Mark Randall, making the Brentwood swoosh mullet world famous
It’s Saturday, you don’t deserve another post about players we’ve nearly signed. According to reports, the Alvarez deal looks as good as done. That’s absolutely marvo, thanks to Pam for letting us know that deal was still on. The Sun are saying he’s the new Cesc, I’d disagree, he’s tall, direct and pretty strong. He’s the new Alvarez.
Nasri has been encouraged by our nearly moves in the window thus far, so he’s coming back to the table, possibly to negotiate a new deal over a delicious Nando’s. That’s how I’d broker deals if I was Gazidis, grilled chicken is the key to most young mens hearts. The sooner he learns that, the sooner we start performing with contract rebels.
Mark ‘the parting’ Randall finally secured a club worthy of his immense talents. Chesterfield agreed to match the wages on offer at the Richmond branch of PC World. Mark stated, ‘although I’ve lost out on my friends and family 12.5% discount card, I am determined to make this move work.’ Good on ya Mark, buying graphics cards won’t be the same without you.
Finally, Chris Samba has told Blackburn he doesn’t want to play for a crap northern club anymore. My recommendations for negotiating with him would be not to do it over a Nando’s. He’s probably had it up to his eyeballs with chickens. Just offer him a bunk next to JD and a contract fit for a king. He’ll be fine.
Right, now for a very sweet, heart warming guest post from Craig over at J4Goalposts. If you’ve got a top-notch guest post you’d like to share out over the summer months, or you’d like me to back link your site, send over a link, I’ll take a look and see what I can do! We don’t do enough with the wider blogging community, so if you’re a start-up and you need a wider audience, let me know using the contacts form!
Away days…
Like many of you this season, I too have spent hours in depression over the complete heap of crap that has been our 2010-2011 campaign. Hell, we lost the Carling Cup Final the day before my birthday and to make it worse, the day after whilst at work, on my birthday, I had the pleasure of bumping into a Brummy. As if my own team couldn’t anger me enough, fate had to bring me face to face with a Birmingham fan. Getting to the point now; it’s been a bit of a roller coaster season. One minute we were beating Barcelona, only to draw with Leyton Orient in the next.
There has been little to cherish from a season which teased us into believing we’d do something, that we’d finally win a trophy.
What I have cherished from this season though, is taking my younger brother to away games for the first time and with seeing his delight at merely getting tickets to a hole like Wigan, for me, brought back the innocence of believing Arsenal FC could do no wrong, we had the best players, the best manager and were the best in the world. I’ve obviously been to away games before but that’s been with my with mates, seeing the game through Corona eyes, sharing each others cynicism. There’s something about seeing a game through the eyes of a younger lad which is refreshing and as I sit with an Arsenal FC branded mug of tea, I will share with you my favourite trips from this season.
Newcastle United 0-4 Arsenal
This was my younger brother’s first ever away game, also the only game which he has a clear memory of, so for the both of us it was a very special evening. With it being his first ever game (of clear memory) I wanted it to be a surprise, so buying the tickets a month or so beforehand, I somehow managed to keep quiet till the day before the game, where I revealed the tickets to him. It was at this point his eyes lit up, he jumped up and down, hugged me and then spent the next few hours watching the ‘Unbeaten Run’ on DVD. His excitement at going to see a game stirred something inside me I hadn’t felt for years; a genuine buzz about seeing the greatest team in the world. Maybe years of disappointment had blunted me but I know at that moment, I was as excited as he was.
The game itself was obviously a pleasure, winning 4-0, though I was incredibly worried when I saw Eastmond and Denilson take to the midfield. That was also the night Denilson thought it’d be cool to sport braids in his hair, he looked like Monica off of Friends. Thankfully, they weren’t too bad! Rosicky had a bright game, looking typically classy with no end product, while Theo had yet to really make himself heard in the first half. Somehow, on the stroke of half-time, we got a goal, barely deserved in my opinion, but I wasn’t going to contest it. Originally I thought it was Bendtner who’d scored, with the crowd even singing his name, though it turned out to be a Krul own goal.
