Snobby Arsenal fans | Player review and potential transfer round up!

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Good morning Knights of the Grove table… last night was international night and I actually put myself through a very entertaining England game.

I’m quite excited about the future of English football. It feels like possibly the most vulgar, disconnected England side of the past 50 years is finally on its way out and there seems to be a number of exciting players are making their way to the first team. There is a real danger I might actually start finding myself interested in International competition!

I thought Ghana made a good account of themselves last night, they’re incredibly aggressive off the ball and they can string a few passes together. I thought they were slightly cumbersome on the ball and a touch wasteful in the final third but their energy and passion was fantastic to watch. I really like Muntari, he’s the sort of player we should be looking at. He’s been outed by Inter Milan, he’s looking for an opportunity on the big stage again and he’d be welcome competition for Alex ‘I don’t fancy it’ Song. Imagine his height shielding the back four next year?

I’m also a huge fan of Gyan. He’s like Thierry Henry lite… he’s pacey, inventive and he’s not too shabby in front of goal. He’s also a work horse to boot. I think he could do a job out wide and he’s creative enough in the middle to take on players… something you can’t say of Chamakh. Ayew looked a handful as well… I think United are sniffing around him, so that’ll be an interesting transfer story this summer.

For England, I thought there were some strong performances. Jack Wilshere zipped the ball around with ease. He really suits that number 8 shirt and it’s exciting to see the future of English football is a player who wears the red and white of Arsenal. Ashley Young was also impressive out wide, if we ever needed a classic English winger, he’d be our man. He’s more in the mould of Marc Overmars than a Bobby P, but dangerous all the same.

I was also very pleased to see Cahill introducing himself back onto the International scene with a very solid display. I find it cringe worthy how snobby Arsenal fans are about English players. Unless they’ve been snared from a sleepy village in France for an astronomical fee, many don’t want to know. It’s like the fans now get off on Arsene taking massive risks with unknowns. I mentioned last night via twitter that I liked Cahill and someone said,

‘Not for £20million.’

Jeez, some people need to get over themselves! He’s worth whatever the market dictates, which last time I checked was not £20million, or the £30million some people have been touting just to dirty the proposition of signing him.

The fact is, he’s Premiership ready, he’s the right age,  he attacks the ball in the box and he has great positional awareness. Not to mention the pace he has… my gosh is he quick! I think he’s a class act and I think there is a very high chance we’ll nick him in the summer. In a defence like ours, 4 top defenders is perfect and like Geoff alluded to the other day, throw in Miquel and Bartley as back up and we’ve got more than enough cover for a typical Arsenal year!

In other international news, Robin Van Persie went off injured. Apparently he took a knock to the knee but in the professional opinion of Burt Van Mareaknvrenvajfd, he should be ok for the Arsenal game this Saturday.

So bloody good news there! He also scored I believe. Even more bloody good news!

The rest of the International review can be completed by you lot in the comments, I hear our Aussie Grover’s have something to sh0ut about this morning and it’s not a double episode of Neighbours…

Catch you in the comments!

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412 Responses to “Snobby Arsenal fans | Player review and potential transfer round up!”

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  2. David

    Bit of a Silly question to ask what Cahill’s performance is against a quality striker seeing as we bought Koscienly and Vermaelen knowing fuck all about their performance against Quality strikers.

    It was a good attempt at humor though.

  5. Southcoastgooner

    i am in two minds about kos, he can be good, it is his first season, but he has produced a few rickets but he has been good aswell.jury still out. still under review.

  6. SUGA3

    Southcoastgooner,

    the stadia are not a problem in Poland, it’s the rest that is:

    - shit roads
    - rail system in tatters
    - not enough hotels
    - hooliganism (think of England in the ’80s)

    problem is that anyone who is even remotely competent fucked off to UK or wherever!

  7. Rohan

    Cahill’s good. But don’t think he’s “proven” as such. If Wenger and co. rate him and think he could do the job, they’ll go for him.

    And that’s that really. I tend to trust Wenger’s judgement on players. (atleast more than any of your’s)

  11. SUGA3

    Rohan,

    at the moment, there are three players where his judgment is ‘slightly’ off: D******n, Diaby and Bendtner…

    can’t be bothered to list the other massive flops he brought in in the past…

  14. Hussain

    Absolutely gutted today, but when i saw Karachi today, anyone who ever says Pakistan is not a safe country, should die of shame! It was absolute stunning today, this game has made the country realize what we are made of! hopefully we can fucking get rid of the mother fucking talibans!
    Well played India, Poor shot selections let us down!

