So, the fantasy champion has been unveiled as Mark O’Connell! Well played Mark, send me your address details and I’ll try and send you a crate of Peroni! Dylan, you are the proud winner of an Arsenal cap!
| # | Team | Manager | GW | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1 |
CorkGoon | Mark O’Connell | 41 | 2118 |
| 2 |
Dtox | Dylan Clayton | 25 | 2098 |
| 3 |
The Jam Sandwich | Bob Holt | 59 | 2085 |
| 4 |
Partisan Drumbess | Damian McCaffrey | 74 | 2077 |
 5 |
Jamrock Rovers | Michael Sheehy | 36 | 2039 |
 6 |
empat mata | tukul arwana | 38 | 2038 |
| 7 |
‘allo ‘allo XI | willo Wilson | 47 | 2030 |
| 8 |
Bad Boys 4 | Tej Patel | 48 | 2018 |
| 9 |
anthraximus nasus | khalid othaman | 26 | 2009 |
| 10 |
Waynes Wonders III | adam curtis | 48 | 2008 |
It’s a stupid game, for stupid people.. in fact, the more clevererer you is, the lower you finish… which is why finishing 239th out of 302 is actually a good thing for me.
Just kidding of course… well played guys, 302 entrants is pretty good! I’ll get the entry up even earlier this year and hopefully supply you with some more exciting prizes!
Onto things of a footballistic nature…
The Chav-Toffee cup final was a bit of a washout… I predicted Everton would go one up and Chlesea would in 2-1… I even backed my assertions with a £2 bet and this morning, I am £13.50 better off. Geoff has been officially fired from predictions for next season.
The final was pretty dire if I’m honest. Everton didn’t really offer too much going forward and Chelsea didn’t really insist on playing great football. The winner from Frank Lampard was pretty special… it still makes me laugh when I read people saying he is an overrated player. The guy is pure class, he’s not a fancy player, but he’s been one of the most consistently productive players of the last 5 years and yesterday he showed why he is paid the big dollar.
If you are interested, there is a really boring article here about Theo Walcott and some crazy fight he got into at school. The journo who held that interview should be sacked… what a pile of rubbish.
Theo, there is a saying… unless you’ve got something interesting to say, don’t say it at all. I’ll give you an example…
‘And once – and I’ve never admitted this to anyone before – when I was at Southampton I was going on the train to Reading with another player, Jake Thompson. We were 16 at the time but we said we were 15 to get kids’ tickets.’
Not intersting Theo… You’re like that girl from American Pie… ‘And this one time, at band camp…’
There is also a story about Barcelona signing Cesc for £45million.
I found out yesterday that a lot of the news agencies are going green this summer in a bid to reduce their carbon impact on the environment. They’re going to recycle a lot of last summers stories over and over again in a bid to save on the hot air they usually spout.
This particular story seems to have come from the ever reliable Mirror website. It is key for you to know that the Mirror has suffered the most out of the dailies in the past ten years losing something like 18% of their readership… their pathetic attempts to conjur up some intersest in their two bit, poorly written piece of crap is nothing short of embarrassing.
My suggestion? Ignore stories unless you like them… then talk about them all summer in the hope they will happen!
BARRY TO ARSENAL!
Have a great day Grovers and remember, don’t take sweets from strangers.
Cesc now wants to move or does he?!
gallas is a winner. More so than a lot of our players
dont worry cesc aint going anywhere yet
I know some of ye like him but i think we should adress the keeper issue too because i just dont think Almunia is good enough and Fabianski showed he isnt ready ti take over yet.
I say get someone in like we did with Lehmann. Some class keeper nearing the end.
Green has been linked… well imo he’s better than that clown called Gomes!
Gomes is a great keeper considering he only became a goalie at 19. Bit thick for doing that really.
Stu; Jaaskelinen from Bolton then? We couldve had him on a free last summer…
Ok Stu.. who would you put on your GK shopping list?
I think Almunia has shown he is good enough, IMO. He really impressed, bar a couple of mistakes. No keeper goes thru a season with out making errors…
Almunia is better than a fair few goalies in the prem. Van DEr Sar included. Thing is, I dont think there are too many quality keepers about, anyway, IMO.
Actually prefer Almunia much more than Fabianski… although I thought he should have got a hand to Ronaldo’s 40 yard freekick.. live & learn eh!
would have liked shay given, he always played sick vs us.
almunia is ok in my eyes tho. Better than green.
