Before I begin, can I just say it was a pleasure to share a Peroni or two with so many people from the site yesterday (Gunner8, Raif, Steve, Odub, Bud, Geoff, Breton Gunner…)! My hangover is a testament to the enjoyment clearly had! I’d stick some pics up, but technical difficulties have prevented me doing so!
It’s a shame things weren’t so enjoyable in the stadium yesterday. Many people had their match day experience ruined yesterday by overly officious prat’s in orange macs. I was harassed by stewards all game for standing up… can I just apologise right now for ruining the match day experience of the pane of glass behind me… oh and the blinds.
Arsenal should wind back the CCTV of the game and check how many Liverpool fans were sitting down during the game. So Arsene, next time you complain about fan contribuition, take a look at what noise police are doing. They are the number one factor in decimating the match day atmosphere… funny how they backed off after your appeal for more noise at the spud game… arresting people for swearing at Howard Web… what a fucking liberty.
The first half was reasonably impressive from Arsenal. The teamed lined up pretty much the only way it could, a midfield of Nasri, Song, Cesc and Denilson. They all grafted in the first half and the opening didn’t take long. Nasri pinged a ball to RvP who controlled the ball with the grace of Thierry, shifted outside and rifled the ball home. A fantastic goal and another glimpse of the precocious talent he possesses.
Liverpool did manage to equalise in horrific fashion… Robbie Keane latched onto a Liverpool volleyed clearance… the ball bounced on the 18 yard box… Keane expertly buried the ball in the top corner. Lets not moan about the flukey finish, that is what he is paid £80k a week to do… lets instead focus on how professional defenders allow themselves to continuously fooled by high balls… lets ask why Almunia wasn’t on the edge of the box ready to claim the ball and take Keane with him… it really was poor on every level. I would be disappointed if my Sunday league team conceded a goal that soft.
Liverpool went close again a couple of times and then the moment we had all feared for sometime… Cesc went in hard on a 50:50 challenge with Alonso, and came out injured. Apparently it could be knee ligament damage, which is a real worry when you consider quite how bad Arsene’s plan B was… Here goes…
- Fab off
- Nasri moves to the right
- Diaby comes on and goes left
- Denilson sits in the middle
Yes, the whole midfield was shuffled around bar Song. Can I just ask what Diaby has to do to get a game in the middle of the park? May I also ask why we put players on the bench with a set position… then when it comes to the crunch, we are too afraid to use them? It’s pretty pointless being there if you have not intention of playing them, right? We’ve all seen what Rambo and co can do given the opportunity… why not give them a chance?
The second half opened and Arsenal’s tempo had diminished. Liverpool played some great football and we spent the opening ten minutes chasing shadows. Then Adebayor went into a challenge to shield the ball, he won it posession fairly… but Howard had other ideas… he blew up, gave a freekick to Liverpool and sent of Adebayor. What a joke…
The window pane and I were fuming. I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but do you think Arsenal football club did bad things to Howard at boarding school? I mean… he really does hate us doesn’t he? Who sends a player off for two pretty innocuous challenges like yesterdays? Adebayor is hardly renowned for dirty challenges is he? That sending off ruined the game for me… and serious questions need to be asked of Web.
If one good thing came of the sending off it was the galvanising affect it had on the crowd. They booed for all the right reasons and for a good twenty minutes… the siege mentality crept onto the pitch and the players upped their work rate. It didn’t really matter though… we didn’t have the right tools on the pitch to make an impact on the game. Liverpool went close a few more times and Almunia made a few crucial saves… and just to cap off a great afternoon… in the 91st minute, Arsene brought on Eboue.
A game changing decision if ever I did see one. Eboue was greeted by a chorus of over the top cheers… I don’t know what is worse, booing or just taking the piss?
The game went out with a whimper and Arsenal were probably pleased to have achieved a point.
