I speak to you today having decided to play ‘Championship Manager’ for once, as I’m often being accused of it, today I decided to play it, what do you think?
Melo is the latest hot rumour, apart from a you tube snippet and a reasonable showing in FIFA’s version of the Worthless cup how many of you Grovers had ever seen or even heard of Melo? If I’m being honest, I hadn’t.
Why then are so many of you happy that we are on the verge of signing him? Why, I’ll tell you why, it’s because deep down you all know that what we currently have in that position is simply not good enough, but many don’t want to say it for fear of saying the manager (not me) has come up short with his belief in a few young ‘uns.
As I am now the expert in the game, ‘Championship Manager’ I can speak with some authority and a degree of clarity.
My question is, if we have been tracking him since his Almeria days (Almeria is where they make the Spaghetti westerns) then why did we wait until he was worth £15 million before we got interested, yes I know we tried in January, but even then he was being touted at £15 million.
Okay, I believe we need an enforcer and at 6′ tall and playing for Brazil alongside the great Gilberto he does seem to fit the bill, the ones he will be replacing will be good back up and if not we should at least get our money back on them should we choose to.
If it’s not Melo, then maybe Cana, Diarra or Inler, but frankly anyone that can do the holding job will do me, it’s the one thing we desperately need to push on, now that we have a decent defender anyway.
Diaby is putting in the extra hours in the gym to bulk up and that I applaud, why then don’t Denilson and Song do likewise, or why doesn’t Ade go to offside and finishing school?
Better news is we are close to agreeing a new deal for the boy wonder and that pleases me, well done Robin, we need you, you will be a star in the years to come, after all the Mancs wanted you, so you can’t be all bad!
I was really impressed with Gibbs last night and can see that maybe now we have a potential left winger in the making, so we are blessed on that flank with Traore, Vela and Rosicky all queueing up.
Getting Melo in the middle we also have the protector we so need and with Nasri, Cesc and Diaby there too we have plenty in reserve, Theo out wide still needs some help and if Eboue goes then we do need to bring in an out and out winger on the right. With Ramsey and Wilshere also in there we now have many options in midfield.
Ade now has Roma after him him and that’s good news, I get the feeling he is disruptive and I would have Nikki B over him all day long, plus he would fund Melo and that winger.
Sakho in for Eboue and the money we get from Senderos, and we have the makings of a championship winning side, and as an expert in ‘Championship Manager’ I really should know!
Finally I really believe that fringe players like Denilson, Song, Wilshere and Ramsey would all improve having such good players in there to learn from, I also think they would not have the pressure on their young shoulders when drafted in to do a job, leaving them in there for 40 games a season cannot be good for them or their confidence, signing Melo and Vermaelen is a shrewd move as they are older and better than what we currently have, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, we need to keep either Gallas or Kolo, but we can get shot of Silvestre, Eboue and Adebayor.
I get the feeling that once the under 21′s and the Confederation cup have finished, we will conclude our business, but signing Hitzelwhateverhisnameis is buying for the sake of buying, him for me would serve no purpose other than to bring in yet another average midfielder and at the moment we are well stocked in that department.
Build from the back boss, the rest will take care of itself, our attacking midfielders and our forwards for me are the best in the world.
And that my friends concludes my masterclass into the game they call ‘Championship Manager’
Have a great day, tomorrow Pedro posts!
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
1
1st!
2
YeH@!@!
shit…
hahah Pedro
Hitzelwhateverhisnameis
LOL!
Anyone see Jerome Boatang last night for Germany.
He is 22 6 foot 3, and knocking on the senior side.
He looked a good player, and comfortable on the ball.
I know he is young, but people talk about Richards, and they have just the same experience.
He might not be as tall as Franchise, but there are not many footballers that are.
Adebayor out would be amazing, and free up our attacking options, and allow the likes of Wilshire a chance on the right hand side of midfield.
“Ideally I would like to bring everybody in before we start back in pre-season training in July. I don’t want to leave it until the end of August.”
Wenger’s quotes
I like that post Geoff, good & positive, which is how it actually is. Did England win last night in the U21′s
I heard of melo about two years ago and he was supposed to be quality then
Fran, when I saw the quote I was delighted, but he says shit like that all the time. Last summer he said we need a CB, took him 14 month to get one after his quote.
Drew 1-1 with the Krauts gg9. Made 10 changes from the first XI and still were the better team.
gg9, drew 1-1 but rested 10 players. Still qualified 1st and got Spain knocked out with that result, who were pre-tournament favourites for the whole thing.
Geoff, weren’t you once the biggest advocate of a team not requiring a ‘holding midfielder’??
Don’t get all aggressive with me now, i’m just asking.
Between us there Dukey boy I think all information has been passed
Steve I still am, but as Wenger’s isn’t let let’s get one in that is good enough, Denilson and Song clearly aren’t.
Cheers fellas, thats good then.
Geoff, you should manage Arsenal… top post.
What we need is a MF with defensive ability not the next Makelele… Good post Geoff
Steve, yes I think we did, have to wait for the opponent, but I am betting on a England – Italy final. England finally have a chance to win it.
Blimey Geoff, that was a mellow riposte.
I was expecting to be slaughtered.
You are going soft in your old age.
The GKB’s will be turning in their cribs.
Its 43C… fucking hot! Just felt like saying that
Was just looking at the Mirror and Wenger said he has “1 or 2 more targets” and that he would like the deal to be done by the start of pre-season.
Where was wenger quoted saying this?
Mayank, where the fuck are you? 43C FUCK!!!
Morning from occasional blogger
re: Ade disruptive……..heard it from “sources close to” a young Englishman at Arsenal that Ade completely ignored said young Eng man in training during 07/08 season. Also noticeably critical of him on pitch on many occasions. Arrogant ********! How can the youngsters gain confidence with that attitude from the established players? Good riddance
Dan, the Mirror.
Or a Melo repost Steve…
(sorry)
geoff, I cant believe your playing championship manager and not football manager
riposte rather.
Hate it when poor grammer ruins a joke…
Steve, it’s the new me, since I’ve been a Championship manager I decided to act a bit more staesmanlike, not the shoot from the hip and suffer no fools nasty cunt I used to be, in short, the Manager formally known as Geoff.
Now I’m known simply as Geoff.
and poor humour.
I’m only doing it in my head Rob, why is there really a game called that?
Wenger says in the mirror today about adding one or two more targets, could it be 3 signings arrive this summer ? oh yeah praise the lord, they are spending my season ticket money at last
haha duke i’m in abu dhabi and it touched 50c last week. it is hovering around 45 now.
Fuck me, I don’t think I ever experienced heat like that.
[...] the original post on Le Grove VN:F [1.4.2_694]please wait…Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes [...]
well you do get used to it..and you would be ill-advised to step out of the house at midday.
and my 27 pound big dave lol
hey, i for one think that adebayor shud be given another chance. I am not saying he DESERVES a chance. i think we just should. This season he was a flop. But the season before this he did score 30+ goals. Sure he missed alot of obvious goals..but he did score goals many no one expected. A goal from the blue. He has an aerial ability that many strikers are envious of. If we lose him, maybe we wont find anyone with that ability in years to come. He has talent…no one can deny that. He needs to improve his finishing. Let’s give him ONE more season to do that.
Hey, thats just my opinion…i put the idea forward. wat do u ppl think?
Old bird… the cheek of it coming from Ade.
Mind you, he was raised with Henry… who was equally mean to him on the pitch!
if Ade and Tore go, i assume that we signed world class players.
Geoff, they release a championship manager every year. Football manager is more popular
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eidos-Championship-Manager-2009-PC/dp/B001U0O7HQ
lol @ pedro (1st)
MAYANK-that is hot man – reminds of pakistan in may (peak summer is near 50c!) also i’m pleased with wenger’s comments that he wants the new players in before july. However he also said that there will be no departures this summer – does that mean ADE is stayin? Marcotti’s comments are all over the web.he said that we have agreed a fee with fiorentina & we can spk to Melo after the confederations cup.Senderos is going the other way.i respect Marcotti he’s one of the best football journos out there but i still dnt know whether i cant trust its gona happen – i hope it does.
Rohan…..well can you get out of Abou Diaby as he’s meant to be down the gym bulking up
morning all !
come on wenger
http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelondonpaper/sport/football/felipe-melo-flattered-by-arsenal-interest
Or even poor grammar, Maqitlarge. Morning all, by the way.
haha wardo never noticed that connection…wonder if man shitty want him as their namesake-it would make some cracking headlines for sure.
Iqtesab, I want to keep Ade as I think if we sell we won’t get a replacement, if we are for sure he should go. If he would have passed to Bendy in that fateful game against B’ham, we probably would have won the league.
big dave – one or two more signings?i think a DM is nxt target – do u think we’r after another CB (If Gallas leaves) or striker if Ade goes(Chamakh?) IQTESAB – i wouldnt mind ADE staying if he actually woke up from his hibernation & played like his 30goal season. However even then i thought we could have done with a more clinical striker – however i was watching Spain vs S.Africa & even David Villa missed 3 chances!
is melo really all that..how did fiorentina do this season and how were they defensively..also is he a pure DM or does he have an ounce of creativity..
also is he quick enough to survive in the premiership?? for all we know he might not be much better than song.
Well i am glad you are not our manager, you seem to have missed out one very important player from our squad. Just a little clue he’s Russian.
Hopefully Wenger is learning and we won’t be bringing in more kids, we need some winners. Melo would definitely be one to get. Hitzlsperger, a German international would be better than most of our midfield on day one.
Spending another season to determine whether Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Song should be kept around will not only not go down well with some of our better players, but we could be in trouble of falling out of the top four and we could all end up watching the squad disintegrate next summer. It’s time to build a squad that can really do the job.
Citeh and the rest will be formidable again, the time for playing about with youth has become a luxury we really can’t afford.
hope wenger sells ade
Rohan Melo is a very good player. definitely a much better player than any we have in his position
Geoff, Can I ask?
When the “Mirror” says to have quotes like those of today, We Arsenal Fans tend to believe those quotes.
When the Mirror also makes quotes like “Fab is off to Catalan” we tend to dissmiss them as “boik”, Paper S****?
good thinking Rohan……that just pushed his price up by £30mil
No mention of Denilson in your post. The man Wenger left out in for two critical sem-finals, which we lost. A player nobody appreciates until he is not there.
boo!
If we go for a CB, one to add to the list is Jerome Boatang of Germany.
AW has been reading my posts !!!
http://www.setanta.com//uk/Articles/Football/2009/06/23/Prem-Wenger-on-summer-plans/gnid-57899/
franchise – for me Melo is an unknown quantity.who would u have if u had an option – melo or Flamini? & why.
“I was really impressed with Gibbs last night and can see that maybe now we have a potential left winger in the making, so we are blessed on that flank with Traore, Vela and Rosicky all queueing up.”
Where did you see Gibbs play last night?
Quite good going toward aswell rohan, can def pick a pass
KM, I would have Flamini, he was a perfect partner for Fab and they are friends. Plus we know what he is all about, and he almost won us the league.
I remember how I was crying out for Baptista and he is one of the worst players to ever pull on our shirt, can’t help but wonder if Melo could be the same.
lol Arindam!wenger if ur reading – can i play for Arsenal plz?
KM , Flamini in a heartbeat for me !
Melo is a much better footballer for sure ; but the negatives are : Isn’t proven at the PL level , isnt really that quick (which is needed to offset Cesc’s lack of pace in CM) , would cost a shit-load of money (his price must have gone up after the Confed cup).
lol Geoff Strong
Wenger left Denilson out cos he figured the games were too big for him. he played nasri as a DM over denilson. What does that tell u?
i bet u would come up with his stats next
i would have Melo over Flamini
KM- He says that he does not want to lose anyone from the squad, so who knows what his plans are, if another 2 players arrive we all be in heaven, he also states that he may change the formation which is quite intersting
Franchise, he left him in for the semi finals… Denilson played over Song against the Chavs and he was anonymous!
duke – i too would prefer Flamini – he was a mean machine,fighting like a cornered tiger.however Melo has better passing & he knows how to switch play, gets away frm players & is good at headers (corners/set pieces) & is a strong lad.
Looks like Alonso is off? I don’t like the sound of the pool, they might be the one under threat from man city.
Geoff Strong……I appreciate Denilson. Did you go to the Roma match at home ??? Denilson played a blinder. He looked excellent.
In the Premier L tho, he can get muscled off the ball….but again, he is improving his strength all the time and it is happening less and less
Against Manpoo Denilson was on the bench in both legs
When did you see Gibbs play last night?
Id definitely pick flamini.
Havent been blown away by melo. He doesnt seem to get stuck in as much as id hoped. He could do a good job for arsenal i think but £15m looks too much imho
we didn’t do too well vs the mancs did we Fran? not saying denilson would have made the difference but he is a good player
15m too much? we are all beginning to exhibit some form of wengeritis and hillwoodism
BigDave-change of formation? Hmmm thats interesting – what do u guys think it’l be?4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or 4-1-3-2? What will the 1st team be in these formations?
What is the plan with merida?thought he was the next best thing when we signed him
The 3 times that I have wacthed Melo play , his movement , kicking style mirrors that of Denilson’s by nearly 90 %. But , the end-products are vastly different
To be honest, Im not convinced that melo is any better than song. Song can also pick a pass, is strong, probably faster, aggressive in the tackle and when attacking crosses..
Melo probably is *slightly* better, may be more consistent with his passing for example (?) and may well would get through more games in a season but, again, for 15m you need someone really amazing
Arindam
I’m more interested in his stat that mirrors the 33 year old birthday boy today Paddy V. His number of red cards. He gets stuck in.
The reason why Gibbs is still getting used to the left back position is because he has tradionally been a midfielder. It is a testament to him as a player that he has made the transition from midfield to defence. I like this kid and his attitude. Definately one for the future.
Bang on post!! Thanks for saying what I’ve been feeling all through this season/season end. One more target (a good, strong,experienced DM obviously) and I’ll be happy. I agree when Wenger says to keep this squad together. I’ve always believed in that theory. I understand we do have to watch our spending and wages with our new stadium/debt/economic crisis whatever hey, but paying Offside King-Bayor top wages just pisses me off
Your a professional football player FFS, and I can’t understand what part of the offside rule you do not understand?? Ring me, I’ll be glad to explain and teach you what I know as I am a qualified Referee. Watching Arshavin Fight for EVERY Ball just proves that Ade is lazy. Your a top striker Ade, but when you have an attitute like that, it’s like we are playing with 10 men! Brings the team down psychologially. All that build up to attack, and You are flagged offside. What a DOWNER. I get upset watching it, I can’t imagine how I’d feel playing next to you. I won’t stoop to Booing our own players and I believe we are all human with Up’s and Down’s but I can’t tolerate consistent laziness and lack of effort. Buck up Ade, and I will support you 1000%!
GO GET US THE DM WE NEED Mr Wenger, before Villa do, as they have lost Barry and will most certainly replace him. Getting an enforcer to play next to Fab4 is absolutely essential, and NO, it WON”T kill Denilson/Song. It would make them better players and make us stronger!! – Not a Championship Manager, just someone who loves my club …Gooner for Life!!!
