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.
Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
Engelbert Humperdinck!!
BbbooooooMmmm……. …… ….. …. … .. .
My net connection sucks
bronze
Morning all!
TAIG you are back in “1st post competition”?
wow,
Excellent Post Pedro,
morning mofos
gr8 post Pedders, darkened room rest well earned
Lescott just pipped Johnson for me!!
Pedro – I know its not Arsenal or even football but I’m glad you noted the whole BA strikes issue!! I think its an absolute fucking disgrace! And I’m not even saying this because it may have a knock on effect to my travel plans. Why don’t BA just say, right you fucking money hungry pricks, if you cant handle the recession like the rest of us I know of 2 million people that would love your job you fucking morons so ta da now!!
Bozin – I just pick and choose when I feel like letting Sabeel get a good start to the day!
I don’t think lack of motivation was the cause of the first half performance but the way we handled the pressure of going to Anfield to get a result that would get us back in the race.
Good post by the way….
A good article about xenophobia related to diving
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/patrick_barclay/article6955319.ece
Morning all, great post today Pedro. This has to be in response to the debate you were having with the guy about Denilson yesterday haha.
Also well in for picking up the BA issue. If i see them on the side of the road stood by a sign saying honk if you support us i will run the twunts over!!
TAIG
Same to you,
Sabeel – ha ha, only messing fella!
Killer post Pedro…
To be fair to me (Denilson), I’ve been out injured for some time so don’t expect me to be anywhere in the top 100 just yet (unlike last year where I played almost all the prem. games)
TAIG
LOL,i know buddy
, pleasure to have competition 
what a bullshit article!!! Denilson not good enough as he lacks pace so the same for Song. Are u truly an Arsenal supporter? Song is by far the best DM in EPL. Infront of Essien already and will get better and better.
Pedro
i am shocked to see Arshavin at 56th position
I think Pace and power will come as Denilson will grow older,but Right Now,when title/trophy matters, the marmites are making us imcompetent
Mayank – Great article that, thanks. I just wished more people had their eyes open as wide as Patrick Barclay!! Especially those who are in the corridors of power!!
I hate it when our players talk, like Theo has been doing of late, we win a game and yes it was a great result away from home, but come on Theo you were poor and you need to step up your game. Their is no point in talking and not doing it on the pitch and that Theo starts on Wednesday when we need 3 points.
Let’s not go overboard and just stick to our football
6 points next 2 games and no excuses
TAIG Nice one.
Sabeel, I’m sure you’ll get tomorrow’s 1st mate! Dust yourself off and come back stronger
Great post Pedro!
Off to work.
Sabeel – I got a new PC at work yesterday!!
Morning all. Just read this great article on our need for a great striker.http://arsenal-mania.com/articles/3107830/Arsenal-can-now-spend-big-on-a-striker.html?
TAIG
Congrats dude, where r the sweets
looks like our victory at anfield has brought u new presents
Surely that has to be Lampard?
TAIG, i was really surprised to read such an article by an English writer.
That said I’ve always respected the Times.
Even when your fit Denilson your still not that great.
Your weak and you need to get stuck in more, ooo for a big strong holding midfeilder please Arsene.
Song is our most improved player and he will be missed when he is on ACON
Mayank – Also, as I said yesterday, when was the last time (if there was one) that we saw Gerrard get refused a penalty at Anfield and Rooney getting booked for diving at Old Trafford!!!! Maybe things are changing already??
Yes Mayank read that yesterday,
He always talks a great deal of common sense especially when hes on the sunday supplement with the other Knobends from the media, He dosent go in for all the little Englander bullshit that most of the the hacks spout.
Top notch Pedro,
I think Diaby being at 96 just proves that stats are poop, I wouldn’t have thought him 196, let alone 96…
Mayank
There are very few sensible,impartial writers left,
But what we are seeing day on day is Media business
Look at tigerwoods,
tigerwoods makes money though his own business and media makes money through celebrity business,even though tiger never took drugs,fixed matches,or lied like agassi
That is surprsing about song who’s stats always seemed really good after any game where i bothered to look at them. Also for someone who seems to consistently get a rating of 7 or above from virtually every journo. totally agree that those stats look very odd at times. Regardless of the stats etc at the moment all I can say is thank god Song is in the team because we would be fucked without him.
Very interesting point about melo. It could have been even worse for us because the premiership is notoriously difficult for players to adjust to. Buying players is always a gamble, but one thing you can be sure of is if you don’t buy anyone you are stuck with what you have, so come january, even if we are risking a melo scale disaster i want to see us buy a striker and a DM. Oh and I would say a keeper but I have given up on AW ever buying a decent keeper. I weep every time i see given play for city what a tragedy that we didn’t go for him.
If I could win a 50-50 with Song imagine what I could do to Denilson!! That boy is the epitome of lightweight!!
Does anyone want Howard webb for burnley game,ANR wants him there
TAIG,
I think some YT clips were circulated among the Refs.
Realistically I think it must be because of the foreign players in each team that get a harsh media reaction as compared to their England heroes. The complaints must’ve been piling up. The contrast in the reaction to the Rooney dive v/s the Eddy dive is really something to behold. A football layman may think Eduardo had been a rapist and murderer before joining Arsenal.
Man I love your posts, and this one is excellent…
However… Calling Cesc up to play for Catalonia like playing for a Sunday league team….. that’s like saying Ireland isn’t a real country… or that Scotland may as well become part of North England.
If you go there you will see that playing for Catalonia for Cesc will be like Viera going back to Senagal. We may think nothing of it, but for him it may have been one of the most poinient moments of his life.
Lets not piss of Cesc… please please please
I wonder if melo would have been a misfit at arsenal..he has been at Juventus doesnt necessarily mean he would be a dud at arsenal,given arsenal playing style,and inefficient diaby,denilson,song
Morning All.
Fine post Pedro. And well said re: BA staff. These people make me sick. Out of touch with reality and only in a job because of Govt. support (money from tax payers) – in other words the very people whose lives they are threatening to disrupt. Hanging is too good for them.
The Song Love-In has started again. Yes he has improved, yes he is our best DM, but is he the real deal? For me his lack of pace is decisive, we need better if we are to dominate the EPL.
Mayank. Lampard ? Surely not……
In the CL he is a better option because pace is not so vital.
TAIG,
You are going too far now
Bozin
Catch u later
Sabeel;
The Indian media is going down the shitter as well with TOI and HT just aping the west and going celebrity crazy.
The only newspaper worth reading is the Statesman and maybe the Hindu if it was less regional.
Mayank – I know what you mean. I do think that Eduardo’s incident became a big deal for reasons more than him being a foreigner. I think the Celtic reporting it and them making UEFA get involved was the catalyst for all over the media hype that it received. I’m not saying it would have passed by without the papers doing some digging at him but it would have been a lot less intensely focused on Eduardo.
Mayank
U r right,
the Media is shit everywhere,it is a business which doesnt have any regulation,moral values
Rich,
sorry mate, but club should always come first – Ireland and Scotland happen to be recognised by FIFA, Catalunya is not: what next, Arshavin called up to represent St. Petersburg ‘county’ against Moscow?
please…
well with Rooney and other british players like gerrard,lampard diving, there isnt any celtic type of pursuit to bring such blatant divers to book/punishment…maybe thats why diving by british players is okayed by british refreeing
Morning all, I voted for Valencia, the so-called like-for-like replacement for Greasiano. Yeah, how’s that working for you Fergie, you old Alkhy, sweaty, cnut?
Not many parties at the moment eh Pedders ? I’m only jealous cos I never got invited to those sort of parties, i.e. ones at which you could have fun.
As for BA – I’m glad my Xmas get away is with Air Iberia, who’ve already had their strikes for the year in the summer.
BR;
I was trying to be funny and alluding to a typo by Pedro(fat instead of far).
Fab has been miles ahead of his Chelsea counter-part.
As for Song i don’t think he’s too slow or anything but the problem is with him Fab and Den playing we have 3 players with the same pace. Essien would work wonders alongside him.
Sabeel, these players allways think the grass is greener on the other side, Melo was wanted by us but yet turned us down for Juve, now look at him, on the bench can’t get into the side fallen out with the manager.
This last year we have been linked with quite a few players and yet they seem to turn us down, Inler for one, years ago players were falling over us to sign.
My xmas present please get David Villa (Dreaming I know) Kroenke present for all of us
I dont think having the 96th best midfielder (statistically) is anything to write home about. Diaby flatters to decieve big time, 5 good performances per year, 5 shocking, 10 average.
I think robin van persie being only 10th is proof of the flaws in their system.
So much of their data-collecting will be subjective to the data collector as well.
Song has certainly been one of our best players. I dont think he was so great against liverpool with the ball, but he has a bit of fear factor about him now, like essien does for chelsea, and opponents see him as someone to avoid taking on etc I think.
Denilson hasnt had as good a season as last year in the statistics, but he has been out for a while. And I think we’ll see our goals conceded decline with him in the side compared to diaby, but maybe we’ll score less?
*player – not midfielder
TAIG;
Actually the media hype preceded the official action.
Erm could it not be statistically relevant that Denilson has only played 8 games this season (as opposed to playing more than any other Arsenal player last season)?
The biggest thing I note about stats is people’s continued reading of them to prove their own agenda – in your case you seem to hate Denilson even though many fans from both Arsenal and other cubs rate him highly. I would suggest you doth protest too much.
As for stats not telling the whole picture you’re right – take Song for example, you don’t need to look at the stats to know he has been one of Arsenal’s best and most invaluable players this season.
Similarly that doesn’t seem to be a cimbdown Le Grove is in a hurry to make any time soon!
:0P
Yep Pedro – ur right – unfortunately stats are definitely in the eye of the beholder and there is no transparency in what the likes of Actim present. I always think a good example is the fact that1 man’s misplaced pass is another man’s interception – so on paper 1 players ineptitude suggests anotherplayer is good.
Like you also allured to – anything that dares to suggest that there are 55 players in the PL who are better than Arshavin, kind of loses its credibility !!
Mayank/Sabeel – as it appears to me the other reason the Indian news media is deteriorating is the amount of foreign ownership – Petro dollars seem to be effecting editorial bias away from the host community, I suppose that’s not surprising looking at the fact that an Italian is so dominant in the country’s politics and so much middle eastern money is pumped into certain media outlets.
Song doesnt lack pace either. I dont know where that comes from. Hes pretty fast when he gets going if not super quick over a couple of yards.
Davi RvP deserves 10th.
Anyway gotta go, later.
Big Dave,
R u hinting that Arsenal is becoming less and less attractive?
That surely could turn into a scaring reality if we dont win trophies for another 5 years.
Villa,is also short like our other fit strikers till date,dont u think we need another tall target striker as backup for bendtner.
what we are seeing with injury to Bendtner is that we dont
have a backup for a tall target striker..especially after sale of a “togo twat”
nie post pedro!!
Mayank – Yeah I know, just like it they did with Ngog…it was all over the back pages. What I mean is that I think it would have quietened down very quickly if Celtic hadn’t dragged it out. But there is no escaping the fact that the golden boys are favoured!! Had Rooney’s dive led to a pen which they converted and which then sealed 3 points for Utd he may have been in the cross hairs of the media a lot more.
Chary don’t get me started on that Italian and her followers, completely disgusting the way they suck up to her. Till she married into the country I’m sure she didn’t even know what the capital is.
nice post pedro!!
guardian’s chalkboards are very interesting. u can find out lots of things!!
Charybdis,
u r right about the media partnerships with foreign agencies, but that is the outcome when we open our economy for Foreign investment,
The bias is present,but is not significant enough to have a blind following effect on masses here,as many people who follow them are well educated.
as far as italian being the most dominant politician in the country,it just shows how strongly we believe in democracy and fundamental rights.
That person, Mayank, and the other source of interference in your country annoys me just as much. Who need external enemies when you have the enemy within? For a while I held out hope when the BJP were in charge, but like most things that start off well them seem to deteriorate. I’d better stop there as a rant of my own may start !
2 Million plus unemployed! Sack every cunt that strikes and employ a replacement from the dole queue….
Chary;
The BJP really pissed me off, I was a very vocal supporter till they decided to make me look like a fool and go fundamentalist in their policies. ABV was the last real PM of the country, after that it’s just been a puppet show with smoke and mirrors.
Anyway really do have to go, we’ll continue the rants later.
And oh I voted for Valenica too.
Sorry Sabeel, we’ll have to agree to differ on that one; I can only see bad things coming from her continued, and unnecessary, involvement in the largest democracy in the world. I wish all of you lot would get shot of her, however as you say, people are becoming aware of the pernicious effects the media bias is having on their perception of what is best for them. I believe post independence the Congress party has failed.
Anyway – does anyone think the team will be taking Burnley lightly – and how about Perma-tan man’s team on Saturday? I was intending to go to the Hull game but as I went last year perhaps it’s just as well I’m not.
Davi 9.50. Well siad pal…I;ve gioven up defnding Song on here …well I’m trying to cut it down anyway.
The lack of pace thing cracks me up too, its just not correct. I;m surpriosed I didn;t rad how Torres left hiom for dead on Sunday…like torres doen;t do that to everyone.
TAIG. No offense but Id back Song in a 50:50 against almost anyone. Surely his physical strength is beyond dispute…..??
Morning All….
Typos….jeeez !!!
Evening all from sunnyville
Wins against Burnley & Hull would sit The Gunners in good stead for the Villa game, all winable, then a top up in January. But something tells me that le Gaffer won’t buy, maybe DDM, anyway if we win these 3 games, it may be for nothing if old profy doesn’t flash his wad, well top 4 would still be obtainable, but I want The Title.
Fatboy,
Nobody rates denilson highly.
gambon
Le Wenger does
Sab its four fucking years….. !!!
FA Cu 2005 !
Nothing 2009
2009 – 2005 equals four fucking years.
No offence SAB but I hate seeing it written as 5 years, Ethan even wrote is as 6 years the other day.
Grrr…..
