Morning all.
Ok, slightly tongue in cheek but never say never in football.
Like most, I’m enjoying watching the demise of Chelsea and whilst their number one keeper remains injured, Petr Cech is having a pretty good time. Who’d have thought Arsene Wenger would have finally signed him having tried but failed so many years ago.
He wasn’t the only player we’ve lost out on either…
Remember the reports last year which revealed how close we were to signing Hazard, only to be outdone by the big spending West London club? Arsene Wenger has been quoted as saying a deal for Belgian winger was close to completion before more money was laid on the Chelsea table…..
Arsenal were also in for Nemanja Matic from Benfica according to many reports but again, money was the key. One or two articles suggested Arsenal were the club to make the first move, a report which was allegedly confirmed by the players agent. Although when do agents speak the truth?
Yesterday Twitter was rife with the stuff going on in West London. To be fair, it has been for a while as the under-tall Portuguese man suffers week in and week out, but this was different. This was perhaps the worst yet as apparently one of the first team players have said that they’d rather the team lose than play for Mourinho.
The claim was made by respected BBC 5 Live presenter Garry Richardson during his long-established Sportsweek programme on Sunday morning and printed in The Daily Mail:
Let me tell you what I know on the Chelsea story. My information comes from a Chelsea first-team player.
The information was actually passed to me by a football contact. I was told that Jose Mourinho’s relationship with many of his players is at rock bottom.
I was told they’re fed up with the way he’s been dealing with some of them. They’re fed up with his outbursts. I was told that his relationship, particularly with Eden Hazard, was under immense strain.Here’s a staggering quote. One player said recently, ‘I’d rather lose than win for him’.
Now that last quote may well have been said in the heat of the moment, but it perhaps gives an insight into the mood of some of the players.
Hazard or Matic are rumoured to be ‘that’ player, although there’s no substance to that tale of course. This morning the back pages are full of stories suggesting Hazard wants out of Chelsea if Mourinho remains in charge. Real Madrid is his preferred destination.
Neither player are at the level they were last season for their club so perhaps that’s why their names have cropped up. Could you for one minute imagine having both players at Arsenal?
Yep, me too!
Arsene Wenger would soon stop Hazard from diving, he’d also stamp out the constant Matic fouling too and he’d certainly be a much better man manager, after all, he’d never slate Hazard in public like Mourinho has this season.
I know, I know, it’s highly unlikely to ever happen but then I never thought we’d be able to sign Petr Cech either. But we did…. And I bet Mourinho still has nightmares over that.
Whilst on the topic of crazy moves, Barcelona are planning a move for Theo Walcott according to Mundo Deportivo.
I can understand why they’d like him over in Spain because on his day, he can be very good but to be honest, I can’t see the player wanting to move or Arsene Wenger selling him, not after the time and money the club have invested in him. This should be the best time in his career and surely he’d want that time to be in the red and white of Arsenal?
In any case, if he’d wanted to leave, he could have done so long before now and this isn’t the time to be selling good players, it’s about adding to what we have and becoming league champions again.
I suspect we’ll be linked to many players coming and plenty going too as the January transfer window approaches.
To bet in Australia go to AussieBet.
That’s it for Monday, have a great day in the fog!
Hazard has never been a Chelsea-type player really. Costa, on the other hand, fits the bill perfectly. As does John Terry, Ramires, Zouma et al. All lead of course by a certain unstable, control freak egocentric, narcissistic five feet nut-job with bulging eyes and six toes on each feet.
Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.
Now that is quite good boss. I enjoy you putting some speculation instead of letting others do it and we react. Well, not going down to their level, but you can also throw some punches.
Hazard?? yes I would like him. But instead of whom?? Ozil?? Nah. Cazorla?? Nah either. Aaron?? no way.
But yes him and Matic I would like.
I would like another monster like Gabriel. Le Quiff and Theo lead the line well. But imagine one with Gabriel’s aggression leading the line and getting regular goals.
Too skilful Adam. He’s an Arsenal kind of player… lol
Barca for Theo ? More likely Jack Wilshere the way that Xavi is talking him up. A player with his injury record might enjoy a better career in a less physical world where they only play 6 really hard league matches a season .Maybe agents have been talking about his future following the recovery from his latest injury.
theo for Barca??? maybe there is more to Messi’s injury than we know about.
I doubt the Chavs would let Hazard go for less than 60-75 million.
I’m after a job with the Metro Devil… lol
Theo and Wilshere for Messi? 😉
Theo to Barcelona have the media seen their front 3 I suppose paper never refuses ink.
Morning all in the house
Messi is heading to prison isn’t he? 😉
he has enough money to bail himself, Greece and my country out of trouble Rico. So he will not go to prison. But will pay a fine.
