Morning all.
Are any of you Arsenal fans really and truly happy with this summers transfer window?
Me neither!
Happy with most of the players signed yes but not only were they late, I don’t think they were enough, not if this club is aiming to challenge for all four competitions.
The depth up front isn’t enough, well, that is unless Chuba Akpom really is ready to take his chance because once the usual injuries kick in, there’s little doubt he’ll get one. Ah, but don’t forget we have Danny Welbeck returning earlier than first expected Arsene would tell us…… I’m not even going to mention Sanogo as why the heck is he still at Arsenal? Apparently Leeds wanted him on loan but Arsene said no!
In defence we are short too but I suspect Arsene Wenger believes that once Gabriel and Mertesacker are back, we’ll be fine, although neither really should be playing much as both are a liability all too often, especially against the big strikers. The memory of Carroll up against Gabriel still haunts. I guess Bielik will be called on in an emergency.
At right-back we are fine on paper with Debuchy and Jenkinson in the squad but both are injured right now and goodness knows when they’ll be back or whether they’ll be good enough. Poor Rob Holding, as he’s probably going to be the one shunted out wide should anything happen to Hector Bellerin.
But I love our midfield. Xhaka, Elneny, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Iwobi, Ozil and Jeff.
Jack Wilshere opted for a season long loan at Bournemouth. Good choice I reckon, as he’ll have his mate Afobe there to look after him and a manager who will only improve as he goes along. I really like Eddie Howe, young, refreshing, interesting to listen to and a man who many believe could one day replace Arsene Wenger when the day comes…
Losing Serge Gnabry was a bit of a shock. After all the years of watching him try and make a career at Arsenal, now he looks like he’s ready, he’s gone and for good. That’s one I think Arsene Wenger could live to regret, in fact for the amount of money the club got for him, I’m surprised he didn’t just say no. I’m sure with some playing time over the coming season and with Ozil, Mertesacker and Mustafi in the squad, Gnabry would have been tempted to stay put. But I guess he’s sick of watching Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain get selected ahead of him. Good luck to him, although I don’t think he’ll need it.
Here’s the in’s and outs:
In:
Granit Xhaka – Borussia Monchengladbach, £34m
Takuma Asano – Sanfrecce Hiroshima, undisclosed
Rob Holding – Bolton, £2m
Lucas Perez – Deportivo la Coruna, £17.1m
Shkodran Mustafi – Valencia, £35m
Kelechi Nwakali –
Out:
Jack Wilshere – Bournemouth – loan
Serge Gnabry – Werder Bremen, undisclosed
Takuma Asano – VFB Stuttgart, loan (needs work permit)
Isaac Hayden – Newcastle, undisclosed
Mikel Arteta – retired
Tomas Rosicky – released
Mathieu Flamini – released
Dan Crowley – Oxford United, loan
Wellington Silva – Fluminense, undisclosed
Jon Toral – Granada, loan
Wojciech Szczesny – Roma, loan
Joel Campbell – Sporting Lisbon, loan
Callum Chambers – Middlesbrough, loan
Glen Kamara – Colchester Utd – loan
Kelechi Nwakali – Maastricht – loan (needs work permit)
Stefan O’Connor – Maastricht – loan
So, on paper, the squad is certainly less deep than it was at the end of the season as the numbers of players departed is far greater than who have joined but one has to say the quality of the players we have signed is hopefully far better than any of those who have left. Holding might be young and relatively inexperienced but already he’s showing signs of being a quality defender over the years to come. Xhaka already looks like he’s been playing football in England for years and if both Mustafi and Perez settle as quickly as he has, then we could be in for a good season.
If they don’t, well we’ll be in trouble….
Finally, this made me smile. Ahead of the ‘legends’ match tomorrow, Alessandro Costacurta, who will be lining up against a few old Arsenal greats, has been talking to the official match-day programme about how and why he rejected a move to Tottenham many years ago:
The idea of living in London was very exciting. But I finally refused and you know why?
Because I couldn’t betray my English love. The truth is that I’ve been a keen Arsenal fan since my childhood, and playing for ‘our’ bitter rivals would have been high treason.
