Form seems to go out the window in these London Derby games regardless of who you are playing. West Ham have looked utterly hopeless over the last few weeks. In fact, the only game I’ve seen them play where they looked any good was against Chelsea where they were unlucky to finish up the losing team.
Yesterday, West Ham fully deserved to finish pointless, but they managed to put on a resolute defensive display for 86 minutes against and Arsenal side that’s been averaging 3 goals a game so far this season.
It took a while for us to create an opening chance, Song played Sagna in with a pass of great vision, the full back cut it back to Cesc who could only find the hand of Rob Green.
Song managed to get himself in the book again which was irritating as it was for his second reckless challenge. He doesn’t need to make them and someone should have a word because he’s no use to us suspended.
That was pretty much it for tame first half.
Mark Noble capitalised on a Denilson cock-up near the half way line, powered through everyone but could only fire his shot straight at Fabianski. He did well to hold onto it.
Down the other end Song played a cheeky one two with Cesc and fired hard and low… too close, Rob Green saved again.
Squillaci rose highest from a corner, his looping header was tipped over by the keeper again. Was this going to be one of those days I thought to myself?
Nasri took time out to remind us why he should take the freekicks with an absolute rocket from possibly 35 yards out… a shame the cross bar wasn’t 3 inched higher!
West Ham were putting their foot in with some heavy challenges which we were riding pretty well. Well, until Arshavin was slipped in by Song and fell to a very light Da Costa brush. From where we were sitting it looked nailed on, replays indicated otherwise!
Walcott came on to great applause. It’s been a while since the home fans have held genuine excitement about his arrival. Cesc played him in almost straight away with superb ball, Theo fired it past Green only to hit the inside of the post! What a joke… this goal was never going to come!
West Ham’s pathetic time wasting was also becoming a farcical, I think it’s disgusting players can walk off when they’re subbed and I think it’s outrageous goal keepers can pick the side they want to take their kicks from. Very unsportsmanlike.
Walcott went close again with a deflected shot that was saved well.
Alex Song picked the ball up in the middle of the park, sprayed it out wide to Clichy who cut inside his man and chipped a perfect right footed cross tantalisingly across goal where Song was on hand to head home! A superb goal and a super performance from Alex!
Interestingly Robert Green started sprinting for goal kicks after that, West Hams substitutes managed to leave the pitch in double quick time and there was a lot more urgency to their game for the last 6-7 minutes? Funny that?
That made our keep ball all the more entertaining! The final whistle blew, the fans roared and we’d just bagged 3 points and our 3rd clean sheet in a row!
Conclusion
This was my favourite performance of the season. Our dependence of Cesc last year has been well documented and today he was very off colour. He didn’t cover as much ground as usual and his first touch was nowhere near the usual standard. Arshavin was terrible for large parts of the game and Denilson might as well have not been there. I was surprised by his inclusion considering the team we were playing and the form he’s been in.
Anyway, that didn’t stop others in the team standing up and making an impact. I thought Alex Song had his best game of the season to date. His defensive performance was superb and going forward he was direct and bold. His goal was more than deserved and he’s really starting to grow into his more marauding role. That was his 4th of the season so far!
Our backline didn’t have a lot to do, but what they did do was excellent. I thought Koscielny and Squillaci both had excellent games and I thought Fabianski built another layer of trust with an assured showing. His distribution is excellent.
What I enjoyed most about today was the patience we showed. There were many times we could have let our heads drop, Theo hitting the bar, Arshavin not winning the penalty, the 600th world class save by Rob Green! None of that halted our patient approach which for me shows a real maturity.
More exciting than any of that was our bench. Who in the league has the options we do attacking wise? To my mind, no one. Nik Bendtner no longer draws moans from the crowd when he’s warming up, Theo Walcott is a genuinely scary player these days and Eboue… well, I’m not going to take the compliments that far!
Anyway, the Arsenal title challenge train is picking up some pace now, we’ve got to take it game to game and we’ll have to improve on yesterday’s performance but regardless of the score line I’m taking more positives than negatives.