Just kidding really Devil…
i know Rico. I was just pointing out how much money he has.
On a different note.
There is only one player I would pay outrageous money to get him to play for this team…….Ronaldo. I would put him upfront and let him terrorize defences on his own. what a spine…..Cech, Gabriel/Koscielny, Coquelin, Ozil, Ronaldo. Frightening.
Yes Devil, more than he could ever spend…
I wouldn’t pay mega money for Ronaldo, not at his age…
I would Rico……shirt sales alone in the first year would recover that.
Ozil putting on a plate for Ronaldo…. hmm that works for me!
Imagine an attack of Alexis, Ronaldo, Theo. with DW23, OG12 and Ox waiting in the wings.
Imagine as Lee said….Ozil putting them on a plate for Ronaldo and the others.
With Bellerin supplying the crosses.
With Cazorla creating from the deep.
And Cech defending with Gabriel and Kos.
Makes you shiver just being a Gunners’ supporter.
Imagine what you would feel if you were an opponent or the opposition supporters.
How much would Ronaldo cost?
what he would cost would pale in view of what he would bring imo Rico.
Aguero for mine……..no, he’s not better than Ronqldo, but he ain’t that far off, is younger and a fraction the price.
Morning all.
Rico, we’ll ask Kev to have a look down the back of his sofa….they’ll be more than enough in there to buy Ronaldo!!
Aguero has certainly got the injury record that would help him fit in at Arsenal.
Hi all
I said to a mate the other day that I am convinced that Matic got sent off deliberately against West Ham after bwing subbed as sub the previous game so it wouldn’t surprise me if he said that.
Not for me though Devil. For that kind of money there’s a certain Lewandowski I’d prefer us to sign…
Imagine him on the end of Ozil’s passes…
🙂 Lee, and Adam’s…
Lee, he’s fresh then 🙂
Could be either Bob, especially the way Mourinho has battered Hazard publicly..
Morning all. Misty and miserable here, just turned the central heating on again as it’s very cool too?
Theo to Barca, never, not now! We are not a selling club anymore! We no longer sell our best players, do we? Just paper talk, as usual!
Chavskigate is warming up nicely. I should say it’s reached a fast simmer now. Another defeat or two, plus a few spikey pressers should ramp it up to a rapid boil, and then, the pan will dry up and the bottom will burn and the manager’s “cremation” will be complete. Not that I wish him any harm. No really! I just want to see him him totally humiliated and sent into exile, permanently!
Wenger on the other hand, I hope he is prescribed the elixir of eternal life and survives in harness longer than Methuselah! Well at the moment I do! Sadly, we are entering our November nemesis. If we are to achieve greatness this year we have to survive, unscathed, throughout the whole of this month. So often in the past we have ‘lost’ our chance of winning anything due to a sad loss of form or crucial players during November. Not this year, please chaps!
Scott said Lewandowski the other week and I agree totally with getting him!
Lewandowski yes for me. I would really love it. Coming to think of it yes he would be terrific for us up front. But I would still love to see Ronaldo don our shirt.
but not Messi.
I only want gladiators up front.
Wavy, you’ve done it again… 🙂
Lee, I’d take him as well for the price of Ronaldo.
Hazard and Lewandowski in my dream world….
Good Morning to The Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
I can’t see Arsene buying Ronaldo and that isn’t because of his price. He is too egocentric for an Arsenal player. He is the Prima Donna of prima donnas. He wouldn’t be able to fit that big head of his through the dressing room door at the Emirates.
I too cast my vote for Lewandowski. Hazard and Matic would also be great, but I can’t see Chelski selling them to Arsenal, unless pay well over the market for them. We all know that wont happen with Arsene at the tiller.
Morning Cg.
Spot on. Look how he’s been with Bale, all probably because he’s frightened the Welshman will outdo him..
I think there’s quite a few players in the PL who are doing really well this season. Vardy is certainly one of them and Bilic has a few at West Ham. Even the tinker man has a few decent players as do Swansea…
While we are drawing up our Christmas list I’d like anyone of Barcelona front 3 ?
Any one
🙂 Joe…
That was a really good post Rico, and yes, I have read it… ?
Essien and Carvalho are two more we had lined up and then got out bid by the Chavs
Shaun Wright-Phillips is another
Yeah Lee, Ozil putting it on a plate for Ronaldo is a bit like Adam putting some penne on a plate for me next time I visit…
Memorable!
🙂 Kev…
I’d forgotten SWP. Bet he looks back and wishes he’d never gone there…
Lee, I just found a white fiver down the back of my settee….
Rico, Ian Wright was happy at the time, because of the financial benefits to his son…
But in retrospect I think he and Wright Jnr both know he made a serious error in going to the Chavs.
His career kind of died from that day he signed on at SW5
Wasn’t Mata another player Chelsea out bid us for
Lewandowski for me 100%….