When I was younger I liked the Arsenal shirt, the stadium, and some of the players from the 1980s such as Liam Brady. And I’ve always gone against the tide. All my friends were Manchester United or Liverpool fans, so I picked Arsenal and I’ve never changed my mind.
Good man!
The match itself, Arsenal Legends v Milan Glorie, kicks off at 2pm at The Emirates Stadium tomorrow afternoon…
Tickets are still available on the official website.
Have a good day guys, it’s time to stop dreaming about Antoine Griezmann………
You have a lot of point and I agree with you on a lot of things, but really expecting that we immediately move from a mostly trophy less time to want to win all four trophies @ once is a bit being hopeful. IMO, we should win the Premier League first, and then we move ahead from there.
Buon Giorno Lovelies and Hunkies.
Good post Rico…but I agree with Bussy (blimey…he could have chosen a more attractive name bless his hairy legs)….EPL over everything else. That is the trophy I want.
If Ozil and Sanchez sign on and I feel we will add another quality player in January. Danny will be coming back and he can play on either wings or as a CF. Midfield we are well stocked…so we need a defender…..and don’t anyone dare come up with crap saying we have Per coming back. I would love Jenks to make it but honestly cant see it. Debuchy should do till January….but then AW must sign a player who can play as both RB and LB.
I doubt anyone was considering a clean sweep . We have a squad that is good enough to maintain our position as the best of the rest after the real big boys in the premiership and one of the best of the rest in Europe.
Sanogo
He’s still there because he’s French so is Debauchy
Wenger likes protecting his countrymen. Remember a guy called Diaby? Well French, unjured but caused a lot of wages and medical fees for years even though Arsene knew he was finished.
The ins and outs don’t look as unbalanced if you count those who returned from loan at the end of last season. For example, Debuchy, Sanogo, Akpom, Macey, Jenkinson and Martinez returned from loan and haven’t gone out meaning they have been added to the squad. Kamara, Hayden, Crowley, Szczesny, Silva and Hayden all came back from loan and went out again, meaning there was no change.
If you add those movements in, there is a net increase in the squad.
I think the main annoyance and frustration to many fans is that we are just a couple of tweeks away for really winning the Premiership.
Injuries and not sufficent numbers of top quality players has been our downfall.
In Europe we really have an awful record under Wenger and before the odd cup here and there.
I don’t want to dampen things but Wenger was handed an extension contract last March for a further two seasons after this which he is literally sitting on. Again he decides iif he stays or goes,it’s just not the way it should be IMO/
Rico I believe we got about 6.5 million for gnabry,strange that one if you read Arseblog today.
He’s just spent nearly 100 million, after ALL fans asked for money to be spent.
Reason to be negative, right lol
Morning All
Morning Rico
The decision to keep Sanogo is a strange one and a bit worrying.
I guess Wenger is determined to prove us all wrong with the postman.
Just like he proved us all wrong over Denilson and Eboue and Silvestre and er, hang on….
I think that quality wise, this is the strongest squad of players we’ve had since around 2006/7/8.
There seems less ‘fragile’ types in the squad, so injuries may not be such an issue for us.
Getting in a goalscorer, or not getting in a goalscorer is my only criticism. AW tried with Vardy and who knows how Lopez will turn out, Holding wasn’t a big name and he’s done very well up till now.
Winning the EPL is another matter, Arsenal could do it, but we’d need to be fortunate on so many levels for that to happen.
I guess it’s all Up For The Cup again…
Kev, we can’t sell if nobody wants to buy, though.
I hope that’s why we are stuck with him.
If not, DAMN lol
Hiya Kev
YEs I agree. Keeping Sanogo is very strange. Especially as we have Ollie, Perez and also Akpom who is younger than Sanogo and who I feel is a better all round player. The point you made about Holding is right too….and I feel that there are similar lads like him who will make the step up from the lower divisions. For every position I feel.
Yes, it’s a great point Kev makes.
For every kid that shows all the talent in the world but can’t make the final step, there’s probably one who would rise to the challenge when give the chance.
Holding is a gem, IMO.
He’s going to be a ripper but is a few years if the finished article.
There simply has to be more guys just like him.
Ideally I would love this squad at AFC……
Buy or keep…..
