Mannone
Sagna Gallas Djourou Traore
Eboue Denilson Ramsey Rosicky
RVP Bendtner
So, the second game of the afternoon saw Arsenal take on an exciting Athletico Madrid side. We lined up with quite a strong team, Denilson sitting in just behind Rambo, Rosicky making his long awaited return with RvP and Bendtner up top. I was surprised to see Eboue in the team… but then again, we did see Kolo in the team just before he flew the nest. I’m more irritated by the fact that the best we can do in right midfield appears to be him again…
Wenger is still giving little away as to what his starting line up will be this season… you’d have to imagine he still doesn’t have a clue! Diaby is injured again, Verma out, Senderos supposedly gone… and I reckon he has at least 2 signings up his sleeve.
It was interesting listening to Ray Parlour (Who was in my local on Friday) talking about what he thought we needed… he said he’d like to see a centre back, a world class holding midfielder and a top class striker. He also said he thought PV04 would be a disaster signing… reckons he wont have the legs… we shall see!
Keeping a clean sheet against this lot was going to be tough. Forlan and Aguerro are hot strikers… Madrid are like the Spanish Newcastle of old!
The first incident of the game came from a Madrid corner that was whipped in front post, a player got in front of JD, flicked it on… Aguerro nipped in at the back and hit the post. It was reassuring that we’re still dealing with corners in the same fashion as we were last year.
Our first chance came when Rambo picked the ball up twenty yards out, dragged it back, rolled Rosicky in, who looked up and curled one into the top corner. It was rightly called offside… a real shame but hopefully a sign of things to come.
The next chance came when Eboue slid a pass into Rocky, who nearly latched onto it. He won a corner… from which he shanked a shot wide. Little Mozart was looking very good.
Denilson was making his fair share of gaffs… perhaps he’d been reading the crab comments, because he was trying to play hollywood balls all over the park in the first half to little effect.
Our next chance came when Sagna drilled a 40 yard cross field pass to Ramsey, who knocked it in front of him, crossed to Robin who weakly volleyed into the ground and wide.
I wasn’t surprised to see the stadium emptier than last year… Selling 35,000 tickets at £30 might rake in more money at the gates… but getting 60,000 in paying a tenner surely benefits the tills inside the ground… not to mention giving lots of people who can’t normally go the chance to see their team. Greedy, Greedy Arsenal.
I’ve never watched £4million disappear so quickly in the space of 45minutes… but every time Eboue tried something with the ball… I felt I was watching another quarter mill disappear… then he’d dive… another million… then he’d roll about on the floor like he’d just stepped on a land mine… it really was car crash football from avid Le Grove reader, Emanuel Eboue.
Sagna started the first move of the second half playing a good one two with Jack Wilshere… he cut it back to Robin, who tried a clever flick that was cleared off the line. Soon after Nik pulled down a cross and half volleyed over from ten yards.
JD continued to look solid at the back making some important interceptions. The introduction of Clichy, Wilshere, Merida really spiced things up. Merida looked very creative and quite bulky… I’m looking forward to seeing more involvement from the Spaniard this year.
Madrid made a substitute… the well moutstached Madrid coach stroked the neck of the youthful Madrid striker in a slightly disturbing manner.
Jack was the architect of our next chance… his clever footwork allowed him the chance to cut the ball back to Rambo who gave the keeper an easy save.
Soon after Forlan broke through our defence, but JD was once again equal to him and nullified the danger with a great slide tackle.
Fab, Arshavin and Eduardo made their way onto the pitch to some electric applause.
Jack chipped Merida in, who narrowly missed connection with the ball… Jacks intelligence is astounding.
Robin Van Persie is to freekicks what Michael Jordan was to baseball… what happened Robin? 3 piss poor attempts continued his fruitless year of freekicking.
Jack wilshere continued to dazzle the half empty Emirates with his trickery and guile. He became the focal point of the Arsenal attack. People don’t mind going with youth when it’s at the standard of him! I thought it was quite sad when the stadium started doing mexican waves… it looks a bit stupid when only half the venue is full.
Athletico perked up in the final ten… Mannone nearly spilled a bread and better shot into his net, they missed two one on ones… then came the goal.
The ball was played into the box by Fabregas who picked out Arshavin at the back post… the Russian casually watched the ball down and side footed the half volley home for the first.
I do have to say that certain sections of the crowd were irritating me with their constant shouts of ‘Shoot’ late on. It’s preseason… we don’t need to start with all that this early on.
5 minutes later, we were brutally exposed at the back when Madrid threaded a ball through the middle of the centre backs… Gallas looked for offside… Prosecco slid the ball past Mannone for the equaliser. Embarrassing.
However, it wasn’t over. Arshavin chased a back pass… noodded it on… took it past the keeper and slotted home from an almost impossible angle. That is what money buys you Arsene… quality. Now couldn’t you repeat the trick in defence and centre midfield? Arshavin makes the game look easy… he put minimal effort into the game yesterday and still produced… keeping him fit this year is of utmost importance.
We are top of the league is all I need to say on the game. Like Geoff has said so many time before, we are only a couple of players away from domination… but those players are in key positions. Denilson didn’t have to pace to catch up with the play maker who played Prosecco in… and the defence weren’t sharp enough to deal with the mistake. On the plus… Rosicky looked fantastic, I forgot how tenacious he was… Jack Wilshere looked at ease and got everyone of their seats… I thought Rambo played well considering his age… and Fran Merida looked like he could give us an extra option this season.
We just need to sort out those positions and we’ll be cooking on gas…
P.S. Jack… what a star… roll on Rangers… I’ll bring back player ratings for tomorrows report! Keep ‘em crossed for a busy week on the transfer front!
Have a rip roaring Sunday!
b11 how do you know that for a fact, when you’re wrong?! i don’t know them by heart, but i’ve seen them alot recently, give me a couple minutes i’ll find them for you!
huntelaar i think was around 105 in 122, alves over a goal a game, kezman slightly better than 105 in 122
kezman was 105 in 122 for psv
huntelaar was 76 in 92 for ajax, 109 in 138 overall in holland
alves was 45 in 39 for heerenveen
Well there you have it b11. A was right all along and you stated something as fact which was indeed not fact.
A go for it! i’ll help you!
A
You’ve blatantly ignored Huntelaar’s goal scoring stats in the international level.Moreover,he had plied his trade with Ajax,a club which plays the Arsenal way,certainly implies,that he wouldnt find it hard to adapt.
huntelaar’s three years in the league at ajax
05/06 – 18 in 21
06/07 – 21 in 33(1)
07/08 – 34 in 39
kezman’s three years in the league at psv
01/02 – 15 in 16(5)
02/03 – 34 in 33
03/04 – 31 in 26(3)
Kezman’s goalscoring record in holland was far superior to Huntelaar’s….