Yep missed out on Given… then again Man City will always pay over the odds!
I would have Frank Rost of Hanburg i think. He is 35, his manager (fat Jol) jus left and they finished about 4th. He would do well until Fabianski is ready.
Other than him im sure there are keepers elsewhere that are better than Almunia. Almunia only played last season because Lehmann fucked up twice and was dropped for the season. If Al was treated the same he would be dropped for a few seasons. Not a top keeper imo.
fuck..nedved has retired.What an amazing player.How i wish he played for arsenal.
Given is a great keeper but only looks so good because of the defences in front of him. Irelands, Newcastles and now Citys defences are absloutely shite.
He faces a good 15 shots on average every game. Who wouldnt look good with all those saves to make. For all the saves he makes he always concedes too.
Thats why they bought Diego Nish. And apparently they are after Leto too. The liverpool player on loan.
Those people saying walcott should play upfront heres an interesting stat.
Walcott got the same amount of premier league goals as silvestre last season but played more games.
2 goals in 16 starts is crap
diaby scored 1 more goal and made the same amounts of starts and even eboue outscored walcott
You should watch him.He still runs more than anyone else in that team.Inspirational player
Yeah, Almunia shouldve got to that effin Cronnie freekick! BUT, he has been far better than I ever thought he would be. He has made outstanding saves and been very consistent. The 1st leg v manU, the spuds away game and loads more.
Almunia, I guess will always be perceived as not very good in some people’s eyes, just like how Song, bendy and Theo get slated…
any1 watching french open?Nadal is losing
well actually he is not retiring.He is planning to leave juve.Strange decision
almunia has made massive improvements which is good, and his best years are still ahead of him. When he first came into the team his decision making was rubbish.
I wish he would be more commanding on crosses and corners tho, but his reflexs are very good
Lovedup, i actually liked Almunia last season but for whatever reason that changed after this season. Cant explain why…i’ve just stopped liking him.
As for the others- you know i rate Bendtner, Song a lot less so and Theo is …meh.
GK is a key position… even Capello in his club management days used to favour big commanding keepers.. Schmeichel was an awesome signing for the Mancs! A fearless GK with good handling and top reflexes always get my vote but there are so few who are the complete package.. oh and sound concentration / judgement is either a natural instinct or the difference between being a good keeper or a sh*te one!
I am not that worried about gk department.As long as we get a DM and a CB i will be more than happy
Nish; Nedved was one of my fave players when I used to watch Serie A on C4 on a sunday. Well, him and veron!
As for Theo, I think either a switch in position or a change of formation will sort him out…
I remember when juve got relegated there were rumours about nedved joining spuds.I was hoping that he won’t join.Obviously he was smart enough not to join them
We also a need a utility player. A proper one.Not like diaby who would fuck up everywhere he plays.Flamini was a good one
Ok well if we could sign up Barry and Sakho.. my belief in the team would be immense!
Guys it seems we probably will keep Ade because Wneger has said that he let players leave to easily in the past…so therefore he will try to hold unto players more.
SO if he stays..then I think we should play 2 formations. The Barca 4-3-3 and 4-3-1-2
Barca 4-3-3
……………….Al…………………
Sag………Kolo/New….Gal/New……Clichy
…………….Song/New/Den……………
…….Cesc………………..Rosicky/Nas…
….Walcott/RVP……Ade/Eddy…..Arsh/BEnd…..
When Bendter played on the left against Roma he did a pretty good job got into scoring postions but did not finish.
When Ade goes to the ACN then Vela comes more into the rotation on the left..with Bend or Eddy in the centre.
We could also play 4-3-1-2 With Arsh in the hole behind 2 forwards….especially against teams that park the bus.
……………….Al…………………
Sag………Kolo/New….Gal/New……Clichy
…….Cesc….Song/New/Den…Rosik/Nas……
………………Arshavin/Diaby…………..
…………Theo/Ade/Eddy…….RVP/Bend…….
We really have 7 forwards…so there are many options but I dont know if we can keep all of them happy.
It’s a stupid game, for stupid people.. in fact, the more clevererer you is, the lower you finish…
ill go along with that
however giving up 5 games into the season
didnt do wonders for me either
I just realised that Fiorentina missed out on Champions league….Genoa sealed the 4th spot today….therefore..should we go for Felipe Melo…..I doubt Wneger will go for him because he will kill Song and Denilson….he will probably go for Barry since Barry probably wont hold them back for too long.
http://www.setanta.com//uk/Articles/Football/2009/05/31/Serie-A-Ancelotti-ends-Milan-stay/gnid-55210/
Ancelotti on route to the Chavs… no surprises!