I’m off to a strip club to cheer meself up…whaddya mean its only 10.00am…??
Yes song does indeed switch off at certain times… therefore, it is best if he plays as a central defender alongside Vermaelen in the future when gallas leaves.
We need a stronger defensive midfielder. Some one that is tigerish, aggressive, strong, quick, reads the game well, with a good shot in him and some one that definitely can pass!!!!
Denilson is okay for me, but definitely not diaby!!! Grow up soon, Jay Emmannuel Thomas, Emmanuel Frimpong, Francis Coquelin and Craig Eastmond!!!
@ arsenal4life, Song has never been good for arsenal partly because he is so slow while Denilson gives short quick passes Song take 5sec too many with the ball which give oppositions chances to organise randering our attachs useless and predictable. He has a knack for not giving the ball to free players in space and giving it to an attacher with his back to the opposition side being shadow by one or two opponents. His passing nowadays ensures that we loose possession i bet you haven’t noticed that. We trully don’t need him we deserve better or nothing at all.
chary,
Unfortunately,what u r saying is right,but this is true to most politicians here,or anywhere else in world..
Most politician no matter in which country they are elected,always employ the selfish methods to get the ticket to contest on that ticket for elections,once elected,everyone pursue,to satisfy the needs of those who gave them the ticket/money to contest for the election
If I see those BA wankers picketing by the roadside with their ‘honk if you support us’ bollocks, I’ll throw a bag of piss over them……cunts!
Sharkey – Its just a shame he doesn’t know wow to use it then because compared to a lot of other players he really isn’t that good at coming out on top in a tough tackle. He’s good at dogging players and harassing them but put a ball in for a 50-50 and I don’t think he’d win that many.
we r winning the league this season.
only if RvP wasn’t injured it would be easier..
Sharkey
Agreed,i take it back,its been 4 bloody frustrating years
morning all,
biggest flop has gotta be lescott… chased all summer for 25m (ish) and has been shit ever since he signed! and conceded 6 against us at home!! total clown
“His passing nowadays ensures that we loose possession”
A bit over the top, but he did get caught in possession a lot against liverpool. His passing was quite poor, and he did try to hang onto it too long.
Hes not normally that bad though.
Edu and vieira had a lot of bad games like that for arsenal, but their physical presence was still important to the side – and I think song is the same in that regard.
dennisdamenace Says:
December 15, 2009 at 10:03
2 Million plus unemployed! Sack every cunt that strikes and employ a replacement from the dole queue….
Mate, I couldn’t agree more! Just said the exact same thing to my mate! I’m not flying with BA over new year but I was hoping to get an early return through someone cancelling on a Kenya Airways flight. Now that BA are striking the chances of me getting a cancellation with an airline that will now be heaving are minimal!!
Mayank – Well spotted, Fat Frank ‘Salad Dodger’ Lampard!!
Former Birmingham City owners David Gold and David Sullivan have made a £50 million bid for struggling Premier League club West Ham United.
How much did Real Madrid pay for Ronaldo?
Gooby,
we wont win the PL this year without a CB backup in Jan,and second without a banckup for Bendtner(ala backup for target striker)
That’s it Sabeel, a combination of cultivating vote banks and self-advancement prevents 99% of politicians ever making positive change.
Chary/SAB/Mayank – a wiki style link for the ‘Italian’ please.
I enjoyed the political angles in Vikram Seth’s – A Suitable Boy. But this is LG not Le Book Club so I’ll leave it there
DDM – Has your source heard any rumours on Carlton Cole?? Did you see what I wrote on Sunday about my mate bumping into him? Cole told him that he’d been in contact with Arsenal reps!
walcott had a hand in both goals at the weekend – so he had good game, and there’s more to come.
gg9-real paid 96M€ for ronaldo. funny.
Pedro u shud soon write a satirical novel gr8 work
Keep it up mate!
TAIG – Lets agree to disagree on that one then…no worries.
We all agree that Coco has to go so we’ve at least got that in common.
TAIG… give us your carlton cole info please mate! i must have missed it
A Tom – didn’t he concede 6 while he was still at Everton because he had a hissy fit and didn’t want to play for Moyes anymore. Admittedly he’s been less than impressive when he finally got his “dream move “ to Man Shitty. Money clearly doesn’t buy the middle Eastlands mob any sense.
tonyadamsisgod – You work for that betting exchange company that will go unmentioned ? Is the site down ? Or is my browser fucked ?!
6 years ago we defeated liverpool in same circumstances and with the same scoreline
Guess what 2010!!
chary… absolutely right mate it was at everton… shocking behavior even if you are leaving at least put in a shift for the club that gave him his big chance.
lol @ ‘dream move’ then again getting out of scouse land would be a dream come true even if its to go to manc land
Denilson playing every game.
Denilson screwing up in every game.
tonyadamsisgod – Actually forget that, I thought that sounded a bit rude, sorry there.
Cheers Gooby
There was some top contenders in that list but i went for santa as the cunt forgot my new bike last year,
Sharkey – You provide the gun and I’ll get the bullets!! Someone has to do something about that clown!! Plus, clowns scare the shit out of me so I wouldn’t mind whacking one to make it one less in the world!!
ATom – My mate bumped into him in a club in London. After apologising about being a 28 year old man asking for a photo with him, he asked him if he was going to join Arsenal in January. Cole said to him something like “I’ve been in contact with Arsenal” in a bit of a wink, wink nudge, nudge style.
It could well be no more than Cole trying to get rid of the weird 28 year old man that wanted his photo! But it could also mean that there is a real chance we might be signing him!
We are playing a game here.
Jan window: AW can buy one player.
The worlds best, money no object.
Striker Torres
Wide Ronaldo
DM Essien
CB Whoever
GK Whoever
We are not discussing specific players, but buying top quality in WHICH POSITION would have won us more points so far?
For Sharkey – on “The Italian”, you know I’m a big fan of the conspiracy theory.
http://hindusforhindus.blogspot.com/2007/12/know-real-sonia-gandhi.html
Hi Guys,
Good post pedro – someone posted a link to this yesterday.
Melo does not turn into a bad player over night. Having such a high price tag increases the expectation, but to me he seems a good player and you dont lose it over night.
If we could pick him up on loan, or through a deal I would be very happy – he wont be worth €25 million anymore !!
Great post on the Arse stuff and right on the button with the BA comments. I like to think of myself as left of centre politically, but if the unions dont wise up they will plunge us all back in the sh1t. I run a small business and none of us have had a pay rise in 4 years and I havent been paid for 5 months. Perhaps I am actually lucky that I cant afford to buy a BA flight that some TWAT can ruin for me.
TAIG – The problem with too many fuckers in the UK is they think they’re owed a living, BA and those Post Office tossers along with the London Underground wankers are dinosaurs, living in the past, BA are a struggling company losing millions, so go on strike and lose more money, fucking retards, BA and the government need to grow a set and deal with these idiots head on….
Keyser – I don’t work for them but yes their site is down and its bugging the fuck out of everyone here! Their site has got to be one of the worst around!!
Davi….
Fair do’s Songs passing was loose on Sun, under Livs pressure prettyy much everyone struggled qith the ball at thoer feet, but Song was possibly the worst offender.
But if the likes of Ezra can;t see that Song’s doinga good job for us then I ain’t got the required hours o convonce him otherwise.
The likes of Ezra want a team full of pitter patter pretty footballers with no one to do the grafting. Wot won it for us on Sun, pretty football or hard graft…and before anyone tells me that Arshy won it for us..rememeber he scored 4 there last year for 1 point.
Ezra – you saw Pedros match report…you know Song was MoM right….(imo Verm might have just edged him but it was close)
DDM – I’d appoint you as the deal broker!!
TAIG… sounds good mate, he does well at west ham surrounded by shit so at arsenal i reckon he’d be a real force
Micky – DM, Essien 100%!!!! Would make so much difference, more than a new goalkeeper would!!
tonyadamsisgod – Sorry dude, I thought you worked for them for some reason, heh, was going to moan about it, now that I know you don’t, they are fucking shite, it goes down almost every week annoys the crap out of me.
Micky
GK
CH
DM
CF
One of each would do me just fine
Chary …I haven’t clicked the link yet…but I think it’s safe to say that I was looking for something …shall I say… a little more objective or independent
I’ll take a look in a mo anyway…
ATom – Agreed. He’s English, he’s not cup tied in Europe (dunno about the FA Cup), he’s young (26) and he’s the powerful striker that we need to give us that extra dimensnion!!
We have one vote for the Essien Dm, one for The Torres and three for the wide boy type Ronaldo.
Screw the BA lot. I will drive out of my way if they do the roadside thing.
You are not being very helpful Rico!
I’ve gone for the wide boy.
Keyser – yeah its so bad. Considering the amount of traffic they must get its shocking that it crashes so often. Even when it does ‘work’ its still fucking completely user unfriendly!! Its gone quiet here now because a lot of punters try to arb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitrage_betting) with us and also because they use it as a guide to compare our prices too.
TAIG… and quick to, not sure i can see it though as it would be a really good move from us and we usually dont get what we want!!
micky… id take torres… theres more chance of finding another essien than there is another torres!
Even Diaby finds himself a place in the 100.Speaks much about the apparent lack of quality in midfield.
ATom – He should also be quite cheap if we can get a bid in before Gold and Sullivan complete their takeover or at least before West Ham now they are not so desperate for cash.
Wow. Three answers. Three diff. positions.
We have the final poll from this end. Its the DM Essien.
TAIG – I’ve not spoken to my man for a couple of weeks now, maybe I’ll drop him a line….
Micky….if it weren’t for Fabianski then I’d say GK.
If it weren’t for ACN then it could be Essien….
It pains me to say it but it would have to be Ronaldo, could have been Torres but hes injured too much
Essien for me….
Ok Micky, midfielder for me
Closely followed by Torres and a patridge in a pear tree!
Yeah, Sharkey, that links not exactly Encaeclopedia Britannica!Still, I like von Daniken’s stuff also – it inspired the TV series I take my avatar from.
So – we’re after Carlton Cole; at the very least he won’t try heading into our goal, so get him in – he’s a big lump who doesn’t think you get tigers in Africa. It’s a win-win.
DDM – ahaaaa!! Get it! Partridge……Alan Partridge!
I’ll get me coat…..
TAIG, yeah that might be the only sticking point, we could go in now with 8m and see what they say, he’s injured to though till so that might cause problems, but we could do a deal providing the medical goes OK
I hope the CC stuff is true too, all we will need to do then is learn how to cross the ball
ATom – I believe he should be back playing by the end of the window so as long as their is no long lasting injury concerns he should be fine. If there is a manager that shouldn’t let injury be an excuse to why he didn’t sign a player, its Arsene Wenger!!
“he’s a big lump who doesn’t think you get tigers in Africa.”
Ha ha, comedy gold!
tonyadamsisgod – I don’t think they care, because crash or no crash if the bets are matched they cream off the money off whoever wins anyway.
Micky.
IMO there is no question about it.
As a player who can gain us (or in this case, lose us less) points. It has to be a GK.
In fantasyworld I would bring in Buffon. Only in his early 30′s. A proven winner (inc a WC winners medal), a top bloke and without question the Worlds best GK. And has been for a decade.
Buffon is THE man.
Yeah, who can forget that pearl of wisdom from Geoffers, eh TAiG ?
For any gooners going to Burnley tomorrow the town itself will be a bit of a culture shock. Think northern hell-hole and hovis advert. As George Graham would have said “Let’s get the 3 points and get out of this hick town asap.”
Ok, we have had takers for all five position. As I said, I went for the lady boy. A seriously strong fast attack takes the pressure off the defence, and scores more. In the lady boy, we would also have someone who could plant a free kick.
I have to remind myself, that I am surrounded by Plymouth fans!!!
lol Chary. You are on fire this morning
I walked past the TUC this morning and spat at the building fucking cunts.
I’ll be cheering wolves and sunderland tonight
GigRaddy- buffon is our dream(all of us!)
but i can’t see him at arsenal, it’s close to imposible
If i remember correctly,the last time we played at burnley we lost right,i think it was Carling cup
I recently offered to take one of these Argyle fans to game at the Emirates as a thank you for something or other, and he said “No, thanks”.
What do you do?
sig – it was and chary’s fav missed a hat full of chances
lol TAIg in fact maybe wenger heard about the injury and thats why we’re linked!?
he usually tells us straight away if its a definite no-no like he did with dzeko.
Gooby: Angelina Joley is my dream, but each to their own, eh!
Cheers Radders, I have my moments.
Good point about our full backs/wingers needing to learn how to cross – if we do get Carlton Cole and keep crossing like we have done , it’d be as useful as putting shark fins on a cat.
Micky: i said it cause he is the best out there. no offence mate
*Joely…whatever
Chary – falsified birth certs, change of name, Russian POW’s, KGB links, dodgy car and plane crashes, ‘looted’ artefacts !!!
Fuck me, that was quite a read
I didn’t get to finish it ….
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2009/12/how-to-be-an-arsenal-doom-and-gloomer-in-ten-easy-steps/#comments
just read the comments (pointing to LRV) – what a piece of wank…
baaaa, baaaa, baaaa…
Unless its against Liverpool chary, then Johnson will put the ‘along the ground’ cross in the back of the net for us
good post today…..
rumour mill has it that chavski want Rob Green to replace P Cech…….. c’mon Arsenal. Sign him ASAP before big money bidders come in for him for real……
“he’s a big lump who doesn’t think you get tigers in Africa.”
Gets a vote from me too……
Wardo. That has to be more paper bollocks.
Why would the Chavs sign a man who isn’t even first choice England keeper? And that is a team where the first choice is a 50 year old Fellaini double?
Surely they will sign Afinfeev or a keeper of similar stature.
IMO Green is good but not good enough. But we are all entitled to our opinions
Chary. I do not hold much belief in these internet stories, but it was certainly an interesting read. I have a friend who says he has an Oxford degree, what he fails to mention is that it was from Oxford Poly !!