Cech, HORN
Bellerin, TAVAREZ
HECTOR, GUERREIRO
Kos, Mustafi,
Holding, Gaby,
Xhaka, Cazorla
Elneny, Coquelin,
Ozil, Aaron
Alexis, Theo
Ox, Iwobi,
Ollie, Perez, Danny
(names in blocks are the players I would love to see bought in) Ginge will smile when he sees Horn and Hector)
Sell…….
Ospina, Martinez
Debuchy, Jenkinson
Nacho, Gibbs
Mertesaker
Campbell, Sanogo.
I am backtracking a bit on Theo for the simple reason that in just above 250 minutes this season he has already made and won 8 tackles. And his work rate has increased hundred fold. Last season he won only 2 tackles. Not because of the tackles but his new found mentality allows me to give him another chance. I have not been highly impressed with him so far….but my opinion of him has changed and increased from what it was. Maybe Jack can learn that as well this year.
With the rest of the team I feel we are well equipped. We cannot say that we need to buy or get another striker, although Sturridge would have been welcome, until we give Perez a chance. Who knows, maybe he will be the finisher who we have been crying for and who makes Ozil an all time assist king.
The team as it is can only be improved. Imo now, the two players per position situation has been achieved. so depth is no issue. However now AW has to keep in mind that if he wants to improve he has to buy players who are better than he has. For example…I suggested Tavarez of Monaco. He can fund that by selling Jenkinson and Debuchy plus adding more money for the right back. The same with Nacho and Gibbs. Buy two quality right backs (the ones suggested are my favourites) and sell the latter two. Throughout the summer we continuously read that Tierney was wanted, Chilwell as well.
What is important is that now it should be a like for like…..a LB out and another younger and better LB in.
AW must be ruthless….if for example, Hector (who I rate as superior to what we have) becomes available then AW must sell one of our LBs to raise funds. Monreal was wanted by some Spanish team who wanted to pay around 10 million for him. Hector would fetch something around 20 million. So why not??
It is only that way that we will improve on what we have
Mustafa is a capable RB I read somewhere……)))
Coach/Scott, I think that Adam made a good point about Holding and not judging him too soon.
I thought that Gabriel looked brilliant in his first few games as did Chambers and look how those two have struggled to maintain that early form.
But I do like Holding, he’s a northerner and maybe we miss that northern grit in our dressing room. They’re all a bit too nicey nicey…
Wenger does like his ‘pet projects’ and maybe Sanogo falls into that catagory.
We got rid of Benik Afobe and whilst I’m not saying that he’s the answer, I think he’s a better player than the postman…
Looking at the current Juventus squad it can be noticed that their squad is composed of 2GK, 2RB, 2LB, 5CB, 4CDM, 2AM, 5forwards. That makes a total of 22 players over 21 years of age. Obviously they have around 5 more under 21 which they can use any time.
That allows them to play these formations….4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-1-1 and 3-5-2….depending upon the circumstances. And believe me…I have seen Juve play 4-3-3 one week and 3-5-2 the next so they do change their style and tactics according to how it suits them.
We on the other hand are limited….because we keep the team tactics the same way week in week out
Kev…AW keeps on mentioning that when he assesses a player he always refers to stats. But in Sanogo’s case…what stats can be used??? Surely Afobe, Aneke and Akpom all may have had better stats than him.
I know Sonogo is an easy target here, but am really surprise about his progress at Arsenal. I have been a huge Sonogo fan over the years. This kid represented France at U16, U17, U19 and U 20 levels and at each lebel he was scoring for fun. Just check him out at FIFA U20 tourny which France won: strong, fast, and yes clinical. At Auxurre he was very good too. Guys let’s give the kid a chance is not like he’s on some huge wages – 40k a week in football now is a drop in the bucket. Talent just don’t disappear like that and he’s been injured a lot.
Why AW didn’t buy Costacurta now? 🙂
We need him! He will be the leader in the pitch!
Our squad will be complete with Sissoko and another right back (if Debuchy and Jenkinson not fit). Let Gnaby go and not by Sissoko was a mistake. Probably because was too late…
The others teams are improve much more theirs teams.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger moved to prevent Yaya Sanogo joining Leeds United on loan on transfer deadline day.
The 23-year-old has been a spectacular flop since arriving at the Emirates Stadium three years ago, scoring just one goal and spending a lot of time out on loan.