Both of Walcott’s goals were well taken, his second in particular but it was Bendtner’s strike in particular which made the night. Fed in by Fabregas, Bendtner found himself approaching the goal at an angle, ignoring Fabregas who had positioned himself in good space, about eleven yards out from goal. Bendtner shaped up to hit it (I originally thought it would hit a fisherman in the Tyne) and sent it into the top left hand corner of Krul’s goal. We’ve all seen goals far better but scored in the 82nd minute, it was game over for Newcastle and the point at which I turned to my brother, whose face was ready to explode through happiness, he looked as if he could burst into tears, or alternatively back-flip the perimeter of the stadium. He’d seen a great goal, Arsenal were going to win and he’d seen it with his own eyes, a magical moment. This prompted him into singing ‘Only one Nicky Bendtner’. Never mind the fact he’d done nothing all game but he’d scored the third and for my brother, that was enough, ‘sod the rest of his game, he just scored’. He even got to sing, “Joey Barton, what a wanker, what a wanker!” His ultimate dream made.
That night, after the final whistle, Eboue approached the crowd, (we were moved down a few tiers as Newcastle couldn’t sell the game out) kissing his badge. Ultimately, this cheered my brother even more, checking Eboue into his ‘Hero’ list. (Until we played Liverpool, where he, like Barton, became a wanker in the eyes of my brother)
A quick tip for anyone going to Newcastle next season – I’d advise parking in the MetroCentre and getting the Metro train from there to Newcastle station. The Metro car park never closes, there isn’t a toll, there’s no fine for matchday traffic (there isn’t any) and if, like we did, you get a taxi, then you’ll be back to your car within fifteen minutes of the game ending and another five minutes from being on the motorway once you leave the car park.
Wigan Athletic 2-2 Arsenal
This was the night we nearly died for the cause. If you remember, this match was played on December 29th, when there was a horrible, thick fog causing havoc. Now, my car was in the garage, my mate’s car was also having troubles, so by good grace of God, my dear old Mum took us to the game. Cutting through the Cat & Fiddle (also known as the A537, though the name of the pub gives the pass it’s name. It’s also the second highest Inn in England) we could barely see for the fog, having to travel at 15MPH, there was even a nagging thought we’d have to turn back for our safety but plough on we did and dropping down into Macclesfield, we all allowed ourselves an involuntary sigh of relief as the fog lifted.
I’m not talking about the game in detail as the image of Squillaci’s own goal still angers me. There were still moments to cherish from a life threatening trip to Wigan, such as my brother’s swearing getting progessively worse, calling N’Zogbia all names under the sun after his headbutt on Jack Wilshere. We came away from that game with a 2-2 draw, a horrible anti-climax after having beaten Chelsea two days previous, yet my brother still managed to pick out the positives, saying we’d have hammered them if N’Zogbia had stayed on, as they were spurred on by his sending off, my brother claimed. A somewhat outrageous claim since we were woeful that evening but still, he refused to believe Arsenal were at fault, he was still happy he’d seen his heroes play.
Okay, so not the greatest night but he still claims it to be the night he risked his life on the Cat and Fiddle for Arsenal. We also brought my Mum a bottle of wine for her troubles.
Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal
We’d lost the Carling Cup Final, lost to Barcelona and faced Manchester United in the FA Cup. It was a bad time to be an Arsenal fan, though everyone was still full of optimism.
That optimism was duly mis-placed as we lost despite, as usual, dominating the game. We never looked like scoring, Rosicky rubber-stamping that with an air-shot from three yards out. The reason I loved this trip was down to one thing; the rest of the fans. I think we took around eight or nine thousand for the game I’m not sure, I just know we were rammed and made Old Trafford feel like the Emirates. My favourite moment, a moment which sent chills down my spine, was when in around the 85th minute, Man United fans declared, “You’re gonna win fuck all!” to which we responded with this, for ten minutes solid…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQl_0MKvAo
It was an incredible feeling, everybody singing a loud ‘fuck you’ to Old Trafford and definitely something the players needed to happen at that stage for a little lift. Jack Wilshere in particular was grateful for such support, spending three of four minutes after the other players had gone down the tunnel to stand and applaud the Arsenal fans. Two days later, my brother used his hard earned paper round money to buy himself another Arsenal home shirt, just to put Wilshere on the back of his shirt. That one moment meant the world to my brother and though we lost, the feeling of everybody sticking their middle finger up to Old Trafford gave us a sense of satisfaction.
