Strong force in this League – You are having a laugh Arsene!!

January 21, 2012

As much as I’d like to think our manager is right, we all have to be honest; he’s talking out of his Arse-nal!!

We have won just one of our last four Premier League fixtures and that victory was a 1-0 over QPR, which needed a moment of magic from our captain to seal victory.

Hardly Premier League Champions form eh?

To be honest, we haven’t looked like serious title contenders since the beginning on the season and no doubt, tomorrow we will witness another display that will fail to convince otherwise.

I was surprised to read Arsene Wenger latest comment about tomorrow’s fixture:

It is not the only game any more because you have Chelsea and Man City coming in, with Liverpool still there. But it is a game that is watched all over the world.

We do (lift ourselves), we think we are on a similar level. I still think that when we have everybody available we are a strong force in this league. That’s why it is important that we fight very hard not to drop points.

Two things from that comment don’t make any sense whatsoever!

A) Just looking back on our last few showings, when have we actually fought hard not to drop points??

B) Similar level to Manchester United? I don’t think so!

The comment that makes me sad: ‘if we have everybody available we are a strong force in this league’.

We haven’t had the fortune of fielding our strongest side since the beginning of the season. As each game comes and each games goes, we seem to lose another player through injury, yet still nothing is done about it in this transfer window.

We allow players to be loaned out to help other clubs, yet we don’t try and get a loan or two in, just to ‘tie us over’ – but we have talked about that since the 1st of January, so I won’t ramble on again today.

We all know that Arsene Wenger is trying to sound positive before Manchester United come to visit, what else can he do? He can hardly go on record to say that all things look bleak and he’s dreading another battering on Sunday can he?

After all, he is responsible for what we are going through.

It’s time to face facts, we are struggling!

Struggling to defend as a unit, struggling to create clear-cut chances and even when we do, we are struggling to convert them. We maybe not be title contenders right now and I think most of us have accepted that, but we are not far off from being there if only…

If only Stan and his merry men could see just how close we are, maybe if they could they would just take that one step forward and make changes and bring in additions.

If they could do that, I think we’d all be a whole lot happier, including most of the current players….

Until that day, it’s going to be very sad times for all of us Gooners as we watch another season pass us by….…

Have a good day all…..

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Posted by rico

Summer of Change as a Mass Exodus on the Cards….

January 20, 2012

As time passes this month and with little snippets here and there, I think it’s safe to say that no signings are on their way in this transfer window. Maybe a last-minute loan or two as Gibbs is still reported to be three weeks away from a return.

Eleventh hour, on the 31st, that’s Wengers style!!

Personally I think that Wenger is spending most of his transfer time preparing for next summer, hopefully he is already instructing those within the club, whose given task it is to negotiate and talk to players agents and clubs about prospective transfer business this July.

What we have, we have for the remainder of this season…

Wenger knows that decisions have to be made during the next 6 or 7 months, concerning the future of quite a few fringe players as well as those players already available for transfer but cannot be moved on because of unrealistic transfer fee demands coupled with serious over-payment in terms of salary.

Decisions have to be made about how the club can move these players on without looking stupid….

I think it was Forrest Gump who coined the phrase ” Stupid is, as stupid does”…

That phrase could easily be used to describe those responsible at Arsenal for giving such huge, unrealistic salaries, to such average footballers…

The question remains though, did those ‘responsible’ only give out those huge salaries, on the recommendations of Arsene Wenger and his judgement of those players?

It’s like the manager who spends a record amount on a new signing, his judgement is on the line. So however good or bad that new ‘signing’ has been playing, the manager will pick him to play, in order to justify his judgement and of course the money he invested.

The same could apply to unrealistic salaries?

Everyone needs a bit of a lift after a disappointing defeat and this week is no exception after the capitulation to Swansea.

Transfers and possible signings is a subject that’ll always get football fans salivating but I’m going to focus on the possible and probable departures. Not that I  think we are going to see a raft of ‘dead-wooders’ leaving this month.

Maybe not even next August…

Wenger couldn’t possibly sell all of the mediocre players that many Gunners fans would love to see flogged-off, mainly because I can’t see the Board [ Kroenke ] provide Arsene with the finance to replace them.

