Good morning to you!
I’ve been getting massively into American TV. I don’t have enough meds in my life. My yoghurt doesn’t have enough protein in it. It’s also clear I need to by 1 suit and get 3 free. I’ve been brainwashed and I love it.
Jorge Mendes, the super agent, has a book out. It basically claims Arsenal didn’t sign Ronaldo because we couldn’t / wouldn’t pay the fee.
“There was a moment in which I really thought he was going to Arsenal. David Dein is a spectacular person but, with the construction of their stadium, they were left with very little money and it wasn’t possible.”
Ronaldo also recounts his trip to Arsenal: “We were travelling by car and Jorge was calling us constantly telling me to hide so no one would see me. We went to a service station and I had to hide my face. I remember back then that Jorge was going crazy, those were Jorge’s craziest days.”
That’s one of those moments you wish we’d been a bit more speculative… it is what it is.
Throw another ‘nearly’ on the barbie mate…
Yaya Sanogo and Chamakh have both scored today. Imagine being there, in the ground, when something of that magnitude happened? A real ‘I was there’ moment.
We take on Brighton tomorrow. They’re not doing well in the championship. They’re right down the bottom. They have however won 4 of their last 5. So they’ll be confident. Hopefully we’ve planned for them. Hopefully we don’t give them too much respect. Hopefully we don’t need a full first team to kill them off.
I’d imagine we’ll have a super strong bench, so if it doesn’t go well, at least we’ll be able to call in calvary.
Finally, Joel Campbell is being sent over the Villareal as part of the Paulista deal. I read somewhere he might get a new deal with Arsenal. That makes little sense unless we’re just trying to secure a good fee for him when we bin him off…
HAVE A GREAT DAY. NORMAL BLOGGING WILL RESUME ON TUESDAY.
I am pretty sure that the odds of Paulista coming to Arsenal are far higher than 50-50.
Does anyone seriously believe that Arsenal would have announced that this deal was almost done or Villereal stating that it is done + Campbell moving in other direction if we had not received assurances from FA that work permit would be approved?
Arsenal are notorious as being one of the most secretive clubs in Football. They are seldom if ever opening their mouth in public unless and until a deal
is signed and delivered.
Why would they change a habit of a lifetime now?
I would have been 100% sure the deal was done if Wenger had said “Who is Gabriel Paulista?”
It was the players that called for tactics against city lol how embarrassing is that for Wenger.
Talk of United going for childhood Arsenal fan Alexander Dragovic. Good player mind you but with Rojo, Shaw, Blind and now Dragovic it begs the question does Van Gaal plan on buying any right footed defenders ever
They didn’t ask for tactics
They asked for defensive protection
Wenger said it himself
Thomas, what you have to say and what I wipe out of my asshole bear a striking resemblance to each other
karim
You idiot, defensive protection means tactics
It’s really embarrassing that Wenger listens to his own players. Good one Thomas
Arsenal get an unexpected result against Man City and lo and behold Wenger starts coming out with bullshit.
Our our way to Brighton….come on the lads!
What channel is this game on? Can’t find it
BT sport Craigy
Those who rate Di Maria know jack shit about football.
The guys lightweight and overpriced and even the dumb media are questioning his value.
Giroud will score a brace, just for gunz
“You idiot, defensive protection means tactics”
No Marble, you idiot, the players didn’t choose the tactics. Wenger said he chose to be defensive, because after listening to his players, they lacked the confidence to take the game to Man City. This signals a pragmatic and successful working relationship between the staff and the personnel. Wenger told them the plan, and they executed it flawlessly.
Kwik fit….. Cheers mate! Just couldn’t find it dude haaa
Marble
Careful mate you are in danger of making the N8 Postcode Boy looking smart
Lay off the drugs dude…..
Arsenal players going over board celebrating there victory over Man City shows they are second tier club.
Goondawg January 25, 2015 12:51:29
It’s really embarrassing that Wenger listens to his own players. Good one Thomas
____________________________
Yep a manager who has managed what 30 years can’t come up with tactics on his own. Pretty embarrassing.