I find it also worth noting that Almunia’s display in the midweek against Barcelona merited a standing ovation from the fans as he entered the pitch to start his warm-up.
Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Arsenal
This was maybe the most frustrating day of the season, a day that summed up our season.
To start proceedings off, my satnav decided to croak it just outside of Stockport, (my own fault as I forgot to take the charger) meaning me previously unused Geography grades were going to be put to the test in the form of map-reading. Thankfully, Stockport is well sign-posted and I knew where I needed to be on the motorway and I knew that once I got on the ring road around Manchester, I just needed to remember my junctions.
Unfortunately for me, having Google-mapped Bolton’s stadium, I thought it was Junction 5 I needed to exit for the stadium, though if I’d bothered to look properly, I’d have known that Bolton’s ground is instead based in Horwich, not Bolton and I in fact needed Junction 6. Informing my brother were about to turn the corner to see Bolton’s stadium as I left the motorway, I passed under the motorway bridge to see myself looking at houses and a few garages. I had major egg on my face and so, using instinct, I took my first left, which I have since found out to be called Beaumont Road. I went up and down this road several times, even cutting into one of the housing estates where I found a railway station, which proved useless in searching for people to ask for directions. I managed to get back off the housing estate onto Beaumont Road (for the 5th time) and took my left to the junction up the the road, where I turned left again, which took me onto New Chorley Road. New Chorley Road is very, very long and it feels as if you’re going nowhere so getting fed up with this, I turned back and headed for Bolton Town Centre in a bid to find clear sign posts for clues, still not knowing I needed to be in Horwich.
It was in Bolton Town Centre I found the love of my life; a middle aged, ginger traffic warden who told directed me back onto New Chorley Road, informing me I needed to be on there and to just carry on. For what it’s worth, I would have mounted here there and then if it wasn’t so a minor in the car, I was so pleased for that information.
We went on to lose thanks to the forehead of Tamir Cohen (now released by Bolton) and more slack defending from set pieces. It was also the day I felt sick to my stomach when at the final whistle, we didn’t boo, but merely ‘accepted’ the defeat, with the majority of fans applauding the players, I was baying for blood, not able to accept the defeat. It had been a strange atmosphere all game, with both sets of fans not really at their best.
Just to note, that Lehmann attempted a Rooney-esque overhead kick in the warm-up when testing Szczesny. It did anything but tested our tall Pole, instead, Lehmann scythed the ball, sending it flying. It drew a round of applause and a lot of laughs from all fans who saw it, Bolton and Arsenal. Amazing stuff from a man of his age.
Sorry for all the reading you’ve had to, but I feel it important at a time when the end of season is upon us, where it feels like a horrible hangover, to remind ourselves of why we do stupid things like drive in awful conditions, get lost in Bolton and give Almunia standing ovations. For me, this season has provided moments of sheer magic in terms of reminding why I love the club. I hope reading this gives you the same buzz I felt when I saw my brother’s reaction when he learnt he was going to Newcastle to see Arsenal.
COME ON ARSENAL!!
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suga3-
fully agree on baines. he would be ideal at lb. will we do it? unlikely. but to finally have someone who can take a quality free kick is necessary.
Keyser, if you are still out there:
Baines’ both FK goals were scored less time ago than our last one, the latest was against Chavs in the Cup and the one before that was against Spuds in the league!
If Wenger is consistent with his thinking ( but we all know he’s not ) then Benzema would be a good choice to head in the crosses from those wingers. From what we’ve heard and read in the media so far, Benzema or anyone of any similar type quality, are not on the horizon.
It is this kind of tactical cluelessness and lack of ambition, that will result in us missing out on trophies again. And before he thinks about buying more attackers, he should be giving first priority to our defensive weaknesses. Quality defenders and a top defensive coach are required urgently.
But in the final analysis, you can have all the best players in the world, but if if you can’t make the correct tactical choices and decisions at the crucial moments in the game, you won’t get the best out of the team. Discipline and an ability to motivate are vital, also. Does Wenger have these abilities ? The evidence is plain to see.
