Morning Gooners,
Newspaper talk today:
ARSENAL target Godfrey Oboabona has blasted Arsene Wenger for showing him a lack of respect:
Arsenal’s management tell me to come for a trial when I won the African Nations Cup.
I think I should be above such requests. It is high time some of these clubs started respecting Nigeria.
Oops! Guess he won’t be joining us then!
Talking of respect, Jose has nothing but that for Arsene. Taken from The Sun Newspaper:
He’s a nice guy. I respect him a lot and I will show him my respect always. I wouldn’t bet there will be one single problem between us. When you are not in the same league and when you are not playing against each other, it is easier to know people.
And I had a chance to meet him much better when I left England — at UEFA, at the Euros, the World Cup. We’ve had dinner and it was in a good atmosphere. I enjoyed speaking with him about football.
He just has to teach me how to be here 17 years. That was our last conversation.
To have the respect like he has from his board is fundamental. It’s not because of his nice face, it’s because of the work he does.
He had all these chances to leave, all these important clubs interested in him, so when he refuses and wants to stay at Arsenal it’s because he loves it and because he has expectations for the future.
Oh I strongly suspect there will be a war of words at some stage over the next few seasons, especially if we start beating Chelsea…
On that note, Steve has written todays post….
Higuain, the fancy forward who was hot tipped to be signing for us this coming season, has now signed for Napoli. I hope he has a rubbish season!
Luis Suarez is still a possible, especially as Real Madrid are showing no interest but this mornings papaers suggest he is concerned that we won’t make it through to the Champions League proper. Well we would with him on board!
We have now had two offers rejected by Liverpool for Luis Suarez and reports suggest we are ready to go back to them with an improved bid, one which the club hope will see Suarez make his move and before The Emirates Cup this coming weekend.
We are also linked to Valencia centre back Adil Rami who has been valued by his club at around £7.5 million. He’s a big guy, 6′ 4″ and is 27 years old. He’s French and has featured for his country 25 times……
I could go on for hours about players that are linked to us, but at this moment in time, bugger all has happened since the great Yaa Sanogo joined us on a free.
While Arsene and the boys have been showing the Asian side of the world just how good we are against lesser sides, our only signing has been resting after winning the World Cup.
Talk was that a Brazilian winger Bernard was due a medical on Friday, well that day has passed and I doubt there was any truth in the story anyway. Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Julio Cesar who is supposedly an Arsenal hopeful, is at the moment still a Championship player although I can’t see that being the case come the end of the transfer window.
Swansea central defender Ashley Williams is still training with his team but that doesn’t stop rumours about him heading away from Wales to the bright lights in Londaon. In my opinion, he’ll be training with his team mates for some time yet.
I honestly don’t remember a time when so many players were linked to us. Evertons Fellaini, Uniteds Wayne the pain, even Fabregas an ex Arsenal favourite has been linked to comeback.
I wonder just how our huge transfer fund will cope with all these possibilities, after all a figure of £70 million was announced by chief executive Ivan the terrible.
The thing that sticks in my throat is how a striker that can score a possible 30 goals a season can be worth £40 to £50 million and earn £200k a week can be viewed as acceptable but a goalkeeper who would cost around £4 – 8 million, twice as many goals, yet has to take a pay cut.
At the end of the day you win games by scoring more than you let in and a top class keeper can make that goals scored requirement a lot less!
Just doesn’t add up…
Oh well, until something changes, we can look forward to seeing Sanogo up front with Giroud next season!!
Have a frustrating day!!
Written by Steve Palmer.
The last French centre-back we signed from a Spanish club, his name escapes me???
Ah yes, Squillaci…..
A rip-roaring success and a French international to boot….
That went right through my mind too Kev…
Morning to you and all, good read or should I say rant Sp 😉
It is frustrating though, darned frustrating….
Cheer up mate. You could support some other club if you fancy only new signings. Moreover, the articles you read stating that Arsenal is targeting so and so is not written either by Arsene nor by Arsenal board. Who told you to believe that?
Good Morning Gooners/Doomers/AKB’s/Adam(where are you mate?)
Morning Rico…
Morning Sir Stevo.
I feel your frustration buddy…
Rico will soon be feeling £5 lighter… 😛
PMT – that’s hardly fair is it? We were promised early signings weren’t we?
No way Kev, there is still plenty of time for the jumping rabbit 😉
Good Morning to the Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Kev – Are you around for a while or just popping in between jobs?
From the tone of the article, I hope this isn’t going to be another doom & gloom session.
Good morning friends,
Good Read SP1,
Ak, I was going to make a similar point about Rami in my post yesterday but I thought I would leave it.
Le squid had won lots and had over 30 caps for Le bleus, but when a defender goes from France to England via Spain, my incline is to stay away.
I will of course consider France to EPL via Italy 😉
Hi Cg, thanks for standing in for me… you were so good I did not need my WW1 tin hat I borrowed from Kev when I got back. 🙂
Kev – You can’t be all that skint that you would squeeze a fiver out of our poor country lass, would you? Don’t count your fivers until the window closes.
You get outside of London and your Internet connection may as well be two tin-cans connected by a length of string…
Rico, didn’t Squillaci also come from Valencia as well?
I do not like that connection at all boss…
I did read on another blog that Paddy Power had suspended betting on Fabregas and Rooney….
Probably a wind-up, but you never know?
Kev it was Seville.
He was even voted into the team of the season a few months before he joined us.
Ginge – Your welcome, but it was neither my intention to nor was I aware that I was standing in for you. A poor substitute at best and I thought I had scared them all away (again?).
Morning Ginge, nice post yesterday, but my connection was crap so I couldn’t get on…
Canuck, bless you my son, I shall see you later for your confessional.
I am having a weekend by the Coast btw…
Very civilised… 😉
Canuck, re: Rico’s forthcoming debt to me… 😉
If you talk the talk, then you must pay the piper, or something like that… 🙂
But I must say that I am more inclined to be looking forward to taking 5 Bonzer Aussie dollars off of Ned Kelly down there in Alice Springs… 😀
@ PMT the impression of big signings was crated by Gazidis and his ‘we can afford anyone’ comments which the media took and ran with linking us with all and sundry. I think we’d be better off he’d kept his mouth shut.
@ Rico, if Sanago is our only signing, then the promise of early signing would have been fulfilled
🙂 Cg I am sure you did not scare them off… I think you are taking over Scotts Mantle as master positive…
I have fallen out with Scott though; he sold Mark to Mauren-ho and he has failed to send me my share of the proceeds after helping him to defend the AR16 onslaught. 🙂
Cheers Kev, I am passionate about our youngsters. I believe that is the only way we can have the long success and dominance we all crave for. I am resigned to Remy being our last minute striker though.
Some lady knob from the mail has just said on the BBC Sportsday prog, that the CF 04 to Manure is a done deal! Can’t see it myself. Mail are notorious writers of untruths but Darren Dein is the most disloyal agent on the planet, so it may have legs,then again it may not.
Also Michael the gnome Owen doesn’t think Suarez will go to Arsenal. Well we’ll see, eh?
Morning all
Morning Cg, don’t you worry about me, I know my fiver is staying in my purse…
Only because Kev and I didn’t shake on it 😉
Father Kev – I have very little to confess, as no matter how hard I may try and wish to be sinful, I have had little opportunity or success. If you you don’t count my indiscretions in the House, which are plain for all to see, there is nothing.
Hi Wavy, yes the Daily Fail in bed with the ginger t@@t who does the daily Arsenal. I wonder if he needs to pay us any money because without Arsenal he will have no career.
Cg, have you heard that Psg have had their 3 point suspension re-instated?
Hi Breezy
Bloomin heck Breezy, you have a valid point there 😉
Wavy, in a secret meeting with Dein and the Mancs – I simply can’t see that being true… I certainly hope its not….
Rico – A flimsy technicallity, that’s not cricket. I was hoping you had a little more faith in our club than that.
Ts, sorry to disappoint, Remy is heading to Newcastle 😉
Did Micheal Owen put a bet on it?
Mug punter…
Ginge, the club need to, have to, make at least one major signing (Suarez), or else we’re gonna look simply rediculous….
And what top top player would ever take us seriously again…
We need a Bergkamp type signing very badly…
This really is the clubs last summer to do something of that nature.
The reaction of the fans doesn’t bare thinking about if those responsible fail and we have a mixed start to the season…
Ha ha Cg, I do hope you know I was kidding….
I think arsene is ready to leave after next season and thats why hes confused and not compose.Arsene il not sign any player he as agreed secretly to join PSG.I wonder wat is going to achieve there with his mediocrity.Its high time he leaves before damaging arsenal reputation.
Rico, it was a cyber-shake…
It still counts… 😛
Welcome Fdk, Imho, you are totally wrong, he’s set to sign a new contract and stay a few more years yet….
