The not so coveted Golden Bin award was unveiled in Italy yesterday. It’s the opposite of the Balon D’or. The Italians unveiled the least impressive signings of the year.
The Golden Bin
1. Felipe Melo (Juventus) – 22,87 % [4.289 votes]
2. Ricardo Quaresma (Inter) – 20,63 % [3.868]
3. Tiago Mendes (Juventus) – 9,99 % [1.873]
4. Dida (Milan) – 9,56 % [1.792]
5. Amantino Mancini (Inter) – 9,39 % [1.760]
6. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Milan) – 6,84 % [1.283]
7. Ronaldinho (Milan) – 6,07 % [1.139]
8. Christian Poulsen (Juventus) – 6,06 % [1.137]
9. Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio) – 4,37 % [819]
10. Julio Baptista (Roma) – 4,22 % [792]
It’s interesting to note that there are a number of players on that list that I would have liked to have seen at the Grove. Julio Baptista is continuing to flop wherever he goes, Quaresma is still failing to fufill his Christiano hyped potential, Huntelaar is continuing the bomb and even the mighty Ronaldinho is receiving little love. The key name on that list has to be Felipe Melo. The ex-Arsenal target from the summer has failed to impress since his whopping £25million transfer to Juventus. Maybe we’ve dodged a bullet, maybe he is being unfairly singled out by fans of a club failing under inexperienced management. Either way, it’s interesting reading.
Like goalkeepers, defensive midfielders seem to be taking a hammering all over the world this year. Lassana Diarra was pilloried earlier in the season after some drab Madrid results, Yaya Toure has been relegated to the bench in Catalonia, Gareth Barry has been getting bad press up north and even that dirty little Argie from Liverpool has been getting stick from the bindipping faithful.
I think the only defensive midfielders that have received glowing press this season are Essien and Fletcher. Essien because he is undoubtedly the best in the business and Fletcher because he is a thuggish Brit and it’s trendy in the media to back that type of player.
Song and Denilson don’t really do it for me. I like Denilson for his ability to read the game, but he lacks pace and power. I like Song because he works hard and gets in the way, but his lack of speed is frightening and his knack of switching off worries me. Maybe I’m being too harsh, maybe the grass isn’t always greener… I just think we could do with having a Flamini-esque player in the middle.
Talking of disappointments, how about we have a quick vote on the most disappointing Premiership signing of the year? I’ve got some good names in there, but if there are any I’ve missed, let me know. Carlos Tevez, £47million, well, could be worth a vote…!
Results will be announced shortly!
So, onto stats, the ones we love to hate!
The best midfielder in the Premiership so far this season?
Fabregas
The best defender in the Premiership this season?
Vermaelen
Players from Arsenal in the top 100 players?
- Fabregas (2nd)
- Robin (10th)
- Vermaelen (11th)
- Gallas (27th)
- Sagna (45th)
- Arshavin (56th)
- Diaby (96th
So what does that tell you? I’ll tell you what it tells you. It says that we underrate what Diaby does for the team. It tells us that Denilson stopped sleeping with the editor over at Actim and maybe, just maybe, the omittance of Song is a telling one. Make of that what you will, all I’m saying is the Song Sceptics could use science to back their case…
I guess what it really tells you is that statistics are in the eye of the beholder. If I present figures to people in business, but don’t show them the workings, I get told where the door is… Actim are using closed book science to tell us Jody Craddock is better than Andre Arshavin.
A lot of the amateur statisticians having been sharing numbers garnered from the Guardian chalkboards. I have my doubts there as well. The integrity of the data is often flawed as I’ve counted misplaced passes of a player during a game, referred back to the data and it’s incorrect. Arsenal are arguably the busiest of passers in the league and I’ve never see a player get past 60, yet actim have Essien down as making 92 passes in a game against Blackburn earlier in the year…
I’d never dismiss statistics, however, I’d always throw caution to the wind. A number can’t tell you how good the pass was, how inept the shots on target were or whether an interception occurred because another player hussled a player for 30 yards and his team mate picked up the ball. I guess that’s why we read match reviews and don’t just refer to a spreadsheet after a game.
