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!
May 13, 2008 at 9:08 am
Err… first Grove?
Nice post Geoff, it’s a shame about Eduardo, I thought he was going to be back in October! The sooner we ditch Lewin, the better in my eyes!
I completly agree with you about Dunne. I think we as Arsenal fans are jumping to conclusions. He looks ok, but an Arsenal player? I’m not sure…
If Jen’s blogged, he’d be that Gelbs chap… and you know that he’d blog over here! haha!
It’s funny, since being on the mailing list, my life has improved?
May 13, 2008 at 9:09 am
i was looking through Inter Milans list today to see who we might be able to do a loan deal with, the only guy i could see was a dude called David Suazo - a striker!
May 13, 2008 at 9:10 am
Hleb for YaYa + Henry. Intresting shout. I love TiTi to bits. Don’t you think that other players have grown since he left though ( the old play everything through henry) approach to the game has long gone. Got me thinking now though….
May 13, 2008 at 9:10 am
Good post Geoff but will Hleb want to move to Barca? I thought he’d be happy with his mate Flamini acroos the road from him in Milan. A Hleb plus cash for YaYa and TH14 would be a good deal for us though.
Jens is right; anywhere else and AW would have extreme pressure on him for results.
I still say get Nesta in from Milan
May 13, 2008 at 9:12 am
Pedro - ditch Lewin; you havin’ a laugh?!
May 13, 2008 at 9:14 am
I am Scuba.
May 13, 2008 at 9:14 am
where is my post… oh crap
May 13, 2008 at 9:15 am
i read some report from AST arsenal supporters trust and they had a meeting with the board.
he mentions that they never disclose any information about their exact transfer budget due to the fact players value will inflate.
so everyone can suspect what they want £25m, £50m or £100m, we will never know, but they say they always back arsene if he ever wanted to make a signing
also mentions he loves making jewels into diamonds, so i guess no world class sigings like ronaldinho, messi, adriano, ibrahimovic and dare i say it David Villa
the best news is he mentioned that he got off the phone with arsene to finalise a transfer deal
but who is it?????
Mario Gomez, Jean Makoun, Hatem Ben Arfa, Samir Nasri, Amauri, Gareth Barry, SWP, Richard Dunne, Diego, Raul Albiol, Kompany
your guess is good as mine
May 13, 2008 at 9:16 am
anyways we never dislclose transfer info incease it players valuation inflation
arsene has a signing in place right now as we speak
read this on AST report
May 13, 2008 at 9:17 am
i think Adriano would be good signing on loan, he has sorted himself out apparently
May 13, 2008 at 9:23 am
gunnerShabaz who got off the phone to who?
May 13, 2008 at 9:23 am
I’d like tpo see Gareth Barry and Julian Lescott signed; Lescott scored again on Sunday, that’s 10 goals this season - not bad return for a CH/LB
May 13, 2008 at 9:24 am
yeah Adriano could be ok
May 13, 2008 at 9:24 am
i read that too gunnershabz , wonder who the signing is , i think it maybe ben arfa.
also apparently we have sold 92% of the flats , surely this is good news too ? will that reduce the debt on the stadium etc ?
May 13, 2008 at 9:24 am
I would like to see a top class keeper brought in - like Gigi Buffon. I am still not convinced by wither Almunia or Fabianski.
Add to that a big fuck off Centre Back like David Wheater at Boro. Tall, strong, wins everything in the air in both boxes. I’d stick him straight in alongside Kolo.
Then I guess Ben Arfa on the wing, although I would prefer Robinho. In CM i would like to see someone with potential but a name so Yaya, Makoun would fit although would like Barry too and then up top just bring back the mighty TH14.
Simple.
May 13, 2008 at 9:25 am
Good post as ever Geoff. Like the idea of the swap deal with Barca as well.
I really don’t get this Richard Dunne thing, I thought it was just me. I don’t think he’s any better than Senderos.
May 13, 2008 at 9:26 am
the report was on arsenalinsider.co.uk or something
robinho is a no no, apparently real madrid are having contract talks with him
May 13, 2008 at 9:30 am
I think when it comes to other clubs desperately wanting our players we have to use that to our advantage and demand one of their players in return. chances are Inter have too many centre backs. so lets have one of their best ones if we are to lose Hleb. everyone’s a winner. No money may change hands in a pure swap deal. Inter wouldn’t have crap defenders would they?
May 13, 2008 at 9:30 am
gazzap
swap deal with christian chivu would do fine for me
May 13, 2008 at 9:31 am
Nobody has ioned Eduarod’s injury caused by Taylorn of Birmingham.I am very happy that the blues under Mccleish have been relegated and will go out to celebrate.there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Eduardo was deliberately injured. Prior to this Arsenal were going great guns.
Suddnely a new Blues boss is appointed.He was a protege of the red faced.After the injury arsenal simply pressed the self destruct button.How do we know the injury was not inflicted to take out a striker who was becoming very deadly as attested by the number of goals he scored.
then we have the penalty given to the blues towards the end of the game. I had said bf this game that for Arsenal to win the title the gunners have to fight against twelve and maybe even thiteen players.
Know what I mean.I hope the blues stay in the championship for as long as Eduardo is out of the game.
May 13, 2008 at 9:31 am
geoff mate, just thought I would point something
out…
if you read the eduardo comments again you’ll see that the 9months comment refers to 9months from the beginning of injury. What he’s saying is that you can fullly physically recover sooner but there are psychological issues that take longer to heal. So 9 months from his injury is November, which means he’ll probably be back training in Aug/Sep.
Good news I think.
By the way I had a dream last night
that we were signing Sergio Ramos, let’s hope its a prophecy.
And one more thing, the whole Barry to pool things gone quiet- maybe that means we’ve made a bid??
May 13, 2008 at 9:33 am
I think you are being very generous with the value of Hleb, great player, however not enough concrete impact to justify two players of that quality. Would be great though. Arsene reads this does he well i would like to say thank you for all you have done and can you sign a 10 year extension to your contract. Come on the gunners.