Bergy – he still is.
Imo hes actually on the same sort of level as wilshere but shows the benefits of his extra 2 or 3 years.
Doesnt have the pace of wilshere but is immensely talented. He said hes happy to bide his time with breaking into the first team as well.
I think wenger has plans for him
I think that we should sign Toulalan as a defensive midfielder. He works hard and he never loose the ball, I know that he rarely passes the ball forward but Gilberto didn’t do that either, and we all loved him…
I duno if anyone agrees, but gilberto has looked more impressive than melo in the confederations cup to me…?
he is a good player but i doubt if he would have played 50 games for an everton, villa side then why should he play so much games for us in a season where silverware was badly needed?
davi-i agree £15m is a lot – but thats because the stupid money being thrown around by the big boys & small timers like mancity & spurs
At home against the teams that park the bus ; we should play with something like this :
————Al
-Sagna–Verm-Gallas–Clichy
———New Cm/Song
——Fab———Ros/Nasri
–Theo—-Ade/RvP/Dudu—-Arsh
Matches against the top 4 /teams that actually play
some football :
————Al
-Sagna–Verm-Gallas–Clichy
——–Cesc—New CM
–Nasri—–Arshavin——Ros
———Dudu/Rvp
And bring Walcott in for Rosicky/Nasri around the 60′ min mark .
Bring on Ade for the striker arnd the same time ; with tired legs in the oppo. defence.
He may go with a 4-3-3
That Myles Palmer really is self indulgent – his post today is ALL about Wimbledon. Who gives a crap about tennis when they log on to a site called “Arsenal News Review”. That was a waste of 45 seconds..bah !
yeah we refused to pay £16m for Xabi Alonso a year ago. As it stands Liverpool wont accept £20m.
Thx davi.wish we could see more of merida.jack and vela
gnarleygeorge- agree melo gets a lot of cards but so did robbie savage & Joey Barton! Bottom line is most of us loved Flamini – he was Dynamite!however Wenger must have saw something in Melo so i trust his judgement. I agree with the comment that Song can be just as good or better than Melo but Monsieur Wenger has other plans for Song
KM – that’s why I think hitzlsperger sounds like a much better deal to me.
Granted I havent seen a Great deal of melo, but nothing about him makes me think he’d be a better signing than hitz.
They have similar attributes I think, although hitz has been used wide left and in sometimes in more attacking positions but he has a bit experience in the PL, champions league and more at international level. Plus he’s been captain of his club.
Merida wasn’t in the u21 squad for Spain, even though he got promoted there a year ago. Wasn’t he on loan somewhere for a bit? How did he do?
Also how did Fab do against RSA?
hiiiiiiiii………..everyone
great news http://gunnercentral.com/marcotti-tips-felipe-melo-to-join-arsenal/
We have too many AM and ST, i have a feeling that if everyone stays fit one or two are going to ask for a transfer… then again if everyone stays fit we’ll win the PL.
strange the belief we all have in Song. He was very shite until his Eduardo assist in February. of what good was he ain the games that mattered most?
i for one i wouldnt be happy if we dont sign a DM especially considering the nations cup
we need a box-to-box midfielder – not a strictly defensive one. reckon we also need attacking midfielder like jesus navas etc. and if ade goes another striker.
but we finished above all those teams and he did play……is it just coincidence that we finished above them?? if so, is it coincidence that manure finished way above us…..my point is, we were not good enough but, denilson did a good enough job to achieve 4th spot so, can’t compare with others we beat.
He was good in most games in the 2nd half of the season franchise but the fact is he’s a CB and we shouldn’t rely on him. As for how good he was in the games that mattered, how good was anyone in those… Denilson might have a breakthrough year too imo not because of his stats but because of his technique
the only problem in these formations is the Arshavin & RvP position as SS – rvp is slow as a tortoise & he is best as SS – can he lead the line as CF?Will Arshavin be happy playing on the wings?last season he was isolated on the wing.he needs to be more involved – u need ur best player on the ball – the dude is worldclass! Go Komrade!
he did a good job but if we had any trophy ambitions he shouldnt be playing as much.
when u look at the team as a whole our DM position is our weakest link
The stats say Denilson was one of the best players at in the league this season but if every non arsenal fan were to vote their best 50 players of the campaign i wonder how many short lists he would make
Mayank , dont worry 2/3 of those strikers/AMs will miss 70 % of the season through injury !
Duke – Im not sure why he wasnt in the U-21s..
He was on loan at sociedad last season for a bit. I never watched him but it sounded as though he did pretty well.
According to wikipedia he played 14 games, scored 1 and got 6 assists, which is awesome really
I have been at the stadium to watch Melo the last two games.. NO WAY. Both Denilson and Song are better. He is ridiculously one legged. Last game(Italy) all his passes to the left side with the defender on his right were executed with the outside of his right foot.His only positive is a physical presence on defense. Can’t imagine him in our quick counters… Please no lets find someone better than our kids or let it be..
I thought song was great in almost all the matches he played in the last 2months. Even when we got beat a couple of times he did well. it wasn’t because of him.
I felt something clicked during the season, as tends to happen with young players as they build experience, and he started to show his true self – this probably started in the match where he assisted eduardo. Since then he was great. Couldnt prevent us from losing some big games, but it’s not as if fabregas was good in those matches either. There were many other issues with the side to be fair
Sorry for the wait, welcome to all the new people! You are now free to blog.
Grovers I let a lot of new people on and hope they are good bloggers, if any aren’t sorry, I’ll get to it later, I have to go out, I’ll rely on you kind people to sort it out!
The stats are a guideline… and by that logic how many would have anderson in their’s… All i’m saying is that denilson could have a great season for us as could melo.
Davi – imho HITZ seems like the German version of Barry. Franchise – when Song started this season he was like a rabbit caught in headlights however gradually he had begun to look like a good DM – I think if he had 1 more season as DM and/or with maybe an older role model to learn from,he would be as good as Yaya Toure. MAYANK – ManU have a bigger squad than ours & Fergie has rotated them wisely with Tevez being the exception (Berbatov over Tevez – wtf??) i hope Wenger can keep them happy.
Warning.
Arsenal is for Life.
Just saw a poster with the name Geoff Strong. Geoff was one of my first Arsenal heroes – him and Baker. But….. I just looked him up and he left AFC in 1964 !!
45 fucking years ago. How depressing is that. My early hero left the club 45 years ago.
Rest assured, it will happen to you. Sometime down the road you will be thinking about TH, check out his stats and discover that you are an Old Man.
Thanks Geoff Strong – you ruined my day
Get Melo or any other experienced player in. A club that hasnt won shit for 4 years in a fantastic stadium cant afford to risk too much.
even with our great team in 07/08 we fell short. Denilson has already had his breakthrough year last season IMO.
Normally players tail off after they establish themselves on the scene. It happened to cescand badey last year.
we need better that is my point. we shouldnt be gambling on denilsong doing a flamini. A ‘Flamini’ wasnt good enough to see us win a trophy in 2007/08
It’s quite confusing now as I heard on here a few days ago that Hitzlsperger was no different ot Denilson – i.e. lacking physical presence, only passes sideways etc.. and now John Noakes’ dog(Shep) says Melo is all one foot(right) and not terribly impressive either. There must be a DM somewhere good enough for us surely?
Gnarley – don’t worry, I had an unwelcome birthday a few years back and am staring middle age in the face …and it ‘aint pretty.
It happens to us all mate.
Chary. I know I played in the same team as GG, but ……
Morning Grovers,
If we sign the DM (Melo/Cana) then we will be in great shape to challenge next season, and I will be very happy as long as we dont loose any players.
If Robin signs an extension it would mean that he has spoken to AW and has been convinced that the club is moving in the right direction which is good for me.
Re: selling Ade, I would love to see the back of him purely because of his attitude, but if he were to stay I hope AW doesnt have him as an automatic starter because he does not deserve it and we should try a different combination of strikers.
Oops, sorry I meant that last bit at Radders, not Gnarley. See, old age stops you from even seeing properly.
Davi – I’m with you all the way mate, Song was class for s over the last three months, seemed to do improve a little in every game that he played.
Some Arsenal fans just don’t want to see it, and I really don’t know why.
Create some utoob clips of Song wearing a balaclava and another teams shirt, and there’ll soon be cries of sign him up.
Lately there were so many cries for £15m to be spent on Chiellini as a dead cert top notch CB worth every single penny….
Franchise – you are right we didnt win with flamini but I dont think it is cos we werent good enough.
One too many injuries and quite a few too many dodgy refereeing decisions were what killed us. We should have won the league. We were easily the best team, and we should have gone beyond liverpool in the ECL
melo keeps his options open, i think we could just land this dude:
http://arsenalnews.net/story/93182/melo_refuses_to_rule_out_arsenal_switch/
btw what is his age?
One good thing – I have seen us win two Doubles, not many on LG can say that !
Ive seen two doubles on TV Raddy 1998 and 2002
Wow I’m being confused with the great Big Raddy.
Iqtesab – hes 25 i think
SharkeySure – Cheers mate. I felt the same about eboue too, something seemed to click with him as well and he played great for the last two months although he didnt get quite as much playing time as I thought he deserved (I hope I dont lose you there
)
lol Arindam @ our injury record. WARDO – I like Denilson but i think if he learns frm an older player like Melo he can only get better & better as he will be motivated to challenge Melo for the DM slot. SHEP – interesting observation on Melo.i was reading Tom Vickery’s brazilian blog & he said Dunga had picked Melo as 1 of the DMs because of his aggression against an opponent in the tackle,esp.in 1 on 1.the 2nd DM Dunga picked was Silva because he had the ability to spot a danger before it occured…. Imo Denilson is v.much like Silva – is Wenger planning to play Melo & Denilson together as a defensive shield in midfield?
yes Big Raddy don’t you mean 3 doubles
I have also seen us win the cup doubles, if that counts.
Franchise. Cesc – tail off…???!!!
But he’s been our main man for like 3 or 4 seasons now. He’s run the show in both the Bernabeu in 2006, and the San Siro in 2008, so I don’t know which season you think was his break through one, considering he played a lot of PL games in 04-05.
Yeah he weren’t great last season, but it hardly signals a decline.
Melo is the type of player we should be looking at
the better options are out of our price range at the mo
FFS Lass Diarra cost Madrid £20m
Mascherano if he were for sale would command £20+ same with Xabi
Yaya Toure would easily cost £20m
who are the players we should be looking at then?
Melo isnt good enough but Denilsong are?
Do u know how hard it is to play for Brazil? Senna had to adopt a different nationality to play Intl football
Fuck. Alzheimers as well…..
that wd be pretty average too , KM.
Fran
Mascherano apparently wants his wages trebled @ the pool, if you can believe Setanta.
Feck , Kleberson won the WC with Brazil , Franchise.
Nuff said.
hi INSIDE – out of Cana & Melo who do u think looks best for us?
Fran – that’s not quite true about Flamini not being good enough to win us the league in 07/08 as he missed the tail end of the season anyway. It’s a bit harsh to blame someone for not being good enough if they’re not even on the pitch to prove one way or the other. I’m sure if we’d had more strength in depth in the 07/08 season we would have kept onto first place, but yes, as we all know if your auntie had balls she’d be your uncle, yada, yada, yada.
CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !
Last Season Records of Melo are:
- 3 Red Cards!!!
- 17 Yellow Cards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bring him in!
CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !CANA !
These shit Melo quotes are killing me. He doesn’t even say the word ‘Arsenal’ in them.
Yet every headline implies that he does, or that these quotes are of some benefit to us. Complete bollox.
Fair enough Marcottis quotes might actually have something, but those Melo ones sure don’t.
SS yeah he did. When a player announces their arrival with a string of good performance, other teams take note of them and play them harder, they tail off as in struggle a bit then the great ones become bettter after this drop or plateau then the inevitable happens they peak normally around 25 and the tail off finally. happens in all sports
Agree about Flam Chary
Arindam the year Kleb won the world cup he was one of the best midfielders in South American Champions League (Copa Libertadores) why do u think United were interested in him as the next the next Roy Keane?
KM – I would go for Cana because he is more experienced, and is a captain, plus I have never seen Melo play. But if he can be a new Gilberto then it can work out fine for us.
Also why is AW only looking at Brazilians with no skills?
Sharkey, Song improved last year… but we did have a tremendous run of average teams after the Arsh arrived.
Also, remember he had the luxury of playing next to another holding player. So good, Wenger had to put two holding mids in the middle of the park. That should really be the job of one man.
Plus, I don’t think it really matters how good he was in the middle of the park… he’s going to be a centre back next year.
Davi – Eboue always had talent he just suffered from lack of application, right attitude etc.
Because he is replacing like for like albania.
Therefore to replace Denilson with talent would be churlish.
Franchise, Cesc wasn’t great at the start of the year, but his second half was much better considering where he was being played!
arindam – wot would be avg? (i didnt get u)
chary i didnt blame him for being at fault. my point was flamini was IMO a level below the likes of Vieira etc Denilsong are a level below Flamini. Slowly mediocricity is creeping into our mind sets.
even with Flamini and the beautiful footie we played that year we couldnt win anything and the reason a lot of us pointed to was that we were short.
The best way to go into a season with ambition is to get the squad ready in numbers and quality
I think what happened was that Marcotti had just eaten his way through 3 kilos of Spaghetti and 16 Tiramisus and someone asked him how he felt and he burped and said ‘mellow”. Unfortunately everyone misinterpreted this utterance from the great man and thus a story was born.
Franchise – that’s how much really established players cost. There’s several well-known up-and-coming DMs in italy, france and spain in particular, but also in other parts of the world. Not all of these are going to cost 15m. In fact I think we can get good players for about half that amount.
We need to find the DM version of sagna
It is tough to get a call-up to brazil, and melo does look a good player, but in these competitions players are tried out. Some of these remain in the 1st team or squad for the bigger tournaments, some are just left out – I think typically melo would probably remain a squad player for brazil, but they dont seem to have the next emerson coming through at the moment so he may keep his place, not sure.
Josue looks to be at least as good a player to me tbh
SharkeySure – hmm I think Id say hes a bit slow, and it took a long time to adapt to his position. I think it would be unfair to criticise his work-rate but other aspects to his attitude perhaps so.
That is where the click seemed to happen tho. He seemed to lose the shackles abit and just run with or without the ball. Hes supreme in 1-on-1 situations and although he has his faults hes still a top player imo. Against chelsea when we got beat 2-1 he was superb i thought. No one got past him and no one could stop him. The malouda goal was unfortunate on his part as he got right across to block the ball but it was good play from malouda as well.
Fran I hear ya…but for Cesc to have maybe 3 seasins where he was rated as one of the top MFs in the world at the age of 19-20, then have a (half?) season where he added goals to his game was a rise in stock like I’ve not really seen in any other player.
Other teams knew that if you could stop Fabregas you’d stop the Arse. But no matter how they tried he couldn’t be kept quiet.
