League title not out of reach as Wenger targets Dzeko & Zaha in January….

November 12, 2012

Morning Gooners,

When asked whether Arsenal were still in the title race, Arsene Wenger said:

I feel, yes, of course. Yes, why not? It is a concern, because we looked quite solid defensively until now, and against Fulham we looked very fragile. If we had scored the penalty, nobody speaks about it.

You had some dodgy moments in the game, but you would have won. We were close to doing it and have to do it next game.

Sorry, but Arsene Wenger is dreaming!

Firstly, unless Arsene Wenger is ready to enter the January transfer window and sign us at least three players, we haven’t got a hope in hell of catching the top two in the Premier League.

Secondly, if the players he wants to sign are attacking players then yes, we may score a few more goals but they won’t stop us conceding them will they?

Thirdly, had we won on Saturday by converting that last-minute penalty, of course fans and the media would have had something to say about the way we surrendered our two goal lead. We weren’t undone by periods of fantastic football by Fulham finished off with wonderful goals, we were undone by our own sloppy defensive play and giving Fulham players far too much time and space in front of goal. Oh, and a stupid bit of shirt tugging in the penalty area.

As for the ‘dodgy moments’ – we have them every game these days!

We scored 3 goals, that in theory should be enough on Saturday afternoons to win a game of football and if only we could learn a few footballing basics, it would have been this weekend.

What Arsene Wenger should be telling all the fans right now is how sorry he is for the way we are playing and unacceptable it is to surrender such golden opportunities to earn 3 points.

He should also be telling us it’s clear to see that certain areas of our game need working on and rectifying rapidly if we are to have any chance of winning anything this year. How about a word on how negligent it was to sell Alex Song to Barcelona and not replace him with a much stronger and more disciplined player in the centre of our midfield.

I could go on but why bother…..

Stop feeding us spin, stop making out everything is ok because it clearly isn’t.

If Wenger really wants to win the Premier League then he needs to start making a few noises. Noises which are loud enough to land on Stan Kroenke’s doorstep because the only way we are going to have any chance of being a successful club again is by spending some money.

Real money I mean, not some old bargain from an overseas lower league!!

That’s my rant for the day!

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Posted by rico

Denilson return to dash M’Vila hopes? Arrogant Pearce & RvP Scoops another award…

April 25, 2012

Robin van Persie has completed a double success after being named Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year. Our captain was named PFA Footballer of the Year on Sunday and he has now followed that up with another award.

Wayne Rooney was in second place, Paul Scholes third and Clint Dempsey fourth.

Denilson’s lawyer has apparently been in London this week, trying to secure and extension to our midfielders loan deal with Sao Paulo but the club have denied him permission.

Reports suggest that Wenger wants the 24 year old back in time to start pre-season training in July.

Worrying?

Yes, however, maybe the bigger picture is that Wenger doesn’t want to scupper any chance of finally getting Denilson off of our books and to make sure we don’t lose him for free at any stage.A disappointed Denilson said:

I would stay another six months, but the decision was not mine, I have a contract with Arsenal and I have to stick to it.

We all know Wenger tried to turn Denilson into a defensive playing midfielder but it didn’t work back then and it’s unlikely it will work again with us, he clearly doesn’t want to be an Arsenal player so why keep him?

If Wenger wants an out an out defensive midfielder, we all know there is one in France who would jump at the chance of joining our club. Go get him Arsene!

Talking of midfielders, that arrogant buffoon Stuart Pearce reckons Jack Wilshere will take part in the Olympics, if he says so!

Will managers have a veto on their players ­going? Of course not, no. We are talking about Great Britain here, the ­Olympic Games. This is an opportunity of a lifetime.

Wenger has said the ­Olympics would be “the worst idea” for Wilshere, 20, who has not played this season.Pearce responded:

I can’t change that opinion. But it’s not of great concern to me. If I make one selection proviso for one manager, I’ll have to do it for everybody.

 The most important thing for me is for Great Britain to win a gold medal. I don’t want to get into a tit-for-tat with Arsene. It seems every two years with the Under-21s we go through this same charade, so I’m not prepared to do that.