May 13, 2008 at 9:34 am
Very good thoughts Geoff.
but personally i feel upfront we need someone who is more aggresive (Someone like Tevez), all our forwards at the moment are a bit weak, RVP & Theo not that aggresive Ade lacks good 1st touches and his finishing is a bit poor at times, tho i am happy to say that the man has improved this season.
Robinho would be a very good buy, look at the pace he has and the type of football we play at Arsenal, i think he would fit in well.
In the midfield i think we are lacking a proper replacement of Vierra, Yaya toure would be a perfect replacement i think…
http://www.latest-arsenal.blogspot.com
May 13, 2008 at 9:35 am
Taylor didn’t mean to snap Dudu’s leg, but he did mean to rough him up. And Brum after the game were fucking graceless about the whole and tried make Taylor out as the victim. Fucking happy they’ve gone down. Hope there’s good transfer news today! Encouraging Friar had to interupt a press conference (?) to take a call about one
May 13, 2008 at 9:35 am
To be honest half of us or more on here are hypocrites (& yes I do include myself in that).
We’ve been saying for weeks/months we want experienced signings & yet most of us will be happy if Wenger spends 15+ million on Ben Arfa. This guy has played around 65 games or so & isn’t trusted to last 90 minutes. His current manager sees him as an impact player (remind you of Walcott??), he isn’t a regular international & whilst his youtube clips look good so does just about every player you want to mention.
We have to accept that either we get these potentially exciting players or we go for experience pro’s like Quaresma who has improved no end since his short stay at Barca. Ben Arfa could well be another Robinho & take 3-4 years to settle in.
Then when a player like Dunne is mentioned who is in the peak of his career & playing superbly its said that he is too old, hasn’t played in the CL etc but those same people would welcome Kompany, an injury prone out of form player thats never lived up to his billing but he’d be welcome because he’s young!!
Its not adding up, either we want experience or we don’t??
May 13, 2008 at 9:35 am
JULIAN LESCOTT, JULIAN LESCOTT, JULIAN LESCOTT, JULIAN LESCOTT, JULIAN LESCOTT
May 13, 2008 at 9:38 am
i dont think sergio ramos is what we need, he has to much flair to be our centre half and besides i think he similar to gallas
we need a tall big fucker at the back like materazzi, strikers know they up for game when playing against him and they think twice
May 13, 2008 at 9:39 am
wong meng , glad too , mc cliesh showed no dignity what so ever after that game , he even had to promted to mention eddie by the interviewer . all they were bothered about waw themselves , look at them now , in fighting , bitching , slagging previous manager and his signigns , publicaly slating players , turning on the board and smashing up their own ground . what a great club …………….. well fuck all off you pleb brummie scum bags , i hope you stay down ,
May 13, 2008 at 9:39 am
Chipo, nice dream! the 9 months I think are football season months, when he did it Wenger said a year, add to that the time it will take to get sharp again, I think it will be next January.
Look how long it take RVP and Rosicknote!
May 13, 2008 at 9:40 am
Good call Geoff, Eduardo was in the spotlight yesterday with what look like Wenger priming us for somebody to help us out in Eduardo’s absence.
As for Vela or Walcott playing there, I doubt it.
Eduardo’s signing was brought about by Henry’s departure, he was the one to replace the goals. Eduardo is a proven international, and scored approx. 70 goals out of approx.100 appearances for Dinamo Zagreb. He was the star player of the Croatian squad, the difference between an average and a good team having supplied many of the key goals which earnt them Euro qualification. A real star player.
Wenger has talked about “ready made” talent, so to replace Eduardo we need someone as good as him, Vela and Walcott are nowhere near that. Also, Walcott mentioned that he’s looking forward to working with Vela, they both currently play on either wing, all that training would go to waste should we switch their positions. Walcott has equalled Rosicky’s finished product and is perfect for us on the wings, and he can score from there too. Wenger’s style of “total footballl” where a player can assume more than one position at different points during a game is how we make sure we’re never completely out of options, most of our players can play more than one position.
With both Vela and Walcott on the wings, it’s the closest we can get to the most attacking of styles, old school Brazilian 4-2-4.
Since they’re both strikers come wingers, we can easily mutate when launching an attack and have four players who know how to find the net in the box. For that to work we need two VERY strong players in the middle, we already have Fabregas, I wonder who will join him.
May 13, 2008 at 9:40 am
i think we need defensive experience not attacking
it does not matter if he buys good potential attacking wise
but like defensive midfielder and centre back we need the experience we are ok in other areas
May 13, 2008 at 9:40 am
Love the Tevez idea. We need an aggressive poacher. RVP smacks em in and he tidies em up.
May 13, 2008 at 9:42 am
it still seems the two strongest rumours are for Ben arfa (£16m) and Albiol (£10m). that would take wengers spendiing to £26m meaning he has no other money to spend this summer. That would mean that wenger is going with the current midfielders ie probably Denilson and Gilberto to slot in for Flam. that would definitely be a worry for me.
May 13, 2008 at 9:43 am
Interesting concept Finest! GMR, I think we’re saying 25 is experienced, not 30.
May 13, 2008 at 9:45 am
David Wheater is the best choice maybe Arsene can do a swap deal with Southgate two for one?
May 13, 2008 at 9:45 am
Dunne is 28, a perfect age for a defender!!
Ben Arfa is 21 & his stats aren’t as good as Carlos Vela’s so do we need him especially for the 15+ million he’d cost?? I’ve been one of those saying I hope we sign him, I’m just questioning myself as to why we want or even need him!!
May 13, 2008 at 9:46 am
gazzap , we don,t know the budget and he may raise some cash with senderos , hleb , hoyte and PLEASE GOD , EBOUE ! ( unless he keeps him for cover at r b and bans himfrom ever playing r m again !)