Player ratings (These are opinion, not calculated by a computer or a special formula)
Fabianski: He played well, he distributed cleanly, the only critique I’d have of him was his liking for the punched clearance. Regardless of how good your fist is, I’d always prefer a catch. 7
Sagna: He’s really turning into an attacking full back this year. He whipped in a couple of very dangerous crosses today and he’s always keen to get forward. 7
Clichy: He’s had a lot of criticism of late, but what can’t be denied is that he’s a trier! Bar one episode of confusion round by the half way line, I thought he was excellent. He’s getting an extra half point for his pin point delivery for the goal! Well played! 7.5
Squillaci: I really tried to watch him today. He’s slotted in so seamlessly that sometimes, I don’t notice him. Today he marshalled the back line, he put his head and body in the way of anything and he out thought the West Ham strikers. It seems to go unnoticed how often he gets his head on the end of attacking corners! 8
Kozzer: Another assured performance from a centre back who is growing in stature. He relishes the rough and tumble and his positional play is second to none. There was a one on one moment in the box in the first half that he did fantastically well to shield so Fabianski could pick up. Calm, collected and impressive. 7.5
Song: He had a faultless game bar the yellow card. His passing kept the play moving at speed, his directness opened up West Ham in numerous occasions and his goal won us the game. His form is finally starting to pick up and I think that might coincide with him learning this new position he’s being asked to play. 9
Cesc: A bad day for the best creative midfielder in the world. Important to note that he still created a shed load of chances, he just seemed off the pace and his first touch put him in trouble on more than a few occasions which is unusual for him. He made ten unsuccessful passes which is very high for him! 6
Denislon: Not his finest 90 minutes of football. He was sloppy in midfield and didn’t really add too much to our game. He seemed to get out muscled or caught out positionally. I thought Rosicky would have been a better option in the midfield. 5
Nasri: Some though he was poor today, I’m going to disagree, I thought he was good, his pace really shining at times and a few crunching tackles as well! He was knocking crosses into the box whenever he could and he hit the bar from a thunderbolt of a freekick. 7
Chamakh: Didn’t really happen for him today. The service wasn’t amazing and nor was his game. He still causes problems with his runs and strength up top. Nik Bendtner is knocking on Arsene Wenger’s door and the noise is getting louder! 6
Arshavin: A very disappointing game, he made 18 good passes and 12 shocking passes. That’s really poor for an Arsenal player regardless of the additional risk associated with attacking passing. He delivers, but like I’ve said before, we know he can do twice what he’s currently doing. Hopefully the penny will drop before he finds himself on the bench! 4.5
Subs:
Bends: Came on, caused a nuisance straight away, looking sharp. 6
Theo: Came on, hit the post and forced a good save! 6.5
Eboue: Came on, ran about a bit. 6
P.S. Someone took the time out to question why I didn’t support West Ham as I currenlty reside in Essex. Well, firstly, if we all supported clubs according to proximity of our home address why do clubs do preseason tours of Asia and North America? Surely the point of supporting a club is that it’s for everyone?
I’m surprised someone from the educated City of Cambridge would say something so stupid. I was actually born at the Portland Clinic, which is w1, which by google’s calculation is 3 miles from the Emirates, 10 miles from West Ham, 3.5 miles from Chelsea, 3.9 from QPR, 4.7 miles from Milwall, 6.2 miles from Leyton Orient and 9.6 miles from Milwall.
I think I’ve made my point on many levels.
Oh, did you hear Bob Wilson talk about the fantastic money we offered for Reina in the summer?
wow what a article – peirs morgan
his last one ever
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1325197/PIERS-MORGAN-Manchester-United-imploding-Arsenal-soaring-England-win-Ashes.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
urmmm pedro i don’t think you’v changed the clock back an hour mate it says it’s 7;44 when its 6;44
No Gambon… I’m talking about judging the way a teenager handled a strong and direct mature pro. And to suggest that the goal was down to Djourou alone is a bit of nonsense. He handled him with aplomb that night every time he had to deal with him and I wasn’t the only one impressed. Fact. Now how about my answers. I’ve got about another 30 minutes to waste on here… so be quick
Jacob, again, you’re getting it all wrong…
Schwarzer fell through because the young Fulham keeper picked up a nasty injury a week before the window.
It had nothing to do with the money we were prepared to pay in the end…
… and if you think people on here thought he was the answer, you’d be wrong.
He’s an improvement on what we have, but no where near what Reina could have offered us.
i don’t want shwarzer,reina, buffon, or any other keeper i want MANUEL ALMUNIA !!!!!!!!!
PEDRO WHO’S WRITING THE ARTICLE TOMMORROW?
YOU OR GEOFF?
AJG,
I have to confess that I wasn’t aware that Bob said that… but I still don’t believe that Wenger was serious about a keeper. Not to sign Schwartzer for a supposed half a million more does not suggest to me at least that he was hell bent on a new keeper. If he wanted someone like Reina he’d have gone after Reina or the guy at Lyon or someone from the German League… if Wenger was desperate for a keeper he’d have done what he did with Koscielny; he’d have sorted it. That’s my view anyway.
