted to experience a different league or something along those lines.
The sooner he leaves the better for everyone, not only has he been a disapointement on the pitch but is showing no class nor dignity with the way he’s handling of the whole situation!
wanker
He also tried the Beast on loan and although we didn’t keep him the Beast did ok. How would we have done if we had the Beast this season?
how many season did davor suker stay with us
Finest, off the top of my head , Jon Dahl Toamsson, the Italian Aussie (Vieri ?), Gudjohnsen, ++ ??? . I agree about AW and stopgaps, but surely as an intelligent man, AW must be flexible. I am not suggesting that we sign on a 3 year contract an older player (though I find his reluctance mystifying), if we are prepared to loan players OUT , why not IN ?
Hleb’s missus should get out more often as London is more and more like a former Soviet colony every day.
The Beast is a useful player but for the money he’s not worth it, thats what Wenger thought. I agree, taking over his Real Madrid would be huge, so if we’re thinking about the Beast, we’re thinking of an extra 10 goals a season player. Barry over the beast anyday of the week.
Guys this is quality
HLEBS AGENT 6TH FEB 2008
“I can understand why Barcelona would be interested in Alex,” Spilevski told The Sun.
“But Alex loves life at Arsenal. He feels he is at the best club in the world.
“He has the ideal manager, he loves his team-mates and loves London. Why would he want to leave?”
Loves London. not quite the quotes released today
I think I can guess what is going on here. Has anyone worked somewhere where someone has become dissilusioned and left the Company. They start bitching about all that is bad there and their poor morale rubs off. and before they did leave they could not help but try and talk others into coming with them,
I think this has happened with his Chum Flamini.
Most People (Cesc Included) have enough about them to see right through it but I think Hleb has been talked into it. He is a Follower not a Leader…..Cesc is a Leader
I appologise for my political rants regarding London. London is a wonderful city.
Agree El Tel, but it makes us sound like old fogeys !! ‘Oh, It was so much better in my day etc ‘……. that is why I got out.
But if I could get paid £40k a week , and live in Arkley/Hadley Wood,… I could cope with the ‘difficulties’ of London !
@Gunnershabz – he was with us for 2 seasons…. an ageing established striker. Shows wenger would look at this as an option…. or last resort..
Wenger may have done that in the past , but as we are all aware, Wenger’s theme is about building for the future,(the young guns) so he’d rather give the time to a youth player and develop them.
Finest I didn’t mean we should sign him I was making a point that AW does do loanees and wondered if Baptiste could have helped us at the end of this season.
TH14 on a loan deal…. what a fine idea
Where would you have played him El Tel?
@Finestcuts – true, but a loan option or indeed a next to nothing transfer fee may see it through. im not talking about us spending 30mil on a 30 year old. Ahem Sheva!
Spot on as usual Raddy. I spent my teenage years in Bethnal Green and it was better there in the 70s than it is in all of London at present.
was just reading around and came across something abit interesting, what if we signed a nasty ass CB, and move Kolo to holding midfield, think its not bad idea it seems like kolo and willy havent stuck as well as I thought they would and kolo would be quite a scare for offensive midfielders and hes good at breaking attacks…
Kolo has to stay where he is, He’s our best defender!
Finest the Beast could have played up the middle a bit more forward of the Flamster and Cesc on one side instead of that Cunt Eboue and Hleb on the other side. Up front Ade/Bendtner and Theo. The beast is a lump who had an eye for goal in my opinion he never got a chance with us because TH14 was mates with Ade and clearly didn’t like Baptiste.
He’s suffered a dip in form but he’ll come back next season…..
hope so…. hes all we have left in the 1st eleven from the invincibles, dont want to see him anywer else but on the pitch! great experience and fine defending… when hes on form, still i wouldn mind seein how he wud fit in CDM
do me a favour El Tel , the beast was hopeless & couldn’t hit a barn door , he has a 1st touch of an elephant!
Like it or not Abdenor. Kolo isn’t our best defender. Gallas as won everything and thats not because he is shit. Sagna is a far better player than Kolo and Clichy is Clichy. Kolo in midfield for me as I have thought this for years. Why buy his brother to do what we know Kolo can do.