Almunia: Made some top saves in the second half and pretty much kept us in it. I thought he could have done better for the first goal. He should have been on the edge of the box ready to claim that or at least head it away. He wimped out, stood rooted to his line… and you know the rest. 6
Clichy: This man is not enjoying his football this year. Playing with people you don’t trust can cause your game to fall away… and that is what is happening. He has gone from being one of the most consistent players in the country, to a being a touch erratic. Don’t get me wrong, he made some great interceptions and tackles… but you feel he is always on the edge of making a mistake. 6.5
JD: He’ll have nightmares over that long ball last night… Keane’s pace was too much for the Big Swiss defender last night and that doesn’t bode well for the Villa game. Other than the error, I thought he played ok. 6.5
Gallas: I thought he played pretty well again. I kind of get the impression he is just chugging along until he gets his move in January. It is quite hard to judge a player when you know he has been humiliated by the club and his heard might not be in it. 7
Sagna: I thought we had a pretty solid game out of the powerful Frenchman. If he was a car, he’d be a VW Golf… reliable, strong and not too fancy. 7
Nasri: He punched a peachy ball into RvP for the goal, but other than that he didn’t really do too much. His lack of pace is clear for all to see, and his ability to hold onto the ball is no where near that of Alex Hleb. He seems to have whatever Reyes had… I don’t think he enjoys being roughed up and I think he is having a difficult time adjusting to the rigours of the game. 6
Song: He had a great game after Adebayor was sent off… he upped his work rate and really pulled his weight for once. Prior to that, he didn’t do anything wrong… which is about all I can say about him? Whatever your opinion on him… the one thing you can’t say about him is he will be a revelation in his position. For me… that is what we need next to Cesc… high energy, aggression, pace and keen to run for the full ninety minutes. 6.5
Cesc: I thought he was having a tidy game until he was crunched. How ironic that for £2million, we may have prevented that injury in the summer! What Arsene does now is a mystery… surely he wont persevere with Diaby, Song, Denilson and Nasri…! Wenger’s dream line up… most Gooners nightmare! 7
RvP: Superb finish with his right foot and a pretty good performance over all. He lead the line well on his own after Ade was sent off and his finish in the first half was superb. Hopefully he can find some consistency in the second half of the season and really show us his worth to the team. 8
Adebayor: I was really impressed with the Togan in the first half. I thought his touch was great and his work rate was much improved. Others in the ground disagreed with me. No way did he deserve to be sent off… now we have to suffer losing him for the Villa game. 7
Subs:
Diaby: I can’t remember him doing anything of worth? Mind you… playing him out wide is like putting Almunia up front and expecting goals. How will he ever impress enough out wide, to get a chance in the middle? 4
Eboue: Woooooo hooooooo! 10
I’m pleased with the team performance. The players on show pulled of the best result possible. However, Liverpool are not title contenders… everyone in the ground knew they were there for the taking… and we cocked it up with some poor defending. This current squad are not good enough to sustain a challenge, now, minus Ade and Cesc… we look like we could be in real trouble against Villa.
Troubling times ahead.
Maciek,
i say a lot of things that i might not necessarily mean but Wenger does need to go if he doesnt change things. When? i dont know but if he keeps this shit, obviously flailing experiment up then he will ruin all the good work he has done. Noone associated with the club wants to see him fired because of what he has done here but if things get any worse then changes must be made.
fran merida looks very good in the reserves but how ell would do in the prem i think he should put him out on loan in the chapionship let get hears on chest
Thanks Stu!
Leon-in all great respect to You, I don’t think that Diaby can play as defensive midfielder. To be fair, I don’t think he can play as offensive midfielder, either. I think that he should be sold. I can’t see a place in our 11 when all our players will be fit.
So were half way through the season and the midfield have scored 8 league goals in total…
So that’s g ood enough is it subject dropped.. lol
Cesc had 12 alone in December last season!