May 13, 2008 at 9:48 am
im sure that if we do sign ben arfa we will do wot will did with reyes and walcott pay them an amount up front and then pay them more based on appearances and goals ect
May 13, 2008 at 9:49 am
Gazzap, Wenger has already suggested he wouldn’t replace Flamini at that shareholder meeting last week. I don’t see any problems with that, but if Wenger can’t trust Denilson or Diaby to fill in by now then he may as well sell both (Everton want Denilson & Diaby would find a club abroad quite easily), then he’d have good cash to replace Flamini with another ‘ hard worker’.
May 13, 2008 at 9:49 am
I watch a lot of Bundesliga football and have a friend in Germany who watched everybody like a hawk.
Without tipping my hand, I asked him about Mario Gomex since there’s been so much talk about him linked with Arsenal.
My pal’s take — and I agree — is that Gomez is a flat-out scorer. My friends quote was that “the guy never seems to make a great play, but he’s strong and he seems to find ways to will the ball into the net.
On one hand — assuming Gomez actually in on the radar — you can say we need help up front, especially to start the season as RVP has proved to be brittle, Eduardo remains a major question mark and Bendtner is probably a year away, at least.
Furthermore, it’s true that we’ve wasted endless scoring chances and the goals will have to come from somewhere. Even if you assume Ade is the real deal, he needs help and that help should be somebody — like Eduardo was becoming — who converts half-chances and somehow finds goals. That’s Gomez.
By the way, Arsene already has said that Theo will spend another year on wing and I’ve seen Vela several times and he plays exclusively on the left wing for Osasuna. No strikers there.
On the down side re Gomez, do we want another big, strong bloke in there? We’ve got Ade and Bendtner already.
It makes for interesting conversation.
For whatever it’s worth, I still think AW is concentrating on CB — somebody like Albiol from Valencia, although all the signings probably will be players who’ve never been mentioned.
Still, if they’re as good as Dudu and Sagna, I’ll go with that type of under the radar scouting every time.
I’m not a guy who believes Arsene gets everything right, but his record at turning up outstanding players who’ve been overlooked is almost magical — look no furhter than our 30-goal scorer, who was considered a problem child at Monaco.
It’s still fascinating that AW came out and said he’d sign somebody from the Prem, leading you to believe there’s deal virtually done because he NEVER gets into bidding wars (Barry, Johnson, etc.).
The one exception I take to a lot of Gooner opinions here is that this season was a disappointment. Everyone and his dog — inclduing most Gooners — feared the worst and were frightened we’d finish sixth. Instead, FOUR points from the tile and if you reverse three awful refs’ decisions, we’d have won the title.
Given everything that happened to this team in March — particularly that awful day at St Andrews — I think it was a fantastic season.
Cheers, all.
May 13, 2008 at 9:51 am
I’m probably the closest thing to an AKB afficionado around here that doesn’t hounded and abused with every post, but I will be disappointed with AW if we spaz 15m on ben arfa. We need players that can make it in the prem - ben arfa is weak and will get hacked to shit and fuck off before we even remotely have the time to recoup our investment. It would be, and mark my words, Reyes MkII.
When was the last time the French league produced a remotely good defender? All the remotely good ones (Thuram, Gallas, Evra, Clichy) have been in foreign leagues for a long time now. Rick Waller could score for fun against the remaining chumps. So how the hell can an attacking player up against that lot get a £15m price tag before he’s even won anything outside of a domestic league title? Baffling.
Compounded by the problem that a player that doesn’t even weight over 69kg, is just 21, wouldn’t even have someone in the club to understudy whilst he gets used to this league - we don’t have any proper wingers, Hleb may be on his way out, Walcott ain’t exactly mentorship material yet, Rosicknote is… rosicknote. Who’s he gonna learn his trade from, our standard left winger, Diaby?!!
Fact is, HBA is someone you sign as a kid and wean into the league, not as a 21 year old. That’s No Man’s Land unless it’s a brick shithouse type of player
May 13, 2008 at 10:00 am
Morning fellow grovers!!
Read online Barcelona want to offer Puyol to arsenal in exchange for CESC FABREGAS!! Oh Joy!! I think we Should jump at this mega oppotunity dont you??
http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=92443
PS. Oh yeah, if you were taking me seriously,you need to be shot.
May 13, 2008 at 10:00 am
Some interesting posts on the site today.
I know nothing of Ben Arfa. Bradley’s assesment doesn’t make for happy reading, but other bloggers rave over him. My concern is that if Ben Arfa is not good enough for Lyons, then he sure as hell isn’t the man for us. I don’t swallow that stuff about his feud with Benzema. If he is good enough, he plays, whatever a prima donna centre forward may think.
On the other hand, HBA has just won the best kid award in France. If he is as good as the EPL winner, I would be delighted to sign him
May 13, 2008 at 10:00 am
Here’s an idea, why not Tiny Tim Taylor, from Birmingham
har, har, har.
on a more serious note, would Everton let Lescott go as they bump on the top 4 ceiling, desperate to get into Europe for good? Dunno enough about their chairman to know whether he has the balls to risk holding onto a very sellable asset or not.
May 13, 2008 at 10:00 am
Diaby isn’t a left winger, he was the most technically skilled player we had available for that position, but he wasn’t brought up in that position, but it’s good that Diaby can play in the middle and on the left, obviously we need a real winger there but he’s a good backup option, we can win games with Diaby playing there, a bit like sparkling white wine in the place of champagne…..of course he’s not the real bubbly on LW.
May 13, 2008 at 10:01 am
Sorry ….very rude of me…. Good Morning.
My rudeness is due to a return from holiday, to the daily drag
May 13, 2008 at 10:03 am
Albiol is another one who is young & weak. We need a commanding centre half, not a lanky streak of p*** that doesn’t even challenge strikers when the balls crossed into the box like he done recently when Valencia got hammered by Athletic Bilbao.
May 13, 2008 at 10:04 am
the one player I *do* really want from Lyon is Coupet. For a cool £5-8m we pick up a fantastic keeper that, as a big bonus, is capable of communicating with a francophone back 4 in their native tongues. From such small details are legendary defences built.