Artist impression of a web statto
In other news, Theo Walcott reckons Arsenal are no pushovers, well, you are Theo, you spent a lot of time on your ass the other night. Beating the Scousers was fantastic but we must not get too ahead of ourselves… premature gloatation is a dangerous thing. I must say I am more worried about the impending games against Hull and Burnley. If Arsenal couldn’t motivate themselves for the first half at Anfield, how are they going to feel about playing away at Burnley or Hull? These are the testing games that really win you the league and we’ve been doing a blinding job dealing with them compared to seasons past… lets hope Liverpool is a lesson learnt for our young team of title pretenders.
Johann Cruyft has called up Cesc Fabregas to play for Catalonia in an up and coming friendly. Arsene has said no already and FIFA have no say in the matter. So really, it’s a bit like me calling Cesc up for my Sunday league team and expecting a response. Am I the only one who can’t help but think this is some sort of Barcelona unsettling tactic? I can picture the headlines already:
Cesc Fabregas determined to leave after Catalonia snub
In transfer news, Ajax right back Gregory Van Der Wiel has asked RvP to put a good word in for him so he can get a move over here. Well, if it works out as well as the last Ajax signing, I’d be all for it! However, it seems unlikely considering we have two pretty decent players in that position already (I gagged a bit when I wrote that…). The exciting news is that Senderos might be off to Bayern Munich. Rumours have it that we’re willing to part for a whopping €1.5million. I hope he gets his move, he’s certainly not getting the love he used to from Le Boss!
I’m off to lay down in a darkened room… 2 posts from me in two days! I’m knackered, more thoughts from Geoff tomorrow morning!
See you in the comments!
P.S. I just read a report that BA are planning to strike for 12 days over Christmas costing up to a million people their well earned holidays. How out of touch are these union leaders? It’s a recession, you’re working for a company that lost £300million in the first 6 months of the year and we’re living in a country with 2million out of work. Not to mention you apparently earn double what Virgin staff take home. There is no excuse for ruining a special time of the year for thousands of underserving people, you’ll get zero support from the public.
look mate, don’t call stupid, OK?
and stop talking out of your rectum, will ya?
best trio in the world? Cesc, Song, yes, but Denilson is the odd one out…
Best trio in the world? Who’s the stupid one now. If you even watched football over the last year you would realise (like every other person in the world does) that Xavi, Iniesta and whichever DM plays next to them are usually unstoppable.
* don’t call me stupid…
Yeah Pat, cant remember where i read it but he was saying how physical league 1 was and how he was expected to come for all the crosses etc and that he wasnt used to it but it was helping him get used to the physciality and such.
MnM. Theo is an average winger( at best) but You must remember he is playing out of position. He is a striker and You could have seen at Anfield that he can make a damage playing up front even for 15 minutes. He can be a very good striker.
Pat,
LOWER should be the clue for you – physical, yes, but the pace and level of the game is something different…
and I never said you rated Denilson
I said “possibly” with those players in mind. But I would love to see them come up against each other.
We played Man Utd and our midfield (without Fabregas) bossed them silly, we played Chelsea and our midfield were all over them, they didn’t have a kick, and in the second half against Liverpool we had them in our pockets.
Denilson and Song are both fantastic players.
….but Song is better.
What exactly did he do in the last 15 minutes against Liverpool? Stand in the box (well done mr striker sir) and jump for a ball (well dome mr striker sir).
SUGA. Do You rate Fabianski?
yeah mate, whatever – it was more in spite of Denilson rather than thanks to him: you don’t know much about football, do you?
he is simply frustrating to watch – takes any sting out of our counter attacks, the next one who does that is Diaby…
Maciek,
no, not really, in current situation (no spine to the team) I see him as permanent no.2, eben when Wojtek steps up…
we should buy a keeper like Friedel as a stopgap for Szczesny IMO…
Umm, Theo did fuck all at Anfield. Not sure which game you watched.