SS. I had forgotten about A Suitable Boy. What a great book, it filled a summer for me with wonderful images of India.
Big Raddy: “you’re mates with Geoffrey Archer?”
Yeah Radders, some of it is a bit fanciful but it can strike a chord as the machinations of sub continental politics are a black art of their own.
I’m also enjoying Michael Palin’s Himalaya – I first read that when I was recuperating from an operation back in 2005 – as it covers the area near where my parent are from and I’ve always had an attachment to the Himalaya’s.
How did the roast salmon go down?
i agree with the post that we need a more tigerish DM – more of a box to box and someone who won’t get outmuscled by pussies like Benayoun
Matuidi or M.Diarra frm R.Madrid – he’s gonna be dirt cheap. however i’m not sure on him – is he any good and is he going to the ACN?
Any news on Carlton Cole?
This is brilliant:
chary
Himalayas is a gr8 book by Palin – have u seen the series as well? definately worth a watch.
No Micky….
But Peter Mandelson was in my class at school. And he was a smarmy bugger (
)even then
Awesome thanks Micky.
It is piss easy recipe for a fancy dinner or more than 4.
Shantaram is a good read about India (though it is a bit fanciful).
We need Noddy Talbot. A terrier, midfield dynamo, who knows how to plant one.
No Micky. The player we really need is Tony Adams.
Big Tone!! My all time Arsenal hero….as I’m sure you figured out by now!!
anyone know how flamini’s getting on at milan?
Raddy Chary…..Agreed re A Suitable Boy – absoutely brilliant read. Took 4mtsh to raed cos I only read during a fairly short commute…
I actually missed it when I finally finished it….lol
a romford pele wouldn’t go a miss… proper grafter
Talbot was all heart but a fairly crap player, but for a short while he took on almost legendary status after he top cornered two free kicks in consequetive weeks.
plus him and tone can fire extinguisher safety to the kids
Yeah KM, it’s on BBC4 at the moment, I like the Nanda Devi/Nepal based episodes the best, especially when he meets the Dalai Lama, now that’s a leader of people worth revering. I was around his residence in exile years ago, sadly he was not in though.
Always agree on the Tony Adams thing though. For months now on here I have been saying we should unleash Big Tone into the dresing room at half time. And you lot think it was AW having a go at Anfield!
intersting article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/dec/15/villa-growing-menace-threat-liverpool
aston villa are getting better and are a real physical side. imo city, Spurs & villa have a got a chance to pip l’pool to 4th….but we were in the same scenario last year and villa dropped off….so who knows whats gonna happen in april- may.
Cheers lads I’ll look out for that on BBC4…expand the mind and all that
Oh, how I yearn for the eighties. North Bank standing with yer mates. Not that I can remember much of it
chary where are u frm? Nepal/tibet?
arsenal Tom
i too would lover to have Flamini back in January and imo he would jump at the chance, because atm his ass is fixed to the bench all the time.
bigraddy….think you have a point but, I do think he will be No. 1 for England soon…maybe even for the world cup !!
Think he would be a good signing altho, I admit it would be a gamble…..reason I think it would be a good signing is that AW will not spend big bucks on a ready made keeper and as I said, Rob Green is almost ready made so we wont have to wait 3/4 years
I was in the main square in town in summer and this guy walked out of a hotel and looked me in the eye. Then he smiled at me….. it was the Dalai Lama !! The real Dalai LAma. Made my year.
Of course, 30 seconds later his entourage surrounded him and I didn’t get the opportunity to speak with him. What a top, top bloke.
talking of villa carlos cuellar has been top draw lately, not sure they’ll fade like they did last year
that link to the other blog has wound me up.
Morning everyone!
Just read through the comments and a few missed the point…
I’m not a huge fan of Song, but it’s clear he’s having a good year, yet he doesn’t appear in the top 100 players… yet Diaby does?
What does that tell you about stats? Song on the Guardian stat board makes on average about 3 bad passes a game… yet can’t make the top 100 players on actim for a team 3rd in the league?
Load of old shite!
It’s very political on here… is it international week… or is the news a little light! haha!
KM… it would be great business in jan to bring him in as songs cover, its been 18 months now as well so people have had time to calm down and it would keep cesc happy
Me too Micky. I recall being so disappointed when we had to move to the Clock End. But I soon got to love it and never went back to the North Bank.
jeff winter looks like an extra from cruising
Everyone’s doing anything to avoid talking about Song
Who’s watching India v Sri Lanka??
goals scored count for allot more than being a good player, thats why jody craddock is in there cos he’s scored 3 and is a defender even though he’s dog shit.
steven hunt right up there to and he’s pretty useless
Big Raddy: the worst thing about moving while they went all seater was suddenly, your season ticket meant spending the whole season with the same tosser right behind you, and nothing you could do about it.
taig
loads of indians and sri lankans I imagine
goonermichael – ha ha, you numpty! That’s fair going!
sorry, goonermichael
Coloner Mustard was there fighting our cause tho…
it’s -5°C here and i m off to play football,see ya
I’ve posted on it SUGA but they may moderate it.
GM, I was going to link that site in this morning, I read that yesterday.
That was my reference to premature gloatation…
I couldn’t bring myself to do it though… ‘Lord Wenger’ takes the shine off any sort of balanced opinion.
Pay homage to the club… but a fan site for the manager? Well…
I don’t have too much time at work even to post on LG, so I will give’em a piece of my mind later
actually if you like cricket I imagine it’s quite exciting. India have posted thier biggest one day score and the Sri Lankans were on course to catch them when I left the gym. See I do know
It’s fucking cold isn’t it.
Where are you all, that its -5 or even cold?
You lucky bugger Radders ! I remember walking past the Chinese Embassy a few years back in the middle of freezing November and I saw a tibetan monk cross legged on the pavement outside in a silent protest. For some reason I felt incredibly moved by that – no shouting of slogans, no extreme treats of violence or suicide bombing. Just a quiet dignified protest that would resonate with all right minded people.
KM – my parents are from an area near Manali in Himachal Pradesh; I’m from Essex.
Shittest signing of the year? That Savio guy that West Ham bought in January. COst 10m when they were completely broke, never played and is now gone out on loan.
GM 11.38. The one Suga posted about Doom and Gloom..??
I thought it was very interesting…
Stu – Ha ha, I forgot about him!! What the fuck happened to that guy!! Mind you, as I never expected him to do anything special he hasn’t disappointed me!!
Hey lads, i’m after a redcurrant and cream striped Arsenal scarf, any ideas?
I though they were slating Dolce and Gabbana
chary…
my parents are from an area near Manali in Himachal Pradesh; I’m from Essex.
thats some contrast right there mate!!
yep, it is…
I am off to Poland for Xmas on Friday – it is said to be going a tad lower than that: as low as -20°C in the eastern parts, lucky me for my family living in the western bit (mere -10°C or so)…
Wonderboy, there are a luxury scarf company… I can’t remember their name though! Toffs? Someone like that…
A Tom – it’s almost the same thing. As you come past Basildon and head towards Thurrock the scenery is just as picturesque.
chary lol… and stop off at the circus tavern for a bit of a culture fix…
wonderboy – Yeah Toffs do the vintage football stuff but I don’t think you’ll find what you are looking for anywhere!
Wonderboy: are you a surrealist. I mean, why not try and buy an orange and beige Utd scarf?
Wonderboy: Seriously, if you mean redcurrent and white, try buying a Hearts one. Same thing.
Lol, i saw it on a stall beside the old Highbury last season been thinking about it ever since, it was a beauty.
I have a spare pair of tickets for the Hull game. Face value of course.
Anyone interested?
Wonderboy… They still sell them outside Highbury on match days, you’re right, they are lovely.
Maqitlarge, e-mail me and I’ll send some people your way.
Watch it with Toffs delivery times. Last week ordered on line a Brasil retro top, then got receipt. 4-6 weeks. So careful if Christmas present.
Wonderboy – That must have been 05/06 when we wore the redcurrant kit for a year. I think you’d look a bit of plum wearing it now….like a Hearts fan watching Arsenal!!
Bit of a Plum….bad. Very bad
Micky – I swear to god I didn’t think about that until after I wrote it!!!! I promise!!
TAIG: your deepest inner self subconsience need help then
Is it joke friday already?
Done Pedro. Cheers mate!
Is the Burnley game televised anywhere?
Micky – Or a pat on the back?
Blimey – the Circus Tavern, A Tom, that takes me back. It always seemed to have Bobby Crush booked in whenever I used to drive past there.
If it is, I have childrens school play, then major social event afterwards, so it would be good to break my leg today. Last minute excuses never wash with the old for-better-or-worser.
Won’t get a chance to get over for a while, was hoping that someone did them online cheers anyhoo. Any news on Le Grove shirts?
C+ SF Kanalen (Swe)
C+ Sport 1 (D/F/N/S)
Diema 2
Hi Sports
Nova Sports 7 (Hellas)
NTV+ Sport Classic
Show Extreme Sports
Sky Calcio 2
Sky Sport Extra (Italy)
Spormax Digiturk
Sport 1.2 (Ned)
Maqit, I’ve forwarded your details onto two people.
Wow. Cheers TAIG. Business in Sweden it is, then.
Wonderboy, the designs are being done now and they sound really good.
This guys shirts will piss over any others you’ve seen on the net… I’ve asked him to make them so people could wear them to a club and not be asked to leave.
So they’ll be quite stylish on quality t-shirts.
Out of interest, is there such a thing as a TV or box that gets some or any of those channels?
Pedro – Chop chop man! I want my T-shirt! Can I get mine with TAIG on the back, ha ha!
I’d get decked within a minute I reckon!!
Better make them XXL, my missus has shrunk every t shirt i own apart from my Wonderstuff IDIOT shirt…strange that.
chary, i’ve never been mate, its all unlicensed boxing and gentleman’s evenings these days! too far from where i am but ive heard the stories!!
You couldn’t wear it in N. Ireland mate, Taig is slang for catholic lol.
Micky – I think you can get universal boxes but the problem lies more in the dishes as they have to pint in different directions to get the right satelites. For example, I have Sky HD and Sky Italia. But I have 2 dishes on the side of my house for each one as they are pointing in different directions. And yes that does mean I can watch the game tomorrow. And yes, it has full English commentary!
Wonderboy – Cheers for the heads up!!
This world is fucked up
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1235763/Pictured-Islamic-militants-stone-man-death-adultery-Somalia-villagers-forced-watch.html
Thanks TAIG. Here in v remote Devon, we have finally lost all broadband where my office is, so am getting satellite broadband. Who is going to know the difference between one and two dishes!!
Franchise – Fuck me! At least 3 of the cunts got capped!!
Worse than animals.
That was a sick match right there. 414 and 411. Who would’ve thunk it?
Micky – There’s no problem with how many dishes you have as long as it doesn’t become an eye sore, or so I believe (and hope). Sky Italia is awesome. They show literally every single EPL game apart from the very odd midweek game that the whole world seems to miss out on. And I think now you can change the audio to English so you get UK commentary on all channels where as before it was just the main sports channels that let you do that. I think they use the commentary that some radio stations use and the logo in the corner is like the one you used to see on the old Pay Per View/season ticket matches that Sky used to do.
TAIG. Very helpful. With what kind of package does Sky Italia come. Sorry, totally ignorant.
Micky – As far as I know, it works just like Sky does in the UK so its up to you to decide what you want. Obviously most channels will be useless to you though. I think the only problem lies in the original set up. I think you need someone in Italy to take care of it as Sky require something like a tax code from a resident. My father in law is Italian and took care of everything (including the bills
) for me as he is in Italy for work more than he is here in the UK!
“nd the logo in the corner is like the one you used to see on the old Pay Per View/season ticket matches that Sky used to do.”
Premiership Plus!! That’s what I was trying to say!
Tiger is lucky he is American
TAIG: We have a problem. The only person I know in Italy is an ex girlfriend, and she is a bunny boiler! Looks like I will be streaming for a while longer.
Tiger Woods is just plain lucky! Have a great pic sent by my sister, how do I upload it onto here?
is it on your computer?
if you have got a yahoo email account u can upload it on flickr and paste the url on here
same applies with gmail and picassa i believe
Micky – Not even having the ability to watch an Arsenal Saturday 3pm game warrants reconnecting with a mental ex!!!!
Franchise: its on my desktop. I have none of those, combined with the fact that I am useless with computers!!
TAIG: NO. Not even close!
denilson injured,eboue comes back to squad for tomorrow
Denilson injured… dear oh dear!
Rambo should be given a run out.
Denilson wouldn’t have started I doubt anyways.
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Vermy Traore
Cesc Song Diaby
Theo Arshavin Eduardo
That’s what I’m going for
Am I sick when I say that after his absence for a while, I actually miss something about Eboue for a Burnley away?
Ramsey to play Denilson’s number but i know Wenger will play Diaby
I doubt away at Burnley Pedro, it’s far from an easy game, he could well start against Hull at the weekend though
For tomorrow, I say:
Fab
Sag Gall Verm Trao
Rambo Cesc Song Nas
Diaby AA
I know. 4-3-3.
What is it with people putting in teams in 4-4-2?! I don’t get it
is the arsene press conference free on arsenal.com?
i m afraid tomorrow we can see
alumunia
sagna-gallas-vermaelen-traore
song
fab-diaby
eboue-arshavin-eduardo
but i would like to see
fabianski
sagna-gallas-vermaelen-traore
song
fab-nasri
vela-arshavin-eduardo
Very much doubt Eboue will start up top WB, it’ll be Theo, other than that I agree though, and I’m happy with that team. We need Diaby’s physicality at turf moor, and theo’s pace.
A: cos right now, with RVP and Bendy out, it allows AA to play central with physical clout alongside him. And, I think it would win the game tomorrow. Square pegs and holes stuff.
Ok. I’ve been on here since 10:30, and that means that with my speed and skill around the keyboard, I have done fuck all work. So later people.