Its a total lack of competition for places, weve all spoke about it before
man utd and chelsea have a squad of 15 quality players and 10 average ones,
we have a squad of 5 quality players 10 average and 10 shit ones
bottom line is as soon as the injuries kick in we are the team most likely to struggle.
after the last few seasons you’d of though wenger would of worked it out, and to make matters worse our wage bill is right up there with theirs, ok, maybe not chelsea but you see my point?
piss take or what.
Pat…. Cesc scored 7 league goals all season ..
As much as we moan about Ade..
Take the piss out of satelite..
And I hate Pinkie..
The problem lies fair and square in the midfield this season..
Six midfield have scored 8 goals between them..in half a season..
Pires scored 14 goals 3 seasons on the trot..
Evenin’ all…….. firstly may I apologise to you all. This is my first visit to Le-Grove despite the fact that my “Uncle” Jeff and “2nd Cousin twice removed” Pedro, run the site. I have no excuse except……errrrrmmmmmm……no nope, no excuse. I have read todays blog and have to agree with Pedro that it was indeed good to meet up yesterday in the “Le-Grove Office”, erm, I mean the Small & Beautiful for a Peroni or ten. I think after that we went to watch a game of football. I think it was a draw from what I remember, and yes, yes I definately remember the fact that the stewards are a bunch of bell ends. I don’t confess to being any kind of Arsenal expert but I suppose we should be happy with a point from the game?? I had to laugh at talk sport earlier. They were saying that the Liverpool fans who were chanting “He’s fast, he’s red, he soundslike Father Ted, Robbie Keane, Robbie Keane” was racist! Discuss…………
mekiek
like delinson he has not the mentality to track and o nasty stuff ,he clearly the baility to play in that role but mentality is to go forward , it would not sell someone with ability he is quality player he has just been injured for so long and he can be incocnsistant but would sell him
jon jon thats a comment thats ive been saying for the last few seasons and just another reasing for wenger to get his head out of his arse and buy
Hi Bazman!… Talk sport say any shit to make money on phone calls mate..
hello bazman
is that what they were signing, thats hilarious. Never has been racist IMO
fuck you can’t compare pires to this lot!!!
Why Choy they are the midfield who play for Arsenal as was Pires..
fuckin wanky chavski wankers.
avenell.. somewhere along the way we screwed up.. whether it was the stadium or wenger .. i don’t know..
you can’t compare ljunberg pires henry bergkamp jens campbell with our team.. it is unfair
Leon,
And the best position for him is….?Ccentral midfield/defensive midfield/second striker/left winger?
Choy… you cannot spend £400 mill on a stadium and spend £400 mill on players.. something had to give..
I knew what you meant.. It was just I posted something at 7.20 and got a few arguments over it and was just confiming my point…
maciek
he must better suited at cm position just behind striker or striker but has not got the pace to a winger
i agree avenell… but i’m sure we could have given him a longer extension.. oh the glory days.. ooh to be
Thanks Leon!
I’m off early tonight..
Good night all!!!
see ya avenell
Leon,
of what you just said only Diaby having power is even close to the truth. As a DM the last thing we need is a dribbler. If Diaby is played there surrounded by a poor midfield then we are sure to lose. Diaby will try to dribble his way out of trouble and lost the ball at the edge of our box. He is generally a poor passer(whenever he does pass), is a horrible tackler and cant defend or concentrate for his life. A DM he is not.
Bye Avenell. Sleep well!
Guys, what about re- signing Pires?Still great and knows where the net is.
i would take him over diaby any given day
Maciek,
Pires loved the club and I would like to think he still does but he is going good in Spain and his departure from Arsenal at the time must have been very tough. Wenger was ruthless at the time, mean even.
Could certainly do a job for us tho.
I’m surfing on Youtube, and have seen David Silva and Villa clips. They are both quality, but we only need Silva, because we have 5 forwards. I would have made 20 mln bid for him. Great player, my only concern is that he could be to weak and tiny for Premier League.
stu
thats my big problem with him sometimes he can play out of skin and next two games plays realy shit,but is very strong powerful player that can hold the ball up but but he can realy play shit sometimes but is very gifted player but also very inconsistant but i still play him in a more central role
silva is nice.. a bit like rosicky…
Stu,
even Overmars coul still make a better job than Diaby and Song on the wings.LOL.
