Firstly, I have to mention that I was informed by Arsenal Addict on twitter that the AST do give Arsenal representatives a roasting at the annual Q&A. Good to hear it! I hope someone asks Gazidis about the quality of entrants to the Emirates Cup this time around. Last year was pretty weak, but at least there were some players we were interested in seeing. This year, we’ve got an ageing Milan, a diabolical Celtic team and a floundering Lyon (League wise at least).
Don’t worry though… Wenger’s probably signed up the best pub teams in Austria and Hungary for our annual tour!
That’ll soften the blow.
The coach has exclusively revealed to the match day programme that he is talking to a number of players about joining before the world cup.
Call me a cynic… but this all seems a little choreographed. I’ve been informed by numerous people that club level tickets are not selling as quickly as hoped. Arsenal are actually calling people who have freshly registered for season tickets, so that tells me that their call centre has worked a majority of the 4billion long waiting list.
Just goes to show… a name on a list doesn’t mean anything. There have been countless occasions this season when I’ve had spare tickets. We get a fair few readers these days… and I couldn’t shift 4 half price Liverpool home tickets. Demand for the Emirates ain’t what it used to be. If Arsenal want to attract corporate money, they’ll have to act like a major football team.
I’m really hoping that message has been driven home by Gazidis. He is, after all, a marketing man at heart.
So who could the players be? Well, I guess the first place to look would be the reserves of Madrid and Barca.
Potential Cast offs:
- Gago
- Van Der Vaart
- Benzema
- Metzelder
- M.Diarra
- L.Diarra
- Drenthe
- Garay
- Krkic
- Yaya
- Chigrynskiy
Then I’d take a look at previous season’s near misses and strong links:
- Matuidi
- Hazard
- Di Rossi (Roma are strapped)
- Carlton Cole
- Di Maria (To replace Arshavin)
- Melo
- Chamakh (Still unconfirmed)
- Sebastian Frey
- Axel Witsel
- Subotic (Dortmund are always skint these days)
- Lloris
So, if Wenger is keen to sign fresh blood to the squad, there is an abundance of players out there available if Arsenal are keen to stretch their financial muscles.
I heard on the grapevine that despite protestations of cash richness, a certain team up North is in deep trouble financially and are taking an absolute age to pay creditors. Could free us up a bit if they’re out of the running.
Did anyone manage to catch the Barca v Inter game last night? Old Jose could suck the joy out of 3 BMW adverts! You can’t knock the man. He kept Messi quiet all game, he had his players use every trick in the book and over all, you’d have to say, Inter man for man are no where near the best… but they’re in the final. That’s what counts, right?
Tactics, experience and discipline cannot be underestimated. Jose proved once again that he is one of the best in the business. He also proved that Rome can be built in a very short time which gives me great hope that with the right signings, that could be us next year.
In other news, Le Grove has finally buckled… we’re about to accept outside advertising for the first time. Don’t worry though, it’s all for a good cause!
Yep, we’ve teamed up with Comic Relief who are backing a United Against Malaria campaign. As Le Grove has a big African following and the South African World Cup is fast approaching, we thought it’d be appropriate to agree to donate advertising space the them.
Here’s the spiel…
In the 90 minutes it takes to play a football match, 180 children in Africa die from malaria.
But malaria is a preventable disease. An insecticide-treated bed net costing £5 can protect a family for up to five years.
United Against Malaria is a partnership of footballers, charities, governments and companies backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation who have united ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to win the fight against malaria.
Footballers including Kolo Touré (Manchester City and Ivory Coast), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy, Everton and USA) and Patrick Vieira (Manchester City and France) are backing the campaign.
Patrick Vieira said,
“The first World Cup in Africa is helping raise awareness of some of the issues that affect Africa such as malaria. I’m pleased to support the United Against Malaria campaign. If we work together, we can end deaths from malaria in countries like Senegal, where I was born.”
United we can beat malaria.
So please, click the link below, sign up and I won’t tell everyone you’re a bad person!
See you in the comments!
Reyes fucked that up after doing well to keep it in
scousers out!
HH – I understand what you mean’t, it’s just you think that that view can and is the only view that counts, it’s not, you could easily argue that their lack of goals is because they base their whole gameplan on not conceding.
That works for them because they don’t have to go out and win every game, we almost invariably do.
You’re not highlighting shortcomings you’re just having a moan and exaggertating to add weight to your point.
It’s like the Quote from Tony Adams, it had no almost no relevance to any argument about Wengers defensive shortcomings, but you thought it did.
What is Rafa doing? El Zair? Has he ever developed a young player properly? Geese. He couldn’t even improve Babel even just a little.
I’d Rather Walk Alone
David
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Atletico keeper looks about 12!
Maybe our strategy should be to come in 3rd in the Group Stage of the CL if we want a trophy.
Keyser, I admire your persistence!
El Zhar is 25 hahahahahahahahaha
pool out…………sorry you reds…what a bad season
Keyser – The Tony Adams quote had absolute relevance because it revealed a culture of disregard and even negligence when it comes to defensive part of our game, to say it doesn’t is just odd quite frankly. And not focusing on our defence clearly isn’t working for us judging by the amount of goals we’ve conceded. The only exaggeration here is your insistence on Wenker’s competence in this area….
HH – You’re talking complete rubbish, are you trying to say our defence when Tony Adams was in it is the same as it is now ?!
I bet when Wenger arrived he didnt need to work on the defence so didnt. But then when we started to leak stupid goals he didnt know how to fix it. Lets just blame GG for having the defence so good for when AW arrived..
The most annoying thing is there are people who would kill to come and work as a sefensive coach.
Adams, Dixon, Keown, Winterburn. He could even promote Bould to Pat Rice’s role and task him with sorting the defence.
Apparantley Arrigo Saachi used to make his defence train incredibly intensely every day, yet his team was very strong going forward.
