I didn’t watch enough of the game to deliver a proper match report today… a comfortable 0-1 win against Hannover doesn’t really merit a match report of great depth. Cesc is back and scoring, Arshavin looked slightly better and Arsenal cruised. Happy days… our winning streak continues.
In other news, it seems Arsenal are having the summer clear out Wenger insisted wouldn’t happen. He said he’d keep the squad together like he did last year and he hasn’t. Why say you will if it is patently obvious you have no intention doing so?
Anyway… one thing we can’t argue with is the players he has let go needed to be let go. Adebayor (£80k) is a top striker, but his attitude and work rate were not up to Arsenal standard. Kolo Toure (£40k) was an invincible but his poor working relationship with Gallas and his erratic form meant that if someone was going… it was him. Eboue (£35k) is also rumoured to be heading for the exit door… at 25, with no defined position, how could one argue with him leaving? So altogether, we’ll end up recouping £45million plus (Factor in £8million of wages that surely goes onto that budget).
I am ok with this… but the money must be spent to recruit at least one decent player. If buying 3 players is enough to disrupt the squad, selling 3 massive personalities must also be a problem. I know selling the players was the right thing to do, but I can’t help but feel negative about it… we’ve sniggered at the Arabs and their money… but we’re the first in line to offer up our players to ensure our coffers are filled. If I am feeling like this, I can’t believe the players aren’t feeling the same… they need an injection into the squad just as much as we do.
Patrick Vieira is believed to be on the radar… I would take him in a heart beat. If he could elevate us in the same way David’s did Spurs a few years back, he’d be worth a punt. According the Steve Stammers, his form has been superb this pre-season… the man is a leader, a legend and most importantly… he is a winner.
His signing wouldn’t be enough for me… I still think we need another player in at centre back. I like JD and Senderos, but at the highest level, they are still unproven. Song isn’t a centre back yet and I’m not prepared to watch him flounder when he gets his inevitable ten game streak during the Christmas period. Silvestre can’t be relied upon either. I have no idea about Vermaelen… so all we have at the back is Gallas. That is not enough to make up 18 points.
Next up is the emirates cup, it was great to see that in a recessionary year, Arsenal bumped the ticket prices up 200%… I can see why everyone thinks we’re so classy… can we add the £4million quid we’ll earn from that to the the £53million transfer kitty as well?
Arsenal now face our toughest season yet… the fans are on the edge, waiting to see if Wenger can learn from previous mistakes and take us back to the top.
He told us last year he underestimated the psychological effect of losing two big hitters… so surely he has a master plan brewing to make sure that doesn’t happen again?
I hope so… comments like this don’t fill me full of confidence though,
“In England people think all the problems have to be sorted out by buying players,’
I have to tell you Arsene, that is generally the view of most managers the world over… and the fact that your coaching skills haven’t reaped any rewards over the last few years suggests to me that maybe you should start looking at other ways to rectify your problems. Wenger and his ability to con the fans has waned over the last couple of years.. Comments like the below really make me question how much he believes his own hype?
‘The position of the squad is very good. It looks to me that the cohesion is there and that is down to the fact we have stability.’
Surely I am not the only one who can see the flaws in the above quote??
This season is the last throw of the dice for Arsene. I’ll put my trust in him and keep ‘em crossed… but if it all goes horribly wrong this season, I believe any questions that are asked of him at the end the year will be justified.
P.S. Kolo, I’d love to wish you all the best… but I can’t, I hope it goes horribly tits up and you end up resurrecting your career in Spain… sorry buddy, you will always be a legend in my eyes… Mr Arsenal… the man that wiped out Bergkamp and Wenger in his trial… an invincible… but I can’t wish you well playing for vulgar boys in blue.
Finally… ‘Operation Laughatbayor‘ received quite a lot of support from a lot of you! I’ll be talking about it a lot over the next month, so start telling your gooner freinds and lets see if we can get it going! Plus… check in tomorrow because we’re going to be starting a competition to give away a £500 Sony Ericsson W995 to one lucky reader… as part of the prize, you’ll be given the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to SA 2010! Exciting times my friends… exciting times!
oh ok test, i didn’t know west ham were in balotelli talks, big fan of his, wouldn’t mind us snapping him up if available, although he’d have to join the queue of young potentially awesome forwards!!