Ja G;
I think if a decent offer comes in, Ade will be gone, IMO.
Fiorintina are in the champions league as their head to head is better than genoa.
If milan were 4th we wouldn’t have faced them.I was hoping they would lose today
Didnt Genoa just come up this season. Like Hoffenheim just better.
Who are Barca playing later?
No genoa were about last year too.
Good point Nish.. isn’t it a luck dip scenario in the ECL in which we might just draw the likes of Milan?!
Coz of the changes in the CL qualifiers draw, we really need to have the transfers comleted in good time… Lets hope, anyways.
Oh ok so its Fiorentina then.
Stu Barca already played yesterday..they drew 1-1 with deportivo….Etoo scored his 30th league goal, still could not upstage forlan as he has 32.
Anyway I think it shows that La Liga is not as weak as we think…..in England it is only the top 4 that are strong….Manure played a reserve team and beat Hull with ease…we have used the kids and beaten PL teams such as WIgan 3-0.
But look at La liga…after rapping up the title Barca played their reserves mostly but they could not win a game…they lost 2-1 to Mallorca..1-0 to Osasuna(relegation troubled team) and drew 1-1 with Depor…..their reserves could not win a game lol…and the final day was not that weak.
They ended up with 87 points which is record in La liga..the previous record was 85 by Real and before that 84 by Ronaldinho’s Barca…so therefore La liga is generally won with only 70+ points….so overall their league us much more balanced than the PL…the PL is top four-six then absolute crap after that.
Nadal out having won the last 4 years!
Soderling was absolutely quality and Nadal a bit flat.
its mostly because very few teams in the EPL are really bothered about playing football…so even if man u or chelsea have an off day the other teams don’t capitalise and lose 1-0 or something..in the SPL if a barca or real fail to turn up they are normally beaten or at least drawn against..its about footballing priorities..there’s a reason why spain are the best in europe..
i was hoping that fedrer beats him in the final..roger should win it and complete his trophy shelf..
Well here’s hoping that we whip the likes of Hull, Stoke, Burnley, Bolton, Blackburn, Birmingham, Wolves & Co next season… they are guaranteed to put 11 men behind the ball and play negative route one football.. we will need to be much more clinical and just finish off these fookers before they can even blink!
i meant la liga not scottish prem league!
btw these are the avg goals per match for the leagues..
not sure about the source..anyway..
PREM = 2.49
SERIE A = 2.52
LA LIGA = 2.93
BUNDESLIGA= 2.87
FRANCE= 2.16
OMG i just realised NADAL is OUT. I don’t no what to think.
Be happy Kevin. Its about time he lost.
i gve up banging Ade’s mom
I no no stu. But i would of thought it would be another federrer nadal epic. With the former coming out the victor. Im not going to lie i wanted nadal to loose, but in the final.
remember me…Adebayor Papa
I finally left the old boy alone
Song with nadal’s athletism would be a good player
ok..
so oficially here are some of the funniest Arshavin videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3e7qMqj_eM&feature=player_embedded
Arshavin loves head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKklu8CgqS4&feature=player_embedded
bendtner with fedrer’s calmness would be good..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt0KQbbPAOM&feature=player_embedded
Great stats Mayank… it just goes to show that the Prem is not all that and the Spanish are starting to excel.. even the Italian league appears more opposing!
Is our league being governed correctly? Does the FA favour the likes of the Mancs & the Chavs because their bullyboy tactics / impending influence confronts a gutless organisation which now appears to be time barred! And what a about goal line technology? I hate to say it put the Chavs had a goal unfairly disallowed yesterday because the FA still appear reluctant to endorse modern ways to improve our great game… to me it all appears to be completely backwards and so maybe not such a surprise to see that we could start to fade.. although the kids give us plenty of hope!
Also before the Barca manure final all the english pundits were saying that Messi had not scored against English opposition and used that to come to the conclusion that Manure would win ..among other things..but they failed to pull up the stats that show that United has not beaten a Spanish opponent in the last 8-9 attempts..these guys pull up stats just to suit them lol.