Arrigo Saaachi at Milan ?!
No, Arrigo Saachi at Bristol City.
Its quite clear Wenger needs help sorting out the defense…buying Class defenders isnt enough.
He was shite at Bristol City, they conceded record numbers of goals.
Keyser – The quote was after he retired. I’m pointing out a consistent snobbish attitude to defence by Wenger himself. Stop acting like a retard and read properly…
When you see Vermaelen tanking forward when we’re 1 up in the 90th minute you know wenger is struggling on the training ground.
Also when you consider Wigan, Spurs last year, Villa last year to mention a few.
There isnt another “big team” in the world that could do that.
HH – Look don’t be a fucking prick, the point is if he didn’t tell Tony Adams how to defend that doesn’t suddenly he doesn’t bother now.
Fuck me, that defence had been together for the best part of what a decade and you expected Wenger to what stroll over and teach them how to defend ?! See no relevance at all unless the Adams quote mean’t in all of hgis 13 years at Arsenal Wenger has simply got the defence to turn up on matchdays and fend for themselves.
Keyser – “Arsenal Wenger has simply got the defence to turn up on matchdays and fend for themselves.”
Keyser – Thats what it looks like sometimes, Almunia flapping, Clichy clueless, Gallas looking someone just stuck a croissant up his arse and Sagna running around like a jersey in a fake blonde wig.
We’ve been conceding the same sort of goals for years now with no sign of it been addressed. Tony’s back four covered Wenker’s defensive blind-spot, now they’re no longer there, his ineptitude in that area is there for all to see.
No point talking to some people,who think that Wenker is the best manager to have graced earth,and there is no life beyond that senile mug Wenker. Get a grip,you fucking AKB retards.
The lord has spoken…
“Get a grip,you fucking AKB retards” rofl…
Hollywood you seem to forget that the invincibles had a pretty damn good defence, and that had nothing to do with adams etc
gambon – Put your puppet away.
So 1 season since 2002 hes managed to build a competent defence, geez thats worth £6m pa.
Wasnt that good A. 26 goals conceded..or was it 24?
HH – See I don’t think it’s just one reason or two, it’s several together, we conceded a fair few goals, because we attack a heck of a lot, Wenger overall is to blame because as manager he has to take everything in to consideration, but the idea that Wenger simply doesn’t do defence is rubbish.
After Tony’s back four, we had Campbell and Keown and then Campbell and Toure, teams that didn’t lose all season or away for two years.
What’s the difference now then ?!
There’s loads of them but to succeed I’d say we only have to correct a few, and it’s not solely down to the defence, all you have to do is look at how much this team has changed over the last four season, sometimes from one season to the next to see what is the biggest problem.
It’s keeping players together long enough to actually learn how to defend in that particular team. We concede a lot on the couter attack because sometimes we struggle to break teams down, that can come with confidence or being more effective in the final third. it doesn’t mean you have to suddenly keep 8 men behind the ball.
There’s loads of ways to look at it, but the only way to find the one that works is to get players playing regularly and during games together.
can’t remember stu, but it was the best defence in the league. What about the defence that got to the champs league final?!
oh i forgot, that was all keown lol
Yeah A, it was the best defence and they were good but it wasnt great (compared to other defences that have won leagues).
Fack me.. even if he doesn’t leave we need to sign one.
Gallas does not last the entire season!!
Help!!
Wenger wants to take all credit for himself. He wouldnt allow any other coaches to interfere with his activities. Wenger wants sycophants like Denilshite, who would praise the manager in every interview,not bold men like Arshavin who had the balls to say that Wenker is an incompetent manager.
Well if DDM source is to be believed then Gallas is leaving so we will sign a defender, preferably one that can last the whole season and organise well.
29 Apr 2010 12:52:51
Breaking News: Yohann Pelé will be the new number one at Arsenal next season! this is 100% garanteed. not just an opinion of mine. Toulouse and Arsenal have already reached a verbal agreement.
Wenger yet to decide who his number 2 will be with Almunia and Fbianski in the dark over their future. which makes me wonder how some of you on here have posted that Almunia or Fbianski will leave. how the hell do you know if Wenger doesn’t know himself?
Lille willing to sell Hazard after talks between both clubs but Hazard wants to stay another season with Lille unfortunately. talks still on–going however.
I can also confirm that arsenal are in talks with Scott Parker, Jack Rodwell, Shaun Wright Phillips and Balotelli. I am not saying all of them or any of them will arrive, but there have been discussions taking place.
Wenger has also not identified who he will bring in at CB yet and I can assure you all none of Richards, Subotic, Cahill, Mexes, Metzelder, Hangelaand, Sakho and Zapata will be arriving at Emirates. Sorry to dissappoint. The reason no talks have gone on with any centre backs is quite clear, Wenger is unsure on situations of Gallas, Campbell and Silvestre. I’m sure he has a centre back in mind that he wants to bring in but no actions have taken place.
(leeked information you have right there)……ha ha this guy has been EXPOSED………he got this from football rumours…..lollllllllll
gooner4eva Says:
April 29, 2010 at 13:27
just heard we have tied up a deal to bring in yohann pele from tolouse as our number 1 next season. lile are prepared to sell us hazard but he wants to stay at lile 1 more season we are still in talks with them. also we have made enquiries into scott parker,shaun wright phillips and jack rodwell. not saying these are done deals but we have looked into them and were looking into balotelli
A
We had Cashley best english leftback of his generation, Campbell on a free from tiny totts, best english centre back of the last decade for FREE FROM THE SPUDS…and then Toure and Lauren…Toure has been exposed as an athlete with no defensive nous now that his physicality is waning…Lauren was a midfielder….during that period I remember Wenker saying without Campbell he doesnt know what he would have done. And we got him for FREE from THE SPUDS…I mean how lucky was that….
Almost got through a whole comment without altering Wengers name there Jaguar…keep working, you;ll get there eventually.