Denilson is primarily a defensive mid, people just think he’s an attacking mid because he has more ability on the ball than most defensive mids. He’s a sit deep and read the game defensive mid, but currently doesn’t have the physicality, both in terms of strength, and speed, to cope with the premiership alot of the time defensively, too many runners from midfield in open games, and when we’re playing against a crap team and dominating we need someone to run like a headless chicken, which isn’t his game.
If Matuidi came in I’d expect him to be capable of moving the ball quickly and effectively, but i’d still expect Cesc to be dropping deep to dictate the play and set up the attacks. I’d expect him to have the speed and tenacity too to really press when necessary, and also be able to actually keep up with runners from midfield, rather than completely incapable of coping like denilson is because he’s just so slow. (I’ve not actually seen Matuidi play though – just going on things I’ve been told, extensive research asking questions from a couple of French chums of mine and writing on various forums asking people’s opinions of him!)
nah stu caceres has serious potential but like us…. barca have realised they can’t develop him as a defender and have sent him out on loan early….they’ve obviously seen what pique going to manchester united has done for him and them
i’d be very surprised gp, and a bit confused!
aren’t pique and caceres the same age? Barca really didn’t rate him last season, they played yaya at centre back rather than giving him a chance, seems weird after how much they paid for him
From what I know Caceres has/had real talent. He was considered to be a top young CB. I don’t know what happened to him at Barca. Maybe the arrival of their lovechild Pique made them forget about him. Expect him to be very good at Juve and possibly even move there.
goonerpress i’d be very upset with wenger, because it means we’ve wasted the last four years, and he would’ve learnt the biggest lesson of his life….at our expence. certainly in pires and vieira case, because in thos two i saw two players who should’ve have been passing on the “arsenal way” in terms of knowledge to the next gen, how good would diaby be under 3years with vieira, how would nasri and walcott not learn off pires, and can u imagine vieira letting adebayor and eboue get away with some of the stuff they’ve been doing on the pitch and behind closed doors? they would’ve had an arm around the throat, but it would’ve moulded them, there’s a reason why neville scholes andgiggs were left in the united team from the old guard and the winning formula continues
Yeah, if only we could have afforded to have kept them b11, and if only they’d have been willing to stay on as bit part players but great wise heads in the dressing room. Ah well, when it comes down to it all the sales were the best for the players and the clubs involved, apart from maybe pires, we could have done with keeping him and it didn’t work out THAT well at villareal.
gooner_b11 I feel you brother! That is the exact response I was looking for. Very well said. Look how all the Uniteds old men have helped their younger players. The same way the Rooneys and co are gonna help the Welbeck and co. We haven’t got that. If only Vieira, Campbell, Pires and Henry had stayed on. Im 100% sure it would have been us winning those titles instead of United. And Diaby, Song, Denilson, Walcott, Nasri, Senderos and Djourou would have turned into machines!
yeah A i know what you mean on ceceres but he had one hell of a season the year before when he was getting games the potential was there, but unlike wenger that threw senderos into the deep end…swam for little bit and then started to sink when a shark like drogba arrives, they decided not to ruin his confidence as they had more expeience to deal with such problems, he’s gone to juve to learn his trade the italian way
exactly goonerpress, altho i’m not so sure campbell and henry had anything to give, campbell wasn’t exactly the smartest tool in the box, and the team stepped up when henry left because of his ego…..but bringing back adams and bould as coaches woulda done a wonder of good, and begrkamp as a forward coach would be great you know?
Certainly not Adams as a coach b11 – adams is an absolute legend, but the further away he is from the playing side the better, since he retired he’s shown that he’s completely and utterly clueless when it comes to analysing the game
I do think bould and bergkamp could be future managers of the club though
A i hear your point but i don’t think it was best for us, if i remember correct vieira always flirted with real….but it was us and david dein who excepted the deal to juventus when he actually didn’t ask to leave, and to be hard headed about contracts with wiltord pires and gilberto for being over 30 and then giving silvestre the two years you’ve never spared on anyone that age, kinda showed me he isn’t the same man now as he was 10years ago
For now we should try bring Keown back. Leave Bould in the youths for now and then in 5 or 10 years ask Bergkamp to rejoin or sooner maybe.
Either way those 3 should be involved with the club in any aspect because they have what it takes.