Eboue is still injured so he will stick with Theo and rightly so Theo will score two aginst Hull I bet. Just needs time to reclimatise and confidence, he is putting himself under too much pressure to be the new Thierry and Englandws world cup saviour but it will all happen once he nets a goal and get s match fit.
Oh and A: my name is Micky, not People.
Cheers Micky….
I should follow your lead really, but there’s very little to do here
theo has started last two games so i dont think he will start this game.
vela is second fastest at arsenal,he can do the job for us
Sorry just seen the Eboue is fit again post…
Tomorrow I would see
___________Fabi
SAgna__Gallas__Verm__Sly
__________Song
_____Cesc_____Diaby
____Theo___AA__Nasri
lol I was referring to the collective that seems to be putting teams in 4-4-2 Micky!
Diaby playing up front is very much a square peg in a round hole though surely, as is Ramsey right mid??
4-3-3 has worked all season and we’ve been developing it all season, there’s no way we’d go back to 4-4-2, it would be suicidal. Diaby playing in midfield though will help out Arshavin, Almunia’s clearances will be aimed at Diaby for him to flick it on to Arshavin, so we should have a better ball retention than we did against Liverpool. Theo as a wide forward could get alot of joy tomorrow too.
Rocky I’d go with that, though Almunia will probably play unfortunately. Though I reckon Eduardo or Vela will play rather than Nasri. Nasri looked tired to me on Sunday, and hasn’t been amazing in tough games away from home, so he could be rested to start and tear Hull apart at the Emirates on Saturday
The last time Arsenal won at Anfield we lifted the EPL trophy. Could this be our year?
The good news therefore is that Traore and Arshavin are fit. wenger does not mention them so I assume that means they are fit anyway.
Diaby should start, and probably will be in midfield. would love to see wenger drop Almunia.
Eduardo could be involved again. Ramsey is pushing for a place but I expect he’ll come on as sub.
AK, it better be… I’ll be asking for a refund otherwise!
Afternoon strangers… whats been happening the world of Le-Grove these last 3 months ???!!!
Pedro, do you have any spares for Saturday?
May need one more. Saturday is the Annual family booze-fest (will you be joining us???) and may need one more ticket !
Yeah I’d agree with all that gazzap. Hull at the weekend I reckon Ramsey will be given a start, maybe vela too
Good post Pedro. I liked the bit about the statistics. It is important theat people remember that they require analysis and just don’t say what some people purport.
Traore is injured too
shite… its silvest..
we have 3 left backs out.. unbelievable!
anyone know whos gonna play LB? silvestre or traore?
An optimist would say we got to the CL final with Flamini as a left back… Silvestre to do a Flamini anyone?
Oh yeah saw they just added that – silvestre it is then!
seeing as he’s only gonna play one game there B I doubt it!
Is Gago any good? R.Madrid might be off-loading him…
http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2009/12/15/1688803/premier-league-everton-make-bid-for-real-madrids-fernando?
seriously how shit is Arsenal.con? its their job to report the press conference, and they couldn’t even get the fact that Traore is injured right. what planks.
so Silvestre at left back it is.
Wait an hour and they’ll remember that Arshvin has a bad foot!
and you cant have 1 in and 2 out. the squad is always 18. I assume a young player will come into the squad – maybe Bartley?
Firstly we are playing hull at the emirates not away.Secondly how can you possibly say billong is not good enough?He is fast on his way to besoming just as good and even better than essien…Wake up!!!good point bout diaby we need him especially in the bigger games.If we can beat burn,hull and Villa we are serious contenders..WE do need a striker in January
Gazzap, it could be the leg-end that is Cedric (Evina).
gazzap I watched the press conference, Wenger didn’t mention Traore as noone asked about it, which is why it wasn’t there originally
Teko, that’s meant to read away at Burnley, then Hull.
Not away at Hull.
I can say that about Song because it’s what I think. He’s doing a good job at the moment, I just don’t feel he’s as amazing as everyone thinks and I think he’ll end up at centre back.
I’m not sure in your wildest dreams you truly see Song as becoming a better player than Essien.
Teko – ha ha, good one!
Tom Cruise perhaps? Evina will be playing in the FA Youth Cup tomorrow. Bartley is a good shout, though maybe it’ll just mean eboue is in there as the defensive sub, and silvestre can move to centre back if a centre back gets injured. Or maybe senderos will come back in.
Is Traore definitely fit?
A, Playing that three man attack might well lead to a similar situation as to that of Sunday’s first half. Little ball retention and a completely disjointed performance.
Having Nasri on the pitch (despite his lethargic performance) still offered us a degree of balance. Playing Theo (hit or miss, but lively in the first half against pool) and Eduardo (completely out of form) is very risky against a team that will be out to hit us and bite us from the off.
I’d prefer Eduardo for Saturday and Nasri for tomorrow.
But saying that, Eduardo had a great deal of success last year against Burnley so maybe he’ll find a few goals.
Pedro I could see him becoming a better DM, though not a better player by any distance. As a DM Essien isn’t THAT amazing, it’s when he’s a box to box midfielder that he’s one of the best around imo.
JackMalone Traore is injured. Burnley have a slow defence, Theo I’m sure will play, and imo he was miles better than Nasri in the first half against Liverpool, whereas Nasri was very poor. Theo’s pace will be important tomorrow, I reckon he’ll get a goal. Nasri also played 90 minutes, and looked tired and sluggish to me.
We had no ball retention and were disjointed largely because of the amazing intensity with which Liverpool closed us down when we had the ball, Burnley aren’t capable of that.
I like Denilson. He is a very good player. He plays on the national team. Dunga uses him all the time. He is deadly on set pieces. He can score. My reason he is Brasilian. For my money brasileiros are the best players in the world.
I like Song too. The fake Ronaldo is a waste of time. He is great in the regular season but when it counts he is Voce Vai. I’m outta here.
Tevez is well worth the money. he is a match changer. He has done this since his days at Boca.
A great win by Arsenal at Anfield. The Gunner finally showed they have heart and can play when the chips are down.
http://bobbygee.wordpress.com/
Off topic… the guardian website said Arshavin only made three successful passes against Liverpool.
I didn’t want to quote that incorrect because I didn’t count… but really?
did he even try 3 passes Pedro?! The only time I can remember him getting the ball and passing is the first goal, and other than that he got the ball and shot for the second, the time wide right, and one other. Can’t remember him touching the ball other than that?!
yes Essien is like Flamini – box to box. Song is a sitter imo.
Yeah I’d agree with that KM, Essien is a breaker up of the play, song is a wall in front of the defence, Denilson is a trip rope in front of the defence.
Ballack was a gr8 box to box player while he was at Bayern and Bayer. Before him Veira & Keane.
trip wire even
sitter, box to box, anglican, protestant essien over song for me
Arsh was brilliant though after the goal, chasing down the defenders, kicking all of them.. more of that please!
“song is a wall in front of the defence”
Talk about glamorising!!
Denilson is a skipping rope – always up & down
i like Denilson but he doesnt measure up against the big boys. against the likes of Stoke & Wolves he’s fine, but he’s still learning and therefore for me he’s a squad player. i’v slowly realised that we need a proper box to box combative midfielder to play infront of Song and just behind Fabregas, like we used to have Viera & Petit/Gilberto.
well if no one asked wenger about Traore I think that makes the press pretty stupid. There’s only 2 or 3 issues the fans really want to know about in these press conferences, they should cover those as a matter of course.
and if no one asks him wenger could easily volunteer the information!
I can’t believe Arshavin is 56th in that bloody actim list. he’s been matchwinner on so many occasions ! imo he’s the most talented player in the EPL atm, but he drifts in and out of games – i guess thats his style – the silent assassin!
obviously slipped his mind gazzap because of people asking about whether denilson’s injury was a recurrence of the old back injury, not exactly a big deal!
surely Arshavin made more than 3 passes. thats gotta be wrong. Is there a possibility that whoever is watching the game and noting down whats happening is not identifying the players correctly?
somebody should sit down and go through the game again and then compare all the stats with the Guardian. I know Geoff said he had done something similar for one player, and the Guardian stats were all wrong.
Yeah KM that’s why he’s 56th – because he drifts in and out of games, and those rankings are done from stats to do with overall contribution
i might do that later gazzap, pretty sure i’ve still got the game saved
Valencia have just bought a gem… alejandro dominguez (frm Rubin Kazan) i bet he was cheap – does this mean they’r getting rid of Villa or because Mata is inconsistent?
http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2009/12/14/1687350/official-valencia-sign-alejandro-chori-dominguez-from-rubin
Dunno whether he could be called a gem just yet KM, have to wait and see how he does in a proper league. He’ll just come in and add more depth, currently their only sub forward really is zigic
Well said Davi,how can he say Song lacks pace?????????
Don’t think he watched the olympiakos match when Song was covering every blade of grass.
Song’s improvement has supprised me…he only plays lethagic when he’s got DENILSON next to him.
SONG AND DENILSON SHOULDN’T PLAY TEGETHER…WASTE!
Has anyone even seen CHARMARK play???how good is he????
Good shout A+KM (holding hands? re Essien.
I was trying to explain that to Pedro the other week about Essien taking the ‘Diaby’ role, and he laughed at me.
I was very upset about it at the time…
Dominguez was great in the CL for Rubin and they just won their league (for the second season running). The biggest surprise in this transfer is that he was on a free.
Did his contract run down or was it bought out? How did he move before the window officially opened for Spanish clubs and can he make his debut before Jan 1?
Yeah he was Stu, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be able to step it up to the big leagues, though of course he could.
No idea if he’s available at the weekend or gotta wait though, price is a weird one, doesn’t say contract had expired anywhere
I think he will be able to make the transition from Russian to Spanish football. He certainly has the ability and from what i’ve seen has a decent workrate too. At 28 he is surely experienced enough to cope with the move and Valencia play some of the best football in La Liga so he should fit in pretty well.
I dunno Stu, you could also say that as he’s gotten to 28 and never played in a tough league it could be tough for him to adapt. Obviously Arshavin hadn’t either, but he’s one of the most talented players in the world, Dominguez isn’t an international, and only really come on in the last year
Thats true too but being argentine he shouldnt have any problems with the language and that should make it a lot easier to adjust. Rubin and Zenit played good football and so do Valencia so i think it should be a seamless transition.
And if things go bad, he was free so its not a big deal.
Hello Grovers,
Stu, I believe your knowledge of German football is very good. Who would you choose, Manuel Neuer or Rene Adler?
KM, Gago is good but very Denilson like in physical presence, small and light, he’s a good ball winning, passing CDM but not proactive like Diarra or Flamini more Gilberto like .
He’s an option for Jan but doubt it.
I think it confirms Valencia are ofloading Villa. Probably to Real with Benzema on the move again.
evenin all…
russian players have never adapted well to premier except Arshavin but he is one of the best players in the world and they can play everywhere…some russians have made it in the german league..
on other strange thing .why is it that brazilian players seems to be on top of the world for some years ..and then almost crash…never to be as good anymore…its strange…
yeh i think Alejandro will be a hit for Valencia. the guy looked a classy player. He looked good against Barca & Inter. he’s a support striker and i think he’d do well and would compete with Mata who i think isn’t a finished article yet. Mata can be very frustrating at times.
Valencia have a cracking side btw. they play beautiful football. Silva is a joy to watch – i think he’s one of the best players in the world atm. Villa ain’t bad either
That Ever Banega geezer (the DM we’r after) is becoming a world beater.
Salaams KM,
Where have you been, Pukstaan?
Rockypires – not sure Benzema would move so soon – that would be a shocker though!
Hmmmm thats a tough one gooner786. I would prefer Neuer as i think he is the more talented but Adler seems more dominant to me.
Leverkusen are top of the league, just ahead of Schalke.
If i was to choose…i would say Neuer. Havent watches much bundesliga this season though so dont know what kind of form either of them are on.
Benzema starts nearly every game for Madrid, they wouldn’t want to sell him, and he wouldn’t want to move! I don’t get the rumours about him, he hasn’t set the world alight, but has been far from crap, it’s not like what happened with Huntelaar last year!
excellent goalies are few and far between its like finding a needle in a heystack…
but ive found one Akinfeev…
KM heres a Gago video
A there are smoke screens all over…as usual when a transfer window is close…
Gooner786
its xmas period, so its busy yaar. Dnt get much of a chance to come on here, but i’l be back on here with a vengence after the new year
how u anyway?
RockyPires
Redondo was an AMAZING player. i remember he played with Steve Mcmanaman in that Real Madrid side which won the Champions league. he was a classy player, but always injured. IS denilson going the same way?
Arsene Wenger insists this season is the most open title race since he arrived in England 13 years ago.
The French tactician has seen his Arsenal side close to within six points of Premier League leaders Chelsea – with a game in hand.
Wenger has huge confidence his side can win their first title since 2005, but also thinks up to eight clubs could yet win the league.
“Nobody looks like they will run away with it early this season,” he told Sky Sports News.
“Instead of four teams you have six, seven or eight teams who can create a surprise any weekend and that is why, certainly since I have been here, it is the most open it has ever been.”
Wenger is happy with how his side have battled back into contention in recent weeks.
“I am deeply convinced since the beginning of the season [we could win the title],” he said.
“I said that after the Chelsea game, it is down to how well we improve as a group and how we are ready for a fight in every game and how much we can improve from September to May.
“I think the message we have given out is that we are ready for a fight and haven’t given up.
“Things change very quickly, what looks for definite in this league is just short term as no situation is established, two weeks ago Chelsea were running away with it and now it has changed.”
I dont understand the Benzema rumors either but their fairly knocking about. To be honest I feel Barca need Villa moreso than Real . I still dont trust Ibra as a top player.
Benzema & Higuan have been playing well 2gether recently. Madrid have so many brilliant attacking players it beggars belief, however i think they need a better manager.
That Gago clip was a bit old wasnt it. I mean Robinho and Roberto Carlos were in it ffs.
KM
Alhamdulillah I am fine Bro.
Ibra is absolutely superb Rocky, I don’t get why some don’t rate him. Villa would be superb at Barca though, or Rooney! They need someone to replace Henry out wide left.