And Kolo doesn’t have the mobility to play there. Just wttch him on the ball in the opponents half…. he appears out of place. He doesn’t have Makalele’s intellligence, or Flam’s athleticism. What he has is strength, enthusiasm and presence
Henry back on loan for a season while Eduardo recovers? I’d agree with thatas a plan B, but plan A should be getting a striker good for 5 + seasons.
If we went for plan B, I’d be ok with it.
Plan C is not bringing an extra striker in, and I’m definitely not in favour of that, that’s far too risky.
Besides that, we need one more technically super skilled player like RVP, before we had RVP and Henry. I am greatful for Adebayor’s slam dunk action, but we lacked those sublime Arsenal quality goals up front this season. Huntelaar would do it for me.
Here’s what I mean, a good vid with a great soundtrack, enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3AfjnGg_Wk&NR=1
Well said bigraddy, i have a stange feeling that Gallas will be out the door pretty soon!
……I might wrong though
Abdenor The Beast destroyed Pool at Anfield and scored against the Spuds a few times i remember. He played for Real this year and they won the league.
Nah El Tel i wouldn say that, hes got top class defending, id rather see him in midfield but he looks quite solid at the back!! Think i agree with abdenor on Baptista… nvr settled, only way he could score was if the defence wer busy lafin at his first touch…
And above all, we need a first rate defensive coach. Our back line is fine IF we can get organised and totally concentrated. We fall apart because the space between Kolo and Gallas opens up too wide when the full backs bomb forward.
Bring in TA or Keown, or even better George Graham to coach us to defend as a unit !
yeah maybe but his performances for Arsenal we few and far apart and i dnt care wat he did for real :s
If Gallas goes I wouldn’t be unhappy but Kolo and I love the guy needs to improve enormously if we are to win the Prem and I think Kolo has had his best moments with experienced players around him showing him where to stand. Senderos gets shit for losing his opponent but Kolo does this regularly without criticism. Jens nearly layed one on him last year, poor fucker.
The beast has been warming the bench all season for Real although he scored the winner for at New Camp!
…. but he’s not good !
I know one game does not make a player.. but The Beast against Liverfool, 4 goals. But your right he did miss a pen in that game, and on that basis it was right to send him back
Big Raddy your point is the same as mine mate. I agree the CBs are great players but they get dragged about into ares they shouldn’t be. I think a proper defensive midfielder could also help by shielding them and holding them back. Flamini was doing a good job but he trotted up field regularly and there was another big gap between the CM and defence.
I agree with all of you
Let’s bring big Tone back home, There’s some arses that need a good kicking!
I didn’t say we should have kept him I was just making a point about AW loaning players. Please though don’t slag him off because he scored a few goals for us in very few 90 minute games. Poor touch or not. Did you guys see SuperMac play, his first touch was crap but power speed and an unstoppable shot made up for his deficencies.
Besides AW needs a proper number 2, Pat Rice doesn’t appear to do much other hold Locazade Bottles !
El Tel, would you want Wenger to sign Baptista this summer if he’s available?
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3560802,00.html
If Hleb leaves, we need a good fee for him.
If Hleb leaves this summer we need a good fee for him.
football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3560802,00.html
Helb should be put on the transfer list and sold to the highest bidder,Instead of him and his agent dictating his move
My area (Chigwell) should pick up nicely once the scum move their training ground to Enfield!! Maybe Hleb could move next door & do some shooting practice in my garden, god knows he needs it & its a nice peaceful area!!
Sell, sell, sell sell….
Pedro how can I get a picture of a player Rocky would do nicely
We don’t need 2 creative central midfilders playing out wide, how huch do reckon we’d get for him!
If we’d get anywhere near 20m i’d help pack his bags,
Terry, open an account on wordpress.com, upload an “avatar” (there is a search on there if you get stuck, just type in avatar) pic, log onto it when you post.
So Hleb fancys a quiet life away from the city?
Milan’s the place for him then i suppose!!!! NOT
Perhaps his favourite flavour ice cream is only available in Milan or his bird Nastya likes the fashion out there!!!