Cheers Stu.
I still think the problem is a naive, unprofessional midfield that doesn’t support the defence enough in any situation, whether that be a losing the ball and tracking back to stop a counter-attack or defending in general in terms of two banks of four(or three depending on formation).
I also think our offensive strength is a bit of a misonomer and has several glaring flaws that get found out constantly against top sides. Shocking attacking full backs and a midfield that only runs beyond when the game is won.
Sagna, Clichy, Denilson, Song, Diaby are the lead weights at the ankles of this team.
HH – So now he got lucky ?! Dude, there’s AKB’s and then there’s doom mongers who can see Wenger do no right.
The team that didn’t lose away for two years, went a whole season unbeaten and Wenger got lucky and also the defence wasn’t that good either.
Credit where credits due, signing Campbell was a masterstroke.
But these days he is either utterly lost when it comes to defence.
He said if we didnt win anything this season he would change things, which looks to be yet another wenger lie.
He has completely lost it, but doesnt care cos hes walking in 12 months.
Paulinho – See, thats more like it a bit more analysis, minus the exaggerating and you’re almost spot on.
stu it was a different time then, You can only compare teams and goals scored/against to the other teams in that season, because that team was competing with the other teams in that season, with those prevalent mentalities etc
lucky how hollywood?!
wenger pushed the boat out for campbell and persuaded him to join us when he’d all but signed for barca.
assembling quality players in a defence isn’t lucky….
Paulinho
Agreed. To play 4-3-3 you need very good fullbacks, we dont have that (from an attacking perspective).
Tactically Wenger is very poor.
We do have very good full-backs, as long as you find in other areas of the team what they’re lacking.
Keyser – I said the manner of Campbell’s signing was lucky not the achievement. Campbell was 25/6 when we signed him in his prime, finished article and ready to go so once again Wenker didn’t have alot to do there. The fundamental thing about Wenker is that he needs players to be good enough to cover his tactical blindspots. When they’re not and he has to do it himself the fuckups that our defence regularly inflicts on us is what we’re left with….
We had Sagna and Clichy two years ago and while they probably weren’t accountable for most of the assists we scored more from crosses and set pieces than any other team bar Tottenham.
We have good attacking fullbacks…they just dont start for us
If Campbell,was not for free,Wenker wouldnt have signed him either.
Obviously Wenger wouldnt have signed him if he wasnt free. Would you be happy to pay the spuds 20m+ for one of their players.
Keyser
We have a defensively excellent right back, and an error prone left back.
But a system with a narrower MF needs FB’s who are comfortable further forward and can become midfielders, we dont have that.
Gibbs fits that bill perfectly Gambon. Midfielder turned left back. He’s gonna be great in the 4-3-3 in a few years. Maybe even next season.
“still think the problem is a naive, unprofessional midfield that doesn’t support the defence enough in any situation”
and who’s job is it to eradicate this naivete and school the players on what they should be doing? Would you ever
describe a Ol’Red Nose/Maureen team as naive?
HH – So now you’re blaming Wenger for buying the right player ? Mate it wasn’t just one player was it, he put together a whole puzzle, he put together a defence as good as you’ll ever see for less than Ferdinand cost United, or Zhirkov cost Chelsea, Lescott, Johnson.
It wasn’t just that we had Gilberto and Vieira in front who are far defensive than what we have now, and then we had the balance between experience and talent on the wings up front that complemented that perfectly.
The difference now is that it’s just that much harder to find those type of players for the same prices.
Mourinho didn’t just walk into Inter and turn them into this great defensive team overnight, going by your own reasnoing he just got lucky that those players were availble or already there at the club.
Stu
Gibbs could be world class, will he be? I dont know.
He needs more confidence, when i used to watch him at youth/reserve level he was like Alves, tearing up the wing, and blasting shots in from all angles. In the first team he is so reserved, he just crabs the ball to the CB every time.
Defensively he needs to work hard on his game, i just hope he has the attitude to work his nuts off everyday.
I really think he could be as good as Alves, but Im not confident he will put the work in.
As for RB, we should sign the dutch guy, he looks class.
Sagna has the right idea and makes runs into areas that cause problems, but his execution lets him down.
Clichy literally has no clue how to execute or worse than that, no idea what runs to make. As I’ve said before, even the most basic full backs can make a run beyond in an inside channel every now and then. Look at Wayne Bridge against United last week in stoppage time, made a run beyond and nearly won it late on but his shot was too central. Clichy doesnt back his technique to come inside. It’s strictly a touch line job and even then he stops at a certain point.
HH – I agree it’s Wenger. A team is a reflection of the manager, and it’s no surprise the players moulded by Wenger from an early age seem to be the most culpable. Fabregas seems to be a rare exception in this regard although he’s not perfect himself.
Keyser
Why are we trying to find these players for the same prices?
We are orders of magnitude richer than we were then.
If we were spending £7-8m on players when we made £10m pa why cant we spend £20m now we are making £40m pa?
This is the biggest problem, the game has moved on, and the club has moved on financially, but Wengers stuck in 1998 rooting around for unnecessary bargains.
You can’t play our type of football with certain players being afraid of being in certain positions on the pitch.
Wenger fluked the invincibles! A team that went a whole season unbeaten, wasn’t very good defensively.
I think I have heard it all now.
gambon – Clichy’s shown he can be as good as any left-back in the World, he’s that athletic, its the way he plays, two years ago he made more interceptions than any other defender or player in the league, he had players in his pocket, but you can’t keep that consistency up if you don’t have a settled team around you.
It’s high risk, if you don’t have any support, you either make the interception or you’re caught, it’s the same with Alvez for Barcelona, but players in front of him help him out far more or the midfield is that bit much more organised.
The amount of times Clichy gets left 2-1 is astonishing but it’s the price you pay for either committing too many players forward or Arshavin’s attacking threat.