If someone scores goals in Holland, it doesn’t mean they’re a top quality goalscorer. Obviously they could be, but just a goalscoring record in Holland doesn’t prove that they are.
huntelaar:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=23164&cc=5739
kezman
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=11148&cc=5739
ALves
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=21784&cc=5739
I actually thought Huntelaars record would be worse than that because he wasnt that good with Herrenveen (i think). He really his his best form at ajax.
Never mind but i do seem to remember his record not being amazing when he was younger,
Oh yeah Jaguar, we were just talking about club level, internationally he’s got 13 in 23, which is a good tally, but doesn’t mean much when it comes to club football.
Ajax don’t play the Arsenal way anymore, they used to play total football, not that much anymore. Real Madrid require less technical ability and such like in build up play than us, but he didn’t fit in there.
I’m not saying that he wouldn’t do well for us, or score goals, but just that people making out he’s a proven world class goalscorer, or talking about his goalscoring record in holland, is just ridiculous.
Yeah stu – he only really came through at 21/22, that’s when his first proper season was.
yeah b11 – you actually counted up?? see above – kezman has a much better goalscoring record in holland….
wrong mate, hunterlaar 05/06
that’s 17 in 14games for Heerenveen and then joined ajax and then scored 18 in 21 for ajax
you tried to distort the stats bruv
that’s 35 in 35 games lol
In Kezman’s last two years he scored over a goal a game, Alves had one full season in Holland, and scored over a goal a game, and had scored 11 in 7(1) when Middlesbrough bought him.
Huntelaar didn’t score over a goal a game in a single season in Holland….
The players which you mentioned
1)Afonso Alves-Played for Middlesbrough
2)Mateja Kezman-Played for Mourinho’s Chelsea
and KJH-linked with a team,which is infamous for missing chances upfront,after the departure of TH14.
I dont even need to talk about the goal scoring record of Alves and Kezman in the international level,because they dont even need a mention here.Klaas Jan Huntelaar is superior to both of them overall,and is UNFAIR and ILLOGICAL to compare KJH to anyof them.
Yeah,one of our strikers called Eduardo Da Silva,was picked up from a league,which is even worse than the Dutch league.
how am i distorting the stats?! i said for ajax…. and it’s 15 games, so 35 in 36 if you count heerenveen in 05/06, still not a goal a game
Jaguar you’re missing my point. I’ve never ONCE said that you can’t be a quality player if you come from the Dutch League, obviously, because that would be simply ridiculous.
I also agree that Huntelaar is a better player than both Kezman and Alves.
However, it’s absolutely ridiculous to claim that Huntelaar is a quality player BECAUSE of his goals in Holland, because any number of players in Holland prove that you can score goals without being a quality player.
Eduardo was signed because he was deemed a quality player, not because he’d scored x numbers of goals in the Croatian league.
A is comparing Huntelaar to thoise 2 to prove that being a great goalscorer in holland doesnt mean you will be one outside holland/ Thats not hard to understand is it.
thats all im saying on that…..
it’s not how hot your one season, ADE can prove you can have a hot season, but if your consistent! and huntelaars stats prove he’s consitent moving clubs, and that wont change now either, face it after one hot season, alves was a gamble, kezman wasn’t premiership and huntelaars show he can move clubs and leagues and still have an over 1in 2 average
Speaking of Eduardo…did he have a great record in croatia?
Gooner_b11, you and A are just splitting hairs now. The whole point is that Kezman scored lots of goals in the eredivisie, van nistelnroy did, ronaldo did and so did Afonso Alves. But that is not the barometer of a top player. I have an inkling that people just look at his stats and then head off to youtube and get a bit over excited. I think his current predicament tells you everything you need to know really.
Who cares about huntelaar, were not signing the bloke anyway.
Cheers Stu – at least someone gets the point!
b11 those clubs were in Holland! he went to madrid, and largely failed, and only had half a season there. Until he’s had a full season in a proper league, and scored goals regularly, he won’t be a proven goalscorer!
Yeah he did Stu, something like a goal a game.
Stu
Why should we be concerned about the Dutch league,if it is better/worse than other leagues or not?I cant simply buy the argument that KJH cant adapt to our style of play.Worse players have adapted to our style of play,and that’s the responsibility of the coach.
I am not concerned about the other sides.But Huntelaar would simply fit in at Arsenal.Watch this space.
Yeah cheers Angelos. You’re very right too – I hate youtube, just because it completely distorts peoples opinions on players. Most people who seem desperate for us to sign Huntelaar, and who claim he’s world class etc, do so purely based on youtube and the stats.
I actually rate him, I don’t think he’s right for us, certainly not as a starter, though I wouldn’t mind him as a squad player, but at the price quoted there’s not a chance of us spending that on a squad player I very much doubt.
Stu
Eduardo had a great record in Croatia,and had a 1:1 goal scoring record with respect to the number of games played.
Jaguar, you are barking up the wrong tree. I never said i didnt ant Huntelaar…but at 20 i dont want him until we get defenders in. Thats all….
Jaguar I don’t understand how you can be so sure he’d fit in? Players from other leagues there’s always a risk, and chance they won’t adapt. He also failed to fit in at Madrid, who have less of an expansive passing and fluid system than us….
Stu according to wiki he was 83 in 111 in Croatia, though obviously that’s not why we signed him
Nighty night yall…………gotta get up early……………….
Angelos….don’t mix me up with the you tube bunch i pay serious £ to watch football a year, i understand it’s not the barometer, but this kids has shown he can adapt to different teams and leagues, it’s my opinion he’ll score goals, his style is suited to are league, he’s not slower or weaker than eduardo, what he lacks to eduardo’s link up play, he’ll make up in hold up play, he should be the only option if we’re going for a forward in terms of value for money this summer, if not don’t look for a forward at all
A, we’re in the exact same boat. People come on here and claim with such great authority who we should sign when I know for a fact they haven’t completely thought the thing through. As i’ve said before my dad is a scout and if i’ve learnt anything it’s that analysing a players flaws is just as important as noting his strengths (something youtube isn’t great at). If i asked anyone here to talk to me in depth about Huntelaar i think a lot of people would be caught out.
A
I dont understand why you are certain that,Huntelaar wouldnt fit in into our system?So I would say that both of us have got equally fallible/logical arguments.
b11 he’s done well in one league, he hasn’t shown that he can adapt to other leagues and do well, that’s just my point!!
By all means stats your opinion on him, but you can’t claim things about his being proven anywhere apart from Holland, and scoring a few goals at international level!
