Morning all
What is your view on experience versus Academies, youngsters training programs and schooling, a subject which has been raised many times with Arsenal.
Arsene’s way has been to sign up youngsters and mould them into typical Arsenal players, take them on and train them to play the Arsenal way, a club apprenticeship if you like. They start at the bottom and will, as their education broadens, finish up an Arsenal first team player.
When I say experienced, I mean buying what most people would call finished players. Players who have been trained elsewhere and have gained experience by actually playing competitive football and are either looking for a new challenge or maybe a bit more money. Whatever the reasons this kind player can still be asset to the club they join.
We all know that the wages are miles apart with both sets of people, youngsters start in the hundreds where as experience in the thousands. I often ask myself if the academy is a worthwhile program, as sometimes I wonder if what/who we actually get to see at the end of it all is really worth the effort.
We can look back at some of the players who have come through the academy and see just how many have been sold on/released and I wonder if this system really works. The idea itself sounds like a good way to produce good young players fairly cheaply who will go on for several years for their parent clubs, but honestly there doesn’t seem that many that actually make it.
Wilshere, Ramsey, Coquelin, Gibbs, Djourou, Diaby, Fabianski, Mannone and Szczesny – these are players who have played in the first team fairly regularly and I have to say that most have had their a fair share of injuries.
Has this Project Youth system moved us that far forward?
Last season was in football terms a bad year for us. We started the season with suspensions and then injuries and we didn’t help ourselves by not buying quality/experienced players when we had the chance. Our last-minute signings tried their best, but in truth they struggled big time.
This season we have allowed the players that wanted to move on, go. We have also brought three players in Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud experienced players and it looks like we have struck gold with Cazorla and Podolski. Not knocking Giroud but he hasn’t hit the ground running but that is not to say he won’t. He did score a tasty goal last night though. Having come ff the bench, his late goal earned France a draw with Spain.
The difference with the team this year is we actually look like a football team and that is after losing Fabregas Nasri Clichy and van Persie who i think you would agree weren’t that bad. No doubt many of you think ill of them now, but that’s another story.
Now the question I put to you is, were you excited when the transfer window was about to open and the news came out that Podolski had signed?
The window hadn’t even opened and we had Podolski in the bag and the club made a statement saying that he wouldn’t be the only one joining us. My heart fluttered at that time, two new signings? Cripes I thought, who else is leaving.
I believe we spent under £50 million and with the players we sold, we probably made a profit but do you not think that this is a more exciting way to start this season?
Not being cruel but did you feel the same excitement when Coquelin was brought into the team or even Ramsey? No me either!
Jenkinson signing didn’t fluttered my feathers at all, £1 million was hardly worth the trouble was it?
Mind you I’m not saying that now about young Jenks, he’s been outstanding and worth every penny of that £1 million but you see where I am coming from?
He was brought in but not as an academy student, he started to play fairly quick, similarly with Oxlade-Chamberlain who we paid £12 million for. Who is this lad who we have paid so much for but of course his value will have increased hugely by now but back then it was crazy talk for an unknown.
Outsiders coming in has always raised my eyebrows, mainly because most of them I know very little about. Wenger has his faults, although I have complete faith in him, he manages in strange ways. Just when I think I have him figured out he does something like the Ox transfer or even Jenkinson.
Wenger is often labelled a ditherer, a miserly type of chap and then he signs Podolski before the window opens. Some critics may call him eccentric, others mad but I have to take a step back and say I think the man is a genius.
He keeps my interest, he frustrates me but he also excites me. Where else or who else would or could give you that feeling?
Am I glad I’m a Gooner?
You bet I am……
COYG’S
Written by Steve Palmer
Morning all,
Another fine post Steve.
Experience for me any day of the week when the first team squad lacks depth.
But, there is a place for project youth too as long as it is not at the expense of the first team and signing players who we really need.
My own view is we have far too many youth players at either the same age or in the same position and they are all fighting against each other for a chance. And we hold on to average youth players too long….
Another great guest post, good stuff steve. I for one think that there is some very exciting youngsters coming through now, although I’m not sure how many have come through the academy. Big futures for yennaris, aneke, afobe, eisfield, gnarby, miquel, martinez and Henderson. And yes arsene is a genius, a sometimes frustrating genius, but a genius nonetheless.