” In Arsene we rust,”
now I have checked these goals, as far as I remember, it was 3 pens + 2 goals from open play + 2 FKs…
still, it’s not half bad, especially when coupled with these 11 assists…
IN: Ricky, Gervo, Samba, Cahill, Chamb, Inzo and Kaka(wishfull)….(pre contract for Hazard and Jageilka have them both in Jan 2012….loan now and bring back from loan in Jan 2012: Vela, Chamak, Myachi, Bartley, Lansbury and Frimpong.
OUT: Al’shunia, Eboue, Denishit, Squill, Clishe, Ro’sh’icki, B52(my arsh), J.E.Thomas, Cesc(now or never), Watt, Traore,
http://www.argentinafootballworld.com/features/88-afw-clausura-2011-gold-sticker-awards.html
article on Velez and Tricky Ricky as the call him + youtube video
thought the alvarez thing was rubbish
How many times has Alvarez been ‘done’ only to find its not? Then you have papers jumping the gun and calling him ‘The new Cesc’.
i dont see alvarez as “the new cesc.” he is more a pires-type, which we have needed back in the side for some time.
A man once said: “4th place is a trophy”
so the team could look like this then:
chesney
sagna verm cahill/samba enrique/baines
theo nasri wilshere arshavin alvarez
rvp
looking better
Dont expect to much from our Argie straight away their season has only just finished it will take sometime for him to dwell in
Hello grovers
Weddings weddings weddings all around me
What a fucking bummer
I’m not that young so they won’t let go me with their nagging about when I’m gonna get married my self…
Why the hell do everyone assume that everyone have to be married sometime?!
Fu*k the must marriage bregade! (Sorry for all the few happily married people)
Spectrum: “If Wenger is consistent with his thinking ( but we all know he’s not ) then Benzema would be a good choice to head in the crosses from those wingers. From what we’ve heard and read in the media so far, Benzema or anyone of any similar type quality, are not on the horizon.”
As far as Benzema is concerned it’s because neither the player or Real Madrid want the move. Wenger came out and said he was an admirer of the player which might have been manager-speak for ‘Hey mate if you’re interested in coming to Arsenal we’d have you’ and there was no positive response.
Bade, it’s cos they want you to be miserable, too……..just like doomers!
Gambon,
I respect your point of view but it is silly to say that Wenger is rubbish. If he was rubbish we would not have been a regular top four team since 1996 (and no I am not happy to be just a top 4 team)
Secondly anyone can run off a list of so called replacements but please use the thought pattern! Low, Klopp,,,,no way, they are all tied heavily to Germany. Van Gaal was fired at Bayern because he is a dictator and to be honest not one of those you mentioned is any better than Wenger! Of course its all opinionated.
SUGA3, care to share Evra’s stats, maybe Coles, I’m sure Baines did better than them in the attacking 3rd.
Frogman, no need, you wont win these wind ups.
After all, I mentioned Ancelloti and he has been dismissed as not a rated Manager.
Izzaguire may be going to Man U
Some interesting if slightly depressing comments from Tim Payton on Twitter.
Dale,
I think we can’t get either of these two, hence it’s pointless, wouldn’t you agree?
my point here is that if I was to choose between Enrique and Baines, I would choose Baines any day, the former is NOT better defensively, and the latter offers MUCH more attacking wise!
Arsenal are better than Everton, there is no question about that, and Baines is a big improvement on Clishit, unlike Enrique, who MAY be slightly better defensively, but that’s about it…
anyways, I would love to stay and chat, but I have a very important dodgy business to attend to
latazzzz…
as for Ancelotti, I said he was not THAT good in MY personal opinion…
surely, you have to have a few tricks up your sleeve to be winning stuff, but is he actually exceptional? don’t think so…
I like how SUGA brings up Baines stats at Everton, How about you dig up his stats at Wigan? Lets be very open minded when it comes to our team and who should come in, Wenger out and talks like that have to e rational.
Baines was not as potent with Wigan.
Baines played with Wigan from when he was 18 to when he was 22 so it’s not surprising he wasn’t as potent.
Ok, SUGA, I agree with you, Baines adds a dimension attacking wise, and that’s good, he would be an improvement in attack, BUT ALL 3 are defensively on par or Baines might be slightly less, Everton’s less goals conceded is not up to Baines but their CB and Midfielders, Plus a top goalie in Timmy.