Jack is on the shortlist at this moment in time.  He’s been out a hell of a long time and Jack as a player is paramount in my mind.

What an arrogant man, Wilshere hasn’t kicked a ball all season and there is no way he should even be on any shortlist. The only thing Jack should be doing this summer is resting and Arsene Wenger and Arsenal football club need to stand firm.

That’s about it for today, other than Chelsea winning last night means we really need to pull our socks up and get three wins from our remaining three fixtures. Fourth spot may no longer guarantee Champions League football.

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

Robin van Persie Signs, Midfielder Quits and Wenger talks……….

December 15, 2011

I thought Arsene Wenger had stopped talking rubbish but then I read my usual daily dose of afc.com and found the latest piece from our manager! ;)

He’s been talking about Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry and why he let them both go when he did and stands by his decision to let them move on in 2005 and 2007 respectively.

One of the things he said was it was better to sell and get a good price for them, rather than sit back and watch their contracts run down and they leave for free and, at the time the club needed the money.

So, that begs the question about Edu, Gilberto, Flamini, Gallas etc etc – all who were still at the top of their game but were allowed run down their contracts and leave for free – and players like Merida, Barazite etc who hadn’t even reached their peak and hadn’t been given the kind of chance that others seem to get.

I adopted a way of thinking that it was better to sell a player one year too early than one year too late. If you sell too late you don’t get any money and you cannot buy anymore. If you sell a player early he can still sign a longer contract somewhere else.

Ok, that is all well and good when talking about the older players who are in their final years of their career at the top but the two he highlighted went on to big clubs and Henry could still get a place in our first team today, fours years later…

What about applying a similar rule to players who are poor?

Surely even the staunchest Wenger supporter would admit that we have kept too many average players for far too long?

I’m not talking about the Silvestre and Squillaci kind of players, they were only ever meant to be 4th/5th choice in their position, the one’s I am referring to are Almunia, Denilson, Bendtner and many more before them.

They have been over played in hope that they come good but never have they reached the potential that Wenger obviously saw when he signed them – how many times have we suffered watching Bendtner miss chance after chance, or Denilson and even Diaby put in half-hearted performances?

Yet, how many seasons did he persist with playing them before the penny finally dropped? Still though they are on our books and we are paying some of their wages.

Some will say that we can’t sell them as no other club wants them, well surely it’s better to cut our losses and set them free on a reduced price, no doubt all of them have been on £50,000 a week salary, add that up over the years and it’s an awful lot of money that would/could have bought and paid a better player.

Wenger is without question, one of the shrewdest managers in the Premier League when it comes to buying playing but when it comes to selling them on, he has to be up there as one of the most naive.

One player he won’t have to worry about selling is young midfielder Alban Bunjaku, yesterday news broke that he had decided to quit the club. He was one of the stand out players for Steve Bould’s side last season but he had never been offered or given a professional contract despite breaking into the reserves but with so many good reserve players ahead of him, his chances were very limited.

Wasn’t a good day all round for the youth, as Steve Bould’s side were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup, beaten 1-0 by Derby County in extra-time. Having dominated the first half, they couldn’t make their chances count and in the 97th minute, they conceded the only goal of the game.

Finally, if you can get to The Armoury later today, our captain will be signing copies of his 100 goals DVD, he’ll be there between 3pm and 4.30pm so get there if you can – don’t forget to get there early and buy the DVD from the store as they are the only ones he will sign…

That’s it for today, have a good one……

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Posted by rico

Should a coach look at a player’s passport?

November 12, 2011

Ever since I have been supporting the AFC, that is, 37 odd years, I have always had a soft spot for those players who put their bodies on the line.

Don’t get me wrong, I like those players who dazzle and mesmerise the crowds with their skills, however, I have always tended to prefer those quiet lads who prefer to stay out of the limelight and work for the team. Players like Liam Brady, Paul Merson, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Charlie Nicholas, Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin are all crowd pullers. They all create a certain buzz when they are coming out of the tunnel or have the ball at their feet.