Hi DU, Steve a regular writer 🙂
good morning all,
A fine past Steve. I didn’t realise you were of the AKB. 😀
In my opinion youth works if you use our 2007/2008 approach where we had a good mixture of youthful hunger and experience pro to guide when things get ‘grey’ around February.
Dortmund and Marca do it very well with a very good mix by bringing through their own youth and buying pros aged over 26 like villa etc.
I think Monsieur Wenger has taken that approach now which can only be good.
Morning tsgh…
What’s an AKB 😉
Arsene is a genius even sir alex can attest to that. He knows when to block, jab, duck & uppercut (Shuyuken) I prerfer experience to youth as well, black belt to yellow belt. Keep the faith, gunners for life.
There is also a big difference between project youth Denilson and project youth Wilshere …..
Haha …. Arsene knows brigade/Best
You are right there on Denilson. He looks like the type of player who looks good in training but shite on a match day. 😀
Welcome Deino. He is very clever, he has the paperwork to prove it, but a genius in football, i’m not convinced on that one….
Morning Rico and all. I had to laugh at Sandro Rossell, Barcelona’s top man, at least until he is voted out for another suited pikey. The Catalunyan cretin has accused both Man City and Arsenal of destabilising Barcelona players. Man City because they have the temerity to want to buy Cesc and serial cheat and general scumbag Sergio Busquets and Arsenal because they lured young players away with the offer of “big money”. This from a man who represents one of Spain’s big two clubs. A man so afraid of genuine competition that, together with General Franco’s old team, Real Madrid, operate a monopoly in Spanish football where they keep all the TV money, allowing a few crumbs to fall from their table to the clubs below, most of whom are in serious debt. This of course maintains the static quo within Spain. While tens of thousands sleep in the streets in protest at the fact they will probably never have a job, beak faced Rossell sits in his ivory tower in the Bernabeu and says, “Let them eat churros”. This “I’m alright Miguel” attitude typifies both the man and the once-great club he temporarily represents.
Exactly tsgh – but we held onto him far too long, that’s the blip imho. Persisting with average young players, get rid and get the next in…
I knew really what Akb is 😉
Morning Adam – I try and ignore what comes out of Spain these days, unless it’s Santi ..
Evening all.
How has everyone been???
I think we have hit the top of the hill,so to speak.
That is,we have toiled for years now,awaiting the youth policy to come to fruition,and it has started to pay dividends.
Over the last two off seasons though,we have seen hardened,experienced professionals brought in to compliment the kids,and haven’t they done just that?
Financially,the club has probably never been better off,and this is no doubt in part to the spending policy of the better part of the last decade.
Plenty have complained about it,but it may just hold us in good stead for the next few years.
Nobody will ever come close to convincing me that Arsenal is not run in a way all Gooners should be proud of.
That is not to say our squad should not continue to be complimented by bringing in quality players though.
As i said,we may finally be at the top of the hill,and the downhill run is looking good.
Hi Scott, you been catching up on your sleep?? 😉
My own view is that while we are running the right way, we have been a bit too tight with our spending. Just one more player every now and again could have made a huge difference…
Hi Rico….i have had some earlier starts at work,and the interDull takes the fun away out of football for a week or two lol.
Yep,the odd new player would have helped,but IF it has been part of a strategy to set us up for the future,then so be it.
Big IF 🙂
It sure does Scott, the most exciting bit has been the roof that was never closed 😉
Think many of us have said that what narks more is us fans being fed the ‘we have money’ line each and every transfer window and the ‘i’m not afraid to spend £35M on a special player’ line…
Had the board, or latterly Kroenke come and and told us categorically that we have very little money and that would be the case for a few years, we would understand more…
the BFG confidence must be low after doing an Arsenal on his team mates. 4-4
I just hope that last summer showed us the way we are now going to be doing our transfer business….
And against Sweden wasn’t it tsgh? nice to see him score though…
Yes it was. Kozzer was good against spain but gave away a penalty
Oh dear, at least it was for France and not us 😉
How good was Girouds finish??
To be honest,i would have had my money on his first Arsenal toal being a header……superb finish!!
Good morning all,
I like the post Steve,
I’ll sit on the fence with this one, a mix of youth and experience seems to be the way forward.