For sure Kev, you know I’ll pay up… IF I have to 😉
Canuck, I will dig something out… 😉
@ Wavy, since we put in our bid for Suarez, Liverpool’s fans, former players owners etc have gone into meltdown, it’s actually quite funny, I bet even Hollywood would struggle to make comedy for 40m and £1.
Morning tsgh
Rico… 😆
I sincerely hope you don’t have to boss. 😐
The thing is wenger is playing a numbers game. He is looking at how many players we still have in the squad. Even after selling releasing or loaning we still currently have 26 players in the first team squad. If you look at how many players we used the last season and I’m talking about players considered good enough to start a league match or an important champions league not a CL dead rubber or cap one cup or even fa cup. Of the.players that have gone so far only mannone coquelin and santos started games of note. Mannone as a 3rd choice keeper santos before he was replaced and coquelin a few starts. So only 2 need replacing Martinez is likely to get the job as 3rd choice keeper. Whilst frimpong and yennaris will probably get the chance to fight it out for 5th choice holding midfielder along with aneke who is being lined up to replace diaby until he is fit. As for all the others squillaci djourou arshavin denilson campbell none of these started a match of not so can be replaced by the likes of bellerin miquel eisfeld olsson and akpom. Gervinho played most of last season as understudy to giroud that job will now go to sanogo once gerv has gone. Again if park chamakh and bendtner leave it will have no impact as none started a game of not last season. Whilst everyone can see some world class addition are required there is no point simply buying more deadwood to satisfy the spendaholics when it is blatantly obbvious are youngsters are every bit as good if not better than what is leaving. Here is the revised first team squad once the remaing deadwood is cleared
Keepers – fabianski szczesney martinez
Defenders – jenkinson bellerin sagna mertesacker koscielny vermaelen miquel gibbs monreal
Holding Midfield – Arteta wilshire ramsey diaby frimpong aneke yennaris
Attacking midfield – walcott cazorla podolski chamberlain rosicky ryo gnabry eisfeld zelalem olsson
Strikers – Giroud sanogo afobe akpom
There is 33 players there I think 10 more than we had starting league and CL matches (of note) last season. Obviously each of the 5 lines would benefit from a world class addition but I certainly think that squad is stronger and has more depth than last season. The defence has 9 players that ismore than we used last season you have 4 players that can play right back 5 that can play centre back and 4 that can play left back that is well balanced. 7 options for the holding midfield is more than last season although 2 are injured at the moment similar to the defence. The attacking midfield oozes pace and class obviously it can be improved. The strike force again I prefer the 4 there to the 2 we used last season.
However my 5 world class players to add to each line would be cesar gustavo fellaini fabregas and suarez. That would allow martinez bellerin yennaris olsson and akpom the chance to go out on loan but still leave us with a 33 man squad.
Me too Kev, me too and for all the right reasons..
Rico, another of my predictions down the drain then re Remy. Thank Goodnes! 🙂
Gameiro is dragging his feet to join Seville, which makes me worried. AW was interested in him 3 or so years ago.
Ezequil of Psg will be a decent buy. Not as big as we all want as Kev has suggested but, imo our opinions are becoming bare. We can’t be seen to be going for Michu or Soldado after flirting with Wooney and LS07.
Hi Bc, I am with you there re 10:22. That is what scares me. Who in the club decides that we won’t accept less than £2.5m for B-52 as an example or less than £8m for Yao?
Ginge – I don’t think I’m so much Mr. Positive as Mr. Pragmatic. I’ll leave the positivism to to Scott. I wouldn’t want to steal his thunder so to speak. Also, he is much better at it than I am.
I just don’t believe in flogging oneself over football transfers or the myriad of life’s other small tribulations. Yes, football is a big part of my life, but events such as the lunacy in Egypt or the death of a local lass, only two years old, to cancer after numerous surgeries and treatments puts things in true perspective.
Rico – Wink, wink, nudge, nudge eh?
ditto- Cg I share the same sentiments.
PMT!!!!!
Does that mean Pre-Menstrual Tension??
Or Post-Menstrual Tension??
Either way the bloke is suffering from a mild case of depression, psychopathological neurosis, delusion, etc etc etc…..if he/she thinks that simply expressing what you would like means you dont support AFC.
Ahhhh, sorry I forgot……..Good Morning Lady, Sir, Gentlemen and Ladies.
Do we give a rat’s arse whether Oboabona thinks he is disrespected or not in being given a trial? tbh……..I would like AW to do like Sir Retired Nose……..alla larga dai calciatori Africani.
Thanks goodness indeed Ts 😉
Exactly Cg….
Morning devil, he obviously didn’t want to move, otherwise he’d have accepted the offer…
Father Kev – As a wiseman(?) recently told me, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
seriously dont think arsenal is ready to make any major sinning
Father Kev??????? 😆
what makes you think so dchamp???
Devil – Amen Brother! However, I must warn you, you almost received my laundry bill as I just about wet myself over your 10:37 am post.
Where’s Ted??
wenger is a joker. D Arsenal board is more of a joker.. They re only buying time, Rooney and co re been used 2 deceive us. U wil see that d nite transfer window wil com 2 an end he wil settle wit one below average player. Other clubs re busy wit d transfer buying gud ad quality players while arsenal is buzy joking about. Shame on u Wenger ad d board.
Good morning Dg, I hate meeting with the Dev on sundays. lol
Did you catch the BVB 09 vs Munchen match last night? What did you think of the 4-1-4-1 formation Pep has reverted to and the fact that Schweinsteiger has been dropped for the 2 amigos in midfield?
What are you views on Thiago? Agag shares a similar opinion as me in that I think he is very overrated.
The strange thing was Pep bringing on Dante and playing him as a 2nd striker instead of as a CB…
Gustavo was not even on the bench I believe.
dchamp – As listed ad nauseum by many of our commenters over the past month, Arsenal has already sinned greatly and often by not signinig ever player we have been linked with in the press. Oh yea of little faith.
Back in an hour ish…
I think AW is becoming very skeptical about our loan system and its usefulness.
When our players are sent on loan, they are used to fill deficiencies of the loaning team instead of helping us or developing the players.
As an example when Frimps went on loan to Wolves when they were in the EPL he played in CM and excelled and even smashed the ball into Van De Vaarts face. Last season when he was loaned to Charlton he was used as a 2nd striker and CAM mostly.
At Fulham he was mostly used as an AM when he was started or DM when he came on for their greek DM…
Afobe was used as a winger at Bolton on occassions in order for the Sordell to stay in his preferred position. This has created the impression that Afobe is not good. But both RVp and TH14 believe Afobe has a future at Arsenal.
I did not see the game Ginge.
I was busy enjoying myself in the splendid Mediterrenean sea.
Wenger is a stupid human being…get suarez,feliani,cesar and williams den we gud to go but dis man is Not serious as he is not ready to sign any player stupid human being…gunnerz for life…having personal dislike for wenger now cos he keep frustrating me…
Ginge – I have to agree with you there. Arsene has tried to set-up long term relationships with teams in Belgium, France and Spain. We would loan them young players so they could get experience through playing regular first team football and we would get first refusal on some of their players. Unfortunately our players were usually no more than squad utility players and rarely benefitted from the experience.
There have been some exceptions, like Ryo in Holland, but for the most part we were taken advantage of. Football managership is becoming a job of short term focus like politics. They are only focused on their next contract or election. Youth and player development be dammed.
Ah, nice for some… lol
It was a very interesting and cagey game. As you would expect, a team coached by Pep will have a lion’s share of possession. I know it is just one game but I think Pep is becoming very AW-like. Every sub. he makes is to win a game and Klopp was the Mauren-ho in this case. He socked up the pressure and scored with almost every chance the team created.
In the past Pep has been used to bringing on a sub to maintain a slender lead or extend the scoreline. Making subs to change the dynamics of a game is not his forte I believe.
Damn, i haven’t posted til now, but my name has never appeared so often on HH 🙂
Morning all.
Great carnival today….perfect record from 7 games.
Our main rival did not know what hit them!!
They were cocky, as always, and were very confident of finally beating us.
Sean and his mates went ino the game playing an also undefeated side but things fell our way…..12-1 win thank you very much.
8-2 at OT entered my mind….one side could nothing right, and he other, well, it was a tough day at the office 🙂
CG and Ginge………I believe the only alternative to that is to buy a club in France, Spain, Germany or Belgium. Then we can loan players safe in the knowledge that they would play.
Oh and Ginge, i have ya back mate.
Hi Mr Scott where is my cheque? lol
I am glad for you re Sean. long may he enjoy team sports and the friendship it brings.
Hi Devil, great idea.
Ginge, he needs to enjoy it now, because when he is an Arsenal player, the abuse will start 🙂
Beveren KSK shafted us when they sold Yaya Toure when the plan was for him to stay in Belgium until he was qualified for an EU pasport. They were meant to be our feeder club.
