So Kolo Toure at last realises his long awaited dream and becomes captain of Arsenal, well done Kolo and well done Arsene, he should have got this when you dissed Gilberto but he didn’t, so credit to you boss for giving it to him know, I can’t think of a more deserving player, or a fan that wouldn’t concur.
I guess that means Kolo and Djourou forming the centre back partnership and that has to be good news, it’s one I have wanted to see all season, two young’uns and neither with any history from other clubs, so good luck boys.
With the news that Kolo will be captain until Cesc returns that must also mean he not only intends to keep him, but that he intends to play him, so that may also give him his zip back and we’ll see the old Kolo, he’s only 27 and centre backs don’t come of age until they’re 29, so this could be the pairing we’ve been waiting for.
This will free up the funds to bring in the defensive midfield player we need so badly, we already know he’s after Arshavin so with luck he’ll go out for the big name midfielder, maybe Veloso, our options are fast disappearing with Alonso and Barry out of reach, Cana and Inler no longer on the radar, and the ItaIians saying no, I just hope it’s not a small African from an obscure French side, because that will hurt us at ACN times.
Onto today, I expect a message to go out that King Kolo is back, Almunia said that Arsenal are discovering the will to win again, oh thanks Manuel, I hope your wages are docked for those matches when you all lacked the will to win.
4 nil to the good guys!
P.S. Tickets are running low on Le Exchange… if you have any spares, don’t waste them… see if you can pass them on first!
Stu
He is Swedens best player at least
The special one just got 1 point from caglariari
He was really pissed on the line
best player my arse. henry14 . nuf said,
lambo, i was joking. Thats what Mourinho said a few weeks back.
Speaking of Inter Milan, if the 6+5 rule does come in thn they are absolutely fucked. All they have is Toldo, Materazzi and is Balotelli Italian? Other than that they have a team of all foreigners. Much like us but without the kids coming through.
Franchise, i can only assume that you watch a lot of football, specifically spanish. So whats your opinion of Timo Hildebrand, formerly of Valencia-currently of Hoffenheim. They released him in december and he was a free agent. IMO a younger and better option than Almunia. What do you think?
This is beautiful to watch. They are destroying Villareal with 4 players. Damn near perfect counter attacking play.
Stu,since You want us to buy another CF, but who would do a job?Can RVP and Villa work together-I don’t think so. Can Eddie and Villa-no they are both 1.75, clinical in fron of the goal and to similar.Benzema-not a chance-he is out of our reach.We must be realistic. I don’t like Ade,but RVP and healthy Eddie we are sorted here.
Macek, its not my job to find suitable players, Thats what the scouting system is for. Im sure that kind of CF is out there.
stu . 9.36.
i no you was but i love th14
As for Hildebrand-I would prefer Jaskelainen, or to give Fab2 a chance.And I’m not saying that because I’m from Poland.He IS MUCH better than Manuel.
No, Hildebrand is defo better than Jussi.
Again, i would also prefer Fabianski to Almunia but that doesnt look like ever happening as long as Manu is at the club so i feel the need for a new keeper. Simple!
I respect Your opinion Stu, But Timo was pants at Valencia.And is he good enough coming from his line?
Saying that I would spalsh 25 milion to buy Villa and re-sign Pires.I think that we have mssed out on him.Cesc,Nasri, Arshavin,Villa-WOW.And besides he is so called star player.
stu i disagree, fabianski is being introduced slowly, league cup keeper last year, fa cup keeper this year, he’ll be in the team by the end of the season, or taking over in the summer at the very latest. The fact that almunia is not going to be sub-captain over kolo or vp anymore makes me think that he’s far from certain as a first team regular, and another mistake or two fabianski will come straight into the side.
Everyone was pant at Velencia last season so thats hardly anything to go by. Also he holds a record for number of consecutive clean sheets or minutes without conceding in Germany so he cant be as bad as Almunia. A player who was constantly loaned from his club and whom was sub keeper when we bought off a second division club.
A, how happy that would make me if it came true. Almunia is a joke and getting the armband made me question Wengers sanity even more. I hope Fab takes over before the end of the season and is ready for next season. We need to start building for next season onslaught(sp).
If we are searching in Germany-Adler would be my choice.
I actually think that if we did not have Fabianski coming through then Wenger would be looking at a new keeper.
I honestly think Fab will start as number one next season. I just think Wenger is banking on Almunia’s experience for the rest of the Season.
at least I hope that is what is happening, otherwise we are fucked
Just dont get what happened to Almunia, he was great early season but as soon as he threw his hat into the ring for England he turned into a permanent David James on an off day.
