The F.A Cup first round is always a dodgy day… teams pick up magical super powers from their morning bowl of pasta, goalkeepers grow 3 feet taller and poor players become greats… all for a day!
Today, Plymouth played with all the flair and skill of Hull, Stoke and Sunderland combined… they defended resolutely and they attacked sparingly (Still managing the customary goal we gift all away teams at the Emirates). Plymouth done their 9000 buoyant fans proud… and to be honest, it wasn’t an enjoyable first half for most of the home support. I was hoping to see a show of exciting, fast paced, free flowing football that would warm my numb feet in the artic conditions… well, for the first half I was sadly disappointed.
Arsenal kept possession reasonably well, but we still lacked that killer pass that was so prevalent last year. I can’t criticise too much because the midfield were pretty new to each other. Diaby and Rambo started in the middle, Nasri and Eboue started out wide. To be honest, it took me quite a while to work out exactly what formation we were playing… Eboue was almost playing in a free role… I am sure Arsene didn’t give him that role… but then again, you never can be sure when it comes to Arsene and his favourites. The only position Eboue hasn’t played in thus far, is up front… and today, he certainly ticked that position off his list of ‘to play’ with his usual ineptitude.
Fabianski looked like a 8 year who had just enjoyed his first can of red bull… he tore off his line at ever opportunity, he didn’t let a single ball come into the box with out a challenge and he rarely paused for a second when it came to distributing. You know what though? I really like him… he is probably the first young keeper since Manninger to make any sort of impact on the first team, and if he continues to play with conviction and positivity, I think he could become quite a keeper.
Arsenal’s second half started much brighter. Plymouth went close before the ball went up the home end for a corner. Nasri whipped a perfect cross into the box for a fiery RvP to power a header high into the back of the net. It was an easy goal, but Robin deserved it after his hard working performance.
It wasn’t long before Arsenal doubled their lead. Eboue laid off RvP who jinked past his defender firing across the box for Nikki Lime boots to finish. Nik seemed pretty pleased with himself (I didn’t realise he didn’t score the goal until I got home), and I think only Rambo went over to celebrate with him.
Nik seems about as popular as George Bush in an Iraqi press conference of late… I think if I had a pair of pink boots, I’d have thrown them at him yesterday. He was pretty woeful for the most part. I want to like him, but he summed up his work ethic late in the second half when a miss cued pass was fired at the Plymouth right back… instead of Nik chasing it down and anticipating the mistake… he just stood there… the defender made a mistake and let it go over his head…and Nik still didn’t chase it! CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HAVE A WORD!
Plymouth did manage to claim one back… a simple ball was fired into the box… no one closed the finisher down and he powered the ball past Fabianski. Shocking defending against a largely poor team… but we’ve all become a bit numb to stuff like that at the Grove. Whispers of a Spurs like come back sounded out throughout our block… but I was pretty sure we had too much in the locker for that to happen.
Arsenal turned on the style and started to make things happen. The passing, the movement and the belief flooded back into the team… we started to dish out a pounding. Finally the third came… RvP was played in delightfully by Nasri, he latched onto the ball first then dinked it over the keeper who got a touch on it, as the ball came down, RvP let rip from six yards and scored off the underside of the bar.
Vela and Jack came on in the second half to excitable cheers. Both put in a good performance and showed why they are so highly rated. I wish that I had asked Santa for an experience oven this Christmas. I’d put Rambo, Wilshere and Vela in there and set the timer to 3 years… how many of our problems would be solved if I’d just asked for the damn oven?
Anyway, the whistle went, we all left a little bit warmer and a little bit happier… bring on Bolton.
Player Ratings:
Fabianski: I think he needs to slow things down a bit and take a few seconds. Some of his distribution was weak and that wasn’t down to ability, it was down to rushing his play. His overall game though is pretty good. He dominates his area like Almunia should do… he comes out for every cross, he lets the other players know where he is and he takes ultimate responsibility for what goes on in his area. He is also a pretty handy shot stopper. I don’t want to get too excited about him… but I really think he has all the ingredients to become an Arsenal great. 7
Gibbs: He came on for Silvestre in the first half and I thought he put in a great performance considering his age. His defending lets him down on occasions, but I can remember two left backs before him that had the same problems when they were learning their trade. What Gibbs has over Clichy is his final ball… he is a lot more composed in the final third than Clichy and I would suspect he would probably contribute more to the teams goal tally if given a run long term. Clichy is the master though… and Gibbs has a long way to go if he wants to emulate his colleague (I’m keeping ‘em crossed though!). 7
Gallas: Well, conceding a sloppy goal against Plymouth doesn’t get you an 8 in my ratings scheme. I thought he played ok though… he bombed forward on a few occasions and mostly dealt with all Plymouth had to offer. 7
JD: A good come back game from the giant Swiss lad. He is looking to add a bit of nastiness to his game, and I’d agree that is what he needs to do. I can imagine that if JD was an activist, he’d be one of those Ghandi ‘lets link hands’ non-violent protesters… he needs to be more like a May Day rioter… like Chiellini is. He played well today though. 7
Sagna: Your normal bone crunching performance from one of Arsenal’s consistent performers this season. 7
Nasri: Two assists and two different positions. Out wide on the left, he put in a good performance… his quick feet baffle opposition players and his fast passing reminds you of Hleb sometimes. Arsene moved him into the hole in the second half and to be honest, I think he looked pretty good there. I know one of the Grovers suggested that long term, Arsene might consider him there… and it looks like maybe the coach is thinking along the same lines. A good performance today… but we need a few more on a more consistent basis if we are to make any progress in the second half of the year. 8
Rambo: I looked at the team sheet and saw Rambo and Diaby in the middle and I thought… this could be tough, but I prefer to see those two in the middle than I do seeing Denilson or Song. It took a while for the young Welshman to settle in but when he did, he was great. He has a spark about his play so many of the others don’t. Everyone is comfortable giving him the ball, and it is clear why… he will usually return it to a member of his own team, and if he doesn’t it is because he is letting rip with a screamer. A great performance from a 17 year old boy… and a definite selection headache for Wenger. 8
Diaby: Finally he has started taking his defensive duties seriously. It wasn’t vintage Diaby, but it was enough today. He was playing in an alien position (His own), and he was playing with a new partner who is vastly inexperienced. Diaby needs to concentrate on getting the ball from out of his feet quickly and he needs to make more of a nuisance of himself in the final third. He has bags of ability and it will be a real shame if we don’t see him fulfill it at the club. 6.5
Eboue: Right midfield, striker or free role? I wasn’t quite sure what Eboue was doing today… I’m not sure he was either? He played ok, he tried to get involved with all our attacking play and he helped start the move for Nik’s goal (I know…). The shame of Eboue for me is that he has all the ingredients to be a top player… he has skill, he has pace and he has stamina. Application and a set position seem to be missing though… 6.5
Nik: AAaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhhhh! He is so frustrating to watch. I know there is talent their… but I don’t know if he has the right mentality to make it? He seems to be the only player I can recall who thrives on team mates disliking him? Nik didn’t really do much today… he played a lot of 5 yard passes, made a few attempts at silly flicks and he bagged a goal (Oh wait, he pretended to!). He was so ineffective today that he ended up playing out wide on the right towards the end… where he looked ok. I just don’t know what to think of him anymore… proof is in the performance… and Nik ain’t been performing. 6
RvP: I can’t help but love this guy… even when he is infuriating you, he is doing it because he cares. Today he played with drive and passion… he wanted every pass and if it looked like he wasn’t going to get it, he’d throw his body in the way. His two goals were well taken and well deserved. I want him to start showing some consistency, because we are going to need him to start firing on a more regular basis in the second half of the season. He needs to justify his superstar contract and cement his name amongst the European elite of strikers. 9
Subs:
Vela: Caused problems for Plymouth and really livened up proceedings for the last quarter of the game. I hope he gets more pitch time in the coming months because he definitely gives us a different dimension attacking wise. 6
Jack: A fan favourite and a 8 year contract… at 17! It doesn’t get much better than that does it? He came on, jinked past a few Plymouth players and looked right at home. It’s a shame he is so small at the moment… you know, he isn’t as developed as Rooney was at 16… but I still think we’ll find out something about Wayne in a few years. I mean, he was clearly born in a cave… there is no way to prove his date of birth… he’s probably 32. Sorry… Jack Wilshere…. brilliant! 6
Conclusion:
I didn’t mention the seating situation today… but I did notice it… huge blocks of empty seats throughout the ground. Worrying times… which I will cover in greater detail on Tuesday.
Game wise… well, it was poor in the first half, but be thankful you’re not a Chav or one of those new breed of Man Chavvy’s. They’re waking up a little embarrassed this morning (Especially all the one off plastic Chav’s making their way up from Southend selfishly crowding out my train)!
I really enjoyed the second half, I thought we played like the Arsenal of old… I know it was Plymouth, but if we can build on that in the Premiership… we could start seeing our results improve. I think it is apparent that certain personnel don’t allow our game to flow like it did in the second half… Rambo allows our game to flow as does Diaby (when he plays well)… but Rambo is a too young and Diaby will probably be dropped for Denilson or Song. So I guess we have to hope Arsene has something up his sleeve this transfer window.
The latest rumour has it Arsenal are lining up Rosina on loan… nicknamed Rosinaldo… a flairy, pacey Italian winger who can play on either flank or centrally. We certainly need a wide man… and this looks like the sort of random signing would pull. We’ve also been linked with Upson via a swap deal for Nik B… oh, and we’re after Stephen Ireland of Man City… plus, Theo feels he is not being taken seriously. Well Theo, get fit and start peforming my friend. Being English doesn’t entitle you to a sixty grand a week contract.
Enjoy your Sunday Grovers!
P.S. Just a quick shout out to the Highbury Spy for plugging Le Grove in this months Gooner fanzine!
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
Nice post Pedro!
Long fantastic post.Nasri is the answer while cesc recovers
If we don’t watch it we’ll lose Theo and RVP just like we did Flamini, will these people running Arsenal never learn? I bet we got Song tied down on a long term contract though haven’t we!
official silver!
good ratings Pedro, very fair, and a 9 for Captain Persie, yay
Cheers Geoff,
I am out at football until early afternoon!
RvP is tied down to an £80k a week contract, but I think Theo wants £65k… I’d say he doesn’t merit that type of salary yet considering his goal tally and how often he is injured… but if we don’t sign him, I am sure Liverpool will…
Thanks for the review Pedro, I didn’t see the game.
It would be a shame to lose Theo
good quality post.
good post pedro.i like the ireland/toure link it would make sense.bedtner has to go maybe as a part exchange with upson(unlikely) or green 9more probable)
rvp showed he is our only fit class striker at the moment,and ramsey looks the business a bit like a young bergkamp.
i doubt ant major signings unless they are part exchange deals,and good point about theo,his contract extension comes up in march.
ask anyone that regularly watched marseille over the last couple of years and they’ll tell you Nasri’s best playing in the hole behind the front 2. Good to see he’s actually getting a chance in his best position now. Saying that we all know we wouldn’t have as many problems if that had been the case for every player this season.
Good result tho and a win’s a win and winning breed confidence, now we just need the consistency. Bring on Bolton!!
Hey does anyone know where i can get good reading material on how to run a full time football academy,on the structure,employees,land,facilities things like that.
Interesting situation with mark Hughes. There he was when the Arabs moved in saying that Arsene wenger, etc were jealous of him with all that money to spend.
Trouble is, he won’t be there to spend it. Big Mouth Strikes Again
Gnarley:has he been sacked.
has rvp signed a new deal or not,anybody.
Not yet arsenalised, but he is a dead man walking
Both Theo and RVP should shut the f up. They have hardly played for Arsenal in the last 3 years , what makes them think they deserve automatic 60-80k a week contracts!!?
We need new faces in regardless, so I would do a deal with West Ham, Bendtner for anyone, but Upson and Noble would do me.
I think Fabianski is a better keeper than Almunia, he has bulked up and although I wanted Green, I now think Fab is good enough.
I also think it’s time to play players in their best positions, Diaby and Nasr in the middle with Ramsey and Denilson as back up.
Theo when fit in the middle, so if we need proper wingers, then go and buy them, there are plenty out there.
Maybe even bring on Jackie boy as a winger until he develops. Do not let Theo go, he will be the worlds best one day, you mark my words.
Gnarley:garrrrrrrrsh i was smiling cheeckily hughes is number 2 on my PL managers hate list number 1 is that cunt alladyce
Arsenal are not going to win anything thing until they get a good left sidd midfield player in the mould of Edu or Alonzo. Nasri like the Lithuanian plonker ere too slow to spot an (openingdribble is best????????) . They play with there heads down and not not enough with there heads up. Watch Edu and the games he played for Arsenal. Give and go and when he recieved the return pass he had spottted a run and an accurate 30/40 yard ball would follow – usually behind a defender, and open the game up. Arsenal have nobody who can do this now.
Still not good enough. We were at home. I dont care if lower league teams are up for the cup, we need to be slaughtering these teams. The Arsenal team cannot take us back to fourth place in the EPL.
Tony and MistaKen, welcome to Le Grove, you are now free to blog!
I cant really see AW moving Nasri into the hole behind the main striker. I thought that is where Vela would end up and then Jack “in the box” Wilshere (as AW recently stated).
Nikki B just isnt performing. He is so much of a confidence player, he talks himself out of playing well.
Also i thought Rambo was 18?
Rambo is 18 and Jackie boy is now 17.
This Arsenal team cannot take us up to fourth place in the EPL.
RVP, Nasri and Sagna were good. Others tried but made little impact. We only trully need 2 or 3 quality players to make the whole team more balanced and play as a top class unit.
Eboue and Nick im afraid have had enough chances. Will Wenger purchase the right players? Who knows. He deliberatly keeps the opposition guessing about players comming in or out. Just hope risk of losing fourth place makes Wenger dig deeper into the Arsenal purse.
I find it worrying that both Theo and RVP are now in the final 18 months of their contracts. These are two talented and valuable assets to AFC. Why are contracts not being sorted? Hopefully the new guy will steady the ship and sort these off the field matters out quickly. It is crazy in a day with the Webster and Bosman rulings we are not securing our better young players on longer contracts.
P.S. Thought Nasri was outstanding yesterday.
Nasri will only play in the middle if it’s in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 formation. So you’d still need 2 CMs behind him. But he looked really good in the middle.
I was really impressed with Gibbs. I think he could do a job on the left wing if given a chance when Nasri plays in the hole.
One of the things that pleased my sick warped mind yesterday was the amount of people around me that missed our first two goals because they would rather enjoy the half time hospitality.Ha fucking Ha.
LOL @ experience oven.
I would swap Nikki B with a free Song thrown in for good measure for a Pint yet alone a player like Mark Noble or Matty Upson.
Bendtner has to go, too many chances and he has not taken them.
It looks like Wenger will have to do some Redknapp style wheeler dealing if we are going to strengthen the squad at all.
I dont mind seeing Toure going either.
At the very least we need to swap Bendtner for either Upson or Noble and Toure for Stephen Ireland would be good business.
If we then actually spent some cash (which I doubt we will) adding Arshavin would give us Wenger’s “spark”.
Sadly, with all of this, I dont see us finishing above 4th. Too little too late.