We were then left with Eboue but after his first season and performance in our best CL run, he just got lost in himself.
And I will be the one leading the abuse and listing his stats.
I have even prepared the format…
Sean Scott Jnr.
Stats
position Attacking midfielder
Games played 30 goals 13
Assists 7
Red cards 2.. like his dad he bites the bait. 🙂
back pass 989
Beveren were just a feeder club.
They were not our club.
What I meant is something on the level of Barcelona B or Real Madrid B.
Arsenal B in the spanish liga, or French Ligue, or Germany etc.
A club fully owned by Arsenal with the sole intention of producing players and putting promising players in the first team to play regularly.
The average age of Barcelona B squad was just 21 years of age. And between For and Against goals there were more than 100 goals in just 38 games played. Yes they conceded a few, but scored much more.
And they play in the same style as Barcelona play.
Ginge, Devil may appreciate this…..
I played Sean in a deeper role today….he was a combo of Arteta and Ramsey.
Playing deep, cutting off the opponents attack, and setting up our attack.
He smashed it.
I think we scored 37 goals and conceded 6.
With interchange, he was off the field for 5 of them 🙂
I get what you are saying now. But I believe that apart from Spain UEFA rules do not allow for such agreements.
I think the u-21 league is meant to have such objective but without the incentive for promotion it becomes pointless. What should happen is that the FA should allow bigger teams to have u-21 teams in league 2 etc without promotion to the EPL.
Of course the spuddies are now permitted specially to be Perez bitches… 🙂
Good for Sean. My boy is only 3, I am looking forward to watching him enjoy doing whatever sport he chooses; God willing…
PLS AW BUY QULITY PAYAR
Ginge and Devil – Bevern was the first, then it was Saint Etienne in France, and finally two or three clubs in Spain. None of them worked out. They milked of for loans and gave little or nothing in return.
Unfortunately the FA don’t allow owning multiple clubs and UEFA don’t like it either, but it has happened. There is restrictions on two clubs with the same ownership playing in the Champions League. It would be extremely difficult to set-up.
Scott – Good Evening! I can feel the proud father beaming from the other side of the Pacific mate.
Ginge, it is brilliant to have a son who loves the same game i do.
It is just a blessing that he is 10 times the player at 7 than i was at 20.
I am very careful not to try and live my life through him.
He just loves the game.
It has been a big day so i am off.
Have a great day everyone.
Only in a deeper role Scot??
The best thing you can do for Sean is to play him all over the place. Especially in defence. There he will learn to discipline himself for the benefit of the team. Yes even as a right/left back. He can operate any where if he is good enough.
And its not the coaching you give him which will stand him in good stead for the future, its the experiences he has in multiple positions which will benefit him most.
And close your eyes to the result. What counts is the experience they will get.
Obviously do not play him a game here, a game there, etc etc.
But play him 5 to 7 games at a stretch as a defender. Then 5-7 games at stretch as a winger. Then another 5 to 7 as a DM. And so on and so forth.
Yes even play him on the wrong foot. He will learn.
Good read steve.i understand where you are coming from.it just seems all.smoke anr mirrors at the moment.
Ts i don’t think Bayern’s 4-1-4-1 is ideal for several reasons.first and foremost there is a lot of pressure on the no.6 who is thiago when defending.pep’s decision to play a high pressing game and playing a high line exposed this defeciency.dortmund played the ball at a ridiculous pace at times to beat bayern’s pressing wave of the front 5 isolating thiago alone to deal with multiple runners.even van buyten really struggled and its clear a double pivot was one of the reasons their defence looked good last year.even van buyten looked.reliable last year.
Secondly the wingers in that formation have to cover ridiculous amounts of ground in a game since they have to switch between RW/RM in attacking/defensive phases of play which i believe is a waste of their talents.it asks too much from them.
However lets wait for pep.to have a fully.fit squad and give them some time.to work it out.it may work for them.
ktr7 – It will be interesting to see if Pep persists with this formation or if he is just experimenting in a pre-season friendly.
Hi Kt, hope you are well?
I love Pep but I do not wish for him to win the treble this year 😛
Scott is Young Sean as good as Ramsey? He sounds like he has the potential. I like Dev’s comment above, play him across all positions. That is the issue with our English game. The youth coaches normally asks a new player 2 questions and then they personally form 2 other subjective views on a 7 to 10 year old based on height and race and decides the boys future.
The questions are normally:-
1) Where do you like to play?
2) Are you left footed or right footed
Mostly if you are short and look athletic you are put on the wings. If you are tall for your age group you will be made a striker. If you come from a touch estate and look like you can handle bullies you will be played as a DM or CB.
That is all it takes imho… and we waste so many talents.
I remember when ‘arry showed some journos a video of a young Joe Cole. Most thought he was too skilful to be an English man. lol
Cg, yes I wonder what happened to our arrangements with Lorient.
We got Kos from them and they took Le Coq and Sunu on loan. Sunu then moved on after that successful loan spell.
Aladiere is now one of the best strikers in Europe. lol
Devilg or whoever snipes at Oboabona comments need to get some perspective. Trials are for unknown players or ones that play in lower leagues where the admiring team thinks it a waste of time to get their videos or they don’t have access to the videos at all. Oboabona has been everywhere in the past two years: he captained his team, Sunshine stars, to the African Champions League Final, was an ever-present as Nigeria won the African nations Cup and was even the the Confederation cup where he played all of Nigeria’s match . If a class has can’t make up his mind after all those then its a waste of time. Would we tell Bernard to come for a trial if we want him? And against the background of players wanting to come to arsenal makes me feel the youngman is sensible, even the great Yaya Toure couldn’t impress madman Wenger. I just hope this does not bite us in the ass like the last player that snubbed us the same way, one Ibrahimovic fela I guess.
An interesting article. I don’t agree with it all, but it does pose some tough questions.
Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani: Are the big stars deserting our premier league?
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/417954/Radamel-Falcao-Edinson-Cavani-Are-the-big-stars-deserting-our-premier-league?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-football-news+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+Football+Feed%29
Very interesting indeed Cg. The arguments laid out can’t be tossed aside either.
Football is now very reflective of society as a whole.
As someone raising a family, I am defiant on the whole ethos of buying to make us happy. The happiness never last. It is the reason why we read in the tabloids stories of seemingly bright and educated ladies from professional backgrounds getting into debt and going bankrupt.
Whilst on the christening yesterday I struck a conversation with a middle aged woman who was telling me about the pressure she was under to provide luxuries for other members of her family living in the SE of Asia.
She mentioned that a teenager one of her nieces had asked to if she owned a credit card? When she admitted so, she was told to use that to buy her a new pair of designer gear.. shocking!
the dippers are playing now.
Coutinho looks a steal for the dippers
Cg/ts am fine.pep likes this formation because it is possession orienred while at the same time very attack oriented.Mandzukic doesn’t seem to be ideal up front and i bet when Gotze is fit he’ll replace him.
Watching that game played at such high intensity really showed why we need an alternative to arteta in such games.don’t get me wrong arteta is vital to how we play but in top games he has become our weak link.
Last season.when we played top clubs like the mancs/chavs/bayern their no.10’s rooney/oscar/kroos shut him down way too easily since he can’t deal with pressure.he is way too slow and not agile enough.we end up being unable to play at all.when we played barca a few seasons back jack played the arteta role in that game and he was superb because no matter how hard they pressed us he was able to beat that wave and we exploited the gaps in behind.arteta gets suffocated in such circumstances and we end up being battered since we are not able to build anything from the back.
Aw idolises Gundogan because i believe if he was available he would bring him to replace arteta.
”Last season.when we played top clubs like the mancs/chavs/bayern their no.10′s rooney/oscar/kroos shut him down way too easily since he can’t deal with pressure” -Excellent point kt. It can also be said that our no.10’s didn’t do much for the likes of Tettey, and Obi Mikel to name a few to dictate how we played against the teams we dropped points against.
Cleverley was MoTm for man u when we played them imho until he was subbed. Wooney as you said sat next to Arteta and nullified him completely. Even Oscar in our first game against the chavs made out DM look very poor after Diaby went off injured.
Ginge, the problem with may British coaches is that too many of them are still ingrained in their playing days………as you said if you were short and fast you are plonked on the wing, if you are tall etc etc etc.
I am not ingrained in my playing days, although I used to play on the flanks, both in defence and in an attacking role and on both sides. But a few years ago I did not hesitate to put a midget of 5ft6 as a DM in a 3-1-4-2 formation (3-5-2). The result???? He is an under 21 international in that position.
Yes size does matter. but not at the expense of skill.
I always see skill first, speed second and size third. But some coaches see it the other way round. And at under 17 level downwards I do not give a shit or cow’s arse to results. I do not care if my team looses a game. I care how much my youngsters learn from that experience.