Another brace for Griezmann
Lol at those who buried him a tad too early
Wenger’s idea of being defensive is putting on six defenders at the same time.
Wenger has no footballing acumen to set up a team.
And their were no cup shocks yesreday as teams never play their full strength side in cup competitions
Got to say after watching paulista we could be seeing our new defensive midfielder, he is very good on the ball and would be the perfect cover for the defence, ala Gilberto silva who himself used to be a centre back before making the transition to midfield, the same with petit, so don’t be surprise if that’s the case.
Penalty for Lyon
Lacazette goal n 21 !
Lyon is 7 pts clear as things stand before Psg goes to St Etienne tonight, very important game indeed
Gilberto Silva was a shit player who was a liability.
Yo everyone!!
With city and chelscunt eliminated, we have a very good chance to retain our trophy.
Oooopsssss, sorry I forgot that yoonited are still in the competition lol
lol karima Ze specialist of Ze prestigious Ligue 1!!
In the invincible team he wasn’t . In the Brazil team he wasnt
Gilberto Silva and Kleberson in the same Brazil team.
Now Brazil are paying the price for introducing worknan like players with no skill in their team
Gilberto was such a bad player he played EVERY game at the World Cup didn’t miss a beat
Karim
I thought the red for the Metz defender was harsh. Lyon were in the ascendency didn’t need the ref’s help at all.
easy win today if we dont fock it up as we normally like to do… concede an early goal and we might be in trouble…
Radio
exactly, this red card rule is stupid enough.
And why didn’t he send Umtiti off ?
Lyon hasn t been very good today but those 3 pts might be vital in May
Shame Lacazette had to leave the pitch, would have scored 1 or 2 more
What did you think of Fekir ?
Gilberto Silve is shit with limited ability and treated the ball like a hot potato.
Marbles
I wish we still had Gilberto. His great work-rate, assured tackling and top-class discipline in maintining his position was essential to the Invicibles. He won 93 capts for that shit side Brazil and was also captain for atime.
Gilberto gave TH, Bergkamp, Pires, Vieira, etc the room to play. A truly marvellous player who helped others tick. How we need him now.
I can only assume Marbles was watching a different sport altogether.
I think he has lost a few marbles
Lilian Thuram was another player who treated the ball like a hot potato.
Was he a bad player ?
Marble you are just dumb mate I mean just stupid and not funny beyond words
Gilberto Silva had an unerring ability to lose the ball and claim a foul at the same time
Yes he was watching billy silva playing lacrosse for The Brazilian selection in lacrosse he had a shocker I remember it
To lose the ball and claim a foul requires skill wilshere hasn’t figured it out yet
Marble is fucking clueless. Ignore him. Has said, among other things, that Zidane was “all hype” and that Henry really wasn’t that great.
Literally knows nothing about the game.
“Yep a manager who has managed what 30 years can’t come up with tactics on his own. Pretty embarrassing.”
The quotes (which I think some tabloids did misinterpret to an extreme spectrum, looking namely at the mirror) say :
“At some stage you cannot go against the feelings of the team because it’s detrimental to the result.”
“The team sometimes needs to be reassured and reassurance comes first from feeling solid and strong and then you can express your talent and our confidence in the big games had been damaged by these big results.”
“Of course (I listened to the players). Your tactics have to be aligned as well with the feeling of the team and with the confidence level of the team.”
It sounds to me like Wenger had a meeting with his players about tactics, which is fine, brilliant this is the right proper thing that any good manager should do. Sounds like they reviewed, analysed, discussed and worked out a solution to the problems they had in past games.