Bad news, Arsenal fans: Sanogo in Wenger’s plans as deadline day move blocked.
However, Wenger now sees Sanogo as part of his first-team plans for the season ahead, despite the summer signing of Lucas Perez to aid Olivier Giroud up front.
Danny Welbeck is a long-term absentee through injury, so it may be that Sanogo will be called upon at times in the season ahead.
According to The Sun, Leeds boss Garry Monk was keen to snap up the Frenchman on deadline day, but Wenger said no.
Frustratingly for Arsenal fans, they will now have to accept the reality of keeping Sanogo whilst missing out on Daniel Sturridge, who had a loan move to the Emirates Stadium blocked by Liverpool on deadline day.
I wonder if we went for Sturridge and would have let Sanogo go,if successful.
Probable , typical to leave things to the last minute though. However if it was Klopp that said no to the move I suppose it didn’t matter.
i had expected Akpom or Sanogo to be sent out on loan or sold, but they will have the opportunity to play and impress in the under 23 competition and perhaps will lead to games in the cups. Giroud was important to our style of play last season, although it seems we may be gradually switching away from that with the arrival Perez, but Sanogo can feature in the Giroud role if Giroud is injured
Yeah Wenger has just splashed £100m but this needed doing ages ago. His appalling transfer window last summer made this window super important!
We also still need a RW and a world class striker imo..
As for Sanogo, he must have compromising pictures of Wenger because he is turd and quite frankly should be nowhere near Arsenal FC.
Good transfer window but not great imo, we are still a manager and two players short of really competing but it’s been like that for ages!
Hi all
Would have thought Gary Monk more sensible than to go for Yaya!
Thought Debuchy looked pretty good in pre-season and could have started ahead of Hector given the latter’s extended break.Problem is he will suffer from lack of game time so that he will be rusty when he comes in.
As always Bob it brings us back to utilising the squad , there are games where either Gibbs or Debuchy can have an hour but not both together. We can alternate in midfield and now at the back ,up front not so easily but giving players game time is part of the manager’s remit. Something he has to learn.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hailed Manchester United’s capture of the ‘dangerous’ Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Daily Star reports.
Why is he talking about it ? If he didn’t want him then move on . If he did , just shut up and lick your wounds in private.
Usually agree with you rico but not on this occasion, even if the Sanchez experiment does fail we still have Takuma Asano to fall back on in three years time or 5 loans later, whatever comes first so not quite the big flop you make it out to be this time around.
I told you that Perez will get the number 9
Mustafi has got the number 20
So the last incumbent of the famed/cursed number 9 shirt was Podolski……LK09
The new name on the shirt is Perez………………………………………………………LK09
Hopefully he will bury the curse and make it coveted and famous once more.
ooooppppssssss
mistake……..should have written LP09 not LK09
Sorry lads and lass
Evening guys. Glad to be home after a busy busy day. Hospital visits, car servicing, shopping and housework… You chaps have such an easy life! 😉
Mick has turned blue…
Buona sera signora Rico (good evening Lady Rico)
suddenly NN has nothing to put us on edge now….except to irritate us with what could have been and what might be till January.
Kev, I’d like to know whether that’s just Micko’s tongue poking out on his gravatar or something else…. 😉
Hi Devil.
What do you all feel about Perez getting the numner 9??
Will he be a hit or a shit???
Evening all !.
If any of you lot were clinging to the ceiling at the thought of Arsene spending nerarly £100M, then the Sanogo story surely brought you back to earth with a bang…………………………..
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/premierleague/1705192/arsenal-transfer-news-arsenal-boss-arsene-wenger-blocks-yaya-sanogo-loan-move/
We keep him but sell Gnasher !…………..words fail me !
French Postman…….French Letters………Arsene……….no need to say anymore !.
I`m still massively underwhelmed at our dealings, yes we needed a CB, but we will fail miserably until we get an Aguero/Suarez type striker !
Five points behind the top 3 after 3 games, we have started badly and we still have our dodgy period to come ! ( we always have one !……….fixture pile up, injuries, fatigue……you name it ! ……….it will happen ! )
Southampton up next………………god knows how many players they have lost over the last few years and top managers as well !……………….should be a piece of piss !…………………………………………..