He would be worth £60/£70 million imo…
Ronaldo is great, but a bit too old for the kind of fed that Real Madrid would hold out for…
But ManUre like spending over-the-odds for star players who are past their best…
Robin Van Persie, Sebastian Schweinsteiger Spring to mind…
So Ronaldo to Old Bog for say, £75million, could be a go’er.
Just long enough for him to have one great season before his knees pack up… ?
Money eh Kev…. Always about money…
Ain’t it so, Rico…
Ok, I’m off to Sainsburys…
Kev – ManUre do like to buy the matinee idols that are past, sometimes well past, their prime.
SWP wasn’t the only young up and coming English player to sign for Chelski on a big fee and bigger wages only to see their careers stagnate or put on hold. That was what the home born or homegrown player quotas got them. What a waste of money and talent.
He was Joe.
Save some pennies Kev, go to Aldi… 😉
Ronaldo to Arsenal? Not while Wenger is still in charge.
Lewandowski? Not while Giroud and Walcott offer excellent change in approach to matches.
Wenger to buy striker any time soon? Not while Welbeck is still expected to return.
Having taken Walcott off the wings, Wenger may…and I mean MAY, get a great winger…Reus, and that is if Campbell fails to reproduce the form he showed at Swansea.
Unless pushed hard, and I mean very hard, Wenger never signs an already established player. He usually wants someone he’ll contribute to his stardom.
For me, as long as we still have Giroud, Walcott and Welbeck, I wouldn’t sign any central striker…I may go for a top right winger.
Ozil, Merts, Debuchy, Alexis, Giroud, Cazorla, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal, Cech, Ospina, Arteta, Welbeck….. the list goes on….
Tai, are you sure about AW not signing experienced players…?
Rico, sorry for the late reply for your previous post. Just got off from work, cuz we have 7 hours time difference from London, so I am not gonna be very frequent in your joyful hours. It’s already 10.30 pm now in South East Asia.
I am from Indonesia, so it’s near Australia and if anyone not familiar, Bali Island is the popular place in Indonesia.
I am not native English speaker, so please spare me some slack to be noticed to every one here.
It’s a pity that the second sponsor of Liverpool written in jersey is GARUDA INDONESIA if you noticed last game Liv chels match worn by Klopp, it’s a flight company like Emirates Airway like arsenal’s. I wish it’s written in Arsenal Jersey.
Great post today, and I am looking forward to see Arsenal improving from now on.
On to the discussion.
In my ideal dream, Wenger will save the best for last.
Means, saved all our 200 mills in the bank for the one and only Messi.
It would be enough to buy his clause though.
No worries Orfeverie- you’ll be able to keep Scott company lol
And don’t worry about your typing, we are a friendly bunch, well, most of us… Lol
Evening all…
Remi Garde is the new Villa manager…
Let’s hope that Remi gets off to a winning start.
Indeed Adam…
Quite looking forward to seeing how it goes for our old boy….
You was right about Aldi, shame there isn’t one around here…
Or Lidl… ?
I’m amazed Kev. We have both here so really lucky, and they now Aldi sell organic veg so all the better…
I got some lovely organic meat and chicken though…
I can’t wait to rip into it Rico… ?
I wish we had a Costco around here, but I guess we ain’t posh enough…
I love Lidl. Their Pikey Pie is irresistible.
You two can be so cruel…..
Rico. 🙂
Wasn’t Lidl Aldi an American soul singer in the late 50’s? His biggest hit was Lidl Donner (kebab)! Sold millions
Dark here!
Adam, well if you are going to be naughty about Lidl, you must get things right. It’s a Polish Pie, not Pikey…. ?
You sure it’s not Pikey Penne?
Yes Wavy it’s dark and miserable around here…
Bloody clocks going back nonsense…
Mourinho has been given a one match ban and a £40,000 fine ??
Eva suing him too… It gets better and better…
I quite like the dark evenings Kev/Wavy – chickens in bed early and I get to have dinner at a sensible hour….
Poor old Jose… ?
When is the Costa charge being heard Rico?
Not sure Kev..
Just checked Kev, apparently no charge to face as the FA are satisfied that Clattenburg dealt with the incident at the time… Kop out…
Hmm, that’s a shame…
I suppose if Chelsea lose at Stoke, but Jose ain’t there, he can’t be blamed…
That means he could keep his job… ?
If only Jose could hang onto his job, until the 23rd of January…
Then get the sack after another humiliating defeat…
Wouldn’t that scenario be the best….
I’m off guys..
Night Kev and all…
Night Rico
Totts 2 up….at half time
Deans at it again celebratin a spurs goal it has to be seen to be believed .