Agreed again. Gibbs and V.D.Weil would add technique, crossing ability and a good deal more height to the defence than Sagna and Clichy can offer.
Both our current fullbacks are more athlete than footballer imo. They could run all day long but with their shite deliveries they would do much.
The same is definately true for Theo too.
Thing is, even if you had 2 FBs who could cross, who will get on the end of it. Nik? Shakatak?
gambon – Thats not it at all is it, look at Chelsea, they’ve spent as much on fullbacks as we have on our whole team, I don’t mean find Toure for 250,000, but it’s harder to find a Vermaelen for 10 million now without having other teams outbid and price you out.
Thats a crap argument,Keyser. Wenker would have lost to Barcelona with the squad Inter had. He is a stubborn senile deluded fool when it comes to tactics.
Keyser
Youre right, and this is exactly why ive said 1000 times we need a twin DM system, and exactly why I said we should sign Melo.
Melo has his critics but he does an outstanding job covering his left back and tracking the left channel.
But its a vicious circle, in a twin DM system (4-3-3) you almost certainly need strong attacking fullbacks, which makes Clichy redundant.
Keyser – Stop been silly I was merely pointing out that the circumstance in which we signed Campbell was fortunate kinda like the stars aligning and everything falling into space. Imagine if we tried to repeat what we did back then? Like you said its a lot more harder to pull off, almost impossible.
Mourinho didnt turn inter info a what they are now over night but he did it in two years. Wenker has had double that time and if he has his way we’re about to go into next season with the same set of defenders that has conceded 38 goals and no sign of change in the management of that department of our game. And you see nothing wrong with this except make more excuses for him….
Yeah exactly those 2 Zorr0. Both of them are fantastic headererers. VP even scored with his head once or twice. Against WHU away and…….??
Paulinho – Not really fair though, Gibbs could be that type of player, I’d say he probably has more about him to be better than someone like Wayne Bridge, but overall Bridge doesn’t come close to Clichy.
I remember you mentioning that Clichy should be as BOLD as he used to be and pre-empt passes and such like he used to, when you have indecision around you thats harder to pull off, against Barcelona he lety loose when everyone was losing their head, but thats not always going to come off.
HH – Go through their team from start to finish and they’ve spent shitloads to get to that point, it didn’t start with Mourinho, Inter have been trying it for yonks, with the Calciopoli thing they finally got the chance to get to the top and build on it, Mourinho was almost the last piece, Moarratti and Inter have been waiting for his chances for decades.
The point with Wenger is that it’s not just down to coaching, we lost 4-1 to Barcelona with Silvestre and Almunia at the back, you’re not going to tell me that we wouldn’t have done a little better with Lucio and Casar there are you ?!
Paulinho
I’m glad you agree, thats the point I’ve been trying to make that Wenger doesn’t know how to instil defensive discipline unless the player already has it and in his prime.
Keyser
You’re taking one aspect of Clichy’s game, his best part, and using that to prove he’s one of the best full backs in the world.
There’s more to being a good full back than that and that’s where he’s lacking. Teams constantly target him and there’s a reason for it. His positioning is suspect, as is his concentration. He gets done by average wingers all the time and doesn’t stop crosses well enough.
Again though, this would be slightly offset if he could score a few goals a season or create Evra -like panic, but he doesn’t. He runs like a loon and screeches to a halt when he has to make a decision. His ability to carry the ball a fair distance is useful at times, but apart from the Barca game away, it’s not something he does consistently enought to count on.
gambon – Exactly it’s balance, we need something like the Mascherano/ Alonso partnership but that player has to be as perfect a fit as Alonso was for Liverpool, we’ve got a mishmash of talent, we just need to fit it together.
A couple more athletes who can use their athletic prowess to supplement the technical ability of others and I think we’ll be far better off.
You were talking about Dempsey’s work ethic I think thats what Chamkah’s been brought in for.
Keyser – Remember the season he signed El Geriatric when he promised us a nice surprise he signed SILVESTRE instead, now look how its come back to haunt him in the end….SILVESTRE for christ sake. Same with Almunia we had Seaman, Lehman…Almunia. Agreed Al was solid before this season but we all knew he wasn’t world class. These decisions were all made by the manager. He should be held accountable for all these decisions and not simple excused away because of injury and any other affliction and affects every other team.
Paulinho – and you’re exaggerating his weaknesses to the point where it negates all of his qualities, any winger one on one will at some point make a defender look suspect, Evra gets made to look a muppet but he gets sufficient cover thats the whole point.
You’re asking why he isn’t like Evra, mate last season in games he was like that, but the rest of the team has to be just as clued on, he made Ivanovic look like a muppet and he should’ve been sent off, he done it to Everton, against Barcelona he tried to urge us on.
How can you compare him to other leftbacks without looking at the teams they play in. Teams target the left because they know Arshavin’s usually halfway up the pitch, when Rosicky used to play there, Ronaldo used to switch to the other side because he wasn’ty getting anywhere.
I think Clichy lost his confidence when he drew 4 – 4 with the spuds after been 4 – 2 up and he was responsible for the 4 – 3 goal. I don’t think he’s confidence has fully recovered from that. Great points about Clichy Paulinho.
HH – Look there are mistakes, but you can’t single something out and focus on that when there’s a whole myriad of reasons.
If we corrected every mistake or weakness in our game that you could think we wouldn’t ever lose a game.
What I’m saying is yes you can focus on the defence, but when the midfield doesn’t cover back, or when we’re short up front you can’t always blame them.
It’s like the Arshavin/ Clichy partnership, Clichy is left more exposed, that doesn’t make him crap, it means he has to work harder, why don’t you get someone that covers better than Arshavin because you know he’ll always give you a threat going forward.
It’s all about balance.