Enrique is a seemless replacement, Prem experience, better than Gibbs coming in straight. Baines is what we can very much use, but the price and stress in getting him would be much, Everton won’t want to sell unless we offer 18m or so.
Tinyspuds,
What news mate?
TS, fair enough, Patrice the cunt Evra doesn’t score a whole lot for United.
Eric Abidal, NEVER scored a goal for Barca or in France, he’s still a top Left back….my point is, a fullback should be very good defensively and if they can score 7 goals in 44 games, even better, I’d take a very competent LB with 0 goals, at a good price. Baines is good for us, but not at 18m or there abouts.
Actually I do not care if a full back does not score or is not so good at going forward. All I care is that he does the job that a top quality full back is supposed to do and that is to be a top class defender!
Don’t really care about stats, but Clichy is very one-dimensional I feel in the final third.
Just my opinion but Baines is no better than Clichy.
Dale,
How r u mate
Slight correction, eric scored 2 goals just the last season for barca. He is better defensively but he still creates a heavy attacking threat, assisting goals and helping build attacks… Let alone barca’s scoring abilities provided by others …
Now SUGA3 blames clitchy for all goals we conceded and thinks baines is the saviour.lol.
lets be honest, Clichy is not error free is he?
Clone Sagna give him a left foot, left back sorted. Clone Bendtner and then he can go fuck himself
Perhaps I am old fashioned (I am 56) but I just wish our defenders would do just that, defend!!
Frogman 1806 -
Amen.
Too much bollocks about hes this going forward, hes that going forward.
Chelsea won the 2004 league with more points than we did unbeaten playing with full backs who never crossed the half way line.
I actually cant remember Dixon ever having a shot on goal, I remember Winterburn scoring some jammy corkers.
Also theres more chance of aliens landing on Earth during the transfer window than Arsene spending £18m on a left back, £18m on a left back, say it out loud, no fucking chance.
The more I think about the Ricky, Forehead and possibly Chocolate tea pot situations the more I think that we already know one out of Nasri or Cesc is gone.
I dont want to go off on one when nothing has happened yet but I got a bad bad feeling about this. Buying these two players with the squad we already have, at the prices metioned doesnt add up looking at Arsene historically. If we sign all three you can 100% put your house on one of the two leaving.
Lets see.
First time posting. Think Chamak will make good this year. He holds the ball up well has good feet and good vision. (Alvarez highlights show cross after cross.) I was very disappointed in Chamak’s unwillingness to pull the trigger last season, but his ariel ability is undeniable.
I know the summer is for talking-up the the players we need to bring in, but more discussion about the men who already wear the kit would be nice.
Walcott as a winger? Walcott as a striker?
Bade, not bad, i agree, Eric is a top defender and BARCA do great with him without his goals or assists, they have plenty of others doing the scoring. I feel we need fullbacks that defend well first and God bless them if they can add the odd goals here and there. I do agree our fullbacks have to be better at assists.
Baines can add to our offensive power, but i doubt his defensive prowess, and i doubt he’d come cheap, wage wise or compensation wise, and before anyone talks about not bothering about money, think, u offer Baines 80k a week, then you gotta offer Sagna more, Vermaelen, and then the other guys.
Clichy is a liability and found out too many times
Need to get rid of the shite
BBC News – Libya unrest: Football stars defect to rebels http://boldinter.net/k3HWAy –> Wenger is monitoring situation hoping for bargains…
Kolo Toure made more headed clearances in his last season at afc – 129, than any other player. Also more than any Arsenal player lst ssn.
Well said WTL, Cashley was the only fb i can remember for us that added that dimension of attacking in the final third. Season before the last, Cesc, Nasri, Denilson, Verm and a even Walcott were banging the FK in, so i’m not worried if Clichy can score penos and FK. i WORRY that the left side of our D is leaky or jittery. we will let Clichy go, but i can’t see wonderful leftbacks in the market, so i’ll go for Enrique to come in and do a slightly better job than a friagile minded Gael force or a brittle Gibbs.