I was suprised that Keown is so smart tho…i hadnt pictured him as such a brain box.
Yeah I know b11, but it was because vieira’s legs had gone, so he couldn’t handle 90 minutes in the prem anymore, going to italy suited him because he could still play at 100% there because of the much slower nature of the game, and we also needed the money from him to bring in replacements.
That’s ultimately the reason that we couldn’t keep the likes of henry and vieira, because if we had done, we would have never been able to afford replacements, we have to sell as soon as players start to decline because if we let their value fall too much we could never replace players like them. Unlike Utd, who can afford to spend to bring in replacements at the same time as keeping the oldies.
Yeah I like the idea of keown returning in some capacity stu. I really hope bould can get the next generation of youths playing as last year’s did.
no! A, adams and bouldy as defensive coaches thay don’t have to analyse the game, they just have to run them through the defensive drills that george graham used to teach them, when to play offside, positioning from set pieces and so on, when to play a high line and low line….i know right now none of those things are happening, they’re spending more time playing 5 a sides and how to retain the ball 37 in 38 league games tells me that
Not adams b11 – He managed to somehow completely fuck up Pompey’s defence, I still don’t understand how ANYONE could manage that. Campbell, Distin, and James didn’t even need to be coached, they could sort things out for themselves, but someone Adams managed to turn a very solid base into a complete embarrassment!! I really don’t want adams anywhere near the playing staff, nor as a scout, or anything that requires him to use any knowledge or opinion about football!
He could be an ambassador for the club, that’s it!
i don’t really wanna get into who can and who can’t become future managers of the club, all i know is if luthor blisset can teach yakubu how to bend his runs and become more efficient as striker, then our former guys could do wonders
b11, Adams wouldnt be a good idea because defenders have to be abe to read the game to know what position to take up and when to go to or back up fron the ball/oppo striker.
Keown is better with this whereas Adams isnt imo.
*having said that, Adams did do well with the pompey defence when he was still number 2. But once he got more responsobility he fucked everything up. It was down to a lot of individual mistakes but Adams was still in charge.
I dont wanna know how he would do in a higher pressure situation of having to coach a CL defence. Whereas we know Keown is capable of improving a top teams defence.
A….don’t ever belive in that myth it was adams who destroyed pompeys defence, campbell like i said wasn’t intelligent but he brawn and because of that as you saw at arsenal relied on his pace and power to recover from situations regardless of his positioning skills, but the body goes….same goes for distain (and kolo with us as it goes) and then it’s what’s upstairs that determines how long you last in the game. it went to pot because they got older, harry couldn’t wait to jump ship and he did just in time only for adams to step in, and then the foundations started to crack
b11 as soon as adams left their defence was good again, and the players pretty publically questioned Adams’ techniques….
They are valid reasons for sure b11, but Paul Hart came in after adams and did better. Well enough to save them from relegation, which is where Pompey were heading under TA.
stu, you can’t be serious….keown was the brawn and adams was the controller….you should know that? keown would put his head in like vidic in a any situation, hence all the head bandages while adams would always drop off 5yards and sweep up, and when playing offsides with a high line, it was adams who would be the last man back and step forward with everyones hands going up! surely you know this, so how are we saying now keown’s the better guy? george graham would’ve never have contemplated selling adams because he was more imprtant but keown was because we could cope!
b11, i never said that Keown was a better player. Never said that. I just said that Keown would be better at teaching the defenders what to do and how….like he did a few years ago when he was he defensive coach fr a few months or however long.
no A it was a placebo effect, if you start to belive someones the cause of your problems then when they go, things will get better….for now! ask tottenham lol, they’ve done it 2years in a row
but lets see how pompey do this year, they look bang on for relegation this year
problem being stu, as you’ve heard wenger never gave him much time or credit for what he did, where as adams is mr arsenal, what’s wenger gonna do? dismiss his works aswell? doubt it! but i see your point…..and wenger does need to stop being so protective of his fledglings especially with in keown, bould or adams what you’d call family
Quote from The Sun re Patrick Viera
“Wenger may be desperate to find a holding midfield player but he can’t be THIS desperate”.
The biggest laugh going about in football has got to be that sad hasbeen David Beckham, & there are media people who still rate him. Why doesn’t that fuckwit just piss off & spend some time with his kids (not his kids nannies)
Some papers reporting that we’re after De Rossi now….Check newsnow. I don’t feel like going back and getting the link.
he’s like a father who wont disipline his kids and doesn’t want any family members spanking them also when they step out of line, eventually they’ll become spoilt, they’ll become older….(ade) and start to play up!