There is one proviso of course, Wenger’s long stated opinion that buying experienced players prevents the emergence of young talent. Obviously this has slightly gone out of the window now and that is no bad thing.
I think that in the past Wenger has found it difficult to release youngsters who were not making sufficient progress, he has had an almost paternal attachment to “his” kids and probably hung on to too many for too long.
In general the transfer market is out of control, transfer fees are grotesquely inflated and it doesn’t take a genius to see that the present situation is unsustainable in the long term.
FFP may make a bit of a difference, but self financing is really the only way forward.
A bit harsh on Mertes there tsgh, he’s not the only defender in the German team.
I didn’t see it Scott..
Morning JW, I’m all for the mix too, who wouldn’t want to see the likes of Jack, Jenks and The Ox but over the years we have had too many younger players in the side…
At least we seem to be moving away from that now…
Rico,typical of Giroud,he worked into space beautifully and then steered a lovely header home.
He really is class.
I know Steve suggests Giroud hasn’t hit the ground running Scott but he has done everything right bar score enough and as we all know that can take time. Now that is behind him, he’s off the mark in the PL and what we need to do now is keep on playing him.
He is no Thierry Henry, there will never be another like him but you can see he is certainly no Chamakh either. Really hope he starts on Saturday, he could just get one with his head then ….
JW- it was a bit of tongue- in-check on the BFG. That was what some pundits said last night even though he was not even with Arsenal that year.
Punditspeak? tsgh, then there is no case to answer 🙂
Has punditry always been as bad as it is now? How long will it be before that paragon of the footballing art Joey Barton is ensconced on the MotD sofa?
rico I agree with your comment at 11:30.
Last January when his then chairman stated that OG12’s asking price was 40m to the Man city, spuds and Chavs link, one person stated (probably Pires) that he could be worth that when he is in good scoring form. The only problem with OG12 when you look at his record is that when he goes through a dry patch (never a bad patch) which can be often he looks like he will never score again.
most strikers score 1’s every 3 games whilst OG12 will score in 3 to 5 matches straight and then go another 5 or 6 without scoring. Its something we have to live with because even when he is not scoring his contribution to the team is very encouraging.
Just seen the Giroud goal, not bad 😉
JW very true there mate. lol
He will JB will be trained by Savage first and then promoted to join Alan Hansen to tell the UK that Arsenal would be world champions if they had him in the team.
Was that not what his agent said when Joey was looking for a club last year and guess what ‘the ginge man’ agreed
Bright and breezy, wet under foot, off for a walk.
Tsgh – Which is just why we really need a goal machine. One who will just batter them in for fun like Drog used to do for Chelsea..
Otherwise, Giroud will let the pressure build up and up and he and we will suffer.
Some will say Giroud could cope, I beg to differ, how many times already this season has he mentioned the lack of goals in an i/v…
you guys see the goal scored by Orango? (spelling)
Go steady JW..
Rico, whilst arsene has the capacity to infuriate at times, I don’t think anyone can doubt his genius as a manager. After the invincibles that was never in doubt.
Orango of Venezuela
We will have to agree to differ Down under… 😉
Rico but even Van Basten or Muller never scored every game. I understand you by the way.
What I am saying is if he scored every 3rd game like any top striker did it would be a problem.
That is the only reason why I would keep TW14 because he scores in big matches unlike TH14 who never did. 2006 anyone? I may seem unfair but even for france he hardly ever played in finals 1998 and 200o whilst Trezeguet and wiltord were preferred to him in big matches.
Drogba was never as good as King Henry but he scored in big matches even when playing badly. Champions league as an example.
drogba 8 scored finals in finals whilst Henry scored 1 for both club and country
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/9282912/Chelsea-striker-Didier-Drogba-Ivorians-crucial-goals.html
Rico,he hasn’t let the pressure get to him,as if he had,he wouldn’t have scored such a great goal in his last game,nor grabbed one in the cup tie.
I would prefer he didn’t mention it,but he ctainly hasn’t let it worry him.
All along he has snuck into great positions,and this is the mark of a great striker.
Good or average strikers,when out of form,rarely even look likely to score.
Giroud will get a hell of a lot better,as well.
Have to laugh, Sky Sports have spoken to Danny rose and a few others in relation to last nights goings on in Serbia.
At the same time, they have the two comments made by idiots Blatter and Platini who said there is no racism in football!