  15. Cescs_MyBoy

    Standard ‘realists’…..

    Can’t answer a very simple question without twisting a response attacking the manager or squad.

    Same debate everytime lads. Have a good night.

  16. BillikenGooner

    I think Wilshere might be a bit of a hybrid.

    More like Xavi going forward – in with the pass, movement, vision, not so much the goals. And a bit of a certain little ginger Manc that doesn’t mind sticking his foot in defensively and closing down people with an engine that won’t quit.

    Ramsey will, hopefully, be our more goal scoring midfielder in the future.

  19. Gooby

    koscienly is a good defender, some people can’t admit they were wrong judging him because he comes from the french league and was relative unknown

  21. Miyaichi Noodle Soup

    Annan was just sold from RBK (thats Rosenborg) to Schalke, and will probably play against Inter in the upcoming CL quarter finals for those who wanted to get a better look(…)

    I’m from Trondheim and RBK is my ‘second’ team. I actually played in their youth ranks myself, hehe, but thats like 10 years ago 8-) Anyway, Annan has been the best player in Norway since his arrival. He was so good that everybody knew we couldn’t keep him. Even though he is kind of a dwarf, he has got a major leap and is certainly as good as Song, if not better.

    There were rumors linking him with my beloved Arsenal, and I was truly hoping we’d get him. If so, we would have gotten him for £2m and probably Wenger would have been praised for unearthing another gem.

    I remember Essien tipped Jose about him a couple years back. I followed his advice and bought Annan to Arsenal in FM11. He’s a fan favorite and established himself as a major player already in the 1st season. I also bought Zapata, but that’s another story ;D

  23. Rohan

    Cheers, Hussain.
    Atlast, a graceful Pakistani. My facebook is filled with crap.

    Honestly, though, you guys could very well have given it a better fight if 1. Misbah didn’t play so slowly at the beginning and 2. You guys had taken the batting powerplay a tad sooner.

    Either way, massive respect to your bowling once again. It’s a never ending production line isn’t it.

  24. Rohan

    —————

    I remember Essien tipped Jose about him a couple years back. I followed his advice and bought Annan to Arsenal in FM11. He’s a fan favorite and established himself as a major player already in the 1st season. I also bought Zapata, but that’s another story ;D
    —————————

    :D :D :D :D :D

  25. gambon

    Gooby

    He really isn’t good. He’s been carried by Djourou, and made stupid mistakes that you can’t make at this level.

    Good enough for 4th choice, no better.

  28. SUGA3

    Rohan,

    Djourou + Koz = good
    Djourou + Squid = reasonably good, even though Squd is shite
    Squid + Koz = fucking shit

    what does that tell you?

  29. Hussain

    I dont know about it Rohan, my twitter Time Line has been filled with amazing sportsmanship, most of my Indian followers said Afridi has earned massive respect from the Indian nation, just about all the celebs/newscasters tweeted about him and his grit! The two countries can be absolutely massive help for each other moving forward, hopefully some of the dick heads in the governments would have realized it today!
    I thought Umar Akmal’s wicket was massive and that turned the match into your favor, Misbah was never going to bother India!
    Haha yea, we have been lucky with bowlers, Wahab Riaz was superb today!
    Best of luck for the Final, of all the people Sachin deserves it the most!

  30. Gooby

    why bother, you refuse to see it.

    if one of Bale or Modric are voted player of the season it would be a disgrace

  35. Rohan

    Coz, they both complement each other.
    Squid and JD have hardly played together even. Not a big enough pool to make a healthy conclusion. Even discounting that, it’s a bit rich to come up with a generalization that Koscielny has been carried by JD.

    Yeah, Afridi is a legend. Proper hero. Hopefully, if Pakistan can sort out the issues with the board, wipe out all controversies and go back to the roots, they can hopefully build and become stronger. Cricket is poorer without them.

    The final is a tough one. It’s a dream final really. Murali’s last stand vs. Sachin’s last WC final at his home ground on 99 centuries. It’s all set up to be a special spectacle. Think India’s home advantage might just just edge it.

  37. Marko

    Nani’s had a great season for sure but if Nasri, Vidic or Tevez doesn’t win it then there’s something wrong. I’m might add Nani to that list but I wouldn’t add Modric or Bale to it. And Berbatov Gambon? You always talk like you know football but I don’t know what to make of that comment.