Greetings Gooners all round the globe
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-if-gallas-leaves-we-sign-a-defender
Well Sagna doesn’t seem to get exposed as much when Walcott is playing in front of him and Theo is awful at sensing danger as well.
Clichy was crap last season as well, don’t remember him ever being like Evra. Look at the Abidal against us at the Nou Camp for their second goal, makes a run beyond.
It makes no difference what team you’re in and Clichy in this team should be at an advantage in terms of going forward. Maybe defensively he has a excuse at times.
HH – remember his lapse of concentration against Birmingham at St Andrews two years ago, and the week before that against City, when Gelson Fernandes pulled a goal back for them after Clichy got caught on the ball dreaming.
He’s a walking fuck up I’m afraid.
“What I’m saying is yes you can focus on the defence, but when the midfield doesn’t cover back, or when we’re short up front you can’t always blame them.”
That’s the whole point I’ve trying to make for hours. He doesn’t know how to instil defensive discipline, cant do it tactically to save his life. I remember a few seasons ago Joe Cole scored a winner in a game but afterwards Maureen came out and slammed publicly for not working hard enough and protecting the defensive. Do you think Maureen/Red Nose would tolerate Arshavin’s laziness?… rhetorical! Thats the whole crux of the matter..he simply doesn’t know how to organise a team to defend properly.
Thats just plain silly how is Clichy at an advantage exactly ? The reason he doesn’t venture forward is because he knows he can’t leave his position unattended, without the risk of the counter attack.
We’ve got Song and Denilson/ Diaby covering either side, Song can’t cover both sides, and generally you’ll see Diaby or Denilson try to cover the left, guess who’s supposed to have had the better season.
I still remember Benayoun’s equaliser against us last season at Anfield in the 4-4 draw. The defenders were on the goal line and the midfield were standing at the edge of the area just casually watching on. Astounding lack of basics and application.
Paulinho
I’m repeating myself at this point but it highlights the point I’ve been making that we make repeated defensive mistakes, we don’t instil the right habits in our defenders because we have a manager that simply doesn’t know how to. Imagine the invaluable knowledge Winterburn/Dixon would have given Clichy if they were giving managerial/coaching roles at the club…..its farcical this hasn’t been sanctioned yet.
HH – You’re just not bothering to read what I write in response, there’s no comparison to the teams, he can pull out bullshit like that because he had a fucking awesome team around Joe Cole.
Again, he’s organised defensively sound teams before which you just don’t seem to want to accept.
At an advantage going forward. As I said, I think Clichy is a poor defender, but my biggest issue with him his attacking play. It kills the team.
When Evra goes forward for United and gets a penalty or puts in a great cross he doesn’t worry about getting caught on the counter. I don’t understand your rational there. We’re an attacking team, on the front foot for most parts, and yet supposedly one our main attacking threats who should be overlapping at the crescendo of our moves, is worried about counter attacks?
Did Abidal worry about that when he made that run to cross for Messi’s second goal at the Nou Camp?
Was the Benayoun one when Sagna volleyed it off him ? Or was that something else.
We play methodically from side to side, perfectly designed for the full back to make a cutting run at an opportune moment.
I think Sagna tried to clear and he shanked it across rather than forward, or was it an Alonso left-footed chip to the Liverpool player who headed it across? Can’t remember to be honest.
Sagna hasn’t been the same since his brother died I think. He was brilliant in his first season.
Paulinho – you think he’s a poor defender but we all know he can be excellant, you ask why he can’t be like Evra and Abidal, because they know they’ve got setttled teams around them and they can trust players to cover.
Clichy said it himself last year, he used to get forward but when we started conceding goals because we were getting caught out on the counter Wenger asked him to sit deeper, he’s said it again this season, because of the inconsistentcy of the team he’s hard to work harder at choosing the right time to make a run forward or stay back.
Evra has scored 2 goals in his United whole career, how many penalties or assists has he actually got ?!
Why didn’t Abidal worry, because he’s playing for Barcelona, they’ve played together for years, he knows someone will get back and cover.
My point about what Maureen did to Joe Cole was that it creates a culture of accountability and ingrains the right attitude. Other coaches aren’t scared to publicly criticise individual players if deemed necessary. saying he “had a fucking awesome team round him” is a lazy cop out.
Put it another way, when Rosicky was in front of him and playing as well as he was, Clichy made those runs all season, he could run halfway across the pitch closing players down because the rest of the team kept it’s shape or covered his run.
We TV5 for Kolo Toure and signed Sol Campbell.
Both Sol and TV5 have been in terrific form.
Sol has been better than Terry, Gallas, Carragher, Ferdinand or Vidic.
Yet we are on pace to allow over 40 goals in a Premier League, which equates to over a goal per match.
WE HAVE GOTTEN WORSE. WHY?
Our MF does not do enough to cover our backline.
Song can only cover the right side and Denilson lacks the athleticism and Diaby is lazy. Diaby can trained by being forced to do this hundreds of times in training. He has talent but lacks desire at times.
I have just realized that I should stop blaming Denilson. He gives 100% but he is not good enough for us.
This is why we need to purchase 2DM at all costs.
HH – No it’s not a cop out, you’re comparing two different teams, so now because he doesn’t do it publically Wenger doesn’t hold players accountable at all ? Well thats rubbish aswell, how many players come out and say that despite his cool demeanour he can be the fiery type.
You’re going off on tangents now.
They haven’t played together for years though. Pedro Rodriguez has just come into the team, Keita has been there for only a couple of years, and Puyol was suspended. Unless you are referring to a general team defensive template or defensive ethic, which would again point to Wenger being at fault.
How many years do players have to play together, fifteen, twenty?
Again, seems like a cop out to me. Clichy has always been the same. Even Gibbs has shown more ability going forward in terms of being able to get into the other teams area without having a mental breakdown.