May 13, 2008 at 10:05 am
Geoff, Chipo is right. When Wenger told the shareholders that Eduardo was out for nine months he meant from February, which is entirely consistent with this statement
Link
which was released in the immediate aftermath of the Birmingham game.
May 13, 2008 at 10:06 am
NO Lescott Thanks!
May 13, 2008 at 10:07 am
If wenger thinks Ben Arfa or whoever else he signs is the right man for Arsenal then who are we to disagree. he has them scouted for years and knows all about them. OK so some of his developmental players have not worked but the vast majority of his ‘big’ signings have all been very good players. probably the biggest two failures were Reyes and Wiltord and even they were good.
Maybe then if Ben Arfa is not the man we need (what with Vela coming back), its Makoun we are after? surprise surprise, the websites also say spurs are after him!
I watched the sunderland game last night and although the defence were not under much pressure and looked comfortable for long spells Sendy and Song still made 2 mistakes that should have led to Sunderland goals. this is what I am concerned about. its lapses in concentration and the odd mistake that costs goals. if you only make 1 mistake a game in the prem league, you let in a goal and you can drop untold amounts of points over a season. I am convinced Senderos is not good enough and will always make his one mistake a game and the jury is still out on Song, who has only just come into the team.
May 13, 2008 at 10:08 am
A signing will be leaked today !!!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 10:08 am
NOT MUCH ON THE NEWS FRONT YET ONLY..
MANCHESTER UNITED look to have pipped Arsenal to the signature of Cardiff City’s wonderkid Aaron Ramsey.
would have been down arsene’s ally but looks like red nose is getting on the youth band wagon . i suppose youll see that more from him now .. he only has to keep the squad level up now .. and snow ball along
. the cunts !
May 13, 2008 at 10:09 am
I think the only people who say Ben Arfa has a £16 mil price tag are the press.
He did get French young player of the year, he reminds me a bit like Ronaldo, when he first arrived, what would happen if he turned out like him eh?
May 13, 2008 at 10:10 am
you want to do what to my “inbox”? oooh matron!
“We can’t wait to fill your inbox with glorious Arsenal news and opinion every morning”
May 13, 2008 at 10:11 am
That’s why I don’t rate Song Gazzap, he’s just like Phil with his big lashes, he frightens me.
May 13, 2008 at 10:11 am
how do you know bud ?
May 13, 2008 at 10:12 am
last stat and I’ll shut up for good about HBA. Since 2004, he has played in the French league for l’OL. 77 appearances, 9 goals. since 2005, Hleb has played at Arsenal, and has scored exactly that many goals (in a similar-ish number of appearances, 89). 5 assists in 33 games. That’s fewer than Benzema, who we would be complete chumps to let Man Utd sign instead of us - he’s the tevez-like player someone above mentioned we need. Bendtner’s not a champions league winner, anybody should be able to see that!
May 13, 2008 at 10:13 am
jules.
Bud knows….
May 13, 2008 at 10:14 am
i though ben arfa was the ligue 1 player of the year or something no?
May 13, 2008 at 10:16 am
bud is there something you are not telling us?
May 13, 2008 at 10:18 am
no chris , budsene knows !!
May 13, 2008 at 10:18 am
I dont see why as soon as we do our analysis on our defence, the mistakes (1 or 2 or however many) lead to a synopsis of Senderos being no good, im pretty sure ive seen equal mistakes from Toure and especially Gallas!
Time will tell! Give he a go lads!
May 13, 2008 at 10:18 am
seems like these young guns have failed to mature. Arsene Wenger, please revisit your policies…seems they stumbled in the final round, we need experince in the team
look what happens when we try to build it, unappreciative punks like Flamini & Hleb start to grow big balls and want to move away, that means we will always have the same problem..
May 13, 2008 at 10:19 am
Who’s Bud?
May 13, 2008 at 10:20 am
lol jules!
but he may be right based on what the others were saying earlier about the phone call during the press confrence,
May 13, 2008 at 10:20 am
Bendtners not a CL winner cause he’s only 20 and he hasnt been in the final yet, thats pretty easy to work out!
May 13, 2008 at 10:20 am
Spurs are a bunch of peeping Toms that will go after any player linked with us cos thats how intelligent their scouting team is. If we Wenger plays a prank that he’s looking to re-sign Stepanov, trust me, Spurs will offer him more money to join them!!
Much has been said about our strickforce with RVP+Eduard O’Silva out injured, Ade and Bendy Nik cant play together. I strongly hope Ben Afra is on his way.
We need another CB to compete with Gallas and Kolo(no offence to Johan and Phil but them two dont fit in).
Is Kompany a CB by the way?
May 13, 2008 at 10:21 am
I think Song is improving with every game; the mistakes at Sunderland were down to big Phil. Give him time to settle in and Song will be okay either as CB or DM. Watch him; he reads the game better than most and I think will improve further given more games - also think he’ll be better once Sagna comes back in.
May 13, 2008 at 10:22 am
Geoff, even if Ben Arfa does turn out to be as good as Ronaldo it’ll take a good 2-3 years of building himself up & getting regular games.
Wasn’t this our whole complaint, that we want players for the here & now not for 3 years down the line??
If he can afford to buy Ben Arfa & Quaresma, plus a strong CB then he should do it. If he can’t afford all that then shouldn’t he just concentrate on getting experience even if the quality isn’t as good as say a Ben Arfa could offer in years to come.
May 13, 2008 at 10:22 am
ok im fairly new to this site….. how do u actually know that Arsene reads this page?????????????????????????????????????????????????????
May 13, 2008 at 10:23 am
bud ( sene) where are you ? How do you know ?
May 13, 2008 at 10:24 am
Agree GMR. We need someone to walk into the first team straight away. Not some ‘prodigy’
May 13, 2008 at 10:24 am
Chris …. think buds gone huh??
