So Ivan has come out and said a few things of interest and one of none. He said that not winning any silverware since 2005 is not good enough for Arsenal, I agree with that, he then said that we need one or two additions, I agree with that as well, but when he said ‘no club has unlimited resources’ I thought mmmm, unless of course that doesn’t include your costs and the huge costs of your newly assembled team of big hitters.
Ivan I’m not knocking you, at least you are talking us up but we are way too big to do a Leeds United and we don’t need to spend £98 million on dross, which is what O’Leary did, we need to spend about £30 mil and that can be recouped by selling 2 players we don’t even need. So really it’s no cost, if Eboue is the funny man in the dressing room and you are worried about losing him then employ Ricky Gervais and Matt lucas for pre match entertainment.
I have said on many occasions that apart from the obvious need for new world class players we need to get our PR and marketing team right, all we seem to have in that department is a bunch of yes men that tow the company line.
We are now in very real danger of dropping out of the top four, with free spending Manchester City stalking us and the three above us spending on new players we have to be very careful.
If we finish outside of that elite group we may as well be 10th, it’s like losing two semi finals, we may as well have gone out in the group stages, for me bragging about not winning the FA Cup and the Champions league makes no sense, and Arsenal seem to think that’s a benchmark, sorry Ivan, I disagree.
We have been saying on here for the last two seasons that our defensive midfielders are not good enough (yet), now the talk is we’re after one, so it’s taken two years to admit we were wrong.
Signing up players to long term contracts does little, other than making young players even richer, take Ramsey, he had 3 years left on his contract, what does improving it do? It doesn’t make us any better, it doesn’t make him worth more and it doesn’t make him loyal, Wenger has proved many times that the minute a player wants out, he lets them go.
Don’t get me wrong, I really rate Ramsey, Theo, Wilshere and Gibbs but 2 of them already had long contracts. I would sooner see that extra money go toward a couple of world class players now.
We have the third highest wage bill in the EPL but we are the only ones in the top 4 that have won nothing for 4 years. Why is that?
We have a number of players that will never make it but we keep them, why don’t we sell them? I would love Senderos to make it and be the next Jap Stam, but will he? Surely it would make more sense to bring in a Hangeland or a Lescott now, Eboue is a great right back and good cover for Sagna, but he’s not happy being cover, so why don’t we cash in on him?
We are so close to being the team we all desire, the money is on the table should we want it, why struggle through another season being nearly men? We have a great chance this season as no one has really improved their teams too much, come on Arsenal, take a chance and sign those players that will take us from being losing semi finalists to winners. We are so close.
Melo looks like he won’t happen and we don’t appear interested in Cana, Matuidi I don’t know too much about, but as he is trying to sign them, what will Song, Diaby and Denilson be thinking? I know Song is up for centreback, but he said that last season.
I like our forward line and our midfield going forward looks awesome, we have shored up a bit at the back and Manuel does a good job in goal, we are so close I can smell it, come on Arsenal take a chance.
Have a great day Grovers for the next two you’ll have Pedro posts and he doesn’t bitch like me, but he hasn’t been going as long as I have!
What if Abramobitch decides to leave Chel$ki tomorrow. What if he gets killed in a plane crash ? What happens to the Chavs then ?
I ‘m sure his mafia brother/wife/friend is going to put up a structure for the repayment of the ‘loan’ . In short , the Chavs begin and end with the Ruskie.
If we had a Premier league, FA or Government with any balls and wasnt sooo quick to be paid off, then these billionaires wouldnt be anywhere near the clubs… If we had systems in place like in germany then we wouldnt even have to debate this shite…
The same way that the national game was allowed to be taken off of terrestrial TV, is exactly the same thinking behind this new and ultimately catastrophic state of affairs, IMO…
Just because it has happened and is happening, does noit make it right, or that we should just roll over and let it.
The fact that Kroenke is on board, aint sumfin I am chuffed about, but he is the lesser of 2 evils and has the backing of the club and at least has a background in sports…
has anyone heard anything about this espn channel they will or might be launching for the new season??
BBK
Thank fuck! Someone to cheer me up !
ESPN should be on the same channels as Setanta I think fella… If you live in the UK…
ok cheers for that one m.g,now sky are reporting this melo deal to juve seems to of collapsed because of that marchionni’s wage demands fuck me all this bollocks over one player
will someone just sign the cunt
If we sign him, I think he’s great, if we dont, he is soooo over rated….