He’s gone to one different league, and failed to adapt!!
I think he could adapt to different leagues, and could score loads of goals in the prem, but he’s not proven anything yet at all!!
He’s MUCH slower than Eduardo, anyone who’s watched him play can see that, but he’s a fair bit stronger.
Value for money is the big issue, he’s the one forward who’s massive overpriced because Madrid have added on £7mil due to an agreement with Ajax about a pay on clause if they sold him in a short space of time!
A
Do you think that Chamakh is value for money at £10m.
Value for money? Let’s see how much value for your cash he’d be if it was your money that you had to spend. His mobility is atrocious btw and however many goals he’s scored i’m not a fan of his shot technique. (That’s not the same as finishing btw)
Agree completely Angelos, likewise with Cana who people were clambering for us to sign! Youtube is a disease, football videos should be banned from it!!
Yeah Jaguar they’re both opinions. I base mine though on the fact he has very limited build up play, and he failed to fit in at Madrid, who play less of an exclusive, fluid system than us, so he should fit in at Madrid better than with us.
I’m not certain though that he wouldn’t fit in, just have serious doubts. Obviously you can’t be certain about anything like that, it’s impossible to claim otherwise, because it’s all just opinion and speculative!
Although I think he wouldn’t fit in to be a first team regular, and therefore is MASSIVELY overpriced at what Madrid want, there are certain systems we could employ, and certain situations where he’d do well. As he wouldn’t fit into all the systems though, as he’s relatively limited as an overall player, he wouldn’t be value for money, so I’d be very surprised if we signed him.
he didn’t fail at madrid, he just didn’t play the raul way, he was against the grain from the start not being included in the champions league squad because of madrids cock up in buying himself and diara who had both played in the uefa cup (of which you can only include one), from then it was always a rocky relationship but 8goals in 13 starts and 7 subs is pretty cool to me otherwise, concidering wande ramos must brought him for a 5mins in some of those sub appearences and the only reason why he’s being sold os because florentino perez plays the big name game, and to him huntelaars not a big enough name, that’s why he’ll rather keep a crocked rude nistelrooy and than him….i think we should take advantage
No idea Jaguar, though I don’t think it’s likely to happen. Have to see if it does whether it’s value for money. However £10 mil for someone who won’t play all the time is much more feasible than close to double that for someone who won’t play all the time.
yeah b11, but if you speak to a madrid fan they’ll tell you he really wasn’t rated there.
8 goals in 13(7) sounds good, but when you actually look at it, he scored 1 goal in a one all draw, and the other 7 were scored in 3 braces and one single goal in 4/5/6 goal thrashings of shocking opposition. Madrid didn’t rate him at all there, neither did the fans.
The goals say 8 in 13, but the fans saw the 15 appearances out of 20 he failed to score in, and the fact he’s a goalscorer and only a goalscorer, so he offered nothing else to the team, and said thanks but no thanks.
I think he could do very well in the prem, or in the spanish or italian league, but he’s not proven anything at all yet.
yeah but you guys are talking to me, i’m not a you tuber i never made noise about cana because i remember steven gerrard having a field day with the guy in the champions league, so Angelos….if you could buy striker, andthe fact the bordeaux chairman says he got a call from wenger was told he had a hot list means he wants a striker…..who would you buy? realistic and a available
And don’t make stuff up about being on as sub for just 5 minutes, there wasn’t a single sub appearance he was brought on in the last ten minutes!
Huntelaar failed gooner_b11. Forlan got 10 goals in 17 starts in his Man U season yet he’s considered a flop. Huntelaar is 26 and has not done anything spectacular outside of Holland yet people stick him in the world-class bracket. It sickens me quite frankly.
b11 the Bordeaux president saying that means nothing, he’s eager to sell so could be making it up. From Wenger’s comments I really dunno if he’s after a forward, goes on and on about all our offensive options, and we’ve still got theo, vela, and nasri to come back into the reckoning. Though he might be saying that because he doesn’t want any selling club to think we really want a forward, so they up the price.
Is certainly gonna be interesting the next couple of days who Wenger goes after, a DM is a must, if the squad jumps onto the plane on Thursday with a new DM, centre back, and striker, it’ll be one hell of a turnaround!!
Surely Jay Simpson is gonna be sold now too – If he’s behind sanchez-watt in the pecking order now what’s the point of keeping him in the squad?!
I wouldn’t gooner_b11. Simple. The market is inflated and there are no game changing strikers on the market anyway. We have three strikers who are better than Huntelaar anyway. So tell me…what’s the point?
But one thing’s for sure. I would never spend anything close to 20 mil for Huntelaar.
don’t read into wengers comments….his comments aint for you, you’ve been an arsenal fan long enough to know theres simply no point, because you can’t 2nd guess the man, his words are pre rehersed.
unless wenger say NO anythings possible, more noise about the real arsenal is made in the french press and that’s a fact
angelos it’s not 20mil it’s 19mil euros lol bordeaux apparently wanted 18mil euros for chamkh, i know which option i’d take
One player I really have liked for a while now though is Ikechukwu Uche. He’s fast, mobile, direct and dangerous against any team I’ve seen him face.
If we are going to spend 10 million on a 6th choice striker we must be mad.Also one who will going for ACN
19 mil euros is like 17 mil pounds dude.
Never ever ever.
I didn’t say Arsenal should sign him nishanth. And he would not be 6th choice my friend…believe me.
you suggesting chamakh is a good player
yeah angelos uche’s a favourite of mine aswell i must admit, plus i have nigerian parents so i get to support em in acn which is pretty cool, i know wenger likes him too, he’s said so
get me that boys number
sorry…I thought you were talking about Uche nishanth. But I don’t know what to think about Chamakh. My dad says he’s quite good and he offers a good physical presence. If that’s what Wenger’s looking for then fine…but personally I want more from my strikers than to just be imposing.
anyway….nite guys i’m off!
Spending £10m,on a player who is not better than any other player in our team.
Spending £18m on a player,who has a proven goal scoring record in Holland and the international level
If anyone of you would want to advocate the first one,I’m off the argument.
b11 we’d never spend 18/19 mil euros on either of them.
(bet we go and break our transfer record confirming huntelaar’s signing tomorrow now after all this!!)
Please let us sign Matuidi or equivalent tomorrow! That’s all I need to feel at least ok for the start of the season, a centre back and i’ll be ecstatic, anything on top of those two and it’s gotten ridiculous!
Oh yeah noone answered me earlier – does anyone know what Mart Poom’s job at the club is??
Actually doesn’t matter, just seen wikipedia have him as our “assistant goalkeeping coach”.
Jaguar I wouldn’t ever advocate either based on that logic!