Once I raised a few eyebrows. I had my CF (and a very good one too) and he was going through a bad patch. He could not even find his way past the centrebacks. I told him……..you have a choice. Either I drop you or else you play the next three games at centreback. He wanted to play so he went for centreback, but knowing fully well that if he played crap he would find himself benched.
Came the first two games he played ok. Not good enough but ok. just managed to pass the test. Before the third game he asked me why at centreback. I told him after the game I would tell him if the opposing CF did not manage to score.
He went on to play a good game, and although the CF managed to score (a penalty at that) I told him the following “You are a good player. But you do not manage to think the way opposition will think. Now that you have played three games as a centreback you know what a centreback does and how he thinks. That was the trick. Not to drop you but to give you a good experience”
Slowly he found his way to goal again and today he is still regarded as one for the future.
Ok, it was two hours, blame the staff in Sainsbury and Waitrose… 😉
Afternoon all…
suarez will not be joining before the emirates cup(if he does join) because wenger himself said that we would not be signing anyone before the emirates cup,also in addition to this wenger said recently that we can challenge for the premier league with the squad we ‘ve already got…you do know what this means? we have been here many times before,the man is beginning to back track and manage expectaions! “a player is judged on his ability and not on his name”…if u havent already guessed let me reveal that arsenal will not sign any big name, world class players!…he will make one or two additions but not the singings he and ivan implied when the season tickets were not being renewed.
Suarez is on now…
Keith but it is not AW’s fault if Suarez does not mnove.
I do not consider Hig, Fellaini or Gustavo world class. Nor do I consider A. Williams an upgrade on what we have.
The only players I rate who has moved this season are Schurle, Negredo and maybe Fernandinho. J Navas is past his peak.
Is Negredo better than Tevez? No! so are $hitty stronger? No!
We need a squad not a superstar team. We have gone from relying on Robin Judas only to having an effective team. Fingers crossed 2 or 3 signings will be made to push us up the table.
Afternoon All, Thank you Rico 🙂 Just got home from a fishing overnighter, It rained from 5 last night till about 3 this morning needless to say the fish stayed under cover. Was hoping to come home to hear that pen has been put to paper but it will have to wait till tomorrow now.
Ginge – This may be an historic season for European football. We have another club, Monaco, entering the league of mega rich owners. FFP continues to be phased in. Will future transfer windows continue to support the huge transfer fees and spiralling wages for the top world class players? Will UEFA have the stomach and will to enforce their rules? Will they be willing to exclude a non-conforming club from the Champions League? That question may not be answered for a few years as there is latitude to balance the books over three or four(?) years.
Like society as a whole, the riche get richer, the poor get poorer and thos in the middle struggle to pay their monthly bills. As I understand it many of the bank loans for Spanish clubs are secured by posting their players contract as collateral. If player prices drop significantly, the already rocky banks are either going to call in the loans or ask for additional collateral. At worst, this could force some clubs into bankruptcy; at best, it could result in forced player sales to raise cash, further depressing prices. A bit like the motgage crisis the Americans went through in the late noughties.
Before the end of this decade the sport could be much changed.
Hi Sp, always a pleasure, all night on the riverbank??
You mind out for for men in white coats 😉
I remember that 1st chav game ts.oscar really battered arteta in that game and when he got tired Ramieres replaced himand continued to do so.we really struggle when arteta doesn’t dictate proceedings and that happens in top games and we really struggle to impose ourselves.
In the CL final Reus was doing the same to Schweinsteiger in the 1st 30 minutes and bayern really struggled then.Scweni then dropped deeper in between dante/boateng whereby he was able to deal with lewandowski/reus pressing since now bayern had a spare man at the back and now they were able to impose themselves on the game.
When Italy meet spain they switch to a back 3 for the same reason to allow them to buile from the back while beating the pressure from spain.we need to find solutions to this problem because last year we had a poor record against top teams who played a very good pressing game.
Good Post Sir Steve.
I do like your writings. Good, down to earth honest feelings of a genuine supporter.
In every great winning squad or team theres a superstar… a sprinkle of magic! never said its wengers fault…just said it wont happen!
In which case were was the sprinkle of magic or superstar in the 1970/71 double winning squad Keith???
ok maybe not superstar…but world class player!
Suarez is not even chasing after the ball like he normally does… i know it is pre-season and all but…
thats over forty years ago, the modern game is a different animal, the defence has evolved greatly…less time less space..the game is faster and more intense… sometimes u need world class players to unlock or open up, especially at the very top level against the top teams….that is if u have any aspirations to really compete at the very top level!
Cheers Devil, I’m just a tadge Pissed off mate, At the start of the window were told moneys no object and we sign a freebie and than i see the many linked to us and it seems like their to dear. I’m in turmoil 🙂
Rico the white coats should have taken me away i can tell you 🙂 Funny what age makes you do.
keith, i still hope either Rooney or Suarez join our squad, and I pray they are not alone…
3/4 needed at least in my opinion..
How many WC players do Man U have? They still manage to win most things.
Dareen Fletcher was once described as Red Nose as a player whose name is first on the team sheet. But most united fans could not stand him at all…
O’shea looked very good at United but at Sunderland you can tell what he is made off… pure garbage.
One mans WC player could be another mans’ very good player. It all depends on the team a player is in. Fellaini is not even the main man for Belgium in midfield but a lot of people consider him to be our prophesied saviour. When MF played against us in April he was dominated by MA08 and Ramsey in midfield. He then reorted to pulling shirts and clipping SC19 and JW10’s ankles….
The issue of our team has never been about quality but dedication to the trade and fans. There is an argument that we do not have enough depth to the squad. I disagree on that slightly in that AW failed to use his full squad and made certain players rusty by not playing them after preseason. So what happened was that when a key player got injured in October or December, a cover won’t have played since August, it was then nearly impossible for such a player to step in and just perform.
I will however, say that for whatever reason, either planned or forced by injuries AW is utilising his whole squad slightly better.
Pique could not get into Man U’s team but a few months later he was first choice defender for a European CL winning team.
Boateng was next to useless for $hitty but he is an European winner at Munich. Has he really improved or has he found his home?
I do not agree Keith. all you need is a squad of 25 honest hard working players who will give you 110% in every game.
Yes Tevez might win you the tight games, but how much have you to put up with to win that one match.
Yes I would like to win. A lot.
But first realize that at AFC we might as well play with 11 superstars if the ref, the linos and those who do match schedules are all under someone else’s thumb.
Rooney,Van persie,s scholestill recently…ronaldo for a few years!
You conspiracy junkie Dev 😀
I totally agree with you though 110%.
15 points from referee’s has something to do with it as well Ginge 🙂
Dg thats obviously the mininum thats required!
I agree about 110% effort and commitment…but even with this the current squad will not make a serios challenge for the PL or CL because their still not good enough…it pains me to say that but its true!
Keith, I can tell you are passionate and I like that. I like the fact you are prepared to have a matured debate which I am sure you know we all love on HH.
But, imho Scholes has not been WC since 2008-2009 season. Ronaldo has been gone for ages.
Judas only joined then recently…
Anderson is fatter than Santos.
But the plus that Rednose had over AW was that Rooney will jog around on the field against Wigan as an example; he may cover only 5km against a poor or average team but give wooney a top 4 opponent … he will cover 2 times the distance.
When we last played united at Old toilette, Wooney covered more ground that all our midfielders i.e SC19, MA08 and JW10. Why should that happen?
On the other hand when we played them a few months later at home, our midfield covered more ground than theirs and we could have won if Sagna had not given away the penalty.
There is also a contention of the quality between say OG12 and Judas but that their difference in class will not help if the others are jogging around and lossing every 2nd ball.
@Kike_Marin_ is reporting that Bendtner could be on his way to Malaga in a deal involving Jesus Gamez crossing over. He can play as a RB/CB
Good afternoon b/w
Good read steve.you hit the nail on the head about how i feel right now.
Hi devil.good to.see you.
ts i remember us switching to a back 3 at w/ham with verm/mert/kos to deal.with the constant battering of cole/caroll.i hoped.to see.more of this later in the season but it was not to be.
Watching ramsey right now gives me hope that he can be that man to replace arteta.he may not wilshere’s close control but he seems to have more trickery to get out of sticky sitiuations and can be useful against his pressing sides.either way i think AW evisions a midfield 3 of ox/ramsey/jack that can do a bit of everything.if it can work is another whole new debate.
SP1 have you seen our politicians turning into lizards? 😛
All conspiracies are FACTS. 😮
Don’t eat every fish you catch… it could be poor ‘Terry’ May going for a home office meeting in guise.
Hi Emma, that could be interesting if true.
I would have preferred Camacho but 28 y.o Gamez (I think) will be perfect for Bellerin and CJ25 to learn from.
Cheers KT
Do fans really expect AW to say that if we do not buy the players we want we should just stay at home because we will finish 10th.. That is what selfish managers like Munchini and ‘arry do.