Whappun to Blaise Matuidi anyways????
who knows what the fucks going on in the world of arsenal lol
Dont bother reading, just scroll down.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36724
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Foxy…….
Really hope it wasn’t sky being retarded and mistaking Bartley for Matuidi Mang – that’d upset me alot, I was excited at the prospect of his signing!
i was about to say if sky thought b.m was bartley they would be in for a shock at his current growth spurt
they would be like he’s got big all of a sudden
I wonder if ESPN will run classic games, or do sky have the rights on that?
i wonder if espn might try and get the football matters panel
Thought ESPN had a right shed load of classics? In fact they have a channel called ESPN classics dont they?
Im just thankful that the spuds lost so many jobs and Graham Poll is off the TV.
lol
I would love it, if ESPM used US commentators to do the football… That would be effin hilarious!
yeah the big match or something they call it
and arsenal have reached the sem eye final for the second year in a row
That will be good if it’s part of the package then!
I think we need more Yank commentators… and more cheer leading… and perhaps we could quarterize the game? More ads and stuff… Bruce Springsteen at half time type of stuff…!
And the net-minder grabs the soccerball and punts it up the field.
Pedro this is ja_cybermix_07 from Twitter
Can any tell whats the lastest with Blaise Matuidi and the papers are saying that Melo’s move to Juve is on hold …
Who would u prefer, Melo or Matuidi …
So what really is going on
pmsl and the net minder grabs the soccerball and punts it up field now that’s fucking funny
Matuidi every time because he’s not dicking us about like Melo is.. either he wants to join us or he can fuck off!
Great attacking power play there, heres van Persie with the Curve ball…..
Guys, I’m not kidding… I think I’ve written a ripper tomorrow… and the day after…
pedro gives us a hint what you have written about
lolllllll van persie with the curve ball and scoressss great job ro bin
Hey Ja, good to have you on board! I messaged you back today!
I don’t really know too much about either player. Obviously being a fully capped Brazil international is appealing… I like the fact he is aggressive and tenacious… but that transfer fee seems huge for Arsenal.
Matiudi will be cheaper and seems like the more likely option… he reminds me of the Sagna transfer and by all accounts, Wenger has been tracking him for ages. Someone pulled up a report on him yesterday and he seems perfect!
BBK… I wrote about that £100mill…
Friday… about what we have to look forward to… I want to send people into the weekend on cloud nine! haha!
Just kidding… but I feel it’s time to start getting excited!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB8zS11Lufg
great job pedro,keep up the good work m8
Haha! Chavs have signed that Turnbull kepper to meet the UEFA English quota…
GoonerChris from Goonertalk says matuidi is unlikely and he should have some news on Cana in the coming days. He has no clue about melo though.
I would say Gooner Chris has as much of a clue as anyone on here fella…
Cheers BBK!
Pat, why does he think he isn’t coming?
I really can’t believe we’ll sign Cana! I’d be shocked… really shocked!
Gooner Chris says:
July 8, 2009 at 9:04 pm
French radio station RMC said Everton are the front runners to sign Matuidi. I’ve spoken to a lot of Ligue 1 fans and they don’t think he’ll make much of a difference to the current squad we have.
As for Cana, I said in the comment below that I’ll try and get an update on him soon.
Ooh, I take it all back…. he has LESS of a clue
You have to love a headline like this:
Gallas: I would ran after Snoop Dogg for his autograph
GoonerChris usually knows what he’s talking about. Don’t kow why you don’t like him. In football, things change very quickly, not his fault. He was THE FIRST to report the news on Nasri and Arshavin. Props for that. He also said Nasri would sign officially on July 1st…thats the day nasri announced it on his site but took it off soon after. Surely he does have some inside info. How else would he had known that?
Talking about American Commentators:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW2d-QrnFgA
HAHAHA
Pedro, I think the lad who runs that site is 17 yrs. old, maybe 16. He’s a devoted gooner!lol
He posts too many articles though
Pat, he goes through the foriegn websites to get his news… I don’t think anyone who runs a blog has proper insider info.
Nasri and Arshavin were hardly well kept secrets…
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_5421656,00.html
looks like melo to juventus deal is off!
Pat, he’s a twat…
I told him how he could make a decent website and gave him some tips on gaining exposure… then he came on here abusing the site under the guise of Gooner Chris. Very childish.
