News could be described as thin on the ground this morning, so I’ll go over some of yesterday’s stuff. First up, Kieran Richardson being linked to the club didn’t exactly fill me with joy. The left winger is English, which gives the story the at least a tiny bit of credence. I’m not sure why we’d be interested in his wing ability. His stats are pretty dismal, 2 assists and 4 goals is about as good as it gets for the ex-United wide man.
It was suggested in the comments yesterday that he could be seen as one of Arsene’s positional projects. Possibly, he could be converted into a full back for a period of time. He certainly has the pace to manage that transition and he’s played there for both United and Sunderland. He’d also fit into the quota system…
What other choice do we have right now? What is our scouting network up to? Has Giles Grimantube got a plan up his sleeve… does he know about the British market or does he have a darstardly plan?
Saad Al-Mukhani is one of those two...
Arsenal are apparently so desperate for a left back we’re looking at a player called Saad Al-Mukhaini from Oman’s second division. I wouldn’t normally print a rumour so absurd, but it comes from The Times. Honestly, wouldn’t we be better off signing someone from the Championship? Surely signing a player from a League not even the greatest football nerd could call a team from is a taking things too far…
F*ck it… I’ll play. I can take a sabbatical, I’m sure work wouldn’t miss me.
I watched part of the City vs Liverpool game. Pepe Reina dropped a clanger, which made me feel better about what Szczesny did the other night. Liverpool were absolute dross. Considering their hefty outlay in the summer, which was questionable bar the ambition, Kenny has overseen a total flop so far. City played out a 3-0 win in typically dull fashion.
Wenger came out with yet another defence of Andrey Arshavin saying that he knew he had quality.
“I knew he would suffer a bit physically, but Andrey has that quality that at any moment in the game he can give you a ball to score, and that’s what he did. We know he can be sharper than he was on Saturday but that is linked to the fact I do not play him enough.”
I’m not sure Arshavin pottering round the field like he’s trying to remember his shopping is linked to a lack of playing time. I think it’s more down to a lack of motivation. Wenger continually sticking up for players who can’t be assed seems counter productive. I’m not sure playing a younger hungrier winger would do the trick, I still think Andrey would be non-plussed about it. He is a wasted talent. For me, he could have been Bergkamp-esque for us such was his magic. Sadly, he’ll go on the wasted pile. I’m sure some will remember him fondly, most won’t… that’s a shame. A player with a personal website as craptastically amazing as his one deserves higher status.
A player I think we’ll one day remember as a thoroughly good egg is Coquelin. The diminutive midfielder certainly has that fighting spirit we adore. He also has some pretty fancy tricks and flicks I wasn’t aware of until he showcased them against Fulham. Once he bulks up and gets a few games under his belt, he’ll be a hell of a player. My only worry for him is that due to his versatility, he might not find a steady role in the team for a few years. That was a fate Flamini suffered, it nearly drove him out the club, then when he found his role, he was so miffed, he didn’t sign on (part of the reason, the other being Wenger trying to shift him off to hell).
Update: He’s signed up to a new deal according to L’Equipe.
In transfer news, Podolski is apparently stalling on a new deal. That could be good news for us if we were to move for him in January. That scenario doubtful as the German will rightfully want to continue his stunning form for his club until the Euro’s. The worry is that he’ll continue to play well, then have a good Euro’s, then be priced out of our range.
Volcheck Chesney had his say on the Fulham game…
“There was probably some tired legs but I think probably we should have kept the concentration and kept the focus and we would have been fine,”
“I would imagine it was a very childish performance in the end from us. I thought for 85 minutes we defended really well with 11 men and they never looked like scoring.”
Just to clear a few things up here.
1) Sure the legs were tired, but that’s no excuse. We’ve played 31 competitive games this year, Fulham have played 35.
2) Fulham were causing us bother from start to finish. Especially in the second half. As the keeper who had to make multiple good saves from their forward movements, you should know this.
3) You are right, it was childish to throw away a 2 goal lead against Fulham with 5 minutes to play.
Thierry Henry won’t be available to play for the reserves. Apparently his paper work has been held up. I’m not sure if he’ll be available for the Leeds game on Monday. If I were Arsenal, I think I’d make that announcement pretty sharpish. That could be the difference between a capacity crowd and a White Hart Lane type turn out.
Finally… Joey Barton gave us all a laugh when he suggested legal action was a good idea if a player play acts to fool a referee into a sending off.
Pretty amusing considering he’s been known to indulge in the dark art himself… just ask Gervinho. Being the leader of a campaign to make the game fairer only when you’ve been wronged yourself is pretty weak if I’m honest. Perhaps he should take his ideas further than 140 characters if he wants to be taken more seriously than the laughable Wikipedia supported pseudo-intellectual character he’s created for himself.
That’s all I have for you. Have a great day.
I mean First 3.
ah well looks like united our on a slippery slope down the table fear not arsenal fans we will take thier place in the top four problem solved!!