However for these gentlemen to weave their skills another type of footballer is needed. Gilberto, Flamini, Storey, McNab, Vieira, Petit and Song are all important when the coach is putting up his team sheet. And while the supporters rightly expect players like RVP to be the first on the team sheet, it is equally plausible to think that such players like Gilberto were also contenders for the first name to be written by the manager’s feather quill.

Times change, and with the winds of change the world develops.

As we grow older we start to realise that footballer is no longer a team of two type of players, namely those who graft and those who dazzle. With the advent of internet the world has shrunk from being a planet to what now we call a global village. Also with the internet, coaching methods, techniques and tactics today travel quicker than a coach can deliver a session based on the above themes.

Now we have players who are equally adept at grafting and creating a buzz with the ball at their feet. And with you-tube we get to see even a nine year old from goodness knows where juggling a ball and doing mind boggling tricks with his feet. And suddenly everyone jumps on the band wagon wanting to sign this next best thing since sliced bread.

So we get players from everywhere from around the world. And suddenly AFC is looking more like the foreign legion than looking like Dad’s army.

But do we supporters enjoy such a situation? Some of us do some of us don’t. I for one will try and stay impartial but even that is difficult when considering all the pros and cons.

Personally I would like Arsenal to have had Essien in midfield but  wouldn’t Schweinsteiger have done the same job? Can’t Fellaini do the same job? How many supporters wouldn’t have enjoyed seeing Eto’o grace our red shirt? Or Drogba? Can’t Mario Gomez be our number nine? Are you happy with Park? Or Chamack? RVP is not a classic number nine although he is playing like one.

This takes us to the next question, from where would you like our club to sign players?

Africa produces good and strong players with raw power. Brazil produce ball players, France produce technical ones while Spain produce the best players on the planet at the moment.

Each country has its pros and cons.

Africa has the Africa Nations cup every two years. Brazil, Argentina, Japan etc have long distance trips which require players to rest when coming back. Much as they do produce good players I personally think that the cons far outweigh the pros. Also one has to consider that the football ethos in these countries is far different to the European mentality. And another thing which one must take into consideration is the player’s background. This affects heavily on the output of the player since his background and up bringing often influences the player’s mentality and influence on his team mates besides his reaction to contractual situations.

At the moment it is a fair and easy bet to say that the best players suited for the league’s bread and butter daily situations are those hailing from Germany, Belgium, Holland, England, France and Spain. WHAAATTTTT????? No players from Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Russia or Italy. Or any from an African nation?? We have Gervinho, Park, Song. We had Gilberto, Toure, Lauren, Edu, Adebayor……!!!!!!!

Yes I agree, some of them were great players, some of them served AFC well and some of them gave us moments of joy wrapped up with moments of mad antics (Eboue take note). We also get this from those hailing from the above four destinations I mentioned.

However, I would like to point out some important issues.

As a coach would you like one or more of your players going away for around 6 weeks to the Africa Nations Cup? Would you like one or more of your players coming back from a trip across the globe for a meaningless friendly? Would you like one or more of your players having to go for military service when he is twenty eight and may be absent for two years?

Don’t get me wrong. I do like those Arsenal players who pull on the shirt and work their socks off for the good of the team and show to the crowd that they are putting their body on the line for the greater good of the club. And that is enough to make a manager waive away the passport issue. However the above points need to be taken into consideration when buying a player.

Don’t forget……..the greatest Arsenal legends of recent times were Henry (French), Bergkamp (Dutch) TA06/Keown/Bould, Winterburn/Dixon and Seaman (English), Brady(bred in England), Vieira/Petit/Pires (French).

Oh I forgot, Jack Wilshere is English too.

May he eclipse them all.

Written by DevilGunner

 

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Posted by rico

Wenger’s biggest hint yet and don’t bother ringing him, his phone will be engaged…..

July 3, 2011

Seems like our boss has been talking to a French radio station about the current transfer window….