Pedro…
My take on the keeper thing is that Wenger may have had doubts about Fabianski and especially Almunia but they weren’t huge doubts. If they were he’d have gotten a new keeper and the man can be decisive when he wants… Once he makes up his mind about a player the player is more or less gone.. doubt me ask Lauren or Gilberto. Even Seaman was basically told that he wasn’t keeper anymore when he brought in Mad Jens. I’m not saying that he never wanted Schwartzer I’m just saying that he wasn’t desperate for a keeper because he still believed that Fabianski could reproduce his training form in the proper matches. I didn’t understand Wenger’s fascination with Fabianski and I’m still not totally convinced about him but what can be said is that he is a much better keeper than I ever thought. His all round performance at Man City was really good, to say the least, and played a big part in the victory.
If wenger really wanted Reina or someone of that ilk he’d have gone for such a player. Not Schwartzer who would, at best, have been a stop gap.
Wenger was certainly serious about going for a keeper, but that doesn’t mean that he believed our keepers not to be good enough. You go to sign a player if there’s someone who would be an improvement on what you already have.
6 goals in 7 appearances and the 7th appearance he hit the fercking bar.
Who’s the muppet asking to replace Walcott with Edin “only scored a massive 1 goal despite playing more games all Season” Hazard?
3 additions to the squad
GK, Benzema, Schweinsteiger
I say we’re winning the treble, Cesc/Nasri Ballon d’Or
You go to sign a player if there’s someone who would be an improvement on what you already have.
A,
That means what you have is not good enough
David
Im sure youre aware that Hazard has a better goal ratio than Theo despite being 2 years younger?
ismaeel, Geoff is.
Jacob, Wenger was after a keeper this summer Jacob, no doubt about it…
Like he’s demonstrated on numerous occasions… if he doesn’t get his man, he’ll rarely have a back up.
Schwarzer was the first rebuttal, Reina was bid for because of the doubts around Liverpools finances and ownership… then we went for Schwarzer with more conviction.
You don’t half go after a player and you don’t half scout a keeper all season like we did with Schwarzer.
The long term plan now is hoping Chesney signs and Fabianski can hold the fort with out costing us too dearly.
http://www.ashburtongrove.co.uk/2010/10/bob-wilson-says-wenger-offered-amazing.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AshburtonGrove+%28AshburtonGrove.co.uk%29
I still think he’ll sign a keeper first chance he gets (provided its a good keeper).
I dont think Wenger thinks we need any other position strengthened, so i dont think cost will be an issue for him.
Dave, the link to the BBC story is at the bottom of the post.
or in the post I put up in August
Nice write up Pedro.
Catching up on some old Dexter episodes though. Halfway through season 4.
I like Dexter… not as much as I like the wire / or hate Brooklyns finest.
Ah Keyser, yet again hoisted by your own petard. Was my first comment not that we were a pretty good team? And are we not on a reasonably good run of form? So I only turn up here when we’re losing? Seriously, try re-reading what you write before posting it, you might do yourself a favour and make yourself look a bit less silly.
And as for reading what I write – I certainly do, but it’s fairly obvious you do not. I said his finishing WITH HIS FEET was beyond poor. And it is. It was in France, and it has been with Arsenal this season.
As for Nik, again, you completely miss the point – that he’s a technically far superior footballer, a more rounded player, and that he is capable of things that Chamakh is particularly weak at, such as playing a bit of football with his feet. So the point about his goals against Newcastle and City was that they were superb finishes, and showed a side of his game that we just haven’t got from Chamakh.
As for saying the team isn’t as efficient? I can give you one very good reason for that – our centre forward isn’t as good, and doesn’t finish the chances nearly as well! Honestly, think man!
So, if you can be bothered to read what I actually write, before working yourself up into another ridiculous and inaccurate post, I’m more than happy to dialogue with you. But this succession of straw-men is getting beyond comical now.
so guys how many more layers do you think we are off a world class team? e.g. players?
so guys how many more players do you think we are off a world class team? e.g. players?
shaktar should be straightforward enough – they might pose a few problems but we should get a win. 2-0 id say. newcastle is a different story though. i think theyll make it hard for us – especially after the big win they had today theyll be full of confidence. theyre big and strong and they have some decent players so theyll be dangerous
Evening, why is the comment count so low? Has the recession hit le grove too or is it just because we won and there isnt much to complain about? Either way i dont like it.
Heard yesterday that Schweinstigers contract at Bayern is up in the summer but i also remember hearing that he signed a new contract a year or two ago. Anyone know for definite which it is. He would definitely be worth a massive signing on fee and extravagant wages if he were on a free.
we need a solid keeper a good DM and i think VP has to go and a world class replacement brought in in his place. the man is a top player but he cant play a full season so hes no good to us.