Certainly not in the midst of a worldwide recession…

Even the self-styled ‘Biggest Club in the World’, Manchester United, have had to re-sign a 37 year-old ex-player, so what chance do we have of  the world renowned spendthrift Directors of Arsenal, bucking that trend?

None….

Therefore Arsene is forced to make do with what he has, even if he is finally realising that many of the players he has invested time and faith in, are actually very average footballers after all?

So I don’t envisage a ‘clear-out’ this January, or for that matter, next August although the imminent expiry of certain players contracts, may very well take matters out of Wengers hands.

This web-site makes interesting reading:

Transfer Market

According to the site, Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Tomas Rosicky, Yossi Benayoun and surprisingly Andrei Arshavin are out of contract this summer.

Meanwhile, Nicklas Bendtner and Denilson are under contract until 2014, therefore, if the club hope to get any kind of transfer fee, then this summer is crucial. Failure to sell them this August will see their value plummet, so maybe the less-stupid option is to take a reduction now in the fee, or risk a significant loss in January 2013, or next to nothing in August 2013…

Then of course we have Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott – both of which Arsenal need to convince to sign new contracts very soon, or they too will have to be sold this coming summer, or the club sit and watch them walk out for free the following July.

As always, there’s a bunch of reserve players who really should move on as they are going nowhere whilst stuck in the void of the Arsenal Stiffs.

Summer of change?

Just maybe…..

Written by Allezkev

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Posted by rico

So where is the money Arsenal?

January 19, 2012

Morning Gooners,

Over the last few years, I have been waiting for Arsene Wengers dream of the perfect football team to emerge.

As you all know I am a huge admirer of the great man, however, even I have been bowled over at what I have seen and read over the last few weeks/months!

Links showing a table of transfers from all of the Premier League clubs over the last few years was one thing in particular that caught my eye.

It showed that out off all the top teams in our league, we have spent the lowest amount overall taking into account player sales and purchases.

Many of you would probably point out to me that we have been in the Champions League every year since its introduction, so maybe the club have thought that we didn’t need to buy players, we were good enough and achieving what was required. Surely the idea is to push on each season, become better than the previous one, getting into the Champions League is remarkable considering but we should be trying to win, not just be in it!

Twenty clubs make up the Premier League, so the odds of us winning must be 20 to 1.  What do we have to do to get the odds more in our favour?

The obvious answer is to buy players that will make us a stronger side with a deeper, stronger squad.

As the ‘spending table’ has shown, we are behind many of the clubs in our league for splashing the cash and surely the question we all want to know the answer to is Why?

On paper Arsenal FC are the third richest club in the world behind Manchester United in second and Real Madrid top.

Our club season tickets are the most expensive in the Premier League and our profits are also the same, we are one of a few self-sustaining clubs which means we don’t need rich benefactors to keep ourselves solvent.

However and as we all know, we have very rich share holders, the top two being Kroenke and Usmanov whose combined wealth is in the region of £20 billion. That in itself is a massive amount of money so the question has to be asked:

Why are we the lowest spending club?

It is a well-known fact that a power struggle has been taking place for a few years now between our 2 biggest shareholders Kroenke and Usmanov and I read that Usmanov had offered £100 million to Kroenke, to be used for transfer funds, in exchange for a position on the board.

A very generous offer for a small price I thought but this offer was soon turned down by Arsenals Board of Directors.

Are they idiots I thought? How can a club be offered that kind of money yet say no, especially when they haven’t won anything in 7 years and it’s very clear that we falling behind the rest of the clubs in the Premier League.

As an Arsenal supporter, I have to question this boards ambitions and wonder if the right people are in the right place within the club?

Usmanov’s money is probably not needed as our profits are massive but if that’s the case why haven’t we invested more in the transfer market?

Where is this extra money going, where is the money from last summers sale of Fabregas, Clichy and Nasri alone?

Many have suggested that the money is going to pay off the building of our stadium but I have read reports that suggest our payments are manageable and, if we pay our debts off before the 25 year agreement we will incur massive penalties just like any mortgage which agreed at a fixed rate.

If that is the case, surely it would not be of a financial benefit to pay the mortgage off in dribs and drabs, as each time a penalty incurs. (Probably the only time we get a penalty these days!)

So, presuming the club would be far to sensible to incur such a penalty, what is happening to all the money which is made above and beyond all the clubs ‘outgoings’ each month?