Currently, everyone is standing still, Everyone expects everyone else to make the first move. Everyone holds on to their cards, hoping for the major transfer. Nobody blinks until late July, early August. Then we will analyse the gaps in each team.

But I am very active on the phone.

If everyone is standing still waiting for everyone else to make their move, isn’t that the best time to sneak and a buy your players? Surely a manager like Wenger has his targets, does it really matter what everyone else is up to??

The simple answer is No!

Wenger has also reportedly spoken about the future of the three that are linked with moves away from the club and I think he gives  a huge clue as to what will happen.

First he spoke about Samir Nasri:

We will do everything to keep Nasri at the club. My wish is that he stays here. If he looks back he can see that he’s come quite a long way with us, and I think there is still a bit to do. It’s the club that makes the player’s career.

Then when asked about Cesc Fabregas and Gael Clichy he said this:

Obviously we want them to stay. They are part of Arsenal and big players for the club so we want them to stay, but we will see.

I personally think that tells us a lot, the club will do everything to keep Nasri, but the other two, we’ll wait and see…

What could happen of course is that should Fabregas leave, the club will then up Nasri’s wages and everyone will be happy and the new contract will be signed.

The squad get back together this coming week so I think we can expect things to start moving fast….

Until then, we’ll just have to carry on reading the garbage that fills the newspapers each day, most of which is pure fabrication…

This morning’s papers see Arsenal in a £20 Million link to Stewart Downing which made me chuckle and a Chav link to Theo Walcott that made me spill my tea as it’s so far-fetched and Inter Milan have offered a higher price for Ricky so we are set to lose out unless Wenger goes back with a better offer…

You couldn’t make it up could you, well actually, they have, I’m sure..

Have a good day all…..

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Posted by rico

Defender signs because another leaves, Winger is definitely on his way in IF his Father gets his wish..…

June 7, 2011

Last week we heard that George Brislen-Hall had been told he can find football elsewhere but  then, yesterday, Young Guns confirmed that he hasn’t left, in fact he’s signed a one year extension to his contract and this was all made possible because of the departure of actor come footballer, Tom Cruise.

Strange that one….

One player who really could be on his way to our club is one of Theo’s old mates, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – if you believe all that his father Mark writes, it’s not a case of if, it’s a case of when in the next few days….

Ex Midfielder Mark Chamberlain believes his son should join Arsenal in order to continue his development.

Considering where he was at the beginning of the season and end of last season, to have the clubs we’ve been hearing about looking at him, he’s made great strides.

But watching him and watching his performances I think it’s well deserved. He’s only going to get better.

A lot of people speak to me and say maybe it’s too soon, look at Theo.

 But for me I think Theo’s doing fantastic, he’s developing as a player, he’s still developing and he’s only young.

To develop at a place like Arsenal can’t be a bad thing. In my eyes, I’d like him to go there as soon as possible, and continue his development.

So, looks like we could be signing a winger in real soon, that is of course if Wenger wants him and my bet is he will.

He’s young, English and add to that what has been said by the players Dad.

Something has to be going on, doesn’t it?

Another player who is calling out for Wenger to sign him isMadjid Bougherra, the Rangers defender has been linked to us before but now he says he is keen to get back into the Premier League. Bougherra is 6′ 3″ and he’s known to have played a few games in the central defensive midfield position.

That’s about it for today, other than Gallas telling the world that he is still a fantastic defender and Arsene Wenger should never have let him go! Didn’t Arsenal offer him a contract extension but he wouldn’t sign it?? Anyway, who cares what he has to say!

Have a good one all, hopefully we’ll soon get some real news soon…..

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Posted by rico

What has happened to Denilson, the once Brazilian Captain?

June 4, 2011

Not long ago we all read the ‘alleged’ comments made by our Brazilian. Most papers ran the story and the gist of what he said was, he’s a winner, he wants to win trophies and medals and feels that in order to do so, he needs to find himself a new club.