Denilson has too slow of thought to be like Redondo, way too slow, Gago is a quicker thinker and would suit the EPL.
I fear for Denilson, sure he does good stuff but how often is he knocked off the ball, loses aerial challenges,doesnt tackle hard,passes backwrds and sideways. I dont like slatting any Arsenal player but dont really see Denilsons purpose.
Underneath Diabys faults lies a monster of a player waiting to be unleashed in my opinion but he is slow to develop as with all the injuries interrupting his seasons. The 4-3-3 suits him better and I expect to see better performances from the big man.
Rocky last season Denilson was one of the top tacklers in the league, so say he doesn’t tackle is silly. He just isn’t a 50-50 tackler, he still tackles a great deal, and that’s largely his purpose, he reads the game very well and wins the ball back often.
well A…there are many things that makes us like players..and Ibra is one special fecker…ask the Swedes…he should really shut up and just play because he is a damned fine footballer..but a stupid fecker off the field…
Sorry Stu but he hasn’t really being in team of late…
Ibra I like but he goes missing on the big stage even against Dynamo the last night the bits I seen when flicking from the youngguns, just left me thinking he’s not of TH14 quality at his best,Real Ronaldo or Sheva at Milan no he just lacks the fight and appetite to be the best instead he thinks he’s the best.
Rocky he scored the only goal of the game against Madrid, whereas Ronaldo was shite, imo he’s a much better all round player than Ronaldo too.
Madrid… I remember when Gago was the future… that was only a couple of seasons ago! Now he’s getting binned? Dear oh dear…
You could make a pretty decent team of Madrid-Barca rejects…
RockyPires
Ibra struggled against ManU last year in the champions league but i think he’s a brilliant player.
My god… we’ve had almost 2000 votes in that poll!
Real Ronaldo…the fat one…not cristiano.
I have never rated Ibra. He is a great league player but for Sweden and in the CL for whichever club he has played for he has been shite imo.
Gago was linked to us prior to MADrid stepping in, so you never know but surely at 7 million he’s a bargain and would sooner sign for us than Everton but will he fall under the “Midget brigade debate”
Pedro…i agree..
but thinking about it…and players who have more or less been rejected at Arsenal would make quite a team too…
Does anyone give any shrift to the thoughts about turning Vermaelen into a DM?
He’s good on the ball, passing, tackling, marking, we know he has a boomer of a shot, likes to make runs forward.
I wouldn’t mind it just to get a new pair (Gallas is probably gone soon)of dominant ‘old-school’ CD’s to retake our box.
Denilson is a bit lightweight atm. he’s got the intelligence but lacks the brawn and experience at present, thats why he gets pushed off the ball so much. he needs more time.
Pedro
the sidebar needs some TLC
No way Billiken, unless there’s a magical cloning machine that could give us two of him there’s absolutely no way we’d willingly lose him from our defence.
BillikenGooner, Geoff has been on that idea all season!
Pedro Says:
December 15, 2009 at 16:19
Madrid… I remember when Gago was the future… that was only a couple of seasons ago! Now he’s getting binned? Dear oh dear…
——————————————————–
Think that has more to do with Xabi Alonso joining the team. Its a pity to see Gago falling behing his one time Boca Juniors apprentice Ever Banega. Banega looks a class above him now for Valencia and if Maradona had any sense Banega would be an ever present staple in Argentina’s midfield in South Africa.
What needs doing KM?
Zeus, and Diarra… and the other Diarra…
Leave Vermie where he is man. Song is going very well at CDM just need Diaby to step up to the plate and defend better and stay involved in the game for 90+ mins. The ability is in him, he just needs to mature and play is simple.
Real bench warmers
_____________Dudek
__Metzhelder__Albiodl__
______Gago__M.Diarra
Van Der Vaart___
________Raul__RVN
So is everyone on board with finding a much better, bigger, stronger, partner for Vermaelen this summer then?
I think Gallas has stepped it up this season, but there is something lacking in that partnership.
Bilken, I think a better keeper would do the job.
Diaby is a mystery imo. I think his best position is 2nd striker where he can be devastating with his power and unpredictability – however we have too many players who operate in that position. fabregas, Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky :/
Billiken Gallas is still a very very good player, but we will need a replacement for him, I really don’t know who though, someone said Zapata the other day, I could see that, though obviously signing anyone from Italy is always a risk.
Fabianski Pedro!
Pedro
u’v done it – you’v updated the fixtures list
Exactly A… he’s going to be an Arsenal Legend.
A
yes we need another young-ishh defender. i dnt trust DJ sadly. send Vela on loan nxt year to Fulham and in exchange get Hengeland on the cheap
Hangeland isn’t youngish KM! Don’t want Hangeland anyways, and Vela is far too valuable a player to send out on loan! He’s gonna be a big player for us in the second half of this season, certainly gonna contribute more as long as he stays fit and doesn’t spend too much time in Mexico! He’s far too good for Fulham!
I agree Fabianski should be playing now.
Maybe after his looking lost at Anfield most of the match, Wenger will consider making a switch. However, with how loyal he is to players, I don’t think he will.
My worry with Gallas is is that if/when we bring in some 20something star replacement, he will get grumpy again. He seems to really like being ‘the man’ (ie. not feeling any competition for his position).
also on my wishlist for the summer would be Edin Hazard – the boy looks a top class winger in the making. Put him anywhere left or right to provide some natural width and penetration down the flanks.
i would actually take a secodn look at Shawcross…or why not pay some money and buy Dunne..
his looking lost – Almunia, if that was in quesiton. heh
Because Dunne is nowhere near good enough for us! Neither is Shawcross imo
i would buy Dunne in a heart beat…
how old is Hengeland?
to be honest with u A, i think Vela needs a proper season in the EPL. Roy Hodgson is an intelligent manager as well so Vela would be in safe hands. Also think abt it, nxt year we’r gonna have Rvp, New CF, Eddy, Bendtner as the strikers – where will Vela fit in? He needs games – thats obvious but he wont get many at arsenal so hence why i believe that a loan to a Premiership club would do him a world of good.
James Collins would be a much better buy than Dinne, he is pretty average.
i wouldnt mind Dunne as the back-up CB….he’s an old fashioned CB
Denilson will come good. He can pass, and he can also harass. The Physical sid eof his game will come in time. I’d rather nurture him than go out and spend £15mill on someone who would need time to get up to speed with the premier league.
We’ve only ever had one wide player and I doubt that it’s going to change.
KM.. We have only 3 strikers fit at the moment, I think it’s too late for vela to go on loan.
I would have one of Zapata,Fazio, Sakho or Subotic…..
Samir has been reading his transfer rumor blogs…
Shawcross is pretty decent.
LOL Mnm. They are all wonder-kids on Football Manager!
Gallas and Vermaelen ase as good as it comes as far as central defenders are concerned. Then you need somebody who is willing to be a bench player, but also good enough, the likes of James Collins fit that bill. Silvestre is as good as they come as fourth choice.
Zapata is prone to many mistakes, but so is everyone. Subotic has rave reviews, but not too fussed about the others.
rather have carlos cuellar than dunne or collins.
Diakate of Lazio would be Gallas replacement in my opinion but I dunno maybe Gary Cahill would add some of this british steel etc.
28 KM, would be 29 when we signed him. imo Vela will play more and more as this season goes on, he’ll start more and more games, and is too valuable a squad member to let go on loan. He’ll fit in anywhere across the front three
Newcastle are after Wilshere (Loan Deal)
And Lyon confirmed that they were readying a deal for Patrick Vieira!
Cuellar, the guy who is behind both of them in the pecking order? You sure mate?
Songthegreat since your comment, you would have suceeded in buying at least 800 richard dunnes considering that normal heart rate is btw 60 – 100beats per minute and the average of 80
I like Gary Cahill. He won’t add any ‘British steel’ because there is no such thing, but he is a good defender. Very Arsnealesque.
I have alot of faith in Djororu and if we sign Campbell and he is a role model for young Bartley then perhaps Djororu can step up with Bartley learning his trade and Sol as cover.
If Gallas doesnt soon sign Im sure he s off infact I would 89% say Gallas will leave for Milan/France.
Dunne, Collins, Shawcross, Cuellar, Cahill are nowhere near good enough for us and never will be anywhere near good enough imo. Battlers in negative teams, very limited actual talent.
Sakho is one I like the look of but he’s ruled out because of being left footed, Zapata fits the profile, but I’ve not seen him anything like regularly enough to judge his consistency, mistake proneness etc
Hagenlaand is very overated I have seen Kenny Miller skinning him . He had a great season is good no doubt but not a top top centrehalf.
I would agree with that general statement A, but not regarding Collins or Cahill. They are defenders with some pace and intelligence.
I wouldn’t sign either if I had the choice (because I could scour the world like Wenger and find another Vermaelen) but I am sure he has the player in mind.
Shako being left footed is not that much of an issue to be honest.
back to Ibrahimovic
i actually think he’s played better than Messi this season. anyone agree with me? Messi has not playing upto last year’s level this year imo – anyone agree?
i also like the look of Sakho. we need a fast CB because we play with a high backline, therefore we need someone who can get back quickly
Hangeland is average. Just a clogger.
cuellar’s been an absolute beast last few games ive seen him, dunne is slow, collins is ok but nothing special, to be fair im with A none at top top level CBs we need a vidic level player
Boateng from Germany (First name anyone..?). The guy from the U21′s (skipper) who made his full debut recently.
Just a great defensive minded player who could prob do a job at CB, FB or DM.
My fear is that last year was the time to buy him, not in a World Cup year when he’s just made the break into the full side.
The likely figures quoted now would prob have Arsene believing that the fee was in DeutscheMarks not Euros
KM – Ibrahomovic was behind van Persie as the best striker in the World on form until his injury, with Torres and Drogba very close.
Anyone who has not seen it.
Look at the muscle on Zapata….
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0eJi98X98naEE/610x.jpg
No one would push him around!
My last post…more questions than answers ..lol !!
A it was very easy say the same thing about Sol when he was at Spurs that he was only a battler etc but it was only when he played within a top team that he showed more talent and attributes that he was nt allowed to express at Spurs and I feel the same is for Gary Cahill.
Put Cahill alongside Vermaleen/Gallas,Terry/Vidic and you’ll see he is ready to be top quality. Ok he’s not the best on the ground play it out of defence baller but sure enough everything else is up to scratch
“we need a vidic level player”
No we don’t, we need a backup center back that plays when we have injuries, unlike Senderos who is basically non-existent.
Sharkey – Jerome Boateng was my shout at the start of the season when it looked like Eboue would leave (he is a right back/center back). Potentially great.
Who’s got the first ‘gag’ for Samir re him, that pic and the long winter evenings…???
Fiver from me for the best one before 5.20!!
MnM…Cheers MnM…he’s the one.
Yeah he played FB on his full debut, and mainly CB for the U21′s. Very good player….
MnM collins especially I don’t see as having any intelligence. At West Ham he was pretty pants, but has looked much better in a very negative Villa side. Neither have any real pace. Cahill is better but still just the flavour of the month. Young and English therefore really hyped despite being average.
KM Sakho couldn’t play with Vermaelen though, and we need someone who can.
RockyPires
I obviously like RvP but Ibrahimovic is so skillful its unbelievable.
stay calm Franchise…we dont need any heart attacks ..
however i think Dunne or Shawcross would e perfect partners to Wermy…in the premier…and well as long as Gallas is playing this well…it would be as cover…
next year Song will be the new CB…
KM Sakho looks promising too..
ok well we need a player with vidic potential, gallas will probably get 2 years if he stays, if not we’re very very fucked defensively.
A – I would never be one to like the ‘flavours of the month’ because we see it every year (Richards, Dunne, Hangeland) nut Cahill is truly a good player. I have watched him a lot (im from Bolton) and I think he would be a good fit. He is very similar to Gallas, nowhere near as good mind. (but Gallas is the best defender in the World to be fair)
Shako can easily play with Vermaelen. Being left footed would not stop that.
And who is to say Gallas won’t stay?
AT – I get you now. You are talking about his replacement. Fair enough.
Rocky at Spurs Campbell was an amazing player, incredible pace, power, reading of the game, he was rated as one of the top defenders in the league, and an England international.
Cahill is a million miles away from that, he doesn’t have the exceptional physical attributes, and doesn’t have the natural talent/reading of the game/technique to make up for that. I don’t see how he could ever possibly become a top top player, which is what we need imo
StG – next year Song will be the new CB…
No he won’t.
MnM being left footed absolutely means that he couldn’t play with Vermaelen, there isn’t a central defensive partnership in the world with two left footers, because that leaves it incredibly unbalanced and at a big disadvantage
song at CB scares the shit out of me, hes far too slow
I like Ibra Km and think he has great skills and would pay to watch him play but I wouldnt have liked if we spent 70 plus million on a player who doesnt show up when really required and have Etoo in part exchange no way. Just think in Ibra s head he is the complete player but in reality he is 75% the way there the only thing holding him back is mentaly by no means skills wise but his sulking and lack of effort for me suggest he is not in the Drogba or Torres/Villa/Etoo/RVP league
There are players available. Just like Vermaelen. We just need to find him. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Regarding Cahill I just don’t see anything there that would make me think he’ll ever be a top player
A – there are many many center back partnerships who are both right footed, so why not left footers? Its maybe better to have both, but not really a big difference.
If Vermaelen was right footed I doubt he and Gallas would have a much different partnership.
Song Dunne is a great shout.
MnM… yeah i reckon he’ll stay fir atleast another year cos he looks like he’s enjoying his football again. his replacement should be got early doors and eased into a good partnership with verm.
A. You might just have a point there…but why isn’t it the same for two rightfooters..?? Or is it…??
Adams/Keown/Bould/O’Leary, Pally and Bruce, Son a Thief and Rio, Son of a Thief and Carvalho/Alex/Ivanovic..
I could go on….
Off home in 5 so make it quick wiv yer answer !!