But Leon, playing him centrally, although his prefered position, could prove a disaster if its the defensive role. He is slow to release the ball, doesnt track back and lacks footballing intelligence necessary to play such an important position. IMO he is a support striker at best. CM and DM hold to much responsibility and at almost 23 he just hasnt shown that he can perform at a consistent level.
Choy,
I don’t think that there is any footballer in modern football who has worse injury record than Tomas.
There is always a risk of buying from spain because its such a soft league. Players dive like its nobodies business. Its like a league of Drogbas and Ronaldos. Diving comes as a second nature to a lot of layers but there are also a lot of very talented players. Great on the ball but easily pushed off it. Silva or Vlla would be worth a risk tho.
Maciek,
Overmars actually came out of retirement recently so not a bad idea??
stu
last season the vast majority of them very made by our fantastic midfield doing all the work and Ade claims all the credit by finishing once in a while.
150% agree
thats why our strikers are exposed !
still RVP has proved with a strike like that there he has some talent ..
very TH14 like and the finish was fantastic …
its a shame that the midfield support and look for ade so much as he is tall timber and a supposedly big target … but controlling the pass although slightly better this season , most people are saying he’s down on form ???
i think he is getting better , with less off sides and less unselfishness , by passing off more…
but it exposes him for just being an average striker the likes of which portsmouth would own or boro maybe !
he definitely isnt arsenal quality …. what is arsenal quality? and unless youve all forgot its world class names like villa -pato – bojan – torres – podolski – kluse – hunntlaar etc …
so you can all fool yourselves that ade is the ducks bollocks or bends , etc are top class draw players … but all i can say is aim for the stars and you might hit the moon !
but fooling yourself ade – eboue-song-diaby are top class arsenal starting 11 material is just plain wrong and the sooner arsene gets rid of them all almunia included the better we will be if arsene can secure REAL top class names !
currently we are a fucking joke !
im fucking embarrassed of the choices in starting line ups wenger makes !
he never uses the bench , then people say aston villa dont go past 11 men !
fuck me we don’t go past 8 or 9 currently !
Im sure Rosicky isnt one f the worst players for injuries but in the last year he certainly sits on top of that table.
stu
no no i would never play in dm position never not yet i would just behild striker,he may be 23 in his real age but terms of experience he is realy only 19-20 he has almost half his time at srasenal its if he has playing at level since 15 like fab
Hi Ethan,
You really dislike Ade.LOL.
Stu/Leon
Diaby was initially a stiker, wengers trying to convert him into vieira but the injuries over the last few seasons have taken their toll on his development
at 22 hes still trying to learn and is playing catchup.
theres no doubting his ability on the ball, but his natural instict is to run at goal, he aint aware of anyone around him hes not a player we need right now
hes a luxury we can do without IMO, especially in the middle of the park
hes not a bad player, but hes another example of wenger trying to turn straw into gold, and this team is full of players like that, its impossible to do all at the same time.
walcott, denilson, nasri, are other examples of this.
blame wenger for the inconsistencies, not the players.
Ethan, im assuming that you read all the comments of the day, so just wondering how long it takes you to read them all??
The problem with Diaby is, he isn’t good enough defensive mid, offensife mid or as supporting striker. We have got too many players in our team,who can play at many positions on the pitch but aren’t exceptional in any of them.
Maciek, i think the term is “jack of all trades but master of none”.
Not sure if it works for us tho because we may have players hat play in a lot of positions but they are all shit no matter where they play.
jonjen
thats a bit harsh
nasri this is first season it will take him a bit of time,when it comes to wilcatt he is improving all the time he has to improve his linkup play but he is getting there. wenger will always give young players with far more most mangers would,i think diaby will get better
Leon,
If anything Wenger gives young players too much time, unless they are english of course. imo Diaby wont improve unless his concentration and decision making improves. He just isnt good enough atm and doesnt show any signs that he will be good enough. He is way behind a lot of players of his age in terms of development.