Serbia should be kicked out of International football.
Dermott Gallagher says that the players should have gone off long before the end….
A guy poignantly responded to a Facebook request from Bodyform calling for user specific input and experiences. We create, you celebrate.
Hi , as a man I must ask why you have lied to us for all these years . As a child I watched your advertisements with interest as to how at this wonderful time of the month that the female gets to enjoy so many things ,I felt a little jealous. I mean bike riding , rollercoasters, dancing, parachuting, why couldn’t I get to enjoy this time of joy and ‘blue water’ and wings !! Dam my penis!! Then I got a girlfriend, was so happy and couldn’t wait for this joyous adventurous time of the month to happen …..you lied !! There was no joy , no extreme sports , no blue water spilling over wings and no rocking soundtrack oh no no no. Instead I had to fight against every male urge I had to resist screaming wooaaahhhhh bodddyyyyyyfooorrrmmm bodyformed for youuuuuuu as my lady changed from the loving , gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin. Thanks for setting me up for a fall bodyform , you crafty bugger.
Tsgh…..funny you mention that on Henry,but i saw yesterday that Ronaldo scores more goals against top clubs,and more decisive goals than Messi,who seems to bang 3 or 4 v ordinary opponents in the league at will.
The obvious comeback is Messi scored 2 v Real,but they didn’t win the game,and these stats are over 2 full seasons.
That’s why I suggest a Drogba kind of player Tsgh, someone to whom the opposition doesn’t matter. Someone who can play rubbish for 85 mins but still win the game with a goal…
RvP didn’t always score in the big games either, or maybe better to say in the games which matter…
You know my view on Theo 😉
Scoring every 3rd game is ok if we are getting goals from elsewhere, but if they dry up, we are snookered…
Ohhh and an excellent questionnaire by SP. Will be back later to comment.
Afternoon Goonerdom worshippers. Catch ya later.
Scott, so far no, but my comment was about in the future, say he goes 3, 4, 5 goals without a game, and with it we drop points. Look what happened to Torres, it ‘could’ happen to Giroud.
The way we create chances though, I hope he doesn’t go on a dry run….
DU I think he is a genius but Fofana and also Jasper Rees have both summed it before that Aw sees football as a game. Whilst Maureenho and Red Nose see it as war. AW will not do anything to win a match whilst other managers will. If only he had half the mentality of Red Nose he will be the best ever manager the world has and will ever see.
Even Cruff said the same.
I know some Arsenal fans dont rate AW but why would Bayern Munich want him as manager since 1987 and everytime they lose a manager the ask wenger.
Real Madrid offered the job to Maureenho according to Perez only because AW turn them done. Another reason maureenho hates AW.
Last year after the 8-2 loss PSG offered the job to AW 2 weeks after appointing Ancellotti.
https://twitter.com/ipinjar/status/249384260820148224
Rico, no worries(smiley yellow face)!!!
Definitely agree re-Serbia, they are a disgrace to football and sport in general. Can’t wait to see what blatter et all have to say about it. I imagine it’ll be along the lines of, shake hands lads, followed by, racism what racism!
Rico,any striker can have a dry spell.
There isn’t much point in discussing it hapoening with Giroud,because i would be surprised if he didn’t at some stage.
The thing is,even if he does,we are better off now than last year because each game,we held our breath hoping our only scorer didn’t get injured.
Now,if Giroud is quiet,we can count on either Cazorla,Podolski or Gervinho to pounce.
Oh,and Theo as well 🙂
We have more options,and that is how is should be.
Scott- that is the reason why Arsenal did not win the CL in 2006 even with 10 players. Henry had 2 or 3 chances and missed all. In 2007 against chavs in the mickey mouse cap after Rico’s adopted son ; ) had put us 1 up henry missed 2 chances and guess what Drogba scored both goals after being almost useless to win the cup. But we still love henry.
The problem is that Arsenal has never had big game players like Gerald since AW arrival
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/6371613.stm
Hi Dg and catch you later…
Another example is the UEFA cup final in 2000
arsenal record in penalties is comparable to England’s.Example last year at manure you know who missing a penalty when it mattered at 2-0.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/penalty-story
Please don’t anyone think i am having a pop at Giroud, honestly i’m not 😉
But I still think we need another out and out goal scorer, unless TW is staying and given a central role but the more time that passes, it would appear his heart is set on leaving….