Last season after no summer break he struggled a bit, but thats only against his own extremely high standards.
Final point. Fab has literally been growing in an Arsenal shirt. Compare his height and physique now to back when he started. Through all of that we have to reflect on what we have seen
Fab is God sent. 100%
Jeez, you’d think he died to hear me eulogising about him like this….lol
we dont Davi IMO
i certainly would prefer a player like Melo already a regular in the Brazilian set up than a Sagnaesque signing in Matuidi
why are we scared of spending money?
Sagna as much as i like him cost £8m for a reason. i dont look forward to his crosses
Apparently the dzeko to milan deal has fallen apart and they are looking at ade again this could be good with roma and the chavs also linked… let the bidding war begin!!
SharkeySURE-lol i agree – he might end up at Inter.there’s no guarantee he’s gona cum to us. Another thing guys – He played at Fiorentina with another DM last year (same as brazil – melo the aggressor & silva holds fort) my point is could Melo play as DM on his own?last season he played v.well but he had the guarantee of another DM holding fort – how would he manage it with Fabregas always going fwd?i’m not cussing him,i’m just wondering what he’l do without another DM supporting him.Flamini was everywhere he knew he had no support & would break his balls to get back if we got caught on the counter. Whats ur thoughts guys?
SS Cesc’s breakthrough year was 07/08. he scored about 12 goals and had like 20 assists in all competitions. b4 then he was just a player better than most of his peers in his age group. In 07/08 u could compare him to the likes of Gerrard not in playing style but in their importance in their respective teams
Pedro…I hear ya but it still sounds like you don’t want to give him much credit.
Too many people think that Song having a good game is like a stopped clock being right twice a day.
Surely you’ve seen him playing people in, winning defensive headers, retaining possesion, smart turns, cute pasing etc etc…
Whilst all thats happwening, I can just hear all his detractors mitigating it all away, as though it were accidental. The kid hardly put a foot wrong in a period of about 3mths an stil the best he can get from some people is ‘he’s improved’.
When people talk about who should be sold, he’s on NOBODY’s list, not even your cousin Geoff wants him sold. There’s no greater evidence than that.
Yep we all agree Kleberson was/is shite, yet he gets picked ahead of Denilson………..nuff said!!
talking about breakthroughs Theo has to step up big time
CANA！
Franchise – sagnas crossing in his first season was brilliant!
duno wat happened last year tho…
i duno a lot of our best players were a bit off last year
still £8m for a guy who plays almost every game and works as hard as he does, while staying focussed on his defensive job. Think that’s a pretty good deal tbh. Plus he was already ~24.
I havent seen matuidi but didnt st etienne just go down? and they have quite a few good players. I mean there’s also players like veloso, cana, and that cabaye guy whocome to mind. I dont know enough about them all to really comment but Im sure theres someone in europe who we could get who has something to prove who wouldnt cost 15m
I wouldnt *mind us spending 15m on a single player at all, but for that we could definitely get someone as good or better. Hitzlsperger is the best example I can think of as he has experience AND something to prove, but there are others.
Totally agree with you on walcott – he should still be coming off the bench imo
theo needs to be played where he’s best for w hile before we can really judge him… he’s shown glimpses from the RW but he’d be twice the payer going through the middle
arsenalTOM – gr8 news.the germans are not short of money & they dnt r.need to sell DZEKO.I’d love it if we could give them a player (EBOUE & £15M) for him-haha Franchise – imo if Flamini had stayed he would be hailed as the nxt ROY KEANE – the guy was amazing!Viera was a different player to Flamini & u cant just say viera was better than flamini after one season.
re Denilson i cant see him being much more than a tidy player. His natural attributes incl strength, power, pace, balance would limit the heights he can reach IMO
Franchise…no offence, buy you have to be kidding me. So you don’t remember him at the Bernabeu, or the rest of our run to the CL Final in 2006..??
He’s been the heartbeat of our team for son long, but you reckon in 2006 that he ‘just a player better than most of his peers in his age group’
Shaking my head in disappointment at that one. I just don’t get how you can say that about a 17-19 yr old playing CM in the PL and CL, and running rings around some of ‘your heroes’..ie Stevie Me and Fat Frank.
I throw in the ‘heroes’bit to lighten the tone and draw this to a close. We’re a million miles apart on this one.
davi i think St. Etienne survived
on some polls people r so 50/50 with either toure or gallas going
persoanlly gallas is a touch better
what do u rekcon
That’s the sad thing Radders – who knows what we might have achieved this year with the qualidee DM we should have had brought in.
I’m baffled now – is Melo the one or are we mere bargaining tools to get him a pay raise at the Viola?
BTW, the Viola were the opposition at my first ever match against Arsenal. I came to the match day experience late in life, I saw them in 1999 and I was 33 then.
While I’m sharing things I had the pleasure of deleting a comment on one of my you tube videos, the feeling of power when you can delete disparaging remarks about the Arsenal. And someone has subscribed to my videos – fame at last, I’d better get another one up, maybe some of the Barnet game on the 18th of July.
lol denilson and song fringe players? denilson started more than 40 games last season, and song started literally all our matches in the second half of the season. hardly fringe.
Anybody who has seen Melo play know what all the hype is about. Melo=top class, but for people saying come on Wenger buy him, you do know that he just can’t go and take the boy from his club.
I do wish people would lay off ade.Its really embarrassing to see how some of our fans have treated players like him and Eboue. Think there are a lot of fans out there just jumping on the band wagon in being just a bit over critical. Ade is still a class player, hence why top clubs like Milan are after him. I wasnt long ago that 25 million quid was mentioned for him! I think he just needs to find that form again from two seasons ago and contribute more.
gallas will go, he’s a better defender but he’ll be the one to go i reckon
Does anyone know where Gibbs played last night? I’ve looked on the England U21 team sheet, and he wasn’t there.
Ron India @ 10:18….interesting.
Also I read some of the comments on the gunnercentral.com blog. They seem to be a good bunch of fans with good views. They also disagree respectably also…..maybe we have set the tone for Arsenal blogs ????
Fucking amazing, Song was utter shite for so fucking long i can’t remember, he then has a handful of reasonable appearances against mainly run of the mill sides and all of a sudden he’s the real deal. I suppose if you’re happy with mediocrity, then you’re happy with Song.
Arsenal Tom – I havent seen him down the middle though, except for that one game in the champions league (where he scored twice
).
He can actually be quit detrimental to the team when he plays RM however, because he cannot protect sagna at all. He’s obviously working on his attacking runs, which is great and his composure is a major plus point when he gets near the byline, but it weakens the team defensively. Not the biggest problem against wigan or west brom, but can be more of an issue against aston villa or above
Just read the latest ANR piece.
Can someone please tell me wtf Andy Murray has to do with Arsenal??
GUYS – have to say some gr8 debating going on today.best i’v been involved in on legrove since i joined. DAVI – have u seen HITZ play much?i haven’t & i’v forgot how he used to play but i remember he loved shooting frm long distance. yes agree Walcott is best as an impact sub.
SS in 2006… Arsenal was Henry’s play thing Cesc wasnt as influential a figure as he is now. U cant be serious to say Cesc was our heart beat in 2006. All he used to do then was pass to Henry
His goal against Juve in the Champions league was like a lottery win. he hardly scored in the first team b4 then
In 2007 Cesc improved on his 2006 form but Gilberto was our best player that year.
However in 2007/2008 Cesc was the man. Last season was a tough one for him
i really don’t see theo’s position in the team….vela imo is a much greater prospect and if rosicky returns and wilshere/ramsey make the step up too i doubt he can oust nasri form the midfield and i don’t think he has the composure to be a striker..he hasn’t shown any qualities of a poacher like michael owen and he doesn’t make the right decisions often enough to be a bergkampesque second striker..
he imo is least suited to wengerball. don’t get me wrong i love theo to bits but his future does seem a bit awry at the moment.
mike, i think the way ade treats us fans is far more embarrassing mate… strolling around 2 CL semi finals then moaning like a cry baby that we dont sing his name… fuck him
dennisdamenace – they werent “reasonable performances” he ran the show in many of these games.
and also if you go back at young or new players who have made it at arsenal, often they start off looking quite average, then at some point something clicks and they rise a level in quality. Song played consistently well for the last 2-3months, I think its a fair assumption to make that hes made some real progress – could be wrong, but it looks that way
Fran…..just saw your comment saying Cesc’s breakthrough year……it was 2006 mate ! I remember reading an article bout why we had been knocked out the ECL the year before and a detailed report said that Viera was too slow and not mobile enough (after years and years or great service I might add)……we sold him and Cesc broke through and looked fcuking brilliant all the way to the ECL final.
Can’t argue with facts my friend
DDM. Are those your post Burnley and Cardiff comments rehashed..?? Cos you know Song went on to play against Villareal twice, Manu 3 times, Liverpool, Chelsea etc…and he didn’t look like the weakest link against any of them.
Q. Who was our best player by some distance when we were at home to Liverpool with 10men for 60 odd minutes..??
“all he used to do was pass the ball to henry”
lol….what a joke that is Fran. He was excellent as soon as he broke into the team. Yes he has scored more goals in a later season but his mobility and creation of time on the ball was excellent from the off.
DDM… ay men regarding song my brother!!!
davi, i agree he doesnt do the job of a winger when he’s played there but thats cos its not his game, wengers giving him an ‘education’ to make him a more complete player but it needs to end pretty soon because he’ll loose his natural game if continues being stuck out on the wing trying to put crosses in
KM – not really to be honest, only on occasion for germany. And even then he mostly played LM
I remember him very well from aston villa tho. Probably one of the most underrated players in the league at the time and was a massive part of them staying top for so long.
I think the comparison made to barry was quite a good one. Much better shot tho
altho…..saying Gilberto was the best player in 2007 is not all that far off Fran.
For me he was in the top 3/4 players for that one. Not clear cut but could be argued
Ask yourself this then, Essien or Song??
We haven’t got Essien, so AFC should be trying to obtain players of the Essien stature and ability, however you may feel we already have that player in Song, in which case i shake my head in disbelief.
wardo 2006 wenger chose to sell patrick and start cesc. he did ok for a player his age but no way was he a player we relied on. IMO 2007/08 was his breakthrough season.
breakthrough not meaning when he broke into the team
in 2006 we finished like some 30 points behind chelsea it was a poor season apart from the our CL run.
In lieu of Championship manager day.
How does this sound.
Big Al
Sagna, Verm, Gallas/Toure, Clichy
Nasri, Cesc, Rosicky,
Theo, RVP, Owl,
??
dj-i’v seen MELO play 3 times in the confederations cup & he hasn’t stood out to me except he’s always active in the opponents box for corners&set pieces.i seen a youtube clip of him playing for fiorentina where i must say he looked AMAZING!!!! And folks plz dnt slate Song – last season he was a work in progress.it wasnt his fault that he was thrown into the deep-end.i’v seen him play for his country abt a year back in the african qualifiers – he looked r.good.however the pace of football there was slow whereas the EPL is 100mph.thats why the likes of Kleberson flopped – he would have done better in Spain or Italy.BTW where is Kleberson nowadays?
Fran.. I made the point in my first post, maybe not as clearly a I meant though.
WITHOUT scoring goals, Cesc was one of the best MF’s in the Prem. Thats no mean feat….and yeah I mean in 2006. IMO he was the best !!
For me Arsenal was already Cesc’s team in 2006. TH14 had already started to show his narcissitic side by then, as new stars that the fans had taken to started to steal his limelight. Not just Fab, but Reyes as well.
Look at the volume of Reyes two chants that used to ring around Higbury and he’d only been at the club a few months.
The highlight of our CL run that year was the 2nd round and quarter final ties between Madrid and Juventus
hurley… we’d get murdered on the counter mate… no DM!?
Raddy,
showing off again “I have seen two doubles”. You are older than me,i just wikied your profile.The truth is out.
Gold watch for Raddy
Arsenal Tom – yes I understand that. My issue has always been that walcott’s education has weakened the team at times. Particularly at the start, theo had no interest in playing the simple pass and didnt know how to just keep possession. He would try to beat the defender on almost EVERy occasion..
Hes obviously improved from that, but it annoyed me that even when mark randall played in the first team, he was capable of keeping control of the ball, not doing Too much. Playing the simple pass when necessary. Just showing an understanding of how to play the game really.
Basically I love the arsenal youth policy, but players should only be given a chance in the first team when they’ve shown they are capable of keeping possession, otherwise they are a liability and need to improve their skills in the reserves
It’s not theo’s fault, it’s wenger’s. I understand that
DDM – Re Essien vs Song. You ask me a question, then answer it for me, then shake your head in disbelief at ‘my’ response.
This is a joke right..?? Is it Friday already..??
fran – we should not have to rely on any one player! That was the problem with Henry.
So if you point is that when we rely on a player that is their breakthrough season, I have to disagree.
Agree to disagree on this one cause I was so impressed with Cesc in 2006 and as I said previously, i read that report bout why we were going to sell Viera and watch with anticipation…..
Also, cesc had rave reviews from alot of the press and Real came in for him straight away so, alot of other people also thought he was brilliant……maybe your agrumnet is better placed in the Cesc improved during 2007/08 category but breakthrough….dont think so mate
Fran 11.35. And Cesc was brilliant in both of those. The Spanish press went crazy after his ‘tour de force’ at the Bernabeu !!
If we get Melo, it will be a risky buy. This guy has had more clubs than most players his age and one has to ask why?
He has the stature and energy to make a difference, but we must remember we have only seen him in an old mans league (serie A) and the international scene (confed cup) both competitions are played at half the pace of a premiership game, would melo be able to hack it in the prem?
I still have my doubts.
As a previous poster said, I would much rather get Flamini back, he would be a lot cheaper and proven at premiership level. He could form part payment in a deal for Senderos or Adebayor to Milan?
SS in 2006 Cesc was outstanding for his age nothing too special as a player. he was very fragile then henry was still the one we looked to for magic
in 2007 u could argue that he was one of the best CM in the country. his game had really improved and he was more physical. had quite a lot of assists. he was one of our more influential players
in 2008 he was the best midfielder in the country
Arse&nose, Ribery has had 7 clubs and he’s 24… would you sign him if you had the chance?
Off out, play nice… Le Grove, the blog of love… always remember that.
Davi, yeah i think wenger almost feels he has to play him because of the price tag, the potential and because he’d get murdered by the press for not playing him… plus when the only competition for that place comes from eboue it easy to see why he does!! lol, wenger said recently that when he plays him he wants t play him as part of a front 3 because he’s not suited to being a proper RM, personally id rather see him on the left cutting in henry style
I’m sorry, and i know this will rile a few Gooners, but as far as i’m concerned as long as Song has got a hole in his arse he’ll always be an average player.
But, outta the four horsemen of the apocalyse, i’d take Song over the other three of Eboue, Diaby or Denilson.