Thanks Stu,
Also thanks for this term, I will try to remember it. I’m still learning and my English is far from perfect, so thanks once more. Yes, You got a point when You say that too many of them is average. That’s the weakest Arsenal side since I started watching us back in 1998. From Bergy, Cambpell, Henry, Bobby, Freddie, to ……………..You know who. I fear that we will miss CL football this year. Our luck could be over.
stu i dont read them all .. but i read most ..
anyhow youve been on here more today than i …
i was kicking it back with e few burbons at a friends house for over 10 hours yesterday, got a fucking hangover this morning !
Maciek,
i dont really like any of our strikers but RVP has the most class of all of them !
but he needs a better partner .. one who will play to his strengths and pass to him
and understand his game … both are competing for the 1st striker role and both are neutralizing each other .. throw in nik b and you really have them exposed as largely ineffective .
we need a top, top name so the choice is clear who is the goto man in the team .. we need some key creative players in midfield also,and we would be back in there with a sniff thats for sure ..
and im not just talking about a DM … we need more creativity ..
then even ade will look effective too the masses again !
We don’t need names we need quality, the last time we had a big name that attracted all the ball was with Henry and we weren’t exactly World beaters than either.
It’s like a constant loop on here, every day the same deficiencies are being played over and over again, well who am I to break tradition might as well just go along with it eh.
It doesn’t matter who we bring in we’re still going to have to see an improvement in all the players we have no, we don’t need to get rid of anyone we need to add to this team if anything.
There has been improvements, sligt if anything but they are there we just need players to complement them now, Villa is going to be tough but if we show the same fight we did against Liverpool we should get through it.
but last year and why we got so far was an excellent midfeild supplying ade with the 20 chances a game he needs to bury 2 of them !
this year the strikers arent getting the service and neither of them can create by themselves .. !
i think 2 things need to happen, get our midfield being ultra creative again with the right personnel , and get a better class of forward ..
holding the possession like last season puts less stress on our defense also !
Ethan,
I agree about the go to man. We have noone that will just take the ball and get a goal. Bergkamp and Henry in particular could score from nothing with the help of noone else. Now, unless there is an assist by a teammate we dont look like scoring, especially Ade.
We need a Van Nstelrooy type. If Man U were under the cosh he could grab a goal and they would probably win. Unless we are controlling a game we probably wont score these days, and they defence cant keep a clean sheet so we need to score a few to win. Poor Keeper, Poor defence, poor Midfield and poor strikers. Poor team all round. What has happened???
Ethan,
I know that You like David Villa( who doesn’t?). Ok we make a bid for him, we sign him, and sell Ade for 20 mln(wouldn’t it be soooooo great?). But then, we end up with RVP, Villa, Eddie, Vela, Bendtner, and Walcott. I think 6 strikers is too much. Just my opinion.
keyser
We don’t need names we need quality
99% of the time that goes hand in hand !
thats why they are BIG NAMES !?
I know that’s only the Sun but http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article2064217.ece
maciek
well walcott will be on the wing for a start maciek !
i cant see him (wenger) stopping his apprenticeship on the wing ..
whilst the lad still has the quicks (is fast) i cant see wenger converting him back for at least a
season or 2 yet ..
nik b on a long term years loan next season
and you only really have the NEW BIG NAME , RVP and dudu with vela as backup !
i would say 3 top strikers and 1 backup is just perfect ..
Ethan, what do You think about Ibisevic from Hockenheim?Do You rate him. He scored 18 goals so far this season.
Ethan – Where do you get these percentages from ?!
We need players like Eduardo and Sagna, or were they massive names ? Their quality far outweighs any knowledge we had of them save say for the odd titbits.