If he goes he will not be a great loss . I agree it has looked like he’s had a good season but he is not as effective as you think. He’s scored 5 goals and has only 8 assists to his name in 42 games. Hardly setting the world on fire. He just will not pull the trigger either and when he does his shots are either too weak or well off the target.
As long as we have someone good enough to replace him I think we’re ok. And I dont mean someone who has the same skill as him. Just someone who is more effective and a bit more direct. Pires was not as skillful as Hleb but by god he was a heck of alot more effective – with driving runs and great finishing ability
Thanks a lot Finest I will try that,
abdenor .. I agree.. btw TH14 never rated him.. his last pass and his shots are useless
he is a luxury player in a team like ours that cannot afford players like him
Terry, open up a wordpress account and upload and avatar! Then you are away!
Wrighty, its got to be the worst excuse since he went for Ice Cream with Inter…
‘I fancy a quiet holiday, so I’m going to hit the west end in ibiza for a week’!
A bit of a dumb statement! Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t be fussed if we got a load of cash for him. Anyone can play with Cesc… lets get ourselves a tasty winger in who can weigh in with more than 4 goals and more than 7 assists!
GMR, I thought Chigwell was a nice area already?
Am I the only one who thought St. Albans was expensive? Am I wrong? I thought that was where all the Arsenal and Spud players lived!
Pires..why did you leave us?? why did Wenger sell you? what a shame ..
hleb has got a decent shot on him.. left as well as right footed.. just ask that reading player… hahah
but he doesn’t shoot ..
actually i don’t think any1 in our team loves to shoot!!!
i think bobby pires realised that after he was taken off at the CL final that wenger would probably just give him a 1 year extension.. so he left…
wenger has got to change this policy of his.. look at giggs and scholes…
and FFS we had diaby and our fox in the box and most lethal striker and hleb i don’t shoot playing there….
But as the great man said “it’s not all about winning trophies” ……… Yeah Right!!!
Bobby certainly did a good job in Spain this year. Good on him.
Should he have stayed at THOF ? I think not, I prefer to remember him as an Arsenal great. One of the good points about AW’s policy of only giving one year contracts to the over 30′s is that we don’t have to see the greats fade away.
Giggsy is an exception, but even he is not the player he was 3 years ago.
Get rid of Hleb, find the new Bobby and break the bank for him, ask goofy to come on loan, I bet he would!
At the end of the day who really wants players that dont want to play for the cause?
Fla-money showed his true colours and left for the Euro, Hleb has no doubt been offered more dough and possibly ice-cream, I have one word for them both…………
Cesc……
This little Spanish diamond has more loyalty in his little finger than the pair put together and when he eventually moves on to Spain after 15 years service to Arsenal we wont begrudge him that.
Cesc…….i love u…………
I hear you Wrighty!
van persie sounds very positive as well… hope he stays here for a long time.. hopefully not injured.
My opinion is that I don’t mind players fucking off once they have given us a few years great service.
Hleb and the Flamster did not give us that. Cunts.
I think it was Choy who said Wenger should review his over 30′s policy… well said that man!
I can’t remember the last gooner who left us at 30 and retired due to injury…
I know pires picked up a nasty injury, but it’s not like we’re too skint to cover the cost of his wages?
No we’ve got no money, we’re building a new stadium and a nuclear power station to help cook those nutritious meals the teams eats. Oh and a fleet of aircraft for our scouts, it will be 178 years before we can compete with the Mancs and chavs.
I think Van Persie has the same loyalty as Cesc… we stood by him during that rape debacle and I think he appreciates that.
I hope he has put his injury woes behind him… and Diaby, Denilson, Eduardo, Walcott…
Geoff, someone said Arsenal will be paying out dividends next year!
You’ll be quids in!
I won’t hold my breath Pedro!
hey just listening to Off the ball here in ireland and Graham Hunter(who is a brillant journalist and was the first english speaking journalils barca phoned to let him know about top top class) has said he can 100% confirm that arsenal are interested in RICHARD DUNNE from man city.
Arsenal Have for a fact been in contact with his agent. He has 2 independent sources i think, one from either side.
I’m off now, I look forward to hearing what the night shift think of today’s events! Night all!
barca let him know first about TH 14 sorry !!!!!! forgot the name