I keep going back to the fact that Giroud wasn’t even a professional footballer a few years ago when considering his ability and potential.
Add this to the fact he has come from the French league,and he has been very,very impressive so far.
Hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooooooo all,
How are you? Been long since been here, but finally got some time off.
I dont think you are Rico.
all i am trying to say is without AW we MAY be worse off than we are. He has major floors as I have stated before and annoys me too at the same time but being a ‘sadist’ as I am 😀 I enjoy the pain sometimes.
I come from a family who mostly support manure and they make me laugh when they think they are good. I tell them they must as well start every season in August with the 15 points on the table having played 0 games whilst every one else has 0 points 0 played.
I know we are 6 points worse off on paper whilst manure are 4 points ahead of where they should be.
every year they finish at least 10 points ahead of us, if you factor in that we have not had a penalty at home for 2 years whilst manure have double digits that should say something.
I know I am paranoid…Lol
@tsgh If I am not wrong it was 2-1 and it was around 41st minute when he missed penalty and then we got run around the park. But to be fair some of those goals were spectacular. Those Rooney free kicks were just outrageous.
And I agree 100% for AW its a beautiful game that he loves for others its something else. And AW loves watching, playing and training for those games. And people should remember he is the most loyal man ever. Even at shoe string budget, he cut up his hand by selling his best players who were paid good money to make sure he raised enough money for club to pay up some of the payments and he still does to make sure club always remains solvent so that it is not just his legacy but it remains legacy of you, mine and even our grand sons and grand grand sons.
Tsgh, completely agree. IMHO anyone who has achieved what AW has is a footballing genius. A very loyal genius as well and whilst we haven’t won any silverware for a while, we have achieved things(best stadium in england, nay the world) that i dont think we could’ve without him.10 times the man of slurry mcpurplenose and Jose ‘hey big spender’ Mourinho as well!
Afternoon all,
Serbia, seems like JT’s kinda place, what a bunch of scumbags !
JW, did you see rico’s 11.52, there’s one of your five a day right there, nothing to this lark.
Down Under 11.52, he got lucky, anyone would tell you that.
Satan and DU exactly. Platini hates AW because his dad Aldo even prefers AW to his own son Michael. Because he said he has never met a man with such loyalty as Wenger.
AS Nancy released AW free of charge after being relegated and the chairman told the fans AW even decided to not take salary to get some of his own players paid. Who will ever do that…?
A living legend.
Ha ha tsgh – Manure really are poor this season, and without you know who’s goals, they’d be nearer the bottom…. But I guess they won’t be referred to as a one man team will they.. 😉
You are not paranoid 😉
Hi S2S, good to see you back here…
The real winner is…. both.
Ideal world a mix of youth and experience is the way to go.
Afternoon Micko, you always seem to spot one don’t you 🙂
Are you hung over, four goals in one game, in fact one year for Ireland, you must be happy 🙂
Back in a bit…
With reference to the recent Wenger signings, I feel that they all have a winning mentality, that is namely Arteta, Mertsacker, Jenkinson, Cazorla, Podolski and probably even Giroud. This bodes really well for the present and the future.
Another very good post.
Micko@1:00
You make your own luck, anyone will tell you that!!!
Getting late down here, I’m off.
Afternoon all!
Bendtner was booking again.. .
Giroud scored a good goal
You are wrong there rico at 1:07 pm, 😀
I thought you said I was paranoid 😉
The media say you wknow who scores because Wayne grannie is being a better footballer by setting him up with goals. When Songiho was doing it last year for you know who it was a one man team. lol
Last season someone scored 1’s in 4 or 5 matches and the media were slating AW for playing that rat as a striker, fast forward to December and the media go on about how he is too good for poor Arsenal.
Night down under…
Hi JM, it was a good goal…
tsgh, i’m just hoping he soon gets injured….
The media talk pants, someone has to set the goals up, he didn’t do it all on his own….
I was very disappointed to find him still scoring goals and playing in October. What rubbing horse intestines on his leg has done for him…lol
Your boy capoue did not play yesterday…
Another good point is OG12 is the only Arsenal player to have scored against Spain. It shows he could make the difference in big games. Benzema like a typical french player goes missing during big matches and scores 2-3 against shite teams.
why are people still saying Mata is better than SC19. But say we should pay 30m for Llorente who is behind Torres who not a good enough to start for Spain.