Either him or Neuer from Germany would do me.
yeah i agree, him being captain made me worry because I was certain since lehmann left that almunia is only retained as a stop gap whilst fabianski comes through, but the captaincy thing made me wonder if wenger actually rated him. However now i’m certain he’ll be in sooner rather than later, probably before the end of the year seeing as almunia seems to be getting more and more dodgy
If we rate the 10 best keepers in the prem
where is Almunia?
And if that is true then I will go with Wengers call on the keeper.
I think if we bought someone like Given now, it would kill Fabianski.
Lets hope he and Arsenal have a great cup run and he becomes un-droppable.
Almunia hasnt been that good al season as far as im concerned. Maybe he is annoyed that he will never ever play for Spain and has just given up completely.
i agree pat. When lehmann was getting past his peak, fabianski was brought in to replace him, almunia was never anything more than a reliable understudy, but when lehmann left fabs wasn’t quite ready, so we just figured almunia would do for the time being. That’s how i see it anyways!
yeah exactly pat, we brought in fabianski because we rated him incredibly highly, but he just wasn’t ready to take over immediately from almunia, but if we brought in given or another top keeper it’d stifle fabianski’s development and he’d never break through, whereas it’ll be very easy when fabianski is ready to knock almunia off number one. Let’s hope by the end of the season fabs is established, goes on to be our own casillas, wilshere in as our own messi, vela, bendtner, ramsey, nasri all sorted, best team we’ve ever had, sorted!
Swedish, it depends on how the keepers are scored. Whether they are scored on concentration, quality of saves or number of saves made. Every keeper has a different thing to do.
Lower placed keepers make more saves but concede more goals (green, Given, Kirkland), higher placed keepers have less saves to make but still might concede due to lack on concentration (Almunia)
thts all well and good A but it will take all these players 5 years to get anywhere near being world class
by that time they might not be here cos theyd of been knicked by a team winning trophies and we’ll be stuck in the uefa cup,.
we need players in the side now to help bring these players through and keep them here
most young players join us cos they know they can get 1st team football.
but in 5years they’ll be able to get 1st team football anywhere, whats to say they’ll even be here,
theres only one thing that will keep them, and thats trophies.
we cant say the futures bright cos no one knows what the future holds,
the only way to ensure the future is to succeed in the present,otherwise the future could be worthless
Stu
agree…i tried to rate the keepers but found out that I don’t know enough about them
It was a hard one
Renan reminds me of a young Almunia. How unfortunate for him.
so the liverpool scum had a draw that even could have been a loss! good to see!
whilst i still want to win the league and results like that help us, we really need to produce a finish like the 05-06 season when we made it into 4th!
Swedish- Craig Gordon is apparently one of those type of keepers.
He is quality for Scotland and was quality at Hearts because he didnt face many shots in a game and his concentration was at a level where he was always alert to danger, getting him good reviews. But at Sunderland he is constsntly faced with shots and he cant keep them all out and so was not as impressive.
IMO signing Given, Green or Kirkland (all of whom are wanted at Arsenal by several fans) could work in the opposite manner and see them fail with a top club. Just my theory and why I would rather an international class keeper.
I know what you are saying there JonJon but I honestly do think Fabianski could be our Cech and that is why in this case I would not want someone like Given in that could ruin that for us, as for me Given is a good keeper but a journey man. Fabianski has the potential to be world class.
Almunia has unfortunately got worse as the season has gone on, and whilst I am not happy with his performances, I just hope he can refind some form to get us through the season.
He is only 31 though so it will be interesting to see if he will be willing to be a number 2 once Fab builds on his experience and takes the jersey
Number allocation for next season:
1 : Fabianski
2 : Sagna
3 : Clichy
4 : Cesc
5 : Hangeland
6 : Senderos(i dont think he will leave)
7 : Rosicky
8 : Toulalan
9 : Eduardo
10 : Arshavin
11: Nasri
14 : Theo
17 : RvP
etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc you get the drift. Maybe not that exactly but i hope there is better organisation to that as opposed to Diaby as no.2 and Sagna as no.3 and Cubt Gallas no.10
Oh and legend Edu.
i disagree massively jonjon, it won’t take anyone five years to become world class! Wilshere and ramsey will granted probably be a couple of years, and and it’ll probably take fabianski as a keeper a couple of years to be considered world class. vela and nasri could be world class as soon as they settle in, in under a year. I’m very very excited about the potential of the likes of ramsey, wilshere, vela, nasri, they could replicate cesc and be considered at that level in a year in vela and nasri’s case, 2 with wilshere and ramsey. Though fabianski is a bit of an unknown quantity, as it’s always more difficult to rate young keepers, so many seem to have massive potential then go to shit.
I think the thing with Keepers is also that you only play one and there are only a handful at the very top level and once you get one, it is rare they move clubs. The greats are already at the elite clubs in Europe so I think in this Case, Wenger has got it right to get him in young.