Think he’s got a year and a bit on his contract Stu. It seems he wants out and wants to go to the Prem but my guess is it’s either united or Chelsea he’d cost an arm and a leg for sure
Have u lot heard the modric rumours, lol Barca are gonna offer £33 million for him
his contracts out at the end of 2012 i think stu. a lot of made up shit flying about. i think hes more into united anyway
Stu, it’s a Sunday… and we won… no panic!
I dunno Marko. We can compete with Chelsea and United financially, its only a matter of Wenger actually wanting to fight it out with them for him. Assuming its not all about money for him we have more than a decent chance of signing him.
Sure there is the trophy thing too but he could be convinced that he is the final piece for our all conquering puzzle….be it true or not.
ismaeel
Depends on your definition of a world class team. We are at worst the 7th best team in the world, maybe 6th best if you count us as better than UTD. So you could say we are already world class.
If you mean a team that will win the PL, and one that doesnt get trounced by Barca/Chelsea, id say a world class striker, another DM option thats better than denilson, and a true top class GK, and maybe a slightly more pragmatic approach.
Theres also question marks over whether Clichy is good enough IMO.
Explanation accepted Pedro….reluctantly. Sunday just means people should have the day off…free to blog away.
i watched some of palermo and lazio earlier today and i cant believe palermo claim pastore is worth 70 mill euro. looks decent to be sure and he could well be world class in a few years but hes only worth 20 mill at most. valuation of players is totally out of control
Stu
Yeah, we can certainly afford him. I would be more than happy if we signed Diaby & Denilson to make way for Schweinsteiger.
That said, we wont even be interested, so its a non starter.
We are basically the same as the current German team. Full of exciting youth with bundles of potential and a bit of experience.
kev
I saw a guy called Cesc play yesterday like a £6m player, im pretty sure hes worth more than that.
cesc is different we know what hes done and what hes capable of. this is only pastores second season at palermo and theyre saying hes worth 70 mill? last season he was reasonable at best? no way not in a million years
maybe theres no one here because theyre all out trick or treating?
Uh….11pm is a bit last to be out trick or treating isnt it?
out letting off fireworks then!
My guess is Wenger would rather give Frimpong and others the chance rather than spend possibly what 30-35 million for the Schwein. Or possibly go for someone like Matuidi or M’Villa who would cost a fraction of the price.
yeah its all just ifs and buts. nothing like that will ever happen – wenger will struggle to buy a player for 15 mill never mind 30 or 40! his conscience wont allow it
Marko
We wont improve by shovelling average players & 18 year olds into the team, however we will by bringing world class players in.
Quality not quantity. 2 x £25m players would do more for us than 6 x £8m players.
Yeah I’d love the Schwein but I wouldn’t mind Matuidi either. And christ Cesc, Nasri, Ramsey, Wilshere, Song, Diaby and Rosicky with Aneke coming through and Lansbury there where do you fit in all those players? And I’m not giving up hope of a Honda/Marin joining eventually. Hopefully
Yeah a fraction of the price and a fraction of the quality too. You get what you pay for. Silvestre cost 750k or whatever and was unbelievably shit, Koscielny cost about 10m and looks to be worth it if he continues like he has been and settles well.
However much Schweinstiger costs would be worth every penny because he is world class.
And anyway, with so little time left on his contract he wouldnt cost much more than 30m, fuck it, he may even go on a free…200k a week? Wenger would go for that, right?
It depends on who the players are. You just make the most of your budget, one that you’ve assigned yourself according to your targets and not because you see other teams spending those amounts.
There has to be a point where the benefits of buying a player are outweighed by the risk associated with their pricetag.
no room for all those players – at least not without getting rid of a few wasters.
Still watching Dexter.
What a weird thing Halloween is?
Marin is a wide player. Schweinstiger plays the same role for club and country (the position Wilshere has played for us so far this season) and has really become a top top player while playing there. He wouldnt be getting in anyones way if he arrived, he would improve the team and thats all you can ask of a signing, not for them to be concerned with who is behind them.
Oh how i miss Dexter. Last episode i saw of that was just before Dexter was about to kill the incorrectly named ‘Trinity killer’. That was about 6 months ago…couldnt be bothered to look for the episodes since.
pay is one thing but players are looking for stability and a guarantee that whatever team theyre joining will win trophies. no matter what we say chelsea are the team of the moment in england. they can pay big money plus they have a genuine chance of winning everything. we cant pay huge wages plus were inconsistent – were not as attractive to top players as chelsea or even united
As things stand now when all fit Denilson, Diaby, Ramsey, Rosicky and Walcott won’t be starting/sitting on the bench. If we bought Schweinstiger then Wilshere isn’t getting near the starting 11 and that won’t happen.
Keyser
Where is the risk? If we spend £25m on a player and it doesnt work out what do you really lose?
With Reyes we spent £10.5m, and got back £8m. Even flops have resale value.