Various daily research on the internet regarding transfers and general football normally gives you an upper hand. I do the same and I believe I’m very good with scouting etc too. It just requires a lot of time and Gooner Chris has a lot of it. I normally provide all my friends with the ‘latest’ and have done it on this blog a few times. Not recently though.
Exicting news Sam! We’ll be his second choice!
Then in that case, he is a twat.
How long has Le Grove been going? I started posting a bit last summer and gradually got into it more and more.
Exactly GP… he does a great job with his research… no doubt about that.
Nearly 2 years Pat… mere babies in the world of blogging!
Real mulling over a move for Cesc… haven’t they done enough shopping for the year?
Anyone notice the pictures of Verm on arsenal.com yesterday? He looks a tough fucker and pretty tall.
Pedro I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing, hence where the name GoonerPress came from. I just cannot be arsed to make a blog lol.
Cesc won’t leave. If Cesc leaves, the project youth looses one of its creaters. Wenger being the other.
I think we should somehow try to get rid of Diaby and get in Menez. That kid has amazing talent and trust me on it. He has been wasted at Roma and is meant to go back to France soon. He is one of those Gourcuff type players who go to a big club, get abused, leave for cheap and then become stars. Everything about him reminds me of Zidane. His movement, his touch, his passing his vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_YvRvFAyfU&feature=related
GP, i remember hearing lots about him but since im not a watcher of serie A i kind of lost track of him. How has he been doing at Roma?
madrid aside, this transfer window has been fairly quiet
He has done well in every game hes played. Hasn’t had much playing time. I have a friend who watches a lot of Roma and reckons Menez is going to be big. Not at Roma then!
Not really Pat. Man Utd have been pretty active. Releasing their best and replacing them with a ‘what the heck?’ (Valencia), a wreck (do I need to mention a name?) and a ‘who the heck’? (Obertan, not fully capable of replacing Ronaldo).
This is a bit of a scathing attack on arsene…
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2009/07/08/1371167/english-angle-no-felipe-melo-no-ambition-no-chance-of-arsene
I seem to recall them playing him on the wing, so im assuming he is fast. I doubt Wenger would buy him tho. Simply because we have a lot of attackers as it is and he probably doesnt offer more than what we already have.
Well…if its a scathing attack then im not reading it. I’d prefer to not get annoyed.
i’d rather play him then walcott..
infact liverpool want wingers.. Can we give them walcott and 5m for alonso
Don’t you think that guy has gone a bit over the top? What if Wenger wasn’t even after Melo? Personally I’m not decided on Melo. I don’t see any action in him, something which Vieira and Flamini had. He may be stronger than Denilson, Diaby and Song but he is too similar to them. Not full of action. We need Cana, someone with adrenaline and fire up his arse. Someone who will slide tackle the fuck out of the players who say anything wrong about our team or try to attack them.
GP, it’s a lot of time running a blog… I don’t blame you!
Reva, I didn’t realise it was a editorial! Sulmaan Ahmad can fuck off with his opinions for all I care!
Hi Guys, love the blog recently started one myself, please take a look
http://arsenallondonblog.blogspot.com/
If i hear about lorik cana once more this transfer window i’m going to go nuts… He isn’t the answer, just spent 75% of last season playing at centre half and at 15m sterling, you’ve got to be joking.
No way reva – he and theo are probably currently on par, theo has much much more potential and will become a much much better player than him though, what do you have against walcott?!
sorry pedro, but it’s all quiet on the transfer front so i’ve resorted to looking at goal.com, football-rumours.com & tribalfootball.. sad i know
We can raid Marseille for about 15-20m and come out of it with Cana and Valbuenna. A i’ll-knock-your-balls-off DM and a superb winger who will attack attack and attack. He knows how to beat his man, and he generally embarrases them. Something Walcott can’t do.
Menez aint tall tho, nor is he experienced nor prolific.
But i suppose he is taller and probably better than some of the players we have.
I would gladly exchange Diaby, Silvestre or others for Menez in the squad. It would preferably be someone french leaving tho because we have a lot of them as it is. Dont want them taking over.
well said Pedro – a goal.com editorial, give me a break
A, I’m not walcott’s biggest fan put it that way.. Not quite as bad as geoff with song, but close enough…
He goes a.w.o.l alot, decision making is piss poor, wenger seems to have trained the shooting out of him, he will not make it as a striker, is a 1 dimensional winger that relies on pace, after 3 years he is still best utilised off of the bench and then there’s the u-21 tournament…
I’m not having this it’s pearces fault, england aren’t that good blah blah blah… If he was as good as everyone made out he’d should be pissing over everyone there.. Then i saw the game against finland…
I’lls top now becuase this’ll go on…
haha, there is no shame in tribal football!