Im glad of your assessment of eboue
Ive noticed wenger putting him in further forward positions at times, and he does look a bit lost sometimes but this is to give him experience in attack against wat would be considered weaker opposition
anyone can see hes got quick feet, is fast and *generally* quite good in a withdrawn RM position (breaks up attacks and brings the ball forward quite well), but when he attacks on the wing he begins to look lost at some point
If he can improve in these attacking positions wel see a much more effective player
I honestly believe he can be a brilliant player, although im probably the only one lol
I also agree with u on bendtner
he needs to sort out the attitude
to be frank i dont think arsene should be wasting any more time on him
hes more effort than hes worth when we have stirkers like vela and barazite who are more talented imo and have much better attitudes
wenger obviously thinks he can be more effective cos of his size but you need to have the attitude to intimidate defenders otherwise theres just no point
sell him off, i wouldnt be surprised if some fairly big clubs in europe would take him because he is a well known talent but i wouldnt expect much money for him
let some one else deal with the problem of unlocking this supposed talent
Just want to point out bendtner won/intercepted the ball that lead to nasri lobbing the pass to vanP for number 3. I dont find him lazy or having a poor work ethic. I think he needs a year more (atleast) to really be a starter at a club like arsenal.
Diaby really seemed to sit back yesterday, maybe he does have the positional discipline after all? But well said, he has just so much talent and it will be sad if he doesnt make it (at arsenal)
Dont think Mark Noble would add anything, slow, mostly sideways passer, he isnt better than denilson for me. Upson I might consider, but I think a lot of centre backs who look great at other teams might not at arsenal because of the way we play, and the high line we sometimes hold. But yeah I wouldnt mind another sol ..sigh..
Nasri in the hole and vela left seemed to work wonders, if only wenger would go with that more often.
no Davi, i also believe eboue has all the right ingredients to make an excellent player. decision making (brains?) seem to be missing .. also really really poor in the final third, and always just smacks his shots never places them.
morning all
I went yesterday and conclude I have seen enough of bentner and eboue ( and of course song who did,nt play )
They are NOT good enough for the ARSENAL . thats it . simple . sell all three .
On the positive
Nasri was excellent running at people through the middle . great playmaker
Young Gibbs did very well at l b . He deserves a big shout this morning .
well done Gibbs you were one of the best players on the pitch , great attitude as well .
Vela is quality as well , and well said Pedro re Fabianski . commanded the box.
That story about RvP and Theo being frustarted, castrated or whatever seems pure BS to me. The hack who wrote the NotW piece is the same fella who wrote a Dein luvved up revision of history the other week.
This twats got an agenda. And lets not forget the likes of Pires and Edu and Wiltord running down their contracts happened on the tangoed featured oliy snakes watch.
also . 59 600 attenance , my arse !
Morning,
Good post Pedro; in agreement with everything you say, I rated Ramsey and Gibbs as the two best for me; but there I was, buying (or trying to….) coffee, AND….. missed (!!!!) both goals at the start of the 2nd half – why, because of the slowness of the ‘children’ behind the counters….. I asked for 2 white coffees; response was – well; SLOW, in fact I wanted jump over the bl**dy counter and make it myself and to top it all, once I made it back to my seat one of the Stewards bundled by (in his very large orange coat) and knocked the coffee out of my hands, it tipped all over me – but hey – kept my legs warm though …… so, all in all, a very entertaining day out.
Rumours; I hope some of the rumours do come off; Arshavin/Rosina would free up Nasri from the left flank to play more in the middle were he is better suited, swap Nikki B for Upson (deffo) and then bring in a tall brute in defence, and that, my friends, is my wish.
Well, if there is anything in the Bendtner for Upson and cash story, would that suit ya?
Pedro, great match report and ratings as always. Good to hear that Gibbs, Ramsey, Vela and Wilshere did well.
I think that we have an adequate team to take us through till the end of the leagues season (so long as we do not have any more injuries and so long as Arsene allows the team to play).
Fabianski
Sagna-Djourou-Toure-Clichy/Gibbs
Denilson/Eboue-Diaby-Vela/Ramsey
Nasri
RvP- Ade
This team is good enough to take us to fourth place.
Bendtner is a lazy bastard. It has been reported that he has a high opinion of himself. Add to that the pink boots and the arrogant attitude and it is not surprising that he is not popular with the other players. I wouldn’t be at all bothered if we sold him or loaned him out as he seems to be keeping Vela out of the side and Dudu is hopefully back soon.
great post, i want rosina and i think yesterday bendtner played well
Happy New Year!
Pedro Fabianski’s distribution poor????
Hi distribution is one of the best I have ever seen in the game… …a bit quick yes but he hit Bendtner on the head with two balls over 40 yards one with a throw and one with a kick! That is impressive however you look at it… …it’s just that Nik did fuk’all with it. 8
Kieren Gibbs had an excellent game as well IMO it just shows the difference between playing alongside innexperience to a bit of experience… …he looks pretty poor in the cc, but yesterday he did everything right. 8
Oh and Vela he changed the game when he came on for Eh booo Eh, a 6? Seriously Peter he needs more than that! he was triple teamed when he had the ball and has so much movement in and around the box that he stretches the defenders every which way! 7
Everyone else I agree with.
L8ers
If Song gets the nod over Ramsey next week.I would like Wenger to tell us why.I also think in the last two games Vela has shown enough to warrant more playing time,every time he has the ball you expect something to hapen
G8, do you think Gibbs can play on the wing while we are going through our injury crisis?
indian_gooner, i agree
hes a slow learner, hes not a natural attacker but ther is something there
that is why wneger is putting him further up the pitch, forcing him to make these decisions
he does have a lot of technical ability tho
i mean, they say footballers can be judged on 3 broad areas: technical, physical and mental
and eboue is very good on the first 2, and hes mentally strong but he is quite dumb on the ball sometimes, although this is only really evident in the final 3rd. in his own half he does some very smart things with the ball, and not easy things either
i wish people would apply the same scrutiny to walcott. same poor decision-making but more often in his own half (very good sub to have tho)
I thought Gibbs WAS a winger cos thats where he played in the Emirates Cup and did real good
Skandi at least you made the coffee happy, I also missed the start of the half because I was drinking, but the first half was so poor I didn’t figure we’d score so quickly anyway.
There were so many gaps in the stadium it was unreal, groups of 3 or 4 seats empty were no uncommon. Watch it Arsenal.
I thought that Robin buried that shot for the last goal so well.
Jules couldn’t agree more, Bentner, Eboue and Song are not good enough, I would persevere with Diaby though, I still think he can be the new Vieira.
BC you’re out of moderation now, sorry for the wait, I hope you’re still about, welcome anyway.
Also do you think it’s possible that v Persie has trained his chocolate leg so hard that he has lost some of his natural motion and/or feel in his left leg and that is why he is shooting down satellites
bendtner should take a look at cristiano ronaldo for inspiration
both players are clearly pretty arrogant and talented, altho perhaps bendtner isnt quite on ronaldos level to be fair
nonetheless, despite his talent ronaldo was criticised early on, perhaps unfairly
but look how he reacted, its well known how hard he works and how driven he is.
you dont get that impression with bendtner, he plays like he knows one day hes going to be amazing
nothing is given, u have to work for everything.
Good post Pedro
After RvP, I thought Gibbs was the stand out performance yesterday, perhaps deserving of a slightly high mark than Ramsey. Never mind what is likely to happen in the future; against Plymouth, Gibbs was the coolest head on the pitch, calm in every situation, unlike Ramsey who flapped on a couple of occasions, loosing the ball in vital areas. The other thing worth mentioning is that he put in the first decent cross from the left all season.
Gibbs took one small step for his own career but one giant step for all Arsenal supporters.
I think Eboue and Song definitely aint good enough, Nikki B may be , but he is just soooo lazy and up his own arse arrogant! Not a good combo!
I’d also stick with Diaby tho, he undoubtedly has the talent, just needs to be a bit more consistent. Playing in different positions can’t help tho. I’d deffo have Gibbs as cover for Clichy over Silvestre anyday.
Vela and ramsey will hopefully get more game time too.
i disagree about song as well
first of all i think hes shown already hes a good CB, he can adapt like djourou did
i think hes an intelligent footballer, and if we persevere with him at CM im sure hel prove doubters wrong
trouble is, we have to go through this learning stage again, with 4 or 5 first team players at a time, and it is frustrating to watch
Why don’t we swap Bendtner for Upson on loan, we need a defender, they need a forward, no risk.
Davi I think he fucking useless, in fact the worst player I have ever seen at the Arsenal, ever.
Hi Guys,
Ireland is a great box to box player.
Upson and Djourou would be a great partnership in defence
Lets hope we get some deals moving soon.
Geoff;
Ever???
It would only make sense to sign Upson if he we were going to give him a permanant place in the starting line up. If that were the case who would you drop, bearing in mind that who ever is dropped will definitly be unhappy to the point of wanting to leave?
morning all
Geoff:what about cygan.
Where do our players get off threatening to leave if they don’t get a regular first team place. Surely it is their job to earn a first team place and if they don’t get it, work harder and try to win it back – don’t threaten to leave. It is probably a good mmeasure of a players loyalty.
If a player thinks it is their right to be first choice, and the manager is inclined to pick them for that reason, then that’s going to make them complacent. Maybe in these ‘stretched’ financial times, players will start to play for the shirt again as well as worrying about the pension fund.
I would go with Ever as well Geoff.
we have had some pants players but there is a such a gulf in ability between what we have had, what we should have, what Leyton Orient have and then Song.
He is lazy, a poor passer, never in the right position, has no footballing brain and is well out of his depth.
God knows why Wenger is persisting with him, especially now the window is open.
I am actually getting worried about the transfer window, we dont seem to be being linked with any Holding midfielders at the moment…….
At least we are being linked with the creative ones
Ireland would be a great buy, but I just cant see it, I would love it though.
Arshavin is a no go by the looks of it, they are asking crazy money and we are not paying it and in this instance I agree with the club. I was pissed we did not go the extra couple of mil for Alonso in the Summer but I think we are talking 7-8 short for Arshavin and he just aint worth it. I would rather spend the money on Ireland.
Just read the story about Ireland.
There is no real substance in the story.
Citeh came in for Toure, the paper believe Wenger would be interested in Ireland if they wanted a swap deal.
To me, he is their main man, and why would they let him go?
Geoff;
RE;song
Toss up between jeff blockley and song
blockley by a bigger head, that man had the biggest
head ive ever seen its like a blacksmiths hammer
We need a new CB, if it makes current players unhappy then so what?
Fucking Hell we have signed a Striker
http://www.fgmag.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=5838
Oh well at least the girls are showing some ambition.
WE’ve been linked quite a bit to Noble at WHam. He’s a DM no?
I agree with you Mark C
He is their best player at the moment and probably a contender for player of the season if he keeps it up.
But if we are prepared to spend silly money on the Russian (Which i dont think we will) then I would prefer it if we at least asked Man City and Ireland the question.
I would say he is the player that has impressed me most in the Premiership this season.
Bendtner is worth around 500k – Th bloke is awful. Terrible attitude, inflated ego, no effort, no first touch, cant shoot and no pace.
Its a fucking disgrace that he is even on the Arsenal books.
The scou that found that found him needs to get a new job!!!
WE have Angry but I am talking about Midfielders that are better than what we have got and ones that are experienced and not just another kid.
Sure he has potential but I think we need to be aiming higher,
Noble is young, but he’s been a regular for a while now. I’ve not seen enough of him to make a judgement, maybe he’s crap, but he seems to get good write ups for the hammers?
The scousers aint gonna sell us Alonso now, that Inler fella doesnt wanna come and is completely unproven in the PL, after that I dunno who else?
Scott Parker? Kompany?
Angry, Arsenalised, Pat and Reggie, Song is worse than Blockley, Caeser, Hilllier and Cygan. He has no talent whatsoever, none, none, none.
Cygan is positively world class in comparison IMO. He just didnt suit our high line, high risk style of defending!
alessandro rosina would be a good signing, typical wenger signing can play on the wing or behind the strikers, and well we got 2 of them already in nasri and rosicky, we had pires and ljungberg too..
so i can see this one as a real transfer, because wenger never buys geniune wingers. the last proper winger we had was Glenn helder
ok, why did those arabs buy man city….. they could of went all out and bought arsenal…. i love to have the david villa’s or kakas coming to arsenal
I quite like Cygan, Ok he didn’t suit but at least he could play football.
GunnerShabz who is Rosina and who does he play for? I think you forgot about Reyes, he was a winger wasn’t he? Funny how he dropped of the face of the earth!
Nice post Pedro.
There is no way RvP is worth £80k a week with his injury record…the board should at least wait for him to score his 30goals for a season before committing to that.
Yeah I agree paying Theo £65k a week atm is ridiculous, I am sure we could get a more productive and less injury prone Diego Capel on half that wage.
I am convinced Nasri role lies in the hole behind the strikers and I think he would eventually be more effective than Hleb as he possesses a better goal threat…
Happy New Year guys! Pretty sweet way to start the New Year, eh?
I think the issue with Eboue is partly down to what Arsene expects from his “wingers” and full backs. More than crossing the ball, he wants them to cut inside, and even add to numbers in the box while the full back provides the cross/cut back. Eboue had played as a full-back before, so now when he is up there in the final third, this is what I see him thinking –
“Ah, I can cross the ball”…”Wait, should I cut inside?”…”Maybe pass it to Sagna?”…”Oh God, what do I do???? “. And then the pass to the opposition…
I also don’t think that a “scary, brute” is the answer to the central defense position. We usually play with a high back four (also why I think Senderos was in trouble a lot of the time), so actually we would need a “scary, brute” with good pace.
I like Gibbs, but the boy has a lot to learn about defending; his rashness cost the goal as he came charging out at the fella rather than getting to a point where he could force him wide. He does have a great touch and his passing is better then GC, but a long way to go. Given the choice of him or Traore to cover left back I would go for Gibbs in the long run.
Ireland will not happen, the fans love him and they have no need to sell him, certainly not to try and get Toure as they can just up the money offer. Depending on how badly Alonso is injured it could force the scousers into trying for Barry again, which would then leave them with Alonso spare!
How jammy are the bindippers from up the road? I could not believe that their equaliser at THOF came off the post and landed right at Lennon’s feet, but they hit the post on Friday night and it came straight back to Frodo’s head to put them 3-1 up! Interesting story, they were bringing on Ghaly when the crowd started booing him, after the shirt throwing when he was subbed by Jol 18 months ago! Harry Redknob then changed his mind and didn’t bring him on!
Cheers Geoff
I don,t get people who don,t see it about these three . Guys , I have said before
THIS IS ARSENAL we are talking about not Birmingham . That is Bentners level .
You should put your stake in higher or set your stall out better than thinking eboue and song are good enough for this club .
They are not . Look around and tell me which of the top 4 or 6 sides they would get in …
NONE . then look at the top european sides and do the same thing . .. L o L !
THAT is where the stake should be my friends and NO lower , ARSENAL .
Jay
apart from that , hes ok right !!??? LOL . !
I think you have gotta let young talented players play and fuck up! Thats part of their education and development.
BUT, when the players just aint cutting it or aint good enough, then they should be off loaded. I think Wenger can be ruthless when he wants to be, I mean he got rid of merson almost immediately (that really pissed me off at the time!) so he obviously sees something in the likes of Song, Eboue or bendtner that we just cant… well either that or he’s being dead stubborn!