There would be risk if we went to the bank and borrowed that £25m, not when we have £130m in the bank and £50m profits rolling in every year.
Anyway, the point was we have a big, quality squad. We arent gonna get anywhere signing Matuidis of this world, we’re gonna stay just where we are.
Yes Holloween is definitely a wierd “holiday”. It literally has no point other than for kids to get free sweets…which is shit.
Marko
If we were to sign Shweinsteiger one of Diaby or Denilson, if not both would be moved on.
Having Jack as a squad player wouldnt be a bad thing at all.
Jimbo – Fucking hell, nearly missed your post, really should have, what a waste.
Come off it, you come in to have a little bitch and moan most of the time, don’t get all upset now just because it was me who mentioned it, didn’t you rather we struggled so that Wenger would be closer to the sack ?!
Chamakh’s first season in the Premiership, before we signed him people were saying he had a poor record in a poor league, it’s too short a time to completely write off any aspect of his game or to say he’s made it, but going by on what we’ve seen you’re very wide of the mark.
You keep exaggerating your points so that they have little relevance, so far he’s scored 6 goals, and got a few assists, he might now score again, but soo far that’s a good return, and his workrate and link up play has made him a very valuable player for us soo far. You’re saying his finishing from the floow is beyond weak, that’s just bollocks mate.
He’s had to adapt to a new league a new team, and not really in favourable circumstances.
The efficiency point is in relation to Adebayor, actually go back and watch the sort of chances that he was given, Clichy and Sagna both got a several assists that year because they played to his strengths though others might have benefited to, we actually put in good crosses, and were machine like in the way we churned out chances.
That’s what I mean by efficient because instead of asking the striker to adapt to situations the level of our play from Hleb, Van Persie, Rosicky and Fabregas allowed Adebayor to play to his strengths, you can’t say the same for Chamakh.
You’re missing the point about Bendtner aswell, I’ve said he has more potential and is more adventurous but he’s not established and he doesn’t do it reguarly enough for him to be considered as productive as Chamakh has been, the goal he scored against Newcastle isn’t something you see from him week in week out, neither is the goal against Citeh really.
Though I’m happy we’ve got both players playing soo well especially in the absence of other players.
Dialogue with me ? We’re posting on a public forum, it doesn’t really matter what we say in the end, nice to see you stray from the norm to mention Straw men.
Well Denilson and Diaby arent good enough to be starting for us now so they dont make a difference to who we can or cant buy.
a vessel of unnecessary and meaningless moans, by some people, not everyone, just some people. I’ll use some happy pills when I post.
play jack in arshavins position? hed work a lot harder and JW is more of an attacking player anyway? what do ye think?
cesc schweinsteiger nasri
walcott van persie wilshere
thats an excellent six
Stu
tvpc.com in 3 hours. Click on the showtime link.
Still trying to finish season 4. Trinity Killer not dead yet. About2 episodes left.
Season 5 is fun too.
Nah Kev, Wilshere isnt fast enough to play wide. He is best suited to the middle where he is controlling everything.
Zeus, i could never just watch the latest ep. I would be so lost. I’ll get a box set or something eventually.
gambon – Signing Matuidi’s of the world ? The point shouldn’t be the pricetag either it should be quality over quantity, whether quantity means the number of players we sign or the size of their pricetag.
Generally you’re right the greater the price tag the better the player, but I wouldn’t say you get value from money these days and Wenger’s success has been built on trying to make the most of the resources he’s had and I’d trust his judgement.
All players carry risk, it doesn’t matter what we have in the bank, that’s just how well we can cope with the consequences of the risk those players carry.
Reyes wouldn’t be a risky signing now, nor would Schweinsteiger, but it doesn’t mean he’d be a guaranteed success either.
Gambon Wilshere shouldn’t have to make do with being a squad player he’s going to be the future of this club. This fixation some have with buying a player just for the price tag or whatever is mad. Schweinstiger for Germany or whatever was just as important as Khedira who was a fraction of the cost. It’s like when people want us to sign DeRossi cause he’d cost alot of money and comes with a reputation, whenever I’ve seen him he’s been average and so over hyped. I like Schweinstiger but if you’re telling me 30 million for him means dropping Wilshere to the bench and selling Ramsey and whoever then I’d rather just look at someone else.
Keyser
Agreed, the only point should be quality.
We arent in a financial position where we need to worry too much about the money. For example if there were 2 players we were looking at in the same position, one who was an 8/10 for £15m, and one a 9/10 for £23m, we should go for the latter.
Marko
So its fair to say you care more about 18 year olds development than you do Arsenal being successful?
The thing that could really stunt JWs development is no competition for places, not being out of the first XI at 18.
Marko, you are a bit off there.