Did Huntelaar even play in the Euros?? I don’t remember even seeing the guy in that tournament. Paying 18 mil for a guy who isn’t even a starter for his country is perplexing logic.
I didn’t realise Pogrebnyak signed for Stuttgart, when did that happen??!
Think he did Angelos, he was definitely there, think he started a fair bit to be fair. Still, that sort of money really is ridiculous.
Just checked. He played one game and guess which one it was…yep the last group game, the biggest doss game in world football.
I always see you here doing the late rounds A. Are you an insomniac or something?? lol
well there hasnt been much point to banter on about the past few weeks of action ..
WOT action ?
i take 2 points from the stuff wenger has said ..
and 1 is good news and the other is a little disturbing .. disturbing that wenger can take pot shots at man shittys big spending , it tells me he is a little worried … worried that there is a team breathing down his neck .. also worried that he also needs to comment on it at all … because it also indirectly means to me he , he also see’s us as the only team capable of slipping out of the top 4 under man shitty’s pressure …
well the good news is wenger said ….
“The money we have got from the transfers is available for me to buy.
and he also said they will come ..
so i wont pass judgment on the team until sept 1st ..
im happy with wilshere’s performance ..
however Ive always been an advocate to get that guy into the fray asap .. if cesc can be introduced into the team at 16 jack i feel last season was MORE THAN CAPABLE ..
jack can hold down a 1st team spot along with vela , so dont delay them .. all your doing wenger is putting the team into some long term self -induced transition because of your reluctance to throw them in the deep end like you did with cesc ..
either play em or sell em ..
he is playing eboue diaby denilson song etc ..
possibly just to fatten them up for selling ..
also hoping denilson – song even diaby will come good and find their calling amongst the team like flamini did .. but all i saw last season was just DOWN TIME …
but merida – jet – rambo – jack – vela – traore – gibbs are all possible 1st team options in the near future …
i think id like wenger to be more decisive this season … send them out on loan or get jack into the team with at least 15-20 starts ..
im sure we wont win the league this season ..
ill have a bet with anyone who thinks otherwise.
but if we can stay top 4 ill be happy ..
ethan. I didn’t hear Wenger taking pot shots at city’s spending
A: From the 5 ASSE games I’ve seen with Matuidi this season there’s absolutely no reason to think he would be better than Denilson or even Song. He had one good year 2 seasons ago and since then he’s been really average. It’s not enough to look mean and physical to replace Denilson or Song since they have excellent stats. From what I’ve seen of Matuidi he can only dream of reaching their level.
The only thing to really like about him is that he is cheaper than what we can get from the sale of Eboue (and rightly so). He will either be a good utility player or pull a Diarra tantrum on us.
Ha yeah Anglos, I am something of a night owl, being a bum it means I can go to bed whenever I want and have a nice lie in in the mornings, means there’s less time to wait before football watching time!!
Wonder if Lansbury will join up with the full squad now the u19s are done, would like to see him and Vela feature next Friday, though imagine it’ll be a very full team actually, almost a warm up for the big kick off the following week!
ethan I think Wilshere will get 10-15 league starts this season, he could be superb for us.
I think otherwise, reckon we could certainly win the league, but obviously wouldn’t bet with you, that’d be silly.
Really Matt?? You’re the first person I’ve heard badmouth Matuidi who’s seen him play a fair bit, that surprises me, every other report I’ve had people have said they reckon he’s gonna go on to be a top player, and would be pretty much perfect for us.
I’m not fussed if Matuidi isn’t all that, I just want a player as I’ve had him described! Athletic, tenacious, good on the ball, and intelligent. Any player who ticks those four boxes and I’m a happy bunny!
Seems Eboue isn’t gonna be leaving now which is good news imo, good cover for sagna, otherwise we’d be left a bit buggered. Guess it was very premature everyone thinking he was saying goodbye last week!
Denilson has had a stellar first year considering how abruptly he was thrown in the arena.
Interceptions per game (mean):
Denilson 4.3, Mascherano 3.1, De Jong 3.1, Song 2.8, Parker 2.6, Mikel 2.6, Palacios 2.6, Cesc 2.6, Barry 2.2, Anderson 2.2, Kompany 2.2, Diaby 2.2, Carrick 2.1, Nasri 1.8, Essien 1.8, Alonso 1.6, Fletcher 1.4, Ballack 1.1 Gerrard 1.1, Lampard 0.9
Mikel 90.0%, Essien 88.3%, Nasri 87.9%, De Jong 87.6%, Denilson 87.3%, Song 87.1%, Fletcher 86.2%, Ballack 85.7%, Carrick 85.6%, Parker 85.0%, Alonso 84.8%, Anderson 84.2%, Lampard 84.0%, Diaby 83.5%, Mascherano 83.5%, Palacios 82.8%, Cesc 80.5%, Gerrard 80.3%, Kompany 79.1%, Barry 77.1%.
Assists
10 – Lampard
9 – Gerrard
8 – Cesc
7 – Denilson
6 – Barry
5 – Carrick
4 – Alonso, Ballack
3 – Parker
2 – Mikel, Nasri, Diaby, Scholes
1 – Kompany, De Jong, Mascherano
0 – the rest including Song, Fletcher
Neither did I Bill/Ethan, when did he do that?! Or do you mean Fergie Ethan??
Yeah Matt, he’s certainly ridiculously unfairly crucified on here, and by alot of fans in general. I don’t think he’s ideal for our current needs, but he’s still a good player in his own right, and could improve greatly.
I’ve seen 5 ASSE games this year. They were shit and their midfield was consistently dominated and I don’t remember Matuidi looking any better than the rest of the team. Someone here said it was because I saw games after he came back from injury.
I’m totally willing to accept he can be much better than what I saw but having a good year in a middle-tier team of the french league is no guarantee of being better than either Denilson or Song.
I’m trying to find his stats.
Re: Denilson
Those slating him remind me of the words of Laporta on Makelele:
“We will not miss Makélélé. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn’t a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres. Younger players will arrive who will cause Makélélé to be forgotten”
A
in sport ive seen it many times , and not just in football, all sports .. you get a team full of so called ‘talent’ of dream team proportions but if they cant gel together ,they are doomed ..
its like the spuds – and man shitty last season
,talented individuals but as a team they under preformed . .
but then you have teams like villa etc , who have average players that play wickedly brilliant as a team (well for 1/2 a season).. the chev’s have got a new manager , man U have lost their go-to man , and Liverpool would be pre – season favorites if you ask me ..
unless arsenal can do 2 things ..