And I say young but Fabianski is 23 which is almost an OAP in the Arsenal Squad.
Lets face it, we are not about to bring in Casillas, Buffon or Cech are we? I am not convinced Given, Green ETC would make that much difference to us.
I personally would like to see Fabianski now, and hopefully the call will be made soon.
Tell you what is scary though…Petr Cech is only 26, and probably has ten years left at top level.
I like very much stu!!
and congrats Edu
stay healthy
Nah stu, in the summer we can look for a proper defender, we won’t need someone a level below like hangeland, we can go for someone top top class, i want sakho! (though not seen much of him very highly rated and seems available) Also disagree about toulalan, not the type of player we need, and not available at the moment, we’ll get someone more suitable and better this transfer window, just got no idea who!
Our squad could be incredibly strong the start of next season, even if the kids aren’t world class, they’ll be very good by then, on top of more experienced players in cesc, theo, eduardo back, and arshavin and someone else brought in! I think the midfield and forwards will be sorted by the end of this transfer window for a couple of years, so we’ll just have to be working on the defence in the summer.
yeah pat, lets hope fabianski is up to the same level cech is now in 3 years time, it’s very close to being time for him to be introduced!
PTG, imo Cech hasnt been at the same level since his head injury. He makes an awful lot of silly mistakes and just doesnt seem as confident. Maybe its just me but I’ve always thought as Cech as a bit over rated. He did have great positioning but his saves were never world class saves and he has always had a mean defence in front of him.
id love to see fabianski now.
but the thing is A we are relying on a bunch of lads who are just starting out in the game, without experience it doesnt matter how good you are you’ll never be the complete player.
which is our problem, i agree we have players who in a few years time will be tearing the league up, but whats to say they’ll be here mate.
we cant say we are going to be worldbeaters in 2011, cos in 2011 half these players coming through might be at barca, real, or milan
actually yeah, the same level he was pre-injury
A we say the same thing every year, the kids wil be a year older, we’ll be a year wiser, its our year,
its becoming boring
Stu
We do need a revamp on those Squad Numbers.
I imagine Arshavin will actually want the 10 shirt if he comes and I hope he gets it. i would never have given Gallas it in the first place. It is just wrong and was always an argument waiting to happen for when we bought a natural number 10.
Sagna is in 3 already, but definately should give Clichy Diabys no 2 shirt, and Djourou should get Senderos’s 6 Shirt.
Oh and I think we should retire Alexander Song’s no. 17 Shit er sorry I mean shirt, and put it down to drunken night and a bet about how crap a player can you get an Exceptional Talent Visa for. It is like putting the Cheeky Girls into the Music Hall of Fame
A, Sakho is only 18. As you say, we need quality now and he doesnt represent that at all. I dont know why you dont like Toulalan. Surely there arent much better at what he does.
I don’t think we are jonjon. Cesc is ready now, nasri is good enough he just needs to adapt to the english game, vp, eduardo, clichy, sagna, toure, gallas, rosicky to come back, arshavin to come in, a dm “ready to play now” to come in. We aren’t relying on the kids, we have a team without the kids that are learning the game, they’re just the ones who could become the equivalent of the 30 million pound players who we won’t otherwise get, and who could bring us up to the level of teams like barca.
The only way all our kids would go elsewhere is if wenger left, if he stays they won’t go anywhere, because they won’t want to!
LOL A
Give me a name that is better than Hangeland and available
“level below” geez u really are sumthing
So Sakho(unproven 18 year old with talent) is better than norway captain with prem exp.
geez..give me a break!
Stu
I would agree with you there, Cech has dipped in form since the head injury and now mistakes do creap into his game from time to time
But it shows how good he is, that in my opinion he is still the best keeper in the premiership and in the World.
When Gallas signed the only low-ish numbers available were 3 and 10. He is a cunt for picking no.10 thinking he is fit to wear the same number as the legend that IS DB10. I hate him just for that. He should have either taken 3 or a high number.
Yeah jonjon, and they are! Theo is unrecognisable from the player he was at the start of last season, Cesc came on very quickly from when he first came through to when he became a regular, vela, wilshere, ramsey, nasri will be the same next season.
Yeah but from what i’ve heard stu sakho is young but is absolutely quality already. With toure and gallas, it’d be nice to have a top top quality youngster alongside one of them next year, most likely kolo. Defensively is the one area we don’t have top quality talented kids coming through.