Wilshere shouldnt have to make do with a place on the bench?? Come off it! He is at one of the biggest teams in the world and is just 18. Despite his amazing talent he shouldnt really be in a situation where he starts every week either.
And if we were to buy someone like Schweinstiger it wouldnt be a ramsey type that makes way, it would be denilson or Diaby because they are the ones that could do with making way.
gambon there’s no way Cesc would have become as good a player as quickly if he’d been a squad player, rather than a regular from an early age. Same goes for the likes of Rooney.
Wilshere is the future of the club, I personally want sustainable success, and building a top top team around his talents is the most likely way to achieve that, bringing in someone who is currently better but stunting Wilshere’s development would be counter-productive for the long term future of the club.
Possibly though bring him in if Cesc goes at the end of the season
I don’t care about the consequences, if Schweini comes knocking we take him whatever the price. God knows we could do with a proper hard man/winner/class act like him. I rate Diaby but that would keep Jaguar shut wouldn’t it.
Anyway, if Wilshere is as good as he is he shouldn’t have a problem making the team. I don’t see why a midfield 3 of Nasri Schweini Wilshere won’t work or even Ramsey Schweini Wilshere. It would be the ultimate midfield. To be honest I wouldn’t mind if we got him with the Cesc money. For me, he ‘s the best all round midfielder in the world today. Even better than Essien. He’s also German.
gambon – If they were the same quality, just saying it’s not always straightforward and there’s other things to be considered. Like buying from other leagues rather than our own.
Also I’d want us to not go overboard, unless the rules Uefa are bringing through really start to make clubs think twice about what they spend.
I like the way we integrate players, a few players of the quality of Gibbs, Ramsey and Wilshire, fulfilling their potential and we don’t really need to supplement them with proven talent, we just need to keep hold of them.
Stu there’s no chance in hell Diaby would be shipped off, and no way that he should be, he’s a quality player, and a real asset for the club.
Not sure that Denilson would be either, Schwein isn’t really a DM, so Denilson is still the only real cover. He’d play in the Diaby/Wilshere role in our system
Exactly Gambon. We are now in a position where (probably thanks to previous prudence) we dont have to look at price tags (unless its messi or someone of that ilk).
Wenger can now just go and find a player he wants and not have to ask how much he costs.
Look, if Jack is good enough, he’ll play regardless of Schweini coming in or not. If and when cesc leaves, I can’t think of a better fit in our team. I’d quite like some German steel in our team.
Why the bloody hell would you not want Schweinsteiger on the back of your shirt?
A
I agree about cesc/rooney, however we as a team wouldve been MUCH better off if Cesc had been introduced more slowly & Vieira kept for 2 more seasons.
The idea that a player shouldnt be brought in because it may hold an 18 year old back is ridiculous. 18 year olds dont win you anything, 26 year olds do.
Schweinstiger is as much a proper DM as Denilson is now. For Germany and Bayern he sits deep when the ‘actual’ DM (Khedira/Van Bommel goes running about. A Schweinstiger/Song partnership would work just the same and i sure as fuck would rather Bastien there than i would Denilson.
My whole point wasn’t to disparage Schweinstiger cause I think he’s a brilliant player it was more about the fact that we don’t entirely need Schweinstiger. If we paid 30 million for a midfield player that we don’t necessarily need then we need our heads examined. In fact of the top 3 sides only really United would need him cause Carrick is a bit shite, Hargreaves is a crock and Fletcher isn’t in the same league as Schweinstiger.
Exactly Rohan, give him a doub;e fiqure number and the club shop would stand to make a tidy profit too.
Rohan we should not be selling players or buying players to keep Jag happy and his mouth shut.
We NEED to improve and Schweinstiger would certainly improve us. Signing him may not be a priority but thats not to say if he is available we should just say “no thanks, we dont need him”.
A lot of slagging RVP off. When fit he is only second to Drogba in the EPL. You all are out of your minds. Just a year or two ago every top club across Europe was trying to sign him up. He scores, his free kicks are excellent, he assists as good as Cesc around the box, and he holds play up beautifully, not to mention he never misses penatlies (Something we need as weve missed three or four this season, and it has cost us points). RVP is our best player besides cesc, we need to get him fit not sell him.
Schweinsteiger’s decent, but he’s not completely dominant in any aspect of his game, and he benefits alot from the way the teams fitted around him, don’t really see the point of buying him unless Fabregas leaves or we need to replace someone.
Stu – How do you think he’d improve us ? I think it’d be a waste considering the other players we have.
Available? Who said he’s even available and if he was he’d be available for 25-35 million and wages minimum what 100,000 or whatever. Hey I’d love him but it aint going to happen.