Rico…you call Giroud, Cazorla, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal, Welbeck truly established before coming to Arsenal? Well, I know you’d draw such list just to disagree with me. I’m used to it.
Two kinds of players Wenger loves signing…an upcoming player that doesn’t draw all eyes and a matured player thought to be either finished or not going to make it big again. A good example of Wenger’s kind of signing is Sanogo…
Looks like the connections there are alive and kicking
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/stephen-the-devil-french-sat-next-to-mamadou-sakho-and-christian-benteke-at-liverpool-win-a6713226.html
Arjan Robben is again training with the Bayern team, and no doubt polishing up on his diving routine for Wednesday…
If Bayern don’t get a penalty in the 2nd leg I’ll be amazed…
Franck Ribery could be back as well… ?
Giroud was ligue un’s top scorer when Wenger signed him. Sanchez and Ozil both hardly finished or not going to make it!
Sanogo should be delivering letters and no where near Arsenal F.C in fact he should be nowhere near a football pitch!
Lee,
Sanogo in my fellow countrymen blog many times had been mocked as SAY-NO-GOAL.
Hahaha.
Hi Orfevrerie, and welcome to Highbury House! I just can’t ever see him make it as a footballer with us, he just isn’t at the level required.
De Boer said ‘However, when I see Sanogo, I still have my doubts. I have still found no qualities with which you can do something.” Pretty damming.
What do you think the outcome will be of the Bayern game?
Tai, imo, Sanogo is a good example of an Arsene Wenger dreadful signing….
Morning Lee, Orfevrerie and all…
I reckon we’ll struggle tomorrow. A narrow loss…
Morning Rico… last time we played there didn’t we win 2-0? 😉
We did Lee.. The pressure was off though as we’d got battered at home and no-one expected us to win. Just have a feeling Bayern will want a bit of revenge for the Emirates game…
Saying that, Pep and Arsene get on quite well don’t they? So perhaps a draw… 😉
Fingers crossed!
I’m not fussed about the CL but I know it’s important to keep the momentum so yes, fingers crossed…
I see the Bayern players have a lot to say…
Too much focus on Sanogo.
Why?
Wenger gets plenty right and I’d stack his record of signings up against any other manager who’s spent similar money….even most we’ve spent a lot more.
Don’t just pick the weaker ones out guys…..be fair.
Morning 🙂
Thanks Lee and Rico.
Maybe to face gung ho bayern we better park the bus.play with the modified 4-5-1 formation.
Giroud better came from bench, cuz he is not fit to fast paced counter attack.
Maybe Flamini and Gibbs will start to crowd the midfield to ease pressure on our back four.
Prediction line up 4-5-1:
Cech
Bell Mert Kos Mon
Ozil Coq Caz Flamini Gibbs
Sanchez
Rico, I’d love to see us go out and stick it to Bayern.
Even if we lose, let them know we are there to play.
Morning All
Morning Rico
Morning Lee
I don’t know if Sanogo is currently injured as he hasn’t featured for Ajax in weeks…
Not sure if he has just been dropped.
Could be he’s walking the streets of Amsterdam with a sack over his shoulder…
Feels very chilly today.
Greeting Scott.
I love to see us win too, but he have to be realistic, even in our ground, we were in back foot to endure bayern attack. Can you imagine in Allianz with their attack?
We still need at least a draw, and that is worth to fight for. COYG.
I reckon we’ll go for the win Orfevrerie/Scott – just in case we lose one of the others… 😉
Morning Kev.. Last seen picking tulips I read…
Seriously though, I’d love Sanogo to prove his critics wrong however…..
Bayern will smother us possession wise and knowing that we haven’t the pace to hurt them on the counter with no Theo or ox, they will press us into submission.
So patience will be the key play here, stay in all positions with discipline and hit them hard with the counter to win one nil in miracle.
That’s why in my above posts, AW should be wise to use Giroud from the bench, he will slow the counter attack.
Because he’s shit Scott???
Well, off from work now.
Thanks Rico, and see ya all in another 4 hours.
I’d definitely give Campbell a run out…..
Morning Rico, Brudder and all. After watching the appalling shitfest of football that Sky dished up over the last couple of days. After listening to Jamie Carragher struggling to pronounce the name of the Portuguese Prick and hearing Gary Neville’s insane view of ‘Chelsea At The Crossroads”. WTF is going on in the PL at the moment?
Have a good day Orfevrerie..
Morning Adam… At least all is well at Arsenal. At the moment…. 😉
Yes Rico. Arsenal is a haven of excellent football and decency.
Outside and in the big world, all is not well though.
Apparently Fabregas is one of the ring leaders of the chelski revolt!!!
Very true Adam..
Why am I not surprised Lee…
He denies it. Obviously.
Obviously. Personally I think Kev was the main trouble maker!!
New one up now…