1. have their players come of age (jack-vela-denilson etc. )
2. learn to play ‘well’ as a team consistantly,
we wont win the league this season …
all teams that win the EPL have teams that really work well together .. i didnt see that from us last season and team unity was something missing , (along with some quality)
But if wenger addresses the quality issue this season and some players make the grade , anything is possible …
unlikely … but possible ..
you have to remember 19 other teams are striving for the same results as us ..
and most have been doing it with more cash over
several seasons ..
we will be top 6 almost guaranteed ,but you would have to be a brave man to say we will win the championship this season ..
I doubt you’ll be able to find any stats from the french league Matt. Sagna had a good year at a bottom half of the table french team the year we signed him, and Matuidi must have done something right to be a 22 year old centre mid who would have been called up to the French squad if it wasn’t for his injuries.
Still, I’ve seen nothing of him, all I know about him is what I’ve been told by others, so I can’t comment.
Matt, you mean Perez.
I know absolutely nothing about Matuidi but I like Song. I actually took it upon myself to stick up for him earlier in the season, which got me in a bit of a tiff with Geoff. But after that he went on to improve a lot and prove more efficient and effective. I personally like him more as a cdm rather than as a defender but Wenger watches him day in day out so he must have caught onto something.
Sagna came from Auxerre which had been consistently reaching european sports undr Guy Roux.
And unfortunately being called in the french national team by Domenech doesn’t mean much.
I’m not saying he his bad or unworthy but he doesn’t seem to match the expectations of those agitating for him to be signed.
Then again I’ve seen only 5 games with him…
I’m obviously very brave then ethan!
I agree with a fair bit of what you said though, I reckon Liverpool are certainly favourites, Utd are the weakest of the top 4 in my eyes, and Chelsea with a new manager are an unknown quantity.
Last season we were certainly pretty disjointed, and didn’t have that much depth, but I disagree that a title challenge will depend on the likes of Vela, Wilshere, and Denilson.
The title challenge will depend on how well Gallas and Vermaelen gel as a defence pairing, and whether we can keep cesc, rosicky, arshavin, van persie, eduardo fit, and maybe include nasri there when he returns from his injury.
We lacked creativity for a large part of last season before we’d signed arshavin, and with cesc and rosicky injured, but now we’ve got those three, with the likes of wilshere, ramsey and merida coming through and getting better all the time.
Likewise we had trouble scoring goals last season at times with VP and Eduardo injured, and Ade as well, and being unable to hit a barn door when fit, with this season we’ve got VP and Eduardo from the start, with Bendy, Theo and Vela improving all the time, and Arshavin will score a fair few goals too, as will the midfield as a whole.
However alot depend on keeping the main players fit, not just for the team, but the likes of wilshere and ramsey will thrive, and it’ll be much easier for them being brought in and playing alongside top players.
I’m inclined to believe you Matt. But Flamini wasn’t exactly a world beater when he arrived from France but sometimes it just clicks. Who knows?
Angelos: Thank you, I meant Perez indeed.
I like both Denilson and Song too, as far as I am concerned they exceed what can be expected of 20-year old players. I hope that they will keep progressing this year and silence their critics.
HB-A
no it was wenger commenting on them splashing the cash .. cant remember where ive read it ..
it was on arsenal news now … somewhere ..
Yeah Matt, but Auxerre havn’t been that much better than St Etienne recently – 2 seasons ago Matuidi was supposedly their best player in a 5th place finish, then this year they just stayed up, apparently largely because Matuidi got a bad injury and then came back half fit.
When we signed sagna Auxerre came 8th, and then just avoided relegation the following season.
Obviously having a good season in a middle-tier french team is no guarantee of player’s ability, when looking at any player a league position should have no relevance to how highly a player is rated though!!
I want us to sign him, but only IF he’s as he’s been described, but I just want anyone with that description, I really don’t care who!
ethan you sure? Never seen it, and don’t see where it would have been. Not seen Wenger make a single comment about City, he refuses to, and saw all of the press conference and interviews today and yesterday after the matches.
Fergie has been rabbiting on all week about City though, maybe someone on a blog mistook wenger’s comments for fergie’s??
Speaking of comments, isn’t kolo a bit of a dick! Surprised me.
Matt if we don’t sign a centre back I want Song to be the man who ultimately takes over alongside Vermaelen. Denilson is someone I hope will keep progressing, but I don’t see him starting anything like as many games this year as he did last year.
The problem with Denilson is that I like him but don’t see him improving immensely, you know? He’s just going to be a more rugged version of himself. I think he’ll be at Edu’s level in the long run. It’s strange but I always consider him a Bayern Munich type player. Good enough to play at a relatively big team and participate in europe but not good enough to ever make the difference at a club like Arsenal.
I dunno Angelos, I think he could excel at a top club, but not a team who plays our system. If he played in a deeper lying midfield, then he could be awesome, but his physical limitations mean that he doesn’t have the athleticism to play so far up the pitch, he can’t cover the ground to really do the job for a team like us.
A
I agree with a fair bit of what you said though, I reckon Liverpool are certainly favourites, Utd are the weakest of the top 4 in my eyes, and Chelsea with a new manager are an unknown quantity.
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yes we are together on the above prediction .
Last season we were certainly pretty disjointed,
(and that wont change overnight )
and didn’t have that much depth, but I disagree that a title challenge will depend on the likes of Vela, Wilshere, and Denilson.
—————————————-
well its not what i said … because i dont share your view that we will win anything this season ..
what im saying is knowing the way wenger is ,
(promote from within) these kids need more ‘pitch time’ and id rather make this the last year of transition than give jack naff all games and stretch this apprenticeship out another season or 2 .. same goes with the others mentioned..
the sooner we gel as a team , the sooner we will get results …
no withstanding we lost 3 1st team players again this season , pretty much like the season prior also .
knowing those facts i wouldnt call you brave ..
i would call you something else
starts with M and ends with D
One thing we seem to have in abundance during these pre-season games was a team spirit and team mentality. It takes you back to when Hleb, Flam, Rosicky and Fab were all playing together and clearly enjoying themselves. It seems as though we have some of that back, which will aid our performances a lot.
Last season everyone clearly was deflated and their hearts didn’t really seem in it. But now Fab, Arsh, Rosicky, Edu, Bendtner, RVP, all seem to be gelled together nicely and i think in an attackins sense those guys will run riot if they all stay fit.
I’m optimistic for the new season. A CB and a holding mid, would certainly make me feel more so, but even without them i believe we’ll mount a challenge
Terrific game today eh A. Am looking forward to seeing Walcott and Vela soon hopefully as well. Really we have an embarassment of riches when it comes to attacking midfield, maybe it is a too much of a luxury but I would like another out and out striker in the squad. Only after a quality CB and or DM though. I really really hope Wenger adds to teh squad this week, Matuidi and Subiotic would do if the reports on them are genuine.
ethan it doesn’t need to change overnight – the change started on january 31st when Arshavin signed for us! Then it continued in the 7 months since, the return of rosicky and eduardo, and cesc from injury.