Angry, go with stubborn, how long do we have to wait to see if Song will be good, we waited 3 years for Flamini, but at least he tore around, Ramsey and Wilshere, Theo and Gibbs you can see straight away they’ll be great, but Song is shit. Simple, he’s not good enough to get in a poor pub side, he must be laughing his bollocks off everytime he picks up his wages.
The latter Angry !
Geoff:
Is that right what i heard from a good source, that you are a founder member of
THE ALEX SONG HEART ATTACK CLUB LOMB
The very one Reggie!
fuck denilsong and bendtner out oh and take eboue
them cunts need to be shown the door this month
I understand Cesc isn’t going to require surgery. Does anyone know his projected date for return – or is he basically going to miss the rest of the season? Maybe he’ll come back in time for the CL final
This is the 1st transfer window that we have had not only the new Chief Exec Gazidis but Kroenke on board, so it will be imteresting to see if our transfer dealings are as lacklustre or piss poor as theywere in the summer.
Song surely is only being given a chance coz the fact we refused to stump up the extra cash for the likes of Alonso? Still, now is the time to rectify that effin HUGE mistake.
Please Gawd, Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, Wilma!!!!!!!!!!!
I’d deffo keep Diaby and Denilson, the other 3???? Hmmmmmmm…
Cesc’s return could be anything from early March to late April I suppose. Or he could a touch of the Rosickys and be out for 3 years.
hello grovers.
i had a thought the other day. Wenger might be looking for players but i got a feeling most of wengers targets wont want to come to us.
Thanks A L
I’d keep Denilson (but not play him as much at this stage), because he is still improving as a player and who knows how good he may become. I really don’t know what Diaby’s position is. It’s a shame he has been compared to Vieira because he is not similar. I think he is not a wide player or naturally a DM and as we have suffient attacking midfielders, I can’t see how he can be that important to the squad.
We’ll never know the full truth, but if we failed to sign Alonso because we didn’t want to stump up an extra couple of million, that will indeed prove to be a very bad bit of business. Apart from having a player the quality of Alonso in the side, Cesc would have been happier and more effective and of course not be injured (by Alonso at any rate) and I’d bet we’d have 6 to 9 more points and really be challenging for the prem.
wish people would give bendtner a break, he is fourth choice, really young and clearly will improve, look at ade when he first came to us. And he scored the winner v spurs last year.
Incesc sorry but whilst he is being selected in the starting 11 of a Arsenal side, I will give critique both positively and negatively
Unfortunately his performances and effort only warrant mainly negative critique at the moment.
Again it is not his fault he is being picked but whilst he is, there can be no excuses about age or potential. You are starting so you are either good enough or you arent
Incesc;
I think the jury came back from being out after his performance against Burnley fella!
Thanks for giving me a name check in Le Grove! Arsenal fanatics unite! We shall rule the world after all (eventually)
Pedro-As usual i dont agree with your ratings, unless the stats are out of 20, not 10! I dont understand it, but ill not talk about it all day…
By the way Rambo is 18y now, he’s final considered a man is society so maybe we should treat him like one (same goes to the rest of the ‘kids’ since they make more money than the rest of us ever will)..
I dont want to talk that much about the match since it should have been a no-doubt win, which it was, AFC status maybe restored but it’s not really. Watching Barcalonas performance yesterday it makes me think that Wenger is really in LaLa Land, telling people not to dream of any amazing signings, but who is really dreaming when you claim that CL is his priority with such underperformers. Who needs to really wake-up is you Boss!!
How can he justify letting all of the Invincables go and replacing them with shit-heads like Bentner etc, etc, etc, the list goes on and on, it is really disgracful and an insult to us all!!
Well done to RVP on his debut as captain, and what a great start for Arsenal in the new year, as the chavs and citeh have proved, a win is a win and we should be satisfied with the result. I personally believe RVP would make a great captain, better than Almunia.
I hope the Stephen Ireland rumour is true but it seems so far flung unless citeh plan on buying a superstar to take his place and we do a straight swap for Kolo Toure.
Would that appeal to anyone? With Silvestre out for three weeks I can’t see Toure being allowed to leave before summer.
Let’s hope the bad patch of 2008, the worst form on record under Wenger’s tenure is behind us. It’s good to see the team taking the FA cup seriously, they’re here to win trophies and this is a great opportunity, the FA cup is still as big a prize as it ever was.
I still hope Traore will be recalled, sure Arshavin would be a great addition to the team however the option of Traore on left wing and Nasri on right wing appeals.
And the Ramsey/Diaby combo in the middle appeals as well, so if Traore returned from Portsmouth we already have the bare essentials, an option or two wouldn’t go amiss.
Great news for pub goers in the UK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7810263.stm
Well said Highbury Spy!
RasDef, the invincible’s were dismantled to pay for the stadium… the problem is why hasn’t he recruited properly since it was obvious he had the funds to do so.
Razor blade anyone? Bottle of sleepin pills? Hot bath?
Pedro-Yep thats my point, then Le Boss comes out with remarks like ‘yeah i almost signed the Fairy Ronaldo, and yeah Yaya Toure is not good enough’, look whats no the pitch now, dont need to mention names because you already know where my finger is pointing!!! What a load of …!! I have always liked Wenger but these days hearing his comments just puts a rage in me, and thats not right….
bendtners time has run out surely, we all thought he had enormous talent but hes been in the 1st team for two seasons and all weve seen is lazyness, clumsyness. arrogance and a piss poor goal ratio, even against the lesser teams vela has outshone him.
we have better strikers at the club who will all develop into better players, vela walcott and simpson will all make better strikers i the future, we wouldnt be losing anything if we let bendtner go, no matter if he comes good or not, and if we get upson out of it then lets hurry up and make it happen
on the rossinaldo thing, i have a friend at work who comes from italy and supports torino, he says the man is a great flair player with skills to pay the bills and a move is on the cards because the boss has fallen out with him, the boss likes organisation and rossina is a free spirit on the pitch, likes to take on plenty of defenders and shoot from 30yrds, just what we need
Go on Gillingham!
rasdef
i first thought that wenger was taking the piss with the ‘i almost signed ronaldo comments’
but if you look into it i think le boss was trying to say ive got no money to spend and other teams outbid us.
judging by our board, i believe him
Afternoon Pedro
Did you win? I as usual liked your ratings, perhaps I would have given Gibbs 7.25 because I was so pleasantly suprised by how well he did. I had written him off along with Randall.
In a few years time we’ll probably find out that we’ve been on our arses financially since the move, the credit crunch (otherwise known as an effin Recession!) has really shit the big nobs and fat cats up, including the likes of the Chav owmer! So no wonder our lot are making noises about being even more thrifty!
Thing is, I don’t think we need to spunk millions, but to have the squad actually strengthened would be a bonus innit?
JJ- i totaly are with you no the Bentner comment! If you look at Anelka, Wenger lest him go so easily, but with Bentner he just keeps playing the guy, why? Does Wenger have cataras in his eyes or what?? Anelka even scored screamers and we let him go..
About recruting players, AFC should have recruted everyone they had as targets (especially Toures younger bro!!!) since they should have expected that not everyone would bloom into great footballers. Yes Wenger you did do mistakes that can be forgiven, but dont do too many!!
Hi JonJon
I don’t quite understand the point of Wenger saying I almost signed Ronaldo. Unless we are supposed to realise that the sentence isn’t finished and it should read “I almost signed Ronaldo but the bastards on the board wouldn’t give me the money.”
If the players didnt become great footballers, send them out on loan, they still have the Arsenal and Wenger stamp on them. They are a lot of shit teams out there that would take them..
Angry loner
If we find out in a few years time that financially we are on our arses then the board would have lied in the end of year accounts and will be put in jail for doing so.
The money may not be made available for transfers/wages. Thats the diff fella. Funny nhow PHW HAS changed his tune tho.
Hopefully with the likes of Gazidis and Kroenke, there will be a bit more transparency and dialogue and a few deals too!
London;
Its just that a while back AW came out with a really interesting comment about how in a few years he can talk about the finances and stuff.
Was kinda cryptic, fook knows if it was anything serious? Just really struck me.
how does ashley young get away with all this screaming and arm waving?
my gosh did i put a curse on
Yep!
at least we wont get these problems with Bendtner
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/the-mole/2009/01/04/arsenal-need-more-firepower-after-star-striker-falls-pregnant-115875-21014849/
hi london
i heard a rumour a while back that one of the reasons DD kicked off was because the board wouldnt sanction the extra money to get ronaldo.
so thats why we got reyes instead, to try appease wenger and DD.
but look how wrong that went DD got pissed off with the problems the stadium was causing and look what happened there too DD was wengers voice in the board and thats why he was out of the door with the first reason fismann had, although it was a good reason
i think wenger accepted the policy because of the stadium, and knew he could keep us in the mix with his kids, but now the stadium is built and wenger wants to know where the money is as much of the rest of us.
ive never seen wenger so frustrated as he has been this season, he knows the players arent good enough, the problem this season isnt the manger, its the board, IMO
the board are pointing the disgust of the fans away from themselves and naturally its being fingered at wenger, hes caught between a rock and a hard place, its all political at arsenal now, and until we are sorted behind the scenes we wont be sorted on the pitch
the board are cunts,its a shame lady nina wont speak
Ryes being signed as an appeasement for not signing Ronaldo makes no sense mate?
Wenger offered £6mill for the winker, Sporting accepted only for united to double it and off he went!
But you are right about one thing; DD is a slimy 2 faced self important rat!
the real reason ronadlo is at man utd is because they agreed to tae carlos quirez on so he would have a father figure to wipe his bum
and the fact they offered sporting and the player twice as much as what we did
im with u bergy on the lady nina thing, i hope she comes out and dishes the dirt on the lot of them
Before Lady Nina Pinkerton Binky Toffington-Champers-Landed-Gentry was pushed/jumped she used to get lambasted for having the nerve to be on the board as she was seen as a non-entity, clueless bint!
It would be nice to know whats really been happening with the board, you reckon we’ll ever know?
Just as long as no more shares get into the hands of that fat Uzbek gangster.
angry loner,
wenger wanted ronaldo, but we missed out because the board wouldnt open the purse strings, wenger ws pissed so the board sanctioned the reyes deal, to keep him happy, this isnt the only time real have wanted wenger, only difference is now mate the the board no he wont leave.
Anyone watchin the FA Cup draw?
LPool v Everton
ManU v Spuds
JonJon;
Ive never even heard of that story about the board not upping their bid for Ronnie?
peter tally ho chocs away hillwood needs to go next
Cardif v Arsenal
lady nina owns a big share of the club,she signed their lockdown and they kicked her off as soon as it ended,she has been associatied for a whole long time, her input or lack of input dont matter when u look at the big picture,she is powerful
man utd bid double and our bid had been accepted,did we expect the board to fight with manure?? they were probably chuffed manure saved them
Thought the lockdown was still in effect?
we had winky in the bag, manutd came along at the last minute and got him from under our noses because we couldnt compete with them, then a season later real come sniffing for wenger and we pay more for reyes??? its abit fishy mate.
Cardiff Vs Arsenal
That will be fucking tricky, that is a nightmare ground to go to, especially for our kids
Thing is, maybe it was Wenger he didnt wanna splash the extra cash for Ronnaldo, not the board?
i dont think it is,i think the lcok down was for a year
JonJon;
You like your conspiracy theories dontcha!
My gut feeling is that Cardiff will do us.
well maybe wenger doesnt know the average price of players,maybe it was him who decided that alonso was 11mill and not 14,if thats the case arsenal should find a new manager because were thinking wenger is behind the times,its the board,they put wenger in a situation,they either give him money and say spend it then and break the club,or they dont give him money,i dunno which but its the board either way
i remember after the bung scandal the board said they would never give a manager a cheque book again,if a manager wants players he should identify names to them
nina has more power than hill wood, the only reason hes still there is because hes fismanns puppet.
the lockdown is due for renewel soon and nina didnt want to take the same route as the rest of them so she was pushed.
nah jonjon i think it was all to do with carlos quiroz that one,manure signed him as part of the deal
Pat;
I think its a decent draw. Cardiff play football, so should be a good game, that we will win!
wenger forked out 13mil for wiltord when he had the money,
ronnie was the hottest thing in portugal, if wenger had 13mil he would of paid it
Sporting have ties with United and were more willing to sell to them plus Carlos Querioz was the assistant manager, it was the Portugese element that persuaded him to sign.
3 weeks till Cardiff, a lot can happen between now and then.
PHW is a figurehead, nuffin more. The fact that every time he speaks to the press, its to the effin Daily Star is what really freaks me out!!!
see they can have a lockdown,but nina can join the russian or another shareholder without selling if she wanted to
Return for Ramsay.
we just got cardiff away in the cup
man utd didnt even know who ronaldo was till they played a pre season friendly against him,he had already been watched and had meetings with us before united even knew he existed
manure had sporting as a feeder club, they played them in a friendly and winky had a blinder and they offerd more than us. we couldnt match it, we had henry vieira and pires playing for us at the time, ronnie would of come if we’d of matched them.
what a fucking shit hole of a place to go too
jonjon would u bed lady nina for the inside scoop?
cardiff a place we used to know well,not that shyt ground tho
id knock the dust of it bergkamp
lmao JonJon im glad you said that,i thought i might be scorned if a few old etonians check out le grove
Angry Loner, but I work in Cardiff and most of my colleagues are Cardiff fans, and football sods law is against me.
I have been there, it is a really hostile atmosphere
I think we will find it really difficult
I doubt it, he’s just one of those twats that is made for United, they suit each other perfectly, he’d go to the biggest club he could find and with Qeiroz in his ear that probably pulled him that bit more.
we will either go there and fenehbache them big time or we will go there and get fulham’d, its one or the other pat
Podolski for Bendtnar plus cash.
Please , oh please, Mr Wenger consider .
A young and joint (?) top Euro 08′ scorer, please, he’s available!
Pat;
Aint saying it’ll be a doddle and it will be a hostile atmosphere for sure. But we should have too much for em surely?
Then again, in my world, we are gonna win the FA Cup AND Champions league! And I’ll celebrate by giving old Lady Nina one up the kyber!
id take podolksi anyday over kinky
nina looks like she needs a good stiff one, her money aint bad either, id marry her tomorrow
the cardiff fans are animals, i remember when they gave leeds a hiding at their place in the cup a few years back, on and off the pitch, its not a place to play the kids, we need our 1st team out there to get something from the game.
id marry her as well,and become the new dave dein
Should deffo play ramsey tho.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/592/bayern-munich/2009/01/04/1040248/bayern-hold-firm-on-podolski-fee
Reported highest offer is around 7.5 million ? Arsene wrap this deal up quickly before City hears about it. 5million and Bendtnar please!
a few years ago when we stuffed manure on penalties i went in a pub down cardiff after the game and there was this welsh yob in a real madrid shirt singing vieiraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ,he was looking for a ruck big time, geezer was like a tank
Bayern and Milan wanted old Pink Boots.
Hmmm, they must see something in the fella then.
and and and I’ve seen him cut in on the left a lot of times, he can’t temporarily play left wing while Nasri plays behind the strikers. This would be a much better option than Arshavin .
He’s younger, strong , quick and a decent shot on him.
they probably thought nik was good,that was when he was on loan and had potential
He can*
and the most important thing is that he’s HALF THE PRICE of Arshavin.
arshavin dont seem to be a proper option anyway,we aint gettin no one
That is not a bad fee for Podolski,
If we could offload pinky and get him in, I would be over the moon.
Can play wide as well.
He has not had the best of times at Bayern, but had a great scoring record at Cologne and at International level.