Am I the only one who believes JD can be a fine player?
My bet is that he gets a few games at the end of the season, then goes to the WC is people see what a fine player he is.
Djourou has all the attributes of Rio Ferdinand. He can be the real deal. He has height, strength and pace, and is the reason why Senderos will be shipped out.
We will not sign another CB. Just forgedabahdit
A Says:
December 15, 2009 at 17:12
Regarding Cahill I just don’t see anything there that would make me think he’ll ever be a top player
——————————————————–
But you do with Walcott? I just dont get it
Im with you Raddy. By 24/25 i expect him to be a tough cookie
look if fucking djourou and senderos can play for arsenal im sure shawcross and cahill can
and signing any player for the club is always a risk
well said zeus!
And I am not a fan of Djourou. He is a bit soft. Has all the ability in the world, but no real conviction – and he is always injured.
MnM the majority of players are right footed, and a left footed defender has a disadvantage against a right footed player. One left footed centre back can give good balance, but you’ll NEVER find a central defensive partnership with two left footers, unless one or both are pretty much two footed.
No Sharkey it isn’t the same for right footers, because most players are right footed, so you aren’t disadvantaged in the same way, though having one left and one right can give good balance.
It’s also weird that right footed players in general seem to be more two footed, whereas left footed players are usually very one footed, don’t get why that is, though I guess in attacking terms being left footed gives you an advantage over most defenders, with most defenders being right footed
Arsene will no doubt sign a defender if Senderos is sold.
Ibra was total shite in the vital Swedish qualifiers v the Danes.
Big game players have to do it at the big moments. That is why Becks (for all his faults) is a great player. Same goes for Ronaldo (Brazil), and Zidane. They step up when needed.
BR the problem with DJ is that he has a permanent deer in the headlights look. No fault of his of course.
I remember he had some great games at CB alongside Gallas last season but then with the injuries we have the CB situation just got too confusing and no-one developed a real partnership.
Yeah Zeus, Theo has some things about him that are exceptional, his movement and pace, and finishing when he’s playing with confidence, and he’ll develop those to use them very effectively for the team.
A – left footed players have no difference to right footed players. Its a load of nonsense. You can tackle with your right foot if you are left footed, its not like trying to write with your wrong hand.
Raddy I’m not a fan of JD, although he has the physical attributes he’s SO dumb on the pitch that I don’t ever see him developing that focus for 90 mins, or the general intelligence and understanding, reading of the game etc.
A – Two separate answers for me and MnM, like I’m too stupid to get your drift from the first paragraph.
You honestly thought I needed a second..??
Who do you take me for ?????? (insert LG name of choice here) !!
Yellow card
Nite all….
Thanks Franchise..
Big Raddy…i agree its abit harsh on Djourou..still im not certain..i have my doubts and i think he could easily follow in the footsteps of Senderos..both have a great heart and the kind of players one can only like..my doubt is strictly due to the fact that im doubting Johans ability to read games…
A – I think you are talking about Walcott there…
And did you know that Walcott had the second worst scoring rate in the Arsenal squad last season, behind Toure?
MnM it isn’t natural, if you’re right footed it’s easier to tackle someone, or intercept a pass if it’s on your right side than your left side. That’s the reason there isn’t a top central defensive partnership with two left footers, and I can’t think of one ever?!
MnM, with total respect, there is serious doubt that AW will sign another CB. We have a surfeit of them. Song, Silvestre and JD are CB cover. We have some great kids coming through. . AW knows what he has in JD.
He has had one serious injury in his career, but according to you, that makes him “a bit soft”. If that is the case, what is RvP? Or Essien?
Sorry Sharkey, I was just addressing the specific comments from the two of you individually!
That’s because left footed players are usually forced into being left backs/wingers because of the lack of left footed players. It makes literally no difference in reality.
The only advantage is from a passing perspective, that is what Lahm is one of the best left backs in the world.
The reason for left footed players being less two footed imo is that in their early development they get the advantage of being wrong-sided all the time whereas right-footed ones have to use their wrong side to add the element of surprise.
Also are there more left-footed sports people than the corresponding population percentage?
Raddy – why wouldn’t he sign a center back? Djourou is out all season (pretty much) and when Senderos goes we will only have three, with Silvestre being classd as a fourth choice center back.
MnM,
no, it does make a difference, because of body position, you will mostly get the wrong side of a right footer attacker…
Mobido Diakite is my bet if we sign anyone in the summmer though
have a good one Sharkey never forget we’re on a Song mission…hehe
And JD looked fine before his injury, but like all players he needs a run of games to establish whether he can step up to be our first choice CB or not.
FFS the man is only 22 y.o. !!
To dismiss him before he has the opportunity to play with TV is madness.
Still, the grass is always greener ……..
MnM sorry but that’s bollocks, you can argue how much of a difference it makes, but to say it makes literally no difference is ridiculous.
Most footballers are right footed.
Right footed players are stronger on their right side, and weaker on their left side.
Left footed players are stronger on their left side, and weaker on their left side.
Therefore left footers have an automatic advantage offensively over a right footer, and and automatic disadvantage defensively over a right footer.
This is why there are much more left footed attackers, than there are defenders.
Not really. And its nothing that has ever been proven. Torres did nothing against Vermaelen on Sunday, and most strikers do nothing against him.
A Maldini and Materrazi played a CB together for Italy
Materazzi and Chivu
cordoba and materazzi are both left footed if im not wrong and they have played together
Despite all his footballing knowledge,A’s views are really blinkered when it comes to Arsenal.I have never seen him criticising Arsene,even when he had royally choked up.
A would have been drooling about the likes of Shawcross and Cahill,if they were playing for our reserves and would have been berating the likes of Diaby and Silvestre,if they were not playing for us.
Maldini was a right footer i think. my bad
yep DJ is not Arsenal class. he’s 4th choice CB. get a another classy back-up CB in Wenger. i’m off. Have a gr8 evening Grovers! lets hope ManU lose 2nite
This is why there are much more left footed attackers, than there are defenders.
——————————————————
How come a person’s natural foot be determining whether he is gonna end up a striker or defender?
Big Raddy…
well he was doin ok…not great..and yes he is only 22..but if you dont have the mind for it…you cant learn that….he seems very very nervous..its a pity to be honest…
Im off anyway. Hopefully we will all be ripping into Theo when I come on next time.
Call me Verminator!
lucio is also left footed
inter have 3 or 4 left footed CBs they have paired together quite often in the last few months/years
Franchise very very rarely, Maldini was right footed and almost always played left back, Materazzi and Chivu rarely have played together, pretty sure Cordoba is right footed, or very two footed if he’s left footed.
Jaguar I’d be drooling over the likes of Shawcross and Cahill if I saw them as actually having any talent.
A Says:
December 15, 2009 at 17:21
Yeah Zeus, Theo has some things about him that are exceptional, his movement and pace, and finishing when he’s playing with confidence, and he’ll develop those to use them very effectively for the team.
——————————————————–
I think your assessment of Walcott and what he brings to the table are theoretical. His pace means he SHOULD stress defences and get in behind time and again on goal, but in the games he has played thus far (I know he’s played what, 3 games) that has been far from the truth.
Cant agree about exceptional finishing either, a cursory glance at his goal stats shows that the most he has been able to score in 1 season is 7 goals, scored playing in every competition that Arsenal was involved.
He is to us what Babel is to Liverpool and Nani is to Man Utd. If he wants to be a good player in the long run he should bulk up so he can play striker. Bulking up would slow him down a little, which could help his propensity to go 100 mph and forgetting ball behind him, plus he is so fast anyway that even with more bulk he would still be the fastest in the league easily still.
He is instinctive, not really the thinking type, but to everyman his own, you like him.
my point when it regards Shawcross,Dunne is quite simple..i think we sometimes need that special english determination..and we could need some more aerial power bot up front and at the back…and well both players have had a great season..and who’s to say that they wouldnt improve even further under Wenger,most players do…
Jaguar I just explained that in the same post, read it! Being left footed gives a player an advantage attacking, and a disadvantage defending, against a right footer, therefore more left footers become attackers, because it gives them an automatic advantage
Lucio is right footed Franchise….
last season chivu and materazzi played a lot together
Theo isn’t as dumb as Babel or as distracted as Nani and younger than both! I think he’ll be much better than both.
Franchise. Thanks for the kind words yesterday. They are reciprocated…..
Jaguar. You calling A blinkered is really the pot calling the kettle black !!
Unfortunately if we are to believe reports Mayank Theo earns more than those two
I think we have to replace almunia sooner than anyone else on the squad.
However good the defence is, it is pretty useless if your GK is flapping all the time and making silly mistakes, and lowering the confidence of your defenders.
Evening BR.. hows the married life going on?
no problem Raddy
Me too Mayank
STG? What’s the difference b/w English determination and African or Spanish determination? No offence of course…
zeus theo got in behind against olympiakos 3-4 times….
When he’s playing with confidence his finishing is exceptional, for the u21s, villareal, against chelsea and birmingham, his one goal this season, but he’s someone who often suffers from a lack of confidence.
He’s very different from Nani and Babel imo because he’s got the intelligence, whereas both of them are thick as shit
Theo just like playing against weaker opponets. Mind you who doesnt. All he needs to do is step up against the big boys
Franchise Materazzi started 8 games last season….
You saying I am blinkered Raddy!?
Franchise you also have to take into account that Theo is much more marketable than those two. Arsenal stand to make a lot of money off him if he makes it big time. He’s already sold more shirts than his contributions deserve.
Choy. Married life is great ( I have tried it many times !!), let’s hope I don’t get transferred out this time
I agree entirely about our GK. He is so, so important. A quality GK inspires confidence. Ask any of the GG team about Seamo.
Is that where we have gone wrong Mayank???? Marketing before delivering on the pitch????
Haha A! I noticed that too, Raddy managed to insult both you and Jaguar in one sentence. I didn’t understand whether he’s standing up for you or doing a roast…
Theo is a bit too fast physically than mentally…
But he will come good.. I have no worries.
A. Quite the contrary, or are you being ironic?
fair point Mayank and to be totally honest im not able to explain it…to me its something that i just feel deep down….and maybe it has something to do with the way English football have been played trough generations…not a good answer Mayank..but its the best i can give you
Good to hear
lol Mayank
Its not the matter of times he started that matters A. They played together
Cordoba and Chivu were 1st choice pairing although Im still not 100% certain that Cordoba is a leftie
2 left footed CBs if they are of good quality can play together
as for forwards its a different ball game
alright guys im off catch you later
No Franchise i wouldn’t call it going wrong, my belief is that wages are calculated on return on investment and Theo scores a lot in the marketing column.
A successful Owen would always bring more money into a club than a successful RuudvN.
What intelligence,A?He hasnt done anything so far,worthy of his price tag.
Well,I think the grovers would have to propagate an agenda or summat,which would convince that David Villa is a 14 year old kid,who has the potential to be the next Thierry Henry.I dont see anyother chance apart from that to see him at Arsenal
Burnley will be a tough game. Supposedly their defenders are really slow though. They’ll play attacking football and pressure us just as much as Liverpool did in the first half. Its becoming predictable, isn’t it?
Hope we’re ready for it.
When the AKBs dont have anything else to defend the policies of Mr.Wenger,they bring in the marketing aspect.Wonderful stuff indeed
SongtheGreat. Just the way the English media likes to portray it, in the absence of much else to harp on about. In fact if it has taught us anything, it’s that determination does not win you football matches
I honestly don’t mind the ‘long term’ plan. But then we have to be honest with ourselves and realize it will take more years for this Super Team to reach it’s potential and that some of them just aren’t going to make it and will have to be jettisoned for someone better.
It’s impossible to think every single young player (Denilson, Diaby, Ramsey, Wilshere, Traore, Johan, Song, Walcott, Vela, Gibbs and those are just the guys getting some time with the 1st team, not counting all the youth/reserve players)are going to become World Class, A+ players. Someone(s) is going to fail or fall to the side.
Pat…
liverpool created fear in our team like other *top four*seems to do,when we are confident we will tear teams that attack us to pieces…im not worried im lookin forward to tomorrows game..and think we will see us back at our best…
Jaguar;
An AKB is someone who in a debate says a Arsene’s every decision is the right one by virtue of it being Arsene’s decision. So you won’t find any AKB’s here.
Secondly, there has to be system according to which wages are negotiated and I believe it’s on the basis of ROI.
I’m worried about tomorrow, Burnley is a tough place to go, they’ve only lost once there this season, gotten results against good teams too, but it’s the sort of game we have to win if we’re to win the league
ROI Mayank?So what was the criteria behind the 80K offered to Greedybywhore,which would have been a royal screw up,had the northern chavs not come up with a ridiculous offer to lure him away.
SongtheGreat, I don’t believe it was fear at all. We see this from Arsenal very, very often when teams get stuck in.
I expect a poor 20 minutes at least, but I hope I’m wrong.
A. they have played good teams, but the’ve played nobody like us yet. They’ve won these games by having a go. moving the ball around, and keeping it on the deck. Can they really expect to beat us at our own game?
Of course nothing in football is certain. But i’m confident that we will win. Our players are hopefully going to be up for it, and everyone will give 100% to stay in that title race
Honest Bill..
media created or not…it has been pretty obvious trough history that other countries tries to play a more playing game, while England have tried to force the tempo and made a war out of it…and some times very well..it wasnt that long ago that Wimbledon had a fair bit of success in the premier doing just that..and lets just agree without determination you do loose ..well seen in the first half against pool
Umm I don’t know, maybe a 30 goal a season striker deserves 80k… Other 30 goal strikers are on much much more. The attitude problem, though not very surprising was unexpected at least for Arsene.
Pat it’s not going to be easy, but Burnley don’t have the ability to close down with anything like the intensity that Liverpool did, and they certainly don’t have Mascherano! If they do manage to get amongst us early on then I’d bet on us destroying them in the last 20 when they’re dead on their feet
Jaguar. I have noticed that whenever someone disagrees with you, you call them AKB’s.