Stu – Van Nistlerooy ? He thrives on people creating around him, we keep talking of Henry’s and Bergkamps, but how many are their in World football ?!
Bergkamp is my favourite Arsenal player of all time, him and Henry get into the top 5 lists of the Premierships greatest ever players and thats what we’re looking for ?!
Maciek,
in all fairness Wenger doesnt play Thoe as a striker, he doesnt even play Vela and Bendtner needs a top quality player around him if he is to get any better so Ade out for Villa in wouldnt be a bad move.
maciek
villa suits or team play like a glove , quick transition game , smart passing , cool finishing ..
he has footballing smarts and is hungry for goal ! he has good one on one skills and can finish from range also !
yes if ever a striker could replace TH14 currently it would be him ..
he also was keen on ourstyle of play , is friends with our captain and HE would give us something
we havent got in the team currently (a well used ade phrase ) QUALITY !
Keyser, what i meant by RVN was that he foesnt need the team to be playing well so that he can score. Ade only really scores when we are on form. Ruud was likely to nick a goal even if his teammates were playing poorly, our current strikers arent like that.
Keyser
Eduardo – plays for croatia and WAS a BIG named player who scored 33 goals in 1 season prior to us attaining him ! yes he was a big name in europe ! he also scored the 1st goal at the emirates ever! we knew him well enough !
and Sagna won french defensive player of the year ..
so wenger hardly clutched them from obscurity !
TECHNICALLY Huntelaar scored the first goal at the emirates…but yes, Eduardo scored the first competitive goal at the emirates.
Ok, I’m off to bed. Night guys!!
Night Maciek!
stu
i agree about the van man !
he has been a success in man U – RM – his country , he can bang them in for fun on any day with any team ! !
he is a REAL sea gull ! .. he is like the way ade ‘should be’ !
ready to pick up the crumbs and put away those chances instead of squander them !
Stu – He thrived on creation, he was a prolific scorer if you got him and the ball in the box at the same time, apart from that he wasn’t going anywhere. If the team was playing poorly he wasn’t going to be scoring, The only thing with him was that if you got him the chance in the first place more often than not he would finish.
Ethan – There is no-one in World football right now that could match Henry at his best, Villa is a differnt player, in La Liga he has free reign, the Premiership is a completely different entity.
It’s not about clutching them from obscurity, they were not names that were sought out through World football, the price we paid for each of them tells you that much.
Who would you say is on a par with those sorts of signings ?!
ethan they weren’t clutched from obscurity, but were a long long way away from the david villas of this world. The most high profile signing we’ve made under wenger would probably be rosicky, or maybe overmars, but even the higher profile signings were players for whom things had gone badly, or had had injury problems etc. We’ve never signed a top player who was flying
sagna was not voted defensive player of the year, he was just in the team of the year, you honestly claim that you knew alot about him or would’ve wanted us to sign him when his name came up?! you know all the names who were in last year’s french team of the year and consider them big names?!
keyser
Ethan – There is no-one in World football right now that could match Henry at his best, Villa is a differnt player, in La Liga he has free reign, the Premiership is a completely different entity.
WHAT are you talking about ??? torres-robinho-alonso is from la liga .. so are 1/2 the other decent players in the EPL !
how on earth can you say certain players wont make the transition ? do you have a time machine ?
vela was from La liga also ! cesc was from spain too !
villa plays a technical passing game , and the last time i looked his style of play matches ours !
A
it was wiltord for 14 mil !
I agree keyser, there really is noone in world football who could do what henry did. Villa doesn’t have the power, benzeama doesn’t have the feet or vision, and they’d be the top two probably. Both of them would be fantastic at the emirates.