  38. Rohan

    hahaha gambon, you manc.

    Nasri deserves it more than Berbatov for sure imo. Berbatov’s just scored 5 goals in agame and a couple other hat-tricks against shit teams to boost his stats.

    Dunno about Nani, but I doubt he’ll get it. I’d give it to Vidic.

  39. Gooby

    martin keown said kozzer impressed him a lot, and that’s good enough for me.

    not to mention i watched him closely in the games and he certainly is a good player

  40. gambon

    Suga,

    Yeah, I’d be very happy with a kos & jd backup pairing, with kos sold in a year and replaced by Bartley.

    And yes, the ideal partner for verm would be a tall, arielly dominant cb.

  42. Hussain

    Definitely Rohan, things can only get better from here! The real heroes of the world cup were pretty young barring Afridi so plenty to look forward to, we will have our vengeance in the T20 WC hopefully ;)

    Its an absolutely huge lift, and Sachin will be up for it, Dhoni’s discipline in the field and Zaheer will be huge for India as well, strongly reckon they will win it! SL have had a pretty easy route to the final if you compare it to of India, Murali did his part in Colombo, Sachin will come through in Mumbai no doubt!

    Cheers and Good Luck!
    Back to Arsenal then

  46. Southcoastgooner

    what about Charlie Adam for player of the year. or Parker! should be one of them who are performing well all season.

  47. SUGA3

    Rohan,

    Koz and Djourou did not play together before and they clicked OK: it’s about the chemistry, good partnership and commplimenting one another…

    Djourou, who is an international and with considerably more top flight experience was a beast throughout the season and Koscielny clearly benefited from playing with him…

    when paired with Squillaci, he looks every bit the skinny bugger with one year in the ‘top’ division under his belt he is!

  49. Rohan

    hmmm, that’s true SL only played NZ and England en route to the final. If I remember correctly, their group stages were straight forward as well.

    India have played SAF, holders Australia and a resurgent Pakistan.
    How I wish I were in the Wankhede. :D I was born in Bombay you know….

  51. SUGA3

    gambon,

    I would actually keep him and buy an experienced right footed CB to partner TV with a view towards replacing him with Bartley…

    sixx,

    not a good partnership, way too similar and would get exposed in the air…

  52. Gooby

    gambon says:
    March 30, 2011 at 22:00
    Gooby

    Known was impressed by Cahill.
    —
    he was impressed with koscienly, i wasn’t talking aabout cahill

  53. Rohan

    Vidic has been a collosal figure for United. It’ll go to him unless Nasri goes on a great scoring run soon and hits something like 5 goals between now and the end of the season.

    If the season started in January, van Persie would be a shoo-in.

    Jack Wilshere is a cert for young player of the year. I’d shoot myself if he didn’t get it.

  54. Hussain

    Southcoast, absolutely spot on! Charlie Adam or Scott Parker should get it depending on which of the two clubs stay up! they have been absolutely vital for their clubs! Vidic comes after them two, then Nasri/Nani!

  55. Gooby

    Cahill is a decent defender but not by any means the second coming of maldini and the player who’s going to resolve all our “problems” at the back. he could be a flop too

  59. Hussain

    Haha how i wish i was on the other side of the border celebrating in Bombay tonight! It would be absolutely buzzing, they must still be partying there! even Karachi was buzzing till pretty late despite of the loss! People have taken it on the chin and moved on, well at least most of them!

    Pretty much yes, SL’s only tough match was against us and they lost to us pretty badly!

  61. Gooby

    nani for player of the year

    wilshere defo young player of the year, he walked into the first team at 18 and he’s been brilliant, well ahead of bale imo

  64. gambon

    Lol, actually Sixx pac….what I meant was….

    What the 2 times they played together, where koscielny got sent off in one, and made a ridiculous error in the other?

    Dream partnership.

  65. Marko

    Yeah but fucking Berbatov player of the year? Thats ridiculous. It has to be one of Nasri, Vidic, Tevez or possibly Nani thats it.

  68. incesc

    nasri cant win player of the year for having 5 good games unless he steps up now and wins us the league.

    wilshere is young player for definate.

    player of the year has to be jesus

  69. Marko

    He’s dropped off a bit sure but up until say mid Jan he was on all the time. You could argue the same for Nani he’s been in and out in and out but fucking Berbe he’s been in in like 5 games this season there’s a reason Hernandez has been playing as of late.