Did anyone notice Cesc performance piss poor performance? Another of the ‘I am too good for Arsenal so I am going somewhere else to win trophies’.
Arsene Wenger on french commentary http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/video-arsene-wenger-giggles-on-french-tv-as-olivier-giroud-scored-france-equaliser-v-spain/
So was I tsgh, i honestly thought he wouldn’t last this long…. still, plenty of time yet 😉
Fabregas missed a penalty didn’t he, and as for santi, let them carry on, the less he plays for Spain the better for us…
Good point about OG, and France aren’t short of strikers are they?
Did M’Vila play?
SteveyP, its all about getting the balance right, 3 quality players in this summer and 2 promising academy players shown the door raising a few eyebrows in the process, if they’re not deemed good enough sell them and make a little profit along the way,don’t reward them with bumper payrises and contract extentions.
The culling shouldn’t have stopped there either, maybe we’ll see another 2 or 3 spongers move on in January freeing up space for players who wanna give 100% for the club.
Chamakh, Bendtner, Squillaci (no offence Adam) & Arshavin, all they’re doing is suffocating the life out of the squad.
got to pop off again, won’t be long…
Matuidi played instead. No m’villa.
According to ITV Cesc is off to $hi££y.
Do you think he wants to come back to us? He has not stopped talking about us since Aug. I am waiting for him to say, the Barca DNA test was forged by Pique 2 years ago. In fact he has 60-40 Arsenal DNA. 😀
Hi micko,
Maybe the board are thinking if we sell Chamakh for 1 m we can’t get a better replacement for that amount. Bad decision by the way. As for le squid, well…its better I don’t comment.lol
Giroud’s movement is class. His anticipation is excellent. Great goal. His celebration tho? Meh
JW10, CJ25, AA23, sagna, santos, Shitemark all featured in a 2-0 lose against the chavs in a behind closed doors game.
I hate losing against the chavs at any level, but at least JW10 played the full 90 minutes
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/friendly-arsenal-xi-0-2-chelsea-xi-pics
How hard does AW work? He was in france last nite and then he was in Colney first thing to oversee JW10 and the other lads performance in the game.
And they say he is only in for the pay check! 😀
Having grown up with the Don Howe, Terry Neil and George Graham eras. I truly appreciate what AW has done for us Gooners.
Everybody has flaws, but AW has put us on the map.Losing to Gala in 2k and Barca 06 still hurts as it set us back.We would be known as Euro Champs before the Chavs.
I like the academy and what it stands for, it seems the majority will succeed elsewhere, at lower level teams.Maybe its difficult to know who the successes will be until a later age unless you are, a Jack or Cesc.
I like the recent strategy better, a blend of youth filtered with experience. The severe downside to buying experienced, is they do not have Gooner Blood and want a paycheque.
Whereas Frimpong, Wilshere, Jenkinson and Sczensy feel like REAL GOONERS like us, with Gooner Blood running through their veins.
1 mill Tsgh, that would usually be a bargain for somebody !
Never really gave it any thought how much we would get for him, probably end up going for nowt.
Hey Micko, show some respect to him.Shitemark still has holds the UEFA CL record for the most consecutive goals score. 😀
Arsenal11730, you must also remember Pat Jennings on ‘This is your Life’, there were some highlights back then.
Obviously no-one’s told Messi about that Tsgh.
Evening guys…..
Wonder if Hart will get a right old media bashing for that shocking attempt to punch the corner out….
Ches or Mannone would, that’s for sure…..
England were shocking. Did the manager have a call from McPhednose to say dont play Wayne grannie for more than 70 mins
Nice post Steve. I agree, Arsene can frustrate, but i love him and i think hes a genius. About our young talent, we just need a couple great ones to show some loyalty to the club and Arsene. We need to fix this wage structure, eapecially when we re negotiate the big commercial deals. If we can be competetive on salary, we will be able to hold onto our best guys. And then the project will be considered a great success.
Rico- talkingt of goalies.Are Reina performances over the last 2 years since he signed a new contract any better than any of our goalies performance I shall say no. But where are the goalie police to point it out?