Very interesting read regarding Denilson. Made me think a little…but I still don’t rate him hehe =P
http://aculturedleftfoot.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/denilson-another-wenger-special-or-absolute-waste-of-space/
pat i refuse to belive the link….i watched de rossi today and he looked as commited to roma as ever. the papers probaly read this blog and nothing because wengers under the radar so they came up with this.
The De Rossi talk stemmed from someone having inside knowledge that a deal was done, and had a date to be announced – already a dubious starting point for it.
Then the doctored images of De Rossi supposedly on our website turned up, which make it look even more of a hoax.
Then De Rossi played tonight, despite a deal supposedly already being done for him with us.
The story is absolutely nothingy, but has still somehow been picked up by the press, who will run absolutely anything they hear, without a thread of truth
Martin Keown was in fact the defensive coach for Arsenal during 2005-06. He is the mastermind behind the defence that never conceded in the Champions League for 8 games in a row. I believe he should come back in this capacity as his knowledge is clearly something that could work fully in our favour.
De Rossi surely won’t leave Roma anyway. and even if he did we wouldn’t fork out for him. I’d love it if i was wrong, but i highly doubt it
how come we lost keown as a coach?
freduardo Says:
July 31, 2009 at 02:49
how come we lost keown as a coach?
——————————————————
He was only part-time, and he left to continue his badges.
I’m off to bed now, nite people. I’ve got a good feeling about tomorrow, getting good vibrations, something positive could happen, not sure what!
What’s cooking fellas? Have the media twats completely lost it or is Mr. Anon actually right about these shady ongoings. A. summed it up pretty well, so Anon surfaces here and mentions De Rossi, he appears in a hack picture as no.13, and all of a sudden the bloody times is suggesting we are looking for De Rossi and he is valued at 30 mill. Makes you think where these twits get there stories from? Sounds like to me we are giving them the stories not getting the stories from them.
On a side note. David am pretty excited your boy Vick may be on his way back this season. I wonder who he signs for, hope it is a team using the wildcat more and more and as a second QB. Then he can do some real damage and give us some more amazing highlight reels on sportscenter.
AW playing with lots of minds here….because he can.
The whole world screams to him SIGN…and he says I may not.
He’s a tease.
I’m hoping he is only saying what he’s saying as a message to fellow managers… I will not pay your prices.
But it’s silly not to replace 2 of your starting 11. Surely he knows this!!
And there is no way these De Rossi rumours have anything to them!!
He’s not your average Wenger purchase.
26/Non-French/African/30m!!!!
Bollocks!!
gday all
African?
how good was the penalty shoot out between Bayern and Man Scum with the moving camera right behind the penalty takes, that was awesome!
by the way, what the fack was TH14 sense of arrogance or whatever that crazy bastard calls himself smoking @ 15:04???
TA is known more for his grit and courage than his defensive techniques. He would find it very hard to make it as a manager.
As far as signing Viera is concerned, I think it is a great idea. Would give us much more depth than we have currently. Also maybe Denilson and Song would learn a bit from him too.
But how can the ones on here sure AW will add be so sure. HAven’t we been down this exact road last summer??
Thats the fun LAzer, you know you have been down this road before, but still cant help hoping otherwise.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1203240/Andrey-Arshavin-urges-Arsenal-boss-Arsene-Wenger-strengthen-losing-Kolo-Toure-Manchester-City.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1203323/Patrick-Vieira-set-return-Arsenal-Blaise-glory.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Mex%C3%A8s
Half-way past the midpoint of the 2008/2009 season and Phillipe is now considered fundamental to Roma and he has stated on many occasions that he intends to spend his entire career in Rome with Roma. Now Felipe Mexes is linked to Arsenal, Arsenal have approached Roma with a £16 million bid. the news is to be official by August 12th. Arsenal have also informed him that he will be backup to Senderos.
Yea I suppose..just am not so sure we will be getting any “big” signings. Thanks for posting Kenya, I saw those a bit earlier. Seems like the more everyone urges Wenger the more stubborn he gets and says he won’t. I guess there is no point in speculating, just to wait and see. But mark my words this time around there will be blood on the streets if he does not strengthen accordingly. It will be him getting booed not the players and that will be a first.