Toulalan is more of a cultured dm stu, it’s not that i don’t rate him, but think we need someone strong and powerful like vieira to compliment the other midfielders, we need a bruiser, and he’d cost a bomb to get lyon to let him leave, and wouldn’t be likely this transfer window, so just think we’ll get in someone else.
cesc isnt ready now A
he cant even get into the spanish team properly, hes far from ready, and he might be at barca next year.
nasris far from ready, rosicky may never come back, we might not see arseshavings
the players you mentioned before were vela LJW bendtner ramsey, who arent exactly world beaters no matter how much potential they have
our team is all about ifs and buts
you dont have a wonderful team built on ifs and buts
But at about 15m Sakho is too much of a risk in a vital area. Hangeland would be cheaper and better for now.
Personally, unless Toure can really discover amazing form I wouldnt want either of them here next season and add Silvestre to that list too.
swedish we don’t know who will be available in the summer, we aren’t going to sign a defender this transfer window, so who is available now is irrelevant. Hangeland is a good premiership defender, but isn’t and will never be on par with the best in europe, or even the premiership, and that is the level we must be signing, not just a good player with premiership experience.
I don’t know much about sakho, only seen him play once and he didn’t blow me away, but is just very very highly rated, and will be available come the summer because his contract is expiring the following summer, many of the top clubs in europe seem to be after him, and wenger’s french contacts, especially his psg contacts would put us in pole position.
hangeland isn’t wanted by the top clubs, because he’s a level below the vidics, ferdinands, and carvalhos of the prem, and we need to be going for players who are or will be at that level
morning all
the links, poor footy sent me to bed @ th 55th minute or so. Anyone got a link to the goal from Little Nicky
Liverpool are gone, we will real them in, now that benitez has cracked by spraying Sir Fur-on-Tongue. And that suites me coz I hate liverwurst, i think they are just a one man team that has dined out on their luck.
Le Chump is a great laugh. Life is always normal when spuds having the piss taken out of them Chamoneeeeeeeee
U think we need a bruiser so we don’t get overrun do u A??
like today u mean???
I’m glad we had Song in the team today or else Bolton would have walked all over us!
But wait…
Hey….our only problem was we missed Vela from the start
what u think A?
With our budget, I dont think there are any Defenders that are better than what we have got.
Remember the Djourou +1 partnership is still developing and personally I think Djourou and Toure could be the longer term option. Is Hangeland better than Gallas or Toure. I am not sure. I think we needed a tall player in but we found him in Djourou and he complements the play with either Gallas or Toure.
The problem before was that when we played Toure and Gallas together we could not deal with height, and the best partnership is to get one tall to deal with problem players like Crouch or Drogba, and one mobile to take the ball out and distribute which Toure used to do pretty well. If we bought Hangeland are we not just reversing the problem with two tall players who are not overly mobile?
If we are looking for a Defender should we not be looking for a replacement for the trouble causing Gallas or out of form Toure and then who is available? is Upson better than those two. Chiellini or Zapata are the choices there for me, but I fear they are out of our price range presently.
nothing yet Gnarely – try this one throughout the morning, shouldnt be too long
http://myarsenalvlog.blogspot.com/
Pat
Couldn’t agree more with you re Big Yo Yo20. Fuck the Gallas/Kolo saga, its time to build the defence around Johan
jonjon cesc would get into any other national side in the world, the only reason he doesn’t play regularly for spain is that the best player in the world in his position is also spanish! There are very few centre mids in the world i’d have over cesc.
nasri just needs to adapt to the prem, he’ll be ready by the end of the season, and when he has help in the creative quarters.
granted with the rest that’s the worst case scenario wilshere, ramsey, bendtner might never fulfil their potential, vela and nasri never adapt to the prem, we might end up being crap! But in that case we’d buy so it’d be fine!
We need a quality midfielder that can pass and sniff out danger
Toulalan def. qualify
A, Hangeland is the best we can afford on our bedget. Carvalho and Ferdinand cost 20-30m. Wenger wont even spend that on the whole defence let alone 1 defender.
If Gallas or Toure do leave then personally i think JD and PS are our best partnership.
evo cheers big fella. Must have been nerve racking towards the end. Anyone heard from rico since Little Nicky
saved us, again 
Only joking rico, I’ve had my reservations about him too.
optimistic as ever A
yeah its was getting a bit nervy, but it was a great goal set up by the awesome clichy and helped on its way by the awesome RVP!
great strike also by nikky B, he still had it all to do with a defender hanging off him when he lunged for it!
Once Big JD20 starts to feel like “part of the furniture” @ the back, i.e more game time, I think he could have a real presence as we shoot back up the table. Get him on the weights, he could be as terrorising as Big Paddy V was
Bendtner nearly replicated his exact goal from the spuds game last season when he came on and powered that header in…..saved easily by the keeper, but he was up in the atmosphere again!
And he nutmeged the keeper. He did tday what Ade couldnt do in the last few games, even with an open goal or two.
yeah 15 mil is a lot stu, was just throwing out a name, as i can’t think of many top quality defenders!