Definately worth a punt, someone will get a bargain there. Would be better that RSC
cardiff away,
that’s a bus stop for you pat
There is no way I would go there as a fan Kelsey, it is honestly not worth the abuse, they are animals and get even more hostile when there is a bigger team in town. They certainly can act like the 12 man.
Shame as Cardiff is a top night out, and Swansea is even better. See I could not be any more hated on that day,
I am English, Support Arsenal and live in Swansea.
bayern wanted bendtner at the start of the season,we’d struggle to offload him to birmingham agian on loan after this seasons performances.
roumors are circulating that we are swapping bendtner for upson, and kolo for ireland
id have both them deals of they came true.
I’d take both of those deals too JonJon.
cardiff were the original burbery chavs, they came up to leeds one night and tore the city centre apart, and there was only 4 of them.
and one of them had a madrid shirt on 
there are so many girls in cardiff,my mate used to go to the uni so whenever we were in the f.a cup final i used to go to the student union,that place was like spearmint rhino and camden palace all rolled into one,oh man im goin to cardiff away
i tell ya,these cardiff guys are nutters,remember when that old boy who old wimbledon bought cardiff and hired all the banned hooligans as his bodyguards so they could get back into football grounds as employees
i remember going there over 30 years ago,to ninian park and we drew and beat them in the replay.it will be a hard game,especially with the squad as it is.
the other day i mentioned that the euro valuation by some teams could have a huge impact on transfers as the £has lost 40% of its value to the euro,and someone on here said we had a fund of euros,which is rubbish.the arshavin deal may well stumble now because of the price.
dont forget the durex bergy
and get the ribbed ones, and turn them inside out for YOUR pleasure
owned wimbledon i meant,not old, was his name sam hamman?
Great, Totti’s injury isn’t as bad as everyone thought and he’ll be back in time to play us
lol jonjon does that work?? il keep that in mind coz there probably quite a few buckets in cardiff coz of all them rubgy players
fucking hell yeah bergy, what did they call him now???
eyebrows. sam hammamamammamam or something
tottis days are long gone, im not even worried about roma, totti or no totti
just make sure you don’t go to Newport… the old man decided itd be a good idea to park the car in Newport and get a local train into Cardiff for the Man U cup final. When we got back the car only had one window left lol
Jonjon- Vucinic is Roma’s best player by a mile
i usually believe the opposite of what the board or tabloids quote,but in toure’s case i think it is feasable he wants out and the ireland deal may not be so far fetched.
i still think if any dealings are done they will be from within the p.l.and could include swap deals,but the last thing we want at the minute is fewer players.
lol he was a character though that haman,he told dean holdworth he would buy him a ferari if he scored 15 goals by christmas once then he tried to pay kinnear to keep robbie earl on the spot kicks
In the post Geoff, you say that Wilshere has signed an 8 yrear contract and i had hoped for a link because thus far there is nothing of the sorts on Arse.com or any announcements.
Also Van Persie hasnt actually signed a big contract because the club took it off the table. And Ransey isnt 17 any more.
Just a few observations.
swansea are a bunch of nutters as well,i think if you walk into a rugby pub with a football shirt on ur guts are garters anyway
I cant see them letting Ireland go. SWP is injured for a month and Ireland has been their best player all season. Plus Ireland is prick. I hate him but he is a good player. Cunt tho!
if you need any further confirmation that Steven Ireland is a prize prick:
http://www.here.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pinkrangerover.jpg
lol stu,i agree about ireland,him and belamy i wouldnt want players with their faces,even if kaka got a bellamy face transplant id hate us to sign him
my god what a palnk,dont show nikky B that pic,his aston martin will end up simular
The worst things about Ireland : his voice, his appearance, his personality.
He sounds like a 6 year old.
Remember when he has a receding hair line? He got hair implants and then last summer shaved his head! Cool or what!
And he is a cunt. He said that his grandmother had died so that he could go home from internationals for Ireland. Being Irish myself, thats pretty fucking annoying. And apparently he did that because he girlfriend told him to-p so he is whipped too.
Good things : he is a good footballer.
Whoever writes the Cardiff section for Vital Football is an idiot. He still thinks Hleb and Rosicky play for us.
his best attribute is his shot though stu,you know afc stars are ordered to ceasefire from outside the penalty area
jack signed a new contract new years, it was part of his xmas box as well as some action men and a pram from mother care.
Its not that bad Bergkamp, I live inbetween Neath and Swansea and most of the lads in the Rugby Club I go to are Football fans as well, in fact a few of them are Arsenal Fans.
Swansea is actually a really friendly night out now. If any of you are coming down for it, I highly recommend that you make a weekend of it and stay in Swansea. It is about 40 mins on the train to Cardiff, the accom is cheaper and like I say you will have a great night out. All the pubs are one street and all the clubs are on the other. It is like Ibiza at times and is usually full of hen nights on a Saturday night.
I will even invite you up to the Pub I have in my back garden, It is an 20ft by 22ft Arsenal Shrine, with a 9ft American Pool table and views across the valley.
Robben is playing so well for Madrid
btw i like the upson – nikki b swap deal? any 1else?
Oh and I have worn an England Football & Rugby shirt in a Welsh Rugby club as well and had no bother. I think they admired my balls for doing it in the first place and we are growing in number down here as well. I got a bit of friendly banter but left with all my teeth which was a bonus.
could Kolo Toure’s decision to remove his transfer request have anything to do with his imminent departure from Arsenal?
By demanding a move a player ensures his old club don’t have to honour any loyalty payments outstanding in his contract.
But Manchester City have solved that problem!
swansea is less english?? the first time i went cardiff i didnt know why it was saying firkin or something like that on the toilet doors
pat
or it could be down to the fact gallas is off instead,
Pat, surely when a player puts in a transfer request the club will get less money. For all we know he could still be likely to go but he was taken of the list so we could get a few million more for him.
or it could be the fact that we aint signing another defender to push him further down the pecking order
Am I the only one that wouldnt be opposed to letting both of them go? And obviously bringing in a replacement.
Honestly the only CB we have that i would keep is JD. The other 3 can go if they want, but then again why would they want to?
Wenger reckons toure is going nowhere…
Hleb/henry/viera/pires/edu/etc etc?
Who does rossina currently play for?
if there’s any1 worth shelling out for it’s hamsik who plays for napoli
I’m sorry but i disagree with all this gibbs is great talk.. He looked nervous and being it was against plymouth after a c.cup run doesn’t justify a high rating cause he’s english…
And honestly diaby was the best player on the pitch after van persie.. How did he get a 6.5 but the woeful bendtner and annoymous ramsey get a 6 and 7 a peice.. Suppose the ratings are there to be debated
my view is that by the summer toure,gallas and bedtner will be gone,and in bedtner’s case most probably this month.Then we have the stalling od rvp’s contract,theo has not been wrapped up to an extension.the board and wenger completely opposite quotes with regards to funds,unrest amongst players ade,rvp,gallas,toure,bedtner and they call this a tradition period.
first and foremost the club should focus on getting 4th and everything else is a bonus.i believe that wenger will stay as he is loyal and wants to see his youth project through and he has miscalculated this past year but he needs to force the board to provide funds.i think half the unrest at the club is that players thought major acquisitions would be brought in,not silvestre and bischoff.the nasri deal only happened after hleb was sold.on reflection wenger and the board are equal in blame,but we are a long way off in recovering our prestige and consistency
yeah but weve been selling players for years and the board dont put the money back into the team so if we sell we might end up with denilson on the wing ,central defence and central midfield all at once
i’d sell toure and bendtner. Loan out song and listen to offers for eboue.. But that’s just wishful thinking
Nice goal from Robben, against Villareal:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1933418/
i disagree,gibbs is not a natural defender,but he is good goin forward and looked the part,there was one point where he was holding a player off in the corner and nik the thick danish cunt stood 15 metres down the line scratching his ass,he put in two good crosses,better tha gael clichy has hit this season,and didnt fuck up blatantly
did any1 see the tackle by that southampton player on vidic?
hate the mancs or not, disgrace… and the manager thought it was a nonsense decision? Idiot..
i dont know why he dont consider gibbs on the left wing instead of playin eboue,if he wont give vela a go why not gibbs,we know he can get up an down and can try defend
i’ll agree with that bergkamp, but come on… If we’re opting gibbs a start at left mid we really are clutching at straws.. it’s embarrassing
Gibbs came to the club as a CM but was moved to left wing in the reserves and moved again to left back for the first team. If he ever moves again he might end up at right back.
He is a woeful left back right now but can always improve that.
what and eboue is a better option?? reva,at least gibbs will run back,how often do u see eboue looking back down the pitch and making no effort,when eboue was booooooooed off surely gibbs was a better option,eboue is a full back who is ok,but shyt wide left or right, gibbs is a wide player who gets played at full back when he aint that hot at defendeing
i think usin the word woeful next to gibbs is strong,he hasnt had a chance, bendtner qualifies for woeful, he hasnt had a chance yet
clichy was woeful,and still is at defending
United are getting sooo lucky with their goals. 1st one looked offside and now a penalty for handball, when it hit the wall.
lined up against the options id say gibbs is bright,and vela,who else should play left?? nasri is woeful
Just checked the replay again. Welbeck was definately offside.
They play SPurs in the next round.
no i’m not saying eboue is a better option… Just that eboue, gibbs, denilson, ramsey basically whoever arsene throws on that left wing is not the answer… funnily enough we don’t even have a natural left sided midfielder (no nasri isn’t)
Downing has just handed in a transfer request at boro….LOL…
Dire straits in every sense of the word…
If we can go on an 8 game winning streak this season i’ll stand in the trafalgar square fountain with bird seed taped to my nuts..
I dont even think Eboue is that good of a right back. Fair enough we got to the CL final but we also struggled to get 4th with him there. He was a great attacking full back but not good enough to play right-mig. imo he is a wingback at best.
He cant play wide right and while he as been playing there he has forgotten how to play RB. He is officially useless now. He was horrible against Porto.
Clichy has gone from mr reliable to calamity jane
no reva,but until better comes along then u can only work with who you have available, id say vela,then gibbs,if nasri aint available,but even nasri has to pull his finger out a bit
Afternoon all… Agree with the ratings but diaby was our best player after van persie… a 6.5, but ramsey a 7? Ludacris.. Also, the fact your giving the nervous gibbs a 7 and nikki b a 6? More like a 3.5…
first time i have to strongly disagree with the ratings, but it is all a matter of opinion…
Loved the part about walott.. Why is he whinging? It’s taking a while but for his agent to say he was one of the country’s and arsenals best performers before he got injured is something of delusion on his agents part… The only good game he had for us was against blackburn other than that it was headless chicken suprise..
Scoring a hattrick against croatia doesn’t entitle you to 60-80 grand a week, english or not…
Onto the rumours….
Ireland is a good one, but it’ll depend on who city bring in… Plus he’ll cost in this currant climate upwards of 10mill….
Inler has a 9m buy out clause and we should be looking at that, and the rossina loan rumour has a more realistic look about it…
20m for arshavin? that made me giggle… arteta was a good rumour but unrealistic…
It’ll be 1, 2 at most.. Can’t see us selling any defenders though…
Is Senderos coming back or are Milan stupid enough to fork out the 6m?
I’d sell eboue but who covers right back if sagna get’s injured specially now hoyte is on loan at watford…. He has to go in the summer… Along with song, bendtner and gallas..
we are hitting a comon theme here that eboue and bendtner are both crap, we have better options on the bench
if we go on a 8 game run i will walk through cardiff in a leeds shirt borrowed off JonJons neighbours
Rev,
we havent had a left footed wideplayer since Reyes and he only plaued there in the CL. We will unfortunately never have a leftie played out left under Wenger. Its so annoying that he will play a right footer on the right but never a leftie on the left. Thats why we cant cross because everyone cuts inside.
we have much better options in the reserves,not even the bench
toure can do the same job as eboue at RB, only with more conviction
lol nah toure is a bigger idiot and more rash without the ball,he gets fooled easier than eboue,remember his last outing at anfield
il come with you bergy, but im wearing a teflon vest.
How about in a Swansea Shirt Bergkamp?
I am sensing a sidebar for Pedro and Geoff on this, so far it is one game with bolton next, we are 1/4 of the way there.
reVelation;
Fuck me!
Gibbs is just starting out and you wanna slate him? Thats a top attitude there fella.
Then not contenht with that now Clichy is shite?
Fucking brilliant!
Reva, Diaby… our best player? I can’t agree with that… he wasn’t anywhere near his best yesterday… but he did ok. I thought Rambo was a lot more sparky.
I didn’t think Gibbs was nervous, and a 7 was definitly fair considering the circumstances.
Kelsey it was me that said we held € as well as £. Just to clear that up, as of May 08 we had about €17m euros (£14m) either held or owed to us by end of financial year. Also dont forget uefa pay us €30-35m per season in euros, which means so far the collapse of sterling has been good to us as its added £3m to our £93m bank balance (we also made £1.5m in the summer sales plus something from the diarra sale). The club also claim to hedge their exposure to interest rate risk, so given the £/€ rate fall their is no way they wouldnt have protected the £100 odd m in the bank against a fall in the euro.
The moneys there, whether PHW et al wanna spend it is a differennt matter.
lmaooooooo i will walk through cardiff burning the dragon in a leeds shirt,i will even go in the kfc for a zinger and then to the pub while rugby is on
i’ll agree with you bergkamp… Vela should be starting.. I can’t understand how eboue, denilson, ramsey, diaby all are getting a go on the left but vela isn’t…
Before any akb says.. But Wenger see’s them in training and knows what is best..
It’s been a while since i’ve been convinced with that previous statement, a very long time….
Diaby was very good in centre mid yesterday.. Funny how players show thir worth when played in their natural position….
It’s always been diaby – cesc for me… Song shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team…
ramsey and denilson are like for like so if we can bring in a big lump like Inler, denilson can go out on loan…
eboue fools himself with them stepovers, he just puts his head down and runs, if nobody tackled him or he didnt tackle himself hed probably run out of the stadium and down the road. forest gump style.
London, they called it off…
i will document my outting and post it on legrove, for 8 LEAGUE GAMES
nasri also plays better in his ntural position, in the middle
Pedro,
i gotta disgree, but thats part and parcel.. i thought Diaby given a chance in centre mid takled well for once, won balls in the air and dominated albeit against a very average plymouth side… van Persie was the difference, but it’s those performances of his that are few and far between… he currently cannot have the humph that he hasn’t signed an 80k a week contract.. he needs to be banging in 20 + and staying fit first..
As for theo.. a hattrick against croatia doesnt entitle you to a 65k + a week contract.. And how he was one of the bets players for us before he got injured is a very greedy deluded agent talking because apart from the blackburn game it was headless chicken suprise from theo
nasri will dissapear up his own ass if he plays in the middle against bolton, we need ade the daddy back flinging his elbows for that one
How the fuck is Mike ‘season ticket holder at OT’ Riley allowed to ref ManU games STILL?
to be honest i hardly noticed diaby,is that a good thing??