Arsene Wenger – his role is going to the board and telling them which players he wants us to buy, a list full of targets and then it’s down to Gazidis to make that happen where he can. However – it’s not happening and as far as the table shows it has not happened for several years, why?

When I look at how Arsenal FC is being run, I wonder sometimes if the club should be reported to Trading Standards – as they are not delivering what the supporter is paying for. Maybe they would look into on behalf of the fans? ;)

Ok, Trading Standards are not the answer but I am sure you get my drift, we fans pay in one way or anther and the expected return just isn’t happening. I’m not for one minute suggesting that we should go and buy all the top, high-priced players there are available, just 2/3 players that will really make us competitive again. They don’t always come at a high price but not buying them will.

We welcome Manchester United to the Emirates on Sunday, who just so happen to be a club that is number 4 on the spending table list, recently that they have found a little bit of form again and many of you will be dreading this fixture as the 8.2 thrashing comes back into our mind.

Did Arsenal take heed of the last thrashing we received?

No is my answer but will they consider a lesser defeat as a step forward, or maybe an unlikely win would bring a smile to their faces as they realise their tight ways have been redeemed?

Wenger and Kroenke will no doubt be cacking the themselves for 90 minutes and they both thoroughly deserve to too!!

Written by Steve Palmer

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Posted by rico

The curse of the Number 9! Don’t expect any signings this month unless we get battered again……

January 18, 2012

I’ll get the stories and player gossip out the way first…

The Sun report, unless we get battered by the Mancs, Wenger won’t be spending any money this month! What a joke if it’s true, nothing like being pro-active eh!!

He might be making money though as Lazio are reported to be on of three clubs who want to sign Arshavin, £6 Million is the fee suggested.

Onto todays post, the curse of the wretched number 9 shirt in recent years:

John Radford, Alan Smith, George Graham, Joe Baker, Charlie George, Frank Stapleton, Malcolm MacDonald, just a few of the quality No.9′s in my time as an Arsenal fan, although I never saw Baker play in the flesh.

Nicolas Anelka was the last one who really led the line like a true centre-forward but since ‘Nasty Nick’ left for a whopping £23.5 million to Real Madrid in the summer of 1999 the No.9 shirt has taken on something of a jinx…

Davor Suker succeeded Anelka that summer, bringing with him a rich reputation garnered from his successful Euro 1996 campaign with Croatia. I liked Davor but maybe he came to England a bit too late in his career to recapture his best form and to truly adapt to the English game. He left after barely one season to go into semi-retirement at the Upton Park Home for Old Footballers.

In the summer of 2001, David Dein was engaged in some serious transfer business. Sol Campbell, Junichi Inamoto, Richard Wright, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst all arrived.

The first new face through the Highbury door was Francis Jeffers from Everton for a reported £8million. The ‘Fox in the Box’ that we needed. At Goodison Park, Jeffers had been hailed as the Toffees, Michael Owen and he certainly looked just the quick, sharp, goal-hanger we’d all been longing for to snap up those half-chances made and spurned by our more exotic forwards.

Unfortunately a few niggling injuries and the enormous task of getting in front of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord took its toll on his confidence. That and some rumoured off-field problems saw Franny eventually sold to Charlton Athletic for £2.6 million in 2004.

Was the No.9 shirt cursed?

January 2004 saw David Dein in hot transfer business again [ are you reading this Ivan? ]…

Over in Southern Spain, playing for Seville was the hottest property in Spanish football, Jose Antonio Reyes -  and Dein got him for a reported £10.6 million…

I liked Jose Antonio Reyes, yes he was a bit flake, but he scared the life out of defenders with his raw pace and enthusiasm.

Two FA Cup goals against Chelsea seemed to set him up for a long Arsenal career and despite some weak refereeing in the 2004 FA Cup semi-final allowing Scholes and Gary ‘rat-face’ Neville to kick him out of the game and then getting sent-off in the 2005 FA Cup final, he seemed, on the field at least, to be doing ok.

Off the field, it was another matter, and that’s where his problems lay. The Spanish family from hell did their best to undermine him and may have affected his relationship with his team mates and it all gradually began to go sour for Jose at Arsenal.