SUGA, we were just talking about the physicality of a league. Pace of a league shouldn’t effect a keeper.
He is a defensive midfielder and he totally out-performed every player on the pitch at Anfield.
More tackles, more interceptions, more completed passes and did not shirk responsibility when others looked lost.
I know he is not liked by many for no reason at all (literally no reason) but he does what Wenger wants him to do, and he does it brilliantly.
Even if pace DOES effect a keeper’s performance, the Championship is actually played at a much faster pace than the PL, albeit with less quality.
MnM,
I will not go down the idiotic sarcasm route – please tell me again about your favourite’s contribution in that game?
and no, I don’t want to hear any more of this ‘intelligence’ bullshit – facts please (bear in mind that I can watch that game anytime on ATVO)…
Suga. What about Jaskelainen or Sorensen? To be fair,every keeper in the PL is better than Clownunia. Maybe even Mariusz Pawełek would have done a better job than Manuel?LOL.
He made 11 tackles and won 9, he intercepted 7 times, more than anyone else and the best pass completion rate of any other Arsenal midfielder/attacker.
Denilson is something like Alonso, at least defensively speaking. Offensively, he is an improvement from seasons past and has a very decent shot.
Alonso would be complete shit and utterly useless playing CDM by himself. Same goes towards Denilson. Xabi has always had Mascherano next to him and now has Lass at madrid.
I hate Denilson, but we can’t compare him to an actual CDM when he isn’t one. very, very similar to Alonso.
Pat,
you what? yes it does, plus the quality of the strikers is just something else – screamers in lower leagues are more about luck than intent…
some players play in the Prem and others in Ekstraklasa (just an example) for a reason…
Fabianski was the best keeper there, here he seems out of his depth sometimes…
MnM, I was at Anfield on Sunday and Song was magnificant. I hadnt rated him much before i went but i had to see him live to realise how good he is and honestly i didnt even notice Denilson.
Song made Denilson look like shit. He is there to intercept, i get that but he just isnt good enough for a premiership club with title aspirations. If only for the fact that he is too small. Gilberto was the invisible wall…Denilson was just invisible.
I dont dislike Denilson, i just dont rate him.
MnM. He has made a few clever runs in the box and caused Jemie Caragher a few problems.Just play him in the middle and You will see.
How can people be so wide of the mark? How can you honestly say these things? He was (in my opinion) our 2nd/3rd best player last season behind Gallas and/or van Persie.
MnM,
forgot to say that I don’t want to hear any more of the stats either (yawn) – I believe my eyes and the difference between Denilson and Theo is that the latter is much better than what he is showing at the moment and Denilson is not…
Stats never tell the whole story. In this case they just lie. Denilson wasnt the best player on the pitch. He wasnt even the best Defensive midfielder on the pitch. Lucas and Song both outshone him imo.
In fact Lucas would be the best person to compare him to in that match. Song and Masch do the dirty work while Denilson and Lucas do the reading and intercepting.
Stats say Denilson was the best. Watch the match again and you will see that thats just not the case.
Maciek,
I would go for Jaskelaainen (sp), not too sure about Sorensen tho (still better than Al)…
I don’t want to read things which prove I am wrong, I prefer to listen to my ridiculous opinions…
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/12/how-to-be-an-arsenal-doom-and-gloomer-in-ten-easy-steps/
Ill leave it there.
MnM,
the third best player after Willy & RvP? you’re having a laugh – Godfather of crab football, more like – if anyone offered £10M for him, I would snatch their arm clean off…
Stu, I have watched the match twice, and the stats backed up my already held belief.
And Lucas was by far the best Liverpool player.
Denilson will comfortable become a better player than Gilberto in my opinion.
stats, stats, stats – these don’t show him losing the ball after interceptions, landing on his arse more than not, and the fact that these completed passes were just a safe 5 yarders, mostly back to where the ball came from…
There are many people who agree with me by the way. Im not a lone nutter.