Anyway, since that all came out, everything has gone very quite. The papers haven’t said a lot, he has said no more and AFC.com, well they don’t say a lot about anything in any case, not until there is something definite to report. To be fair to them, they haven’t responded to any of the media speculation about who is leaving, other than Wenger saying that Nasri won’t be sold to the Mancs and he will do all he can to keep our captain.

Two clubs have been rumoured to be interested in our young Brazilian.

Seville have been reported to be keen to offer him a way out of our club and the price mentioned in the Daily Mirror is £8 Million – well, if we get that for him, I actually believe that is a very good deal.

For us I mean, not Seville…

Denílson Pereira Neves – joined us in 2006 for £3.4 Million!!

He was unproved and had little experience in club football! After he signed, Wenger described him as being described as “a little bit in between Tomáš Rosický and Gilberto”.  It’s quite clear the Gilberto comparison was down to him being Brazilian, but Rosicky, well surely that can only be that once upon a time Rosicky used to shoot from outside the penalty area. Denilson is one of a few in our side who remains confident to take a shot outside the area and credit to him; he has scored a few corkers.

Denilson had not only played for his country at every junior level, he also captained them along the way, ever since he was in the under 15 squad. In November 2006, he was called up for the first time to the Brazilian national side for a friendly match against Switzerland , ironically it was to be in place of his then Arsenal team mate Gilberto Silva who pulled out for personal reasons.

He didn’t make it off the bench sadly…

Anyway, he is Brazilian; we all thought we’d captured a pretty darn good player, didn’t we??

Like Nikki B, Denilson is still only 23 years old and he has many a year in front of him in football.

His Premier League debut came in December 2006 when he came off of the bench diruin a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.
He scored his first goal in a Carling Cup match against Newcastle, helping to earn us a 2-0 victory in September 2007. He had a good game and later that month AFC announced that Denilson had signed a new contract. Another goal came for him against Sheffield United in the Carling Cup, his was the last goal in a 3-0 victory. A corkder from long range I believe.

He earned his first Premier League start in November 2007 and he had a pretty good game, late goals from Gallas and Rosicky securing our victory late on in the game. The ugly side to his game was shown in the Carling Cup quart-final, a game in which he saw red just before the end of extra time.

2008/09 season came and Denilson would get more playing time. We had lost Gilberto, Flamini and Hleb. During August of this season he started all of our matches and scored his first PL goal for our club in a 3-0 defeat of Newcastle at The Emirates. Most of his playing time was alongside Cesc Fabregas but also replaced the unfit Cesc Fabregas in the latter stages of 2008.

2009/10 season started well for Denilson, he blasted his first goal of the campaign from 25 yards out past Tim Howard in a 6-1 home victory.

A month later he signed a new five-year deal!

Then came his back injury keeping him out for two months. He came back to face Standard Liège on 23 November where he scored our second goal in a 2–0 victory, this was another goal scored from long range, it also marked the 100th game for Arsenal.
Denílson went on to score goals against Hull City, Everton, Stoke City and West Ham United. Six was his goal tally for that season, all from outside the area. He made 28 appearances that season, three of which were from the bench.

2010–11 saw the breakthrough of Jack Wilshere into the first team. We all knew this kid was very good but me personally, I never anticipated him playing as much as he did in his first season. Once he showed how good he truly was, how could any manager leave him out?

This coupled with Denilsons reported injuries meant we saw less of him during last season. Many fans were glad, he had been a victim of a lot of abuse in the blog world and the less he played the happier a large section of fans were. He started just six Premier League matches and featured 16 in total. Overall, he made 32 appearances in all competitions, 20 starts and 12 from the bench.

No doubt Denilson has realised his time is pretty much up with us, Wilshere is on the rise and with players like Lansbury, Coquelin and Frimpong waiting in the wings, his chances for first team football are more likely to lessen than increase.

He may have come out and said what is reported and a lot of what he is supposed to have said is true. It may also be that Wenger has told him that his chances have all but gone and he’s better off elsewhere, we will never know the truth.

One thing we do know though is our young Brazilian has gone from playing and captaining his country at all the youth levels, to a player who looks lost and low in confidence..