An unsuccessfull loan period at Real Madrid led to his eventual transfer to Madrid, where he joined the ‘Noisy Neighbours’ Atletico for £6 million in the summer of 2007.

The curse of the No.9…?

While Reyes was on loan at Real Madrid, in exchange and also on loan, Arsenal took Julio Baptista. His 4 goals at Anfield in an amazing 6-3 League Cup win plus a brace at The Slum in the Semi-Final 1st leg was all i can really recall from him, except that he was slow and must have learned his Brazilian skills at the same Academy as Denilson.

Nobody mourned when his loan transfer wasn’t made a permanent deal and he returned to Real Madrid.

That damned No.9…..

In the summer of 2007, the ‘Real Deal’ arrived in the shape of Eduardo da Silva. A Brazilian goal-poacher who plied his trade in Croatia, and who he played for Internationally. I’ve never met any Arsenal fan who didn’t like Eduardo and he looked a real steal at £8 million from Dinamo Zagreb.

Unfortunately a visit to Small Heath in Birmingham and the reckless tactics of Alex McLeish, saw him lucky to retain his leg and walk again. His loss has been one of our most costly in many many years.

Miraculously Eddy made a come-back, but his confidence never fully recovered from the assault in Birmingham and he left to join Shakhtar Donetsk for £6 million in the summer of 2010. He went with the best wishes of every fair-minded Arsenal fan.

The curse?

This August Ju Young Park joined us for £3 million from Monaco.

He was given the No.9 shirt.

Watch this space?!

Written by Allezkev

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Posted by rico

We are all just Mugs……

January 17, 2012

Yes that’s right Mugs!!

Are you a season ticket holder? Perhaps you buy your tickets as and when you can?

Either way and just like me, we are all mugs!

We support a team that takes the piss out of us, from Stan down to Wenger there is always an excuse!

We pay the highest prices in the Premier League to watch some of the worst players we as fans have witnessed wearing the red and white shirt!

Why do we do it week in, week out?

Because it’s born in us, that’s why!

It’s certainly not for what we have had to suffer watching over the last few seasons is it?

Our club has sold, or let players run their contracts down and leave for free and replaced them with cheap substitutes, or as the latest fashion seems to be, allowed them to depart on loan deals whilst they get a visa or eventually leave.. JOKE!

We like a cheap deal and so often that cheap deal comes with consequences like a Visa!

However, that doesn’t seem to stop us!

We seem to do these for a couple of months with the kids, sometimes an entire season just to offload players like Bendtner or Denilson or to allow a player to work towards his visa/permit.

But all of this costs, we spend out on players who can’t solve the here and now, we pay them a wage – and that’s a wage that could fund a player who is ready for now, a player who could really change the current side so what is the point of looking so far to the future, when we can’t even get the present right??

We are broken at the heart of our defence, we were told we would get a loan player in to address this problem but since then we have all read/heard the club say that what’s the point as any loan player many not be fit and ready to make a difference before our injured players return!

Seems its ok to loan out but not loan in eh?

Excuses, excuses, excuses – we have heard them all!!

We have heard about enormous debts, we have many injuries, how players are very close to a comeback and they will be like ‘new signings’! Then there is ‘only so many quality players available at the moment, there are lots of wealthy teams searching who can pay more for the player’, and the one I like at the moment is:

‘The climate is not right’!!

What does that mean, is it raining, is it too hot, maybe a bit of fog, haven’t these negotiators got brollys? Ok, I jest a tad about the climate, we know Wenger is talking about the world of finance but either way, it’s just another reason given in attempt to justify not building on the current squad.

I think I have heard every excuse that is out there but Arsenal get away with it, year after year!!

Mugs?

You bet Stan’s bottom dollar we are!!

Written by Steve Palmer

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Posted by rico

Au Revoir Champions League!! Two sides played yesterday but only one ‘TEAM’!

January 16, 2012

A Double-Dose this morning, first half is from Allezkev, the second from Steve Palmer…

It’s difficult to write a report on a game, when you haven’t seen it -  So I won’t.

But I’ve seen enough Arsenal games this season already, both live and on television to know where there is a major problem in Wenger’s squad.

Goalscoring!

Yes, Arsenal scored twice in the Liberty Stadium but how many chances were spurned to take that vital 2 goal lead and give us some breathing space?