May 13, 2008 at 10:25 am
Kenny Smith, the AKB actually pass on our comments to the Boss!! lol
May 13, 2008 at 10:25 am
It’s interesting with all the comments that have come in over the last few weeks, all the players mentioned have been rated then not rated, the only one that hasn’t been has been Benzema, we’ll never buy him so we’ll all have to try and agree on some of the rest, it seems that whoever he buys, someone won’t be happy.
??? anyone!
May 13, 2008 at 10:27 am
It’s fucking obvious he does Kenny, who wouldn’t? the fucking comment was meant in the nicest possible way, welcome aboard!
May 13, 2008 at 10:30 am
Not only Arsene but the board and several of the players read this blog. We’re almost sure he posted here: there have been several with pronounced French accents strongly defending team decisions
May 13, 2008 at 10:30 am
know what you what you mean geoff , i think we are all desperate to hear of anyone decent but le boss will probably sign some one we have not even heard speculation of as usual. ie eduardo . last summer it was ribery all the way , shame we did,nt get him.
May 13, 2008 at 10:30 am
Some seriously interesting debate going on today!
Geoff,
‘Song is big Phil with lashes’
Hilarious. I had a dream he moved to Newcastle last night? It was a fucking great dream!
California Steve, Check out the Gomez youtube video here… your chums assessment stacks up. 6ft 2 goal scorer… i think we already have that with Ade.
If we sign Arfa… rule out Benzema!
The only think i’ll say about HBA is that he may not have scored many goals, but Pires and Overmars were not prolific… nor Freddie Ljungberg…
Ethan, did you get on without being spammed?
May 13, 2008 at 10:31 am
Jules,
have you seen the picture of bud with ray parlour, he has some influence over the greats so he must know something!the picture is in the funnies section above
See below:
Bud
May 13, 2008 at 10:31 am
“I think the only people who say Ben Arfa has a £16 mil price tag are the press.”
i was gonna say the same thing myself… the press always blow our signings up… they still mention theo as a 12 mil signing even tho we paid him off early to save about 2 mil i think plus all the targets he hasnt met! and reyes as the 17mil flop… think he ended up costing 10!!!!
16mil is a lot of money and even more so for wenger to spend so it owuldnt surprise me if it was closer to 10 ish.
May 13, 2008 at 10:31 am
hey bobby , wheres bud !??
May 13, 2008 at 10:32 am
Bendtner has done well in the second half of the season, he disappointed in the Carling cup but over the course of the season he has proved that the time we gave him in the Prem was well spent, he scored more goals than Eduardo in that same amount of time.
He’s an extra 5-10 goals per year for us in the Prem and hopefully 5+ goals in cups, Bendtner’s target for next season should be 10-15 (dependent on playing time allocated). His Premier League goal ratio is 1 goal every 189 minuted, almost exactly one every second game, that is above average even in Premier League terms. Better than Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Michael Owen and many more “good” strikers this season. And i believe Bendtner will get even better, I’m pretty sure with 20 starts Bendtner would get us 10 goals, so 5-10 is what we’re looking for him. In terms of time on the pitch, Bendtner got 9.45 games worth, so we’ll be looking to use his skills in a similar way next season, with 10 - 20 matches worth of time on the pitch, his goals will give us a few wins just like they have this season. His role is not as major as other strikers, but definitely significant. I wouldn’t want to swap him for a striker with an inferior goals to minutes ratio.
May 13, 2008 at 10:34 am
brilliant chris !!lol
May 13, 2008 at 10:36 am
BUD FOR LE CHAMP………. SURELY IT’S IN THE BAG FOR THE KATE ADIE STYLE ROVING PAP STYLE VENEMOUS HUNTING DOWN OF THE GREAT RAY PARLOUR AND UNASHAMEDLY GETTING HIM TO POSE WITH THE “I LOVE LE GROVE” SIGN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 10:36 am
Finest - Fully agreed, good synopsis!
Did i hear that Man Scum are looking to get Owen?
May 13, 2008 at 10:36 am
Geoff, from a personal point of view I realise I’m contradicting my own earlier comments on previous posts & I still rate the players I liked such as Ben Arfa, my issue now is that after thinking about it I realised that as exciting a player as Arfa is it will take a few seasons for him to make a difference to us, which puts a big downer on signing him.
There aren’t that many top quality CB’s around so Dunne as a 3 year stop gap would be ideal. I don’t see what Kompany or Albiol would add, neither have that much experience & both are young. I’m sure Wenger has others in mind that none of us would have heard of, but then a central defender isn’t the sort of position where you get excited about a signing so an unheard of player is equally as good as a known one that hasn’t achieved much.
May 13, 2008 at 10:37 am
wow finest that was some good stats.. i like bendtner.. he gives ade competition
May 13, 2008 at 10:37 am
Would we be happy signing Owen ?
May 13, 2008 at 10:38 am
self promotion, shame on you malcolm, we know who you are!
May 13, 2008 at 10:39 am
Bigraddy - i was keen on Owen and Woodgate!
May 13, 2008 at 10:40 am
raddy i s was gonna suggest that… id take owen… good covr and can play off a big front man like ade or nik, or behind 2 like he does the toon… wouldnt cost much either
May 13, 2008 at 10:40 am
You are either Bud or you work for him as your spelling is the same Malcolm.
It’s as bad as Bud’s, so if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s bud.
May 13, 2008 at 10:41 am
we simply don’t need a striker with Bendy, Ade, RVP , Eduardo, Walcott and Vela all here next season. why spend all the budget on a striker when we need wingers, a defender and a defensive midfielder? Its like people who say we should blow £10m on a keeper. whats the point? some parts of the team need surgery so why divert the money to keeper and striker, which are fine.
May 13, 2008 at 10:42 am
It’s worse guys… it’s someone who works for bud!