Pre season doesn’t mean much, but the way in which the team interlinks, and the understanding between our offensive players in pre season has been an absolute joy to behold, and if that can be carried into the competitive matches then we could be the team to beat this season. Just have to wait and see what happens, as well as whoever comes in to join this week!
Yeah I agree totally with all of that Bill. The players joking about with each other, how happy everyone seems, it does seem that there’s a new found unity and team spirit.
Without signing anyone I think we’ll challenge, if we make signings that can make a big difference to our weaker areas, then we could destroy the competition!
This team will mount a challenge
Almunia
Sagna Vermy/Subotic Gallas Clichy/Traore
Cesc Matuidi Rosicky
Arshavin
RVP Eddie
Agreed A and Bill. Morale appears to be very high in the squad. The boys look happy. They look to understand each other on and off the pitch. LEts hope everyone stays fit and it keeps up.
Yeah it was superb lazer! I’m looking forward to their return too, though it’s really annoying Vela being back to Mexico so soon after missing pre season, hope he gets some time on the pitch on Friday though. Theo and Vela could be big players for us this season, with all the creativity, fast and direct players like them could really thrive from all the playmakers
I hope Wenger doesn’t risk it again and we make a few signings. Would rather we keep Traore around as well, I have been impressed with him in pre-season, I think he could have a role to play if we keep him. Ultimately though a decision will have to be made btw him, Clichy and Gibbs. Am guessing Wenger will cash in on Clichy as one of the big name sellings of next summer. That is clearly the trend now, we will be selling some first 11 members every year.
I dont think he will. He has no reason too. He has much more money to splash this time around.
I dunno Lazer, I was thinking that, but now thinking maybe it’d be better if he went off on loan for the season again. His loan at pompey was ok but not great, but if he played for an entire season at left back, it could do him the world of good, help him iron out some of the lapses of concentration. Couldn’t see us keeping 3 left backs, and then silvestre too, and reckon Traore is in a place where he’d be better suited to going on loan than Gibbs. Do have really high hopes for him though.
I agree about Clichy, he could go next season, but by the start of 10/11 he’d be third choice anyways!
luke what’s with that formation?? Agree with the team though it’ll be arshavin and eduardo out wide and vp through the middle I reckon.
Yeah Walcott was disappointing last term but many forget he had injury problems himself. Vela is a fantastic finisher so him and Eduardo stand to benefit the most from the creativity. I hope Walcott comes good, plenty of naysayers have been doubting him recently, myself included. He has the raw potential no doubt, hatrick vs. Crotia and his counter-attacking runs show that but will take more time to develop like Thierry did hopefully.
I like Arshavin floating around behind the strikers. Think hes beeing wasted out wide when we have Rosicky there.
A, the formation got messed up. I had Eddie out wide. But I like Arshavin more central
Yea the loan at Pompey had a lot to with Pompey being such a diaster I guess and not him. Well either way I think he needs to play in the PL now so perhaps you are right. At his age I think he can kick on more. He seems a bit secluded from the squad just based on observation. I never really see him celebrating with the other chaps this pre season and quietly does his job.
Also loved the understand btw the youngsters, Watt, Merida and Wilshere clearly come from the same school. Those kids coming up will be the ultimate reward for Wenger and us hopefully.
Yeah agree with you Luke but Rosicky I doubt will be ready to contribute 90 mins week in week out for a while yet. So Arshavin must do the job since no point in having him on the bench.
Even today when he was coming on you could tell Wenger personally told him to take it easy and not push himself too much. We were winning already, plus still preseason so its clear the boss is concerned about him and will ease him as much as possible.
i dunno if i’d include watt there lazer but merida and wilshere certainly, the understanding between all our offensive players is just sensational, wilshere, merida, cesc, ramsey, arshavin, rosicky, eduardo, vp, bendtner. All their interplay has been unbelievable at times.
Ofcourse LAZer. Thats just ideally. When Rosicky isnt in, id change to a traditional 4-4-2 with the midfield
Nasri—-Matuidi——Cesc—-Arsh
RVP————-Eddie
yeah luke, but i really like arshavin out left, and he can drift in all he wants. He seems to love skinning people right on the byline, and shooting from ridiculous angles when out wide!
Luke I think that Arshavin is more adept on the wing than Rosicky. I see Rosicky as a central playmaker whereas Arshavin is more of an individualistic player in the middle, looking to slip through rather than slip one through. I met Rosicky in Harrods a while back and he told me he didn’t really like playing on the flanks, especially the darting up and down and tracking players. He said he hoped to move into the middle eventually.
Morale was great last pre-season too !
jack running rings around real madrid ..
10 – 1 at barnet ..
things all looked great until we started the season and the wind went out of our sails ..
the fixtures favored us and we still faltered .
all we have done is lose quality the past 2 years, and that cannot be replaced over 1 month off and 1 quality signing AA …
rosicky and dudu being bad is a bonus .
how long they stay fit for is another question.
time will tell but i hardly rate us ODDS ON for winning the title .. its a statement that ensues madness at this current point in time .
play a few games V’s liverpool, the chev’s and man shitty and we can gauge our level within the comp. but until then , and with no current signings made, things look anything but rosey to me ..
opps bad = back
more like same old , same old ….
I was just referring to today A. Specifically for Jack’s 2nd goal, Watt fought for it and started the move in a way. Also Watt setup Arshavin in a pre-season friendly earlier. I guess Wenger sees something there to give him a chance to play with the big boys. Probably my biggest suprise has been Merida though. I have been hearing of him for a while now but felt he was further away then what it seemed today. He has really filled out and seems the only one who may develop with similar passing range to Fab. Am sure Cesc enjoys playing with guys like those around, doesn’t mean all the creativity is all on him then.
eduardo had a bad injury, he doesn’t have injury problems, so he’s just back, pure and simple, no doubts over him or how long he’ll stay fit! Rosicky though i agree.
Last year the morale and such like was nothing like this year at all, it was crap. The 10-1 was against burgerland during the austria tour, barnet was 2-0 or something if i remember correctly.
Last pre season morale was shocking, ade had flirted with milan all season before deciding to stay, hleb had threatened to buy out his contract and had gone, and flamini had fucked off on a free. Then there was rosicky having constant set backs, the in fighting between gallas and toure, and gallas’ constant quotes in the media!!