The Prem isnt the best or the toughest league in the world, IMO. Its just the most hyped! Sky and the Premier league big cheeses have done a great PR and marketing job, aided and abbetted by the Murdoch owned gutter press and the other red tops, Setanta, etc…
I bet someone like kevin nolan won’t make it into the reserves of the la liga teams.But here in premier league he is the supposed to be the hard tackling midfield general
Yeaha… I fookin hate Andy Gray.. Manure lover!
I remember at emirates this season downing challenged cesc from behind and it was bad tackle nowhere near the ball.The commentator referred to it as tough honest challenge.WTF does that mean
have a look at this.talk about fixture pile up for the opening of the season.
Arsenal’s pre-season fixture list (unconfirmed as of yet):
13 July – FC Barcelona v Arsenal (UNICEF Charity Match)
18 July – Barnet v Arsenal (Pre-season Friendly)
20 July – Lincoln City v Arsenal XI (Pre-season Friendly)
29 July – Hannover 96 v Arsenal (Pre-season Friendly)
01 August – Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (Emirates Cup)
02 August – Arsenal v Rangers (Emirates Cup)
Apparentley, the 2009/2010 season starts on August 15th. This means that from our last Emirates Cup game against Rangers until the opening day of the season, there is 13 days spare. Usually we have one more friendly a week before the opening league game. champions league qualifiers are on August 18th/19th and August 25th/26th.
We still have this thing in this country where, although we secretly wish the English players were as technical as the foreign imports, we cannot admit it and instead choose to glorify the old school, britush grit, good honest no nonsense good old violence that we do sooo well and the refs and media make excuses for… But spit on someone? And you are no better than a terrorist of kid fiddler…
Wenger will play the kids in most of those matches.Looks like we will win the emirates cup.Yaaaay!!!
also a funny thing i heard during the CL final..
ronaldo’s the better overall player because of his aerial ability…better CF maybe but better player ha and ha..messi’s tracking back link up is far superior..i wonder how much money the experts lost..
He’s so anti-Arsenal… and endorses the physical lump your opponent method.. ppl like him should be told to button up and put a cork in it!
Also the most common thing is that when arsenal win by a big margin its because the opposition didn’t turn up.When united win by a big margin its the because they are the best team in europe
even i think andy’s anti-arsenal but he’s a decent reader of the game..he calls it as he sees it but with his own twist on it..
The fact is that the best chance of england winning the world cup or euro will depend on the likes of jack wilshere,gibbs,theo lansbury etc who unlike the other clowns have good technical ability.I know its early to say that these guys will develop into world beaters but there is a good chance of that happening.Unless capello comes up with a miracle
well i’m off people…
so we all agree that wenger should be the president of the FA..
HAHA only 50 real madrid fans traveled to Osasuna
Modern Brit life is all too pc but then hypocritical because certain ppl exploit their own personal circumstances… obviously the media has picking up on this recently and unfortunately Brit culture has endorse the blagging it nature which is completely irresponsible from advertising down to PM’s who wanna claim expenses which are totally unreasonable! Ultimately the government can be blamed but the same callous attitude which filters down to the modern type of football player (think JT) who arrogantly assumes that it is his right to take because his ego demands it! So where have all the decent role models gone… ppl need to lead by example and Stevie G imo would be a better England captain than Terry the twunt!
Higuain gol….0-1
You don’t hear people talk much about higuain.I think he is up there with the likes of villa etoo and all.He is only 21 and its 24 for the season now.
What the fuck was that
fabianki would have saved that one
1-1
Casillas just made a error big styleee there and he’s world class apparantly… Happens to em all, I guess.
Ancelotti leaves Milan
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5357202,00.html
RM look like an amateur side atm!
Osasuna are only getting relegated because they dont have Vela anymore.
Never intentional Higuain was going for the ball… again crap commentary!
Yeah RedB, its as if he meant to kick him in that exact place!
Shrewth that was close!
http://arsenalspot.net/2009/05/video-evidence-arsenals-potential-defensive-answer-has-been-found/
Stu? Your opinion please.
Werder ship loads of goals… Wasnt impressed with him and Metzelda for Germany either…
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_5356906,00.html
LMFAO
Nah.. just as dopey as Huth!
Quite a few players have had their wisdom teeth removed to help avoid certain types of injuries. Steven Gerrard for one…
Yeah it’s quite a common thing with repetitive muscle or back problems. Never solves it but certainly been proven to help
WHAT A GOAL
2-1.. great hit!