I hope before you jump down my throat, you remember that first and foremost i am a Gooner, and want all players who where the Red & White to succeed, but i’m tired of coming away from games wondering how so many average players now play for my club. So, this is no personal witch hunt, or a jumping-on-the-bandwagon exercise, this is from someone who is a season ticket holder who watches the games live and sees nothing in him that leads me to belive that in another year, two years, three years etc etc etc he’s gonna “suddenly” blossom into some sort of world star.
we’ll see what melo’s really about when they play spain (99% likely) in the final
Fran – Cesc – “nothing too special” !!!!!!!!
My only comment is: I just can’t believe you wrote that.
OK, I’m off that topic now.
Wardo reliance is not my point. I doubt if Manc fans expected as much from Ronnie in 2005 as they did in 2007
there is a point in a players career when u look up to them for big performances. Cesc wasnt there until 2007 IMO
b4 this he was just a role player. he became the go to guy in 2007
good point about ribery pedro.
Arsenal Tom,I agree I’m looking for a big performance from melo against a decent team before I’m convinced he is the man we need.
Rohan – i think he’l be used as an impact sub at RM until Wenger believes he’s ready to play as striker.but any team would love Walcott as a impact sub.however i hope his game doesn’t go stale! Vela does tick all the boxes & i hope to see more of him nxt season.i hope we get melo,and rosicky & eduardo are fit.i cant wait to see the return of Wengerball!!!
….& the go to the medico’s room in 2009. This is Cesc’s year. AW is setting it up for him to shine. If he doesn’t come up with the goods, then………..
Arsenal Tom, good point fella but I’m all about goals with that set up. How the fuck would any team get the ball off those three in midfield to start with and with the options oozing out of every pore up front we’d be absolutely smashing teams. Of course we would need VERY fast defenders, but look there, Sagna, Clichy. Pretty quick.
Of course the back 2 would need to play a high line to stop breaks through the centre but Nasri and Cesc can both get stuck in the middle, theo and owly tracking back on the wings and we would at least scare the beejeesus outta teams. The Verm and partner would need to be seriously 100% concentrated on positioning of course. Just a far flung thought anyway. Gotta love CManager.
If it was really a choice of solid all round balance, and people might be surprised by this, but based on current squad i would play
Al
Sagna, Verm, Gallas, Clichy
Nasri, Cesc, Song, Owl,
RVP, Ade (Yes I hope he goes too but atm he’s still superior to Bender, although I like the young dane a lot)
Not too sure this Melo chap is much better than the improving Song at the role, although obviously more skillful.
Yeah SS as a player nothing too special but as a young player he was.
Did Cesc have a potent goal threat in 2006?
Was he as dangerous with his killer balls in 2006?
if cesc was injured was it a nightmare in 2006?
Did he play (fashion his game) to please a certain Thierry Henry?
he was just a player who u expected to be the bollox given time
Km , by average I meant the combo of Melo and Denilson as the 2 CMs wouldn’t be an improvement over what we had in CM last season.
And what we had in CM last season was average , imo(performance wise , atleast) .
KM – ID love walcott as an impact sub! trouble is wenger considers him a starter now
I completely agree with rohan there (missed the comment earlier), I was wondering how he would fit into our side myself. Vela is a similar sort of pacey striker but has so many more sides to his game and has immense strength to compliment his pace.
The best I could imagine is a front three with vela and walcott either side of bendtner. That pace would be devastating in the premiership But right now we have rvp who is naturally suited to the right support striker role and better currently than walcott. And in the future we have wilshere who looks like he could be a better player, unless he is moved to CM..
hurley… if we won 10-9 id be happy! lol i rekcon we’re more likely to see something like
same back 5
cesc melo
theo, nasri, arsh
RVP
cesc playing in front of melo dictating the game and the other 4 running all over the place and swapping positions cos they can all do each other jobs if needed. i think with that line up we’d get back to the footy of 07/08 plus with eddie, rosicky and bentder we can chop and change and mix it up if needed
yes last season our most successful CM partnership was arguably song and denilson. I think its almost necessary to have two defence-minded CMs when we have such attack-minded wide players
Song is rubbish the guy doesn’t even tackle he fouls.
Song is rubbish he doesn’t even tackle he fouls
Davi it depends on how u measure success. we struggled to score with DenilSong but we didnt concede.
be it a 442 diamond or a 433 2 DM is a negative approach IMO
Not really necesscary Davi , we need 1 CM to play alongside Cesc ;
who to complement Cesc should :
- be a bit quicker
- more defense minded
- strong in the tackle (i.e. not liable to be casually brushed aside like Denilson)
- his passing skills would be secondary and not an absoulute-must.
Franchise – *From what I remember* we initially struggled to score with song and denil, but as the side adapted we started to win games with more ease.
I agree its more negative, but for years arsenal has played two midfielders who are very strong defensively if not specialised DMs. It was vieira and petit/edu/gilberto generally.
I think cesc is probably the weakest CM defensively we’ve had for a while. Not that he’s *that* bad, hes definitely improved a lot and makes quite a few tackles, but I think with him we need to defend as a team more than ever.
Fran
Q1. See my 11.34 post about him being great WITHOUT a goal threat.
Q2. Yes. See 4-5 at Shite Hart Lane…plus countless other wonderful assists.
Q3. For me yes. I already said he ran the show for us by then, IMO
Q4. Not exactly. Which creative CM doesn’t look/play for his No.1 striker, who’s also a great finisher. It would be madness not to.
Ps. You’ve tricked me into making one more post on this topic. Let me have your closing comment, and we’ll leave it there.
Off to get a sarnie
Love the thinking there Tom with the wings, we know they can all interchange well as AW only buys players capable of understanding more than one role, which I love. I’d also take 10-9 each game (in our favor of course)
If we were to think of the spot between mid and attk a little more, i’d prefer the owl in there myself, better strike rate, plus slightly weaker at tracking back defensively than Sami (dont get me wrong Owly is surprisingly strong for such a little fella but better suited to dictating in front of the strikers with Nasri, Theo, Cesc flitting around him). That said, it’s obvious I prefer Cesc to sit in that midfield role a little more and spray the ball about, not get too up ahead of himself which ends up leaving Melo/Den/Song/Diaby/Ramsey etc alone in the middle. That formation suggests to me of course that our wingbacks continue to bomb forward leaving little cover behind on the break.
To be sure it’s a bloody hard job either way to balance it out. If only we had suitable cover for Theo/Sagna (Eboue is not it for me) Nasri and rosicky can fight it out for the left side. Both sides have understudies in Ramsey/wilshere and Vela as well and a 4-4-1-1 with owly paired with RVP or Ade in away games and 4-4-2 at home with Owly out either out left, Nasri in the middle with Cesc, and two strikers from the abundance we have. I simply can’t bring myself to leave the owl out of any team. I think Im in love
In the current team , Song comes closest to that description.
Franchise, even Edwardo adopted Croatian nationality to play international football. How crazy is that? He is 100% better than most of the crappy strikers that play for Brazil at the moment. They sometimes don’t know their own players as they should.
well if wat ur sayin is true! then who was fabregas, viera, henry, walcott and more before they joined us?? wed never heard of them but wenger brought them to the team no1 knowin them and look at them now. so if wenger says melo is good enuf then i believe his good enough
Rotation is key for next season. we have been running our players to the ground with too many games. clichy and sagna should be rested more often. if we sign melo then we have a squad capable of surviving injuries and burn out i.e. if rosicky and eduardo recover from their injuries
SS – It’s funny how you can list all of Song’s “good” games, unfortunately i don’t have that luxury as the lumbering bullock has had too many appaling games for me to list, the prick should’ve stayed with Charlton, that is my opinion, you have yours, i have mine.
The fact that you consider Song to be good enough to play for Arsenal Football Club is joke enough for me fella, maybe you should save YOUR argument for Friday.
O key ! Let him join the gunners
From the current team , only the Owl and Cesc are undroppable.
vieira was an energetic box to box midfielder neither denilson nor song are. they both have mobility issues IMO. diaby has everything to be a box to box player but……..
DDM – do u consider walcott as good enough?
for 2 years he was absolutely awful. But more recently his performances have improved a bit
do u not think he is living off of his few moments of brilliance?
his goal vs chelsea in the CC final, the run against liverpool & his england hattrick?
Dont you think we should get rid of him too?
A big BUT , Franchise .
Also , Melo didnt seem too mobile to me from the little that I saw of him.
hurley… i think providing we loose no one and rosicky can give us 20 games next year we’ll have amazing attacking options, probably the best in the league at the moment. and when we need to mix things up theo goes up front with RVP and they can easily drop into a 442 with arsh and nasri on the wings.
providing we get a proper DM we’ve got a good chance next year, even with ade leaving we’ve got plenty of options up front especially if we play a movement based system rather than lump it up to the strikers then all chase forward
with Gilberto and Cesc we mostly played a diamond 442. with Petit/Edu/Gilberto and Vieira we played a more dynamic diamond.
The way Anderson (cant lace Vieira’s boot) plays reminds me of how Vieira used to play. he was everywhere. when we attacked he was there when we defended he was there. he wasnt the anchorman
Vieira unlike Cesc also wasnt the creative hub of the team it was Dennis Bergkamp.
We just have to find a solution to fit the players we have and are looking to buy
I think 442 is the way forward if we want to accomodate cesc and Van persie in the same side
Franchise – I duno, I think song gets forward very well, he hangs around the edge of the box, hits the odd shot, plays through passes and attacks crosses on occassion; and denilson is well capable (3goals and 3assists in the first 8 games) but Im convinced wenger has told him to stay back and concentrate on becoming a holding midfielder like gilberto.
diaby is the most impressive from the attacking side, bt yes ishorribly inconsistent as u eluded to.
Have u heard the story about him recently? I took heart from that – my hope is that injury and lack of physical development has held diaby back in recent years, cos it *Sounds as tho his head is in the right place to push on and become a top midfielder
Theo’s young. Diaby needs application as without it he’s worse than Song by a long way. Big Al, Cesc and Owl will be first names on any team sheet. 100% agreed.
Arindam Melo is meant to come in as an anchoring holding defensive midfielder
with our advancing full backs we ideally need an world class anchorman at the moment we have none
also re Melo and mobility he is quite nippy. cos he doesnt do so for Brazil dont mean he isnt. Discipline is the key word. Melo isnt a box to box midfielder anyway. he is meant to be coming in as a better option to denilSong
I’ve seen a lot of Melo at the Confeds cup and the dude is quality…. he is like a clone of a young Gilberto but with better passing variety and acording to Gabriele Marcotti it is a done deal and we are just waiting for Brazil to finish their run in the Confeds Cup before the deal is finalised. If this signing happened i would be a very happy Gooner
Agreed Tom, Song will be awesome cover for whoever comes in as he will continue to improve without all the expectation. Denilson will cover for Cesc (please god – no more injuries. Wingers and strikers are spot on, even if the lanky twat moves on. Please let Rosicky and Eddy get back to their best too. Morning prayer time.**
Franchise , no TOP team really plays a 4-4-2 these days , in the true sense. And AW doesnt seem keen on it , as well.
The key to a 4-4-2 is a pair of genuine wingers – which we lack.
Hence its either : 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 next season , for sure.
Davi – IMO Walcott needs to be doing more, however he is hampered by Wenger’s insistance on playing him as a winger, which he is not, another fucking round peg in a square hole Arsene! I know it’s only one game, but you could see what TW14 could do when played down the middle against Birmingham a while back. Maybe if Ade does fuck off TW14 will get a few more opportunities to play down the middle. And, if so, The Lord would come down from the mountain and say unto Wenger ‘go out and buy a proper winger you fucking obstinate mungler’.
fran…..12:16
regarding the DB10 role……I think RVP could do that.
In fact, some of the best games I’ve seen him play have been in that role (not AS creative) making good turns and having a fwd in front of him. If that fwd is intelligent he can make runs and open up play for RVP to have a shot or play a good pass.
Song is too thick and needs a satnav give him directions to go box-to-box.
Denislon is only good in our half and not that good too.
I agree we dont have many “proper” wingers Dennis which is why Id love to see us play a straight 4-3-3. Tight in the middle wide up front. Cesc and Nasri either side of some powerhouse giant football player eating t-rex mutant. (Like Paddy was)
Ah happy times.
My limited knowledge of this Melo fella, leads me to believe that he is far superior to what we currently have. He may not be the fastest player around, but his awareness, anticipation and the reading of the game is probably why he starts for Brazil, and if he’s good enough for Brazil he’s certainly good enough for us….
Just got back form college.Great news that RVP has signed a new contract.It is reported that that is was worth 70000 a week.RVP could have easily asked for more considering the fact that adebayor gets much more.He just wanted the club to show some ambition
the first few games denilson played at the start of the season he was playing as a CM rather than a DM. i thought in some games he was advancing more than Cesc. Cesc seemed to sacrifice his attacking game as a result of denilson’s kamikazeness
flamini was guilty of this at times but we faired better then
Song is mobile dont get me wrong but i was just saying that our only midfielder who could play as a box to box midfielder was diaby. the others can either be CM or DM cos of their limited abilities
wardo re VP in DB role he can but there can only be one doctor cool
goonerjay… any quotes from macotti bloke mate?
lol hurley, ade going just means that vela and co will get more chances, which is what allot of people want
Apparantley we are after Serdar Tasci now aswell. If so, I’m happy. Vermaelen, Tasci and Melo could make the squad very strong next year. He is 6ft1 and a very strong CB. Only 22 and very highly rated in Germany. Should be cheap too as he is on his last year of contract.
Its not just the fact whether melo is good or not.Finally wenger is atleast trying to get some players to improve the squad.He looked really impressive for brazil.We will find out more when they play spain
If tasci comes surely one of our defenders will leave
guys what happens when rosicky comes back firing on all cylinders?does that means arshavin is shifted to RM? Or rvp is dropped & arshavin goes to SS?can Arshavin play RM?interesting decisions to be made by wenger……
Thnx for the memories Franchise. Best player ever in an Arsenal shirt. For me.
Fran…couldn;t agree more with that !! They are some boots to fill…I’d like to see RVP given that role to see how close he could get to filling the void DB10 role (that is still missing to this day) :O
Nishanth it would be a dream to let go of Senderos and Silvestre and have Toure, Gallas, Vermaelen, Tasci and Djourou as our CB’s. Tasci can also play RB so we can let go of Eboue too.
keep on shaking it then ddm…
song is massive to the club’s future…
denilson, no…too lighweight, just tidy as someone has already well said…
walcott…i dunno,keep changing my mind.
sagna…someone said he used to be a great crosser…really?? where’s it gone?
clichy…will lose his starting place to Gibbs early/mid season…
Word of warning Tom. Ade’s as fucked up as he is still has some of the best stats around in our league for a striker finishing. A scary thought i know. As Bender and Ade doesnt work together and Bender is as good a header of the ball, I wont mind losing the tall one but I would also like to keep him for one more year. My bad,.
I want the Hitz!
I also want Brede!
And I want Melo!
We can’t get enough quality defenders/DMs.
Arshavin is capable of playing at RM,LM and supporting striker.His best position is SS but he plays well in the midfield too.