Maciek, thats not a laughing matter. There are at least 6 keepers in the Ekstaklasa that are better than ALmunia.
Sandomierski from Jagiellonia Bialystok and Szczesny will fight it out to be the #1 keeper for Poland.
Fabianski never impressed me in Poland. He was the same. Excellent shot stopper, but panicky.
To be fair, he’s never gotten a run in the team yet. Kuszczak finally did for United and looks good, although today he made a silly mistake. His first of the season I think
Lucas was the Pool’s best player?
what next, Mark Randall the new Gattuso?
SUGA3 – why talk about him falling over when it happens to every player? Why not talk about how many free kicks he wins by going over?
Its literally not a point.
what these strange men in white coats doing behind you then?
sorry mate, just kidding…
Well i just dont agree. Song was miles better than Denilson. He took up better positions and won far more battles. He held the ball better too imo.
*what are
thing is, he does not win any freekicks this way, as he is just brushed off and the oppo player gets the ball…
Denilson isn’t responsible for passing. 5 yard passes is what he does, keeps it simple. Usually its the tough guy that keeps it simple, but Song has been showing off his skills this season!
He is an incredible passer when it comes to lofted/long balls. Take a look, they almost always cause the opposition problems.
I do agree that Lucas was their best player.
Pat,
I am fine with keeping it simple, I just don’t like him passing the ball back to where it came from, it simply takes momentum out of the attack: waste of time, may be good if you want to hold on to the lead, but this is not what we do, is it?
Take a look at the way Song often thinks he’s Maradona and nearly gets us into shit… (still a huge fan)
Denilson is massively under-rated. I know I shouldn’t be so bothered what you lot think because all that matters is Wenger’s opinion and how wel he does for Arsenal, but it annoys the shit out of me to see Theo Walcott being lauded as a top player when Denilson is treated like shit for no reasons.
MnM,
I never said Theo was a TOP player, far from that – and it’s not like I treat Denilson like shit, I am just pointing out his flaws – he is just not quick and strong enough for Prem team with title ambitions…
but whatever – hope you’ll be back here in January to hear ‘I told you so’
In what form would I hear “I told you so”?
Night guys!
and by the way – Theo did not do a lot in the last 15 minutes against Pool as we were hardly attacking and Bindippers were just hoofing the ball out…
And Theo didnt play the last 15minutes so there wasnt a lot he could have done anyway.
Theo is neither over, nor underrated. He is seen by most as potential to be top class. Problem being that he constantly runs into dead ends or leaves the ball behind.
As of right now Theo is just pace and running (off the ball). Denilson for the moment is a kid who can read the game but without a minder (against big teams)looks out of his depth.
Jeez, you just don’t get it do you?
he will not fare too well playing as a lone DM when Alex is away – he is simply a pushover and I am seriously concerned about us dropping a lot of points then…
don’t get me wrong, I REALLY want to see what Our Glorious Leader sees in him, but he still has a long way to go (yes, the talent is there), but I am just not convinced – I am not one of these rabid Denilson haters, but I just don’t rate him after watching him both live and on TV…
He was great last season without a minder in most games, and he was just fine against Pompey this season without a minder.
They are just words you are saying which really mean nothing.
Either way, the plan is to have Song and Denilson anyway, so does it reallt matter how well he plays with or without someone? He is a vital part of that trio.
Denilson is at his best when we play against a team that doesnt put us under physical pressure when in possession of the ball. Trouble is that in the premiership those types of teams are few and far between.
SUGA, Alonso would be just as shit as Denilson without a CDM partner!!!
YOU don’t get it!
ARE YOU GUYS SLATING DENILSON???