🙂
Beggars belief LC, really does re Gnabry and Postman Pat…
But if Gnabry wanted to go??? what could have AW done??
If BM contacted his dad telling him to transfer now to a German club so that he will be easier to pluck in the future because all Bundesliga clubs are skint……what could AW have done to stop it???
I am also sick at the thought that Gnabry has left….wanted him to stay…..but if his heart was in moving out I cant see why AW is blamed.
Sorry Dev` !………………..Gnasher is more of a red herring !…………….all the players gone out sold or loaned and of all the players we decide to keep……………. it`s Sanogo !
Oh well, it is laughable when you think about it ! 😆
FCUK !!!……………..just remembered we let Campbell go out on loan and kept……….Sanogo !
Back to crying ! 😥
I know LC…..and I find it amazing that we have kept Sanogo instead of loaning him out to a French team. We have Ollie, Perez and even Akpom. Yet Sanogo is kept. Its frustrating.
On another note…..it pained me to see TR07 holding the number 10 shirt of Sparta Prague. I wish him all the best but I feel that number should have been his after DB10 retired.
Aparrantly !………Mustafi is the third most expensive German of all time !………………….that means he`s better than Beckenbauer !……………..fcuking ludicrous !!! 😀
Yeah !……………..Loved Rosicky !…………………..I tell you what Dev`, over the years we`ve probably had the greatest treatment room VI of all time !………….unbelieveable unfit tekkers !.
TR07 is practically one of the first names (behind Petit and Bergkamp) which I put in my team of personal favourites….
Cech, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Campbell, Petit Gilberto, Rosicky, Dennis, Rocastle, Pires.
No CF you might ask??? We could have put Pires and he would have scored around 20 a season.
Joel Campbell going out on loan must have really pissed you off then !. hahaha
There`s probably a few missing as well, but this is why I only listen to Ornstein rumours as his were only a handfull but had truth.
http://www.punditarena.com/football/adrumm/list-every-player-linked-move-arsenal-summer/
So Queen of Suburbia is a man ,as twitter exploded last night.
Should have just said no to Gnabry and made him stay…
Beggars belief LC how Sanogo is still here…
And loose him for free next summer Rico???? at least they got around 5-8million for him
Too right Devil, what’s £5-8 Million these days? And whose to say he wouldn’t have changed his mind if Wenger played him this season?
Gnabry ?? I still say blame the loan to Pulis , After a year of being insulted by him I would have wanted to go home too. Remember we had a chance to bring him back when Pulis accused him of being lazy and imagining an injury but we said no and that he had to stay there.. I reckon at that p[oint his mind was made up and he played the Olympics in the German shop window and got out of Dodge as quick as he could.
The stick Sonogo is getting here is laughable. The kid has made 6 EPL and 4 UCL appearance for Arsenal, but you will think that he has made 100 appearance and not 10. Serge and Sonogo are two totally different players that should not be compared – the comparison will be more accurate if Serge is compared with OX and Theo, but not Sonogo.
Obi, it’s not about comparing the two players, it’s about trying to understand why one has been sold yet the other, who I think is awful, is kept on…
Lets hope he never gets to make a 100 appearances ! 😆
If he makes a 100 appearances for Arsenal then ……………Giroud, Walcott, Akpom, Alexis, Perez, Iwobi, Welbeck, Mavididi, Nketiah, Malen, Henry, Wright, Smith, Stapleton, Radford, Kennedy, Baker, Drake, Bastin and Jeffers are all injured at once ! 😆
He’ll be lucky to get 10 LC….
Night guys… Have a good one..
Ollie has scored for France. 2-1 against Italy
5-8 million for Serge, that’ll go a long way to covering Arsene’s wages for the season…..every cloud has a silver lining.
Spend some FEKKEN money is the chant.
He does it and still cops criticism.
Sorry, but Arsenal fans and fickle are a match made in heaven.