I kinda could imagine there being some truth in the ribery rumours, would be a fantastic signing, though i’d be very sad to see bendtner leave. Ribery or arshavin would do for me, I think ribery would almost guarantee us the title, arshavin would give us a good chance!
and back then it was a lot !
so it proves if wenger does think he needs him in the team he will splash !
and now after 3-4 years of balancing the books he needs to again ! thats obvious ..
yeah villa would suit us a treat, but it would never ever happen because he would cost silly money, and his price would be much much greater than his value, so it’s a no go unfortunately.
lol i forgot about wiltord. In terms of how well thought of in world football they were i’d guess rosicky has to be our highest profile signing under wenger
yeah ethan i could see us spending 15-20 on one player, breaking the wiltord fee. We’d never spend 30 million on a player though, as it doesn’t make logical or economic sense, the only people who can afford to do that are those that don’t work like a business, but a rich man or group’s plaything
A
i do agree about ribery also ! and i think he would have been wenger’s highest paid signing had bayern not bid silly amounts on him , which i heard the board wouldnt let arsene spend over the odds for him ..
but im sure wenger would be interested still if theres half a chance he can secure him …
not sure about the bendtner trade off thou , i cant imagine too many top clubs interested in nik b currently ..
I think after song’s recent transformation we might not be after a defensive mid anymore, though may still be. Primary target will be a winger, secondary centre back i’d imagine. If ribery signed it would be absolutely incredible, having one of the world’s best players again, though i guess it might take him a while to get to his best
ethan bendtner is still thought of incredibly highly in europe, there are always stories in the italian and spanish papers about the top teams wanting him. Although he had a bad period when vp and ade were out and he was thrown in at the deep end, he’s still shown glimpses of what he’s capable of, both for us in the league cup and against bolton, and when he pretty much single handedly tore apart portugal with denmark. That’s the only reason I could see there being some validity in the stories, bayern were after him in the summer along with roma, and I think we’d need to give them bendtner for them to be willing to hand over ribery, though we’d obviously give them some money too!
If we could somehow sign Ribery, Villa and maybe Alonso or a top CM we could win the league. Noone is running away with it and it is anyones taking. With our run of games at the start of the season we should be top. If ever there was a season where noone should have left it was this. We could have won the league this season if last seasons team didnt get torn apart.
bendtner also just came 11th young player in europe in the tuttosport golden boy awards, which are the top award thing for youngsters, after that french paper who do the euro player that ronaldo won
Ethan – No, and you can’t say for certain they will make the transition or how long it will take or if they will hit the ground running thats the whole point.
Vela was from La Liga ? So, play him up against a big Stoke defence and he’ll face difficulties, it’s why Wenger is blooding him in slowly, play him on the smooth, flat, pristine Emirates surface and he’s fine when he gets space to run into. Against teams like Burnley who sit back and wait for us to attack bully our players on a bobbly uneven surface and his game obviously suffers.
Villa would be good, but he isn’t an Henry that could decimate teams on his own, premiership teams with pace and power, we’d still need other players alongside and I don’t see Wenger spending big money on 3-4 playerslet alone just on Villa.
We’re either going to have to wait for the younger players to step up which some of them have shown improvements or buy lesser known talent na dbring them up together.
Stu if we got just ribery we WOULD win the league at a canter imo. It’s still close, everyone is pretty pants this season and having problems, but ribery is the second best player in the world imo and would result in us leapfrogging the rest. He’d be like what messi is for barca, anytime we’re having trouble breaking down a team he’d just sort it!
I doubt Ribery would leave mid season because Bayern are on course to win the league. Only Hoffenheim are ahead of them and they just came up so its unlikely they will win it. Plus they have Toni and Klose up front. Would Nik even get on?
people seen the edu rumours? if he did want to return to england and he was the same old edu we should snap him up. No idea how the constant injuries have affected him though
I’d take Edu back in a flash. Top player who should never have left.
I wouldn’t put Ribery in that high a bracket. He is a fine player but he’s been pretty ineffective for France when they’ve needed something.
He is easily the best player this season in the bundesliga. He is ineffective for France because their coach is or was Domanech or however its spelt. He is used wrongly for them.