Leanardo to be the new ac milan coach
WTF… why is Huntelaar wasted on the bench!
Should have sealed it then!
They don’t rate him at madrid redbearer
http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~1677633,00.html
======================================
Benitez denies any Real agreement to sign Alonso..
I had a revelation last night…. ‘xcuse the pun…
Out: Adebayor, Toure, Diaby, Silvestre, Senderos, Traore, Gilbert
Ins: Sakho, De Rossi, Hazard
Loans: Randall, Frimpong, Bothelo, JE Thomas, Barazite, Lansbury, Simpson
Squad:
Almunia/Fabianski/Mannone
Sagna/Eboue/Hoyte
Gallas/Nordveit/Bartley
Sakho/Djourou/Cruise
Clichy/Gibbs/Ayling
Rosicky/Walcott/Wilshire
Fabregas/Denilson/Ramsey
De Rossi/Song/Conquelin
Nasri/Hazard/Merida
Arshavin/Van Persie/Watt
Eduardo/Bendtner/Vela
Daft really… if we were to get 20-30 mil for Adebayor.. Huntelaar would be top of my list to recruit and do a job alongside RVP!
Nah red – good goalscorer in holland, but far too slow and not good enough build up play to participate in our football etc.
Id stick an experienced CB in there too fella…
Ok A.. would Dzeko be a worthy replacement? And if not who’s in the running…
ReVELAtion.. I see no natural right wingers there! Sure AW must make that a priority and then Theo can be pushed up front… Giving us more options!
Ok so Huntelaar says laters!
no, red.. Walcott is not a striker, whatever way you want to look at it.. He’s not technically gifted enough to play behind the front man and he doesn’t have the goalscorers nouce or physical presence to play up top. Although he does have the pace his finishing lacks a strikers finesse.. He’s best utilised out wide still as an option 2…
Playling with a midfield four of rosicky and nasri out wide utilise the style we have become known for.. We aren’t a get it wide and cross it into the box team or attack off 2nd ball team.. Arshavin behind and great instinct striker in eduardo means we’re a team that will contribute more goals and assists throughout the midfield 5 with de rossi sitting..
We’ve tried to adapt our game to move with the times (Chelsea) but it isn’t working and we’ve gone backwards.. Having a big man up top is not playing our natural game… How many goals did bergkamp or henry get with their head? Long gone are the days of smith and campbell mate…
You cannot argue with a starting 11 of:
Almunia
Sagna Sakho Gallas Clichy
Rosicky Fabregas De Rossi Nasri
Arshavin
Eduardo
Bench From: Fabianski, Djourou, Nordviet, Gibbs, Denilson, Song, Walcott, Hazard, Bendtner, Vela, Van Persie
forgot to make eboue one of the bench options, but that’ll happen…
Looks exciting mate but do you really think we can get De Rossi on the cheap? Is his contract up?
Nishant , Higuain will be a superstar. JUst give him a year more.
15th June – U21 vs Finland… pen that one down!
We scored the 2nd highest amount of headed goals this season… We are more likely to play a formation of 4-2-3-1 as well, it seems.
Theo is capable of being a striker, because he has the pace and is a decent finisher and can still imporve in that position, IMO. Unless AW has changed his mind, thats where he’ll end up too. Possibly even next season, unless he gets fucked up playing for England.
Yep with you on that LL.. Theo should be given a chance to prove what he is capable of… his touch and vision should have improved but understand that the boy still needs to bulk up!
They’ve failed to make the champions league… We are still a top draw for a player anywhere.. Wenger, the style of play, the premiership…
We cannot say our history because i still think unless the player supports the club the lack of european trophies is still a mark against us when competing for top targets worldwide against liverpool and united.. It is still though also a case of the money, which, most times we are not willing to pay…
If we can stick 16-18m (straight up no installments) under their noses, i’d reckon the player would want the move. as they’d be oblieged to inform him… Why not?
Realistically we at current don’t play the best football.. That’s a myth, but we are capable of it on our day.. It’s just not often enough…
With the right tweeks and reverting to “the arsenal” way of playing, we are more than capable of winning trophies and competing for years with the youth and experience of the squad…
I reiterate that a squad of:
Squad:
Almunia/Fabianski/Mannone
Sagna/Eboue/Hoyte
Gallas/Nordveit/Bartley
Sakho/Djourou/Cruise
Clichy/Gibbs/Ayling
Rosicky/Walcott/Wilshire
Fabregas/Denilson/Ramsey
De Rossi/Song/Conquelin
Nasri/Hazard/Merida
Arshavin/Van Persie/Watt
Eduardo/Bendtner/Vela
is a squad to be proud of and one that can produce the goods..