I have my fair share of problems with Wenger but to suggest that Wenger had no input in the tactics used against City is simply ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with ceding to player pressure, I’m sure most people were clamouring for Wenger to delegate tasks like the way fergie did, which led to so much success. I mean the players could have realised the tried and failed method didnt work when we were getting battered last year. I’ve seen this defensive set-up many times this year, against chelsea, liverpool and dortmund away. Hope this signals the wind of change in AFC
Those who rate Gilberto are the same muppets who hail Wenger as a genius manager
Used to pray Wenger would put Edu in the team in place of Silva,when he did wanted Silva back rapido.Edu was good but Silva was vital.
Gilbert did not intend it to be skill he was just clumsy.
Marble you are so dumb
Marble and Ze
Dumb and dumber
Listen to Wenger’s post match interview after the City game, no mention of tactics just the usual shit about spirit, solidarity and belief.
Radio
Don’t know if you re still watching
2nd half much better
I don’t blame Marble for being a trolling G,oat , i blame those who keep responding to his useless posts, especially about Gilberto who was a great player for us. just ignore the ldiot and he will stop posting trash.
Why is it ridiculous to say Wenger had no tactical input when it’s common knowledge he is clueless about tactics
Goondawg
The point is that the tactics used against City came from the players, not the manager. They were the ones who wanted to sit deep and counter, not Wenger.
It’s good that he listened, but the best idea Wenger has had against a top four side in years came not from Wenger but from his players.
That’s fairly damning.
Apparently Grimandi was at the Lyon game today. Presumably looking at Fekir and Lacazette
I like Marble and Daze.
Memories playing tricks on you all just take it from me the players used to bail out Gilbeeto big time on many occasions for his indecisiveness even the crowd got on his back for being a ditherer.
I cant wait for kick-off so I can stop reading your bullshit Marble.
Gilberto Silva is one of my most favourite players of all time. First game at the emirates, will never forget that goal. Also our run-in to the 2006 champions league final, please note his quality.. Not to forget his crucial contribution to the invincibles. What a legend.. I remember seeing his replacement Denilson, and thinking wtf how we gone from hero to zero
Bristol City having a right go at West Ham at the moment.
Invincibles won inspite of Gilberto Silva and not because of him.
this marble of a C’unt is happy each time he heard someone mention his name, he doesn’t care if it was in the negative or positive, such is his joy just to hear someone responding to him, can you all just stop talking to this chelski fan so he can craw back to his hole?
Wenger always has his standard reactionary comments based on the result. “We played with the handbrake”, “We lacked a bit sharpness in the final third today”. “We showed great character” “We have great spirit” lol he has no clue.
I’m a bit perplexed by the assertion in the blog today that the tactics against City were instigated by the players. Can anyone provide a source for the rumour so we can assess the degree of veracity?
Wenger like most of the posters on here is clueless.
Jeff
Their were no tactics go to sleep.
Jeff
Wenger admitted this in his presser. Many articles on it everywhere.
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/393463.html
Marble’s the guy who slagged off the current team, manager, board and all of the fans.
Why Pedro just doesn’t ban him I’ll never know.
Lets hope our boys are really up for it in Brighton today. We need real men who will give there all in the pursuit of glory. No resting on their laurels.
Jeff
Yeah the players also picked themselves for the city game, infact czechney (whatever his name) also dropped himself to the bench, while those who came on also decided to come on when they did.
so lets sack wenger and employ the players on players/manager basis.