Meneuer
Its a combination of;
- Players not being well enough coached/drilled
- The worst keeper in the PL
- Lack of midfield cover / general compactness as a team
In 07/08 Clichy crossed for Ade to score against Fulham and fittingly enough, flung in a beauty out of desperation against United at home when still about 35 yards from goal.
He made more runs forward maybe in 07/08, but he still screehed to a halt and passed it backwards when he had reached his ‘destination’.
I find it astonishing that Wenger is talking of bringing 2/3 AT MOST in.
We clearly need 2 CBs and a GK, not to mention others.
Keyser – This point has been made already both worth repeating..Lehman two mistakes out..Almunia makes mistakes Wenker makes him Captain…is that accountability in your view? And if you want to argue about lack of alternatives thats the manager’s oversight once again. Your accusing me of going of on tangents while your going round in circles….figures.
Gambon
Wenger talks about it being a ‘technical risk’ to bring in more than three players. I don’t agree. It might be a team spirit risk to the dressing room, but in terms of our football, I don’t see it, especially considering how poor our football has been this last two years.
But Wenger still believes it’s a risk, so he’ll never sign more than two or three at a time.
I agree with the principle Paulinho, but we’re at the stage where 3 players will just see us repeat this season all over again.
Especially as 2 are walking out anyway. So we’re basically just adding Chamakh and thats it.
Paulinho – How would it point to Wenger ? The whole Barcelona ethos has been cultivated over decades, there you go with you’re exaggerations again, Keita’s like 30 or something, so I’m guessing he has a bit more experience of covering back then Denilson or Diaby and even if it wasn’t drilled into him, he’ll probably do it 9 times out of 10.
Abidal’s 30, Clichy’s not perfect, but you’re doing that thing where you just overly criticise players you hate, just the same as when you cream yourself over players you admire.
gambon
Three things:
1) Defensive we are not well coached enough
2) If our squad is 100% fit, the worst part of our team is the MF. Song needs help, Denilson panics and is not good enough, Diaby has one good game out of five.
Cesc cannot close down people effectively.
COMPACTNESS YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.
All European Cup winning teams have been able to stay compact.
Even Fergie learned his lesson. Man U won the Premiership for the first 46 years but kept losing in Europe to more savvy sides. Juventus, Bayern, Real, Milan and Barcelona all exposed his 4-4-2 style.
Man Utd have done remarkably well in the last 5 years in Europe because Fergie admitted and corrected his errors.
Gibbs is World Class?
LOL.
HH – We’re discussing a topic, if you just want me to resort to petty insults fine, just don’t get upset later.
You’re pointing to indivudual instances and generalising, just like the Adams quote, which again had fuck all relevance, but I bet you still think it does and if you do ? We’ll leave it at that.
Keyser
So do you admit that wengers youth experiment is fundamentally flawed because younger players dont have the basics right?
Keyser- covering for a raiding full back is not a complicated concept. It’s quite simple in fact.
“decades of Barcelona ethos”
Paulinho – Oh come on, you’d have to bit of a retard to think thats what I mean’t so I’ll take it as playful cheek.
gambon – It’s far too early to tell if it’s flawed, we’re barely seeing any of the real youth team players come through, at the moment we’ve got a young side where most of the players have been bought.
Personally i think its a disgrace that Wenger isnt thinking long-term.
The fact that he hasnt bought a respectable keeper since the decline of Jens is just shocking. Fergie got Nani even when he had Ronaldo.
The fact that he’s thinking long and hard to sign Vieira is a disgrace. Buy someone who will be in the squad and would fight for a place in the side.
The fact that he wouldnt buy a life partner for TV only if Gallas fucks off is a disgrace. Its not as if he doesnt have the money ffs.
I mean so Gallas signs a new contract thats what..3 defenders? Gallas, TV, JD, and Sol?
JD and Sol are right footed that leaves 3 right footed CB and one left footed one…forgetting the fact that this back 5
With Gallas and TV healthy shipped 30 goals by February.
The penny pinching is ridiculous.
He should fuck off now.
What did you mean then?
keyser – you continually shift the goal posts of your argument. I’ve kept this dialogue civil and only strayed once or twice upon provocation or snide remarks from your side. If we’re talking about defence Adams is always going to have relevance. Upon explaining to you my reason for flagging up the quote you still wilfully choose ignore my reasoning and conjure up imaginary reasons as to why you deem it irrelevant. You are now singularly isolated in the viewpoint you’re currently entrenched in….it most be lonely down there…
FACTO; Our defence is useless, and wenger has literally no idea what to do about it.
Night all, see you at 9am tomorrow for more LG goodness.
Paulinho – You’re talking about specific instances, it’s a Champions League quarter-final, we’re playing Barcelona, who have not only the best player in World football, but almost half of our team is out and you’re wondering why Abidal gets forward down the wing with gay abandon and Clichy doesn’t do the same on the other side.
I’m saying because while 30 year old Abidal has 30 year old Keita and a team that is vastly more experienced in general, plus the knowledge that they have an away goal and an abundance of confidence coursing through their veins, Clichy doesn’t have the same trust in his players and the same confidence.
It’d be silly to try and generalise from that one instance in that one game, because we’ve seen Clichy make runs and show far more attacking threat when we’ve had a settled and experienced team around him.
HH – Heh, I should just copy and past that back.
You’ve basically said Wenger cannot instil defensive discipline in the team, which is plainly silly since we’ve seen him do it before in several teams.
You tried to use an Adams quote to make some sort of vague connection, it holds little or no relevance unless you think the situations Adams and his defence faced are the same we face now ?!
Unless Adams says Wenger at no point in time in his 13 years at Arsenal bothered with the defence, then what relevance does it hold ? There is no connection at all.
I’m looking at why we might be defensively frail now in comparison to past seasons, whereas you refuse to admit we’ve ever been defensively competant.
Then you went on to compare other managers, other teams, and public accountability, then trying another vague connection to mistakes Lehman made almost at the end of his Arsenal career.