If eboue leave, i think gilbert will be our RB backup,
http://onlinestore.arsenal.com/invt/70000
in online shop, gilbert is no38, and he is the only youth team player in the list!!!!
HAHAHAHA LAzer —- I love this line
I guess there is no point in speculating, just to wait and see. But mark my words this time around there will be blood on the streets if he does not strengthen accordingly. It will be him getting booed not the players and that will be a first.
BLOOD ON THE STREETS- THIS SHOULD BE DONE DURING THE EMIRATES CUP OR RAISE OUR VOICES, COME UP WITH PLACARDS WITH THE PLAYERS WE WANT WENGER TO SIGN. DO YOU REMEMBER HOW FANS BOOED EBOUE…WENGER AND THE MANAGEMENT WILL BE WATCHING THESE GAMES AND NEED TO BE TOLD FACE TO FACE.
I REMEMBER IN KENYA DURING THE POST ELECTION VIOLENCE U DID NOT HAVE TO TELL ANYONE TO GO TO THE STREETS JUST SPLASH YOUR MACHETE/WEAPON OUT AND U WOULD BE INSTANTLY JOINED WITH LOTS OF PEOPLE URGING U TO GO ON….
From Arse.com…
Defender Kerrea Gilbert has joined League One side Leicester City on loan for the 2008/09 season.
21 year-old Gilbert, who has been on Arsenal’s books since the age of 13, became a familiar name to Arsenal supporters during the 2005/06 season, when he made nine first team appearances, spread across all four major competitions.
During his time with the Gunners, Kerrea (pronounced Kerry) has also gained valuable experience with loan spells at Cardiff City, where he spent the entire 2006/07 campaign, and also spent some of last season on loan at League One side Southend United.
Kerrea’s strong tackling and athleticism won him plenty of admirers and the Club offered him professional terms in the summer of 2005. He has also represented England at youth level.
http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/24236/Wenger__We_don%E2%80%99t_make_money_to_put_it_in_the_bank.aspx
i reckon those Arshavin comments are rubbish.
where are the links? he can hardly speak english, he’s in Austria, or on the way back and its also in the daily mail.
is this from an interview with him or what?
http://tinyurl.com/np5qcq
Good article.
hehe..time to take matters into our own hands Kenya. I wish I could go to the games and make my feelings felt to atleast those around me. I think the fact is every gooner, even the very negative ones, have been very patient with the rebuild. The AKBs will talk of all sorts of reasons real supporters should not be up in arms but its the ones who blindly follow lemmings of the hill and twaddle there thumbs hoping something miraculous will happen each year are the ones that need a reality check. If any of them want to debate they need to come on here and I guarantee they would be convinced otherwise based on reason alone to stop the AKBish behavior.
… and another
http://tinyurl.com/lgzec4
Yeah, the article is right about asking way too much of a center half to come in overnight and adapt to the toughest, fastest, and most physical league in the world whilst having the pressure cooker atmosphere of huge games week in and week out. Why can’t Wenger for once buy a PL experianced player when the squad is screaming for a level head that is used to the envoirnment. Hangeland for me is still a good buy. People will argue the highline and slowness of pace but the fellow has adapted very well so far, is tall and his reading of the game is excellant. Besides we have Gallas to cleanup and chase down. I don’t recall Vidic and Ferdinand being the quickest players, just one willing to get stuck in while the other reads the game very well and plays position football.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVsriQFor1M
Who do we have now that plays with heart??
LAzer… why can’t we buy a defender who is good at defending?
Why do we have to have a defender who can play our style of football? People can say what they like about the Norwegian… but the facts speak for themselves. He was part of the 4th best defence in the league last year and played a huge role in Fulhams survival the year before.
He would suit us… I just can’t believe we’re going to go into the season with the defensive options we have. Now we know he has loads of money, we know that if he doesn’t buy… it’s down to him.
I think it will kick off big time if he plays this game again and it fails.
The thing is… the gamble is so ridiculous isn’t it? A few decent players would take all the pressure off wouldn’t it? If he doesn’t… we’re relying on far too many variables again.
good counter act by a reader though pedro…
“West Coast wrote:
Looks like you phoned this one in Tony. Whilst I agree that Vieira “ticks all the wrong boxes”, Ade was a lazy distraction, and Toure clearly past his best (although unlike Ade, he will always be remembered fondly) – both good moves in my book.