He is making his employee’s post propaganda…
May 13, 2008 at 10:42 am
GMR .. have you seen Ben Arfa play??
the guy is top class. he is not an impact player btw .. he has fallen out with Benzema and is on his way out of the club .. this means that Benzema is rated higher than Ben Arfa by Lyon and plays ahead of him
no big deal as Benzema is an out and out frontman who scores goals which is not the case of Arfa and we dont need somebody like him as we got alreday Ade/Nic B in such a position, but we dont have a Ben Arfa type player in our squad
now Pape Diouf, current president of Marseille, came out saying that he would take Arfa to Marseille every day of his life, even going so far as to publicly offer Nasri for him!!!!!!!
this is coming from a man who made a fortune playing agent to the French black players brigade of which his most prominent client was no other one than TH14 for many years
so I trust his judgement .. Arfa is no push over either.. he is strongly built..
we will see .. but to me, he is experienced enough to cut it.. big time
I would be more concerned about buying an inexperienced centreback .. thats where we need experience in my eyes
May 13, 2008 at 10:45 am
Diiieeeeggo!!!!!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 10:46 am
Well said Finest.
Iam not sure what target Wenger set for Nik Bendy but Iam sure he’ll come out to say that Nik has surpassed his expectations. Surely theres plenty of room for him to improve, like releasing the ball much quicker. He is a good header of the ball though so I think he’ll have a better season next time.
May 13, 2008 at 10:46 am
would rather sign BUD ARFA myself.
May 13, 2008 at 10:48 am
bud arfa , a combination of romford pele and ben arfa , tough , quick , can dissappear as quickly as he turns up and shit hair , fucking quality.
May 13, 2008 at 10:49 am
Wasn’t he being touted as the next Zinidene Zidane?
May 13, 2008 at 10:49 am
who , bus arfa ?
May 13, 2008 at 10:51 am
geoff ,
i think that was nasri , good player as well .very good.
May 13, 2008 at 10:53 am
i think you all have got it wrong….remmember the bulgarian?????dimitrov aor smthing like that.left winger ????i recon he is the sighning
May 13, 2008 at 10:54 am
BB, I’m not going to pretend I have seen Ben Arfa play, like most all I’ve seen are youtube clips which show he has quality but don’t give a genuine picture.
I disagree with you though, he isn’t out the team because of a falling out with Benzema. If he was playing well enough he’d be in the team, no manager would drop a player & risk losing the league title just because two players don’t get on.
May 13, 2008 at 10:54 am
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=184752443
richard dunne fansite
May 13, 2008 at 10:55 am
blimey ,another link with dunne for 1 mill saying he can buy out his contract too , arsene said we can do this to others as well re hleb , maybe something in this .
guys , do we think dunne is good enough ie quick movement , distribution ??? not sure myself.
May 13, 2008 at 10:56 am
actually dont bother all the videos are deleted
May 13, 2008 at 10:57 am
GMR
your right , weve lowered our game plan again , and id say it was brought on by lack of funds & also due to the departure of 2- 1st teamers who arsene was hopeful of them staying put!
I for one am sniffing around the media mine fields desperate 2 find so some clue of a signing . as for 16 million deal done ?! well too tout a figure like 16 million you either have to be Nostradamus or think theres some truth to the rumor , the ben arfa deal if ALREADY done was completed in utter secrecy , just the way arsene likes it and conducts his business . And from the french quarter im sure he can command complete secrecy , how ever im 90% sure the transfer is a done deal !
it all sounds pretty positive from both ends .. and with wenger he is quick to kill any false rumors ..
no comment is a good sign !
May 13, 2008 at 10:58 am
We cannot buy out his contract!! I really don’t understand how the press and media have been so ridiculously shoddy in their discussions about the “Webster Clause”, which in actual fact is an irrelevance! It’ll only be used in extreme circumstances, and takes months to go through the legal processes. I guess it sells more papers therefore no actual mainstream media has pointed out how the clause actually works as it would void all the gossip!
May 13, 2008 at 11:00 am
a
read this and sorry to send you to the enemy, but why cant we do what we did to chelase with gallas?
or am i missing something as i thought the webster bullshit menat the player had tp leave the country
http://www.chelseablog.com/2006/09/01/do-players-have-a-right-to-buy-out-the-last-year-of-their-contract/
May 13, 2008 at 11:01 am
And Ben Arfa has started on the bench a fair bit recently, but has still made a major impact on the team. He isn’t on the bench because he isn’t good enough, he even won the League 1 Young Player of the Year Award the other day, ahead of the likes of Nasri and even Benzeama
May 13, 2008 at 11:03 am
Arsenal have been put on red alert after Crystal Palace midfield starlet John Bostock stalled on signing a professional contract.
The Gunners are interested in signing Bostock, who became the Eagles youngest ever player to turn out for the first team when he made his debut aged 15 years and 287 days.
Bostock has also attracted interest from Tottenham and Chelsea, while Spanish giants Barcelona are also keen and are awaiting developments.
Palace chairman Simon Jordan is said to be furious with Bostock, who could leave the club for minimum compensation if he does not sign a new deal with the Eagles.
Bostock is highly-rated by the Gunners, who would be happy to take a tribunal valuation to settle a fee if Bostock cannot agree a deal with play-off contenders Palace.
May 13, 2008 at 11:04 am
the webster clause only works for players moving abroad. despite this, Dunne would still be a reletively cheap experienced no nonsense defender, who Man City consider to be one of their most dependable players.
I would be happy to see him come in. Experience is only needed at the back. up front you need youth and energy.
May 13, 2008 at 11:04 am
Chris
What did we do to chelsea re gallas?? Cole wanted to go to them, Gallas was unhappy at them and we demanded him in return for Cole. There wasn’t any buying out of his contract or anything like that was there….??
May 13, 2008 at 11:05 am
this is a great post about the state of french young talent at the moment: http://www.espoirsdufoot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=382
(french forum but the guy wrote it in english)
Pires, not prolific? 62 goals in ~190 games is a decent tally for a midfielder. 1 every 3 games, compare that to the people that currently replace him (hleb - 1 in 12; Rosicky - 1 in 4.8; Walcott - 1 in 10; Diaby - 1 in 13) and to HBA (mentioned earlier - less than 1 in 9)
May 13, 2008 at 11:06 am
gazzap do you think dunne has enough pace and good enough distribution for us ?