Demba Ba, Yaya and Kompany are unbelievable beasts. Absolutely sensational players. Power,pace, technique, reading of the game. They are becoming my favorite players
Wenger must sign full backs before the United game. PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Tim, the scary thing is that it could actually happen with all that petrodollars at shitty
Hernandez must be a very annoying player to have. His offsides drive me crazy.
Sensational. Just saw the result. And a 3 goal advantage to boot. Pity we can’t take advantage of the worst United team in 20 years.
City may yet walk it. Yet another opportunity to do the unlikely and win the league, can we do it?
Goon, Ade was not that much better off with his offsides.
Oh yeah forgot that cunt.
That Howard goal is a belly full of laughs. Seriously?!
Cesc scored a nice goal today as well.
Newcastle are just 3 points below us, lets worry about that instead.
Tim Howard was 500-1 to score first tonight…about the same odds as Wenger signing someone in the January transfer window…
Worst United side in 20 years? Yet they have the points they usually have this time in the season with their own injury crisis.
I think I’ve seen alot worst playing for them like Djemba Djemba, Bellion, Liam Miller, Carroll etc in previous seasons.
Jack- Ba and Tiote to AFCON.
Cesc has 13 goals this season already, his best season for being in 2009/2010 with 19 goals overall. Looks like he won’t get that hat trick though.
true, but we have squill on the bench
wish rooney would play like he did tonight in our games
just looking at bbc text and kerrea gilbert released by yeovil wenger could do worse than look to oman 2nd div
hehe
Newcastle fans singing: “Colleen is a slapper, she wears a wonder bra… And when she’s shaggin’ Rooney she thinks of Demba Ba” – Amazing
great stuff
Ivory,
this might help.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-submit-their-premier-league-squad
we don’t have to fill the 8 HG slots, we just can’t have more than 17 foreigners over 22 years.
Justin Hoyte..
Gilbert looked promising at first then disappeared, came back and left.
just turn play LeCoq @ LB & RB
turn play = play
Insec – Rooney wasn’t able to play because Newcastle and fought and battled all over the pitch – not something you associate with Arsenal, hence Rooney does well.
I am a sad case, sitting here late at night in another transfer window and scouring the net for news and rumours ! Will I never learn ! A second division Omani and Richardson seem to be our strongest links, 50 years a gooner and I am bloody speecless, how did it ever come to this. Thank god Jacks back soon Coq looks class plus it will be great to see King Henry again, but thats about as good as it gets, how can Everton not only complete paperwork for Donovan but plaqy him tonight when we cant even get henrys sorted for a bloody reserve game ! Sad Shit
Fizman said on TV that the transfer fund would never be touched – to help pay for the stadium. He lied, of course. Now, it may prove true however. This fund has been cut off at the pass – for transfer fund, read,`Kroenke`s pocket money`. Fizman promised that we would be able to compete with all the very wealthy clubs! OK, So Pato, Benzema, Calvini, Damiao, LLaurente, Reus and such may remain beyond our reach but there are others. Huntelaar, Podoiski, Love, Suarez and Elm might all work well with Robin and should not cost the earth. AW`s track record however, suggests that Remy, Giroud or Moussa Bow will get the nod – they play in France!
Again I said it was going to happen even the games we won over the holidays were not convincing you could see the same issues Missed opportunities. Walcott stop talking about scoring and Do it you could see when he is in front of goal he is thinking don’t miss instead of I will score you think Miss even with a Don’t in front you will do just that Miss you have to be confident know you will score and you will. Same for Ramsey and Gervinho these guys all should at least have half as many as RVP but I also Blame Wenger RVP needs someone as a strike partner that can play along side or in a 4,4,1,1 I REALLY feel Arshavin’s problem is HE IS NOT A WINGER and now he sits on the bench so much he is not match fit. I still feel he is a quality player WHY are we still playing a system built around a player we no longer have Cesc is gone we do not have a player of his quality or Style in the squad so Why are we still playing 5 man midfield with RVP upfront alone?
300 Up
GG9 as Geoff would say its for Girls
Kushie
150 Up
……..& the mercy rule invoked, chamonnneeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Why the fck would he declare on 329?
Haha Gnarley, reel in those big fish, India yet again prove they are flat track bullies.
Joppa
Because it is a team game
gnarley..na, still 2 and a half days left of the test, the test was over. He had a once in a life time opportunity to go on and score the greatest score in a test innings ever but turned it down. Come on at least equal Bradman and Taylor. It made no sense at all.
What a waste. All that will be remembered now is how bad India have become.
Don’t agre joppa, true Captain’s knock and traditionalist to keep Bradman’s record safe and keep the pressure on India
G’Day Ange
Joppa
Apparently Pup has got tired of chasing Lara, chamone
(Aussies will get what I mean)
But Slater has the record anyway. Don’t get it.
The Fulham game was the Newcastle (4-4) game of last season. Exposing Arsenal and robbing the players of any drive to keep fighting for the league. Needless to say, thousands of fans would follow Arsenal less from now till July end.
The slide begins….
We really lack pace and athleticism in midfield. I think Song is too ponderous. We need a player or two in the centre who can eat up more ground. Coquelin is one.