Yeah i agree lazer, that watt assist was against barnet i think? it was actually really nice, and he had a good game then. Today he did well for that goal, but he seemed pretty clueless passing, though he often does. Gotta say though I completely wrote him off playing for the youths, he, along with the keeper and full backs were the only ones I thought had no chance of making it, but I’ll have to take that back as there’s something there to work with certainly.
Have to agree with A. Last year was as distabilising a pre-season as I can remember. Too many players had to re-establish their bearings whereas now everyone looks comfortable with their roles and focused on success.
Oh god don’t remind me of the Gallas debacle. People forget we had a leadership crisis as well last year and switched captains 1/4 in to the season. That is a very unusual thing and points towards a bad dressing room for sure. As bad as things were last season up until and after that Man shitty game it was remarkable we ended up where we did and had a long unbeaten streak. Lets hope this year the positive vibes stay with us all throughout.
A
Pre season doesn’t mean much, but the way in which the team interlinks, and the understanding between our offensive players in pre season has been an absolute joy to behold, and if that can be carried into the competitive matches then we could be the team to beat this season.
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we play well under little pressure ..
and in the EPL when we cannot play our game plan and cant score goals early we look less than stable. even lesser teams that park the bus and hit us on the counter can prevail ,
im still yet to see us change our strategy on the pitch during a REAL GAME ..
so judging a game in pre-season where everyone is playing for themselves basically your going to get some players like jack trying to make a claim for more time this season …
if rosicky – dudu and AA can play 30 out of 38 this season we might have a shout …
but dudu would have to become a 20 + a year scorer in the EPL only .. because RVP managed 11 last season , and was on 9 going into the last game so someone needs to step up with ade gone ..
love him or hate him he did score goals ,
its just the by-product of his game i hated .
off sides – wasted shots – greedy mentality ..
the head butts … but it seems the problem of the African pack have been dissolved this season
and things could be better in the dressing room as a result .
Anyone else see young Jack’s after match interview on Skysports. Haha. Someone kept harrasing him and touching his ear. Its good to see the senior lads support him and encourage him.
I think out of all the points you made earlier A, the partnership of Gallas and Vermaelen seems the most important to me. If we can dominate possession like we normally do and stop leaking goals against the run of play and set plays our position at the end of season will reflect that.
Ethan ade gone doesn’t mean anyone needed to step up, because he didn’t contribute anything that needs to be replaced…. 15 goals over the course of the season, with rosicky, arshavin, eduardo, bendtner playing those games that ade played in, will get at least that many goals. He didn’t score many last season at all….
I wouldn’t say he scored goals as if he was a reliable goalscorer – he had one very good season, in which how good he was was exagerated by his scoring 1/4 of his entire goal tally in 2 games against the worst Premiership team in history.
pre season isn’t a game to judge players, but i don’t get what you mean about players playing for themselves, that’s the exact opposite of what’s happened all pre season, everyone has been playing for each other!
I agree though, until we see a competitive game we’ve got no idea where we are, though our system has changed to 4-2-3-1, it’ll be interesting to see how that works against the negativity of some teams.
Yeah I agree Lazer, and a DM could also have a big influence on how solid we are defensively, as well as that partnership. Vieira could even have an influence on that if we snapped him up, someone who’d come on for the last 20 mins when we’re holding onto a lead and bring some composure, calm everything down.
what are you on about last years pre season was great , jack shined , ramsey looked ..ok .. so did vela .. ramsey only started to look poor once the season started and the competition got tougher to play against …
it started 10 -1 with barnet as against 1-1 this season ..
we always play well V’s lesser teams …
no one can predict how things will go once the season kicks off ..
id rather our captain was over 25 !
i still think we have leadership issues!, with
our captain being courted every season and his poor performances on the pitch which co-en sided with his captaincy i think this issue is still unresolved ..
he was handed the captaincy by wenger as a crude way of getting him to commit and stay when his head turned after hleb and flamini left ..
he isnt leadership quality currently, he is a GREAT young player , but an experienced leader he is not .. he couldnt even host his own TV show FFS !
as for dudu , his injury was career ending potentially .. he is untested currently, if he can stand upto a 38 game season .. so we shall see ..
playing 1 game in 5 months doesn’t mean he is BACK ! whilst i share my own private optimism with u A ,that dudu has returned , we shall see if his injury doesn’t come back to haunt him ..
that is a massive, massive injury to have ..
and i dont blame wenger saying he still has 2 months to go ..
i would use him sparingly also to begin with .
LAzer Says:
August 3, 2009 at 04:43
I think out of all the points you made earlier A, the partnership of Gallas and Vermaelen seems the most important to me.
———————————–
what needs to change from last season is clinical finishing and early goals ..
we put too much pressure on ourselves by not coming up with the goods in the 1st half ..
we often drew games we should have won as we got terms dictated to us ..
CLINICAL FINISHING is the key …
they cant score while they are defending !
and our defense cannot be tested whilst we keep attacking ..
Wenger said that about Rosicky didn’t he?
our midfield is the key ..
ball retention and we need to revert back to the arsenal style of play from previous seasons ,
( the cesc hleb flamini rosicky season in particular)
and finishing our chances , do those 2 things and we will be back on track …
its that simple ..
falter in front of goal, or fail to command possession and we will be just as screwed as last season ..
ethan we didn’t beat barnet 10-1, it was burgerland we beat 10-1!!
last season there were positives, but the overall feeling, and morale, was generally shit! Gallas was still captain, but people were going on about his having lost respect of the players are the birmingham game, leaked quotes from players about him and problems with him, and his interviews slagging off everyone.
There was the ade thing, which put a downer on everything.
Everyone wondering if we could cope, as we’d lost two of our best players from the season before, and only brought in nasri.
Last pre season there were positives, but a hell of a lot of negatives, and there was a really shitty team spirit because of gallas, ade, hleb, flamini, and other little cliques.
This season there aren’t any of those negatives at all, the team spirit and morale seems to be at a massive high, it’s a complete contrast to last season!!
Last season just in footballing terms we’d lost 2 of our most important players, and rosicky had suffered a set back, as did eduardo later on.
This season we’ve offloaded 2 squad players, and brought in arshavin, vermaelen, and gotten eduardo and rosicky back, they’re almost opposite to last year!
Things started going wrong from the Birmingham game, and team morale was on the way down from there, the badness peaked just before the city match, and it’s been constantly improving since then, with the sales of ade and toure helping the situation, and we’re at a very high point currently.
regarding eduardo the risk was that his leg wouldn’t recover, that’s why it was career threatening! Once the leg has 100% healed, (which it has) it’s just a case of building up the muscle strength and balance, as that can cause muscle injuries, those are now sorted, so he’s back! He isn’t 100% fit but that serious injury is finished with, it’s in the past, if he has injuries now it won’t be down to that injury, because it’s old news!