Even admittiting Almunia had a solid season, yet wondering why Wengers stuck with him despite several mistakes now.
Keyser – Clichy has been around. If he’s not going to make those runs now he never will. Secondly, switch the scenarios. What if we were playing at home, with an away goal, would Clichy make a run like that?
No he wouldn’t, cause he hasn’t done it once in his entire career. I’m not really talking specifics, I’ve mentioned Gibbs, Evra, Abidal, Bridge… the list goes on and on…Rafael. I agree he made runs more often before, but they are still the same limited runs. That’s my point.
It’s no coincidence that his most adventurous runs going forward, EVER, were pre-season friendlies when he ran the length of the pitch against Ajax to set-up RVP, and when he crossed for Wilshere against Stuttgart.
Paulinho – Dude, you seem to think if he doesn’t make them then he can’t be a very good left back, he can, the thing is he has made them, you’ve said we’ve played poor football for the last two years, I’d say it’s been inconsistent, but then how do you criticise Clichy for adjusting to the team.
Of course Clichy has been around and if he was in Abidal’s position playing for Barcelona I think he’d make a lot more of those runs or similar, but then thats not what you’re saying is it ?!
What’s the co-incidence with the pre-season friendlies ?!
“I still have to assess the Gallas and Campbell situations. Silvestre is out of contract too and the whole package has to be right – one goes, one stays. We have to get the number right.
“If Gallas and Campbell stay it will depend slightly on how well Djourou comes back about what we will do. He looks good in training, quite positive.”
Sounds like Silvestre will go if Wenger keeps Campbell.
Pre-season friendlies? Lack of pressure, points to someone who cannot relax mentally in the final third in competitive games.
Clichy is good full back, but with our formation, we need a full back that almost has winger-like abilities as there are less players to link up with on the flanks in that formation.
Anyhoo, good night.
“You’ve basically said Wenger cannot instil defensive discipline in the team, which is plainly silly since we’ve seen him do it before in several teams.”
Arsene didn’t teach Adam’s back 4 defence he cant be credited with that. Arsene didn’t teach Campbell how to defend because he was 25/6 and already in his prime. All the young defenders Arsene has brought up personally I struggle to pick one out that has gone on to be a world beater.
“You tried to use an Adams quote to make some sort of vague connection, it holds little or no relevance unless you think the situations Adams and his defence faced are the same we face now ?!”
The Adamn’s quote was used as a reflection of Arsene’s nonchalant attitude to defending. A failure to to see the connection and our current malaise defensively is just dim, I’m sorry.
“Unless Adams says Wenger at no point in time in his 13 years at Arsenal bothered with the defence, then what relevance does it hold ? There is no connection at all.”
Of course he didn’t, this is disingenuous and deliberately misinterpreting the point. poor form.
“I’m looking at why we might be defensively frail now in comparison to past seasons, whereas you refuse to admit we’ve ever been defensively competant.”
I’ve done no such thing. What I have done is give the majority of the credit to our previous defensive discipline to the players, unless you think Arsene should take the credit for the Adam’s back four,a laughable proposition if there ever was one.
“Then you went on to compare other managers, other teams, and public accountability, then trying another vague connection to mistakes Lehman made almost at the end of his Arsenal career.”
So comparing a manager to the colleagues he competes with is “vague”? comparing Arsenal to Chelsea who we compete with directly is “vague”? comparing two goal keepers in direct competition with each other is “vague? Your arguement is falling apart at the seams and looking more ludicrous by the minute.
“Even admittiting Almunia had a solid season, yet wondering why Wengers stuck with him despite several mistakes now.”
Ben foster had a solid season on loan, came back to ManU started making mistakes and was quickly dispatched from the frontlines. We are competing with them if they are prepared to make ruthless decisions why can’t we? Or is that “vague” aswell?
Anything criticism you dont agree with is either “generalised” or “vague” I suggest an expansion of your vocabulary is in order…or better yet find a more tenable position to argue your point from…
Paulinho – I think Clichy reacts well to pressure, but he can only do soo much because he’s instinctive as much as anything, Sagna is more measured, but he can’t hound players the way Clichy did for our only goal against Barcelona.
He doesn’t have winger like ability, but then neither does Abidal or Evra, and even Bridge isn’t that good, Gibbs does have that, I think we can accomdate both of those fullbacks and players like Gibbs and Ebway for variation doesn’t take anything away from the quality of their overall play, because they can be class.
Goodnight dude.
“Arsene didn’t teach Adam’s back 4 defence he cant be credited with that. Arsene didn’t teach Campbell how to defend because he was 25/6 and already in his prime. All the young defenders Arsene has brought up personally I struggle to pick one out that has gone on to be a world beater.”
So Ashley Cole, or are we going to say he didn’t spend long enough at Arsenal at Wenger ?! How long do they have to spend.
Again it’s about teams, the Invincibles were a great team as good defensively as they were going forward and how many players did Wenger bring into that team ?! How can you not give any credit when he brought him to the club, every single one of those players was class.
“The Adamn’s quote was used as a reflection of Arsene’s nonchalant attitude to defending. A failure to to see the connection and our current malaise defensively is just dim, I’m sorry.”
It’s not much of a reflection on anything, because you could be taking it out of context or misinterpreting it yourself, how do you know Adams mean’t it as a reflection of Wenger’s non-chalant attitude ? The thing is you don’t and you haven’t backed it up with anything to say it was.
Wenger has defensive coaches, but if you’ve got players that have hundreds of games under their belts playing together maybe he said you’re good enough defensively, I won’t change anything, and he was pretty much right if and thats IF that was the case.
“I’ve done no such thing. What I have done is give the majority of the credit to our previous defensive discipline to the players, unless you think Arsene should take the credit for the Adam’s back four,a laughable proposition if there ever was one.”