Last time I looked there was a full month of the transfer window open, and no balls had been kicked and no points won or lost. By the way, I seem to remember a miserable away defeat to Stoke last season when the “strong and experienced” Toure was hopelessly undone by the monkey arms of Rory Delap, and Adebayor wouldn’t have scored if we’d played all weekend, without any Stoke players on the pitch. So much for their contribution to the avoidance of bullying on the field”.
monkey arms Delap – that is a ripper!
Pat, it’s a very good question…
Robin Van Persie, Cesc and Clichy I reckon…
I would add Arshavin to that in the short while we have seen him. Also I think young Gibbs has heart as well as Gallas when not being petulent. Totally agree Pedro, I don’t know what the obsession with playing two sweepers as CBs is. It is bleeding obvious we need a few old fashioned true defenders in the team.
Pedro, Sagna as well.
We have the best player in the PL on our team(rivaled only by Rooney imo) in Arshavin. Okay, Torres rivals him as well.
We need to use him where he feels comfortable, not on the left.
Evo, what can’t be denied is that Adebayor was percieved as a big threat by other teams… he never got bullied. Kolo was on the wane… but we have no guarantees Thomas is going to be any better.
The whole, ‘there is still a month left’ argument passes me by as well… there’s not a month till the season starts and you’d have to say that ideally, we’d like to see any new players bed in with the squad before the season starts.
We’ve all witnessed what last minuted signings do to the team over past few seasons… Baptista, Gallas, Diarra… The only player I can think of that has had a major impact was Arshavin.
Pat, you’d use him in the middle of the park?
Sags has heart… but he dropped off a little last year. I hope he can recapture his form of two years ago.
im not really bothered, i just like the monkey arms bit
Monkey arms was pretty funny
Watching some youtube vids of the Arse. Henry is the best striker of his generation. No competition. Ronaldo? His scoring record is actually better than the Brazilians, I think. Not to mention assisting.
I fucking miss the invincibles and its sad seeing how shit we are. I want to believe but in 5 years we’ve lost so much ffs
Pat… watching a striker who’d score half his half chances was a dream.
He truly was an amazing player…
Yea say what you want about Ade, he was a fecken handful physically when in the mood. True he was a pretty awful finisher but 30+ goals is 30+ goals. Anyways I am happy to see him gone just like the next guy but it doesn’t mean we can just sell players and not replace them. We went down this road, and -18 pts is what we got to show for it. Where is the money going is my question? I wish all those going to the emirates cup would boycott and the stadium were half full. Wenger and the board are running this like a personal business but its not. If they need to be pressured into signings then we must do it now. Or simply come out and tell us we are bleedin skint, have to sell 2-3 players a year and that’s that.
Ade will be missed imo. He was a good plan B.
Pedro, yes. Support striker a la Bergkamp or a roaming in a 4-3-3 with the front 3 interchanging.
Like Myles Palmer said in his blog(which I don’t recommend in all honesty):
In the summer of 1997 the key question was : How can I get more out of Bergkamp? Now it’s : How can I get more out of Arshavin?
Buy him a striker who will put in those chips and crosses
Don’t take us down memory lane Pat (sadly I do the same to remind me of the golden days)…if ever the word “legend” defined a player it was Henry. The coolest, slickest, smoothest striker of his generation. What a class act. Henry in his prime is very very hard to beat by any player imo. In fact I would venture to say he would be in my top 5 strikers of all time without a doubt.
Arsenal Kenya calm down mate.
Blood on the streets is a major major exaggeration.
It’s figurative ikon, OBVIOUSLY no one means there will be actual blood. Just a whole lot of figurative blood, thats all.
And THAT performance against Inter at the San Siro. The best defender of all time wouldn’t stop Henry on that day. As Drogba would say, its a fucking disgrace that he never won POY
Anyone else think its a huge risk to sell Toure when he’s young?? 28 for a CB is when they start getting into their prime, usually.
Morning chaps, what the hell was that TH14′s Sense of Arrogance @15:04 all about? He lost me with the loss of strategic defenses.