I was raised on those sites!
Well… after my teamtalk interest as a kid! (The phone in…)
A, the guy has probably never seen him play! How can he possible pass comment?
Shit… we missed out on Zokora again… Sulmaan Ahmad is going to be livid!
Haha Pedro. So tell me about this phone in.
Glad to be on board Pedro, im a avid reader of the site, reading it every morning is part of my daily routine, and yes I saw the reply thx much.
I would really love Melo he’s part of the brazil national team (Fav. Team) and he’s good, but I agree with Matuidi seems to be the more likely choice, even though the papers are speculating that the transfer for Melo from Viola to Juve is stalling because of high demands from Marco Marchionni.
Interesting comparing sagna to matuidi, lets hope sagna has a better season than last the one ….
Even Shitbayor …
Apparantley Everton been looking at Bitchslap. Imagine if he turns out to be a star?
GP… all very embarrassing…
I’m not sure where you’re from… but in the UK we used to get our goss from teletext… there were the news pages, then the teamtalk rumours…
‘Mexican boy wonder to sign’
There was a phone number… an expensive one like that… and I used to call it to get my fix.
My mum got the phone bill, it was horrendous and she thought I was calling the porn lines.
I told her what it was… she called me a liar… rang the number… to her disappointment, it really was transfer goss I was seeking.
I think she was a bit disappointed…
I dunno Reva – he’s lacking confidence, he’s pissed all over everyone in the u21s time and time again before that tournament, and it really was pearce’s fault, and the lack of creativity. Michael Owen at his peak would have struggled with that lack of service and style of football!
Theo shouldn’t be starting week in week out for us, but has incredible movement and is very intelligent off the ball, to go with his pace, and his decision making and final ball has been improving constantly since he arrived at the club, although obviously there’s still a long way to go for him to reach the levels we all hope he will.
I’m not sure I see him as a central striker, I expect him to end up as an overmars.
gp i could see Bischoff being a success somewhere like Everton, he’d be a decent addition to their squad
pedro lol
any news fellas?
pedro – hahaha @ those §§old skool phones lines with “arsenal news” 0800 etc etc 01
“villa news” 0800 etc etc 02
The picture that comes to mind is that in human traffic when the bloke says to danny dyer “who you been calling in taiwan boy”
haha, I know… they were so addictive.
Dan, Melo deal has fallen through for Juve over £200k (We know what that feels like!) and Matiudi might go to Everton…
So all up in the air!
A, it would be hard to make an assessment of his game… but I guess he’d suit Everton, he’s not a star… he’s young… and cheap.
so no closer to finding that magical DM we need.
Dan, I’ve thrown my name into the hat… but no calls yet…
yeah pedro – i could see him just being a sub for arteta, filling his role when he needs a rest or is injured, he could do well, i always thought he had something about him early on, but second half of the season his attitude went to shit, i guess when he realised he wasn’t gonna get a chance with us, and wasn’t gonna be retained, so he was just basically treading water until the end of the year.
The 2 Most over used words on le-grove ’09:
DM
CANA
Can we just have a decent CM/CENTRE MIDFIELDER or whatever you want to call it in there next to Cesc. Because the current options aren’t yet ready…
The way some of you gone on about a bloke with height, can tackle, look after cesc etc you’d think we’d just need imploy a bodyguard who has a stash of lollies and we’ll be alright
well if it was just a quality CM reva then he’d just chuck rosicky in there. but its not
you’d seriously consider doing that after rosicky’s had 18mths out with no competitive football?