I kind of agree with both sides, yes, you need hard workers, grafters who have a never say die attitude, but that alone will not always win matches. Add one/two top class match winners and most sides would flourish…
You need that right combination and balance imho
For those who have not seen it culann davies has done a 25 minute compilation of cazorla covering every apsect of his game this past season.its the best i’ve seen online and is worth a watch to truly appreciate how good santi was.
tsgh which league winning Man utd team (which year) didnt have one world class player?
Tsgh 1;45??????
Jeez are we reading into comments that Wenger made 2 days ago. He just made a bid of £40m + £1 pound for goodness sake. He knows where the problem is. We are creating chances but taking them is an issue. Hence he has gone in for a player who can create something out of nothing and possibly take those chances. Whether the deal will go thru is another bone of contention. Still believe he must have option B or he goes all out to get his man irrespective of how much it will cost.
Devil – I agree with much, if not all, of what you say. The game has changed much since I was a kid and many coaches haven’t kept up with the changes. That includes many national coaches, especially at youth levels.
The emphasis for many coaches is still on fitness, athleticism and games. They don’t teach the simple basic skills till they become second nature. The objective is winning games based on what’s worked in the past will work again. Things fall apart when that no longer works; whether that be due to illness, injury, fitter more skilled opposition &/or better tactics. I rarely had the priveledge of selecting a team, but had to work with what I was given. Formation and tactics were based on what my players were capable of, not what I preferred to play. At the end of the game whether they won, tied or lost; if they had given the game all they were capable of I had to accept it. Some of my better players were not my best athletes, but ones who watched the game, anticipated the play and positioned themselves to be the most effective.
Young players develop at different rates and times emotionally, mentally and physically. You can’t predict where they will end up. That well co-ordinated kid may turn into a total klutz if he/she grows two to three inches in six months. To stream players into positions at young ages is pure folly.
Cantona could not get into a french team that could not qualify for major tournament. He was still winning trophies.
All I am saying Keith is that in most cases a good player is all we need not a marquee player.
SC19 was low key but I would say he contributed more to us than what Hazard contributed to the chavs.
It can be argued that one is 4 years younger 😉
Wooney is not WC to me but he raises his game against big opposition.
we on the other hand have a few bottlers in our squad.
Kt-7 I googled your SC19 video… I appreciated it. I still maintain until I see him doing that in the CL or against a top 3 side he disappoints me… -(
I however enjoyed this one of AR16
Fair enough, tho it has to be said both could change a game single handedly against the run of play! ” a good player is all we need not a marquee player” i agree, wenger himself said a player should be judged on his ability not his name…that says a lot, hopefully we get a player (or 2) with bags of ability!
They caught offside are reporting that Mauren-yo wants Gustavo too.. 🙁
Emma who will your option B be in relation to strikers
tsgh – At the moment our options are limited. i would have gone for kiessling but he has agreed to a 2yr extension recently
My initial opinions were Negredo, Torres,Tevez, and Wooney in that order.
Will you take Dzeko or Torres or Soldado?
Kiesslling I liked but I suspect he was not AW’s type of player. I am surprised BVB 09 have not gone for him as a replacement for Lewandowski (when he leaves).
DZEKO
Ts, CO talk bollards… Jose said it’s Wooney and no-one else…
I forgot to mention Benteke… he was my among my first choice.
WATH likes Yilmaz too… I haven’t seen much of him so…
but he is highly rated by most pundits.
Quite unfortunate it didn’t work out with Gerv. He’s got that dribbling ability to jing past players, great movement off the ball in the box but cant finish to save his life.
Typical COf… 🙂
*jig*
Emma, like you I still think Gerv could be a decent squad player… I won’t want him gone for peanuts.
Rico – Do you believe Jose always tells the truth and nothing but the truth? If Jose told me the sky was blue I’d be sticking my head out the door or window to check.
D Cg…. liable
A number of well respected players have bombed out in the Premier League, but have gone on to have great carreers elsewhere. Whether the chemistry of the team didn’t suit them &/or the pace/style of the English league wasn’t to their taste is up for debate. There is always a risk bringing in players from other leagues and expecting them to duplicate their performance in a new league. That may be why Arsene is concentrating on Suarez, as he may be more available than Wooney. Torres is a big risk and may take too much time to rehabilitate.
Yilmaz is another pig in the poke risk.
tsgh – I would have kept him as a squad member. To some extent the atmosphere at the emirates didn’t help his course. Watched him playing for Lille before he joined us, he was a different animal. He’s is very low on confidence and hasn’t got the same mental strength like Rambo.
I am re-watching our game against Red Diamonds, the counter attacking play was blistering.
You are on form Cg 😀
‘Yilmaz is another pig in the poke’ lmfao
He certainly hasn’t Emma…
You can see Gerv’s confidence disappear in the middle of games like a dead light bulb.
Cg re 2:50 Diego Forlan is a prime example.
No Cg, I think he is no more truthful than AW…..
Ginge – That is one of the players I was thinking of. The reverse is also true when you look at Bergkamp and Henry when they were in Italy before joining us.
Very true. You would have thought a player who was relatively slow i.e DB10 would have fared better in Serie A.
Another story doing the rounds is that Bernard, whether he ends up at Arsenal or Porto, may not be coming until January as Atletico Mineiro, having won the Copa Libertadores, want to keep him for the Club World Cup in December.
Has anyone seen the opta stats that say AFC conceded a goal every 1.1 games that Jack played in and 1.7 without him?
We also scored 0.5 goals less with JW playing.
Yes Cg I also read he might be loaned back for a year…
Ginge – I have seen it or something similar, but I can’t recall where. I read so many articles at this time of year looking any real and good news.
A Ray Parlour interview
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/130728/exclusive-ray-parlour-urges-arsene-wenger-splash-out-stars-luis-suarez-202570?
Ginge – I’m aware of the Higuain saga and the toads at UnReal shifting the goalposts. Was there any reason given why we went cold on Jovetic other than Fiorentina humming and hawing whether they were going to sell him?
Good old Romford 🙂
I think Stevan’s asking price and his injury record scared AW off…
The type of injuries he had in a relatively ‘contact-less’ league does not bode well.
Other than than I have no idea why we did not proceed any further.
Emma may have more info…
CG – I think it’s simila issue(overinflatedprice). Fiorentina were only willing to do a deal for 30m Euros whereas he is not worth up to 20m Euros
I am re-watching our game against Red Diamonds, the counter attacking play was blistering.
Does the defending look any better second time around.?
emma & Ginge – Thanks for the info on Jovetic.
Well another night has come and gone before I’ve got to bed. So, I’m off. With no uplifting news of transfer on the horizon, I think I’ll take a few days away.
Till next time fellow Gooners try to look on the bright side of life.
Keep the Faith!
No potter.
Hi potter,
I had to run off to act as a taxi driver for the Mrs. lol
Well MA08 even looks slower knowing what the final score is now. 🙂
Cg, talking about Unreal… do you remember how Perez was reported to have recruited Zidane to that club?
Perez asked Zidane if he wouldn’t mind joining him on a toilet paper at a dinner party in Monaco.
I am sure it will take more than that to chat up a WAG in a nightclub 🙂
On other news no one on Talksports expects us to finish in top 4. I guess they have been saying that since 1996 anbd we have always finished higher than the dippers and the swampies.
Night Cg..
So most of us believe that Arteta’s legs are struggling, so much so, I actually don’t believe he should be on the first team sheet.
Who will be captain in both he and TV absence?
Ts, Ts talk ‘S’ 😉
Will we settle on a signing such as Javier Hernandez? He is obviously behind Judas, Wooney, and Welbeck now but IU think he is a proper finisher.
Night Cg,
Rico, I lve the pain of listening to TS… 🙁
Ts, do u think this squad is good enough as it is to challenge? What would be your additions if any?
Ts, this wil make you laugh, Caughtoffside are now running the ‘9m for Adil Rami’ story. The buffoon didn’t even get his research right as it’s Euros 😉
😀 Rico The buffoons… well it will be more credible if they did any ounce of research.
Hi Mr Dna, hope you are well?
I shall base your answer solely based on the fact that I believe that team work wins more than a team and an ego.
So, if I was in AW’s shoes, I will now go for Benteke at £22M.. he is young enough to become better. He will be understanding to play 25 to 30 games this season.
I will also go for Angel Rangel and move Sagna into the CB’s role.
For CM, I will go for Camacho of Malaga or Medel of Seville. And Sevilles Rakitic for wingers role.
Ts – fair enough. Would you put all those players u mentioned in the starting 11.
Don’t listen Ts, they talk bollards…
Is the squad good enough to challenge? I will say Yes and No.
Yes – Because if we can be consisted we can be better than most teams. But to be consistent we need to keep some key players fresh and on the edge of their spot in the team
No- Because the atmosphere in the stands will not be positive enough to support and push on the team if things start going bad during the season. Every team has that, even United do have dips in form.