How many times have Arsenal taken the lead, then failed to get that second goal and kill the opposition off?

It seems that whenever Arsenal score these days, instead of us fans sitting back and waiting for the 2nd and 3rd goal for the Gunners, we instead sit back and wait for a string of wasted chances from our players before the expected equaliser.

Why is this?

Is it a lack of quality? A lack of confidence? A lack of the required coaching during training?

Or a combination of all three?

Even Robin Van Persie missed a very good chance in the first-half but he is beyond criticism this season. 18 EPL goals in 20+1 appearances is a fantastic return from our number one striker and number one player.

Now lets look at the support that Robin has been getting from his attacking team mates this season.

The usual suspects up front have managed so far this season:

Theo Walcott -   3 EPL goals in 18+2 appearances.
Gervinho         -   4 EPL goals in 15+2 appearances.

Over half the season gone and our main alternatives to Robin have got a total of 7 EPL goals between them.

Is that really good enough?

We shouldn’t lump all the blame on them, as there are others in the Arsenal squad who should be contributing more goals…..

Our back-up goalscorers Arshavin and Chamakh have been nothing short of appalling in terms of hitting the net.

Arshavin………… 1 EPL goal in 8+9 appearances.
Chamakh……….. 1 EPL goal in 1+7 appearances.

What of our midfield?

Benayoun – 1 EPL goal in 2+8 appearances.
Ramsey     – 1 EPL goal in 19+1 appearances.
Song           – 1 EPL goal in 17 appearances.
Rosicky     – 0 EPL goals in 4+8 appearances.

Six players who have contributed a pathetic total of 5 EPL goals with over half of the season gone.

Only Mikel Arteta has a respectable return for his efforts this season; 3 EPL goals in 17 appearances.

That brings me to Ju Young Park……

Can somebody out there, please tell me what was the bloody point of signing him???

Four and a half months after his arrival from Monaco, our South Korean ‘striker’ is still waiting for his Premier League debut. Yes, he’s been on the substitutes bench for 7 league fixtures but has remained on his derriere for all those 7 occasions!

Questions have to be asked of the scouts and the coaching staff concerning the signing of Park as up until now, his acquisition has been an unseemly and unacceptable failure.

A quick re-sale, a la Kaba Diawara, is surely on the cards next summer….

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, surely he cannot be held back much longer?

No more procrastination please, no more excuses, play the boy and lets see if he can deliver…

Today showed for certain, that King Henry cannot save the day every game….

A new striker signed this month and not another Park would be welcome.

However, we all know it’s very unlikely!!

So, I think we can all kiss goodbye to 4th, don’t you?

Written by Allezkev

Here is Steve Palmers view:

Swansea V Arsenal and yes, I am sorry but we have to report this catastrophe.

3.2 and we were never going to win this game, I am not going to bore you with what happened in this game  as I’m sure most of you witnessed Swansea teach us a lesson in teamwork and how to pass a football.

How things change in just a short while in football, but likened to your family car, if you give it no attention it will let you down and in our case Arsenal have let all the supporters down.

Arsenal football Club has been known throughout the world of football as one of the best English Clubs in the world but sadly through lack of investment they are loosing that identity.

Many millions have been spent building The Emirates Stadium which is one of the best in England, millions has also been spent on training facilities and medical equipment to aid injured players, very impressive to the lay man and putting that all in place needs careful spending and sadly in the case of our club, it’s been at the expense of our team.

Seven years Arsenal have waited since their last piece of silverware, seven years.

The board have used all the revenue to build Arsenal the business but have sadly forgotten what Arsenal the Football Club stands for, or what it once did.

The high standard of football has deserted Arsenal FC, a lack of investment in players has seen Arsenals season start badly, injuries and suspensions made us non competitive in the first month or so but with what some considered to be astonishing luck, the team moved up from the lower depths, to the top six.

Swansea are a club newly promoted to the premier league, they are led by a man who believes in the philosophy that our own Manager used to share. A good footballing side who play a style of passing and possession.

Maybe at present not many household names are on their team-sheet but players who have been moulded together by teamwork and  good training. They have belief in themselves which has been rewarded with 3 points from a once competitive Arsenal team.

Where they will build and work hard, we will persevere with overrated players who are only interested in receiving a good wage and the shirt they wear appears to mean very little!