Agree with you goonerpress.Silvestre must leave.If senderos can help us get melo that would be great
DDM – i agree hes definitely more suited to striker, and I blame wenger for putting him in the team more than he should be.
But even then, Im a lot more convinced by vela than walcott as a striker.
I just think this insistence on playing walcott at RM all part of his “education” which is harming the team still. And i think it is all because he needs to make him come good, partly cos of the money he cost and partly because we’re under pressure to produce some top english players
Right now the only thing Im really impressed with about theo is he’s one hell of a good sub to bring on. Honestly cant think of anyone who can come on for 20mins and change a game like him, (apart from like torres or messi or someone)
KM… god knows mate but im looking forward to having a competitive squad for a change
Davi you said Song is rubbish, he doesn’t tackle, he fouls, are you mad???
He’s not good enough to be rubbish, he’s shit, you need to add can’t pass, misses open goals, has only scored 3 time in 3 years and then only when we’re winning, passes backwards, no positional sense, slow as fuck, no talent etc.
The worst player that ever, ever pulled on an Arsenal shirt and people think he good. Jeez, what are they watching?
Fuck me, he’s not good enough to be called rubbish, that’s how bad he is.
Has RVP signed a new contract ??
Also, looks likely that Owen will go to Hull City….Not sure I consider Owen a threat esp at Hull…..
KM, RvP has no future if Rosicky starts firing. Arshavin will play up as second striker, RvP will be on the bench.
For the record, Pires would be a better DM than Song…
nishanth – im not convinced by arshavin at SS, ive only seen him there a few times but hes never really impressed.
Hes an excellent winger imo, hes really composed when he gets to the byline and normally makes something happen; but hes also good at cutting inside and threading passes.
At SS he just seems to get marked out
THANK YOU FRANCHISE
Jaunty, He came on as a sub against Germany in the Under 21 match yesterday night.
GG9 will be delighted to have a Tasci on the team…
Geoff song used to be really really bad.But end of season he started to improve.I won’t say he is capable of playing in the first 11.But they guy did start trying in the end.Definitely not first choice DM though
Jaunty he played out left, somewhere between left back and left wing, he was great!
Can Theo learn to jump? Can he replace Ade?
Geoff – I dont think ive said song is rubbish. If i did it would have been tongue-in-cheek.
He came good this year
Arsenal Tom
http://gunnercentral.com/marcotti-tips-felipe-melo-to-join-arsenal/
Nishanth, that all he did, he isn’t good enough for this team, no fucker has ever enquired about him, doesn’t that tell you something?
Theo is completely useless in a tight game i feel.He can help us kill games off if he improves his finishing a lil bit.The runs he makes are excellent
I don’t want Adwe to leave. Let him spend some time on the bench and come on as a sub…..he will start firing more regularly.
Whatever Wenger is saying right now in the press he is saying for the press and the players they are in negotiations for in some way. I don’t know if it’s all worth it but that is what he is going to do every time.
And no more of this we had an eye on so and so player for so long, notice how we don’t have nor developed any of the the three best players right now, who gives a fuck if you watched him. If you watch football all day and night you better know the best players from around the world.
Can anyone spot song???
http://www.arsenal.com/fanzone/wallpapers/wallpaper-detail?id=173
The guy was too thick to remember the photo shoot.
I am not saying he is really good or anything.But not as bad u mentioned earlier.He is a better CB than DM.
Geoff – how do we know nobody ever enquired about him.
I think wenger has made it clear many times hes got a future at the club, beit in midfield or defence
If i remember properly he was linked to newcastle last january..lol
Davi – That is why i reserve most of my angst for AW and the players.
He took a perfectly able RB in Eboue and fucked him up with his constant selections at everything bar CF and Goalkeeper, truly fucking shocking.
He’s fucking about with Bentner as some sort of wide man, again a CF who he’s trying to bastardise as some sort of winger, too ridiculous for words.
Song totally wasted as our supposed mobile defensive midfielder, looks much more at home as a CB, in fact i have it on VERY good authority that is where AW sees eventually sees him – well fucking play him there you mug!!
Fab4 as a support striker, fucking wasted.
Arshavin, Rosicky, Hleb all uber talented play makers for their previous clubs and countries, but not at Arsenal, they are now wingers.
And possibly the biggest delusion of all, Diaby as a winger!
Get a fucking grip Arsene, and play your best players in their strongest positions.
Davi it was James that said it, I just decided to blame you, thanks for taking one for the team!
wardo @ 12.24 – brilliant idea abt rvp & a speedster like walcott/vela. INSIDE @ 12.25 Maybe SONG isn’t the brightest yet but imho if he’d played another season he’d develop into a fine DM who could dominate the middle of the park. Nishanth – if we get another defender,it’l add gr8 depth to our squad for sure.
geoff…
you’ve regressed on song, again, i see…contradicting many of your recent comments…nasty, personal stuff…wtf?
inside he was the the olympics
i dont mind song in the squad
insidealbania – he was probably on holiday or something
gibbs isnt in it either
Davi because I read all the news feeds, he and Denilson have never had an offer.
Wenger will try him all over the pitch, he’s one of his favourites, he almost lost so many games for us with his fouls, bad positioning and woeful decision making.
You don’t need to manage Arsenal to see he’s shit. Did you like Stepanovs as well? Wenger did until the Mancs put 6 past us.
Blazon it’s not nasty and it’s not personal, I just think he’s shit, is that a problem or do I have to rate everyone that Wenger likes?
Davi – Sorry, i meant to say – That is why i reserve most of my angst for AW and NOT the players.
the truth is a s a team we have gone from eating caviar to been fed tuna
i could bet my life savings that song would never be as good as vieira
bendtner would never be as good as berg
henry? lets not just go there
we need a world class DM and we need to sell Ade and get a striker that would have us in awe
this is Arsenal FFS
Can’t wait for the confed cup to get over and see if melo signs.If he plays really well then his value will go up
Franchise there never will be another bergkamp
Geoff – yes but the press often misses things, and makes things up
Fran,
I dont mind song in the squad, I dont mind denilson in the squad, because you cant have superstars warming the bench. I just dont see them progressing to be anything other than squad players in the next 2/3 seasons. So we cannot rely on them being first team players, which is why AW needs to spend. And it does look like he is going to (fingers crossed)
DDM. Lets leave it there cos you;re going roujdin circles now….
First (Time.??)it was – lets judge Song against Essien.
Then (11.43) it was Songs average (I take that as ‘praise’ from you’) but he’s the best out of the four horsemen
Latest (12.09) he’s a lumbering bullock, and a prick.
i know nish
never ever
DDM – i kind of agree with you. the only points I fully comply with tho are eboue and diaby, it could be argued that the rest have been largely through necessity.
I think it was a problem earlier in the season we were often accused of lacking creativity, and this was blatantly cos we had diaby, denilson and ramsey as our wingers…
He should have seen that it wasnt working and starting using bischoff or one of the youngsters who do possess creativity, but he stubbornly continued
Fran…is that what it is?? At the olympics ??
Strange…there are 25 players in that picture. Not trying to start a rumour or claim to have picked up on anything but, I thought a 25man squad was your limit for the EPL.
Or is that Spain??
Comparaing any team with that team of 2003-2004 isn’t fair i would say.Is there anyone out there who can be as good as vieira was?As a team the current one is good.A couple of right additions and i can see no reason why we won’t win the league never mind challenge for it
All the AKB’s keep blabbering on about debt and the top teams getting into financial ruin. Yet this keeps happening again and again, and will continue to.
same here inside
i see players like denilson as a nice to have
IMO if we are to sign a DM of say 25 years of age then Denilson would be lucky to get 25 appearances a season not to mention 51 like he got last season
i see him as a parlour type player in the invincibles season
last season might have been his best as an arsenal player. i just dont see room for the scale of improvement neccessary
when wenger says things like alonso, barry would have killed denilsong what he is saying is i know alonso and barry are better but i want to see these kids through. what is the priority as a club?
lol blazon & geoff. Davi- Arshavin is best at SS(Euro08) he hasnt played SS for arsenal so u cant say he’s best at LM. However i wish we could accomodate rvp & arsh & rosicky in the same time with a CF :/
Oops, forget to post the link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8114377.stm
There will only ever be ONE DB10
KM – i thought he played left wing for russia? like the left one of a 3
Agree with you there.He is responsible for the club.Not for the players future.There are agents for that.Only if the player was exceptional like cesc should they be given a regular spot at such a young age
Inside 12.45 – and Rio missed a drugs test, so you;’d not have him at Arsenal either. Do you even know why Song isn’t in the photograph…??
Do you want me to tell you why he ain’t there..??
SS – Yep, let’s leave it there coz i’m finding your snide digs quite tedious.
Since bergkamp has shown interest in being part of arsenal why not get him to assist wenger
Geoff. Does every enquiry make the news feeds then…??
We’ve had quite a few completed transfers, let alone rumours/enquiries, that never made the feeds.
Obviously, I’m talking about transfers in, not out
do tell
guys we’l see if Melo = Essien in the Final if Spain plays Brazil.Spain are the best team out there at the moment in keeping possession,so we’l see how well he handles Xavi .Also we’l see his work rate when Brazil have to get the ball off Spain.
DDM, I’ve always liked the central playmakers as wingers. I think it works quite well. Of course there are moments when it all looks a bit cramped and congested, but I would take them anyday over Stewart Downing, or even Walcott. Lack of vision and intelligence on the wings is extremely annoy
Nice thought Nish, let him get his experience up a bit first in Holland, then certainly. Right its fast approaching beer o clock. Ciao bello all.
Paulinho – completely agree
walcott is a nice option to have from the bench tho
Melo is good. Brasil cranks out top notch players. Bobby Gee Check out my blog http://bobbygee.wordpress.com/
Pires too was a CM if am right.Melo can’t be as good as essien.Speaking of essien his agent has said that he is open to a madrid or barcelona move.That will weaken them big time if it happens
nishanth cos wenger knows that berg would ask him why he is playing cesc as an AM
wenger answers: cos i have to play 2 DM
berg: why?
wenger: cos denilSong are not good enough to play on their own
berg: why not sign a better one?
wenger: cos i believe in denilsong
berg: dont make sense
wenger: u r fired
Not necessarily Sharkey but as every other player in our squad has been asked after and the two worst players haven’t I figured it out.
Paulinho – Don’t you think we struggle far too often to break down defensive teams? Surely then to have no natural wingers in the squad leaves the squad not only unbalanced, but also limits our ability to break down those defensive teams….
Franchise 12.53. I’ll take that £43.37p bet. I’ll even give you 2-1.
Seriosuly though, even with £100m (per player) in your pocket, you’re gonna struggle to replace the likes of TH14, PV4 or DB10 with similar quality
Who in World football now, is as good as any of those were in their prime..?? For me its only Messi.
Ps. NOe oifthose three exhbited the class they showedin an Arse shirt before they got to Arsenal. DB10 had shown he was a very good forward, but he became a phenomenal forward and playmaker at Arsenal.
of all our CM/AM wide converts Nasri has been quite frustrating. He hardly tries to stretch his marker. Jinks and jinks but still remains in front of them
hahahaha…Bendtner could learn a lot from DB10
DDM – ‘Snide Digs..’?? Yeah its been completely one sided hasn’t it…??
Thats my last one.
will bergkamp be incharge of booking the flights
has he got over his fear of flying?i think bergkamp will a gr8 youth coach & a good option for a no.2 when bould takes over.Bergkamp will be a gr8 pull (like Wenger) when it comes to recruiting players esp.the dutch kids.
One must not rule out steve bould though.Has done an outstanding job at the youth level
the funny thing is our best football under wenger was with two wingers in ljunberg and pires
Pires was more like rosicky though.A natural winger could be a good thing but our current attacking players are more than capable of firing if wenger is able to find a right balance
Franchise – don’t forget Overmars….
Dennis, how’s it hanging?
not at all nish. Rosicky was always a CM/AM. Pires use to play as a forward/winger in France
Fran 13.17.. That so true about Nasri’s jinks.
I still rate him though.
Our players need to be a lot more direct.I have said this before.Whenever chelsea or united score a deflected goal or a lets say scrappy or flukey goal we call them lucky.But the fact is that they need to attempt to get lucky.The lack of shooting from distance really frustrates me.When i say distance i don’t mean 30 or 40 yards.Around the box
Not bad Geoff, yourself??
Nasri has enough in his locker to get past him man though.Doesn’t try at all
cheers JAY
i rate nasri too but i dont see him making it wide.
Didn’t Freddie play centrally before he joined us…??
Clever player, greatest timing of any player I’ve ever seen (maybe/probably??).
A lot of his good work came via Bobby and Dennis I guess…
Yes thanks mate pretty good, I’m just hoping he add the DM to the CB and then we will at least have a real chance next year.
franchise – agree abt nasri he cant beat his man like hleb used to…..(sigh) hleb was awesome to watch. I remember watching nasri on youtube – he had it all – mazy runs & a cracking shot – but at marseille he played as AM behind the strikers,whereas he plays as a winger at Arsenal – he’s not fast enough he is a true no.10,whereas fabrgeas is a v.deep playmaker.nasri works his magic in the last 3rd,where he can beat his man & shoot or give a gr8 pass to the striker.i think if fabregas gets injured nxt season,we’l see the change Nasri brings as AM.
Sharkey,
I’d go for Torres, Berbatov and Essien…
I know Berbatov is a strange one to choose, but I think he’ll prove next year that he is world class and his vision is very similar to Bergkamp… I’d say his finishing is better.
Torres is pretty close to Henry, he has amazing technique, power and his finishing ability is very Thierry-esque… and only 24.
Then there is Essien… an awesome player… I don’t need to justify his inclusion.
i dont think so Sharkey. i think he was a winger
I’m hopeful he’ll add that DM and another CB, that way he can afford to let both Senderos and Silvestre go, and if i’m being greedy get shot of that Tosser form Togo and buy a proper winger!
no ljungberg did play centrally.
He played up front/ suport striker vs england soon after we signed him and was awesome
Geoff – God forgive me, but i’m sharing my season ticket with Franchise
next season i dont expect us having a set formation. wenger has already said this. he would change formations from game to game to adapt to his player
442 with 2 strikers
451 with 1 striker and 1 AM
433 with 3 nippy forwards
hmmmmm
this bobbygee guy is everywhere – sounds like a pornstar.anyone seen his blog?
good joke that .. the Berbatov one.
Anything wenger does is fine as long as he doesn’t play players out of position
Afternoon all.
What won the word of the day yesterday, has anyone checked?
Ha, ha nice one Dennis, will you be joining us at the S&B before the matches then?
Davi he meant centrally like as a CM ljunberg stats at Halmad are quite bad for a forward i’ll research but for now i would assume he was a winger
16 goals in 139 appearances
a goal every 8.6 games in swedish league
he has to have been a winger
Essien is the one player i’d pick from the EPL, awesome mudda fudda!
Pedro – Torres good shout, Berba – slightly dodgy shout, but I do see where your coming from.