Was city’s team strong enough to challenge last season? If we take into consideration that $hitty won the title previously on goal difference and outspent United during the summer. But I have watched enough football to know football does not work like that any more. If that was the case Holland would have won 2 or 3 WC titles in the 70’s.
Winning a trophy is more than just being great imho… you need luck and boy, Rednose use to get at least 12 points per season with the help of referees.
Ts – I don’t believe that team should have 11 superstar, but i’m positively sure this squad is not good enough. My addition would be cesar, fellaini, cabaye, suarez and di maria/nani.
Angel Rangel Ts, now I recall mentioning him a couple of seasons ago…
Dna, re 5:20… I do not think we need to change the starting line-up that finished the season.
Rednose who I know you rate highly started last season with only Judas on MNF against Everton and they lost.
Man U have had the edge over us not because Fergie is a better tactician but because he has not re-built a team 5 times in 7 years.
I know you are not a fan of Ramsey but I will bet my last dollar with you and say MF is not better than Ramsey especially in CM or DM. If MF were to be signed I will still expect Aw to play AR16 over MF come match day 1.
Against Everton in April last season, Ramsey and Arteta overpowered Fellaini and Darren Gibson. If it wasn’t for the careless finishing of OG12 we would have won that game by at least 3-1.
I think looking at the season the goal difference was only 12 between us and the red devils. We had a better defensive record than $hitty and scored around the same number of goals.
The difference is that we did not take enough points from our rivals and we draw so many times especially the first 4 games.
Nani Gdna? You having a laugh? I thought you once said we didn’t need Manc rejects?
I like Cabaye… he will be an ideal replacement for MA08.
I also like Kheidira who is reportedly available. And Ozil, but AW will not buy him now because Ozil will take JW10’s place. The same reason he did not sign Holtby imho…
I like Suarez don’t get me wrong. But I am looking at the probability of signing him… the reason I did not mention his name.
Currently, I want Suarez big time like every (or most) gooners but I do not think we will get him. Our negotiators are not dodgy enough to sweeten any deal.
I know you love Rangel.
I think nani is an upgrade to gerv and all the other players who afc claimed to b wingers. Ts – AR16 is a little too average for my liking, can’t compare AR and MF, to me it doesn’t make sense.
Ts, I believe Fergie has been great over the years because he often changed his side kick, and he was prepared to listed to his new ideas.
I loved Pat Rice, but for me he just became a clone of Arsene.
We stagnated, whereas Fergie didn’t.
I don’t honestly believe that Fergie was such a great manager, he was just very clever by making sure he had great people around him…
Ok so if you bought MF where would you fit him in the team and please don’t say DM just because he is big and athletic. 😉
Ditto – re 5:41 Rico
Once Gerv goes, we need to get a proper winger, not simply ‘an upgrade’ and I suspect you think that just because he’s played at Manure….?
Go get a proper winger, a new face with true speed and a good cross, not some old git who can’t get into the manc side…
Who is the Wigan guy, McCarthy isn’t it?
He’d be a cracking signing…. Imho of course 😉
Ts – “I also like Kheidira who is reportedly available. And Ozil, but AW will not buy him now because Ozil will take JW10′s place. The same reason he did not sign Holtby imho”
This is the problem at the club, we will never achieve with this mentality.
As far as the general public is concerned Moyes has not got any agreement with Everton not to sign any ex-player, so my question is why Moyes has not yet gone for MF when CM is a key requirement of theirs.
Dna, MF does not register in any stats amongst Europe’s top midfielders in any form. i.e passing, tackling success, key passing etc. Believe it or not Ramsey does and don’t say it is because Everton is not a top side.
Ts, I just think the old Jock got far too much credit.. But, I guess he arranged it all and replaced staff, so reluctantly, he has to take some credit… 😉
I once thought we’d do well to sell Ramsey, those days have since passed 😉
Moyes is banking on fabregas to save his summer imho….
James McCarthy looks a good prospect but the question is always if is he an upgrade on what we have?
Dna I totally agree with you on 5:47 but how will AW look if JW is dropped before a world cup next year for a German?
@5:44 rico, i’m talking in terms of afc purchases, bargain or free…
Rico, that is a sign of a good leader re Old Jock. There is no doubt about it. He will sell his soul for success me think 🙁
On Moyes, he needs that and Ed also wants that. He is new to the Chairman position himself. But in actual fact was Moyes as good as the media make him out to be? He spent some serious money over at Everton. His net spend is more than AW’s over the last 10 years.
@ 5:50 Ts, wow – I’m only concerned about afc, AW should never be blamed because its the players responsibility to make sure he performs to be in the first 11.
We need a proper winger in the team. We have not had a winger since 2000 when Marc Overmars left. Lauren was a good winger for Celta Vigo but he was converted into a RB.
Bobby and Ljunberg were all 2nd strikers/CAM converted to play on the wings. It coulkd be argued that TH14 was a winger but he became one of the best strikers in football history so…
Easier said than done Dna. A few journo’s are questioning AW’s credibility because Ox has not progressed as some fans thought he should. We get bad press because AW fielded an all foreign line-up over 10 years ago. We were even winning them and no one has forgiven him for it.
proper players cost money Ts..lol
I know, Dna…
AW was counting on us having money and monopoly now but Monaco and PSg have messed it up for us again big time.
If Monaco were still poor. Falcao would be at Unreal or $hitty or Chelsea. Hig would have moved for £20M to us. Cavani will be moving to us for £40M but…
Ts – I think the english media is the biggest problem why some of these youngsters don’t develop properly. The hype about english youngsters is laughable, just imagine zelalem was english, he would be the best thing since slice bread. lol
Ts, he terrorised us didn’t he?
5.55 gdns, that is quite refreshing coming form you. But ultimately, AW gives the go ahead to sign them. What I like now is the story about Gerv going which for me, suggests that AW has adopted a more ruthless streak.
Just like he did last season when dropping players.
@Ts – AFC don’t need much to have the edge mate, as i said earlier we just need the little extra because the system and chemistry is already there to achieve. But something behind the scenes ain’t right because for the past couple of years its the same pattern in the transfer market.
Well, that is a topic for a different day. lol
Zelalem looks very good. He looks stronger than CF04 looked at 16 or 17 y.o. But CF04 was playing with Silva a proper and experienced DM in a 4-4-1-1 formation unlike Zelalem who will never be able to play with MA08 in a midfield 3. imho
Ts – the reason OC hasn’t progressed is down to himself imho. He has a bit of an attitude which hopefully he will lose…
Ts Monaco and PSG won’t last mate, a good house is built on a solid foundation, we all know what time it is at those clubs.
rico – with maturity OC will change, I heard RVP was worse and he was our captain once.
‘Ts, he terrorised us didn’t he?’ A bit confused there… 😉
Dna, its the ethos of the club… we can blame AW all we want but the other yanks at Anfield are not laughing all the way to the bank with a possible £40M coming in… Both liverpool yanks are taking a tough stance. Considering Liverpool need a new stadium they are looking at the fans pride… we sell to any creep who comes window shopping at our club.
Just my view only… but I think the issue with some English players is to do with the football culture. If you listen to any English player who was born in this country (not the Zaha of this world) they all think that to become a fans favourite or be exciting you have to run at defenders.
Players like Gotze and Hazard can do that but learn to vary their game to suit, even if it means passing the ball backwards or sideways sometimes.
You know what Gdna – It’s good that you can come back here and actually debate things and be ‘sensible’..
Rico, I just re-read Dna 5:55. Absolute WoW. 😮
Got to nip off and get dinner. Back shortly….
Ts, I am sure McCarthy caused up probs when we played Wigan? Maybe I am wrong…
We beat Wigan 4-1 Rico.
He was just good in the Wembley game.
@ 6:24 Ts – i slightly disagree, my personal opinion is the club they choose to represent when the big boys come calling, i remember watching a youngster that play for Chelsea about 2 yrs ago (Josh McEachran) technically sound and because of the chavs big spending he never got much playing time, when he would be better off going back to the championship and progressing. Zaha will be non-existent when moyes starts feeling heat in the kitchen.
I was watching the season review and it really concerns me how poor szczesny is when he is facing long range shots.he is quite poor and fabianski is much better.its looking increasingly likely that fabianski will start on matchday 1.
GDNA its really a shame that McEachran did not kick on.at the time chav fans were saying how much better he was compared.to jack but he has never been given a fighting chance.
It’s the lack of true competitive reserve team football, Sending kids out on loan doesn’t work they get pushed into becoming bit part players. All of them require playing time and proper league football under their parent club’s guidance is the only way for them to get it. Instead of spending fortunes on purpose built training grounds the F.a should fund proper football for the younger ones to aid their development and subsequently the national team.
Good point Dna.. Wright Phillips is an example. I blame his dad for that.