@Jeff – not a rumour. Reported from his press conference by multiple sources. Eg:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsene-wenger-arsenal-players-forced-5030818
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11367169/Arsenal-news-Player-power-changed-tactics-against-Man-City-says-Arsene-Wenger.html
Bamford,
My first thoughts about his comments in the post-match presser were that this is really unlike him. He normally laps up praise and is like a sponge that soaks up compliments till his smug face becomes unbearable. I commended him for praising his players, and as much as I like this player power hype nonsense, the dictatorial qualities about Wenger makes it seem unlikely, he should take credit, where it’s due. The performance was fantastic and the defensive collective responsibility stems from the 11 players on the pitch, so kudos to Wenger for acknowledging that
He talks about confidence and going back to basics in the exact quotes. We know Wenger is all about that mental strength and playing fluid, free-flowing attacking football and not really like a shouty sort of tactical drill sergeant and despises parking the bus. He doesn’t really tell players what to do, he apparently, according to Lee Dixon, is the best at creating environments for the players to flourish, he probably feels this is more beneficial for them in the long-term as the onus is on them to succeed. The environment in this case, the players fed up of getting thrashed are not confident, and Wenger discussed this and they adapted their style to overcome this obstacle. I dont want to muddy the waters with who did what and Wenger wasn’t on the pitch. It was 11 players win or lose, they deserve all the plaudits. Enjoy the performance and hope to see more of the same
The tactics against City were by none other than Bould the defensive coach a guy who played for the famous back 5 that used to win 1-0 we lost 5-1 6-0 6-3 now the tactics used for those games were pure wenger they had his incompetent fingerprints all over those games
Not one source has mentioned Bould had anything to do with the win wenger would rather praise his players than Bould because he can stand any individual to take his spotlight
Byo
BTW, a “proper striker” means a striker who has everything a good striker should have, namely:
– pace
– technique
– dribbling
– hold-up play
– scoring
– athleticism
– work ethic
– guile
Giroud has maybe 2-3 of these things, but not all. Same goes for Welbeck.
The world’s best strikers — Lewandowski, Aguero, RVP— have all (or nearly all) of these things.
We need a proper striker if we are to win the title.
Does that help?
Is the game on tv?
Goondawg
Except you are trying to muddy the waters. It’s crystal clear: it was the PLAYERS who thought they should sit deep and counter against City, not Wenger.
Wenger has admitted this. He had no reason to say this if it weren’t true, and given how vain, arrogant and under-fire he is, he had no reason not to take credit for the tactics if they were his.
They weren’t. Just accept it. At least he showed flexibility and open-mindedness. I’ll give him that.
Lots of rumours Arsenal have bid for Kevin Grosskreutz.
Would make sense in a way I suppose, minimal transfer fee, highly adaptive player, LB, RB, RM, LM, CDM a bit like a Blind for us, not great but solid enough.
Lol Giroud has 47 goals in 87 starts. Pretty decent record if you ask me
Why is the draw for the next round tomorrow?
Come on Pedro I’m going down the pub in half hour, the guys at Untold wouldn’t keep us waiting!
Cesc
Sounds a bit like Grimandi, this type of player can be a useful member of the squad.
Marc
Yeah, papers are saying £3.5 Million bid. No real problem with a player like that, as I say bit of a Blind, maybe not good enough to start for us but if your RB, LB gets injured he can cover can cover the CDM as well.
Would be a squad builder buy.
We used to have a great striker his name was robin van persie scored 30 goals in a season wenger still couldn’t win anything with him
Bam
These sensationalised headlines make it seem like Wenger was TOLD what to do, and he had no input in tactics whatsoever. This I find really hard to believe, sorry
Goondawg
If he had pace and dribbling, he’d be twice the striker — and would do more against top sides.
That you point to this stat but don’t see why he’ll never lead us to a title nor why no top club would ever be in for him just shows how little you know about the game and how low your standards are.
Like many other Arsenal supporters, you are satisfied with players who are decent but not good enough to win the biggest games and trophies.
Giroud is not good enough. If you can’t see this, you’re hopeless.
Bamford and Arsene’s Nurse
Thank you for the references. I’ve been working all weekend and decided to take a little break before the game and had a quick look on here. I find it astonishing that Wenger has actually admitted such a thing.
“At some stage you cannot go against the feelings of the team because it’s detrimental to the result.”
Wow, it feels like a like a long running series that is approaching its finale. 😆
#Arsenal team to play Brighton: Szczesny, Chambers, Koscielny, Monreal, Gibbs, Flamini, Walcott, Ramsey, Ozil, Rosicky, Giroud
And still not on fan here except me is willing to give Steve Bould credit can anyone tell me what his role is at this club in not a defensive coach
Yeah I know Giroud’s weaknesses as well as anyone. But you are making him out to be a slow, cumbersome, lumbering donkey despite seeing his good qualities. I think he is a criminally, underrated striker. Not really setting the world on fire,or on Aguero’s level, but I dont think he is shit.