Bolton H
Hull A
Everton A
West Ham H
Spuds A
Sunderland H
Fulham H
I think you will be ok, we will drop points in that lot.
bergkamp that’s a bit harsh lol..
the fa are up snotty noses ass cos if they dont do as they are told he’ll pull half his squad out of the england setup
I thought Diaby was OK, but there were more stand out players
Gibbs, Nasri, Djourou, Ramsey and RVP all had better games.
to be honest Angry he got the sending off spot on…. The linesman never gave the offside and the handball although fortunate for the mancs, would have been a misnomer had he given the peno for the sandwich on wellbeck…
maybe he was the invisible wall REVA,or just a little invisible step
Hunterlaar does not look a 17m player…. His support play is useless…
the welbeck sarni was outside the box
I’ll never get over Riley’s performance at OT!
Twat that he is!
iv said before huntelaar is useless at everthing except for scoring goals, he just goal hangs, he needs it put on a plate for him, abit like linekar
refs are just a country side squirell poachers,they shouldnt be allowed inside built up areas where different cultures meet,their out of date and have all known jehn terry and steve gerrad and alex ferguson for 15-20 years ,we need a modern era of refs,prefferably italians
well we can all agree to disagree but diaby was solid yesterday in my opinion… Being his first game actually starting in the centre in a 4-4-2 makde me giggle though..
Wenger must be the only manager who thinks players should be able to play anywhere…
I think someone needs to tell Wenger players might be able to use their alternate foot more prolifically, but other than that i oesn’t exactly aid their development…
Eboue has gone from a decent right back o a useless utility man…
Song has always been useless.. the african cup of nations has the same level of competitivness as the carling cup, in the group stages think ldv vans trophy…
Diaby doesn’t know what to most of the time although wenger seems to have justified his stint on the left as worthy with 2 left footed goals…
it goes on and on…
But then theres the lack of funds, kolo doesnt like gallas, gallasgate, van pesie and walcott contracts, bendtner’s attitude, clichy’s form, fabregas’ injury… it’s going to a long january…
Do any of you believe we will actually turn roma over or even beat them? Because i don’t..
rossi done a bendtner
we will stuff roma,thats the one guarantee
the champions league suits us with our non contact brand of defender
Huntelaar came off awhile ago already
Whats all this talk about Huntelaar?
yes perhaps bergkamp, but the problem is we cannpt keep a clean sheet at home. They’ll be able to unless van persie and tt have stormers in rome
interesting and confirms he is sticking to a scheme .
and the transfer budget is a minnow . !
WENGER: WE WON’T SPEND CRAZY MONEY
Arsene Wenger has declared people were in “dreamland” if they expected Arsenal to break the bank during the January transfer window, and warned football was not immune to the credit crunch.
The Gunners head into the new year already behind in the Barclays Premier League title race – back in fifth, some 10 points off leaders Liverpool – while also without key men like captain Cesc Fabregas and England winger Theo Walcott because of injury.
Wenger is expected to look to strengthen his depleted squad, most likely in midfield, this month.
Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin continues to be linked with a £20million move away from Zenit St Petersburg, but Wenger today played down reports Everton’s Spain international Mikel Arteta was another target.
However, given the current economic downturn, the Arsenal boss maintains acquiring a new man will not be at any cost – and only if an “exceptional talent” can be found.
“We have a specific budget which is not as big as I have read in the newspapers, some ridiculous amounts of money that are completely crazy. But we will try to use it wisely and well if we can,” he said.
“This team is together, getting stronger and stronger – but what we need to focus on is continually developing and not live in dreamland where we are linked with players of £30million or £40million because that is not realistic.
“We have a very, very good squad and we will go for an exceptional talent only – but if it is just to have one player more, we will not do it.”
Wenger added: “At the moment, people in football are not conscious of what is facing us economically.
“People still think we are in a bubble, but we will be hit like anybody else in this economical crisis, I am convinced of that.
“You will have a much more cautious market than you expect it to be and one of the isolated powers you could have are Manchester City.
“That will be one of their strengths because they will not have quite as much competition as they would have had in normal circumstances.”
Arsenal have a long-term debt commitment following the move to their new, 60,000-seater home at Ashburton Grove – and Wenger maintains the Gunners must continue to live within their means.
“What is most important is the club has built a new stadium and we live in a very strong and healthy situation financially,” he said.
“You look how many clubs have done that and we play at the top. “How many clubs have managed to build a new stadium, have a good financial situation and continue to play at the top?”
Wenger continued: “It is not that we do not want to spend.
“We have gone for a policy that is to develop our young players and we have to show some character and strength, not listen to everybody who comes out everyday with a new name.”
Wenger maintains there are very few clubs in the Premier League who can simply buy their way to success.
“Chelsea have not built a stadium and they lose £100m per year – how do you imagine you can deal with that at Arsenal Football Club without going bankrupt? We have to be responsible,” he said.
“I do not understand how you can compare with that. The other clubs, except for Manchester United, lose money.”
Wenger does not expect any of his players to leave this month – including defender Kolo Toure, who had a transfer request, lodged in the wake of a disagreement over team selection, firmly rejected.
“The situation is that Kolo is a player who has two-and-a-half-year contract and will remain with us,” said Wenger.
“I am happy with players who are committed and Kolo is a big example.
“There was a minor incident that you can multiply by 20. It happens every day in every club which is sorted out. Kolo is happy here.
“We have a very young and compact squad and I don’t expect anybody to leave.”
Arsenal’s last trophy came when they won the FA Cup in 2005, and they face Championship side Plymouth in the third round at the Emirates Stadium.
“The FA Cup is one of three trophies that we go for with regular players,” said Wenger.
“It is one of the major priorities of the season.”
Bergkamp- what guarantee are you talking about? Roma are not as strong as last year, but they are really competative, they will be a good team to see if the squad can hack it. I still cant believe Burnsley beat us so who knows what will happen in the two matches against Roma.. Another team is ManC that beat us and look at them, their defense is crap but we didnt get one goal!! So what guarantee are you on about??
dunno stu.. some suggested it was missed chance by us, but from what i’ve seen in holland and based on today’s performance, he is vastly over rated… Unless it’s on a plate or a bicycle kickhe isn’t scoring…. his link and build up play are useless…
btw does anyone know who this rossina bloke we are linked with is? how old, what clb etc?
Why cant arsene make a cheeky bid for marik hamsik.. If you’re going to buy young players at least buy 1′s with proven quality…
Ethan, i didnt bother reading that but I assume its the one where wenger says he wont soend 40m on a player.
Thats a load of bollcoks. No arsenal fans have ever asked for that much to be soend. £16m on Alonso is far from crazy money. That would have been the mosr sensible piece of business for years.
We have to watch out for Jeremy Menez when we play Roma. He’s pretty damn good. Good news is, he’ll probably play on the left if Totti is fit. Sagna will shut him down.
I wish we could get these 2:
Cristian Zapata (Udinese)
September 30, 1986 – Centre back
Zapata has suffered badly from injuries recently, but if he can recover his full fitness, it will surely only be a matter of time before the Colombian joins a big club. Milan, Juventus and Arsenal are all reportedly waiting to pounce for the centre back who can mark, tackle, head, is fast, and is also extremely composed, often bringing the ball out of defence and starting attacks.
Marek Hamsik (Napoli)
July 27, 1987 – Centre Midfielder
Quite possibly the most complete young midfielder in world football, the Slovakian does not have a single weakness in his game. Can be compared to England’s Frank Lampard, in so much that he has the uncanny ability to make late runs into the box, and score crucial goals. Like Lampard, his scoring rate for a midfielder is prolific. The Slovak bagged nine last season, and he has seven already in Serie A this time around.
i have read several times from arsenal fans that wenger should get rid diaby,but completely disagree he has been has alot injuries in the past that has hamperd his delevopment but there is no doughting his ability with lots to learn,i feel nasri needs to more consistant oth wings but is clear he can play both wing and central role and wenger,i dought wenger will buying any wingers with 3 gifted wingers on loan plus wilcatt and risisky comming back he just needs a more central player and eather you agree with it or not i suspect i think he going to stick with song and delinson as dm
I dunt know either Rev. I like Huntelaar jusrt because of his ability to put te ball in the back of the net. With us he would certainly get a few chances to do that.
Rosina is 25, can play either wing or behind the CF and plays for Torino. Is left footed and ……bald. Thats all i really know about him.
Pat, i like the look and sound of Hamsik but im not sure on Zapata at all. I’ld rather not have a south American defender. Just a preference of mine.
omg marek hamsik is a fabulous player… Ive mooted his arrival in comments above Pat…
If wenger is going to buy younsgters at least let them be somewhat known and talented… You can only get luck in the backwaters for so long….. Everyone knows about africa now, the eastern block is the big place now….
He is playing at napoli… we could secure his services for 12m easy….
ireland would cost just as much as would arteta, inler, or anyone else dramed up…
Wenger though will get abrgain basement old head or a 16 y/o peruvian starlet…
Huntelaar would have been a great signing but Wenger would never pay Ajax’s asking price, i think its good for the kid to go join VNRoy in R madrid since they are very similar players, and they are so many dutch players in that squad. IMO best buy RMardid could have done in years!!!
Also if Hamsik has no weaknesses in his game I wonder why he is compared to Lampard?
leon i’d keep diaby and get rid of song.. If we could get another centre midfielder in (i.e hamsik or inler) then denilson could go out on loan… preferably to a championship team to get his used to rugged play.. he get’s flung all over the pitch for us at current….
Stu agree with your there about south american central defenders especially.. But zapata is a bit special believe me… Plus if you’ve plyed your trade in italy you are going to KNOW how to defend…. Which is more then our lot do at the moemnt
we will turn roma over easily
we cant keep a clean sheet but neither can they and we are better equipped to outscore them over two legs.
they are getting smashed in their own league, we’ll smash them at home like we smashed porto and maybe sneak a narrow win or a draw away, i aint fussed about roma, they shit, we shit, but they shitter.
yes stu its that one ..
but the point is he says the money available is nothing like the papers state – which is really what certain members of the board stated .. meaning i think wenger is having a dig ..
sunday mail is running an article stating wenger is in a standoff with the board about funds available..
it could all be a ‘news’ scam , but i can 1/2 imagining it happening !
We should put more interest in any of the international Dutch midfielders since they are all quality…!!
Hamsik is brilliant. I think it was Mourinho who said he’d pay 30 million euros for him, this past summer.
12 million easy? Try again. This kid is a gem.
Just on the mention of Ajax, I think we should buy some players from there. Some of their young players leave for other european clubs and flourish eventually joining a big club.
Chivu
Sneijder
vdv
Huntelaar
I would rather for once that we could skip the midle man and just buy those kind of players.
stu lampard is quality… his weakness is probably tackling back, but when you score 20 plus goals a season from centre mid you can be forgiven that surely…
i guarantee we will stuff roma,our players will be relieved to get off this league bollocks, they will be well up for it
vdv and huntelaaar have an awful lot to prove…
lampard just hits the target, or close enough to get a defelction,our midfielders either shoot a back pass or clear the bar,and thats if they even bother which is unlikely
i mean 12 mill plus bendtner and song pat
you dont get 20 goals a season by just hitting the target or hoping for a deflection… I’d rather fat frank over stevie g every day of the week.
but it helps reva,especially when 50% of the shots actually do defelct in
I actually prefer Hargreaves over Stevie G and Lampard. Different role, I know.
From Ajax right now I like the look of Suarez(obviously), Vermaelen, Sulejmani…and even Stekeleberg.
true bergkamp…
lol@bendtner claiming the goal….. did any1 else notic that only ramsey wanted to join the celebrations
vdv and huntelaar have a lot to prove?? Why because vdv just left the German league with A+ performances, almost won the Euro (except that they was a traitor managing the fuckin russians) and Huntelaar has been the top scorer of the Dutch league, what are you talking about really?? Bentner has a lot to prove!!!!
http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s378/st138225.htm we need a couple towers in the team
VDV has been horrible in Spain. He was the worst player on the pitch against Russia. He was lazy and angered many Dutch fans with his performance against Russia. The effort wasn’t even there.
50% of fattys goals are deflected, 25% are pens and 25% are tap ins.
hes the most overrated player in england
lol nah nasri actually asked him if he got a touch,he didnt look convinced even when nik said yes reva, i sit behind that goal and i knew he was nowhere near it
no one joins kinky boots in celebrations cos no one likes him
Agreed, Lampard is the MOST overrated player in England. The Lampard that was in 04/05 was great. Now, nothing special.
when we played chelsea i saw lampards face in the 55th minute and we were 1-0 down an i knew we had won,he was out of it,he needed more than a lucozade
vdv for Shalke04 what their best player, in R Madrid they dont play the guy as a regular player, during the Euros the dutch coach had problems with his team selection because he was flooded with quality, luckely for him Seedorf didnt want to play..
sorry, but they both still have alot to proove.. What have they won exactly? The dutch league is a back water league plain and simple and the bunesliga nowadays isnt much better… bendtner has alot to prove? of course he does….
Holland were knocked out by russia and it’s hiddinks fault they didnt turn up? dont make me laugh…
Rasdef first of all vdv played for hamburg NOT schalke.. He doesnt play for madrid because the manager doesnt rate him, simple…
How is having too many quality players at international level a problem?
having two free kick takers is a problem,especially when the good one is wesley sneider and the crap one is rvp
anyone read that post i put up?? that could be the alonso bid turning into bricks an water
who ever wenger brings in it will be someone of the same standers as nasri type player for no more 15 million if he can get a few deals and knowing wengers vast scouting network i am sure he can
ive read it bergy, thats why we arent going to sign anyone again.
ok he played for hamburg, but he still was their best player,
About team selections you cant put them all on the pitch plus you have to find a working system.. How can R mardid bring in a player like him and not rate him?
You still cant convince me that they have a lot to prove buddy, its just isnt going to happen…
lol JonJon you cant play a tower block mate
anyone watching gladiators,we should sign that female one named tempest,yeahhhh
we could put one in goal, that would solve a few probs.
i think were just gonna become a building company,adebayor might as well hang his boots up and test his brick layin ability
Revelation… since when has winning things determined whether you can go on to win things?
Benzema has only won stuff in france, but he’ll be a top players… Villa has won a couple of cups domestically, but you can’t tell me he wouldn’t add something to someones team… and Ruud Van Nistelrooy was always going to win trophies when he left Holland.
I’m not asking for players who have won trophies… jeez, look how many Silvestre has won. I want mid twenties top quality. Arteta, Ireland, Arshavin… I’d even take that Rosina chap.
We need nearly great players… like we got when we bought Freddie, Bobby P and Thierry.
I’m wondering what the coach is going to do for us though!
I wouldnt be surprised if we got at least one player on loan. Gawd knows who tho???
Stevie Me is 10 times the player Lumpard is IMO.
Angry, what about Elano on loan?
the problem with a laon player is his value will rocket or his club will sell him else where if he does well
I think the clubs agree a fee before.
maybe pedro,but the player can act funny and say nahhhhhhhhhhh if madrid or manure show an interest
i think its pretty much poitless trying guess wenger is going to bring in it usualy be someone from club french or europeon club
I’d take Elano. He’s quality but has fallen out with Hughes. So theres 2 reasons to sign him! Sounds like a top lad!
I reckon he could pick up our style pretty quickly as well… I guess the stumbling block would be hughes… how long will he last?
its a sad day discussing takin a city player on loan,times need to change..gaian
or again
I don’t rate Elano at all. Slow and disinterested most of the time.
Even though alot of the players at the moment aren’t great, I think we should retain some high standards and not fall into the trap of buying medicority. Arteta, Elano and the like are middle of the roaders and if you buy them, that’s where you’ll end up.