  70. Marko

    The way Van Persie has been playing of late if he was fit for the season he’d almost be a shoo in. He’s the form player

  74. Rohan

    hahahaha gambon. You think Bale deserves the young player of the year award over Jack?

    Please. He’s been shit in the league. Just a great couple legs against Inter don’t maketh a player.

  79. Rohan

    Are you really making that argument, gambon? You on something?

    Wilshere’s played as a deep midfielder for us this season ffs.

  80. gambon

    So Wilsheres not meant to score goals but bale is?

    You’re starting to sound like A.

    The fact is bale is one of the favourites for player of the year, Wilshere isn’t.

    So how can Wilshere be ahead of him for young player?

  81. Rohan

    coz, WIlshere for one, is much younger than Bale. Also, if one is contention for player of the year, one can’t be young player of the season as well.

    And yeah, one can expect Bale to score more goals than Jack. Bale just been overhyped greatly.

    It’s funny to see to what extent you, the blessed and mighty gambon with supreme rationality, do anything to trash our players.

    Nasri has 14 goals. Then surely, he should be better placed to win it than Bale if you’re going purely by goals.

    —

    gambon says:
    March 30, 2011 at 22:22
    Definately not Nasri, he was great for a period, but it was just a period.
    —-
    Care to explain that. It’s not like Bale has been consistent has he now?

  82. Rohan

    Bale has been good this season no doubt. But not as good as you may think he is. Part of the reason he’s even a favorite to win it, if he even is, is because he’s British.

    Next, you’ll tell me Ryan Giggs deserved it last year. Ideally, you’d love Berbatov and Nani to share the player of the year award and then have Bale take the young player wouldn’t you now.

  83. Rohan

    This is Jack’s first season in the first team squad and he’s already commanding a first team place.

    He didn’t even have a period where he was on the bench for us or anything. Straight from reserves to Bolton first team to Arsenal first team. That’s absolutely mind-boggling given that he’s only 19.

  85. Rohan

    That’s at some D&G store in London. God knows what my friend was doing there. He’s the cheapest bastard I know.

  87. MatthewT

    A question for all the people that don’t think Cahill is worth £20 million and don’t want to pay it.

    What the hell else are we going to do with the money ? Its no good to us just sitting in a back account and its of even less use being spent on pay rises for players like Denilson.

  88. Bert

    This is ridiculous! EVERY time RVP goes off for internationals, he returns injured.

    Then he plays 3-4 games for us, people start praising his form and he gets injured again. But he always seems to recover just in time for the next round of international games for Holland…. I wonder if AW is going to pull him out of representing his country and get him to focus on the club first.

  94. Kushagra India

    Lurch hahaha before the dropped catches Sachin survived a LBW decision by the skin of his teeth….the pitch was crumbling…

  98. Rohan

    I agree that Theo’s contribution this season has been underrated, but Jack’s been much better than him not to mention Walnutt’s been injured half the time.

  100. David

    I like Jack Alot too Rohan,

    But lets not go overboard here, hes not as good defensively as Song and not quite as good offensively going forward either.

  101. Rohan

    Fair enough, but he has a job to do and he does that job fantastically well.

    Just don’t think Walcott’s 29 games render him available. He hasn’t been too high profile either unlike Bale who hasn’t played much either.

  104. sixx pac

    You guys heard that Jackie boy got his girl preggers? Hope this is an April fools joke. They always pick on Arsenal with these things. Remember how excited I was about the Seb Giovinco rumours :D

  105. Pedro

    Loose Cannon, that was a comment made by someone who didn’t watch the game and who hasn’t watched Cahill before.

    He’s not technically poor, I bet you wouldn’t even know what you were looking for if I asked you to define technically good. He’s also not slow, he’s incredibly quick on and off the ball.

    Ill informed comment.

  107. dennisdamenace

    How can you talk about Young player of the year and not even mention Walcott?

    WTF?? Walcott??? For what exactly??? Stringing half a dozen decent gamrs togethet before getting crocked……,,again!!

    The desperation of some people to “prove” the worth of a particular player is astounding.

    Remind me, how long has Walcott been hanging around our first team now, three, four years? Has he really improved in that time?

    Bigger, better (more realistic) shouts for Arsenal players would be JD20 and obviously Wilshere…..

    Walcott! Do me a favour, take away his speed and he’s just another fucking Denilson.

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