I don’t think djourou will ever be top top quality, i’m happy if kolo can regain his old for for it to be kolo plus a top new commanding signing.
I think we need a bruiser so we can compete physically with teams that try and bully us. Denilson did a good job mopping up in front of the defence the odd time bolton did try and attack, but that was a very poor bolton side decimated with injuries.
Stu
I actually am one of the Senderos followers. I actually see a lot of Tony Adams in him, but I think his issues with Confidence will unfortunately always bug him in his career. It is a real shame as he could be a world beater.
I think Gallas will leave either in the next few weeks or more likely quietly over the summer and the Djourou Partner will be brought in.
Gnarley I completely agree, build the defence around Djourou. Next Season as things stand we will be 3/4 of the way there on the back four. Find the Mobile defender in the summer and let them gel and we will have an awesome back four and a back five if Fabianski starts as number 1.
There isnt reall many quality defenders around anymore. The only ones around are expensive, so that rules us out already.
…..so now we are 8 points from the top. 97/98 anyone. If le Prof signs Arswaxin & Upson, look out Chelski, Aston martin, Liverwurst & manure, here we come. Maybe Wenger has kept the powder dry specially for this sort of onslaught @ the end. Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bloody hell its amazing what a 1-0 win can do for ya
yeah stu i know we can’t spend that money, which is why i mentioned sakho, as with our midfielders and strikers, we would likely adopt the mentality of buying young defenders who we hope will become 20-30 mil centre backs. Sakho in the summer with only 12 months left of his contract could go for much less, and would fall into that category, just pure speculation though no reason to think we were interested apart from a couple of rumours.
I’d be shocked if we signed hangeland, just because we never sign players who aren’t either exceptional, or younger and with the potential to become exceptional. We don’t sign players who won’t improve any further and aren’t at the same level as the top players.
We don’t know what our budget could be in the summer, could spend a bit more, as will only be looking at strengthening the defence
gnarley there’s no way we’re signing a defender, wenger said that, so upson’s a no go!
I am not a fan of Bendtners, I really dont think he will make it at the top level, but his finish today was excellent, that was not an easy chance and given that the crowd were on his back, that showed some real grit to convert it.
He needs to be doing it more often to convince me though.
Check out the table, spuds are 3rd last now. Its just getting better
A
How did Kolo look?
Senderos just needs to be given more than a game here and there. Last season his only run in the team was when Kolo was away and he did very well, better with each game, only to be unfairly dropped the second Kolo returned.
IMO we have a more than capable back 5 available in Fab, Phil, JD, Sagna, Clichy. Although that could obviously be improved on but for now its what i would go with. And next year, if we dont buy, i wouldnt be unhappy with that defence.
so who are the teams that try to bully us??
Bolton…nahaa who then??
cos we need song and denilson in EVERY match according to A
I thought he was actually ok today gnarley, miles better than against villa and earlier in the season at least! Bolton weren’t the best test for him though, they didn’t threaten until after we scored, and then we were very nervous, though that was the team as a whole, and the atmosphere in the ground etc, i think if we get a run going we’ll get that confidence back and holding onto a lead won’t be such an issue!
Gnarley – as a bonus (which you missed out on) fox sports played a 20 minute highlight filler whilst waiting for the stoke-pool game to kick off of the 1996 north london derby against the spuds when we won 3-1 at highbury after it being 1-1 until 88 mins when TA powered in his goal followed by a bergy classic! gold!
villa and stoke are the two that stand out swedish, though stoke would bully us whoever we’ve got in the side!
At the moment we do need them in every match, they together bring solidity to the central midfield, and denilson is the only player who brings composure to the midfield
It was a comfortable return and a good maych to get back into the stride of things.
A, I agree on Defenders
I think Wenger is holding off the Defence until the Summer. It is just not priority. I think we can get by there and on there day I really cant see why we moan about
Sagna, Djourou, Gallas/Toure, Clichy
I dont think there are many back fours better than that in the Premiership, they just need time to gel instead of switching them every game.
The priority for me is the Holding Midfielder and the RW position in that order.
I think we are covered for Cesc as Nasri has been arguably more effective in the last couple of games anyway, and we would be covered on the left if we actually started Vela. Sort out the Song/Denilson/Diaby position and get some depth in the Theo/Eboue position and we are sorted midfield.
In the Summer we need to look up front as I still think we lack world class players there. Ade got his 80k and is a shadow of his former self (Albeit with crap service), RVP is inconsistent and the fact that he is one goal away from his best tally of 13 sums it up. Vela is developing, Eduardo is still to prove himself, and Nic is not going to make it despite a great finish today (Hey even crappy strikers in the Conference convert a great finish every now and again)
Evo
Lets all focus our mental strength for the next 24 hours on Wigan dumping on spuds.