Why don’t have the super players to make them players raise their level to the level needed to win a league. Wenger needs to buy some gems. I would take Rosina or Arshavin. They’re EPL unproven but ability wise they are on a different level to Arteta etc.
just realized that Elano is only 27.. I alway thought the guy was like 32… But i dont think he’s what we really need. Give me Inesta or Xavi and ill be happy
thats what i feel paulinho,arteta is a consistent mid table performer,if he was as good as people think i reckon there would be some interest in him from a few teams,afterall he plays for a pile of shyt club that outdo themselfs by stayin mid table
That guy from Betis is good. Emana or something.
add messi kaka and ronaldo to that list ras def and we are back in the mix
I’d like Kaka or Messi. Not Ronaldo
Madrid are the signing the right winger I was hoping for – Milos Krasic of CSKA Moscow. He would be a great right winger for us.
everton are a good team they are more than a mid table team, arteta is one of their main men, everything is created by him, we could do alot worse than arteta
song, eboue,?????
give me arteta anyday over them
song and eboue wouldnt even get into evertons first team, injuries or not.
Sure why not JJ… add Deco, Henry, Yaya just in case we need a little more punch…
Lassana Diarra – 8 – A highly encouraging start by Diarra, who performed exactly the same role that his namesake usually does. Looked full of running and did not lose fitness as the game wore on.
Arjen Robben – 9 – By far the best player on the pitch, and was the difference between the sides. Scored one of the goals of the season.
Rafael Van Der Vaart – 5 – Wasn’t on for long, but was largely anonymous as an auxiliary forward.
lmao ras def
dont forget buffon vidic and ferdinand
Buffon
Sagna Chillieni Vidic Clichy
Messi Cesc Senna Ribery
Villa RVP
I’d be content with that!
Actually, replace Ribery with Robben
Arteta is a quality player, has tons of Prem exp and wouldnt need time to settle in, unlike naming unproven fellas from 1000s of miles away!
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzz!
Arteta is proven average. I don’t think he’s even got a spanish cap yet.
He would come in, everyone would expect some Fabregas type player, and be groaning after five minutes of him sending in cross after cross. He’s got no skill or vision whatsover and consistently bends over when the likes of United and Chelsea piss over Everton’s midfield year after year.
Thats one way of putting it!!!!
unproven like alonso was in the summer?? or like that defender we never signed after watchin for 5 years who went to city?? or proven in the champions league do u mean?
paulinho
thats because manutd and chelsea have ploughed millions of pounds into their midfields, arteta is still a good player
he hasnt got a spanish cap cos he cant get into their side, cesc cant even get into their midfield,
but we cant afford iniesta or xavi so we are left setting our hope on players like arteta
Arteta has been one the leagues most consistent performers and without him Everton would indeed be a mid table team.
I know it aint dead exotic like some of the names mentioned above, but the benefits are many;
No settling in time or adaptation required, can play in a few positions…
Bergkamp;
If i thought Alonso was a viable option, I’d go with him, but it’ll never happen. Not this season anyways mate.
evening all..
arteta is class… he carries all of everton on his shoulders.. him and cahill!!
Cmon Wenger, are you listening, how desperate we are all getting, save us ol’boy!!!!
My choices are probably not what others on here would consider good enough for Arsenal, but i think they would strengthen our wafer thin squad.
I’d love us to sign Kirkland…See, told ya!
And Owen…….. there I go again!
Didn’t Wenger say he wasn’t interested in Arteta? Or Given?
I think Arshavin is the only name he didn’t deny. It’s either him or Rosina or Fernandez Hernandez Calcado from Estudaintes!
I think I’ll go effin spare if I have to go thru the whole of January waiting for signings!
7 assists last year (Same as Hleb), 12 assists the year before (One less than Ronaldo and Cesc), so far this year he has 4 goals and 5 assists…. all in a pretty average team.
I would say he is far from average.
question
how much is ade worth now ?
Pompet bought defoe for 8.5million and now they want 20 million to sell him back to spurs
obviously the redknapp involvement is effecting the price
Sorry… 6 goals and 4 assists this year!
£20million Kelsey.
pedro,
would you sell him now for 20million providing we bought another striker or not,or wait till the end of the season when he most probably will bugger off
No way, I’d keep him. He is too valuable to our set up at the moment. He scores, he sets up and he is young.
We’d miss him if he went.
Would you?
I’d like aswell,
Bosigwa, Terry, Skirtel (that tough coookie), Carriger, that other criminal, Lampard, Kuyt, Ibrahimovic, Ribery, benzema, Upson, Hugeland, Toti, Ben Arfa, Rohnalidino, Tolalan, that kid in Liege, Souarez, huntelaar, the whole spanish team and Zidane from 1998!!! Oh and myself ofcourse… miss anyone else??
who are you talkin about pedro
Can we like, erm, just effin ADD to our squad?
Kelsey- Ade’s goal ratio is not as bad as you think he does score a lot, he would have an impact for any team he’d play for, unlike that other tall lanky looser Crouch..
choy,
adebayor.
i would sell him but not now,only because at this moment we are short of strikers.eduardo will be back soon and hopefully mentally back to his best,but i think ade is a disruptive influence amongst others at the club,he comes first and foremost i.m.o.
Just seen RVP at the darts. Crowd gave him a boo……….
oh ok kelsey.. any reason why he didn’t play yesterday?
I was all for flogging Ade in the summer, especially for £25M+. Now we gotta hang onto him, well, till this summer anyway!
7 assists and 11 goals… he’s done ok… if he goes on a decent scoring run in the second half of the year he’ll be in the twenties again.
i dunno about ade being a disruptive influence at the club,thats the first iv ever heard of it
There is no doubt Arteta would improve us. last year Eboue played over 30 games in all comps in wide midfield, in that time he contributed……
1 assist
0 goals
Even Arteta on his very worst form wouldve brought significantly more to the team.
Me too Bergkamp… All the players seem to like him… bar Nik.
We don’t need Adebayor. Yesterday we looked fine and dandy playing Nasri behind RVP, playing some nice pass and move football. Adebayor just screws all that up with offsides and inability to actually have a shooting technique.
Look at Liverpool. They play 4-2-3-1 with Torres and Keane alternating the ‘lone role’. Why do we – the supposed best passing team in the EPL – need a battering ram, a Drogba-lite? Just play our precision football and we won’t need the likes of Ade. Ade ain’t getting any better at 25. Inherent lack of class.
Becuase we’re not the best passing team in Prem anymore.
I think doubling his assists this year shows he is improving.
we needed adebayor when we didnt have one attempt at goal at man city,or until he came on against west ham,robin beeds a partner up top,bendtner isnt good enough because robin does nothing to support,he is all take take take
adebayor hardly celebrates anyone else’s goals..
£50.00 a ticket for a darts match in a recession,and it’s sold out.
Pedro,can’t argue with the facts,i just don’t like him as a player or a person and his skills are very limited,but what he does give which is dearly missing in the team is a physical presence.we have too many lightweight players
paulinho,we dindt really look fine and dandy yesterday, were more effective without robin tan without ade
Oh i forgot Drogba….
Fact-Ade’s offside issues is a problem, he’s the player that had the most offside calls in the EPL and also in the CL… Maybe we should cut his legs shorter…
how can u say you dont like adebayor as a person,i dont think thats right,he’s hardly joey barton or a scum like them villa pricks who scream in refs faces,he just wanted what was due and for some reason we all side with a board who prefer hidin money
Kelsey, you wanna see the shopping centres round here… jam packed with credit card abusers. The recession hasn’t hit the average person yet.
Choy, no one celebrated nik’s claimed goal yesterday! I don’t care who celebrates… I’d rather that than a David Beckham like character celebrating every goal just to get in the paper.
He beat his GF Bergkamp… that’s not very nice, but his GF could be a bitch… so I wont judge.
there was really no need to celebrate that goal,nik was celebrating scoring against bar men and post men in pre season friendlys,he didnt ven get near the ball
lol pedro.. i just think it is nice to have team mates celebrate each other’s goals!
pedro allegedly,anyway it wasnt him,it was essien,and it was essiens woman
RVP can score Ade type goals and score his own special brand of howitzer type shots. Ade still hasn’t got a shooting technique and he scores goals hook or by crook, hogging penalty duties. He’s not fussy!
Arsenal and Ade are fundamentally not suited. We have to compromise for his oafishness and it’s eroding our brand mark game. We need the five in midfield to get our mojo back! Get some triangles in our passing again.
Whats the topic? Adebayor?
it wasnt his goal though choy
Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham hated each other… it didn’t make much difference. They still did a job…
nasri ran up to nikky and said did u touch it and nik said yes and nasri walked off
adebayors a good option to have on the bench, he can come on and change a game when the defenders are too knackered to deal with him
hes our plan B
but plan B is becoming plan A. weve lost our passing game and become hoofers.
Cardiff v Arsenal
FA Cup 4th Round
Saturday, January 24, 2009, 15:00
i disagree,van does fuck all without the ball,thats too much luxury in a team without a ballwinner
well said jon jon.. when adebayor has become plan A.. we have a problem
we dont have a plan b because our defenders cant even play a decent ball over the top and our wide men and full backs cross the ball like para olympians,no disrespect
adebayor is plan a,without him we would be in trouble i think,van as well
Plan A worked ok last year… it’s up to RvP to become the plan A.
last season we were quality,now its not ade’s fault the team aint playin well,we buckled as a team an didnt come back since,its not just him,he is the least of the problem
especially when plan A gets caught offside 10 times a game.
pointless
Pedro- if you believe everything then RvP is a rapeist too…
pedro.. we won nothing.. it didn’t work!
at the end of the day our defence is the biggest joke in the top half of the table, they arent that bad but always feel a duty to give charity,i dunno why they cant focus
When the justice system decrees that RVP is not a rapist, I’ll believe him.
He wasn’t charged… and the bird was found to be liar.
Ade was great last season because he worked so hard to make up for his shittness. But this season he thinks he is brilliant because of last season. He wants the ball even tho he cant use it.
the problem is the midfield.
no creativity, no urgency, no goals.
pass it from side to side back to the defenders and hoof it long to a striker whos idea of onside is to mark the oppsotion GK.
we got a midfield who let the ball bounce and stand still watching it till it gets in our net far too often, our forwards are the best players in the team,take a world class midfield partner away from cesc and he becomes ordinary as well
So… we should get rid of;
Almunia
Silvestre
Gallas
Kolo
Clichy
Gibbs
Denilson
Song
Eboue
Niklas
Ade
RvP
Did I miss anyone out???
cant use it stu but is joint top of the asist league,and pretty much our top goal scorer
True, true, but lets just not talk about justice systems, dont wanna get political now…
We’re not reliant on him at all Bergkamp. He can’t shoot, can’t stay onside, doesn’t work that hard. How do we need a player like that? He’s a useful sub is all.
Drogba is a top class juggernaut and genuinely creates havoc. Ade doesn’t at all. He consistently gets bullied out of matches like at Stoke.
United have no Adebayor either.
your innocent until guilty,if ade’s wife got a slap its because they didnt give him a uk culture guide,blame the home office
and we pay him 80k a week…
nah we just didnt have an attempt on goal for 3 games while he was injured paulinho
united just have 3 30mil+ strikers instead
ade isnt the only player ever to get 80k a week,this is what lets us down,we want signings and people talk about villa and huntelar,but how much do you think they earn?? 6 pound 50 an hour?? 80 is the goin rate for a decent striker these days,and ade is definantly decent,he’s best defender,our hardest working midfielder and half our goal threat right now
Sometimes people just need a good slap too, man, woman.. Wenger, the board…
look at nikky B for instance,nearly scoring another own goal with a simple clearance yesterday at the front post,this is our back up,thank god ade actually took the 80 if u ask me
ferdinand and terry both admit ade is the hardest striker in the PL to play against because hes so unpredictable, what we need is a marksman alongside him who stays in the box and hits 30 goals a season.
if dudu gets back to goalscoring form we have the most lethal pairing in the league in the making
we need to sort out that midfeild
If we had Huntelaar, no doubt we’d be slating him for being a lazy goal hangin twat and wishing we had a player who runs his socks off, scores all kinds of goals and gives oppo defenders a hard time. Now if only we had a player like that?
bullied out of matches like at stoke?? the geezer should have been arrested for that tackle seen as the ref couldnt do nothing as the ball was out of play, at least he didnt get himself sent off on purpose
exactly angry, we will never find another henry, fans seem to forget he was a one off,
Bergkamp, I haven’t really got a problem with Ade in the context of our overall situation, but I think we need to play Nasri in an advanced central role to bring some cohesion and purpose to our midfield play.
This would mean one up front. I would pick RVP ahead of Ade because of his goal threat from all angles and situations, as well his set piece delivery.
Ade would be a great sub, as he proved against West Ham.
adebayor throws his weight about as much as anyone, remember liverpool???
this is why we should play theo with ade,we would have every type of threat on the pitch then jonjon,teams would defend deep but the problem then is cesc shoots like a peg leg and the rest of them pass sideways,and gael crosses like he is trying to pass to the first defender of kill swans on the lake in finsbury park,right now we need robin till we get goal scoring midfielders
4-4-2 ain’t working. Nasri is shite on the wings and we don’t have enough movement or class to make pass through the opposition like we could last year. For that we need another option in there to outnumber the opposing midfield. We have quite a few of those options such as Diaby, Ramsay, Nasri, Wilshere.
Plus, Ade and RVP are a crap partnership. They’ve never really clicked at all.
paulinho,so we play nasri in the middle,ok kevin nolan,ermmm ok i think he will dissapear, he has 10 minutes against portsmouth after baba got stretchered tackling denilson and ten good minutes against the mighty plymouth,thats all,maybe he should get a go but he has to work to play there,it aint like he has great players willing to cover him if he loses the ball
i dont think nasri will be a great arsenal player,i know its early but he just doesnt look classy on the ball ever,even against plymouth when he tried play the ball out of defence in miles of space and hit nikky boy on the back,its calamity
I like ade, he’s very athletic for someone his size.. Had we Huntelaar then we would just send the ball into the oppositions box and one of the two would score..
JJ- isnt RvP that marksman your talkin about, I want 20 goals from the guy this year and it seems that he’ll be getting there if he’s got a good second half of the season..
The way we have played this season is depressing and it is evident in most of our players body language even cesc at one point looked dejected. lets sign some quality players, play our best 11, have a good run of games then u would see how players attituses would change. Just my opinion. Im bored of slating players.
Well the two central players behind him would theoretically would some defensive cover for his free spirit mentality.
£80k is the going rate for an in demand player like Ade. He scores, he assists and he tires other teams.
Look at how many Rooney, Tevez and Berba have between them… look at how many Keane has.
Ade is doing ok.
As for slapping women… I don’t care what culture you come from, it is a cowardly act.
lol franchise,we dont even know who is responsible for lack of transfer activity these days
its a fact that ade’s work rate is not the same as last season. hopefully his new wages and status hasn’t got to his head
theos another option bergy,
when you think about it we dont even need bendtner.
we dont need another striker either, we have the strikers already at the club
we need to find some penetrative wideplayers who tear defences apart while they are busy handling ade.
players who can dribble shoot cross and pass and above all keep the ball
and a fucking DM who can tackle and distribute to protect that defence.
wengers teams of the past defended by attacking, when wengerball worked we used to have 75% of possesion every game, and a goal threat to match, we need to learn to keep the fucking ball.
wengers tactics work, its the players that dont.