May 13, 2008 at 11:07 am
Sorry, just seen the dismissive comments made regarding my nomination for Bud to be Le Champ. Guys, as a neutral, I still found the pic of Ray Parlour holding “I love Le Grove” placard while being held himself in a vicelike death grip by Bud one of the most iconic images of all time!
May 13, 2008 at 11:07 am
Bostock eh? I’d have him.
May 13, 2008 at 11:08 am
oh did i not mention that eboue was going in exchange, sorry i must have left that bit out or i was dreaming or something,
to be very honest A i dont undertand the procedure.but the gallas bit is in the text and that is why i mention it as they are using it article but with no cole reference,
May 13, 2008 at 11:08 am
Malcolm or Col U Mac, does bud not have any work to do today?
May 13, 2008 at 11:09 am
Fuck Hleb off and bring in Diego and a top CB and we’re laughing. DIego is Rosicky with Hlebs trickery and ronaldos lethalness infront of goal.. and you’d hope a bit healthier.
May 13, 2008 at 11:10 am
pedro/geoff. why should someone who was drinking in chelmsford be awarded anything?!?!
May 13, 2008 at 11:10 am
GMR .. Arfa came on against Marseille when one of the Lyon guys got injured .. maybe Benzema not sure though .. but I know that Benzema wasnt on the pitch when Arfa played and he came on early .. lets say after 25 minutes or so .. he was the best man on the pitch ..hence Pape Diouf’s comments
the situation at Lyon has become unbearable such is the animosity between both players.. Arfa will not be at the club next season..wherever he will end up at ..
May 13, 2008 at 11:11 am
Nothing in my book, especially as they are barely literate.
May 13, 2008 at 11:11 am
@A
We were paid by Chelsea and Received Gallas. At the time the Webster ruling wasn’t in effect so Ashley fif not have the opportunity to do a Webster, and anyone who tries that at Arsenal will get into trouble because Arsenal believe that it is down to the club once the contract with the player is active. Before hleb signed his contract he knew how long it was for, how much he’d get paid in that time, that while he’s under contract it’s down to the club and that he’s free to speak to agents next summer but not yet, therefore in our case we would win because before the 2 year period, any deals have to be done with management first. For example Gilberto, if he doesn’t sign a contract he is free to speak to other agents, he only has 12 months left. So any player trying a Webster on us could only do so with 12 months left on their contract, with hearty disapproval. Hleb can do a Webster next season, but not quite yet, the club trying to sign him could get done for tapping up banning them from the transfer market for a few years, a risk too high to take for any logically thinking club.
May 13, 2008 at 11:12 am
BB sounds like we should sign them both, they can take on Bendtner and Ade!
May 13, 2008 at 11:12 am
OK Malc, you can have a payrise……. not because you deserve it, but for the sheer underhand anashamed arse kissing it has ever been my pleasure to enjoy !!!!
I love you Malcolm Charnock/ColU Malc !!!!!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 11:12 am
I must disagree with any sort of criticism of Ben Arfa and that is not because i’ve watched his youtube clips. For the last 3 years or so he has been spoken about as one of the most promising French youngsters and has just won young player of the year. For those of you that want to know why…..he has played 1606 minutes of league football this year i.e 17.8 games and has scored 6 while setting up 5. That’s more than Hleb has done in the last two seasons playing over 70 games. If you think the French league is easy well UEFA doesn’t because by the official UEFA coefficients Ligue 1 is the 4th Ranking league in Europe.
I also suspect that Ben Arfa was a done deal in March. Here’s why….Wenger would never openly declare interest in a player that he hasn’t already bought because all that would do is get every club in Europe interested. We know that Wenger did this in March hence I feel it was a behind closed doors agreement between Wenger and Lyon’s Chairman. Big talent but not a big name, I think Ben Arfa fits that bill don’t you?
As far as the English player is concerned the only player we need right now is Gareth Barry. He never misplaces a pass and both defends well and is always involved during attacking plays! Mark my words Gareth Barry would run the show alongside Fabregas!! at 27 he still has 4 good seasons in him!!!
May 13, 2008 at 11:12 am
didnt we ge gallas +5mil?
May 13, 2008 at 11:13 am
Everyone saw that??? That is legally binding Bud!
May 13, 2008 at 11:14 am
Are you doing him Bud?
May 13, 2008 at 11:17 am
No Geoff, but he is my top biller, so a bit of love in return bever hurts !!!!!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 11:18 am
that is a bit in return NEVER hurts !
May 13, 2008 at 11:20 am
exactly what i was thinking about ben afra and the end of the french league/cup geoff. to those who’re saying he’s not so flash though, his number of assists is enormous. he supplies benzema with the ball whenever he’s on the pitch. also a young player of the year award is pretty neat too, but hey…
[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/05/12/ufnben112.xml[/url]
just found that regarding the man in question though, sounds pretty promising imo =D
May 13, 2008 at 11:20 am
As for the Hleb situ - I don’t know if someone’s already mentioned but strategically we would need to extend his contract and get him to re-sign THIS summer or either sell/not play him because of. Reason being is that, if it gets to next year without negotiating, he could more easily buy out the remainder of his contract for a around 3mil.
This would be compared to the 11 or so mil we paid for him. That’d turn round another loss for the club, so it may well be the only option to sell him now if he’s not prepared to extend his contract…….
May 13, 2008 at 11:20 am
bradley .. fantastic link .. looks like Arsenal needs to produce shit loads of English talent to compete with the froggies in years to come
May 13, 2008 at 11:21 am
Bostock and Martins are being linked…
May 13, 2008 at 11:21 am
Finestcuts
I think Hleb can actually “do a Webster” now, but neither him nor Inter would want to. It is a very difficult legal process that takes months, costs loads of money, and a player would most likely be banned whilst the ongoing court cases ensue. That’s why not a single player nor club in world football has done it since Webster, and are very unlikely to do in except for in extreme circumstances.