On the 3 coming in, yes, I worry that it spels the end of either of Nasri or Cesc. But if i had to choose who left, Nasri can go, he is very replaceable, Ricky reminds me of Kaka+Pires rolled up in one. Cesc needs to stay one more season till Ramsey is fully ready, or Wilshere, heck we can drop Van Persie back and go after a top top striker. If Barca are finding new ways to insult us, then i feel captain DNA needs to sulk it up one more season or we loan him out to them and can recall him back when we need him (not sure this idea is good, but beats him doing a back heel dance and having injuries formed in the head)
The most important signings are the 2 CB we are hearing about, Cahill, Samba in plus Enrique and Gervinho, Ricky and Chamberlain, keeping Nasri and Fabregas, riding ourselves of Denilson (loan him out if no one will buy him) Bendtner (same), Rosicky, Squillaci, Almunia and a few more kids who won’t make it, and bringing in Coq or Frimpong, JET and Bartley.
@ Samir
Again the problem with that stat is that it’s not a percentage success rate.
if he made 129 /129 its very good. If he made 129 out of 1290 then it’s not very good at all.
Still…He made the most whilst in the team didn’t he Tinyspuds…I.E. more than any other player!
DaleDaGooner: “The most important signings are the 2 CB we are hearing about, Cahill, Samba in plus Enrique and Gervinho, Ricky and Chamberlain, keeping Nasri and Fabregas, riding ourselves of Denilson (loan him out if no one will buy him) Bendtner (same), Rosicky, Squillaci, Almunia and a few more kids who won’t make it, and bringing in Coq or Frimpong, JET and Bartley.”
I’d be amazed if we sign 2 CBs. I doubt also whether we sign Enrique and Gervinho. Maybe Gervinho is there to play wide to free up Walcott to play up front but I don’t see a reason for Enrique unless as a replacement for Bendtner / Rosicky.
As for the kids. JET has all the ability but not the attitude so he will either be sold or go out on loan again and having Bartley back is a complete waste if we have Djourou Vermaelen Koscielny and a new signing.
Samir: “Still…He made the most whilst in the team didn’t he Tinyspuds…I.E. more than any other player!”
Agreed but that doesn’t mean he’s a better defender or header of the ball. I.E. it’s a misleading and fairly pointless stat.
Come one Tinyspuds, if a defender makes the most headed clearances…For sure he must be the best header/best positioning to predict where they will drop…
It’s abit like saying someone who scores the most goals at the club…Isn’t the best striker?
Nonetheless I do believe it was time for Kolo to leave when he did! He was getting past it after that Malaria.
@ Samir
The player who scores the most goals may well not be the best striker. All it means is that they are the highest goalscorer.
As far as Toures stats it doesn’t take account of the following.
Number and quality of long balls played into the defending area compared to other teams. IE do teams try more long ball tactics against us than other teams.
defending tactics. IE Did Toure go forward to head clear while Gallas stayed back
Number of games played by Toure compared to other defenders.
You can then mix that around a little more IE did Toure play more games than other defenders against teams that specifically play long ball tactics
Not to mention that if the number for the next few highest are quite close it’s not a clear enough difference to actually prove anything.
for example 129 vs 125 vs 120 may well be too small a difference to be statiscally meaningful
Very good points there mate
To be fair looking at some more stats may give a better picture! Toure was one of our best headers though you have to admit! Besides his size…He did the job!
Im off to kill some people now boys…On good old call of duty ofcourse
typical wenger targeting forwards instead of defenders…
WTL,
Scored a cracking own goal against Coventry too, Winterburn scored some crackers !!!
I’m sure you’ll find Dixon did indeed have shots on goal as he was our penalty taker for a while
Looks like Spain are going to dominate football for a long time.. even the U21′s look good and ready to compete at the highest level..
If we only sign two players, i hope they are BOTH centre backs, Cahill & Samba work for me……
Chippy -
Yeah I remember that now that you say it. If I recollect the last one he took hit the cross bar and ended up near the half way line.
The OG, was that the chip from about 50 yeards lol
ddm i’m with you on that..
I still don’t know what people see in Samba? He’s ok but…he’s Samba ffs.
Have people forgotten that he’s the epitome of a French African.
Do people think that both Cahill and Samba are better than Vermaelen ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koFOz6gMgtU
samba is better than vermalean.