The man is the single reason we stayed in the top 4 last season despite all those crazy injuries. Him and Diaby played their asses off for us. Remember us away at Villa?? Denilson and Diaby scored to keep us in the game under immense pressure from a confident Villa side. Then there was that Newcastle game, the Chelsea game, the Liverpool game, the Man Utd game when he did well for us. He showed his lack of experience at the business end of the season but the guy will grow and I’m 100% sure he will be better than Gilberto. If him and Diaby show consistency.. we could have a reincarnation of Gilberto/Vieira. Diaby needs to stay fit and consistent, Denilson is only 21 and when he hits his mid 20s…. he will be unstoppable.
playing Song and Denilson together is not the ‘plan A’ mate – tough away games, perhaps, but nothing more than that: it is just way too defensive and stifles creativity…
yeah, Pompey, great example – I went to that game and Pompey were so shit, we would not even give their fans a ‘who are ya’ after we scored…
‘…They are just words you are saying which really mean nothing…’
and I will respond to that with:
‘…the Earth is flat, lalalalalalalalalala…’
I can’t be bothered now. Its just an endless circle.
You are basically showing your lack of knowledge to many an Arsenal fan who have the brain cells to work out what Denilson is there to do, and how well he does it.
Pat,
yes, I get it and it’s my point exactly – he is not a DM, period…
and to compare him to Alonso? please…
big fucking shame that OGL seems to think otherwise…
MnM,
now you’re trying to insult me again – that’s just boring…
http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players
look at the midfielders – I know you would love to see your boyfriend playing week in, week out, but this is not going to happen: Song is miles ahead of him and Denilson will be just a sub in most of the games or will start against Pompeys and the like…
SUGA, ALonso is VASTLY overrated by gooners as well.
Alonso’s job is to interecept, break up play, and attempt to contribute offensively.
He controls the game better than Denilson, but thats about it.
Denilson is better at intercepting and reading the game. Got more assists and more goals than ALonso as well.
I’m sooo glad we didn’t get ALonso. Not what we need, at all.
YON, what are you on mate?
Simply ask yourself why Denilson plays every game thathe is fit and why he has such amazing stats if he were shit?
YON,
don’t you dare comparing Denilson and Diaby to Bert & Paddy – that’s nothing short of blasphemy…
Ill make a prediction now – Denilson will go down as an Arsenal Legend, make over 500 appearances and possibly captain the side in future.
Ill come back tomorrow and hopefully discuss possible center back options.
And I was going to have a go at YON, but he did it himself. Diaby is and always will be a merely decent footballer.
But Gilberto is already close to surpassing Gilberto.
MnM,
fucking hell, let’s just agree to disagree – I don’t give a flying fuck about the stats, I believe in what I see – I would rather have ONE Ramsey’s defence-splitting pass that leads to the goal than fifty-something 5 yarders from Denilson: which one is more telling?
the most important statistic is:
Arsenal (plenty) – Opposition (nil)…
here’s a prediction for you:
Denilson will be sold to La Liga or Serie A (where he will excel without a doubt) the very moment AW buys a monster DM…
Tony Adams to manage St. Etienne?
Pat,
thing is, I don’t rate Alonso THAT highly, but the fact is that he made Bindipper team tick…
It will be interesting what happens now when Denilson is fit, both he and Diaby have started every game apart from one so far this season, but havn’t been fit at the same time, I’d expect them to rotate depending on the situation, and also Ramsey or Nasri coming into the reckoning at home too
Big Tone managing a club in France?
now that will be something Pat
link?
Not a good source SUGA, so I don’t feel like finding it again =D
LPool played very well last season when Alonso was out injured and what not.
Johnson is a liability in defense, and thats where their problems start. The still control games. The back line was ravaged by injuries earlier in the season (bough Kyrgiakos!) and Johnson fucks up quite a lot.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1236248/Arsenal-legend-Tony-Adams-touted-St-Etienne-hot-seat-job-Portsmouth-failure.html
was not that hard, was it?