Come on wigan Come on wigan come on wigan
Off for some brekky so I’l catch you all later.
We love you Arsenal we do, We love you Arsenal we do, We love you Arsenal we do, oh Arsenal we love you.
and a red card and injury fest in the scum vs scum game too!
Yeah pat, that’s what i think. Defence isn’t perfect but isn’t a massive priority, and we need an attacking mid/winger, and a holding mid desperately, though i’d put them in that order.
Disagree massively up front though, vp is one of the top forwards in europe, and will score a bagfull of goals if he stays fit, i still think bendtner will become a top top player, vela will be ready to start very very soon, eduardo is a fantastic finisher. VP hasn’t scored THAT many goals because of injuries, when he’s been fit he’s got a brilliant goal to game ratio though. Theo will become a top top forward too.
A
I think you are still wrong…these two are the ones + eboue that are holding us back
u never get a fluid game going whith these players and u def not get the defensive side sorted cos they are too young and clueless
It’s better to play ramsey, nasri in the middle
they are as young and clueless in defence but offer so so much more creativity
bit silly to discuss things a fair way in the future but anyways –
by next season our squad will have fabianski and almunia as keepers, in that order
sagna and clichy, hopefully backed up by eboue and traore,
centre backs not got a clue, none of them are guaranteed to be at the club, nor first choice. Djourou prob won’t be going anywhere though
attacking mids/wingers in nasri, arshavin(hopefully), rosicky, theo, wilshere we’ve got incredible talent there
likewise cesc and ramsey as more offensive centre mids, and denilson is a good player too depending on whether he’s considered more attacking or defensive
defensive mid we need signings though
rvp, eduardo, bendtner, vela, and ade (though i think if we could get good money for him he should be off)
Swedish, im with you on not playing Denilsong but surely playing both Nasri AND Ransey would be even worse because there would be absolutely no defensive mindset in midfield.
i don’t think they’re too young or clueless at all swedish. I agree they aren’t perfect for a flowing fast attacking side, but at the moment that isn’t the football we’re capable of playing with out injuries etc, so we need them in to be solid. Song is very strong, and good in the air, denilson is very clever, intercepts all day, and is very composed on the ball, two players who we need to keep us together in the current turmoil, until we have the players or confidence to get back to our old flowing football ways.
Ramsey isn’t ready to start yet imo, he’s still very raw however talented he is, and i think nasri will be much more effective playing in a more advanced role with those two shielding him.
Right I am off to my bed, I am on baby feed in the morning so need to try and get 7 hours in.
That is the great thing about Le Grove, Just as I am getting in bed the likes of Gnarley are having Breakfast.
he will be having a beer on his weetabix i bet!
Denilson had a good game today…..but he is an average player and very slow
Song is also an averag player and even slower
playing these two together is suicide
so if ur going out …go out with a bang..hence ramsey nasri..where there is a chance of a battering and nice play
we aren’t going out though swedish, we’re still in the title chase! We need to be solid, not suicidal, which is what a ramsey, nasri midfield would be! Why pick a team to take a battering?!
Denilson is average for an arsenal player, but good for a premiership player, and song does a job we need done until we sign a superior replacement.
Ramsey is too naive to play regularly, especially in terms of when we have not got the ball and also he still holds on to it too long when he has a simple option on. But he has to learn I guess.
I like Denilson, but I think we are asking/expecting too much of such a youngster.
Song? Well he has a long way to go before he could lace either Makalele or Essien’s boots!
Swedish + A, just make a compromise.
1 of each. Nasri/Ramsey and Song/Denilson
Denilson and Ramsey have already been tried and failed so Nasri and Song is the next option.
u got it wrong A
i meant we would prob win by 5-0 if we played ramsey nasri (ok mby 5-1)
that setup is superior to denilson song
I agree with everything you said zorro, apart from we (as in the fans) certainly are asking and expecting too much from denilson, but wenger isn’t i don’t think. His role in the team is to be reliable, composed, and solid, he’s not meant to replace or do what cesc did.
Song likewise i agree with that valuation of him, but he’s the only one we’ve got unfortunately!
Ramsey hasn’t looked any good in the PL so far and does not deserve a start. What games are you watching? It was a stupid sub by Wenger. He gave away 3-4 free kicks 30 yards from goal.
Nasri and Song would be my CM pairing.
Hey! We won…..
title race still on
Goooo Gunners
villa are so lucky i think. bloody wankers
Pat
He got on when the game was won
oh ok swedish, i thought you meant fuck being solid lets just let teams batter us, but play nice football whilst they do it!
lol stu i won’t compromise! In a proper team things could be different, but in a team decimated by injuries, and with it’s confidence shattered like us, we need the most defensive players starting in those positions in the immediate matches imo!