No he isn’t. Spain about to win the Euro U21′s, dominating world football right now. Thiago is worth alot more than people think!
who isnt better then vermaelen
40mil + thiago
David Smith wrote:
About Gervinho, it looks like Lille rejected the initial bid and want more, so further negotiations will take place.
Alvarez however is a done deal, not sure how much though. The contract is just waiting to be confirmed.
Thiago looks a top prospect
Reading between the lines, looks like we can announce A Ox, Gervinho and Alvarez on 1st July but not before. all attacking players.
I would say we are almost certain to buy a centre back and a left back too. But thats all who I think we’ll get this summer.
I fear the CB wenger will get is Jagielka, who I really dont rate, (and I am rarely wrong in my judgement of players!). Cahill is the best CB we are looking at but wenger is scared of the price.
It would be a decent summer’s work by wenger if he did this lot, and I suppose money would be limited if we dont sell Cesc.
he also looks like an arrogant little cunt that deserves a smack on his fake spanish nose
Vermin, Cahill, Samba, Kozzer & JD20…….
Proper CB cover for a 60+ game season…….
Squiddlydiddly can piss off……
however, i don’t think it matters who we gat as new CB’s – Terry, Vidic, Sahko, Cahill………because defenders are nothing without proper defensive coaching……
The art of defending takes a very distant back seat in the world of Arsene’s tippy tappy ‘perfectionists’……
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fESGAdUIG0
ardentgooner says:
June 25, 2011 at 20:31
Looks like Spain are going to dominate football for a long time.. even the U21′s look good and ready to compete at the highest level..
************************************
Messi and co will have something to say about that.
Additionally, the Argie U20 team at the upcoming U20 WC.
Messi who? Ricky Alvarez will lead the Argies to glory.
Having said that, Germany will give Spain an extremely tough test imo in the next 3 WC’s.
Alvarez is a fantastic crosser of the ball it looks like.. Fuck Young, I have a good feeling that this man could be the answer.
Alvarez isn’t even in the Copa America squad. He will start getting some press after he joins us and becomes the best thing since sliced bread.
Spain and Germany won’t even make the semis for the next 3 WCs. The South Americans are back on the up.
Evening! It’s Craig from J4goalposts, thankyou very much to those of you who gone on the site and said nice things about the article, it’s very much appreciated!
Just found this on Four Four Two’s website about Velez Sarsfield. Not read it yet but might give us a better insight to Ricardo Alvarez!
http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/argiebargy/archive/2011/06/24/how-v-233-lez-s-225-rsfield-bucked-trends-to-be-argentine-champions-again.aspx
Hell no. South Americans are on the bottom imo. Don’t fancy Brazil to do anything in the near future and as for Argentina, I don’t see any defensive talent.
Western Europe will dominate.
How about Pastore. For the record I’m glad Wenger is looking at South America for talent now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gX2ze6eYeI
Rohan
Man for man Argie has the best midfield and forward line in the world and has been for years. Even in terms of depth.
GK is iffy for sure, but the ever green Zanetti and Garay and Zabaletta could do a job.
Agreed Germany will be on the up though. France I don’t even know.
Not really. Maybe the best forward line but that’s about it.
No proper playmaker.
Germany have Ozil, Sahin, Goetze, Khedira and Muller at barely 20. Other youngsters as well like Lewis Holtby.
And most importantly at the back they have Neuer, Howedes, and Hummells who are all certs to be world class.
Pastore, Banega (who I would love for us to get) Mascherano, Cambiasso, Di Maria, Biglia, The BRILLIANT RICKY ALVAREZetc etc etc
Plus youngsters such as Erik Lamela and ‘the new messi’ Juan Manuel Iturbe, both on show at next months U20 WC.
Tevez, Aguero, Messi, Higuain, Levazzi etc etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe0HPlTjmc&feature=related
????
This guy s gonna get a few groans for sure. Marmite material…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YudCKToAM14&feature=player_embedded#at=164
Rohan says:
June 25, 2011 at 23:32
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Spain didnt have any super duper defensive talent imo its more about the system and the argies look like the only ones talent wise to match them up front .If they get the coach rite, Brazil 2014 will be theirs …
Sell Cesc for what we can get but make sure Thiago Alcantara comes the other way.