Essien. As good as he is, I’ve never seen him boss a midfield in both directions i the way that Paddy used to. Ie flicking balls over Roy Keanes head and chesting it down on the other side…plus everything else
Essien is the next best thing, but for me there’s a noticeable gap. Having said that, I do feel Essien is not given the stage on which to really shine for the Shitbags, and he deffo dominates more playing for Ghana, where he is top boy.
For a long time I’ve been very happy that the Chavs haven’t built their team around Essien, its only to everyone elses benefit that they stick him at RM, LM, RB CB etc etc….
Davi…I’m with you on that one, although I think(??)that Eng-Swe game was a litle bit before we signed him.
Results are in:
In a thrilling 3rd place tie: Spam Purse and Furry Cup
A perfectly respectable runner up: Growler with 17% of the vote.
But the winner, with a whopping 43% of the vote: Adebayor!
Congrats Emmanuel, you were our favourite word for female genitalia on the 22nd June 2009. Long may you hold this accolade!
I’m afraid so Geoff, Peroni in hand!
KM. All Bobby Gee seems to do is post one line and a link to his blog. I’ve NEVER clicked on the link
so we get to finally see ur ugly face DDM
when does pre season start?
Fran Davi – I meant centrally as AM or maybe SS, ie mostly working in oppo half
July 7th Franchise, same day as the ashes!
Lots of comments on Song, in my opinion he must be considered as a centre back never defensive midfield, he is one of the few players we have who can actually head a ball, hopefully Vermaelen can as well.
Any thoughts on Djourou ? Could he be the defensive midfielder we need ?
rosicky,arshavin,nasri are no.10′s,who are v.mobile – players who play as AM/2ND striker.then add Cesc as a CM player.unless we play interchanging football (remember the rosicky,cesc & hleb triangles?)oh man this could be soooo exciting if we pull it off – who needs drugs/alcohol if ur an arsenal fan
DDM, it’s a double edged sword in ways and it often looks quite powder puff against defensive teams, as it kind of relies on the opposition coming onto us and then enabling us pick our way through them and exploiting the space in behind their central midfield. That’s why with Hleb and Rosicky we could go to Old Trafford and make them look like complete mugs for large spells. They would try and press us and we would just play around them and through them.
With our current team, and with the likes of Walcott and Arshavin on the wings, we are better equipped to beat the defensive teams at home, but when we play the likes of Liverpool at Anfield or United at OT, we get dominated because when they press us, we don’t have the same ability to keep the ball. Someone like Walcott just gets dispossessed and we’re on the backfoot. That’s what kept happening in the first half an hour at Old Trafford in the Champions League.
So there’s good and bad to both styles and the teams that win things end up being pretty good at both keeping the ball and being direct.
Arshavin’s arrival changes for us. His quality justifies being more direct and dispensing with the pitty patty stuff. However Walcott and Nasri don’t, IMO.
Well Franchise i was all in favour in meeting under a bridge on a moonless night
so technically we should have done all our treansfer business (INS) by the 7th of July? Should I believe Wenger this time?
I see Sharkey
Ljunberg’s runs from wide were too perfect SS i am now more eager to find out what position he used to play. I doubt if it was out and out CF. It should be either SS or Winger
Good post. To the point as always ; )
Don’t know why Wenger says ‘he’s not going to sell anyone’….. it’s just setting himself up for dissapointment, and the young fans.
One point though from old Rich here..
Hitzelburg is quality. Don’t know why you doubt him. He can tackle, pass, and hold his position… in fact i’d love it if he joins the Gooners!!!
All these other names Inler, Cana, etc….. it’s not going to happen.
Anyone that joins us i welcome with open arms!
Up the Gooners!!!
Rich
Geoff as that’s Djourou’s preferred position I would give it a go, Song sure as hell isn’t the answer.
Rich thanks, the German guy I remember at Villa, great shot but the rest was no different to what we have already, I could of course be wrong.
our formation: 4-2-1-3? Melo & Cesc. Nasri as the 1. Rosicky,Eduardo,arsh. Wot do u think guys?
agree Geoff.Hitz is barry with a german accent.
not bad KM but i might actually prefer a lump like Niki B as the lone striker. I cant believe im saying this.
Ade would love that line up too. The team does all the work and he puts the ball in the net
Dunno Geoff… I liked him. Besides, he surely can’t have got worse since he left that 2 bit bunch of rejects from Brum! lol
I’m up for a change. And a bit of premiership experience is what we need. Besides… surely we’re not complaining about someone that shoots from outside the box??? haha
Can’t see any of that other lot joining though. I’d love to see Cana in the red and white… but it’s a dream. It’s never even been mentioned in the newspapers, who despite what everyone says….. normally have some good ideas (hence our new signing that we all new about 3 weeks ago!!!!!!! lol)
lol @ ade putting ball in the net.but if we get our shit sorted (melo in,rosicky & eddy fit,return of wengerball) the league is ours Bitches!
Fran – “Ljunberg’s runs from wide were too perfect”
Weren’t they just…
Poor Liverpool. In one season he had about six goals and five pens (??!!) against them. Before the games kicked of they knew what he was gonna do, and that they had to stop him, and he’d just go and do it anyway.
You’d think with timing like that he’d be sponsored by Breitling or Omega. I’ll get mi coat…
rich – we need either – a menacing DM,a rough tackler like Cana/Gattuso or an enegy bunny like…Essien/flamini
look what i dug out guys
an article on arseweb from 1998
on ljunberg signing
http://www.arseweb.com/98-99/Ljungberg.html
from comments left by some swedes who watched him in swedish league he was deployed centrally CM/AM they also say he was a utility player who could play on the wings
……….That leaves Ljungberg, who has for a couple of years been regarded as one of the most promising players in Sweden. He’s young, very talented, not that well known outside of Sweden and would probably be relatively cheap. Sort of a typical Wenger target. He plays left/centre midfield, but prefers the centre position. He’s fast, good passer of the ball, high work rate, has good technical skills and comes across as a decent “I’m just one in the team” sort of bloke. I have no doubts he would make it in the Premier in a year or two. Or any other top European League.
another said
……His role for Halmstad has during the past two years been as a central midfielder, with both ball-winning and offensive qualities, though also with certain defensive responsibilities. In the last few matches however, he has had a completely free supporting role, and has absolutely excelled in it. I reckon that Arsenal are going to use him as something of a midfield utility man, especially since his favorite role is already earmarked for Bergkamp (although DB10 is even more offensive). Fredrik can, however, play in all positions of the midfield. In his early matches for Halmstad, in 94 and 95, he was mostly used as right winger, and in 96 he was used as replacement for Niclas Alexandersson, who was sold to IFK Gothenburg (He now plays in Sheff Weds).
Afternoon Grovers,
KM,Did you enjoy Pakistans win in the twenty20?
Rich, don’t worry about the shot from outside the area,Wenger will beat that out of him sharpish.
Geoff Strong – I was hoping Wenger would give djourou a try at DM last season. Hes got all the attributes: decent passer, excellent close control, pace and power.
I think wenger’s argument against was that he cant play 50 games a season or soemthing. Same argument he gave against song being a DM.
some quality comments today. I think song has improved greatly since the start of last season and would be great back up for midfield or central defence. But one thing about the people who mention keeping both gallas and vermalean… I’m not sure but aren’t both he and gallas left footed? do many centre back airing function well like this?
hahahaha Geoff man, you crack me up!!!!
Sad but true though mate ; )
so it seems he started as a winger and was moved centrally then he moved into a free support role (AM)
hmmmmmm
thaatarsenalguy Gallas is right footed
salam gooner786.hell yes man!the cars were honking their horns till late that night. It was a brilliant win for us. I just hope they keep the spine of the team & keep winning. Nxt series is in july v sri lanka Champions trophy in october will be amazing!
franchise – we’v been linked with Barnetta,a swiss right winger seems v.similar to Ljunberg.
Afternoon yall, watchye talking bout?
Re: Gallas and Vermaelen partnership. I think it will work. Vermaelen on the left because he is left footed and Gallas used to play on the right at chelski with Terry on the right. So imo he has been on the wrong side since he joined, only because Toure is and always has been on the right. Simples!
guys if any of you are bored or in need of a really good laugh check this out. I’ve got headache from laughing so hard
http://newcastleunited.rivals.net/FORUM/pgePosts.aspx?boardId=103&clubId=55&threadId=520491&pageNumber=1
I’d have Barnetta at the club. Nice player… But again he is a rightie on the left for club and country.
Fran…how you gonn misanterpret your own post and say he started as a winger. C’mon mate.
One report said he’s LM/CM but prefers CM, andthe other one says he’s been played centrally for two years.
Those articles were a great read though. If you;re waiting for a long tekkie process o finish, and have time, then I’d be interested to see any other ‘scouuting reports’ for players we bought.
Can you get Grimandi’s for me, and can I also ask for Songs glowing report before your master ..oops I mean Geoff, does…??
hatrick?
Well LRV, if you dont like it then dont listen.
We have a right to criticise. Its better than keeping things bottled up and being all smiles until you eventually have a mental breakdown.
Nice Hattrick KM.
Im off.
SS im not getting it wrong
the guy says
In his early matches for Halmstad, in 94 and 95, he was mostly used as right winger, and in 96 he was used as replacement for Niclas Alexandersson, who was sold to IFK Gothenbur
W/Salaam KM,
I went to a wedding in Bradistan on Sunday and the place was buzzing.
Have you ever been to Mumtaz Restaurant?
i cant remember a time in the history of football that fans didnt rate or unrate their players.
one thing for sure is the whole world agrees that maradona and zidane (maybe pele) were legends
when u have arrived as a player there would be no doubts
from this day forth all arsenal players are world class no flaws no deficiencies NOTHING
What about Song Franchise, don’t you rate him? Or is it because he’s a black player.
hey stu.i like barnetta.a good player.i’d play him on the right wing to balance the team & walcott to sub him in the 70th minute.
lol stu.Gooner786 -ahh yes bradford i use to date a chick there but it didnt last long she was mad – proper crazy! i’v heard of Mumtaz’s but never been there.
hatrick?
YESSSSS!
I dont rate Song as highly as many do Geoff
Franchise 14.33. Yeah sorry mate, you’re right, I stand corrected. Fair play.
You got Songs report yet…??
Stu did u c the hatrick?
where is everyone? Btw Geoff & Pedro – gr8 idea abt making a legrove facebook link – some nice chicks 
LRV – Rioch era? how can you call one season an era? The only reason some of us are pissed off with the situation is because this season we went 2 or 3 steps back. Had we improved from what we did last season then no one would complain.
yeah SS wenger is Song’s agent
LRV… so what u would rather do…. sit around and we all just post the same ting sating how much we all love every player even though they arent good enough??
why the fuck do people come on her mouth off at everyone for having an opinion then fuck off again?!
Franchise I don’t rate him at all.
Who you talking about Tom?
Yes Tom, WHO?
that wally LRV telling everyone to stop having ago at his team, apparently the rioch 1 year era was much worse
Ah but they are great fun aren’t they? I mean we all support chavs and spuds here and it is a generally an Arsenal hate blog. He has a right to defend HIS team.
ATom – In fairness this is the only place where I post and get/expect/wait for a response. I find Le-Grove is more like a forum than any other site is, so you do get debates etc.
So I think thats why he’s posted and gone, cis he doesn’t know how it goes over here.
I’ve done it meself on the odd occasion.
Duke… lol i just mean at least hang around to argue your point… fucking idiot
Tom I binned him and shoved his address into moderation mate, he won”t bother us again!
hello all……..
have been reading comments all while, finally got the time to post….
have never seen melo playing…but if he plays for brazil, should be better then what we have…
regarding ADE out, would love that……just cant stand that tosser
Hi Niraj welcome aboard to our strange but fun filled world.
Sharkey & Tom, I think they don’t want a response, it’s jealousy, I noticed it a while ago. People are pissed off that Le Grove is the most popular blog and we have proper discussions here and not just follow one set of mind. We are also all respectful to each other. They can’t handle it, they just want everyone to say only good things about Arsene and AFC and if you don’t they expect 10 people (record on their blogs) to tell you to suck a donkey dick.
Geoff. I almost added ‘..unless Geoff has binned him, but he usually tells us’ to my last post.
I’ve not quite got Ljungbergs timing have I..??
thanks geoff……
is it official that RYP signed new one. read it on daily mail though
good work geoff!
if we get 1 or maybe 2 players in im actually gonna look forward to next season, compared to this time last year i feel a hundred times better
I’m here to protect you and all our fine Grovers from abuse Sharkey, but I missed his comment, better late than never though!
Duke. I hear ya….
I’ve had so many ‘disagreements’ on here but only ever fallen out with one person (a day??!!) Lol.
I’m an AKB, and certsainly don’t agree with everything here….but I’m never made to feel unwelcome. Well only by Geoff, and even thats not all the time.
You’re welcome guys, I’m off to the gym and will catch you all later, have fun!
niraj, nah its not on the arsenal site but probably will be soon they’ll probably save it till friday.
duke… yeah i just find it weird… why waste the time to say something if you dont care what people say back?!
hahah Sharkey, you put you arguments in a well mannered form.
For example “Song was shite at the start of the season, but then improved and in my opinion had a great 2nd half and was one of the better players. I think given the chance next season he can step up” I find acceptable, even if it is wrong
But “Song is the greatest ever, fucking watch his pass to Eduardo, he is the fucking boss in midfield, we don’t need no one else as he is already better than Flamini ever was and almost as good as Viera” is just silly
http://newcastleunited.rivals.net/FORUM/pgePosts.aspx?boardId=103&clubId=55&threadId=520491&pageNumber=1
Atom, it’s their mentality, do you know any Grover who goes to other sites and talks shit to them? I sure don’t. I myself never even visit other sites, I find no need in them as most comments here after the post are more intelligent that the posts themselves on other blogs. A lot of them just round up all the news and that’s it.
Here is the RVP article but there are no quotes or sources named:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/06/23/silky-pers-to-get-14m-deal-115875-21463991/
I missed the fun again!
Who was it this time and which blog does he frequent?
albania, don’t believe anything related to Arsenal unless it is on Arsenal.com. We have been fucked over before. The funniest was Trabelsi, he was even in Pro Evo.
Why do people keep questioning if our targets are better than we already have ffs??
We have Song and Denilson in centre mid, so there we go.
PDT, he didn’t mention his blog, but his post was something like:
“Why you guys slating my players and my club. Are you even Arsenal fans? Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit, Arsene is the greatest, Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit, we had a bad season with Rioch. Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit. I am the greatest Arsenal fan, go support the chavs. Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit Bullshit”
I think I covered everything
Lol, Duke! How did he get Rioch into this? The AKBs are getting crazier….
Hey, about melo I have see him play against ajax this season in the UEFA league and he was very good, his tackling was superb and he is the man we need.
I also heard RvP agrees with us so that is very good news. And AW said that he was looking for 1 or 2 oder signing. Maybe melo and tasci???
Is it confederations cup tonight?
*or
Anyway boys I am off, take care, have a good one.