Yeah, that is an injustice. In fact there are so many people who would not put him in a top 10 even. But their loss really, we saw the best of one of the best ever imo. And he really has won every medal at this point as well if some of the medal counters want to compare to a Ronaldo.
Morning all!
Steve Howard in The Sun has this to say among his scepticism of the Vieira rumour:
“Of the six remaining Arsenal centre-halves, you can write off four. Mikael Silvestre is past it, Philippe Senderos never had it while Johan Djourou is not so much an accident waiting to happen as one that has already taken place. Alex Song is a midfield player who fills in at centre-half in emergency.
This leaves Vermaelen and William Gallas. An injury to either and the Gunners are right back in the cart.
Of Vermaelen, one Ajax regular said: “He’s an intelligent, dedicated footballer. The main concern is he continues to make the same sort of mistakes he made when he first came into the side five years ago.”"
Also, about Vieira not ticking the boxes:
Imo, he ticks ALL the boxes we need except work rate.
Aggression, leadership, tackling, heart/fight,physical presence, and most importantly it is well known that he REALLY wants to play in one more world cup. Therefore he will give it his all. Worth a punt surely, as long as he’s not the only one coming in.
Considering Kolo, I love the fella Pat but really a 28 yr old CB with so much experiance should not be making so many mistakes. But largely I hold Wenger responsible for that for pairing him with Gallas, they were a very very poor match for eachother. Kolo is a sweeper/cleanup type who can chase players down. His heading is pretty awful and positional sense leaves a bit to be desired imo. If he played with a Hangeland or a beast who could lay back he would be excellant again.
I cant believe The Independent is running the Di Rossi story. It just goes to show how bad sports journalism has become in the UK.
Pat, totally agree with your last comment.
Inside, I read something about that the other day… apparently you have half the journo’s doing double the work, with ten times the amount of information…
Good night Grovers. 2:12 here in Chicago!! Going to be dreaming about Villa, Matuidi, and Zapata joining =D
night Pat!
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=1344&cntnt01origid=30&cntnt01returnid=42
this according to a document of deals with banks
Wenger could learn at least something from Redknapp:
But the former Portsmouth manager is unconcerned about upsetting other players in the squad, insisting it is up to them to fight for their place.
“I don’t care,” he added. “It’s not about keeping them happy, they have to keep me happy and the fans happy – that is what they are paid to do.
“It’s up to them as they have got to fight to play, it’s all about competition for places.”
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=1344&cntnt01origid=30&cntnt01returnid=42
this according to a document of deals with banks……
Yeah really remarkable, we are supposed to be going to papers for the story and they are coming to us looking for one instead. I guess it goes to show you the power of the grove. Heard that story myself Pedro. Most of the newpapers are running on a failed business model and are finding it very tough to survive. That is true stateside as well.
Chi town eh Pat…well gnite buddy.
TAIG, right on Harry I say!
LAzer even figuratively its a big thing to say.
There is a subtle but important difference between knowing that something is wrong and keeping the faith in the manager, and saying it out loud.
Doesnt take much time for people to go onto streets and burn Wenger’s effigy.
Ikon, I don’t think Arsenal fans will be burning effigy’s…!
I’m going to have an angry day today, I can feel it! I’ll be taking my headache out on anyone that suggests Wenger is performing right now!
I think I’d explode into hysterics if I happened to bump into Arsene on the street! He’s doing my head in and he’s got a very short number of days left to keep me as a fan!
And I daresay even though I might not qualify as a “fan” in the views of a few people just cause i dont buy season tickets, I would have done so if I would have been in England where the average salary per week is equal to my salary for 2 months. And my salary would be quite above average in my country.
I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to do but I have just emailed my uncle who lives in Holland and is an Ajax season ticket holder. I’ve asked for his opinion on Vermaelen and to be honest I’ll take whatever he says as gospel because he knows his football!
figuratively Pedro
It’s a big thing to say, that’s why I said it ikon. “Blood on the streets” is part of a well known quote from Baron Rothschild concerning buying/investing when there is blood on the streets, essentially meaning that when it is a time of absolute pessimism it is a time to invest. Regardless, it is just a term, I don’t see why it would be taken literally you or anyone.