£17M – money well spent, eh?
he actually happened to get my vote in the poll
Comolli, our former double agent at Spuds is their director of football, that explains a lot – Matuidi in January, anyone? would TA say no?
please Tony, please, please, please…
and on that note:
night all…
Mick McCarthy last night handed Manchester United an early Christmas present when he gifted them victory by fielding a reserve side.
The Wolves manager controversially rested ALL 10 of the outfield players who won at Tottenham on Saturday as United won to move level on points with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.
Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was the only survivor as McCarthy opted to keep his first-choice side fresh for Sunday’s home clash with Burnley.
Furious Wolves fans, who had paid top prices for their seats, chanted: “Forty quid to watch the reserves” and “we want our money back”.
But McCarthy, whose team play an important home game against Burnley on Sunday, was unrepentant.
He said: “That was my best team available because they were all fresh legs. They were my best 11 players.
“After winning at Spurs on Saturday we got the guys to rate how difficult a game it was and the majority were nine or ten. We can’t have that nine and ten on a Saturday and then play again on a Tuesday.”
McCarthy added: “I can understand the fans’ reaction but this is my first team. I have got 21 players to pick from and they are all first team players.
“I would hope the fans would understand what I have done. At the end of the day my decisions will be judged on whether we stay in the Premier League.
“I made some bad decisions last year but nobody remembers them because we won the Championship.
“If we stay up, everything will suddenly be OK. I knew these questions would be asked but what I didn’t want was any more injuries.”
Premier League rules state that clubs should only field their strongest team but I understand that there will be no action taken.
League insiders revealed that it is a complex issue and, with it now being a squad game, it is difficult to come down heavy in this kind of situation.
United’s title rivals will be unhappy at the Old Trafford team being ‘gifted’ three points but McCarthy seemed unconcerned.
He said: “I wonder if Man Utd were disappointed when I played 3-5-2 at Chelsea or when we attacked Arsenal at our place.
“We lost those games and when I went into their offices there was no sympathy for me.
“So I will make the decisions which I feel are for the good of our club and our players.”
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team are now joint top with Chelsea, said he was not completely surprised by McCarthy’s team selection.
Ferguson said: “I wasn’t overly-surprised. They put up a good show considering they had their second string out.
“And putting that changed team out wasn’t surprising considering they have to play Burnley on Sunday.”
I hope Burnley, still smarting from tonight’s pasting, go out on sunday and absolutely smash Wolves into the ground.
I can’t believe that any Arsenal fan could think Denilson is any good, he’s total shit.
Adam,
frankly, it’s not like he is ‘total shit’, he has plenty of talent, but he may not necessarily be suited to play against top 10 sides IMO…
his flaws are lack of pace and strength, which won’t allow him to play as a lone DM – I just don’t like seeing us play 2 defensive players in 3 man MF – I would rather see this midfield:
Cesc——Nasri
—–Song——
as this would be much pacier and more creative…
I just couldnt resist http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/12/how-to-be-an-arsenal-doom-and-gloomer-in-ten-easy-steps/
Mimi,
yes, we’ve seen this, but I can knock down each and every argument in this article easily…
same old, same old – Arsene is superhuman, all knowing, omnipotent and we should all wank over stats proving that Denilson is the best midfielder in the league: lies, damn lies, statistics…
slating one of the most popular Arsenal related blogs and accusing the critics of supporting Spuds is just childish…
posting the link on LG thread probably doubled their number of hits too
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAWS COMING UP SOON!!!!
Who do you guys prefer??
I would take Stuttgart or AC Milan but hopefully not the physical Inter Milan.
To be honest I think Wenger will need to spend some cash if we are to get anywhere in the competition. A descent covering center back (Gallas is 32 already so someone will need to come in and take his place at some point). AND IMPORTANTLY…. a bloody consistent striker who can play in a front 3 with Arshavin and the physical/creative Bendtner.
If we could get 2 signings we could really win this bloody thing. Why not one of Zapata (Udenise), Kjaer (Palermo), Cetin (Galatasary), Subotic (Dortmond) for defense.