What happened to the Hangeland rumours?
Nuke em, Duke!
later duke. melo looks like he’s our number 1 target now, its nice to see us doing our deals quickly, cant remember the first time we came out the blocks so quick
CHeerrs Duke…thanks for your earlier comments as well mate…thats just how I do.
Duke I know, and that Trabelsi thing was a joke and a half, I refused to use him on Pro Evo
lol inside i used arsenal last on pro evo like 3 seasons ago. we are crap on it. surprise surprise Inter is my team
Pro Evo and FIFA suck, they both make arsenal look bad and man u look god like… that twat ronaldo always scores against me… Glad i got that out…
Good Evenin Folks
Good post Geoff,,,,,
tom
The long serving Arsenal manager seems eager to avoid a repeat, and speaking to Setanta he said: “We lost Hleb and Flamini last summer and we have had to rebuild,”
“We have done that now and the future looks bright. We don’t want to have to rebuild again, so I want to keep all the players together for next season.”
“I don’t want to lose anyone.”
“I want to add to the squad and have identified one or two targets. But identifying players and buying them are two different things.”
Wenger also suggested he would complete all of his summer transfer business prior to pre-season training in mid-July.
The Frenchman added: “Ideally I would like to bring everybody in before we start back in pre-season training in July. I don’t want to leave it until the end of August.”
When did he say this?
twas in the papers this morning Mayank
mirror.co.uk
PDT mate..
seems like Hangeland is a no deal.,.,,its gotten very quiet about it back here in Norway too….too bad really…
tom
mayank,
not sure when….but if he really did then i can forsee good things coming our way mate…
what were fulham asking for hangeland??
considering we have paid 10+M for verm….
mayank… recently mate, they are his most recent quotes
Niraj…
i guess it would have been about the same sum for Hangeland….maybe a couple m plus…
If he really means what he’s said (as it doesn’t seem taken out of context) then we definitely will sign just one more player or not even that.
fulham wanted 15m so the papers say
Don’t know if you guys have watched the “Perfect footballer” videos on Arsenal.com, but from the one I’ve seen, everyone says Flamini has the most heart, etc.
We treated him like shit. Its sort of like the Tevez affair right now, except Tevez actually got offered crazy money.
mayank… we’ll get a DM and i reckon a winger/CF if ade leaves…
if he says we desperately need a DM everyones price go up and if he says ade’s going he goes down and his replacements cost goes up…
Niraj…there were rumours of Fulham wanting upwards of £10m…maybe even £15m
Verms about 5 yrs younger I think. Prob a lot faster too.
Hangeland made some pretty odd comments early on about playing for a team that suits him.
I read it as one where the fullbacks sit beside him all afternoon, with two DMs never more than 10yds away. Not excatly our style that.
Why is everyone so high on Hangeland, I do not know. Fulham play defensively. Its suits him, he plays deep.
Wih the high line that Arsenal play, he’d get murdered. He makes Senderos look like a world class sprinter!
SS
those are all read comments mate….having seen him play for fulham spending couple of more pounds for him would not have been a bad idea IMO….
agreed Sharkey…..Hangeland might just lack speed…but he’s a quality player mate
Quality player in a system thats good for him. Same goes to Xabi Alonso. He has another CDM helping him, a much more hard-working one as well. That won’t help us.
Denilson had better tackling, passing %ages. More assists, same amount of goals. We need an engine in their and Xabi doesn’t give us that.
Pat Douglas Bada wouldn’t make Senderos look like a world class sprinter.
i agree on alonso, he’s a quality payer but is complimented by having mascherano next to him to do allot of the running and hustling, he wouldn’t have that with us
Pat. Im with you on both counts, Hanger, and Xabi.
But please leave Big Phil out of it…I’m a big fan of his. And yeah, I am being serious.
You must have a strong heart Sharkey. He scares the fuck out of me whenever he goes near the ball or an opposition player. The fucking Belgrano turns quicker.
Poor old phil, such a shame he aint gonna make it
afternoon all…
Alonso is overrated. Certainly not worth 18-20m. If he was that good why were Liverpool so keen to fuck him off last summer for Barry? Benitez may be a cunt, but he likes a Dago and still preferred Barry.
cant believe mat you realy think senderos better then hanger
What’s happened to him Tom??????????????
Oh fuck, you meant footballistically speaking
I thought you were doing an obituary.
lol steve….
Pat with all den’s stats no one outside arsenal rates him. comparing certain stats is pointless anyway. Alonso was the best holding midfielder in the league this year should make team of the season. Denilson prays daily to be half as good.
if i go with ur arguement i can also say Mascherano cant play at Arsenal too cos he plays alongside another DM in Xabi.
Never said Bendy was better or worse..justa that I like him.
Don;t get me wrong, even as his biggest fan, he gave me the shivers, bit was always willing him to do well. Toom any people scapegoat him for every singe error in a way that they don’t do with say Gallas or Toure.
He came on against Milan for injured Toure after about 10mins in the 1st leg in 2008, and most of us thought oh fuck, I had my fingers crossed.
He had a storming game that night and did the same in the San Siro, thats prob why Milan took him on loan.
And if anyone mentions Drogba I’ll fucking scream
evenin choy
torres
evening tomstoned…. how are you doing?
Steve u know u only watch Arsenal.
U r chatting bull Alonso is a legend.
Benitez wanting to get rid of Xabi was stupid
Steve – ‘Dago…’???!!! in 2009!!! I thought everyone was past all of that nonsense.
*putting on flak jacket and helmet waiting for your response*
DOGBRA…
Denilson is not fit to be Alonso’s ball boy
He might consider Den as a boot cleaner but Den is banned from lacing
im off guys
Cheers Fran
steve…. lol
cold pint choy..sunny and warm….all good here mate and you ?
Big Phil is fairly good, but the english game is not for him, imo.
later Franchise…have a good one ..
good to hear…all well here too tomstoned…
Franchise, that doesn’t make sense!!! Its the type of player.Masch is a hardworker, Alonso isn’t. Without a CDM partner, Xabi isn’t that good in a team that relies on attacking, possession football.
Melo over him any day of the week. I don’t want Alonso, at all.
all well in Arsenal Paradise then
No need for the flak jacket and helmet, you are right. No need for xenaphobia. I was bored to be honest, so i thought i’d wake the p.c brigade up.
Me bad.
I’m with you on that Pat.
I sounded like Frank Butcher in my head then.
u pilchard
no to alonso here too.. he is just a more mature version of denilson.
we need a mascherano type player…
Sharkey I don’t believe you mate, no one can rate Senderos, Song and Denilson, not all 3 and that’s why I know you only say what you say to wind us up.
Nobody could have that little grasp of what is footballing talent, not even you lol!
That’s like fancying Susan Boyle, AKA Biffa Bacon’s mum.
a ten year younger Gattusso would do….
Alonso is fucking awesome but not what we need.Denilson at this moment is miles away from reaching alonso’s level.Hez only 20 so i think its kindaa unfair to have the comparison
I can’t believe people still defend Senderos.
Arsene is no quitter… and he gave up.
Milan aren’t exactly brimming with good defenders and they’ve passed…
He is a liability… if anything, he was made to look good by the better defenders around him.
I’ll be glad to see the back of him.
essien doesn’t mind moving to barca or madrid.I would sell ade,diaby senderos and song if that could get us essien
That’s what Drogba said… …and did!
nish mate im still thinking Denilson will be awesome…no doubt,,,,,but as you say mate abit to early yet…
So will I Pedro. He’ll save me money too. I can cut down on the pre-match Peroni if he isn’t in the squad. Although, you know that ‘aint likely to happen.
Pedro…the Italian league is going downhill fast…and the National team aint much better…
That’s the problem, we have so many potentials but they aren’t ready now, Wenger plays them, we get agitated because they make mistakes, he defends them and they get ruined, Senderos and Aliadiere spring to mind.
If Denilson was 23 he would be bigger, better, stronger.
Geoff, don’t try to hide the fact that you have a big line for Susan Boyle.
I rate ramsey much more than denilson though.I know denilson is a DM but still.
Setanta went down today, maybe that will send all the sponsorship money down quicker than a Russian hooker.
No but I do fancy Biffa Bacon’s mum, we met her once didn’t we Steve!
denilson i thought was a creative player… but wenger seems to be turning him into a more defensive player.
If milan played with a back 4 of
zambrotta senderos maldini favalli
in the premier league i doubt they will get into top 10
I hear you nishanth! Back later all.
HAHAHAHA is that when you disappeared for ages and came back doing your flies up Geoff?
later geoff
Orite ppl,
If Wenger says he wont let anyone go and has identified 1-2 more targets. How much of a budget do you think we really have this season. That 13M is a load of crap….
later Geoff
melo will cost atleast 12.And another will probably cost 6-8.Surely some1 will leave
i am sure we have at least 25-30 mill.. cmon.. we’re not that skint…
im sure we will sell some deadweight…only problem there isnt alot of money around….
ade=15m minimum
15m = melo
I think melo is nearly a gunner. AW comes with this “we will sign 1 or 2″ he said this and melo is heavily linked with us. Than that moratti who confirms that we have nearly signed melo(maybe it’s bullshit) but i think it’s not. Melo and another CB will come in and adebayor will stay. What do you think????
and choy mate im sure Wenger will buy two more players….and soon …sounds like it anyway,,,
tomstoned, we have surely 25 million i think.
We increase more money the last years than liverpool and they buy johnson for 20million.
evening AT…
that’ll be a good team then dutchman…
yeah dutch,,,im guessing one expensive,,,10-15 mill and one more…
No worries Steve !!
I highly doubt we will get in 2 more players without selling anyone……
well off…have a good one, All Grovers and Gooners alike,…
tom
Niraj, i don’t care if silvestre or senderos are going away.
Niraj, i don’t care if silvestre or senderos are going away.
sorry about the double.
Geoff. I don’t rate all 3. Song I do rate.
Senderos I do like cos his attitude is spot on. Doesn’t fuck about like a lot of our players do, but he has no luck. I’m not convinced he has a future at Arsenal, which is a shame.
Denilson. Not as bad as people say, but not good enough either, currently.
Overall, mainly I’m trying to get across that people shouldn’t talk about these players like they wouldn’t get into their local pub sides.
I would rather love if both of them are dispatched….
Dutchman…hat trick…albeit an accidental one !!!
Dutchman …Melo heavily linked??
Im not sure about that. In England we have a media ‘silly season’ where the papes just run with rubbish, especially when there’s nothing to report.
Arsene operates well below the radar on these things.
By the time the press were reporting the Vermin deal I bet it ws 99% complete. Same with Nasri last year. Then cos the guy dioesnt sign the next day, they then run ‘stories’ about whats ‘holding up’ the deal, even though Nasri was at the Euros at the time.
We all need to be careful how much weight we give to press stories. I mean, look at Melo’s latest quotes ‘about Arsenal’..!!!
I wonder how was denilson when we bought him…he was suppose to be next febregas…. :O
Sharkey, you don’t believe that story. I think melo will sign.
Just noticed that gourcuff was sold for 15 million.Great piece of business by bordeaux.Not that we badly needed him but he would have been a top addition.Milan have gone nuts
I don’t think inter will move for melo.They have cambiasso,muntari and thiago motta.They don’t need melo
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2009/06/23/1342666/agent-of-arsenal-striker-adebayor-dismisses-milan-or-roma
Ade simply has to go,
He and his agent are at it again. He is a disgrace to the shirt and to himself
Completely agree with you PTG
Anyone know where I can get past Arsenal kits?
He might he might not Dutch. But I’m just pissed of with the fact that there is nothing too thisstory other than some shit reports where Melo doesn;t even mention Arsenal by name.
Marcotti’s comments carry a bvit more weight…butits al avut boring for now.
Thats just how I see it though…..I’m more concerned with who we have got.
I heard a rumour that we are re-signing John Jensen.
Cool BIll.
Now find some danish quotes and translate them for us as you please.
Lob in some made up stats and see how quickly your ‘strong rumour’ is all over the web !!
If you can also change his Wiki to show him as 6ft 5 that will help
http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/22150/Agent_Adebayor_would_like_to_work_with_Ancelotti.aspx
Ade’s manger needs to SHUT UP….
Not making life any easier for Ade.
Agent**not manager lol! Sorry
Fuck Ade and his agent,
My real concern is that other clubs have realised that he is trouble and a disruptive influence.
I would be happier cutting our losses on him and just getting him out of the club, if we cant find a buyer.
I mean jesus
The Cunt has basically just said he wants to go and play for Chavski.
the vibe of what i am gettingwenger is he will not be letting go any of his top players under any circumstances,so i starting to d to get very lazy his athink both toure/gallas are staying,its only trearo,senderos,silvestor he is willing to sell but ithe deems, the likes of ade,toure,gallas,clichy,sagna, which i agree with because i dont think we should selling club the only reason i would sell ade is because he has started to get lazy his attutude.it very claer wenger looking to more rufeless and tougher and he going to have to be.
to be honest i have seen this melo player but unless he top top player that is a real leader and is the finished article then i dont think wenger go for him 15 mill he better top notch player,because song and delinson have been doing a pretty good job
I think we will sign Melo after the Confed cup, we wont be able to talk to him until it ends…
Eventually let Senderos,Silvestre and MAYBE Ade go.
Then sign some youngsters. e.g.Hazard+Castaignos
What position do you think that second target of Wenger’s could be? I’m sure its not a CB as we now have:
Gallas
Vermy
Toure
Song
Djourou
Maybe he’s got the ACN in mind…?
samir
i have my dought that wenger will sign melo,unless this player has alot more bring delinson or song i dont think wenger sign him 15 m dm player he had better be the real deal, he cant just be someone with potential he must be proven,i also think wenger will stick with song dm position because will willing let toure/gallas go plus verm will be there
I’d be surprised if he signs Melo. 15M is quite a price, Not to mention the fact that i’ve actually heard of Melo
Leon
I believe that Melo does offer a lot more than Denison. He’s stronger, bigger and an all round better player ATM.But I do believe Denilson will be an as good/better player than Melo in the future.
We all know our DM position is our weakest.
I don’t think Wenger will pay the 15M for him. Maybe 10-12M+Senderos, seeing he wants to stay in Italy and Florentina are interested in him.
But Melo certainly is worth 15M+ in my mind…
can someone copy and paste the adebayor and anchelotti stuff please, my computer is blocked to anything with adebayor in the title!!!!!!!
The agent of Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed that the player admires Carlo Ancelotti and would happily work with the Chelsea coach after the Italian pursued his signature last summer. The Arsenal striker revealed recently that he was committed to the Gunners cause despite the increased speculation, however, with Milan once again keeping tabs on the player and Chelsea and apparently Manchester United also rumoured to be circling it appears his future is once again shrouded in mystery.
Speaking about the latest gossip in the Italian newspapers, representative Stephane Courbis revealed to Calciomercato:
“There was no meeting with Milan for Adebayor and lately I have not received any calls from the Rossoneri.