Ramsey, like vela, isn’t ready to start yet because he’s too raw and he hasn’t adapted to our style of play well enough though i’m sure he will eventually. We need to be solid and bring these players on to sacrifice defence for attack if we need the extra spark, which we usually do!
Nasri will always play though, just more advanced or out wide, but we can’t start him centre mid because he isn’t good enough defensively, and his having to do defensive work would prevent him doing as much good work going forward
Its taking 2 men to do the job of 1. If Song wasnt so thick he would be a good short term solution. Unfortunately he has the strength and jump but lacks discipline, passing ability and concentration. Denilson doesnt really have those either but in fairness to him he isnt a DM.
pat i do agree that ramsey was pants when he came on, but i don’t think it was a stupid sub just because ade was absolutely attrocious, and needed to come off! It was just the fact that there wasn’t anyone else on the bench who could’ve come on!
Thats why Nasri with a DM would work. 1 dm + 1 am instead of 2 cms.
I wouldn’t say it’s two men doing the job of one, it depends on the team and situation, some teams play 2 holding mids all the time, and it’s just something we need to do in the short term until we get some confidence, and players back.
Btw, Gilberto scored for Pana today
No, together Denilsong make just about a good enough player but alone they are worse than half a natural DM.
Edu scored too. A header no less.
Imo, Vela deserves a start. He’s more direct than any of our midfielders and he made an instant impact today
I would suggest that Gilberto would be no better than Denilson at the same age and that I think Denilson can grow into a top class player, it will just take time and really that is not something we have at the moment as we are expecting too many kids to grow all at once. I would go with Denilson over Song every time!
I fit hard to believe that Vela played left wing for the last few seasons because whenever he got the ball today he came inside looking to force his way into the box. Just like everyone else who plays wide for us.
I think that’s why he isn’t starting pat, his directness. Again, because we’re decimated by injuries, and lacking in confidence, we’re playing players who are less direct, with better ball retension, for defensive reasons, which is why vela is used very successfully as a sub to come on and bring that directness. When we become stronger as a team he could start, but i don’t think he could at the moment. In feb, with new signings coming in etc i could see him starting games, though he’s more likely to start up front than in midfield, he isn’t a 4-4-2 winger, when he comes on we usually switch to 4-3-3 sort of formation
Stu vela played left wing in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 sort of formation, he wasn’t a 4-4-2 normal left mid, he roamed around a bit found himself on the right at times too when i saw him. He only played out wide because osasuna played 1 up front.
Stu, many modern day wingers do that. The game is changing. It also depends on how the team plays.
A, how can you actually believe that Eboue, Song and even sometimes Diaby have better ball retention that Vela would have?
agree that Ramsey isn’t ready yet
just highlights how crap i think song is
denilson is tidy but average and i choose Ramsey’s magic
i like his highs and can stand his lows but i cant stand average
Sorry, but I hate it when Wenger puts Ramsey on. He’s just like Walcott, but without the speed. No brain. he can’t defend to save his life.
Song or Denilson are much better choices than Ramsey
They do stu, vela does great things but is incredibly direct, every other time he gets the ball he runs at the defence and good things come from it a fair bit but he also loses it a fair bit. In terms of their ball retention eboue keeps the ball much more than vela, and diaby tries to (although he was attrocious today), and song is a holding mid. Vela will be a fantastic forward, and a very good direct winger, in a 4-3-3, but currently we need to be more solid and less direct which is why he’s a super sub rather than a starter
at the moment that’s what we need in the middle though swedish, it’s hard to accept, and harder to watch, but we need reliable averageness to keep some stability, until the spark returns.
The only thing reliable about Song is that he will be reliably inconsistent and poor.
The amount of times he is caught ball watching is shocking for a supposed DM.
noones trying to claim he’s a wonder player stu, but he’s just better at being a defensive mid than anyone else we’ve got, and with our current predicament that supercedes and other players’ attributes
A, I wanted Diaby to get a few games in CM, but so far he is not convincing me, and other than the Villa goal, he is failing to convince me of his potential, which is a huge shame as physically he is the sort of player we need.
Likewise, although I see your point about Eboue’s ball retention, he is not really adding a great deal to the team at present, so much so that LJW must be worth a try at some point!
what about diaby.. he is not a DM.. he can’t be one..
I think he is to be played behind the striker.. problem is we have many players who can play there… nasri too.. nicklas is a winger in disguise!
If Diaby needs to play in a front 2, he better find another club!
zorro.. that is the only position i think he can play in.. he was dire today in the middle of the park
Heh, how’s everyone ? pleased with a good win ?!