Kt- we have joked Scez is short sighted on here before… I think flappy is a very good keeper. His issue is in his head.
All the non-entities are offering their 2 cents to the Suarez situations..
Ts – Do u think Liverpool will take 42.5 plus adds on for Suarez?
Fabianski has always been more talented than szczesny in my view.if he had confidence in himself we wouldn’t even be talking about cesar.so far in preseason AW seems to habe put his faith in fabianski and i see him starting the season as our no.1 barring an injury.
Dna its not about the amount per se… I think it is damage limitation.
It has to be in a way that doesn’t make liverpoo’d look like they are helping a competitor, because other clubs assume AFC is the easiest club to catch in the top 4.
If the chavs had offered that amount, there won’t have been any uproar imo.
GDNA it depends on the add ons.I would put £5mil on us winning the CL next season as part of the add ons 😉
exactly ts.we are the team.the likes of pool are targetting in the top 4 race and they know if we sign suarez the top 4 positions are as good as locked.
ktr7 – They both have their moments, there is no doubts that they can be better, but for a team like afc i think we need a wiser and a older head between the sticks.
A lot of keepers are over rated… Sketenburg is a reserve at Roma… is krul better than what we have?But some fans will prefer those to what we have.
Football fans are like typical men who assume all those super models lok as good us the airbrushed photos in real life.
I think the dippers will take a % sell on clause. It will make some ignorant fans happy…
so true ts, but i think afc is going to put a third bid in and suarez is going to put in a transfer request, we might be the only club who are interested in suarez at the moment and who is willing to pay over 40 mil, Rm wants gareth, because i’m sure bale won’t be playing in the PL next season. When zidane and comapny start texting him he is going to snap.
I don’t think Real will buy Suarez. their 3 signings don’t sell jerseys. Bale would in my opinion.
When Gerv leaves i hope Gnabry/Ryo don’t replace him.they have not shown any signs of being ready imo.we must buy a winger and a proven one at that.
Madrid want Bale and they always get who they want.Suarez links to madrid only came when he said he dreams of playing for them.also they are quite happy with morata/jese as back up to Benzema.
Regardless Ts, he still caused us problems, even though his side lost 😉
Evening all….
Some suggest that Theo Walcott might be the deal clincher for Suarez 🙁
Just reading that real Madrid are in for Suarez…
What, that won’t be a good deal i.e Theo going the other way.
Are you sure about Suarez to Unreal…
you can be sure madrid will get bale.they cannot afford to wait for next summer because if bale shines again thr likes of psg/monaco will enter the bidding and they’ll lose.however he is still not worth the figures being thrown around by thr media.
I’m not, just read it on NN…
I’d hate to see TW go there, we haven;t seen the best of him yet…
I hope its not 40M and Theo…
unless we are going to get a player like Reus there is no way theo is leaving.when bale leaves he will be the best wing forward in the country imo.21 goals and 14 assists is a superb return.i expect him to top that next season.
When will this stupid Kondogbia rumours go away?
Morning all…
Decil on your 11.43am, that was the first time in a while i played him deep.
He does play everywhere, and both feet are pretty good 🙂
Any signings yet lol??
So do I Ts… Because Theo would get at least £15m on the open market… In any case, he shouldn’t be sold, not this summer…
£15M for an England international… I will say £25M
Hi Scott…
For all the bashing theo gets he scored against spurs,man u,liverpool,Everton and chelsea all those teams were around us in the league.not many players this past season can better that.
Exactly Kt e Theo. I will continue to bash him for his work ethics but he turns up when needed. One of a very few including Kos, Sagna and Tr07 who do that…
I heard Kondogbia is going to madrid ts.they are apparently going to loan him out for the season.he is going to take Alonso’s squad role next year.
Hi Scott..
Spot on Kt, he loves the big games…
Ts, Ramsey does 😉
Iv’e knocked Giroud and Podolski, but second season for them may just be much much better – and I think it will. especially if we get a bit of competition up front.. ie uuurrmmmmm Suarez 😉
I do not rate him at all… he is not a DM. he looks looks good next to Medel. he is 1 of those CM who needs an old school DM next to him.
I thought Asier Illarramendi was alonso replacement?
I was not going to mention AR16’s name just in case i get barred again 🙂
😆 Ts…
Theo gets stick for not being messi.wenger once compared the 2 and it seems fans expected more.even against urawa reds he was our most dangerous player despite missing a few chances.he is our most dangerous attacker at the club.
Speaking of preseason of all the 17 goals we scored only 2 were scored by midfielders (ox/eisfeld).that is a majo concern imo.
I’m done for the day folks… Catch you all tomorrow…
Have a good night all, stay safe……. 🙂
19 goals; it is a concern kt.. we are not scoring enough from midfield.
Ts he is meant to replace alonso in the squad but illaramendi will take alonso’s place in the starting 11.
Night Rico…
Kt, Ts included that in his tour conclusion post, it is worrying…
But, that’s because the balance is wrong imho – we have MA and Ramsey sitting back to protect the defence, that should be a one man job most of the time so we lose out with our creative play and having players being in the position to score…
Night Ts, and all, gone now…
Thanks for reminding me ts.we’ll not compete unless the midfield starts contributing in terms of goals.its a major concern that only the ox who seems likely to score from midfield in open play.
Tr07 has to come back to his 2006 to 2007 form… he was a goalscorer at Dortmond.
He used to score spectacular goals ts.most dortmund young players were inspired by him.even reus said rosicky was his role model growing up.am not sure we should be relying on him to start scoring again.the likes of jack and rambo have to really step up.
Rambo gets in good positions. He may score goals like Gerard or Gundagon next season. Jack need sto be our play maker on the lw…
Ramsey’s weakness is mainly due to lack off composure.jack on the other hand has issues shooting let alone composure.ox will score loads in midfield.
Rambo use to score before his injury…
Ox will score goals as you have said, I believe that.
I said the other day that if Aaron can start banging goals in, every club in the world will be after him.
Still feeling awfully chuffed over winning the carnival yesterday 🙂
Hi All I think that Liverpool need to concentrate on not finishing 6th,7th,8th then they can have a crack at the top four, you must learn to walk before you run. I don’t like the fact Micheal Owen is talking as well, he was quick to jump ship to go n sit on th bench for Unreal and look at what happened ended up warming the bench at Manure and stoke. I think the fear factor is kicking in for them a feeling of waking up a sleeping giant that will eventually step on them.
I should add it was mainly against sides shooting from halfway…..”good kick Johnny”…..but it proved once and for all to the kids themselves that the simple way to goal is letting the ball do the work.
Sorry for the gloating, but i am really floating 🙂
i still remember his goal against portsmouth.hope he can get back to that level.
Ox as an AM could easily end up scoring 15-20 goals a season.the game against napoli will be a huge indicator of how our midfield will shape up next season.i’ll be very keen on the roles of jack and ox.
I can tell Scott… that should a sign of things to come re Arsenal too. lol
Hi Henny, the dippers have called all their ex-managers out of the wood works to comment on a respectful bid. Its not like we bid £20M.
I think Ramsey gets in great scoring positions and he is always willing to get into the box once he sharpens up his true quality will be there for all to enjoy
Ts I agree it’s alot of Money, I’m just getting frustrated at the disrespect coming our way. Regarding the convo about are future midfield of ox,Rambo,and Jack I think that will be great but I think right now Ox can play the box to box better then jack. The reason I say this is the ox knows when to dribble and when to keep it simple jack loves to dribble any opportunity he gets. I think it would be a good idea for him to play out on the wings so he can interchange positions like rosicky and cazorla do
Ha ha ha Henny, kt, scott, Cg, CH and myself discuss this JW enigma all the time.
welcome to the family… 🙂
liverpool fans think suarez coming to us is a move sideways :O i wonder what the likes of swansea have to say about that 😉
Someone, somewhere made a very relevant quote the other day.
Rodgers keeps mouthing off about Suarez sowing some loyalty.
Funny he never felt the same way when leaving Swansea.
Kt- Swansea have made some good signings. but I think Michael will concentrate on the UEFA cup so they may not fare that well…
😀 scott i said something similar a few days ago… he is a funny bell-end. insulting AFC like that. if Liverpoo’d were that great what is their football standing and their revenue intake like?
Am beginning to like the idea of jack on the wing…however it tells you just how talented he is that we seem to change our opinions everyday henny.welcome to the club 🙂 id love to hear what AW’s view is.
Thank you for your warm welcome, I love Jack is close control and the he turns away from people is great. I think AW should do the same with jack like he did with Rambo n Ox, but I think the pressure from him to play Jack is high especially in the media
Ginge, it probably was you mate.
I could not remember who said it, but it was to the point.
Henny, criticise Aaron and the welcome won’t be so nice hahaha.
Kidding mate…..enjoy HH…..it is the best Arsenal mob of all, and i know, i have been kicked out of enough of them 🙂
Ditto- Henny. Kt and I have been discussing this for a few months now.