Striker: Bloody David Villa… cost 28-30 mill, Valencia are broke and he isn’t cup tied.
Suga, I wouldn’t call him a defensive player, he’s not any good at defending.
And when I say total shit, I mean he’s weak,gets pushed of the ball, makes crap passes, and was our worst player against liverpool. He may have some skill going forward, but he makes our team weaker when he’s in it, and thus is total shit. Almost every game his flaws are blinding, except against the lower teams (his level)
Burnley baby Burnley, Disco inferno.
YON,
for me it would be Cetin, Matuidi (or yet to be identified monster DM) and Jones or Cole upfront…
Villa would be quite a gamble at this price, as he could flop massively against the Prem defences, as La Liga is just a different kettle of fish…
classy player he may be, but he is 5 ft 9 in and we have enough ‘midgets’ as it is…
Adam,
problem is that OGL seems to think he is a defensive player and that is going to cost us in January…
I couln’t agree more, why is he ahead of Ramsay, who is actually a good player? Hopefully Song gets knocked out of the ACN in the first round!
I hope Burnley make 10 changes to their side in order to prepare for the important game against Wolves!
I was absolutely slating Denilson at half time against Liverpool, but upon watching it again, i have to say i was far too harsh on the lad. When i was able to view the game with more objectivity, i realised he was actually one of our best players throughout that half.
He does have a tendency to commit too easily to challenges, but he will iron this out.
I do generally agree that he lacks strength though. He’s not a bad player by any means, however i think we have players who can play that position who offer a lot more than he does. I understand that he’s good at reading and intercepting. But i feel that we other players who can do that, as well as offering either physicality or creative spark. Neither of which Denilson seems to offer.
Tidy player, but is neither here nor there in my opinion
Suga i dont think Wenger is omni-whatever.Infact I think he has his faults. What i meant to prove with that link is some people think that way all the time.
Adam, any person who thinks any player wearing an arsenal shirtis shit (no matter how bad they are)that person is Shitty.
FFS. What a waste of energy reading last night’s comments was.
The Denilson debate that revolves around if he is “shit” or not. Of course he isn’t shit. He plays for AFC and whether one believes stats or not, Denilson is clearly a decent player. One doesn’t Captain Brazil at any level if you can’t play.
Whether he is the answer for AFC is another matter.
And the Theo debate again….. “Theo is shite”. What complete nonsense. Walcott is the youngest man ever to play for England. The youngest man to score a hatrick for England. Has been voted Young player of the year, and been Young Sports personality of the year. And has been named by none other than Capello as a future World star.
The lad is only 20 !! But already written off as shite but some “Gooners”.
He hasn’t even played a full game this season.
I can only assume that the “fans” who write this drivel have never been to a “soccer” match.
Rant over ………
Mimi,
fair play, but the views presented there are nothing short of dogmatic and we, the poor mugs who happen to pay their wages should keep our mouth shut and get along with whatever OGL serves us…
yes, there are a few rabid Arsene haters on here, but mostly it is all about reasonable debate: goonermichael went on there to say that GK issue is one of the areas where we are failing miserably and he was sunk by the ‘discutants’ asking him to prove it (surprise, surprise, using statistics, which ironically can be easily proven doing just that), whereas it is a sad fact that Al is the single worst keeper in the league at the moment – my understanding and compassion related to his family problems may only go so far, I would say I could not cope in any job if that was the case (better to own up to it rather than mess up big time)…
Evening BR
Its been another hottie
BigRaddy. In modern football players are way over-hyped. Particularly young English ones. Just because he doesn”t score every game, and a few ‘know-nothing’ pundits have talked about how disappointing he is, people have written him off, as is the way of things
I wouldn’t worry though. The boss realises his potential or he wouldn’t be getting the playing time he does. When he comes good, you can rest assured that the people slating him now, will be the same ones who “always knew he was gonna come good”
Once Wally gets over his psychological hurdles (and he will) he will be a top, top player in the premiership.