He has improved vastly from the time he first joined us, and if you can’t see that, you’re hopeless. He hasn’t played for us much, but he has been top class whenever he does.
He brings another dimension to our game, with his aerial ability. He has scored more headers than anyone in the prem league since his arrival, and we are reknown for our short passing game.
This argument, he doesn’t score against big teams has finally been dispelled. Cast mind to Man City, Utd, Liverpool and Dortmund
His goal to game ratio is impressive and the goals were vital in the run to our FA cup trophy. Giroud is burdened by our impressive world class heroes of our past like Henry and Wright etc. Whilst he’s never going to break records, some of the critique he gets is unwarranted
– AW does not trust Chambers at CB
– Chezzer is back in goal. Expect to be the starting GK by the time we host Monaco in the 1st leg
Song still shit
Arsenal team to play Brighton: Szczesny, Chambers, Koscielny, Monreal, Gibbs, Flamini, Walcott, Ramsey, Ozil, Rosicky, Giroud
Nurse –
Re: West Ham: Yep, Jenks and Song have been next to terrible. Glad they don’t play for us anymore to be honest. Song with about 8 terrible passes under no pressure..
Jenks just has no explosive play. And way too one footed. Basically forced to
back pass almost every time. Also, Reid isn’t all the great either. Altho, he is impressive at diving. That said now I jinxed it, West Ham will win for sure.
Freeman for Bristol city is he our former player Luke freeman ?
Rspc
Yep
As far as our lineup, really didn’t want to see Flamini or Schezzer, to be honest. Does this mean Ospina is number one keeper, now?
Why is he playing flamini ?
Useless personified !
Goondawg
No, no, and no. Giroud suffers in comparison not to Arsenal greats of the past — though he certainly pales in comparison — but to the world’s top strikers.
He is slow, cumbersome and oafish. This is not a mischaracterization of him but an accurate description. Yes, he brings us aerial play, but because he has no pace, he cannot give us anything in behind the back four, which severely hampers what we do.
He will NEVER be one of the world’s top strikers, will never lead us to a title (regardless of who we put around him) and will never be a decisive factor against a top team.
His recent City goal could literally have been scored by a Championship CB. He wasn’t even marked. It was a tap in.
Again, it is supporters like you — who are satisfied with second-tier players like Giroud — that help keep Arsenal a second-tier team.
Cheers Dave
Hmm, Chambers at RB isn’t good
Why no Coquelin? Odd, no? What is Wenger up to here? Does he think Coq is getting too uppity, wants to put him in his place?
Mid
Yeah I get nervous every time Flamini starts for us.
I thought freeman was a forward when with us ,,,
Seems like a number 10!play maker ,,,,
Good luck to him
Dunno how to feel about Grosskrauts if we got him. On the one hand he’s a highly thought of adaptable German international hitting his prime but on the other hand he’s no Bender or Gundogen or given how we’ve lost a couple forwards no Kruse or Volland. If it meant long term wise he’d replace someone like Flamini. Arteta or Diaby then I’m all for it
Szcsesny is in goal for the fa cup because wenger plays the second choice keeper in theses games I doubt this clown will be in goal for Monaco expect so piña back in goal real quick
At least Sanchez is resting.
Cesc I hear Bellerin and Chamberlain were doubts so no point risking players with Villa and Spurs coming up
Chambers and Flamini are the weak points for me.
Ramsey will need to do a lot of work today and worries me Walcott will leave Chambers brutally exposed.
Rspc
He was. Bought from Gillingham for about £1 m at age 15? Never made it here but playing as number 10 as you say
Have Brighton got pace on the flanks?
So does that mean Ozil through the center with Rosicky wide? Or the opposite?