Sadly the lack of ambition for the team from the Manager and his Board has seen us go from a good side, known for a scintillating style of passing and possessive football, to what is now, a bumbling rabble without any pizzazz at all.

The manager has stated that there will not be any new players joining in this transfer window and sadly season ticket supporters who have paid for their seat long ago, will see out the rest of the season watching what talent or should I say lack of talent that is on show today.

When I think of the performance our team showed yesterday, gives me a knotted stomach, in truth I felt embarrassed by that performance and my expectations were given a reality check!

Arsene and Ivan and the rest of them seem quite content to carry their business on in the same way, which I find intolerable and I can only see one outcome for this season if their views do not change.

I won’t be rushing down to watch them anytime soon on that performance!

Arsenal has always been my team and will always be but until the Manager and the Board start investing in quality players, I certainly wont feather their nest with my hard-earned cash!!

Speculate to accumulate Stan or its all downhill from now on and we fans deserve better!!

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Posted by rico

Another striker loan deal? United Midfielder in Wenger’s plans? More excuses from the club….

January 15, 2012

Titbits first today:

The Sunday Mirror suggests that Manchester United midfielder Ravel Morrison’s situation is being monitored by our manager. Morrison is out of contract in the summer and is throwing his toys out the pram because he’s not playing.

The Sunday People report that Wenger wants to loan Real Madrid Spanish Under-19 striker Alvaro Morata on loan. The story suggests that the player has been told to get himself a move but whether that is this month or in the summer, remains unclear.

Arsene Wenger has been talking about this current transfer window and he believes it should be scrapped. That way it will:

Force disaffected players to fight for their places and remain committed to the cause.

He goes on:

I am for [scrapping the transfer window]. I would leave it completely open all year, or you close it for a whole year. But that’s in-between.

Everybody becomes nervous from November until January. Then players maybe think, ‘if I don’t play then I will leave in January’. They are already less committed to the cause, it gives them an opening.

We have gone from a period where we knew that if we didn’t play, we still had to be committed to the club for your whole life.

You had no other option but to fight for your place. There is not a position where the players have a quick and easy way out if it is difficult.

So, another excuse given for not signing anyone this month, can’t understand why our club don’t believe that signing an odd fresh face or two in this window can actually spur others on, those who really want to play for Arsenal have to fight more for their place. Fresh players this month for the last few seasons has been just what we needed to push on in the second half of the season.

We didn’t get them and we have faded, just look back to last season when we really had a great chance to win the PL?

He does go on to say that he’d rather wait for the injured players to return than sign an old has been who is looking for an easy exit from their current club, for sure, we all agree there but a player like Jan Vertonghen is hardly that is he, he wouldn’t break the bank and he would no doubt solve all our defensive frailties right now.

As for up front, well the club recently sanctioned a break for Robin van Persie as they must have thought he was shattered, does that not tell us that something?

Oh well, window locked and bolted already then Arsenal!

On to today, a trip down to sunny Wales to face the side rightly earned promotion last season, the side that we huffed and puffed against at home and finally sneaked a 1-0 victory. That victory though saw us get our season kick started. We’d had a dreadful opening few fixtures and despite the result being far from convincing, the recovery began and with it came the creep up the table back into a decent position in the league.

Today is going to be a tough one but then again, every game in this league now is that way. We still have a long list of injuries and Francis Coquelin is the latest addition, Mertesacker and Rosicky both face late fitness test having been ‘ill’. Chamakh and Gervinho are of course gone now for a while.

Swansea however has pretty much a full squad, a few of which had a rest in their last fixture.

Djourou returns after his one match ban and should he feature at right back, he’ll be in for a tough time up against Scott Sinclair.

Thierry Henry should also make his return to Premier League football but I truly hope we don’t need a repeat of Monday to secure this victory, Robin also returns from his holiday so things up front should be different.

Will the two start together and put the pressure on?

Swansea are a confident side at home, the only loss they have suffered in front of their home fans is to Manchester United!

There is not too much to tell about the history of this fixture as the two sides have only met on ten occasions and that tells us little really about the players of today – Brendan Rogers has his side playing football the right way these days, they won’t be parking any bus or looking to hit us on the break, the game will be open and maybe it will be more about who scores most will win.

Yes I know that is obvious but you know what I mean!