Why does an honest summation of the clear differences between two pony players and the potentially great TW make that blogger an AKB?
Of course you are entitled to your opinion, however much I may disagree, but I find your reliance upon the AKB epithet facile.
HB they did beat Utd….
SongtheGreat. Yes without determination, you will lose, but you cannot win on that alone. And i think that results have shown that English players have no more or less determination than any other players
Burnley aren’t really a physical team, they play attacking football at home.
I think it’s going to be a good match.
a fulham should of had a couple goals in the first half against them,we all know they will come out of the traps and close us down just as the scoucers did to us on sunday,whoever gets the first chance for us needs to take it otherwise we could be in for the same old
Burnley have won once in their last 4 games at Turf Moor. They’ll be up for this though.
Why can’t our players just work their asses off like they did at the start of the season, closing everyone down. Barca did it a lot last year and it really helps create havoc for the other team.
A. If that is the case how is it that Burnley beat MU ?
A, Utd only play football against park the bus teams. Against other footballing teams like us and AC you’d have noticed they play on the counter. That’s why Ronaldo was important to them.
A. yes but United don’t really play anything like us. United are far more of a structured team, they don’t play anywhere near the kind of pass and move game that we do. Burnley, I am confident, will not be ready for us.
If what is the case Raddy?
They do Pat. Instead of looking at the first half at Anfield, why not look at the 2nd ! (cup half full…..)
Who knows, the score may end up being 3-4 in favor of us!
All I know is that they really impressed me at times this season
carrick also missed a pen otherwise that game would of had a different result if it went in
Why does an honest summation of the clear differences between two pony players and the potentially great TW make that blogger an AKB?
——————————————————-
I was referring to the marketing aspect,which Mayank brought up,BR.We have never focussed on the marketing and branding aspects of the club,which has hurt our revenues big time,and I found it ridiculous when he brought up the marketing aspect apparently to defend Theo Walcott.Mind you,Arsene had spend over the odds on 17 year old kid,and he hasnt shown anything to justify his price tag.
HB I agree about that, though away from home, and especially recently our movement hasn’t been what it was. I think we should be ok though, I expect Theo to score tomorrow
A. Burnley not having ability….
I agree with Honest Bill..
We surely cant expect to be outplayed by Burnley, if they really are going to try and pass it around us. That will play right into our hands we will pick them off much in the same fashion we did against Wolves.
We should show a determination to win.. I can’t imagine the players putting in another inept peformance akin to the one against Liverpool
If we get an early goal or two tomorrow it should be comfortable as Wolves was after the first 20 mins, but if we don’t then it could be tight.
even in the carlin cup against them last season we created chances agiinst them at will but were unable to finish due to the ineptness of bendtner and vela that day
Liverpool collapsed in the 2nd. I don’t think we were brilliant. We didn’t create much either…
Carrick pen wouldn’t change much. We can “what if” alll we want, but Burnley had the better chances that game and I can similarly say, “what if” they took those chances?
look its man united we are talking about not arsenal if man u took the lead in that game they would not of thrown the game away
Jaguar. Whilst perhaps agreeing with you about our marketing, I was referring to your use of AKB as an argument. It was clearly irrelevant to your argument.
I am sure you are aware that to be called an AKB on LG is an insult, though personally I am definitely an AKB (with some slight question marks)
This Burnley is much different from their CC team
huh Raddy?! You interpret me saying Burnley don’t have the ability to close down with the intensity Liverpool did me saying thay have no ability?! You saying they’re as good as Liverpool, or their midfielders as good at that as Mascherano?!
No doubt it will be a tough game. By no means do i expect to walk over them. But their prior home form means very little in my opinion, or at least in this case. Every team out there knows that playing Arsenal is a different kettle of fish. Burnley, if they try to play their usual game, will lose out to us i believe. And if they play to match us like most teams do, well they will likely be out of sorts as it’s not how they’re used to playing, especially at Turf Moor. I’m very confident
BRaddy;
It’s actually quite amusing to see the situations in which the AKB label is used. It’s like saying because you agree with the pope that kindness is good that you’re a fundamentalist or something similar.
Just because anyone agrees with the majority of Wenger’s vision and decisions does not mean that its blind faith.
I didnt know that it was an insult,Big Raddy.I had never resorted to the levels of personal abuse against anyone(ofcourse except Diaby and Silvestre
).
Pat. The Dippers collapsed because we upped our tempo, and closed down their players all over the pitch. It is simplistic just to say that they “collapsed”. There was a reason for it.
I don’t even take “AKB” as an insult, it’s a compliment, people generally use it when they don’t have the ability to provide any logical argument as to why they reckon you’re wrong.
BBK, the penalty wouldn’t give them the lead though!
what min was the penalty then stato????
A. I clearly misunderstood you.
Jaguar. Fairplay…..
Right before half time I think.
You say “what if” he made it. I say “what if” Burnley took their good chances? It would have been 2-0 at least before the penalty.
United were awful that day. Didn’t create anything.
I think the second half against Pool was a combination of factors. Not only did we buck our ideas up and up our commitment levels, But Liverpool either decided to stop pressing us so hard and keep their shape to sit on their lead, or they weren’t physically able to maintain their work rate from the first half. Either way, both factors contributed to the turnaround.
That doesn’t detract from the marked improvement of our players though
Jaguar;
Arsene has always maintained that he has a valuation of a players market value and he negotiates around that. I believe that valuation is based on ROI, which includes the potential a players has on the field in terms of goals saves tackles work ethic etc and off the field in terms of marketing etc.
I agree we’re not good very with marketing but every nike store in India has a big Fabregas poster on it so we don’t neglect it altogether either. Wasn’t Gazidis brought in to help with the marketing aspect.
Dont know about the vision.I wouldnt rather call it blinkeredness if we remain trophyless for another season,all because of his stubbornnes
Haha never thought of it that way A! I guess it is a compliment…
what if man united took there chances that pen right on half time if converted would of fucked them up
Man Utd had no chances BBK!!!!!! Thats the whole point!
Burnley looked like scoring more than United. The game could have gone on another 90 minutes, Utd were clueless.
we often tend to forget that football is more about the team being in the right frame of mind…and the win on sunday..was crucial for Arsenal as a team, for the players..and for Wenger…
and you can write it down..that game was the turning point of our season…
Man U always struggle against good footballing teams if their counter-attacks don’t work.
I cant comprehend why we overlooked the revenue part from the west and the far east.Chavs despite their filthy russian oil,is a bigger brand in Asia than us,which smacks of negligence of the highest order.
Ofcourse from Arsenal’s management.
I think the turning point was when Wenger stood up near the exit arms folded at OT when the ref banned him. It’s been characteristic of our defiance this season.
SongtheGreat. I couldn’t agree more. A massive part of football is psychological. Often it is the only part we lack. Hopefully sunday’s result can go some way to rectify that
and of all the games tonight im pretty sure that villa will be thought a lesson….its not easy playin up north on good old Roker Park
While that is true the Chavs had half the marketing done for them thanks to their star purchases which made the back pages in big bold letters. Makes any new football fan think that they are the biggest team around. But you’ll find that the no. of Chelsea’s fans have been on a steep decline after their initial shock and awe.
“Turning point” will count for fuck all if we drop pts against Burnley and Hull City.
Villa will be a really, really, hard game. They play better away from home cause they focus on counterattacking.
Too true Pat.
Later all. Night.
back.
eboue traveling, denilson injured.
Pat after the terrible result at the Emirates last season I reckon we’ll be very up for the Villa game, and hopefully give them a real schooling
3-1 to the arsenal tomorrow
Bent or Cole for ARsenal?
Do you guys rate Bent? He’s scored 10, but in 9 different matches. Against all of last years top 4 as well.
Bent is pretty decent, but we need someone like cole.
imo Bent is nowhere near good enough for us Pat, he’s pace, power, and kicking the ball hard, but that’s it. Link up play and all round game is very poor, as is his general footballing intelligence.
Cole though I’m a fan of and wouldn’t mind him at all
Cole qould fit in at Arsenal. He’s always injured!!
I don’t think Bent would strive at our club. Were he to get off to a bad or even normal start his confidence would be shattered.
Cole I would rather have.. but he has a shaky injury record so I wouldn’t want to add to the pretty full physio room already
Few observations about the match after watching highlights:-
Song is slow as Molasses not only in terms of speed and also in terms of thinking. When Verminator moved up pitch we are exposed at the back and Torres got the free roll and no one marked. Song was very slow to fill the gap. Actually that was the best clear cut opportunity created by any team in the match.
We need a target man. Some Donky is also ok. We need to stick some one there if we are going to play this formation. That gives more opportunity for full backs to move the ball forward. Otherwise, they will get cramped.
maurya yeah in that instance it really surprised me, because it’s the exact opposite of what usually happens. One big thing that’s happened all season is that when Vermy or Gallas go forwards Song drops back to just make another centre back, but for some reason he didn’t there.
I disagree about needing a target man or donkey, and believe the exact opposite! This system is completely dependent on having all the attacking players being very good all round footballers, and able to interchange with each other. If the central striker can’t drop deep and link up the play, or swap with the wide men and spend time on the flank, then the entire system would fall apart. I see that as the main reason we shipped off Ade, because he isn’t capable of that.
Traore is definately out of tomorrows game which is a real problem for us, Silveste will be identified as our weakest link, and he doesn’t have the pace to play in our high defensive line.
Apart from that a cant see how they can beat us, they are surely not dumb enough to try to outplay us, I expect them to try and disrupt our passing game and hope for a draw.
I expect out players to be very determined and professional after sundays bollocking.
Song is never going to have it all so i agree that speed is something he lacks.
However, he dominated midfield after the break.. intercepting and breaking forward. The whole team needs to learn defensive stability, and Song cannot carry us defensively.
I agree a target man is needed, and that will come in the form of Bendtner when he returns.
Wow just noticed that Fab is leading the score charts.. and is also the best assister in the league.
He really is starting to step it up!
Is he leading the score charts?
I though Dogshit was….
for arsenal.. but he is leading the assisting charts!
come on man, song is becoming a bloody fantastic defensive midfielder. his appreciation for where players are, and their momentum (hence his ball retention in tight positions) is second to none
does anyone know where to watch the replay of tom game just after it ends cause i gonna be away for a while???
Maurya – just for you mate !!!
“How to be an Arsenal doom and gloomer in ten easy steps
1. Take individual moments from games and use them as proof for your point. But avoid seeing these in context.”
Have you ever seen ANYONE catch Torres…???
Oh yer Choy. I hope he carries it on
Which game Gooby?
What the fuck is Mick McCarthy doing?! Playing a reserve team against Utd, very strange
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has made 10 changes from the team that beat Spurs for the game at Old Trafford
Hahnemann, Zubar, Mancienne, Elokobi, Hill, Halford, Foley, Castillo, Friend, Surman, Maierhofer
the burnley game. is thre a way to watch it directly after full time. i’ve been invited to a stupid dinner, can’t escape :@
What the fuck?!?!?!?! Managerial masterstroke, or just asking for a walloping?
What a fuking bastard.
Maybe he think’s the first team will have no chance, might aswell give them a rest?
Or how much has he been payed?
If they win or draw it is going to be hilarious!
Can you imagine having paid your £45.00(?)to get in to OT having had a great away win on Sat…only to find that only one of your starting 11 from that game has kept their place….
Fucking disgrace…..
Gooby if you stream using sopcast you can record, so you could get someone to do that for you
Wolves will still fuck ‘em
I wish teams threw game against us. Fucking bullshit. Matchfixing at its finest
And No.4′s perfect for you Jag.
“4. Take as a starting point the vision that you know more than the manager, even if you have never managed a team, and never won the league title. Likewise take also as a starting point the fact that your views are not being put into effect as proof that the manager has lost it. Since there is only one right vision of the game, and you are expressing it, the manager is, by clear extension, a dope.”
Well Gooby the best website for Arsenal highlights is http://arsenalist.com/
He usually has the goal’s up within 20 mins after the game.
Full highlighs are usually uploaded by him an hour or so later usually.
But when we lose he usually does not upload any of the goals or highlights
Either way he is very reliable and very helpful…
Very stupid, if they get walloped.. i bet they are going to lose at the weekend as well.
It’s funny. Now that the refs aren’t giving United the title on a plate, the other managers are starting to try it
Mick McCarthy has just cememted as a royal cunt. What the fuck is he doing. Having just won at WHL and united having just been beaten at home he plays a reserve team. What the fuck is he thinking.
United will give them a spanking now and get all their confidence back…fucking lucky bunch of bastards.
Haha fuck off Thompson you cunt. What about the “Big three”?
Or if you have no luck with that Match Of The Day will be on from 10:45 on BBC1
*cemented
Is Mick McCarthy resting players ahead of a crucial CL game…??
er why are some guys on this board discussing whether a Spurs reject like Bent should be playing for arsenal?
He’s right Bill. No longer a top 4…liverpool are out and its a top 3
They’re playing burnley at the weekend ! pffft
Milan’s vice-president Adriano Galliani declared they were not interested in him due to having similar players available. With Pato, Huntelaar, Borriello and Inzaghi all at the club it only makes sense they do not want to purchase another centre-forward.
Lets hope Wolves get a few corners and free kick’s.
The tallest player in the league is leading Wolves line.
Maierhofer at 2.02 m (6 ft 7 1⁄2 in)!!!!
Stu. I guess being a half wit he would at least be half right
I assume thats about Dzeko Samir?
Surely Inzaghi is due to retire and under Leonardo Milan play 4-3-3 now so maybe they could do with another forward.
I hope Wolves win tonight and get fucking smashed at the weekend
Yeah Stu, I don’t buy that, Inzaghi is getting on, Huntelaar is gonna be sold, and Borrielo isn’t very good, Pato playing out wide too so they could do with Dzeko in there
Ye it is Stu.
Maybe your right, also Hunterlaar might soon be off….
But Adriano Galliani apparently declared it?