Evening Gooners!
I have a confession, i DON’T want Cesc to leave!
I never had a vision…
I just wanted to stare things up a bit, wanted to hear your speculations a.s.o.
And it worked! I love speculations…
The ones that know me here knows i’m the “Stats” man and i would like to share a bit of that now:
As I see it to be a good goalscorer you’ll have to score at least 15 goals or more in one season. With that in mind look at this…
Since 1946/47 Arsenal has only had 3 seasons before this latest one that they had 3 players (or more) that scored 15+ Goals!!!
1952/53:
Doug Lishman – 25
Cliff Holton – 22
Don Roper – 16
1978/79:
Frank Stapleton – 28
Alan Sunderland – 18
Liam Brady – 17
2001/2002:
Thierry Henry – 32
Freddie Ljungberg – 17
Sylvain Wiltord – 17
and this Season:
Robin van Persie – 20
Emmanuel Adebayor – 16
Nicklas Bendtner – 15
In all other seasons since 1946/47 only 1 or 2 players managed to score 15+ goals, and on 9 occations none of the players reached 15 goals…
Yeah Arindam. Higuain will be a massive superstar. Theres quite a few things we agree on mate!
LL, 4-2-3-1 is one of the best possible formations for us. That providing we buy a strong defender, strong midfielder to sit back with Cesc and a lanky explosive finisher like Torres.
Oh and I see Walcott being a striker next season too.
Great stats Ray!
ReVELAtion, mark my words. De Rossi will never leave Roma unless he is pushed out of the club. A Roman will never leave Rome or Roma, unless of course they are shite and not wanted at the club. De Rossi has stated before that he will stay at the club for life.
Ditto.. top stats Ray! Obviously this points towards needing to strengthen our defensive options as a matter of great urgency… however if Adebayor goes another markman will be required.. anyone in mind?
marksman!
Evening Grovers!
we’ll see…
Howdy Pedro!
Evening Sir Pedro!
Marksmen – Huntelaar, Dzeko, Villa, Forlan, Fernando Llorente, Negredo, Ibrahimovic
Oh and Pogrebnyak!
I think we should go for Pato. AC Milan players have lost their beloved manager. Kaka is going to Real Madrid, Ronaldinho will be going to Man City and Pato will be all alone. Pato and Flamini would be fucking excellent!
Hmm.. good list!
The only realistic affordable ones would be Huntelaar (who is apparently lacking pace / off the ball workmanship qualities), and Dzeko (I hear good things.. two footed, physically smart).
Villa and Ibrahimovic would certainly be out of our price range!
Forlan is too old + an ex-Manc (sorry not for me!)
Dunno about Fernando Llorente or Negredo.. presume Spanish? Please provide more info… thks
whose gonna be the next AC manager??
There team will need a bit of an overhaul this summer, its full of old men.
im not a huge fan of ibrahimovic, he comes across as a bit of a sulker.
I bet villa goes to liverpool as well
About the “Selling Cesc” thing, i can just say this:
No matter who we sell, or who we buy, i will still support Arsenal, that’s the bottom line!
About winning trophies:
Of course i want Arsenal to win trophies but being as i am 37 years old, live in sweden and started supporting Arsenal in the mid 80′s i can just say: 4 years without trophies is nothing, what about those who supported Arsenal between 1972-1988….
16 years, only 2 trophies (1 F.a. Cup in 1979 & 1 League Cup in 1987)….that would have been a nightmare…
I think maybe we have been a bit spoiled by Wenger (and Graham some what) Arsenal has 27 trophies of all time and Wenger and Graham between them has 13…
In the years 1886-1986 (100 years) we won 14 trophies and in the years 1987-2009 (22 years) we won 13 trophies, if you do the math we should be greatful to say the least with what Wenger and Graham have done for the club…
On the other hand, of course i don’t want Man United, Liverpool & Chelsea to win everything every year but we all know that will not be the case. Things change (for the better or for the worst) but one thing is sure, Arsenal will always survive.
One other thing is that Arsenal is the only club that hasn’t been out of the highest division in England since “World War One”! (some 90 years)! That’s something to be proud of!