Dude the best team we’ve ever had under Wenger went unbeaten through a season, it was also one of the best attacking teams you’ll ever see yet held it’s own defensively aswell, how much credit would you give to that team then ?!
“So comparing a manager to the colleagues he competes with is “vague”? comparing Arsenal to Chelsea who we compete with directly is “vague”? comparing two goal keepers in direct competition with each other is “vague? Your arguement is falling apart at the seams and looking more ludicrous by the minute.”
It’s vague because you’ve taken two seperate situations with varying factors and compared them as if they sit side by side, how much money was spent on that Chelsea side ? How deep was their squad ? not because of the actions of their manager, not because we could compete like for like but because they had a very very rich owner who invested half a billion pounds in that team ?!
To compare one aspect and ask why Mourinho could afford to criticise Joe Cole in that team and put it side by side with ours is vague because the situations faced by both managers was vastly different.
Mourinho wasn’t there to bring players through, or to think about how the team was going to progress and transition, he didn’t care if players decided to leave after a season because they couldn’t stand him, Abramovich would have simply replaced them just like he did with the manager in the end.
Thats why it’s a vague comparison, when one team is spending hundreds of millions buying the best, most experienced, players in any one position and you’re wondering why we can’t instil the same defensive discipline despite obviously not being able yo compete toe-to-toe with them, then it is vague, it’s silly, it’s dim, ludicrous and whatever other petty insult you can conjure up because you don’t have a point.
Suggest what you like, mate, just like your opinion your suggestions aren’t going to get far either.
I dunno why I bothered with all that, it’s pretty simple, if Wenger doesn’t get credit for the famous back four, or players like Campbell, then what credit does Mourinho get, if any at all, for all the players Abramovichs money bought for that team ?!
Because all of them were expensive, all of them pretty much experienced and taught well.
If you can answer that question without sending yourself in circles, you’ll have done pretty well.
Keyser – I have a point..a point numerous posters here agree with…Wenker’s defensive and tactical ineptitude. Your refusal to recognise this doesn’t invalidate anything just shows a shared ignorance you have with our “Dear Leader”. Good night.
HH – If you had a point, you wouldn’t flounder with it soo helplessly, there’s expressing an opinion and thinking your opinion should be regarded as fact, getting upset because someone questions you doesn’t add anything to the debate, no hard feelings, Good Night mate.
Well the facts are we are shyte defensively and been so for awhile.
Ashley cole is a great attacking full but was certainly not the player he is now and he certainly wasnt part of the defense that took us too a CL final.
Im pretty sure Cole isnt known for his defensive contributions
Reyes looked class yesterday.Think he could have contributed more than the likes of nasri,rosicky and walcott have
Ethan
Noticed you slagging me off last night after I’d gone. Cant be fucked to look it up now but as you already know I asked for some odds because what you proposed was a wankers bet.
You had Arsenal to lose and fuck all else, and we weren’t odds on to win at all which was the point.
After I asked for some decent odds to make the bet fair, and I seem to remember another grover saying exactly the same thing, you vanished like you always do when you are proved wrong or getting served by one of your grove masters like Mang, Keyser, A etc.
And tell your grassing bitch girlfriend Dennisdamenace that you can fight your own battles.
You are of average height after all.
Oh and cats are better than dogs.
some BF, this…
anyone out there?
Ahoy Suga.
So looks like Chamakh and David James then.
Its Roy Hodgson and Stevie Bould for me, because we are going to really struggle to get fourth next season with only two signings.
Good Morning Suga3!
MDI89
“you dont see the squad training every day”
I suspect today’s post may be something about Wenger’s comments.
bnsb: no, only match days!
Mind you, were we to sign only Chamakh and James, and DDM’s list is correct and we have a bit of a clear out, we will be in a very strong financial position.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-if-gallas-leaves-we-sign-a-defender?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arsenal-news+%28News+Feed%29
Un-fucking-believable
Well the problem is it is completely believable and expected. Wenger is back tracking again already. The start of groundhog day summer is in full swing already
We only get a Defender if Gallas leaves and if Djourou is not ready to take over
God this man frustrates the fuck out of me, if he was in this room now I would punch him in the face he annoys me that much
hello there
I am fuming after reading these quotes from AW – fuck me, get your head out of your arse and sign some proper proven quality, ffs…
it is bleeding obvious that some of these players are not good enough, simple as – I’d like to know who was the idiot who recommended Fabianski, as I could have his job and scout for players in Eastern Europe with much better results…
to be honest, we could do with a few big & ugly ones from over there…
Surely all hope now rests on a new owner.
Djourou is not ready to take over, I can tell him that!
Senderos is twice the defender JD is – Johan has no positional awareness and has about 5 penalties per season in him due to being a clumsy fucker…
I wonder what AA, Cesc and RVP think reading those comments.
Micky,
unless the new owner is Jabba and brings DD back, don’t expect much of a change in approach – we need proper football people on board, not a bunch of ‘soccer men’…
unless we get a modern football man to run the club instead of fucking bankers and diamond dealers, nothing will change – we need someone who thinks competing is not just about balancing the books…
Where is Double D Mr. Dein now?
Was Usmanov the Easter European who bought Nina’s shares?
and Gallas is becoming a liability, age is not on his side and injuries and poor defending are creaping into his game.
Wenger infuriates me. i want him out now.
Wenger always talks about belief
Well Arsene, as an Arsenal fan I have no belief in your managment ability.
When you joined us, you were far ahead of anyone else in football, but now they have all caught up and are now far ahead of yourself.
Nobody has bought Lady Nina’s shares yet. The price drops end of next week, so that is when there will be movement, if any.
Agree patthegooner
Gallas is creaky now. But he is as good as gone. Someone will prolly offer him 70000 or 80000 euros per week. The best thing.
The best defender out there is David Luiz of Benfica. He is right footed and has played left back. 6 foot two.
Strong and pacy. And only 23.