And Man Ure are also supposedly after Neuer as their #1 target…
Even though Fergie said he isn’t in the market for a keeper….
You can never trust anything the papers say, and gotta take what clubs and managers say with a pinch of salt!
Add to all of that Ronaldinho being beyond shit then they could certainly do with a new attacker.
I really hope Neuer doesnt sign for united. I dont want them having a quality keeper. They should just stick with VDS, Foster and Kuzszcak (or however its spelt).
WOLVES PLAYING THEIR SECOND STRING TEAM AGAINST MAN UTD!!!! How shameful is that??
Cana is such a stupid footballer
Ronaldinho being beyond shit stu?! He’s the main reason they’re where they are in the league this season imo, 3 goals and 8 assists in 13 games! They’ve scored 23 league goals and he’s contributes 11 of them, without him they wouldn’t be able to score for shit!
Im basing my opinions totally on last season and him being in the Ballon Bin list.
Not surprising Cana has the most Yellows in the league.
*or should that be Golden Bin.
10x A and Samir
Ah ok Stu. This season he’s basically Milan’s only creative player, 8 assists, and the next highest assister in their team is Pirlo on 2! Basically he creates goals, or Milan have real trouble scoring.
He isn’t where he was at Barca, but he was the best in the world by some distance then, but has been constantly getting better since he went to Milan.
“How to be an Arsenal ‘Song is the best thing ever to happen to Arsenal’ in ten easy steps
1. Take individual moments from games and use them as proof for your point. But avoid seeing these in context.”
Have you ever seen ANYONE catch Song…???
Wolves are playing well tbh.
http://p2p4u.net/watch-live-sports.php?id=10037&link=2
Sunderland 0 Villa 1
Villa up 1-0.
We will struggle against them. 6 pts from Burnley and Hull City is a must
OK now Wovles are playing shit!
Birmingham 1 Blackburn 0
Woilves are pathetic. Cross the fookin ball when you have a giant in the box!!
Birmingham are the form team in the PL. Most pts in the last 6-7 games
That’s right Pat. A good little team they have coming along!
I bloody hate Birmingham. I hope they get comfortably relegated.
How did we lose to Sunderland? They’re playing like shit.
By the time we play Villa we should have Clichy back. We arent going to struggle against them one bit. Clichy would be back to cover any gabs/leaks that we have if they hit us on the counter in a high line.
Thats all Villa are good for. Crosses in the box and counters.
OMG what a miss by Wolves!!!
Friend skied it!
wolves miss a sitter. At least I consider that a sitter.
Also how did we draw with West Ham, Lose to Man Ure and Man City?
David, thats exactly what we struggle against!
Kuszczak just dropped it in the box. Nearly had to pay!
But of course, O’Neil will play Carew against us, instead of Heskey.
Sunderland had a good chance
Simple Samir…lack of a qualify goalkeeper.
Mick McCarthy you fool a full side would’ve raped Man U.
Such juvenile football on display in the Man U Wolves match…
Lucky cunts united. As if a shit team wasnt enough, now one of the shit players decides to give them a goal.
fack
Fucking lucky bastards. They ALWAYS get penalties when they’re struggling.
I wish we were gifted games bny opposing managers and players. Fucking bullshit
what the fuck was he thinking of
I missed it. Was it a genuine pen?
WTF!!! United always have panaltys to open the score.
What a cunts are United. I really hope they end out of the top 4. Fucking usless cunts!!!
How the hell do these shite teams get into the premiership for Goodness sake.
Why would you gift united a goal like that?
Zubar punched the ball in the D.
It was a pen.Stupid handball
I hate United so much!!!
What if Rooney got an injury similar to RVP’s? They’d be fucked. He’s their only good offensive player
That’s right Pat!! But we are unlucky and United is always lucky with anything!!! CUNTS!!
Damn…………guess its 2 much to ask that United lose 2 in a row at home.
wow the fucking cunts don’t even pressure kuszczak, even though he is a bad kicker!
They dont need to lose. Just want them to draw.
Same applies for chelsea as well.If drogba gets injured they could get fucked.But these cunts never get injured
well at least drogba is away for a month or so!
It looks like wolves don’t even want to score
Yeah.Also you could say essien won’t feature atleast for another month
game over
Wolvampton are shite.
useless fucking keeper.
This Obertan fellow could be good in a few years…
I’ll go back to bed…
Might as well turn to Aston Villa 2nd half. That game over for wolves.
Villa are right up there!
Can someone please explain, if AV wins, does that make them 3rd?? If so, I fu*king hope Sunderland beats them or at least draw, BUT at 0-2 I don’t hold out much hope………………………
Yes it does skandi, they will be on 32 points!
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/4206550/
Villa have really surprised me thus far. We will struggle against them
They were doing pretty well last year too.. until the collapse!
we’ll see pat. We’ll be so up for it after last year I could see us giving them a battering
Cana sees red!
Its not going to be easy A. They have beaten Pool, Chavs, Manc’s!
How about Eboue left back tomorrow rather than silvestre?
We need Clichy or Traore back against Villa.
nar it wont happen A .
when traore got taken off silverstre was wengers natural 1st pick to fill in there ..
unless others in the pecking order like gibbs etc. cannot play i think youll find silvestre get game …
it was wengers pick on the weekend over eboue then it will be next game also ..
Eboue wasn’t in the squad at the weekend as he was injured so silvestre was the only option to come on. It probably will be Silvestre, but Eboue has played there before, so I wouldn’t rule it out.
the next 8 games are winnable …
wenger just needs to keep bollocking them !
and playing a scorer up front ..
Pat isn’t Clichy meant to be back for Hull, as well as Traore? Sure at least one of them will be back for Villa, as will Rosicky.
yes id rule it out ..
totally …
why ethan?
I’d rather play Silvestre there. He’s a fairly decent LB
Something happened in that 2nd half Vs pool that was close to ground moving ..
i think if we do get into any position to mount a challenge that game showed me the team has some grit about them still… i think if there is a turning point this year it has to be that half of football and the transition should happen now …
if its coming …
I dunno HB, it depends on Burnley’s make up, Eboue would offer much more going forward, and has more pace, but obviously Silvestre is better defensively, and with Eagles as their right mid we won’t need pace defensively really.
….cause it wont happen …
you dont need to be a rocket scientist to work it out A !
Burnley tied Villa and beat united. it’ll be tough, but I hope we can do it.
I would rather Silvestre left back than Eboue. Silvestre is a naturally left sided player, is more defensive and knows the role a lot better than Eboue.
Eagles or whoever they play right midfield may not be the fastest but you dont need much pace when you have no defender around you. Eboue played rightback recently and left his marker in acres of space most of the time. Not because of good movement but because Eboue was too eagre to move forward and too slow to get back.
I think the relegation positions are already filled. Pompey, WHU and Wolves.
WHU were ghastly this evening, and anyone who thinks Green is good enough for AFC is deluded.
And Wolves should be fined for putting out a team with 10 changes from the side that beat Sp*rs. How insulting is that to there travelling support? If we did it, the FA would hammer us.
pretty stupid BR..
when you are winning, why would you need to make 10 changes the very next game, he has banked on 3 points against burnley.
It’s going to come back and haunt him.
thank stu it saved me explaining
not to mention when was the last time you saw eboue at LB v’s silvestre ..
short of silvestre getting injured its fucking doubtful A ..
very doubtful
i think are starting to think like wenger too .
yes lets play eboue at LB now , he’s been in every other position this season apart from goal keeper ..
and on a few occasions id rather had seen him in goal than almunia
i think u are starting to think like wenger too .
United were there for the taking.Hope wolves get relegated
Birmingham above the Dippers.
great photo – good article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1236180/Arsene-Vesuvius–Job-like-living-volcano–says-Arsenal-manager.html?ITO=1490
not fit to wear the shirt !
nice ….
Villa look class. They ready can make the top4 this season. They are quality and will give us hard time.
Not sure I’d go that far Maciek, but they do have a very negative game plan which is working incredibly well at the moment, and I doubt they’ll make the same mistake as last year and think they can actually compete by playing football. They’ll most likely keep their 10 men behind the ball and rely on breaks, and diving to win set pieces for goals. Bolton but with a bit more ability.
I hope Villa do finish top 4.
Anything to stop Pool, Man City, or spurs getting in
HB – Birmingham are my favourites for the top 4
A. Yeah they’ll do
Villa too would be my prefered team for the top 4. Simply because they are the least prepared if they do get there.
Their squad is too small to deal with the pressure and in the eufa cup they were shit because MON wanted to focus on the prem.
If City, Liverpool or Spuds finished 4th they would all likely spend lots of money to quarentee progression into the group stages…somehow i dont think Randy Lerner would be willing to splash 30m+ on new players.
Stu, Villa have overspended us( not to difficult) and probably even spurs since 2007.
For me it’s just about hating the other three
*overspend
james milner take a bow son,what a strike that was
BBK. A link,mate?Please.
Maciek,
should be on 101 great goals website
cannot post the link, but you should be OK just googling it…
and yes, fuck me, some screamer
Thanks.Boisz się Villi Suga?
czuje respekt, ale sie nie boje
this attitude should do for our players…
Sell Theo, sign Milner.
no, I think Theo will come good – despite some harsh words I had for him, I love the fella…
Theoooo, Theoooo, Theoooooo!!!
Villa will be a really, really tough game. They mauled us in both games last season and they’re probably better now.
Hope they play Heskey over Carew.
He’s generally a rubbish player though.
Well, this time O’Neill will try to avoid same mistakes he has done a year ago. I fear he will bring someone better than Heskey this time. And I fear that Wenger will not make a move as usual and we end up empty handed yet again!We shall see.
Theo is shit. I really do hate him. First off, he talks too much. 2ndly, he’s a weaklng.
3rdly, all he has is pace.
Milner, Young, Downing, Lennon, And SWP are all better imo
no, he ain’t – not a winger, but definitely has a few tricks up his sleeve…
just needs some sharpness, which should come with games – I expect him to tear Burnley a new one with his pace, shame we have no target man…
He is nowhere near any of the players Pat stated.
Emiliano Ellia guys? Or, Arda Turan? Angel di Maria?
ut Emmanuel Eboue is fit again while Wenger insists that he will standby keeper Manuel Almunia despite his shaky display at Liverpool.
Wenger added: “I have full confidence in him and I will pick him at Burnley. I have watched the game against Liverpool well.
“The ball was deflected by Lucas and I did not see that during that game. He came and Lucas touched the ball with his head and deflected the ball.”
So Wenger thinks that Almunia was not at fault? If a keeper comes out, he HAS to get the ball, simple as that. Szczesny is probably better than all of our keepers already, can’t we just play him?
You mean Eljero Elia Maciek? He is quality. Di Maria would be fecking awesome, but I am a huge fan of Milner.
MnM,
you say Theo is shit, but you also happen to rate Denilson – bizarre, if you ask me…
only SWP of all the mentioned had a sniff in the CL, where Theo was quite something…
off form? yes…
shit? fuck no…
Fuuny, that our last winger was Marc Overmars.
SUGA3 – I rate Denilson because he is fantastic. He is soooooo much better in his position than Theo is in his. Its not even comparable.
MnM. Yes, Eljero, sorry for mistake. Milner? Are You sure mate? Isn’t he average?Best wishes.
I hate using youtube but…
Almunia did get the ball. Problem is that he just slapped it downwards and right into the path of Kuyt.
Pat,
I am a massive fan of Szczesny, but he is not yet ready to play in the league – still a boy, does not have enough upper body strength to cope with Prem strikers and needs more experience…
agreed, best keeper (raw talent wise) out of all four, but needs to be loaned out somehwere, as he will not get past useless Mannone…
Milner is well above average. How could you say that. Watch Villa man, he is by far their best player. Scored a great goal today.
Considering Song has been our best player this season, those stats are bollocks. I’m guessing they are based on goals/assists etc and not on work rate.
Diaby has only played about 4 games, but has somehow scored a couple of goals and is in the list, however, Song has worked his nuts off and got nothing.
Anyway, 3 points v Burnley is a must now Villa and the Mancs have won.
Maciek, not happening with Elia. He only just joined Hamburg. Too soon for him to move imo.
As for Milner. Great worker with 2 good feet but not great with either…however he does score the odd spectacular goal. Would be a good squad player for us but no more.
MnM,
Denilson is fantastic?
I’ll have some of what you’re smoking mate – no strength, no pace, which nullifies his intelligence – fair enough, has good anticipation, but if he was to play against Song, he’d get raped…
and you seem to forget that Theo is being played out of position from day one…
Denilson is smart…whooptie fucking doo..brains along isnt enough. He can read the game very well and see where the ball is going to be. But because he is so slow and has no strength whatsoever knowing where the ball means fuck all because he cant get to it in time.
Whenever he plays without Song he looks lost because he cant cope with the opposition being physical. He would be perfect fo Spain or some league that doesnt focus too much on muscle.
Stu, thanks for the information. Do You rate any other winger aside from those I have pointed?
Are you forgetting that Theo has never played as a striker in his life?
And Denilson is fantastic – end of story. It really doesn’t matter what you think, he just is.
to be fair, so is Denilson – he is not a DM, period: better going forward than defending: shame that OGL does not see that playing Denilson with Song forms a ‘toxic relationship’, as they each of them plays better without the other
it really doesn’t matter what you think about Theo either mate and Denilson is a shit DM, period
Oh god. Are you that stupid? Denilson, Song and Fabregas are the best central midfield trio in England, possibly the World.
What does Theo bring to the team then?
I dont really follow too many wingers Maciek because Arsenal dont use them but of what i have seen i do like the look of Dzsudzsak.
Saw him a while ago playing for PSV against Ajax. He was magnificant. Other than him i dont regularly watch any wingers.
The lower leagues of Englis football are even more physical for the keepers, no?
Szczesny is no push over. I think he’d do fine with us now, but Wenger won’t take that risk.
Di Maria is fucking quality!!
Theo is shit and I never said I rated Denilson.
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…..
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