BR,
my point was that Denilson is not suited to the role which will be given to him in January – as you can see, I gave credit where it’s due but tried to reasonably explain his limitations, but it ‘fell onto deaf ears’ and I was called stupid and not having a single brain cell or something like that…
like I said – fella has some talent and his uses, but to call him ‘fantastic’ is a bit far fetched…
and oh, I go to games as often as I can – recently it got a bit limited due to work commitments, but I’m working on it
Morning GG.
Snowing here yesterday, and we are set for a few days of well into the minus.
Just the job for those Climate Conference protestors. The poor bastards will have to set a few cars on fire just to stop from freezing !!
Kenny Sansom took Australia on a guided tour of The Emirates on tele last night, & told how some bloke buried a chelsea strip under the centre of the pitch. Kenny said that it up set a good few around The Club, but he said that it didn’t matter coz it symbolised that Chelsea will always be below The Arsenal. What a beaudy Kenny is
Even Romford Pele was linked up via satellite, just before kenny came on.
soccer.
LOL.
SUGA3 i agree that he will struggle to fill song’s role. One can only hope that he and Diaby are able to do it together. This may limit us a bit creatively, but i believe that the two of them may be able to hassle opposition midfields enough to give Cesc the time and space he need to really shine. And we all know how good Fabregas is if given time and space.
Mimi, anyone who thinks that because a player wears an arsenal shirt, we should blindly support them and ignore their obvious flaws, is a dickhead.
Adam. But we definitely should support them. It is in our best interests that they are confident enough to play to the best of their abilities
Geoff has been a bit quiet on here lately, & now I know why. I see he had a small bit part in that new Hugh Grant movie “Did you here about the Morgans”
HB,
yep, frankly it’s our only hope, but these two really failed to impress so far and we will simply have fuck all creativity – Diaby has little defensive discipline and this will make Cesc cover more ground to make up for it and he may have little time to create if he does that…
anyway, I’m off to work, catch you guys later
Just looked out the window and we are in the midst of a very heavy snowstorm….
Suga. I didn’t point the finger at anyone, just made a general comment about assessing a player as “shite”, when they clearly aren’t.
I happen to agree about Denilson, but as an “AKB”, I am prepared to give him a little more time. AW clearly believes that the lad brings something to the team. but he also sees Ramsey as a first teamer, hence his target of 15 games. If this is the case, then someone has to make way for AR, and IMO Denilson will be that man.
Diaby does have physicality though. He may just be able to bully the opposition enough to alleviate Cesc of some of the tracking back
BR
I hope you’re right mate…hope it happens sooner rather than later…
AR getting game time during Song’s absence will give us a clearer picture if that is what AW is thinking too…
Arsh fit for tonight?
Gnarley I haven’t been on because Pedro rated Song as an 8, typical of someone who only watched the highlights! I couldn’t be arsed to read all the Song was awesome comments.
Raddy the point is that in 2 years time Denilson will be a good player, but now he’s shite, it’s the same with Flamini, he came good but we had to put up with 4 crap years where he cost us, then he came good and Wenger said, look at how clever I am.
Players don’t really make it until they are in their mid twenties, Fabregas is the exception.
Song is another example, 3 shit years and now he MOM every game, what about the three wasted years???
Adam I am not advocating for ignoring their flaws but I am all for supporting them as long as they wear the red and white.As raddy said all this drivel makes me despair.
Honest Bill once a hater always a hater. Despite Song’s tremendous improvement some people still think he is “shit” to borrow their phrase. I doubt if he goes ahead and becomes better than he already his they’ll change their stance on the matter.
Mimi, read the above and try and understand why we say what we do.
Morning all
Anyone seen ‘Arry’s comment about he won’t let emotion get in the way when selling Bentley and Pav – makes me wonder if we are looking at the latter !
New post people!
Geoff so you agree Song has made it sort of?Yay!!
cloooosssseeee…..