Wooney was dire – they all were…
Hi Nt…
Reina has been very average tsgh, me thinks he wants out of anfield…
Evening all, Just walked in and tuned in, its been a long day, Rico once again my thanks for all your hard work, and thank you all for your comments, at the end of the day i don’t think the supporters are too far apart while things are running smoothe Opinions change quickly when things are not so smoothe lets hope were in for a smoothe old season and shut that roof.
goonerd – sorry for not letting you out of moderation earlier, i was away from the computer, hopefully you will pop back soon. Agree re the right mix is ideal….
Evening Steve, no, thank you 🙂
you didn’t miss much with england, they were dire…..
Quiet today Rico have you frightened them all away with your seven different vegetables
The days are often quiet during the international break Steve… Its funny really, its usually more busy when we are playing and losing. I didn’t really notice until someone else mentioned it….
Hi SP1.nice post Sir.
Hiya Ginger, thank you kind sir.
Only managed six today Steve 🙂
Make the most of it, it’s back to my old rubbish tomorrow 😉
Ginger i reckon you right experience with youth the best of both worlds 🙂
Looking forward to it already Rico 🙂
I hope the contents have some thing about our Englands players, not seen the game yet but it sounds bad did any of ours pull on their boots.
Which is what we have now really – Ox, Ramsey, Ches, Gibbs, Jenks. Together with really high quality experience like Podolski, Cazorla, TV, Arteta etc etc….
Ha ha Steve…
Only Ox, 20 mins…
What old rubbish rico? 😉
My old rubbish – did you get your email??
See your mail
OG12 and SC19 loving
http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/gif-arsenal-love-olivier-giroud-santi-cazorla-hug-after-spain-1-france-1/
Could watch that hug all night long, rather than the England game 🙂
Bloomin heck, there has been a murder in Emmerdale 😉
That’s a nice little clip there of Santi and Giroud…
Bet Balotelli wouldn’t be seen doing that….
One thing i will always remember when thinking of Wenger and his policies on how we play the game……..it is just a game,and is meant to be entertaining to those watching.
Plenty will bag Wenger if we get caught on the counter and leak a goal,but then verbally bash Pulis for the way Stoke play,which is totally and utterly defensive.
Last seasonsat the Emirates v Utd was one of my most enjoyable games because it was a brilliant spectacle.
No,i did not enjoy the result,but it was edge of the seat stuff,and the quality was sensational.
It was right up there with our second half v Spuds,as well as Chelsea at SB.
Results aside,i need something to keep me awake at 3am,and these games were brimming with excitement.
Wenger is the man.
Rico,there are only two photo of Balotelli seen hugging in public.
One is him embracing his shrink,and the other,his bank manager!!!
Hi Scott, I can’t ever enjoy a game in which we lose….
Lol Scott
Rico please check your mail
Ha ha Scott re Balotelli…
I have replied tsgh 🙂
Sorry i left it all to you Rico, but i need a bath and i need some sleep, catch you all soon and thank you all Nte Nte 🙂
No probs Steve, not at all. Have a good bath and a good nights sleep. Catch up soon….
Think i am going to call it a day too, have a good night all, day for you Scott 😉
Catch up tomorrow….
Night all….
Nite Rico. Check your mail later
I did, thanks Tsgh 😉
Night to you too…..
Night all.
2-0 defeat versus Chelsea …again!
Ok, u-21 but mostly of our players are internacional players, and play in the first team or are in the bench.
Look at the Chelsea team…. you only know Terry…
Joaquim,forget the result….it was a non event.
It was all about getting some miles into our returning players legs.
They all got through the game,so it was a success!
Morning beautiful people…
Morning all….
It’s a lovely morning bondex, did you get storms in the night?
good morning,
It seems like at arsenal one injury door can’t close without another one opening, rumours have it that flappy could miss months after suffering an ankle injury in training. Doesn’t his contract expire in the summer?
Szcez’s 3 week lay off seem to not to have changed. Many arsenal don’t use everyday lunar calendar.lol
Maybe arsenal don’t use everyday lunar calendar…. I meant..
Morning tsgh, I think you are right on Fabianski, and his contract…
arsenal are being slated this morning for high ticket prices again..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19984968
Maybe the BBC should stick to reporting on the dire England performance last night instead of worrying about Afc…
New post up by the way….