But seriously though, Nasri might be able to do a job…
Reva, I am a Cana anti fan…
Dan, I’ve spoken to a few people who have suggested that…
I think it’s all about the 4-5-1 next year… we’ve got too many midfielders not to!
i think nasri with song in the middle could work because songs not the quickest but nasri is quite quick and could do the running for him so they both harrie the players. but then cesc doesnt work to far forward
thank god for that pedro, because you’d think the way some went on about him on here he was toulalan, vieira, gattuso & Kimbo Slice rolled all into one…
He just looks like Robbie Savage to me…
but weve also got to many strikers for a 4-5-1, its a puzzler
Prince Charles is reeling off some iffy stats in this lecture I’m watching…
Nasri and Cesc central midfield Reva?! we’d get the poo kicked out of us, be completely overrun as well!! they will team up in the Barca system though, ahead of a yaya equivalent
dan, cesc just floats around spraying passes about.. He doesn’t work particularly hard in tracking back or in making tackles either.. That’s why there is this onus on deploying “a water carrier” “Midfield General” to do all the dirty work.. Basically cesc needs to us his work rate and commitment imo…
It isn’t a coincidence we went on that 29 game unbeaten run with him on the sidelines.. Does anyone remember (bar the header against sunderland) where he contributed immensely to a result for us?
I think with the right personnel… 4-5-1 could be a winner next year…
It failed this year because we had to put to DM in it…
us = up*
id love to get toulalan
Revelation… I think it’s not coincidence that when he came back, we played all our hard games.
When he was out, we set up with 2 DM! During that run… look at all the games we drew!
pedro we have too many centre forwards to play that… Plus if i have to watch continuous games with adebayor upfront on his tod i’ll pull my hair out… If it’s eduardo or bendtner, fine…
pedro, at that level there are no easy games.. If you are not “up for it” you’ll get found out no matter how good you are.. I’m not having that “all the hard games came when he came back”.. He didn’t exactly turn up in any of them..
Reve… Chavski, ManU and Liverpool are always going to be harder games than Spurs, Sunderland and West Ham.
There are no easy games… but there are games you are expected to win.
Factor in Cesc’s return conicided with his new second striker role… oh, and check out his stats… they were very impressive upon his return.
You are only as good as the players around you… I’m sure Zidane would struggle in centre mid with Song and Denilson.
Pedro it won’t be 4-5-1, more 4-3-3 next year, or something in between the two, but when I write 4-2-3-1 people always complain, even though it’s the most accurate description!
haha, I’m looking forward to seeing the plan for next year.
I’m excited regardless. I do hope we purchase a centre mid though…
the thing is we really need a defensively minded CM infront of the back for. you could really see we were missing one last season when we had so many long rangers slapped in against us. the defence couldnt step out coz the ball would be treaded through and there was no DM to close the shot down
Right Grovers… I’m hitting the hay…
Tune in for my superbly well rounded post tomorrow!
See you later pedro
true, pedro re: only as good as the players around you..
Nite mate, i’m off too.. Nite all
I disagree that we need a defensive minded mid. Just an imosing CM, It’s no good having a DM who does no attacking, otherwise you might as well just employ the sweeper system. Anyone we buy needs to have some skill and some attacking flair, just like Flamini, Viera had
Gilberto didnt attack much but he was still quality.
Did I miss Pedro??
A, It will be 4-1-2-2-1 actually, although I still think 4-3-3 saya it best!
Dan he attacked a fair bit. certainly didn’t just sit in front of the defence and wait for oppositions attacks.
Gotta disagree with you there Bill, we need someone who’s amazing defensively, will read the play, track the runners, and win the ball back quickly, so that the wide men, and the central attacking midfielder can spend all their time higher up the pitch where they’ll do more damage!
Nah zorro it’s 4-2-1-2-1 more than that, although there’s only one DM as such, one of the two technical central players (xavi for barca) has their starting position deep more or less alongside the dm, then gets forward from that position, but starts off deeper, picks the ball up off the defence or dm etc.
Haha Pedro, yeah im from the UK too. Remember those lines very well. I was always tempted to ring those lines, never did! lol.
Here’s how i see it, don’t mind what you call it
Almunia
Sagna Galls Vermaelen Clichy
Fabregas New Guy
?????? ???????
??????
??????
Those other two MF would be wingers
Bill gilberto was a DM so if he did add to attack every now and then, then if we get a DM they’ll prob add to the attack. most DM dont just sit infront of the back four. Flam was DM, he did add to attack but still could see the difference this year from last with no DM. The back four were the same so were was the difference????? DM
——–Almunia——–
Sagna-Gallas-Vermaelen-Clichy
——Cesc–new player——
Arshavin-Rosicky-Eduardo
———-VP———-
Gold Coast United beat Fulham 2-1 in a friendly last night. Now before people start thinking, its only a friendly, can I add that Gold Coast United have played as many A League games as the Canberra Wallabies, zero
They are a new franchise.