The criticism of Hleb is ridiculous, he has been on par with Fabregas this season in terms of making the team tick. You massively see the difference in our ability to dominate when he isn’t playing, more so than Cesc IMO. The lack of goals isn’t great, but the lack of assists is misleading. He is the linkman between midfield and attack, he’s the assister of the assister, the person who actually unlocks the defence slotting someone in, who in turn sets up the goalscorer. Losing him would be a massive massive loss, but hopefully we wont
May 13, 2008 at 11:23 am
Bostock to Spuds one site says.
May 13, 2008 at 11:23 am
hrmm, my post didn’t post on my screen… ? weird, oh well.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/05/12/ufnben112.xml
may’ve been cos i tried to use html or something like that. anyways, link from the daily mail from yesterday regarding ben afra. you stated what i was thinking with the french league and cup not being done yet geoff, good post though, and it brought about a revelation fby myself about TH14… =D
May 13, 2008 at 11:24 am
5am
Like with the “Webster clause”, the buying out a contract is much more complicated than the media would have you believe, and as such players and clubs are incredibly reluctant to do it. If he hadn’t signed a contract extension next summer we’d get rid to prevent him going on a free the following summer, but we’re not desperate at the moment.
May 13, 2008 at 11:29 am
Sky have also been saying spuds have made a 5 million bid for Bostock. They must have seen the early morning papers that Arsenal were linked so immediately put a bid in.
I bet they are after Ben Arfa as well. Whoever Arsenal are linked with the little spuddies follow.
May 13, 2008 at 11:30 am
shit, i promised nothing more about pjanic, but one last comment. In clichy we have one of the most talented young attacking full backs in world. Time and again this season he has brought cut and thrust, and flair, when we were flat. Given adequate protection on the wings - which we criticised Reyes for not providing, Rosicky too, and probably walcott could also be accused of not providing, we unleash a significant attacking option.
So why sign a person who’s on the bench at the moment because he refuses to accept l’OL’s manager’s criticisms about his total lack of interest in doing any sort of defensive work whatsoever, and then throws sissy fits in training. He’s 21 years of age, time to cut that shit out.
Go browse YouTube for miralem pjanic videos. He’s the real deal. Not enough goals at the moment but with decent forwards (metz is a disgracefully bad club) he’d be topping the assists chart, and you can tell when he misses an end product situation (like Ronaldo used to miss) he’s the sort of player that will hang back at the end of training every day, not talk to anyone or hit the clubs or whatever, and shoot, shoot, shoot. This guy is one of the few real deal, Ronaldo/Zidane-class players. Picture a future where he, fabregas, merida and wilshere boss the midfield, commanded by nordveit at the back, clichy and sagna tearing up the wings, and walcott, RvP, Dudu and Ade fuzz around the box.
The future’s bright.
May 13, 2008 at 11:31 am
geoff.. would you like to play UN mediator btw the two??
I can see a few minefields separating them on the training grounds
dont know though how we would be able to get them to join forces in a frontal attack during a game situation.. will have to work on this one ..
May 13, 2008 at 11:33 am
BB it would be fun to watch though!
May 13, 2008 at 11:34 am
bradley .. he is top class but too green for us .. he is one for the future not for now..
on pure class and talent, he is absolutely outstanding .. I agree but we need a more finished product
also, as I said before, we are linked heavily with Pjanic before..even Mueleer, Metz psorting director, mentioned him leaving for us
recently though, he was the guest at Lyon when they palyed Sedan in the French cup..and that to me is the sign of a done deal .. me thinks we are leaving Pjanic to them so that we get Arfa to sign for us.. what do you think?
May 13, 2008 at 11:42 am
Geoff, this is an excellent blog man, im loving it.
Keep up the good work!!!!
May 13, 2008 at 11:48 am
Glad you like it Latest!
May 13, 2008 at 11:53 am
So there’s me thinking, oh how nice, Arsenal are inviting me to a golf day… wrong, Arsenal are asking for £1600 to play with a bunch of old Arsenal players at Brocket hall, and when I say play with them, they don’t mean that, they mean they’ll be there.
The season’s just finished, we won fuck all, we get charged more to watch than any other supporters, we sign no players and they’re trying to get even more out of us.
I think it’s sad that they can’t see that all they want is our money.
May 13, 2008 at 11:55 am
How old is Bostock; he’s another kid right?
Given the talent we have coming through, do we need more kids?
May 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
16
May 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
fuck it geoff go with gmr he is up from the betting, get some i love le-grove signs done, it would be great whats £1600 between 4 people, especially when GMR is paying!
May 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
Geoff
That’s the purpose of golf days, to generate extra money! Why on earth would it be free?! I find that an extraordinary thing to complain about, it’s like walking into the club shop and being outraged that you can’t just take products off the shelves without paying
May 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
nice blog 2day Geoff-interesting deal it would be 4 YAYA and Henry U mentioned.
A- Benarfa won young player of the year in front of Benzema just because he won the PLAYER of the Year Award himself…
May 13, 2008 at 11:57 am
Great site… …this is the Colbert report to Gunnerblog’s Daily Show with John Stewart
May 13, 2008 at 11:59 am
Because the club are permanently trying to bleed the fans dry.
£1600? That is a huge amount of money…
Am I wrong Geoff, you organise these sort of things sometimes? Do you normally pay that much to get on a golf day?
May 13, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Yeah I know, but it still sounds better if Benzeama was behind him! In reality it was ridiculousness as with the English situation where the player of the year was behind the young player. Just doesn’t make sense. Still shows he’s up there though, I was surprised he beat Nasri
May 13, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Pedro
That’s not a massive amount of money for a corporate stylee golf day at a football club with players etc there
May 13, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Agreed Pedro, A - I wouldn’t mind that much but they don’t stop, the Emirates cup was advertised before the season had ended and yesterday I get an email asking if I want to buy Bruce Sprinstein tickets, Pat Jennings is playing and he’s a Spud fan, I know because he told me.
I wouldn’t mind all this if they spent some of the money they get from us on the team, but they don’t, they seem more interested in making money than winning.