A i wonder if 20 mill would be enough to secure villa ..
i suppose only if man shitty didnt enter the race but then i feel we would have a chance ..
yes vela played in spain the past 2 seasons keyser .. for Osasuna last term ..
not in a million years ethan, he’d be 30 mil plus, city would prob pay 60, madrid would be in for over 30. Benzeama would be a tiny bit cheaper but still be a hell of a lot, both of those are out of our price range.
Vela did play in spain, but hasn’t yet adapted to the prem at all despite being fantastic in spain, he’s adapted slower than reyes did. He’s a fantastic talent, and will be amazing, but he isn’t an example of the transition working, quite the opposite at the moment, although time will change that!
ribery has been as good for frannce as thierry was…. Ribery has been incredible for france at times, though granted he hasn’t done much whilst they’ve had their somewhat shitty period, although theres alot of quality there and noone has done it. I’d consider him ahead of ronaldo any day of the week, and ahead of kaka at the moment
Fuck fab is out for 3months?
The SUn reporting Cesc is out for 3 months. Also, City to bid 10 million for Toure
MATTHEW UPSON admits he is in the dark over his future as West Ham battle for Premier League and financial survival.
The England defender is enjoying a fine run of form which has alerted Hammers’ rivals.
He said: “Speculation can be flattering and is part of what’s happening at the club. There are rumours every player is for sale but the owners haven’t clarified anything.
“It’s a difficult period financially and people are aware but I’m happy playing here at the moment, I am enjoying my football.”
West Ham are one place off the drop zone, are up for sale and face a potentially crippling £30million payout to Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair.
Upson, 29, added: “There is never a dull moment here but that can be a positive thing.”
A
lets be honest vela’s time has been so limited on the pitch this season who could adapt given that time frame ????
Zenit are letting Arshavin negotiate hs own transfer and they hinted at Arsenal buying him for 20 million
A and all !
just imagine if vela got the chances nik b did, we wouldn’t be praising his name now and saying DUDU WHO ?
i think we would
or ramsey for song ?!
an interesting topic of discussion !
i think we would also all be calling him rambo on defensive reputation !! and a good attacking edge .
he possibly could be made into a good English DM ! well welsh or what every he is ..
sure he hasnt got the skill yet .. ok maybe but your saying song has ? or diaby ? at 6 times the amount of time diaby has been in the major league id go with development of ramsey any day over song !
or diaby .. if your gotta abuse the EPL wenger for blooding youth then at least focus on the right fucking ones !
thats all i have to say !
Morning Ethan, have you a spy in my office? that’s exactly what todays post is about. Spooky!
Good evening London
Vela running @ the defence is a must. Now we don’t have Cesc’s pin point passes, Wenger got to come up with a new plan.
The villa game is simple really. We lose, we don’t finish in the top 4.
Geoff has GMR been on yet? The reason why I ask? just checking my conjuring skills for the old Grover
Morning Gnarley, don’t worry about finishing in the top four, my post today has that covered. Leave it to me.
I get Pedro to ask him.
I’ve been out of the loop these last couple of weeks. Whats the goss? Where is evo? etc etc etc
I’ve just got a fresh beer & I said to Mrs GG9 I’m off to the new post so bring it on Geoff
701
There is a real serious feeling from many I know that we ain’t gonna finish in the top 4.
I for one would seriously question whether Wenger would be able to get us back.
…..so you all hit the sauce on Sunday, one day I’m going to get on a plane/jet & head on down to this fabled S&B.
Actually we are thinking of 2011 for our 30th anniversary since the boys 1st hit mud island. There would be some serious beer drinking on english soil if that happens
What you sipping Gnarley?
NEW POST!
morning all,
I can see it being a short day in the office today….. I’m too old for these 4 day benders!!
Fuck my head hurts!
Germaine Greers, but not as bitter as that sour bitch, Chamone
have I been frozen out of this post
Sorry… NEW POST!
what new post?!!!