We have wobbled on the road recently and have an average of just one goal a game in our last seven matches which doesn’t make pretty reading does it?

Time for that to change or Wenger may just have to get his cheque book out!!

Have a good day all, 3 points would make it that wouldn’t it?

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Posted by rico

New Number 10 signing? Left Back on trial & There is one thing we need as well as players!

January 14, 2012

That is:

Composure!!

The comment made by the ESPN team after Andrey Arshavin blasted his umpteenth shot on goal against Leeds over the bar was something like:

He needs a bit of Henry’s composure in front of goal.

How true is that statement?

One which it’s clear is applies to a few of our players, not just the little Russian.

Arshavin wasn’t alone in that one particular fixture who was guilty of wasting seriously golden opportunities and each week we fans witness so many more.

Ramsey, Arteta, Walcott, Gervinho and even Robin van Persie miss what some of us would describe as ‘sitters’ and surely it’s all down to lack of composure in front of goal. It’s like the players get a rush of blood to their heads and panic and the most important moment and the ball goes anywhere other than on target.

Henry showed what it is like to be gifted in confidence and not panic in front of goal, his calm deftly placed shot into the far bottom corner of the net with his sixth touch of the ball was soon followed by an Arshavin attempt from a kind of similar position but he carried the ball on, went for the near post and blasted it into the side netting.

As already said though, it’s not just the little Russian, it happens too many of our players, even the older experienced one.

Can composure be taught?

If so, maybe Henry needs to get working on his new team-mates as its clear no-one else is!

Staying with the same fixture and listening to Keown and Savage talk after the game, both highlighted the way our old man moves on the pitch, his movement off the ball and how Chamakh needs to watch and learn from him –as for 68 minutes he was static.

Chamakh won’t benefit in training as he’s gone for a while, neither will Gervinho for the same reason but there are many players who still have a lot to learn and if they can, we will reap the rewards in the months to come.

Arsene Wenger has been talking about the busy schedule some clubs get lumbered with, just to suit the television audience:

I believe the Premier League has to make sure there is a bit more fairness in the schedules.

The Premier League has to decide what is fair and not fair. At the moment, it is television that decides because the contracts are done in a way that is not right for the fairness of the competition.

You cannot have decisive games with one team playing on Friday and then again on Tuesday and another team on Sunday and then Tuesday. That does not work. You can try and convince me that it is right but I can tell you working in football for 30 years, it is not right because it is not fair.

We [the Premier League] do not control our fixtures any more, It is the truth and I cannot say the television is wrong but it is not normal that you can have a direct influence on the schedule through the television.”

Well, I happen to agree with him and have said so before: Highbury House  - it’s just what Old Red Nose was saying too, but just look at our fixtures over the festive period, they were shocking. We played on the 27th and 31st of December and then again on the 2nd of January – no wonder we lost the last one of the three!

Ok, not all were on television but, it’s still a crazy schedule!

Like I said in that article, 3pm on a Saturday afternoon is what football is all about, not being dictated to by the channels who earn mega money by showing the matches!!

Does this hint that Arsene Wenger is about to sign a new number 10? The picture is from afc.com during the players training session yesterday.

Robin, wearing his old number 11.....

I strongly suspect not but does make you wonder eh?

The Daily Mail have reported that 24-year-old left back, Saad Al-Mukhaini, who plays for Omani top-flight side Fanja SC is on a two-day trial with us! He arrives having been recommended by Paul Le Guen who is the coach of Oman.

Oh well, haven’t a clue who he is but he’s got to be better than Wayne Bridge….

Hasn’t he??

On that note, have a good day all…..

 

 

187 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

What a great January signing he would be! Keeper wants out!

January 13, 2012

The rush towards the end of this transfer window looms, its climatic conclusion and the media hyperbole will be here sooner than we think – you can almost sense the pandemonium going on at the many clubs who are  yet to delve into the murky world of spin agents and greedy players!

That’s it guys and gals, it’s called the January Transfer Window.

We at Arsenal have already been linked by all those dodgy transfer outlets, to every Tom, Dick, Manuel and Maxwell on the planet, not recently but since the end of August.

It’s laughable really, but gives us fans a lot of nonsense to debate and I love it….