“I don’t know whether Ade is for sale. I spoke with manager Arsene Wenger this morning, but he didn’t say anything to that effect.”
With Serie A side Roma also keen on the lanky hitman, Courbis continued:
“I don’t know [if that will happen]. I haven’t even spoken about the alleged interest of Chelsea and Manchester United.
“The player would like to work with Ancelotti, it’s a fact because Milan tried to acquire him last year, but Chelsea have not contacted us.”
cheers samir
Quite interesting if you have not read it:
Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo will join Arsenal according to respected (if there is such a thing) British Journalist, Gabriele Marcotti. On UK sports radio station, talkSport, Marcotti claimed that Melo will join Arsenal at the end of the Confederations Cup.
After joining Fiorentina last year from Almeria, Melo has been impressive and recently been named in Brazil’s starting squad. There has been much speculation linking Melo to Inter Milan and recently the player stated that a move was out of the question.
Melo’s agent is supposedly in talks with the club and a tabled offer has been accepted reported Marcotti. Defender Phillippe Senderos may be used as leverage as the Italian side has expressed interest in the want-away player. Senderos has stated that he wants to stay in Italy and would enjoy a stint with La Viola.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has publicly stated that he wants all transfers wrapped up and into pre-season training during July. He added that he didn’t’ want to have any last minute transfers in August right before the season kicks off.
That said, the question is now raised…what to do with the five midfielders that are on Arsenal’s roster? There’s Song, Ramsey, Denilson, Eboue and Diaby. Wenger has stated many times that he looks for players that can immediately fit in to the Arsenal philosophy of play.
During the last few games, Song looked to improve in the defensive mid position, but his lack of pace and mobility could present a problem if kept in that position. The others left much to be desired in a lack-luster season for the Gunners.
Denilson is a Brazilian version of Arsenal’s caption, Cesc Fabregas. While he has improved greatly, he has yet to prove that he can handle the rigors of the Premier League weekly. Eboue, had a nightmare season, with fans calling for him to be benched and ridiculed at each game. Ramsey, on the other hand, has not really been allowed the chance to show why he was snapped up from Cardiff City.
Adebayor would like to “work” with Ancelotti. Isn’t there a contradiction in there somewhere. Shouldn’t it really read Adebayor wants to get paid a fortune by Chelsea?
http://arsenalspot.net/2009/06/arshavin-reveals-an-awful-lot-on-arsenal-matters-in-webchat/
sell him!!!
who ever wenger brings in going have someone with experience that i feel can mentor song/delinson and i am not sure melo fis that bill.because song will be top class with a few seasons same for delinson.because song in particuler has very very good, nand i just think wenger has has other experienced players lined up for amuch less price tag i thgink someone around 25 or more
Melo is age 25, and full of experience. Been at 7 different clubs and has Champions league experience. I see where your coming from but at 25 we COULD sell him at 29 and denilson/song could take over full time from there.
Denilson and song would still have their chances after some rotation. Look at Liverpool they have Lucas don’t they. The same sort of player as Denilson at the same sort of age. He gets enough appearances even with Masherano there.
But if we use Denilson/Song at DM this season we wont win much. Denilson gets pushed around too much while Song will be at the ACN for a while.
As long as they are experienced 25+, I dont think we should even worry about stunting the growth of either Denilson or Song. The pure fact of the matter is despite development and improvement, neither are setting the world alight and neither are 1st team quality at the moment.
The other issue is that if we lose Cesc, we suddenly have the prospect of playing two of Diaby, Denilson and Song and that does not and will not win us anything. We dont just need a Better player to play alongside Cesc, but we need one to soften the blow when Cesc is out and vice versa when Melo (or equivalent) is unavailable. We have the numbers but we dont have the depth of quality.
We have to put sentiment aside and face the facts. We need Melo or equivilent and if that ruffles the feathers and upsets the likes of Denilson and Song then so beit.
Great comment that pathegooner!
Agree with you all the way!
Cheers Samir,
I have the same worry as Ethan though regarding Nasri and his confession that he might fill the DM role. Again I think this would be a massive mistake. Who knows he might turn into the worlds best DM, but he is not anywhere near that at the moment and we need ready now players and not another season long experiment to see if Nasri works there. Personally I saw enough when Anelka mugged him off and hit that thunderbolt.
Nasri is an awesome talent but not in DM
hello all my fans
I think we should sell eboue, adebayor, silvestre, Senderos, dinilson and possibly Gallas we’ve gor vermaelen then we buy either sakho, richards, bassong or taylor for defence, then we must buy 2 between Cana, Y.Toure, Melo, Veloso. We should play a 4-5-1 if we sell adebayor if we sell him i think we should look at buying Balotelli.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has continued his summer speeding spree by snapping up former Arsenal goalkeeper Stuart Taylor from Aston Villa. City’s England under-21 keeper Joe Hart is set to leave the club on loan, with Birmingham City favourite to sign him.
Taylor, a former England under-21 international and a Premier League title winner with Arsenal in 2002, will serve as understudy to Shay Given.
Taylor said: “It’s a great club to be joining and I can’t wait to start training.”
Taylor is Hughes’ third signing of the summer so far.
EHHHHHH-BOOOOOOOOOO-EEEHHHH!!!!
He is from the Ivory Coast!
He is as warm as toast!
He came to us when Henry went
Eddy, Eddy
He scored more goals than Darren Bent
Eddy, Eddy
He broke his leg
But he’ll be back
And Darren Bent
Will Still be cack
Eduardo Da Silva
Arsenals number 9!
hello samir
yes samir u r rite darren BENT is shit he is 1 of the easier players to mark in the premier league
So…. How you doin?
“…offside and finishing school.”
———————————–
Quite possibly the wittiest thing you’ve ever said Geoffrey! Good show!
BTW, we won’t be needing an out and out winger as we won’t be playin 4-4-2… As AW says, we’ll be using the formation that best suits our players…
pattg; Djourou also said he wanted to play the DM role…. Haven’t seen him there yet…
i am fine samir would be better if i had lucy pinder sittin on my lap mind you
This Elikobi facker is facking big aint he. Wouldnt want to get in a fight with him.
Stu;
Yeah, he’s ginormous…. Erm, who ya talkin bout???
Oh and how ya doin?
How many bleedin agents does Ade have??? Im sure Ive seen quotes from at least 3 people claiming to be his agents?
The wolves left back who was missing all of last season. He was just showing off on sky sports. He is fucking huge! He must have seriously hit the gym. Cant find a picture tho.
Maybe he don have one and he will chose one depending on which one gets him the most monies.
That Akinbiyi was all muscle and erm, not much else werent he!
Good old Arsenal.com advertising Arsenal tv as part of Setanta package.
And… who da fook is this Melo fella anyways??? Bet most peeps are judgin him based on this crappy Confed Cup anyways…
We shud snap up Nicky Butt or Didi Haaman, pronto!
I’d have Hamann no problem but Nicki Butt? HA!
Italian side AS Roma are eager to provide a home for forward Jose Antonio Reyes should Benfica decide not to pick up the player’s option.
Accoridng to one of the 25-year-old’s representatives, Reyes’ agents will be speaking to the Giallorossi to get a better understanding of their interest in their client.
“We are looking for a club for Reyes,” stated Dario Canovi on 24oredisport.it. “We are waiting to finish up some details and then will meet with AS Roma.”
Benfica only own 25% of Reyes’ right and must pay Atletico Madrid 6.5m euros if they want to retain the forward on a permanent basis.
The Portuguese side’s director of football Rui Costa has admitted that the club would like to keep the Spanish international, but not at any cost.
Oh Reyes…. Never really fullfilled that humougous potential did he? Just goes to show, football is a funny old fickle game, not arf, marvelous…
Meds kickin in, Im off…
Ooh, before i slip into a pharmaceutical induced coma…
I bet we are linked with even more players, seeing Wenger’s comments earlier today… Starting tomorrow, you just watch…see if I’m right… coz I will be… bet on it… go on, I dare ya?
I think the Sun, Sport.co.uk and FansFC will be browsing every Arsenal blog tonight to find players that some people suggest. If Hamaann(sp) and Butt pop up, we all know who to blame!
We need Cana. He is the protection Cesc and the back four need while every other team in the prem will absolutely fear. He has a great reputation as a teammmate, captain and will run through a wall for his side. Tha fans would adore him and he is the perfect compliment to give this team the muscle and spine it needs
Morning all
Does anyone have an update on the state of Setanta, I heard it had ceased trading, & now one @ our cable network has heard anything
*no one
Goerge, all i know is that they lost their rights to the prem and UFC. Other than that i dont know anything,
Cheers stu.
Gary it certainly sounds like Cana ticks all the boxes. Cana, Melo, both sound like they like to get up close & personel if needed
If we were to only get one then i would prefer Cana. Simply because Cana plays the lone DM role whereas Melo has Gilberto and I think Liverani at Fiorentina who both do the sitting job. They sit deep and Melo does he closing down.
Plus, believe it or not Cana seems to have the better disciplinary record. Melo got 17/3 last season. Cana only has at most 2 reds total.
Cana can also go int the back four if needed which he has already done. He is a Roy Keane/Viera like enforcer in the middle of the park and only had onr red and I think seven yellows
Cana will also raise hell with anyone who tries to coastthrough the Boltons,Stokes,etc. Leading by example and notafraid to call someone out as well.
We should all keep in mind that the Cana clip that we all know and love was made up of years of football. I havent seen him live much but when i have he hasnt been crazy at all.
I dont doubt that he would be up for a battle should it be needed but i think he is a lot cooler that his clips suggest.
Anyone know if we get any sell on fee from the Stuart Taylor transfer from Villa to Citeh?
hey Geoff tell your friend wenger check on marcus berg
http://premiershipreviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/sweden-5-1-belarus-euro-u21-champ.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Berg
before he’ll cost 15+ millions i mean
scored another 2 yesterday
Where is everyone?
I’m here, always am. Just watching, quietly, from the shadows.
So you’re not like Wenger…you “always” see it?
We do have similar traits, but not that one Iceman!
Haha!!
Morning mate.
Is AW bigging up Barbie because he’s ready to flog the offside king?
Morning all,
Barbie is the shit
Why wont he buy a midfielder he has to know lets just hope it happens soon!
I would hope so but I don’t see anyone making an offer for the Togo twat, no fucker likes him, if we sold him it would start the merry go round.
Inler’s back in the mix now!
I’ll buy the prick!
No one is willing to pay what he was worth last season, and now with all the crazy money changing hands Wenger won’t sell him for cheaper.
Geoff
I would hope so but I don’t see anyone making an offer for the Togo twat, no fucker likes him, if we sold him it would start the merry go round.
——————————————-
WE PAID 7 MILLION FOR THE PRICK YEARS AGO
would it really start the round about ?
or would 7 go missing straight away ?
leaving us with the additional 50 pence we made on him
Iceman is the inler link on goal.com? or has it made it into the papers?
You could all be right, but I have a feeling Wenger will let him go as the incoming players arriving depend on it.
I just hope he buys someone as what we currently have is definitely not good enough.
Who’s Barbie?
What a shitty day
Now back home with a Peroni in hand. Thats better 
well at least wenger is honest
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_5398391,00.html
I hate the way Wenger keeps telling us getting into 2 semis last year was an achievement, losing them was a fucking disaster, that’s what he should be thinking.
Bendtner Gnarley.
Oh, its Little Nicky
I never knew that Geoff.
ethan bollox to that no one asked him to spend £100m in the first place. Excuses, excuses, excuses
was xabi alonso’s price £100m last season?
u can fool some ppl sometime but not everyone everytime
well geoff i hope that once and for all shows you
its you beloved board that have been holding out on splashing the cash not wenger ….
However the former Monaco manager warns fans that their policy of unearthing promising youngsters rather than buying the finished article will continue next season.
“I’m fed up with people who think I have £100million in the bank yet don’t want to spend it,” he told the club’s official magazine.
“How can people think that?
The ade exit stories are hotting up. I know our Thai connection will be happy
I really think he will go too this time.
He just wheels out the same old bollox and the same time of the year……
So what happened to all the prize money, gate receipts and TV stuff, bollocks he has no money.
yeah the board asked wenger to spend £5m on Aaron Ramsey
how many more youngsters does he want to unearth? we have merida, wilshere already if we are so broke why sign another 16yr old for £5m?
defeatist talk b4 the season starts. if u dont have money then sell ur love children
i never did wenger ..
you are responsible for some poor choices on the pitch last season,subing and team selections, but i was never stupid enough to believe you controlled the fianance’s as well as the football ..
you would truly be the best manager in the world if you could be trusted like that …
and the board wouldnt be in business if they did ..
There is most likely £100 million in Stan or the uzbecks bank tho. In other words if they want something bad enough they will always find the money, but they obviously don’t. Does that make sense
Kingsely..
Saw it on goal.com mate.
into paying off 412 million in debt ..
where has everything gone the past few years !!
i said this stadium would kill us years ago ..
and it has !!!!
gnarleygeorge9
There is most likely £100 million in Stan or the uzbecks bank tho.
—————————————–
agreed GG9 , but no fucker will commit until they get % control .. and until that day , it will burn a hole in there sky rocket ..
He’s def on his way out.
One too many stories.
Inter/Milan/Roma/Chavs.
Oh well.
Good riddance to bad bullshit I say!!
wenger is really beginning to take the piss. no one has asked him to spend £100m
yeah u dont have £100m but i doubt the board prevented u from spending £16m for Xabi last season?
if u have up to £30m in the bank a few deadwood sales could ensure that u get the needed quality players.
stop hiding behind smoething u refuse to make clearer
accounts tell me that u had at least £30m to spend last season but u didnt until arshavin’s arrival u were had a net surplus from transfer activity
** something
** u had a net
Bullshit from Wenger.
Franchise
wenger is really beginning to take the piss. no one has asked him to spend £100m
————————————-
you dont get it do you ? it means wenger understands what the fans want him to do , and he also is sort of saying the figure it would take to compete with the chevs ..
wenger got 12.9 mil in prize money this season
(minus tax ) and he has spend 11 million of it .
id say that is all the prize money spent already ..we are now doing what geoff said , waiting for someone to be sold before he can tinker more !!!
i dont know what your on about really ..
he is not manager – accountant and chief bottle washer !
im just thankful he has finally came out and
said what needed to be said , and here i was thinking id have to wait until his auto biography before i knew the truth !!!
new post right ??
duke what ???
i am no AKB !
but if you really want me to start , lets face it
you really dont know the meaning of the world manager !
he isnt the man responsible for turning a profit at Afc . he manages the football club ONLY …
if he says he hasnt got 100 million to spend when clearly arsenal debt is 412 million currently , you would be pretty fucking foolish to not believe him !
for melo it will be a great sign for us, for adebayo let him go because we dont feel it inpact since we have players like ashavin, van persie,eduado, bentner and vela then let him go please and allow these player to showcase thier talent.
[...] Melo in, Ade out, and Robin to sign, why so happy? I speak to you today having decided to play ‘Championship Manager’ for once, as I’m often being [...] [...]