Ggirl –
Well we should have enough for Brighton but I hope Flamini gets a lot of defensive cover help. Also, Chezzer makes me nervous coming off a layoff. And a terrible game. Anyhow, we have Romford and N5 there, so we good. Lol
3 to 1. Maybe 2 to 1. Just win. 😀
Cham_Kosc_Monr__Gibb
______Rams___Flam
__________Ozil
Theo____Giroud_____Rosi
or:
Cham_Kosc_Monr__Gibb
______Rams___Flam
__________Rosi
Theo____Giroud_____Ozil
Have a feeling it’s the latter.
Bam
Quick input before the game
Giroud is our current best striker by a long margin
He had poor games last year, but you can blame that on how overplayed he is. Ibra is one of the world’s best strikers, yet he has no pace so it’s a bit of a null point that, it’s not Giroud’s strength. There are elements to Giroud’s game which are definitely world class though like his reading of the game and link up play, strength, heading ability, holding off the ball and he can lead the line efficiently. He has improved yearly, and there is no reason why he cant kick on. He has led us to an FA cup and a community shield due to his goals. Again 47 goals in 87 appearances does not screech shit to me in any form of imagination
Personally I would prefer a world class option with pace, but I dont abuse Giroud with vitriol anymore unless he misses a sitter and pulls that dumb face. Also he could throw his weight a bit more. But yeah he is slow. It’s true. Oafish, I’m not too sure. He has some silky elegance to his play at times that belies this
New post
New post? Cool. Pedro on NYC time.
Looking at the lineups I have to say I’m mixed.
Negatives
1. Shame that Chesney is back in goal, I would have wanted him to sit on the bench a couple more games to ponder over his unprofessional attitude. I suppose it could mean that Ospina is our league goal keeper and that the Pole has been relegated to the role of the Cup keeper, but I suspect Wenger might be moving back to his favourites. Hope I’m wrong though.
I like Ospina as our keeper, he seems more calm and collected, less prone to unpredictable rash moves that sometimes Chesney is guilty of. A 2 game suspension is merely a slap on the wrist, and almost as pointless in my opinion. Although he’s been completely left out… I hope he’s not injured… and just getting a rest.
2. I hope Kos doesn’t get injured. I would have preferred to see Bellerin back in the side and Chambers at CB. If I had to choose between Mert or Kos to play I would have played Mert and saved Kos for the league game to face Villa.
3. Couldn’t we have had Akpom start instead of Giroud? Oh well, I hope Olivier doesn’t get injured and Akpom gets to strut his stuff and show us what he can do…
4. We’re facing Brighton today, therefore I would have thought it was a perfect game for a youth place to make the step up. Do we not have one reserve player who we could have called up to made their mark and stake their place?
Positives
1. On the positive side it is good to see both Cazorla and Santi on the bench — hopefully we won’t need to call on them all today.
2. Pleased that Walcott and Ozil are back fighting fit, I hope their class carries us to victory today. It’s been a long time waiting! I would love to see these two start to click… let’s have it start here and today.
#TEAM ÖZIL
I thought that offensively we were excellent with Rosicky having an outstanding game. Both Walcott and Ozil also played very well considering the time that they have been out through injury.
However, our defensive side was once again not that great. Chambers is okay going forward, but I do not think that he is defensively that good. Bellerin is a much better full back.
Koscielny and Monreal as a centre back combination is not great. Koscielny
is more comfortable on the left side of defence and Monreal is just not strong enough in the middle even at this level.
However, the two major concerns I had were in Defensive Midfield where Flamini is for me awful. He is both defensively and positionally awful and was
partly to blame for first goal.
I think also that Szczesny is now a real concern not so much for goals conceded, but his generally poor decision making. He does not exactly inspire confidence at the back when he plays.
One piece of good news is that Wenger announced tonight that signing of Paulista will be completed tomorrow AND the work permit is no problem. Clearly that was resolved BEFORE the deal was done.