At the same time we all understand that 95% of what we read on-line, in the Press and hear on the radio is a wind-up, originating in the majority of cases in the wild imagination of some nondescript journo or an agent.

It’s a difficult balancing act that any manager must achieve between keeping a strong squad, keeping everyone happy in that strong squad, whilst having a contingency plan in place to compensate for injuries.

Arsene Wenger has manfully attempted to walk a sensible line despite the clamour for new signings, bringing through some fabulous young players and also attempting to keep the top players we already have.

At the same time though, we as a club have been suffering a raft of defensive injuries.

As much as i’d love to see our manager posing alongside new January signings like Jan Vertonghen, Marco Reus and Lukasz Podolski, it’s not likely to happen.

So it looks like we’ll have to be satisfied by the arrival of some loan signings and the odd veteran.

It would be nice if Ivan the Terrible had one surprise up his sleeve for us this January but he does love his little games of bluff and counter-bluff, usually leading to one of the petro-dollar clubs sweeping in to clean up whilst he hides behind their wealth as his excuse for missing out, again…

That, of course, doesn’t mean that the job of clearing out a few more players who’ve become surplus to requirements cannot be continued this Winter.

That would at least free up some vital finance, which could be re-invested next Summer in some proper transfer business.

We all have our favourites for the exit and I’ll leave that to you to discuss but Arsenal seem to be a club that has to count the pennies, so why do carry a lot of dead-wood?

A tidy sum could be saved by some moving these mediocre players on, that is of course, if some other club will take them?

In the meantime, what I really want to hear, is that Robin Van Persie has signed a new contract…

What a great signing he would be…

Written by Allezkev

Titbits:

We are reported to be interested in defender Scott Dann, again and Vito Mannone would be happy to make his switch to Hull permanent!

Wouldn’t we all?

240 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

Could this Manchester City reject be the answer?? Another Southampton player linked…

January 12, 2012

At 15 years old, Neil Taylor left or was allowed to leave Manchester City – he moved to Wrexham, which many may believe was a step down, even at his young age but more than likely, he just wanted to be back home in Wales.

Now though, he is hitting the headlines for Swansea and he’s still only 22 years old.  Taylor is considered to be a left back/left winger, just the kind of player that Arsene Wenger likes, adaptable he may call it, killing two birds with one stone is more like!

Long and short-term solution?

The player already represents Wales at full international level and maybe it’s time for his country captain to have a word in Arsene’s ear.

Taylor has already said that he’s ‘flattered by the interest shown by Arsenal’. Of course he goes on to say that he’s enjoying playing for his current club, what else could he say?

Some will be thinking ‘what about Gibbs’?

Life at the top is tough and as much as we fans make like Kieran Gibbs, his fitness is already a real concern so what will he be like as the years go by? His body already seems very injury prone and surely that will only get worse.

Maybe it’s time for he and Arsenal to part company?

Gibbs attitude and love for our club can never be called into question, he’s a great young professional lad but he cannot be relied on to last an entire season without having time out on the sick-bed. However, what our club could do is invest in Taylor, let he and Gibbs fight it out at left back (well, when Gibbs is fit) and push Santos up into Arshavin’s supposed position – then, by all accounts we would have three left backs, but two very good wingers and the three together will get a lot of playing time and none of them would get the hump – simples! ;)

Talking of left backs, another story suggests we are looking at Southampton yet again for our next young recruit. This time it’s Luke Shaw, the young English left back who is yet to play for the first team. He’s valued at £4M and every club is out to nab his signature…

Another Southampton purchase on the cards?

Watch this space on that one I guess!

Rumours were out yesterday that we had secured a deal for Eric Abidal from Barcelona – he’s now 32 years old and out of contract in the summer so I honestly can’t believe that such a deal has taken place, unless of course Barca have allowed the player to leave for free this month in a way of saying thank you to Arsene Wenger over the Cesc deal?

You just never know, eh?

Then of course we have all the stuff reported to be going on with Chamakh and Squillaci, suggestion is that Chamakh is wanted by Fiorentina, something which perhaps most Arsenal fans would like to go through – nice guy and all that but we need something more than he is able to give us.

Squillaci, well Lyon are interested, shame really as I’m sure he could have been good for us. ;)

Have a good day all, no potatoes today eh…

247 Comments | Daily Bits and Bobs | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by rico

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