Henny, the family rules will be given to you by Rico or WAth when you are next around I am sure. We are all cool, reasonable people. Just don’t use the c word here, lady Rico our head mistress does not allow that.
We talk about anything from ladies shoes, to international cuisine to referee conspiracies. 🙂
Just don’t say Scez or R16 is crap here… Scott will have you. 😛
Lol, thanks Scott I have been watching from a far and I like the set up here good discussions and some really good points. I am a Ramsey fan I remember his potential before the leg break and I feel he is coming back with a force
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a MF trio of jack/rambo/ox at the emirates cup this weekend at some point.if rambo can replicate arteta’s role accordingly then that midfield has a lot of potential in it.
what i really like about ramsey is how well he probides overloads in both attack and defence.he also has a knack of smelling danger to make an interception.i also like how well he dispossesses players when he senses they have made a poor touch.that is why his tackling success is so high.he is going to have a monster of a season.
‘the pressure from him to play Jack is high especially in the media’ especially in the season before a world cup where JW10 is meant to be our (England’s) saviour.
I don’t about you guys but I get the feeling that Serge and Ryo are going to feature heavily this season
I do see Ramsey becoming the conductor of the midfield I was watching one of the preseason games and he was instructing some of the younger players or making runs or coming deeper to collect the ball or even the defence
On whom to pass to
Ts I think the pressure on the media stops players from growing and developing properly, I blame them for the effect they had on Walcott, if he had not been taken to that first World Cup he would of been able to concentrate on his game more and AW free to experiment with him instead of wasting time defending him
Kt, if you recorded the arsenal vs red Diamonds match… just re-watch the first 5 minutes again. JW’s deficiencies can be summed up in that section.
Never in that time did he ever take up a defensive position or take a position at the base of the midfield 3. Playing a midfield 3 requires players to be forming a dynamic and fluid ‘v’ or triangle at all times. It should be a ‘V’, ” or an inverted ‘V’ at all time. JW and SC19 struggle to do that when playing in that formation. What then happens is the other 2 midfielders trying to form the shape around JW who is mostly attracted to the ball.
Henny where do you see wenger deploying jack this season?…
Henny, I remember saying on here last september after the man $hitty game 1-1 draw when AR16 played on the RHS. Most people were slating him and I said I rated Ramsey higher than JW. It was outlandish but I was certain with what I saw.
My favourite midfielders of all time were Matthias, Rijkaard, Pep and thomas Hasler so I love to see how and where a MF positions himself on the pitch.
I always thought Ramsey had something I did not expect a Welsh boy to have… i.e tactical awareness.
I see him playing jack the box to box role just because its World Cup year and the country is waiting for jack in that position
🙂 henny were are you from?
I mentioned this the other day ts.santi and jack are strongly attracted to the ball and when jack played AM with santi wide last season they ended up occupying the same regions in the final 3 rd which really narrowed down our attacks.both of them don’t do enough off the ball work as compared to someone like rosicky for example.that is also one of the reasons why i said ozil is my ideal no.10 because his movement alone creates gaps for ronaldo to get into those opportunities to score.when you put him in the same team as muller you have an attack that will be very fluid and creating loads of chances through movement alone.
I hope AW sits santi and jack down to address this issue because if they can improve on this aspect we can be able to accomodate them both without harming our structure.
Ts, tactical awareness is on point I remember when he played as right back he did a good job aware of what’s around and behind and still adding to the attack. AW must see something special in him, also people forget that Manure were after him and he choose Arsenal to me that all i need to see in a player unlike Zaha who supports arsenal but choose united
I think England view him as a no.10 with Gerrard/cleverly supporting him like in the Brazil game.
You did Kt. I think JW also touched on the issue recently during an interview. My worry is that JW expects to be a starter… the same as most Arsenal fans. But I always believed like Emma that Song made JW look very good in JW’s debut season.
The point is JW has only had 1.5 seasons experience playing as a CM. At youth level Frimps, Eastmond and Oguzhan played through the middle. JW was always a left winger in the Emre kind of role.
Kt you are right on that, I do really wish the burden that’s being placed on Jacks shoulders could be lifted after all there’s 10 other players that will be on the pitch with him
good point about AR16 playing at RB… the same way a fragile Kristoffer Olsson played there during this tour because he is tactically sound.
Football has become like basketball. If a player is smart enough to get in a good position behind play he has a very good chance of being an effective defender.
Reason why Macherano can play Cb at the highest level for barca…
What do you lot make of elsfield not playing jn the last game I like what I see of him and I hope he gets more chances this season
You cn imagine the uproar if jack becomes a bench player…i hope he is willing to learn ts.
henny- Eisfield is one of my fave players outside the first team. My fave player in the whole squad is the lil Mozart and I call Eisfield the young Mozart. Unfortunately, i do not think Aw will paly hima head of Ox or JW. I also rate Aneke highly, the loan move has made him very disciplined and focused. In actual fact he is the best English prospect in the country imho…he is issues is that he is so good no one knows what position he is effective at.
Eisfeld reminds me alot of rosicky.in the lower levels he has played on the wing alot because he will end up in the middle.the fact that he gets into goalscoring positions tells you that he definitely has a lot of intelligence.i don’t know why wenger did not use him more because i like the look of him.
ts zanetti is another such player.he has played equally well at almost any position for inter without fail.
J. Zanetti is one of my fave Argentine players. How old is he now. I read he has been given a new contract. Is it true?
i am hoping Aw did not use him because he knows what he can get from Eisfield.
Just one or two tops ups and we are in for a big season.
He tore his ligaments towards the end of last season.he is 41 i think.
I agree with you both young rosicky indeed, i love mozarts turn and pace and the way he changed the pace of the game as well I hope he stays fit for the whole season that would amazing
fingers crossed Scott..
Aneke looks good strong powerful composed on the ball tactically aware and able to set an attacker going. Also he has discipline in the way he holds his position and knows when to drive forward. I also like Chuba I think his movement is good, i think the movement if the ball is something that hard to teach and the boy has it already
Eisfeld is another player that will guarantee you goals from midfield.I remember how good he looked when he came on in the Reading match of the Capital one cup.i hope we see him at the Emirates cup.
Henny Rosicky is my favourite player in the squad and id like him to retire here.he is unbelievably talented.
I think he deserves to retire at the club and I hope he does a giggs on us and keep on improving with the years
AR16 and Kos ran a close 2nd to Mozart. A fit Diaby is also worth a 4th spot 🙂
Henny i agree with you on Akpom’s movement which is very good.if poldi had that movement he would be a deadly forward.
Well I have to wish you all good night. “I’ll be back”
Sagna, I love too… he has given 100% ever since he joined us… crazy hair-do and all… lol
Night Henny…
i hope you visit again to feed the rest of the friendly gang.
… to meet the gang even phew … lol
Good to see you are a diaby fan ts.its such a shame he is always injured since he alone would solve alot of our midfield issues.
Indeed poldi looks to stiff for me when he is playing upfront, Walcotts movement has look good in preseason just missing that final touch at the moment
Every man who knows a bit about football from Zidane to Djoukaerff loves Diaby. Its a shame really.
It is also odd that Aladierre is having his best form in his late 20’s after all the injuries he had with us and middlesborough.
I’m looking forward to coming back cheers guys
I loved the Poldi of 6 years ago, him and schweinsteiger on the flanks for Germany. wow
I still like him though. He is another who does well on the big stage.
I would love Akpom to be the first striker AW and Arsenal have produced from the academy since AW joined us.
I shall call it a night… kt
No Micko today?
Night Scott and all…
lmfao…
Who looks a little short of a gallop?
Pre-season games always find players in various degrees of condition, depending on whether they have played any international football and how well they have looked after themselves during their down time. Most of United’s players looked lean enough but the Brazilian Anderson looks as though he has spent most of his summer in a burger bar.
Maybe he has already given up on his United career or maybe he thinks his new manager won’t notice that he can hardly get into his shirts. If he really does think that, then he’s more stupid than he looks.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2380461/Manchester-United-Arsenal-Liverpool-Manchester-City-Chelsea-How-Premier-League-teams-pre-seasons-gone.html#ixzz2WT5eLbVT
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Coach….. PMT = Pre-Match Tension….
Canuck, 3 Hail Marys and 2 Our Fathers.
Ginge, see that our Under 21’s (I think) are out of the Ruhr Cup on penalty shoot-out…
Morning all..
Hi Rico,
My turn…have we signed anyone that cost us money?
At least Chamakh got a loan out. Just our usual suspect Bendtner left to kick out of the nest.
Morning friends,
Kev, did you enjoy your day out on the beach topping up your tan? lol
Arsenal are as bad on penalties as England are…
Kev, are you doing Orient tonight?
Morning Brad, no 🙁
Morning Ts…
New post up now…