Don’t agree about Vieira at all gambon. His legs were starting to go when he left us, they couldn’t handle the high tempo of the prem as they used to, and he was losing his effectiveness. If he’d stayed two more years then he wouldn’t have been the same player for us, we would’ve suffered, AND he then would’ve gone for a much lower fee, and that was when we had much less money to spend than we do nowadays.
Lol, dont you love the way everyone starts a rant in defence of RVP by saying “When fit….”
Maybe thats the problem you muppet???
I think he woiuld improve us with his level of experience and calm in midfield. He is also pretty mobile and a great attacker when he choses to go forward.
Marko, he could be available depending on his contract situation, thats how this whole thing started.
I like him but don’t see it happening. It’s like with Honda I’d love him to sign for us but currently don’t see who we drop for him or think we’d spend money on a player we don’t need.
Yeah its all just hypothetical Marko. If we were to only discuss players we were realistically going to sign then we would have nothing to talk about because we either havent heard of them yet or we havent seen them play because they play for a mid table french team.
I think if we’re going to sign someone it has to be someone noticeably different from what we’ve got, Schweinsteigers good but what does he have that’s different from the rest of our midfielders.
Matuidi is a realistic target and from what I’ve seen and heard he’s gonna be a fantastic player.
Keyser
He has stamina that none of our MFs have, he is more mobile than any of them, controls the midfield better than any of our CMs, gets forward well, tough in the tackle and vastly experienced.
Hes the player we all wish Diaby was, and maybe Ramsey will be one day.
Do we just give up on Song or Diaby or Ramsey cause Schweinstiger may be available for 25 million? Song at 23 and having made strides these last couple of years, it’s not inconceivable that by 26/27 which is what Schweiney is that Song could be a great player or Ramsey could be amazing. That ultimately is probably whats stopping us from signing Schweinstiger. That and we’re playing well at the mo
i am chocked to read about our players that they are sh…..,,we can say what we want…but not call them like that….i like all the players of my arsenal…they are all do great….i dont like many things but its not a reaon to call them shi…..,,,we have a good team and good players…and we should be behind them…we have too many importants game…i dont see how can such words will help us….its very stupid
imo, Schweinsteiger’s the best midfielder in the world at what he does. Proper box to box who is very adaptable and is a proper leader of men. Can’t think of anyone better Ramsey can learn from.
yeah Marko, lets wait 7 years for Ramsey to be as good as Schweinsteiger.
i wouldn’t really care if we didn’t get him but my what a signing he’d be. Even if isn’t a drastic improvement, he’d still be an improvement none the less and that can never be a bad thing. It could be the difference between a trophy.
gambon – He’s got a good all round game, but isn’t dominant in any one aspect, for Stamina I’d look at the other young kid that plays for Bayern/ Germany in front of his position, tough in the tackle ? Van Bommel, Gets forward well ? Robben/ Ribery.
Diaby’s a different player from him and I’d want and hope Ramsey to exceed what Schweinsteiger does.
Also Ramsey already plays in the Premier League, The Bundesliga’s similar, and the Premier League has tried to adopt a more continetal approach, but there’s still a difference.
Really Keyser?
Schweini’s sharp in the tackle, deceptively quick, get’s forward really well, good vision, great shot on him, reads the game extremely well and has a bit of fire in him. He’s all you’d look for in a modern day midfielder and more.
Schweinsteiger’s a full german international and rated as one of the best midfielders in the world. Over the past 18 months under van gaal , he’s been absolutely phenomenal in his role.
Rohan – Not really the point, who do we have that offers something similar to what he does ? and how would that affect the balance of the team.
Look at how Van Gaal’s set the team up and it’s similar to what we have, but it’s not like we don’t already have good players, we need someone that offers something significantly different.
I’m not saying Schweinsteigers not a good player, just we already have players that overlap with his qualities.
I see what you’re saying but I don’t really think if it’s economically viable we should be giving up on a chance to improve our team especially if Cesc is going to be leaving.
If Nasri and Wilshere continue playing as they have been throughout the season, losing Cesc and getting Schweinsteiger wouldn’t be too bad of a summer now would it.By the end of the season, I do expect one of Diaby or Denilson to leave if Ramsey regains his game.
If Cesc leaves thats something else completely, you’d probably have to buy two different players to replace him, because we’ve built this side around him and there’s not especially a player that compliments the team exactly like him around.
Right now I’d be happy seeing how far we can push the squad we have, if we were to add someone, I’d rather it was either a defensive monster or someone who was going to offer us a proven explosive edge up front.
To me, Schweinsteiger seems like a guy who would have very little interest in ever leaving Germany. Has he made any comments suggesting that he’d be open to a move?
He has, Daniel and that’s why we’re even having this convo.
Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has revealed his ambition to play for an English club.
The Germany international, who is contracted at Bayern until 2012, has recently been linked to several Premier League sides, including Manchester United and Arsenal.
And 26-year-old Schweinsteiger has admitted his admiration for the English game, even joking United could exchange him for Wayne Rooney.
“I love the kind of speed of the English game but I don’t know what will happen with me,” Schweinsteiger said in The Sunday Times.
“I have a contract until 2012 and we’ll see.
“What I love is the atmosphere in English stadiums. When we played last year in Manchester it was fantastic.
“My brother is a big fan of Man U and he always says, ‘Go to Man U, go to Man U.’ I say, ‘I can’t, I can’t.”
He laughed: “Maybe they can swap me for Rooney.”
Arsenal
Schweinsteiger also expressed his appreciation of Arsenal’s approach, adding: “I watch the English games on TV and I like the Arsenal style at the moment. They’re very strong.”
The midfielder admits his relationship with the Bayern fans has not always been good, and says he admires the loyalty of the English supporters.
“For me, in England the fans are better,” he added. “When the team give their best, they are not booing.
“It’s more like they are fans more with the heart.”
Haha. Alright, I guess I’m out of the loop. Good to hear though. He would be a wonderful, if not entirely likely, acquisition.
Sheeps Head Song is a Rip Roaring Red who scores goals @ will
I don’t think there is anything stopping us buying Schweinstiger… if he wanted to come and we could afford him, I’ve no doubt we’d buy him.
Especially if he was in a free!
Most would have said there was no point in buying Chamakh after Nik B put in a great run at the end of last season, it didn’t stop us though, did it?
arsenal fans should get used to the idea of even fewer transfers than ever over the next few years. the squad has strength in depth, and growing maturity. the academy is full of outstanding prospects. i’d be surprised if we buy anyone at all, let alone an established and sought after star. the only signings we need are the lukaku bros. that would be worthwhile.
Yesterday I learned that goals scored with the head don’t really count. Sort of like half goals.
Stupidest post ever.
Why is the time still being shown as the summer time?
…and goals against teams in the lower half of the table
….and goals when we’re already three up
Post?
What is going on with Le Grove? Where is a new post
…in fact any goals which need to be disregarded to suit your argument
It’s only 8.30 here…hence no new post.
Oh shit! You have adjusted your time haven’t you? Back to having 5 hours sleep on champions league nights…thanks a lot!!!
What is going on with Le Grove? Where is a new post
—
Timings have changed – the annual British mumbo-jumbo
Morning all, Pedro is changing the time and I am writing the post, so it will appear at 9am, which according to this, is 10am!
…so Song’s goal didn’t really count.
Song? Who’s that, the last Pedro comment was mine, fucked up the log in!
Oh no! confusing morning, Geoff is posting as Pedro and Pedro is posting as Pedro and Geoff is posting the new post at 9am which will appear as 10am when Pedro changes the time…changing time? is Pedro God?
Pedro
any chance you can ban G STAR? he is literally the biggest prick in blog land.
Socrates, that’ll be me!
Gambon, I banned him, did Pedro let him back on?
Geoff
Dont know, he was posting articles yesterday about other teams but changing the names around so it looked like Arsenal related stories.
Hes either 7 years old, or he has severe learning difficulties.
I’m going with learning difficulties with what I’ve read!
NEW POST!
Denilson did not play well against West Ham- but that does not make him shit-I’d like to see Scotty Parker after the 2 games that Denilson played last week. He would barely be able to walk.Those were 2 tough games. Why can’t some people cut some slack.
I cannot understand the criticism of Chamakh- He is carrying the front line every week not just leading it. Even when he is not playing well he is playing people in.
Chamakh would be more effective if Clichy could learn to cross the ball accurately. He’s virtually unstoppable if the right early ball is played in to the near post in the air. As for Bendtner- no he is not there yet either movement or fitness- and having options isn’t a problem-we know that Bendtner is a capable impact player -even when half fit. RVP only lasted 23 minutes this season so the chances of him being able to play 3 games in a week is remote. A fit RVP is awesome- and I want him fit to play Chelsea and Manure.
Have any of you guys who are critisizing Song for his advanced positioning stopped to think that the reason he was playing that advanced might coincide with the fact that Fabregas was nursing a hamstring injury and was therefore not as mobile as he usually would be? Just a thought.. I mean when have you actually ever seen Song playing ahead of Fabregas before saturday?? I’d say analyse the game more before you critisize what might have been a tactical decision by the manager as well as a brave decision by our Captain to stay on the pitch and fight for his beloved Arsenal despite his discomfort!!!
Always good to read your posts Pedro even though I hardly have the time to comment regularly!!!