If Arsenal have allowed Cesc a 15% cut of any transfer fee that is bribery and a disgrace, but if Cesc has offered it back to us to let him go, we really should get rid of him as that says it all for me.
If it’s true, but if it isn’t then Cesc should publicly tell them to sod off.
Anyway, I think Cesc is becoming a crock because Wenger played him too much too young, so we should cash in regardless.
Same with all the kids apart from Jack as he at least was 18 before he got his chance.
11RickyAlvarez is on twitter, also followed by Arsenal. Its been confirmed by an Argentinian jorno.I dont believe he has signed yet though,have been embarrassed enough by Arsenal to believe he has signed.
Falcao has no agreement with Chelsea despite the Daily Fail claims, QUICK go get him oh wait we’re not that ambitious.
Cesc getting 15% of his own transfer fee? how does that work? Isn’t that more of an incentive to move!?
Gervinhio is as rubbish as Eboue
To me…English Centre backs are overrated and over-priced…30 million + for Cahill & Samba with zero Champions League experience and nothing of note at International level. Maybe take a chance on one of them but definitely not the pair.
Ricky Alvarez will be good for us. He can score from outside the box, cross a ball successfully and has the ability to do the unexpected. Would be an excellent buy especially if any of Arsharvin, Nasri or Fabregas leave.
This is what Wenger said at the end of the season
“We conceded very few goals from open play, most of them were from set pieces in a way you don’t want to concede goals,”
“It’s something that’s easy to correct. We need to improve the size of our squad. We need a bigger variety in the height of our players. We need to be more capable of fighting against some characteristics than we have been this season.”
To me it sounds like he is looking for a tall CB, with EPL experience who can deal with Stokes long ball tactics.
The whole 15% transfer thing sounds like a load of cobblers to me. More likely the journos are simply trying to come up with a new angle on the most boring story of the decade.
There is no doubt Fabregas will be missed, but i agree with the whole injury belief, a hamstring injury is complete bitch to recover from and he was effectively injured or playing with an injury last season. We don’t need another half season RVP (no disrespect to RVP) .
In fairness he has always been honest about one day going home and if he doesn’t wanta play for us then good riddance. If they bid 30 million and a player take it. The fee will get lower and lower as his contract runs down.
Regarding Ricky ability to shoot, that will soon change under Wenger pass, tap tap tappy
@suga3: for GK that’s what I meant. And a GK like Friedel or Frey would have been ok with sharing light with Szczesny and training him. But unless a miracle – hope it happens though as a wink to my ex and her dad – he will still not win an international trophy.
For Clichy, I’m afraid it’s the way AW told him to play.
And if we lose his pace on the left side, it will be “damageable” to our overall attacking speed.
In any case, I hope we keep him, and that Alvarez will be used above him as an inside forward “support”, and Gervinho on right side as a full inside forward “attacking”, until we can snatch Hazard. (and me hoping Wenger could work on Thomas Muller to be our prime right inside forward/winger.
Here’s my “wishlist”, trying to be realistic on wages and will to come, and players who still won’t get a working permit this year.
GK: Frey or Stekelenburg
DL: M’Bengue or Alex Sandro
DR: Van der Wiel
DC: Vertonghen and Mbiwa (strong DC can play DRLC,WBRL)
DMC: M’Vila
MC/AMC: Paulo Henrique for AMC or Lucho Gonzalez for MC
AML: Hazard
AMR: Gervinho
ST: Lukaku
Would be selling at least:
Almunia
Fabianski
Eboue
Squillaci
Denilson
Diaby
Rosicky
Traore
Arshavin
Bendtner
Vela
Don’t ask me why for each, some are not good enough, some should move on for their own good.
The percentage on sale or profit from sale is a common clause nowadays, it’s actually for interest of both parties and it gives an incentive to the player to play better to raise his value and therefore the actual sum he would get in case of sale. I actually think it’s a good thing.
KARMA Sutra position No.52. The Pirate. When going at it doggy-style, spit on her back so she thinks you’ve ejaculated. When she turns around, blast her in the face. Known as The Pirate because she’ll put one hand over her eye and shout: “Aarrrghh!”