With cesc and the captaincy I agree he isn’t an ideal choice, but he was appointed because there was noone else! The only other player I could have seen being appointed would have been VP. Cesc’s bad form coincided with Hleb not being in the team to help him out, that’s it. After he came back from injury he wasn’t fit, but once he’d gotten fit he looked like the same old Cesc, as he has in pre season.
Regarding leadership I believe that’s one reason vermaelen was brought in, and I hope a new DM is something of a leader as well, though it isn’t a massive problem
football wise last pre season we weren’t very good, apart from against burgerland! we beat barnet 2-1, drew with Szombathelyi 1-1, the team we beat comfortably this year, lost to juve, drew with sevilla, and overall there were a few nice moments, some nice interplay with bendtner and vela, but we were really disjointed and failed to create chances alot of the time, I remember being worried about that.
This pre season in every game we’ve really played very well, found great cohesion and creativity, and that’s before talking about the completely different atmosphere off the pitch!
I think RVP is the one who shows the most leadership qualities on the pitch, but obviously i don’t have acces to the dressing room. But i don’t think Cesc is a bad leader, he plays with passion and leads by example. I think he was given the captaincy to motivate him. he looked disinterested until that point, and it seemed to give him some pride and improved his drive
anyways, past my bedtime! been a pleasure
nite people/ethan
nite
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/01/arsenal-atletico-madrid-arsene-wenger
good article .
shows you a bit on the rift in the dressing room .
im sure it was the african’s that pooled together against gallas ..
however 90% of them are now gone and gallas is the one who still remains , it sort of shows you who the trouble makers were ..
gallas and his performances on the pitch cannot go un-noted , he still remains the natural choice of leader IMO .However the problems that have surfaced in the past will be enough to prevent him from ever wearing the arm band again , with that i must agree on ..
but there is nothing wrong with being a tough leader look at TA as the blue print ..
and i feel gallas is in the same mold .
we were not playing well when gallas’s leadership was under scrutiny, i think it was more a question of poor timing on gallas’s demise as captain more so than anything else ..
A
nite people/ethan
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so im not a person ??
The order of priority of our new signings:
a) If we only buy one player : It has to be a cm or dmf , Vieira looks like a good bet but will he have the legs ? Matuidi seems to be the next popular choice.And if we buy one , Alex Song goes into the defenders category ( I know but still
)
b) If we buy two players : The aforementioned dmf and a CB , Gallas is kinda injury prone , Vermaelen has lots of pressure on him and apart from Djourou we dont really have cover , a big tall cb would ease lots of problems for AW
c) If we buy three players ( unlikely) : Only upon highlighted two positions would we go for the third one being a striker , Chamakh is more Arsenal type of player and will prob help Arsenal in the linkup play as well as covering for RVP and Eduardo if they pick up knocks
—————————————–
Likelihood : Chamakh and Vieira (and/Or) Matuidi coming in…..
Lets see
Yes, good read Ethan.
So it goes to show that for all the bashing we give AW he does have an idea what is going on and what is needed.
I read somewhere about Hodgson wanting Vela on loan for Hangeland.
That makes so much sense.
Hope it happens.
The Moroccan international striker is quoted in L’Equipe this morning: “One thing is certain, I will not add one more year to my contract. If he will not let me go this season, I will leave on a free next summer. If a solution is not found quickly, everyone will lose.”
So Wenger will drive a hard bargain and try and get him on a cut price. If they don’t go for it he will walk away. You know Wenger will be telling them this is excess for me anyways so here is my offer take it or leave it. If we are getting a good price, I am all for it, but I really hope he adds Matuidi and Viera as well. I guess it means we will go in with JD/Silvestre/Song as backup CBs. Hope to god its good enough come the big games.
Iceman-We will always bash Wenger no matter what, I guarantee he could pull a league and fa double with a final spot in the CL and someone on here would have complaints about squad selection, specific players, the weather, the uniform, something, anything. But hey that is the right of the fan, Wenger is under no illusions, he knows it is part and parcel of the game. Mancs were jumping up and down screaming bloody murder four yrs ago before Fergie started winning again, and that cunt is even more of a legend to them then Wenger is to us.
GOOD MORNING EVERYONE…..
Latest Paparazzi news
http://translate.google.se/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressonline.rs%2Fpage%2Fstories%2Fsr.html%3Fview%3Dstory%26id%3D74868%26sectionId%3D44&sl=sr&tl=en&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8
We have made a bid for Nevan Subotic a giant centre half 6ft 4 it was reported in the serbian newspapers.This would be a replacement for Senderos and he plays alongside Vidic for serbia so he must be good.
Chamakh should be on his way to the Emirates as well as Viera – http://www.imscouting.com/global_news_item.aspx?id=2726
Goodmorning people
Not many surprises after the game last night huh…
What about Wenger parading Vieira and etc etc..??
That would be great news Kenya. Seems as though Matudi is the odd man out then and we will stick with Denilson and Song under the tutelage of Viera.
I hate Mondays like the next guy but new transfer rumors make it all so much better.
LAzer
i wouldnt mind Vieira playing if we started with 4-3-3
We would benefit if he played as a 2nd DM not the only DM..
Almunia
Sagna,Gallas,JD/Verm,Clichy
Song-Vieira
Fabregas
Theo , RVP/Eddi, Rosicky/Arshavin
It would seem like a good lineup ardent. Honestly for me Viera is a bit of an unknown quantity at this point. I have not seen him play for a while but I trust Wenger’s judgement if he brought him in AND it also helps that Paddy is a legend! I think the naysayers have been really quick to dismiss him as too slow etc..perhaps as you suggest the role he would be brought in for would be perfect for him.
I liked Wenger’s response about how he doesn’t care about the world cup and does not work for the France Football Federation but for Arsenal FC when a reporter asked if he would have to play Paddy since the world cup is coming up. Am sure they have enough respect for eachother at this point that Paddy would be under no illusions on his role if he came in, and I am all for that.
LAzer
Are u frm Texas ??
I wouldn’t mind seeing Paddy play at CB.
On Subotic, how many goals does Serbia concede? If Subotic is good, then he and Vidic should be an impregnable defence…
Morning all….
How good was Jackie boy yesterday!
PDT – Vieira at CB? Why on earth would you want to play a midfielder in defence?
Anyone home?
TAIG, good morning!
Paddy always had good defensive positioning and now that he has lost a yard of pace, he might be a good defender. Plus he has the build.
I think Theo will be supplanted by Jack this season. Walcott will have to seriously improve his game or find another club.