I think we’re being over critical, that’s two wins now, both deserved against teams whose furthest forward player played just inside their own half, and two clean sheets.
The only thing for me that was disappointing was the chance we let Bolton have aftr we scored, because it took us 84 minutes to score and about 10 seconds to nearly throw it away again.
So add Diaby to the list then. He is another that we can get rid of.
yeah i agree about diaby zorro, he’s really not improved for a long time and doesn’t have what it takes to play centre mid imo. Agree with choy, he has to be played behind the striker if he plays, but i’d rather nasri played central if we’re playing someone in that position!
Eboue is just more powerful, and better defensively than wilshere, i think he’ll come in at times when the team is more settled though. Eboue was actually ok today, kept the ball well, and did well defensively, re-watched the game earlier, and eboue did more defensively than i thought originally, cleared up after diaby’s giving the ball away alot, though obviously bolton barely tried to attack!
We are unbeaten in 7 too. Plus 4 straight wins, right?
All we need is a DM to release attackrs further forward and a creative spark until the usual suspects are fit.
keyser.. relief is the word..
I also liked the fact that nick scored and the entire team celebrated!
yeah stu, diaby is one player i could certainly see leaving, more than anyone else in the squad he could be expendable come the summer.
I think it was always going to come keyser, but it certainly is a worry the way nerves set in when we finally break down the opposition, not sure how it’ll be sorted either! Hopefully if we keep the run going it will sort itself out!
I didnt reall see the celebration and never really do because of goal replays. I hope the team is warming to Nik because that will help his confidence too. It looked after the game that a few players were happily talking to Nik and i dont think i’ve ever seen that happen before.
Lets hope its because they now hate Ade and have switched sides.
stu.. talking about ade.. what is up with him? i think 80k a week was all that he wanted
Diaby, Eboue and Silvestre dont really seem to have positions. They play where ever is open. I wouldnt be upset at all if those 3 were sold. We could get between 10-15m for those 3.
He must be in dream land Choy. He is set for life with that money. When he retires he will move back to Africa and become a King somewhere.
Stu – No, lets hope that they’re all together now and we’re actually a team, Adebayor raced over the Bendtner and gave him a massive hug after the goal, why should we hate anyone ? They play for Arsenal.
Choy – Know what, I felt kind of like this last season I didn’t know what to expect and when we left it late against Fulham it was massive relief and then we scored loads of late goals last season, we’ve done it for years, Kanu against Chelsea was one of the best matches ever.
Thats two games now we’ve scored in the 80′s it was a relief but I’m beginning to be a bit more confident in the team to, so hopefully the team feels the same.
eboue and silvest are ok as backup…
diaby.. i really don’t know, he can’t seem to play anywhere else behind the main striker.
nasri sure is looking good.. he created at least a couple of great chances today!
Why do pundits keep going on about us missing out on 4th as if it’s something new? Have they forgotten that we were a portion of Lasagne away from 5th spot in the last game of 2006.
I have often wondered if it might have been better for the European Cup Final if we had lost out on 4th that season; maybe we would have gone into the final with more of an attitude to win and it could have gone our way!
I still have dreams about TH14 heading in on goal with 20 left and him slotting it for 2-0 and watching him lift the trophy! Oh well, we live to dream another day!
Three points, a clean sheet, and no denial from AW or the board on Arshavin! This was a good week!
Three wins on the trot. We now need to take this momentum to Hull and avenge our defeat at the Emirates.
Also Zorr0. Liverpool finished fifth and nothing was said (even if the did win the CL but still!)
I thought it was 4 straight wins?
Bolton, Plymouth, Pompey and…. who was the 4th?
If this was a settled team where we added players one at a time into the mix and they didn’t perform playing next to the great players we’ve had at the club, fine, but they’re all having to learn together this season.
Diaby’s played on the wing, behind the striker and now this is his second game in the middle, even then he’s been switched around from one half to the next, the goal against Villa was pure class, I hope he stays.
It’s like criticising Simpson on his first start for West Brom, if he was good enough to have an instant impact he wouldn’t be at West Brom in the first place, he’d be in our first team, they go to learn and further their game, after 40 minutes and a game how much are they have supposed to gained ?!
Despite all the passes going astray, I think we had a goo game today. This team is good enough to beat most premiership teams. I know this is not a great Arsenal team, but good enough to take us through the next month.
Hull and Cardiff should be wins. If we can keep the momentum, then we will be in a good position for Everton away. Then we have the spuds, followed by Roma.
The next month is going to be critical and I am happy we are going into the stretch of away games with three wins.
Never mind
Zorro, we are destined to relive that Paris final. It was an unbelievably sweet run, beating RM and Juve on the way to Barcelona. Our team did brilliantly, and I am still proud of them even though we didnt get the trophy.