Rico, but one wants to stay, the other wanted to go home. One thinks he will get an opportunity to play but the other don’t think so. All am saying is that 10 appearances is not enough to slate the kid like that …. even the great DB10 didn’t hit the ground running… not that am comparing Sonogo to DB10. LC, of the academy kids you named, how many do you really think will make it? Really Nketiah as a center forward… ok. Watch the goals that kid scores.Not to take anything away from the kid but hes not CF material. Again if we are naming academy then watch Sonogo and his goals at the academy and the U-levels. At 40k a week it’s worth the investment when Walcott been there for 10 yrs and haven’t improved a lick and Ox is still running with no purpose.
rico, mock me all you want but you’ve never heard me questioning whether your guinea pig should be off his line or not !
Thomas Rosicky is not “released”. He goes to Sparta Praga.
Evening All.
Wath you about mate
Remember our conversation re Sanogo.
He has been included in the Squad for the Premier League and I expect him to be included in the Champ League squad. Now watch the shit hit the fan when the fans get to know.
Obi are you really serious in comparing him with Eddy Nketiah.
The kid is just 17 and has just 1 season at youth football, and in that one season scored more goals as the postman has scored in the games he has played in English football.
Just one more thing Nketiah has got something that Sanogo has not got
a football brain.
Night all
The one positive I offer on Sanogo is this-defenders find him a handful, and anyone that suggests otherwise is kidding themselves.
Cup final ’14, the game changed when he came on, and that’s a fact.
Now, the reason is nobody knows what he doing to do, the problem is, nor does he.
He’s got ability and again, people saying otherwise are just being silly, but he’s not anywhere near Arsenal quality right now, so why not send him to a Championship team for 2 seasons and see where he ends up?
If he’s no good then, he’s no good.
If he had cost 3 million, Wenger would not have bought him imo.
We have him, so at least the club needs to give him every opportunity to succeed or piss him off.
It’s the half arsed attitude that’s frustrating.
Oh, and all that depends on the bastard staying healthy, of course 🙂 🙂 🙂
Rick with all due respect, yes. I saw Sonogo at the youth level and also at Auxurre B and he scored as much as Nketiah. Football brains aside, we are again comparing accomplishments at the youth level with epl level. Bendthner was a beast at the academic level, let’s not forget.
Bendtner did really well when on loan at Birmingham in the Championship at a level where Sanogo patently failed at with Charlton…
Sanogo failed to impress at Ajax and C.Palace…
Bendtners problems were between his ears, he was, to put it plainly, a pillock…
I don’t blame Sanogo, it isn’t his fault, but a player with his limited ability should not be at a club like Arsenal, it’s Wengers fault.
Nketiah is quality, he will be a big player for Arsenal in the near future, of that I am sure….
Arsenal Premier League squad:
Senior list
Gabriel, Cazorla, Cech, Coquelin*, Debuchy, Elneny, Gibbs*, Giroud, Jenkinson*, Koscielny, Macey*, Martinez*, Mertesacker, Monreal, Mustafi, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain*, Ozil, Perez, Ramsey*, Sanchez, Sanogo, Walcott*, Welbeck*, Xhaka.
*= homegrown.
U21 list
Akpom, Ballard, Beckford, Bellerin, Bennacer, Benson, Bielik, M. Bola, T. Bola, Burton, Chambers, Crowley, Da Graca, DaSilva, Dragomir, Eyoma, Fortune, Gilmour, Hinds, Holding, Huddart, Iliev, Iwobi, Johnson, Kamara, Keto, Maitland-Niles, Malen, Mavididi, McGuane, Moore, Mourgos, Nelson, Nketiah, Nwakali, O’Connor, Olowu, Omole, Osei-Tutu, Pileas, Pleguezuelo, Reine-Adelaide, Robinson, Sheaf, Smith-Rowe, Tella, Thompson, Toral, Tormey, Virginia, C. Willock, J. Willock, Zelalem.
From Jeorge Bird
Kev, he seems a kid who hasn’t grown into his body, for mine.
Morning and Sorry.That was meant to be Giroud’s goal v Italy last night. You can delete it Rico.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wnkvy5xWmo
Morning all…
Have we signed anyone… On a free?
Bendtner, Aliadiere, Adebayor and Chamakh are available….. 😉
10.09pm Micko – touche…. 😉
Morning all.
Hiya Rico.
Forgot to tell you, the package is in the mail as of last week 🙂
Hi Scott, that’s good news, thanks….
No worries at all….sorry they sat at mums place for so long hahahahaha
No probs Scott.. 😉
New post up now..