Has he been given a fair chance to prove his worth under Arsene Wenger or is he another player who has failed to make his chances count?

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Posted by rico

Arsenal Fans set to be left devastated!! An 18 year old that Wenger will play if he proves good enough…

May 20, 2011

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding Ryo Miyaichi but it seems that Wenger plans to see if the lad has what it takes. If he does, Arsenal will apply for his Visa and should they be successful, we could be in for a treat next season watching this zippy little player.

Miyaichi has been called up to the Japanese Under-23 squad which could enhance his chances of a successful Visa Application through the Home Office.

Wonder what number he'll get.......

Wenger says:

I have only heard positive reports about him. He will be with us in pre-season. I think he is good enough, but if he is ready enough to have a place in our team, we will ask for a work permit and try to get him in.

What I like about Ryo is that he has good timing with his runs and understands when to go and where to go. That is something very important. He knows how to use his pace and he is an intelligent player.

He is a boy who went straight from school football to professional football and straight away was the best player in Feyenoord. He looks a very promising boy and everybody who went to watch him has been hugely impressed by him. Ryo is a character and a great football player.

This one will unfold throughout the summer but I’m looking forward to watching him in our pre-season matches….

Wenger has also been talking about players who many have speculated could leave us in the summer and he has been very quick so dismiss such rumours surrounding both Fabregas and Arshavin

He expects both players to still be with us next season

However, he said that about Flamini, Edu, Diarra, Paddy, Henry… and the list goes on….

And, just like with Ryo Miyaichi, I look forward to seeing this saga unfold throughout the summer…..

Finally, I will leave you all with some ‘devastating news’ which no doubt you have already read.

Denilson has met up with Arsene Wenger and told him he wants to leave and Wenger has told him he can!!

After the Fulham game he will return home and find himself a new club.

This has been the worst season of my life and I am so upset, so frustrated. I am a winner and I came here to win trophies but I’ve been here for five years and won nothing.

A footballer’s career is over very quickly so it is time for me to move on. This is not a sudden decision. I made up my mind eight months ago.

I was fed up of coming home and feeling down but I haven’t said anything until now because I did not want to disrupt the team during the season and I haven’t caused a big scene.

I’ve simply been to see Arsene Wenger and told him how I felt and he’s agreed to let me go. I know some people will think I am crazy. They are right. It is a great club with a great organisation, a great manager and so many talented players.

Yes, I make a good living at Arsenal but other things in life are important. I need a fresh challenge and although I know I’m taking a big gamble I am ready to take that risk.

I can’t see myself returning in a Chelsea shirt, or Liverpool or Manchester City – and definitely not Tottenham. I think my future will be in Spain or Italy.

His parting message to Arsenal is:

It is great to play beautiful football but sometimes to be a winner you have to play ugly if you want to succeed.

Well Denilson, my parting message to you is, you don’t play beautiful football and when have you ever showed you are a winner?
Good luck to you though, wherever you end up!
Wonder how much we’ll get for him…… ;)

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Posted by rico

What is more important for an Arsenal Fan right now???

April 5, 2011

Short post today but be honest with yourselves, what would be more important for you as an Arsenal Fan next season?

A couple of £30 Million signings or winning?

A few ‘not so big’ named signings and winning ?

Similar under Wenger or winning under a ‘low profile’ manager?

Money in the Bank of Arsenal, or sail close to the wind with our finances and winning?

Be run as we are at the top or see a takeover and big stars come in?

Watch wonderful fast flowing football which the whole footballing world admire, or winning?

Seeing new signings announced, only to find out it’s yet another 15 year old or winning?

Watching the likes of Squillaci, Denilson, Diaby and Almunia, or winning?

Winning 1-0 with good old fashioned English Football or same old same old under Wenger with a few 5-0 victories thrown
in?

What really is important to you, is it winning with a few so called sacrifices at the top? Or are you happy with the way things are?

If it’s winning, do you want to be winning in style, or right now would just be happy to be back winning, regardless of the score and sometimes regardless of how we get the win???

That’s it for today, have a good one….

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

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