Dan Flamini was far less defensive than Gilberto used to be. And as for it being the same defence, only to begin with. Not to mention that the whole midfield was different. No Hleb, Rosicky, Flamini, Fabregas (long period) to keep the ball and keep opponents on the back foot.
When we did keep the ball we were constantly passing sideways or backwards, not enough attacking flair. Which in fairness Song did start to develop towards the end
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1198449/Sebastien-Bassong-blaming-uncertainty-Newcastle-blocking-exit-admits-Arsenal-approach-sign-him.html?ITO=1490
True Bill re Flamini, he was less defensive, and although most of the time it worked well because Cesc, Hleb, and Rosicky were just SO good, at times we did get caught out by his lack of defensive nous. Even when we were flying although it was working well I always thought that we’d need someone better than Flamini, though until he left in January I was sure that would be Diarra!
Seems as if Bassong didn’t actually say which club approached him. Classic Daily Mail technique
———Back 5
———Song
—Fabregas—-Nasri
Arshavin————Rvp
———-Edu
I would have loved it if Diarra stayed, and if Flamini had pissed off to Brum in the summer then Diarra would still be here most likely.
Not sure what ye are talking but based on the last few comments i have this to say:
Bassong is shite and i hope we dont bid for him.
Flamini wasnt as defensive as Gilberto but not many players are….also Flamini was great. His technique was decent and
and finally….Diarra aint a defensive midfielder. So no way he would eventually replace Flamini….or whatever.
Diarra and Fabregas never once played together.
*shakes head*
He’s just as much a defensive midfielder as Diarra is Stu.
Sorry, as Flamini is.
But at least Flamini worked his bollocks off. Diarra is a lazy cunt-ish..person….mean guy……he is just shit. okey dokey
Nah, Diarra was a complete and utter turd, although I was convinced he’d become a top top player, and partner cesc, I have absolutely no regrets that he went after showing his true colours.
Can’t see any truth in Bassong – we signed Vermaelen as our left sided centre back!
Diarra ihas talent, no doubt about that. but his attitude ruined any chance he had. What kind of a cunt wants to leave arsenal because they dont start ahead of better players in one of the best midfields we have ever had.
He is a cunt and talented or not i couldnt be happier that he no longer has anything to do with the club.
http://www.viceland.com/wp/2009/07/babes-of-the-bnp/
absolute genius
What kind of an idiot wants to have the word “LASS” printed on the back of his jersey? ‘Nuff said!
Fabregas to Barca wont go away, the star are saying that Eto’s wank city move will fund it.
45 million? I’d take it, he wants to go there anyway
No he doesn’t, he said he really wants to stay and win things with us! He’ll be at the Emirates for a good 2-3 years, he doesn’t want to leave, and Barca wouldn’t pay big money for him when he’ll only be back up to Xavi, just media hacks stirring up story after story despite Cesc making statements categorically denying there’s any chance whatsoever that he’ll leave!
Cesc isn’t as good as everyone makes him out to be. He’ll get less games than Hleb at Barca. 45 million pounds?? Wenger should take it and run
A, and you believe those statements. He’s gone next summer probably. Who wants to play for a team that can’t win silverware?
We’re gonna win silverware this season Pat. Cesc only wants to play for us and Barca – he won’t go to Barca until he’s had another 2 years development, and Xavi is two years older, and getting over the brow of the hill. Of course I believe those statements, a hell of a lot more than the Daily Star or any other British media outlet!
Cesc would get way more games than Hleb. I dont know why people dont rate him. On form he is one of the best midfieders in the world….at creating that is. He doesnt really have much pace but he is good enough for arsenal..no doubt.
Stu, good enough for us, yes, but not good enough for Barca.
He’s better than Xavi/Iniesta in 1 category: the range of his passing. Chips, short, long, quick, slow, anything. Xavi isn’t really good with the long ball, but better overall. I rate him, but he’s not going to reach Xavi’s level imo
I disagree Pat – Cesc is almost a carbon copy of Xavi at his age, there’s nothing that Xavi had that Cesc doesn’t have, and Cesc has every chance of reaching those heights, though it won’t be for a while.
I dont care if he is good enough for anyone else. If he can do well for us then thats all i care about.
And imo he is good enough for Barca….why else would they try so hard to buy him.
if they really put 45 mil on the table they can have him. Its like selling someone their own house for a massive profit.