Good morning
So many happu gooners, I wonder.
The mancs Lost 2 of their last 3 games, yet in thos 3 games we managed to close the gap on them in a substantial way, 1 point.
Oh, and we went far more from 3rd spot. And we’re 5th in the league. And now we can slip to 7th, as we’re only 1 win above Geordies.
We took 1 point out of 6 against Fulham
We lost 2 point playing Wolves at home
Had we acted like a top team and won those 3 ties, something you can’t describe as impossible mission, we would’ve been with 43 points, ahead of Spuds (with them having game in hand) and only 2 points from 2nd place and 5 points from the league leaders. Which could be a cheerful thing.
If Arsene don’t add (and Henry isn’t enough on this aspect), we’ll finish below the below-par initial target…..
This might cosr us losing our best player, one of the best strikers during the calendar year, and not just for injury spell
So now I don’t get even happy for others losses, as I’m being more confident Arsene won’t add, he’s the same deluded, of course unless we get another 8-2 hammering
I know Arsene won’t get sacked soon enough
When those fuckers in the bord realise how damaging he is, I fear it will be too little too late
This car keeps racing towards it’s devastating crash ….
Team of scavengers, we’ve became
We eat our meat only due to other’s kills, we’re not able to make our own kills anymore
Somehow, no matter how shite our striking force seems to be (Robin aside of course) I still see the defensive stability should be our main concern.
We need another 1 good defender and good DM. Song isn’t enough and people unaware how much he costs us.
good defensive unit would have not conceded against Fulham in the two games we’d played them. That’s another 5 points to our tally
Bade – Song does not protect the back four and this is what we required. He plays like Lampard when we need him to play like Makelele. I think a team like PSG or Man City will offer him alot of money this summer
Mind you, last ytear it was almost the same when all the other sides cocked up, but come January, they all pulled their fingers, and we were the onlt team to keep the average display, hence from a top table position we dropped to a 4th place so rapidly no one realy believed we could sink that quickly
The only difference, last year we were in touching dictance from winning the lot, noe we’re already struggling to be 4th….
Make your calculations Grovers….
Dream10
Offload him, bring De Rossi for two years then we have Le Coq and Frimms ready to action ….
This morning’s edition of le10sport (well their ‘source’ close to Arsenal) claims that a loan deal for Gourcuff is imminent.
http://le10sport.com/football/france/mercato/ol-gourcuff-un-depart-se-precise56700
I guess Diaby’s injury situation has been prolonged…
Great news Pierre
Arsene Wenger only buys a player if one is sold or injured.
With Wenger we know what we get. A penny pinching nut raising youth to play the wengerball way. Hasn’t succeeded yet, I don’t see why it will when the league gets tougher every year. We dropped out of the top 2, we will drop out of the top 4. Enjoy the ride. Try to avoid a stroke.
So where are the people like Ritesh who said Ramsey was better than Cesc, I seem to remember there were a lot of AKBs who thought Ramsey would make a great replacement.
Stats so far
Cesc
Games 22
Goals 13
Assists 11
Ramsey
Games 25
Goals 2
Assists 6
Yep, world class replacement.
Gambon,
Those AKBs are dwindling, you’ll find then on here only after occasional big wins, something as rare as Arsene’s buys without a 2-8 hammering
Yes Peirre
Heard Arsene going to bring in Podolski, Gourcuff, Vertonghen and De Rossi, and Henry on top of all those…..
noew can someone answer me these couple of questions…
wenger strongest area of unearthing raw diamond players and where he has his biggest coaching staff is the french league and the african countries yes?
we all agree? so how come in the last year his scouts have missed , Demba ba, Cabaye, and tiote ? three of the players whohave taken our league by stormn….,maybe its not only yjr m,anager who is being over paid, maybe his talen scouts are as well…
Gambon
As Aaron is 4 years younger then Cesc and recovering from a broken leg, I don’t recall seeing this anywhere? Which AKB said Aaron Ramsey was Cesc’s immediate replacement?
New post!
Arsenal still do not have the right players to push for the title this season, but it is there for the taking. Three quality players can make all the difference, but someone at Arsenal likes finishing 4th.
The fear of making the right decisions is Arsenal’s MAJOR PROBLEM. Prune the squad n buy a few decent players. But this is to difficult a decision for the Board n Wenger. COWARDS!
We need a left back, a striker and a winger in this January Transfer Window. Ashravin and Squillaci should be shopped out asap. Common Wenger, do something! Poldoski would be nice.
Wenger has succeeded in brainwashing us all and severely lowering our expectations. Whereas we were routinely used to seeing six or seven world class players in our squad we now only have one (RVP) who plays alongside 3 good players (Kos, Verm & Szzzzzzzny), 3 or 4 above average players (Mert, Ramsey, Arteta) many below average (Walcott, Gerv, etc) and complete utter dross in Chamack, Arshavin, Squid, Almunia. 6th place here we come.
Arsen Wenger or Arsenal board should buy at least two or three players one left back one diffender. And one creating midfield