Huntelaar makes up for everything by scoring. Hes an excellent goal scorer. Proven aswell! Not regarded highly at Real Madrid but has saved their arses on many occaisions. He would link so well with Van Persie.
Llorente and Negredo are both very good young strikers playing for average Spanish La Liga clubs and have both made their way onto the top scorers charts and have scored some vital goals. They are both very good players and wouldn’t cost too much.
Fernando Llorente looks and plays similar to Torres. Hes about 6’5 though. Oh and his full name is Fernando Llorente Torres.
Agree.. Pogrebnyak would be a good acquisition too… but does he score enough goals? One thing for sure.. he would link up with Arshavin well and I would expect that it would help him to settle but that’s not necessarily a enough good reason to sign him!
incesc, just discovered that AC Milans new manager is the Brazilian and AC Milan legend Leonardo. I don’t think Kaka, Dinho or Pato will leave now! Flamini though, maybe.
Cant see AC allowing Pato to leave Milan. Flamini or gattuso could be cool, although Gattuso is 31…
I like the sound of Fernando Llorente.. has height and the agility to match by the sounds of it! Good scouting GP
i wonder if leonardo likes adebayor gp?
although i think berlusconi has a big hand in transfers.
Flamini wont come back i dont think but it would be nice.
Some more interesting stats for you guys:
Arsenal is the only club that hasn’t been out of the highest division since “World War One” (some 90 years)!
Arsenal has 27 trophies as yet and Wenger & Graham has 13 between them…
So 14 trophies in the first 100 years (1886-1986)
and 13 trophies in the last 22 (1987-2009)
I feel for those who supported Arsenal back in the old days…lol
Id be very surprised if Flamini returned too.
i could see wenger going for someone like gignac from tolouse this summer or bastos from lille
Again quality overview Ray!
So, any gossip?
RayGooner, loving the stats, keep it up!
Who thinks we’re going to sign a DM?
Geoff and I were talking earlier… and we’re struggling to figure out where he is going to strengthen bar at the back?
Incesc.. yes totally Berlusconi identifies his targets and then dictates to his coach who he should sign… the Adebayor interest should again open up this week onwards!
“We need someone in the middle to make competition and make a difference, plus give us a new dimension.
“I think that is all we need. The rest is perfect.
“Xabi would be great. He’s experienced and can score goals. I’m sure the boss is aware of that fact.”
Did Cesc really say the above?
i dont know if he will sign a midfielder pedro i think hes going to get a defender. Unless he is going to move song to defence, but he loves his stats and denilson has great stats so he might stick with him.
If Ade goes i like to think he will get a striker.
Thankyou redbearer
incesc I dunno if Leonardo would want him. I doubt a guy who had such class in his playing days would want Adebayor. But yes, Galliani will.
Pedro, I think we are going for a DM. I think the guy will be from France or Yaya Toure.
Yes he did Pedro! I hope hes pushing him. But the thing is, if Wenger goes out and spends on Alonso he won’t spend money on a CB. We will definately need one as Alonso is not a hard tackler. Tbh, I’d rather have a DM and a CB than Alonso. But Alonso would make Cesc happy.
Senderos should be back at the camp next week. So should Traore, Pedro and the rest.
The only “BIG” thing that separates us from Man United and Liverpool is the lack of European Trophies….
Liverpool has 11 European Trophies, Man United has 5, Arsenal only has 2, Fairs Cup (former Uefa Cup) in 1969/70 & Cup-Winners Cup in 1993/94.
The Champions League Trophy is the one trophy we lack the most, but our record in the Champions League isn’t that poor if you think about it, in the 10 years we have been in the competition, we have 1 final, 1 semi final, 3 quarter finals & 2 1/16 finals…
The other 3 times we were knocked out after the 2nd Group Stage (in 1999/2000 we entered the Uefa Cup & reached the final there)…
All in all not a bad result but we miss the final step…
But as Adebayor said in an interview:
“2 years ago we reached the 1/16 final (lost to PSV Eindhoven), last year we reached the Quarter finals (lost to Liverpool), this year we reached the Semi finals (lost to Man United), so we are getting better for each year”.
That will surely mean we will be in the final next year (hopefully we won’t lose that one too…)
Well, as long as we don’t face another english team…
Does anyone think that Sunderland will buy Rio Ferdinand this summer, does this seem in the realms of reality?
alonso would be a great signing but his madrid bound i reckon.