Something interesting regarding Chamakh from Bordeaux president
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2009/20090731_081941_chamakh-wenger-a-appele-triaud.html
Translates to something like this
Non Sunderland, Arsenal yes? By saying “ready” last Monday “to help Marouane great if the club wanted” Laurent Blanc is thought unlikely qu’Arsène Wenger would come so quickly with Girondins Bordeaux. The Arsenal manager french called Jean-Louis Triaud to express its interest in Marouane Chamakh. If a departure for Sunderland “any club or lower level in Bordeaux” was excluded by White, an exile in London to be more athletic progress desired by the technician for his player.
“Wenger called me. He said he had a list of attackers and Marouane was one, “confirmed President Bordeaux in L’Equipe. Officially, Bordeaux require 15 million euros to let his attacker Franco-Moroccan. Arsenal would do six to purchase last year of the contract Chamakh. Triaud already feared that this “becomes a complicated soap opera.”
Taig-just for you…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/red-n-white/3421059607/
So the latest is Matuidi in…to be mentored by PV4…
Late last nigh was De Rossi…. Need clarification….
Does Wenger have the balls to sign 26-year old Daniele De Rossi?
Does he?
De Rossi is just wishful thinking. He is Roma’s favorite son and would cost near 30 mill according to reports. Do we REALLY see that happening with Wenger in charge? We will probably settle on Matuidi if anyone at all. I fear Wenger wants to go in with the 3 headed monster of Song/Denilson/Diaby for the 2nd center midfield spot and if we have another injury to Cesc then two of those will be playing together. That’s the doomsday scenario.
LAzer – I Haven’t opened my shotgun locker for quite some time! Could be time to dust is off. Just a question of who gets it first….the muppets with the banner or Arsene himself!!
See the thing is if we do sign Matuidi…and a striker…then it would fine if the 3 headed monster was to play as we would have AA for creativity….
provided there’s a striker upfront with Eduardo or RvP.
iceman – Clarification? Wenger’s dictionary has this description of that word:
Calrification: See ‘undisclosed’.
On some positive news, seems as though Lansbury is really coming on well this summer. Everytime I read about the U19 campaign his name is mentioned as a major contributor. He scored the equalising goal of a deflected free-kick in the semi. Do we have a potential youngster who can step up this season?
Also, I think Wilshere will be playing quite a bit more with Walcott being asked to play up top, even if it is off the bench. The time to move him there and see what he’s got is now, it will take a while to settle in that role anyways imo.
iceman
He certainly has the dosh, but good point about the jacks crackers.
You have got to laugh even Myles Palmer on Arsenal News Review has fallen for the De Rossi to Arsenal rumour – he who purports to know all things Arsenal!!
LOL!!
And to answer your question: The friggin Muppets!!!!
It’s folk like them why AW’s got something stuck up his arse thinking he’s always right!!!
Not to mention Nasri iceman. I rate him highly, perhaps a bit more then some on here but he would do a job in midfield. He is no where near as crisp a passer as Fab but is a better tackler and more of a box to box type imo. Also he has a better shot on him I think.
Burning effigys and blood on the streets???? We are The Arsenal, it wont happen and thank God for that!
I 2nd that…the muppets of course. Someone should put a banner that says “in trophies we trust you friggin muppets.”
Walcott will still get brushed off if played upfront. And Wilshere still has to bulk up quite a bit. I would like to see Vela being used more. And maybe Coquelin.
Yeah…Nasri will be the real deal in 1-2 years.
He’s not too nad right now.
But people will take note of him in months to come.
Boy’s special.
Walcott will get brushed off I think is a misconception. Smallish players with low centers of gravity doesn’t mean they will get brushed off imo. Seeing Vela would be nice, I have a Mexican mate who was pretty against him till recently, and has become quite a fan. His exploits in the Gold Cup were applauded heavily eventhough he was injured for majority of the tournament.
How do you all rate Vucinic? Not that we would have him or need him, but how do you all rate him? I have always thought he is a confident and classy finisher who can be called clinical if you like.
Didn’t Myles Palmer say a couple weeks back he was hoping we’d sign Melo?
Now, De Rossi?
WTF!!?!!
NEW POST!
Morning chaps.
Being smallish doesnt always mean you have a low center of gravity. As well as having a low center of gravity doesnt mean you can beat defenders who are close.
Walcott’s strength is when he has space to run, or when our wingers stretch the opponents far enough to create space in between. All our wingers have a habbit of cutting inside, hence the middle becomes so songested we block ourselves.