Huntelaar is nowhere near the player RvN is… I am not suprised Madrid signed him, but he is slow… a bit lazy… but a great finisher. I’d prefer Eduardo.
the thing is to win stuff you gotta have goal threat from much more angles,dixon an winterburn age 34 were more prolific than some of our current players,gael clichy and sagna dont even get in the box ever and i remember winterburn and dixon takin risks, gael forgets to defend but dont contribute at the other end,silvinho was all round better
I dont think Nasir should be in anyother team but AFC. Our ‘wengerball’ fits the kids way of playing. He needs people to cover for his runs thats all, give him as much time as bentner got and then you’ll maybe find that legend that we’re looking for. In the time he’s played he’s got more oppertunities to score than pinky…
sagna and clichy are two of the worse crossers of the ball ever. they make SWP look like David Beckham and Beckham like DHL. lol
RVP aint no marksman, hes more of a link up player, he comes into the midfield too much to get the ball. thats why he cant play upfront on his todd, we’ll end up with 6midfielders.
add to the fact hes left footed and never scores with his left foot, he aint no marksman
20 goals in all comps the best he’ll get
JonJon, that is why I am demanding Rosina. I’ve seen two dribbles of his… and a goal.
Lets get him! haha!
I don’t think we need an out and out winger… Theo and Vela should be able to do that. I think we need a versatile midfielder who can create and play accross the midfield and a decent holding midfielder with energy and pace.
I’d like a centre back to… Hangeland is available. 6ft5in… captain of Norway and the right age. How wrong can we go with him?
nasri aint pinky,he cost good money,we could have bought better for a couple mill more,much better
Pedro-Dont get me wrong, i think the same about slapping women, but it doesnt mean that they never deserve one…
theo and vela wont stay at arsenal unles they start gettin played upfront,these aint kids who wenger can mould,they are internationals who should be used properly
That’s the thing about Clichy. For all his energy and enthusiasm, I don’t think he’s in the same class as a Winterburn or cole. He really has f-all end product for anything.
Sagna crosses like he’s got a stomach cramp just at the moment of follow through.
hangeland is not available according to fulham
Bergkamp… having poor options in front of you as a full back inhibits your ability to attack. If you know you may not get it back… are you going to risk bombing forward? That 80 yard run back 4 times a game cane be hard… and can leave your team exposed.
According to Hodgson, who I watched in a press conference yesterday… he is.
Nasri is effin quality! Come on! |Should I add him to the list too then?
Cannot understand anyione slating lil Samir???
van needs to be a bit more creative at times,i got no doubt about his talent, but sometimes he needs to just pass,the simple ball
Since Nasri has join AFC, he’s been a exceptional contribution to the squad, period…
Right, Sagna’s on the ex-Arsenal player list too!
pedro, we dont need an out and out winger,
i agree with that, rosicky aint a winger but he can play wide cos he has the attributes,
denilson, eboue, and theo dont
theo has the pace but he runs into dead end, hes a better option used up front. defenders wont be able to handle him
Angry… sure, when he has settled in he’ll be great. His performances have certainly started to improve.
that dont stop clichy from flyin forward,and he had rosicky infront of him who tracked back,and other players,we cant keep defending clichy because he is the only player who runs like his life depends on it
he is a pro,and his strong point is gettin forward with no final ball of any quality,sometimes its comical him an nasri 5 yards apart passing back an forthnext to the oposition penalty area,u crossi,no u,u,no,next thing u know the whole team is back to defend and ade has gone from space to offside
we so need a wingerrrrrrrrrrr. someone who is probably left footed but very comfortable with both feet. full of tricks. always willing to stretch opposition defence.
clichy hasnt been all that this season, he works his sox off and we all love him for it and we cant knock him for it but if he didnt have the energy he would just be as bad as song eboue and bendtner, hes been poor this season beyond beleif
I’ve been following Nasri’s career since the start, why do you think OM was in the CL this season. I really dont see him play for any other team but ours!! You have no idea how happy i was when he join AFC, that made my summer!!!
And he was voted (by OM fans) as the player of the year!!! Try to satisfy OM fans, they’re a pain in the ass!
clichy and sagna are very good defenders but for a team that depends on full backs getting forward to provide width their delivery can surely improve. it needs to improve or several more good moves would be wasted by their awful final ball
ade is a big fucking beast,he jumps head and shoulders above defenders,surely it aing that hard to fire a ball there or there abouts above the penalty spot for him,like villa away and fuham and other occasions last season, thats plan B,but instead he has to go wide to cross himself coz the rest are unproffesional with a ball
clichy is definantly not a good defender
nasris going to be quality, but not out wide, he needs to play in the centre, out wide he goes missing
how many central players can we have though??
gallas kolo and clichey hate defendin,this is a problem
Clichy’s made some high profile fuck ups for sure. In fact his mistakes always seem to lead to goals. But shit happens! To say he’d be average if he didnt run around like a headless chicken or because his final ball aint up to much is bull fuckin shit!
Look, we have all agreed who the players we hate are and therefore will slate ad infinitum, so can we please get back on track?
Ta
Has anyone got tickets to the emirates cup this summer?? Or does anyone know whos going to be playing in it?
thats our problem too bergy, we dont have any real defenders , we have FB’s who play wing and CBs who play midfeild and striker(gallas)
as soon as we give away the ball we are in trouble, if we want to keep the system we need the right players and we obviusly dont have them.
good defenders have not made 5 big time mistakes by christmas that have all been punished,against villa he might as well have walked the ball in,he too advice from lee dixon for that header
Ok guys… who is an amazing final ball master in the Prem who is a left back?
I’ve looked through the names… and I don’t get where you are all coming from.
Ashley Cole 0 assists 0 goals
Arbeloa 1 assist 1 goals
Clichy 0 assists 1 goals
Young 0 assits 1 goals
Evra 1 assist 0 goals
I’m just wondering where these amazing left backs with superb final balls are playing… because they don’t play for the top 5 clubs?
thats another problem bergy, too many players for the same position and not enough players for others.
leads to square pegs in round holes
we have about 10 midfeilders on our books and none of them are DM,s or widemen.
JonJon… Sagna and Clichy were voted into the Prems all star 11 last year… of course they can defend!
They are both superb players and I think the criticism levelled at them is unfair.
gallas is a utility player,preferably a left back,chelsea won fuck all with him at centre back,france also, theres no legacy of being a full back legend,gallas wants lasting respect as a big centre half but cant play there,he dunno how,he defends against agbonlahor like he is peter crouch an vice versa
Pedro;
How dare you use facts and stats to proove a point!
No fair!
pedro,dont u think a pro should be able to deliever a decent ball 25 yards?? same as van,his freekicks are the worst in the world,and our corners,why dont we just cross the ball like the second half yesterday,why do we need 6 touches usually to cross from a corner?
Fuckin hell!
Now Ive heard it all!
Gallas aint a CB? Was shit at Chavski? Shit dam!
… and on the Lee Dixon and Winterburn point… lets get real here. They were part of the same back four that helped us to 10th, 12th and 5th in the Prem.
Pedro you cant judge this by assists. It doesnt look good when a full back sends in a cross w/o checking who is available for it after a good build up move. That is what clichy and Sagna do over and over again. U can probably make an 8min youtube video with Aimless crosses sent in by that pair. Keep an eye on it from now on if u havent noticed it already.
The most productive left back is probably Lahm. I heard that he was valued at 5m. Surely that is a load of bollocks. I wouldnt mind having him but would he start instead of either fullback?
I with Pedro on this one, Clichy is being called as one of the best CB in the EPL, possibly the world. Finaly he got called up as a French International, and that is hard because France have so many great LB…
gallas was so hot that he played mostly left back,was never first choice for any position at chelsea when they got serious
So, back to the list. Probably easier and quicker to list who we are actually gonna keep;
Cesc
Right thats me, seeya!
Bergkamp… he is a left back who helps add something to our attack… whether that is pulling players out wide, playing a pass back into the middle or delivering a pin point cross… it’s all a bonus with a left back.
His job is to defend and I think he predominantly does a good job of that.
pedro im not saying they are to blame for our defensive problems although clichy has made some stinkers this year
sagna and clichy are great players and deserved what they achieved last season, but when they bomb forward like wingers all the time it doesnt work unless we keep the ball
they are left exposed, it aint their fault, it aint the system, its the midfeild,
last year we had hleb rosicky flamini cesc and we worked the midfield like a dream, clichy and sagnas game was to the max
now we have denilson eboue song and we cant keep the ball for more than 5 passes, we pass from side to side and backwards and the FB’s are always caught out of pos.
until we sort out the mid clichy and sagna wont be the players they were last season.
cesc an sagna and clichy lol,and ram & jack
but they should still be able to cross a ball like a proffesional JonJon
gallas aint no CB hes a FB who cant be bothered running, thats why chelsea fell out with him, hes a utility man who can play anywhere along the back 4, but the main defender he aint.
wait pedro,u said delivering a pin point cross,kep it real man,gael clichy could cross into an empty box,even if the stadium was empty and he was the only player on the pitch,thats his major let down,thats why the ball comes back at us so quick,we dont use it well
of corse bergy
sagnas crossing last season was immence, pinpoint, this season hes been a joke, but i think its down to confidence IMO same with clichy, the doubts are there and the demons are in the squad and its showing, the weaker players are dragging our better players down big time,
too many passengers, cancels out the quality
i wouldnt swap clichy,but ashley was better going forward,he had much more purpose on the ball,and he defended like an adult,gael just seems to have bad concentration from time to time,all too often he is seeing off a box of kleenex for a great defender though
So what are you saying bergkanp, cause what i understood from all your ranting is that we need to change the whole team, you dont like Sagna, Clichy, Gallas, probably Silverstre, Denilson, Nasri, Song… But you also say give Bentner a chance, WTF man?
Bergkamp… when I go to games, I watch every player intently for my player reviews… I must say I have never noticed our attacks breaking down with any sort of frequency… becuase of a bad Clichy cross.
I know what im talking about ive noticed this since last season. Of recent i cant remember what game it was Sagna crossed the ball after playing a 1-2 with Ade guess who was in the box? Nasri. VP wasnt even in the 18yard. it was just Nasri up against 4 defenders and the ball still went behind the whole lot for a throwin.
maybe if the performers performed the weaker players might show some talent though,they must have some,i dont care what the blogs say,these players are given their stamp of approval by people who know JonJon
franchise,u just noticed this??
pedro,
when youve made a good attacking move and clichy crosses it into the crowd as the fimal ball, surely thats an attack breaking down, the same way ade gets caught offside,the same with our midfield passing it from side to side. its a negative way to end a promising move
clichy gets 4 or 5 crossing oprtunitys a game,how many get in the box?? usually none pedro, i watch the exact same players week in week out,gibbs hit some peaches yesterday and no one was in the area
clichys crossing is unproffesional
Bergkamp was shit coz he couldnt fly to away European games! Pussy!
JonJon, I just can’t believe that in a team with so many major problems… we are seriously talking about the full backs crossing ability as one of them.
It’s so so minor in the grand scheme of things.
Henry was a moody twat who choked in big games!
i understand that there are untouchables amongst the fans,clichy is one,but he does everything right but the final ball,its sad,clichy has potential to be a feared defender,imagine that,but he cant deliver and i dont believe he practices,he cant surely
Arsene doesnt believe in wingers. If he has the chance he plays 4 Central Midfielders across the midfield and the full backs provide the width. Having full backs that cant deliver good crosses or pull backs would see several chances wasted. Im not saying we dispose of them, no never, i just think they need to improve their final ball.
Tony Adams couldnt trap a dead water buffalo!
Bergkamp… so Clichy should start crossing peaches into an empty box?
pedro,well lets talk about mistakes then,its gallas and clichy the main culprits
Pedro;
You are sooooo effin right there mate!
It is doing my head in!
pedro, your just cuttin off your nose to spite your face,you cant see a bad word said about your clichy??
doesnt it go to all teams, that they all need to improve in the final 3rd. Really!
but when your big players are doing twice the job as they should be doing surely they cant peform the way they should.
we have 5 quality players in our team at the most, the rest are still learning, the mistakes they make are causing the whole team to suffer.
they cant do it all by themselves
cesc needs an engine to play next to who can win the ball and keep it, he needs players in font of him to make runs and pass it to
we have nobody who can win the ball and we have nobody who wants to make the run and its making cesc look half the player we no he is.
he cant do it by himself.
Bergkamp… you just said Gibbs crossed some great balls into the box… but no one was there?
That is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Just thought I’d finally pop on and say top post today Pedro – Mary
I have watched bosingwa afew times this season. His composure and fluidity when attacking and his ability to pick his teammates with crosses and pull backs is amazing. Defensively he is suspect i think Sagna is better defensively but no where near him offensively. A clone of both players would be ideal. Its not as if we are solid defensively Chelsea are still more solid so what advantage do we have with full backs that are suspect in defence and poor in attack?
Cheers Mary, I hope all is well with you!
bergkamp;
You’ve not really got the hang of this supporting lark have you fella?
Character assasination wasnt in the small print you know!
il list every player and tell you his probelm almunia- stuck on his line,dont command the area, crazy distribution……..gallas dont like defending…..toure million problems…….. sagna nothing to complain about could cross the ball better …clichy-makes too many mistakes,but thats ok coz he is an attacking player,but he cant cross the ball so maybe he should either fix the crosses or try cut down the mistakes….. denilson-not good enough and might never be………song crap …….. diaby is a tampax and an inconsistent one, cesc injured and has no GOOD partner, van could play for the team a bit more espacially without the ball and hit the target more often with easier chances,ade he is greedy and misses the goal too often,if we can solve these problems will do the treble
Dont get me wrong guys im not calling for their heads im just saying things as they are.
Bosingwa’s been pretty shite since teams found him out inni9t?
ade wasnt playin yesterday pedro,i thought u watch the games?,the target man wasnt even on the pitch
What is this crap that we always need someone to cover cesc forward runs? when is gets dispossessed we say ‘oh to bad’, when it happens to Nasri everybody points the finger, what the hell is this bullshit??
if weve got an emtpy box why do we keep trying to cross???
I’m good Pedro thanks, Not seeing Song in midfield in the last few matches has helped
I like Nasri in that more central creative role
it might be empty because everyone knows the cross will not go in the box,when we have crossed it ade has done pretty well for us
Arsenal, Everton and Manchester City are battling it out to sign St Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis for £9.5m. Gomis, 23, has been told he can leave in January and is desperate to show he can compete against the best defenders in England. Arsene Wenger knows a great deal about the prolific forward and is keen to add more firepower to his squad.
David Moyes and Mark Hughes are also tracking the progress of the prolific forward who was chosen ahead of David Trezeguet in the France squad for Euro 2008 last summer.
St Etienne chairman Bernard Caiazzo admits the club are keeping all their options open when the transfer window re-opens.
Caiazzo said: “A number of clubs have shown interest and got in touch with us, but nothing has been decided.”
All our problems (although I wouldnt mind a new GK!) can be pinpointed to the fact the midfield wasnt added to in the summer adequately.
This slating of 99% of the team/squad just really fucks me off and is such a negative waste of time that now I need to take my pills and go lie down in a darkened room with a damp flannel on my head!
I bid you goodnight….Night!
Sorry Bergkamp… so if the target man wasn’t playing… why was Gibbs whipping balls into the box? RvP is just as good with his head as Ade… and Nik ain’t too bad either.
If neither of those are target men… it begs the question why Gibbs was crossing the ball into an empty box?
Pat- Gomis is shit, i was watching him yesterday, he is crap!! I have no idea how he got selected to the French 11,
i think proffesional guys should be able to hit a certain area with a ball from any range or angle,its like a set play,ade out jumps defenders so just put them high in the box,and wenger tell him get in the fuckin box ,that will leed to goals,midfielders need to fioloow into the box to get rebounds or loose balls ,thats our failure in an attacking sense
we dont need to cross, we cross out of desparation cos theres no other option available.
sometimes pedro u just take a chance,defenders still had problems even with no one in the box,they led to corners,watch the games mate
spot on bergkamp. last season Ade had quite a few goals from crosses. The one against Newcastle comes to mind!
Trezeget was not selected for the Euro 2008! He fell out with Dominec (that shit) I like Trez but he’s dead…
ades up there by himself or sometimes hanging around on the pen box and the rest are stood on the haf way line.
JonJon good crosses leed to goals, when u see tevez scorin with his head it wasnt coz he is great in the air,defenders cant just clear good crosses
van put a decent ball into the box and its an own goal
IN : Stekelenberg, Hangeland, Toulalan, Gourcuff, Pogrebnynak.
Keep: JD, Cesc, Ramsey, Nasri, Theo, Vela, Wilshere, Sagna —everyone else is expendable and easily replaced.
ras def
whos dead??
Mary, it pleased me yesterday as well… let’s hope Wenger busts out that cheque book and starts signing some players pronto!
Bergkamp… strikers don’t think like that. If there is a chance you can get onto the end of something, you power into the box.
Players don’t stop running when Eboue has the ball just because he managed 1 assist last year… the make the run, and pray for a good ball.
Anyway, it’s been fun! Good night all!
side to side passing is out of fashion, theres a time to shoot or deliver,thats our weakest thing
metaphoriclly dead… dead to football at least.
lol pedro eboue is our best crosser of a ball
What i believe is that we dont pay enough attention to the small details in training? Crossing, defending set pieces, pressing teams when defending etc. Its no shock that we look so lost at times in games.
i agree with u bergy,
but weve never got anyone in the box except for ade(sometimes)
even if we do get a perfect cross in, theres four defenders and a GK waiting for it unthreatened.
all our players are stood 30 yards away
Ashley Young’s cross against Hull was top notch. Own goal
Stu, no way we’re getting Gourcuff or Toulalan.
RVP should be on the “keep” list
practice,while van practices his free kicks,gael can practice his crosses,and ade can practice anything,denilson can practice 3 point turns,practice is the key to savin our season
most of them should be on the keep list, we need to add to this team
id only sell players we dont need like bendtner.
Please do not sign Gomis, Wenger!!!!!!!! Get quality!!
ade couldnt jump,what did he do?? he went home tied a ball to his ceiling and withiing a month was headering the ball at 10ft,thats above the cross bar, rossicky and hleb were firing balls high,now gael needs to practice for the team,he can make a difference,im not arguing i believe gael must have watched a replay of his crosses at somepoint
3 point turns
LMAO
song can practice football and LJW can practice shaving
JJ if Arsene’s previous sides especially the invincibles varied their play crosses, pull backs, thru balls, 1-2s etc we would have won more titles. ManU are quite unpredictable in attack cos they vary their play. U remeber the way the tore us apart in the FA cup. We were playing a high defensive line and they just kept lobbing the ball behind the defense. We need crosses along with the rest JJ
what comment are you refering to franchise, im lost.
U said we dont need crosses or im i mistaken?
watch next time u see denilson,players run in quick when he is turning to get the ball,running up or divin in on cesc is disrespect for talent,gerrard tried it and got brushed and sat on the grass, denilson is a different story,ok he aint cesc but his turns are breaking health and safety regulations and he does them in crowded midfield
haha i was being sarcastic mate
of corse we need crosses, what i was saying was theres no point in crossing when the ball goes into the crowd 60% of the time and the other 40% theres no body in there but ade
your right though we need to vary our options, we dont have enough, thats why i said we cross out of desperation.
id love to see a pull back from the by line sometimes but we always go for the wrong option.
all of our players need to improve,its new year,no point getting stale,improvement all round,were not asking for too much,they owe it to wenger because he is taking the stick when they havent done themselfs any favours either
i beleive most of the players will improve bergy, this season is a learning curve for some of them, but some of them wont make it and we are seeing that already.
its just shyt after 25 passes we cross over the bar or into the first defender who is in no mans land, theres room to improve,i aint sayin sign a new player,this is an easy to correct problem,but it is a problem
Van Persie has done enough improvement already. Injury wise. lol
Ade’s wages has improved
hi guys what is going on?
Good result in the cup and Cardiff away, I am sure Rambo is up for that.
Bergkamp, have you got any good words to say about our players?
I think a few of our players are improving, and there seems to be a new shape to the team.
We need the “good run” we have been missing this season.
gallas hair style has improved.
so has denilsons english,
everyones a winner
mark c iv got a lot of good to say,but at the end of the day there is things all these players and the management could do to improve our chances,includin many simple things like chasin the ball till the final whistle,or aiming it for a man in a simular jersie
van improved,but it was still too cold for him to warm up in the second half against portsmouth lol
i dont think bergkamp is critisisng the players, hes normally the 1st one to defend them, we are just saying theres problem areas in the team that need working on.
hey bergy check out whats on BBC 2 at 10pm
LMAO
like most others i think neither Arsene or any one of the other 30 coaching staff are incapable of solving our defensive frailties. he needs help. Swallow ur pride boss and get a defensive coach. Even our U-18 side are letting in goals for fun.
gael clichy needs to work on his crossing and forget 2008,that wasnt his year,not that it was ours in any way, denilson needs to take his oportunity to cover cesc because i cant see two summers with no activity,theres no mercy for the weak this year surely, theo needs to play like he is in the games more often, song needs to prove people wrong
* nor
Bergkamp – players are humans, and they will make mistakes.
All of the players are very talented, they need confidence to play to their potential, and deal with the pressures during a game.
Passes can go astray, we need to win games, win by any means, win – dirty.
No player can be perfect for 90 mins.
lmaooooo KINKY BOOTS
lol JJ. Kinky pinky!
when keown worked on the defence we went on a run of conceeding no goals in the CL that made senderbramble look good.
im with you on that franchise we need a def coach
Mark C u have never heard of Zanetti at Inter then. There is this belief in Milan that he has never made a mistake in his Inter career. lol
mark c.our opponants seem to do better in the 90th than us,why? the players need to ask themselfs what missed oportunitys do or start defending till the final whistle like their lifes depend on it
Vela improved his english
Zanetti is a true legend. He is te definition of consistency and in amazing condition for his age.
are capable i meant but it seems u understood me JJ
hes that bad hes even got his on show on BBC2
not worth BBC1′s time i presume.
they can only build their own confidence,if they practice it will pay off,we dont give them confidence,you cant give a beaten man belief,its up to himself
training is training,i want practice
we dont need to defend until the final whistle, we just need to keep the ball and not fuck about doing tricks and flicks and long balls to no one.
what if the beaten man likes it bergy.
iv been beaten loads of times and i still have the belief il get beaten again
lol
zanetti, maldini, del piero are legends.
anyone watching celeb BB
ive just turned it on and that midget dude from austin powers is on, i thought it was LJW at first.
arsene mentioned that we practiced defending delaps throwin. how did they score both goals? he started an 11 that incl Pinkie and Song and i think not to sure Diaby for height reasons. we still conceded two goals from throwins and the line up was so poor to create anything offensively.
jon lol u dont have to face the behind closed door wenger,what u see on match of the day aint what is presented in the changing room, imagine sam allardyce going crazy,thats wenger after they throw it away,and i got that from a great source who has been on the end of it after some of our biggest defeats last season
I wish we had someone with a heart like Rooney. DId you see him against Southampton today??
home boy got it so wrong that day
Franchise, it goes to show Wengers tactical ability. His idea of tactics was to play the tallest team possible. Rafa just didnt give them any throws. Thats tactics.
franchised,they practiced not giving away throw ins,rather concede corners instead,almunia could have took 2 steps off his line an claimed boththere was kolo and a forward,they were the only players in the 6 yard box where the throwins went
see but guys like kolo they panick,he was getting swung by shirt like a cat in a pillow case, if almunia went for the ball he would have either got it or a freekick every time
no guts no glory
michael jacksons on too
sorry my mistake its La Toya
almunias a pussy
hes stuck to his line more than a fly is stuck to shit and when he does come for it he gets a lil kick and wants to go off
if any one kicked jens in the face they’d probably break their foot and jens would spend the next 5 mins arguing with the ref
jens was erratic but boy do i miss him.
wot about robbiekeane’s eq. what was almunia doing that far from his CBs? he was virtually rooted to his line
im beginning to suspect arsene’s judgement regarding defenders and GK. for defenders he just goes for quick athletes and for GK nethin that is cheap
Fabianski comes out too much. I really liked Lehmann and I’m polish!!!!!
gallas was too far over the pitch,he should have seen keane go stand by djourou a player he could outpace an got closer,almunia should have come for it as well
after eddie broke his leg at st andrews it seemed to me that evthing that was shot at our goal went in. almunia was woeful in that period
franchise,there was a curse,the media started the whole get in there faces thing,what they really meant was batter them physically, who are the refs to overpower all the media who sponsor everything,we was shot out the sky by everyone but ourselves, half the league lay down for united, you think liverpool might have done us a favour and tried to play them at least,and big bad villa
I don’t thin I’ll ever grow to like Almunia. Especially after his CL performance against Barca. STandard keeping errors.
what gets me is jens was dropped after 2 clangers last season, yet almunia gets chance after chance, jens must of ruffled some feathers somewhere along the line cos he was out of the door too quick IMO
thats right Pat
a top keeper should never get beaten on the near post twice in a season, never mind twice in one game.
hes a good shot stopper but his positioning is terrible.
And the goal Berbatov scored last season, at the Emirates. A TOE POKE at the near post.
jens made more than two clangers,he broke the whole teams concentration every time we conceded a corner,we already had a problem concentratin on the game
jens made good saves in the cl final too,its just when u lose a keeper you really lose two players,we needed diaby on the bench to win that game
not jens,manuel
Hi!!
Stu-I see that You rate Pavel Pogrebnyak from Zenit. I like him too.Any news on Arshavin front?
Where is everyone gone all of a sudden?
Yes Maciek, i do rate Pogrebnyak but only from highlights and clips and from reading about him etc. Nothing really concrete to support my liking him.
imo he would be a great signing. He can finish with both feet and his head, good at hold up play, good neat feet on the ball and at 25 he has et to hit his peak. Also his height adds a lot.
But alas I know i am only dreaming because he is not a Wenger type buy so im just getting my hopes up really.
Pity the arsenal board wudn’t go into the big brother house for a couple of weeks, might have a chance of siing some players then.
But Jono, when it came to the shopping list what then? They would never buy any food, just keep the money for themselves and the housemates would all die.
Seriously where is everyone gone???
HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C’mon I’m bored off my face here.
Dunno wat everyone decided on Elano, but id bite ur hughews hand off if we could get him on loan to the end of the season, last season he started like a house on fire, got injured and then ended up struggling to get back into the team, possibly down to the fact that he got played at RB in some games, which clearly all us Arsenal fans know tour not going to produce our best football out of postion, especially when your a creative midfielder thats pretty crap defensively being played at RB. plus this season having 3 goals and 2 assists in the league a struggling team in which he has played 9 games of more than 70 mins or the 11 games he’s played 60 mins or more.
In double the game Denilson has 3 goals 5 assists, in 13 games Nasri has 4 goals 2 assists, and in 15 ga,mes Cesc has 1 goal 4 assists…in a team that although having a mare of a season, are still considerably better placed than city are at the moment.
What harm is getting him on loan till the summer, with the view to apermanent move if it works out. He gives us cover for Cesc while he’s injured, can play on the right (no more Eboue
) and means Wenger can get by without having to spend any money.
I dont think we should be trying to be too cheap (getting people in on loan). I cant see that the board would deny wenger £25m net after his 5years of spending nothing.
If he wants experience i hope he goes for Arshavin and Cana, if its kids then Rakitic and Banega….either way a creative mf and defensive mf are an absolute necessity, not a luxury.
Gambon, id prefer to see someone with prem experience come in on loan, such as elano, than go splash 20 mill on Arshavin when theres no gurantees that he will come good to the EPL or adapt to english football, by all means if he can get Arshavin for 12-14 million i think its worth getting him, but i don’t think it would be justified to spend 20 mill on him. The same with Cana, i would love to sign him but i don’t think the reported 20mill marseille want is justified, especially in january when we need players that will settle and adapt quickly.
I find it quite amazing that people are saying Arshavin would cost so much more with the exchange rate against the Euro, will someone explain to me how long the Rouble has been part of the Eurozone?
G’Day Geoff
Have we signed anyone?
i think paying his wages is more of a concern from the rumors geoff !
i cannot see how our wage bill is so high , when so many of our players are average to crap !
its got me fucked !
oh did i forget young too ?
its pretty obvious to me he paid over the odds for them price wise and wage wise prior to seeing there true potential !
how he can think that method is more productive as against buying top class PROVEN experience is also another magical land fantasy tour ive been unable to experience !
With the amount of hair on my head these days. An arse shave would cost more than a hair cut. But then again they use wax these days don’t they. Arseshavin is another of those names like Botham which could be construed as Bottom
…….everytime I think of botham now, I think of Spuds
Morning Gnarley, morning Ethan, I think our wage bill is so high because we offer average players huge salaries to join and shocking players huge salaries to stay, it soon adds up.
It would be cheaper to sign a star and get 4 great years than an average kid then wait 4 years for them to be any good, play one good season and leave.
Then Wenger gets a pat on the back for making loads of money but if you add it up, he actually hasn’t.
One day the powers will suss that one out.
Why doesn’t he just sign Arsewaxin, & sell Song & Bendtner & get Upson. Why not just do it instead of procrastinating (spelling)
If we got rid of Song, signed arsewaxin & Upson then The Arsenal would have completed a sack, crack & back deal
I can only dream of that happening, but he’ll never sell Song.
The Arshavin rumours hot up, Wenger is saying he doesn’t care if his new signing is cup tied…
I can see it all now. We sign Arsewaxin, who then scores the winner in the F A Cup semi against Spuds who coulod have had him. Sometimes these things can happen, or even he scores a hatrick against spuds to send them down. Chamone to that one.
I thought Fabianski looked better than Almunia and should get a run, with him in the team I felt much more comfortable when they attacked. We were miles more composed at set pieces too.
Gnarley…..
That is some vision…..did you have a dream too mate?
The Mirror says it’s a done deal Iceman. I always believe the Mirror, don’t you?
You know it Geoff…..Your trusted friendly newspaper is what that is…….
I think the cup-tied comment gave something away……..
You know it Geoff…..Your trusted friendly newspaper is what that is…….
I think the cup-tied comment gave something away……..Hold on….that could be Alonso……….
He never goes back for a player though does he, it’s all part of his sulky phsyci!
NEW POST!
Something better than nothing right Geoff……….
IMO He will shine at THOF!!
just sent an email about the cardiff tickets… so chuffed i can watch Arsenal in my home town.. my girlfriend got me one of those match break things aswell for the west ham game so after seeing no live arsenal for 2 years I get 2 matches in a week !!!
would be so sweet if a new signing was unvailed at one of those matches!