Thomas Vermaelen is living proof that a quality player will settle in to a new club quickly so why is the big German having problems?
Mertesacker is a big strong centre half, he plays for his country, not any old country either, it’s Germany, a tough side.
He came from a tough German league too, playing for a strong Werder Breman side that has always been fighting for top spot in their league, so why is he struggling to settle in?
I’ve only been gone a month from Germany. I have not yet properly acclimatised. Sometimes it feels like an extended holiday. Only slowly am I starting to get used to the fact that the centre of my life is now actually in London.
I have been living in England since the middle of September, but it doesn’t yet feel like home. I don’t have my own house or my own flat. There is a lack of anchor points which I already had in Germany. But that takes time, it’s normal.
We have many new players, but I feel that we have integrated very quickly. I still have communication problems, but given the circumstances this is inevitable.
Arsenal is one of the top teams in the world and the level of the league in general is very high but it is clear that mistakes happen. They are almost inevitable in a team which has not yet gelled.
The coach has been the pride of Arsenal for years. Arsene Wenger does not sign players about whom he is not totally convinced.He gives this feeling to everyone on a daily basis. This knowledge gives me a lot of security. He (Wenger) has a huge reputation there and enjoys complete confidence. For the Arsenal fans Wenger is a hero and he cannot lose this status. There is no one here who is not certain that the success will return.
There’s no point harping on about how our club should have bought our signings early in the summer transfer window, we all know that is the way it should have been, all that is to be said though is it proves we were right.
Pers is confident that things will get better, he makes it clear he doesn’t want Arsene Wenger to fail, he want’s fans to get behind him and support him in the way they have done over the last fifteen years.
All I will say to our big German centre half is – we fans will always support Arsenal, regardless of who manages us but all fans want is the manager back who made Pers think the way he does today….
Will that man be back soon – I bloody well hope so and then, his once hero status may just return…..
However, Ivan Gazidis has opened his mouth again and with it sent a clear message to all Arsenal fans and I wonder what the players think:
We would rather qualify for the Champions League but we have a stable model that can cope without that. Every club is tempted to think that money is the answer to issues but it can be damaging over the longer term.
That doesn’t really make happy reading does it?
Every player wants to play Champions League football, they want to play at the top-level in football. If we don’t qualify for next seasons competition, is he so daft to believe that our players with big ambitions will hang around?
I’m pretty sure we all know they won’t, nice one Ivan!
Finally, and to leave on a positive note, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain starred for the England under 21’s last night, scoring a hat-trick in their 3-0 win in Iceland.
What else does this player have to do to get in the first team on a regular basis……
Morning all…
Great night for Chamberlain….
Good Morning Gooners and Good Morning Rico.
Post = A Good Read Boss
Not sure that Pers has said anything controversial, methinks he’s just being honest. Obviously he’s not been in England long enough to realise how scummy our Press are and how they’ll twist everything he says, however innocent those comments may be…
Ivan Gazides has yet to learn how to moderate his rather large gob…..
Unhelpfull, would be how i would sum up his misguided comments.
Are his comments a suprise???
Is The Pope a Catholic?????
Does Wath like a drink?????
Answers on the back of a pin….
Morning AK, i keep missing you at night 😉
Thanks re the post
I don’t take his comments to be anything other than trying to explain why he’s struggling, he was signed a bit too late and we expected too much too soon. We got lucky with TV but to be fair, we weren’t going through such a bad time then….
Do Bears poop in the woods 😉
Saw Oxo’s 3 goals, the 1st was a cool finish, the 2nd quick reactions to a goalkeeping error, the 3rd hmm not sure if he meant it as a cross or a shot?
But i’d rather have a lucky player up front for us, than not..!
Very encouraging…..
Yes Rico, you sum it up very well re:Pers…
I like him, despite MotD/Press trying to do a hatchet job on him. Wonder if they’d both do the same on Cahill???
One German, one English…. Closet racism on Motd & the British Press, surely not…. :opps:
The question is Rico……
Does Wath poop in the woods???? 😀
To me Arsenal will recover… But not that I blv they can really win anything with the present quality in the squad… I still think the champions league is still within reach.
To me Arsenal will recover… But not that I blv they can really win anything with the present quality in the squad… I still think the champions league is still within reach.
yes verm has settled quickly bought the bed at dreams
Good post, howdy Rico & 47! The rvp shite that’s circulating, the media will not leave us alone! And that twat gazidis wants to shut the fuck up!
AK, i’m not asking him 😉
AK, i don’t watch MOTD anymore, they are so biased against us, it’s farcical – SS’s aren’t much better either…
All they do is prasie KK’s signing and Manures and praise any side that beats us – knobs, all of them….
i oscar, i’m sure we can recover, it’s just about how quickly, if we leave it too late, top four will be tough, but we can’t forget the dippers turned their season around last year and after christmas i think, we need to get it sorted right after the break..
Morning Lee – thanks re the post…
I wish RvP would talk to the website but being away on duty with holland makes it tough – wait til he gets injured, then all the speculatiuon will stop… 😉
I shouldn’t jest i guess but he won’t go, not if we get into the CL….
Wonder what odds we’d get on us winning the competition this season…..
Just nipping out with the woofa before the heavens open here… It’s bloomin cold out there too 🙁 Back shortly…
Morning Lee….
Don’t worry Rico.. I don’t mind asking Wath… 🙂
The difference between Mertesacker and Vermaelen is that the latter was signed in June…..thus allowed enought time to settle during preseason. Mertesacker was bought in the last hours of September. No time to settle. Furthermore, TV5 was in a better team than the one there is at the moment on the pitch. He had Gallas, Clichy and Sagna with him. From that defence, PM4 has only Sagna with an ever changing partner in the centrehalf position. That takes its toll on the development of understanding between the back four. Currently this year we have had Sagna, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Djourou, Gibbs, Santos and even Song all playing musical chairs with PM4. That hardly allows understanding to develop does it.
AK, what would you do to turn the season around if you were AW?
Rico, Sky do a lot of business with Liverpool and ManUre, TV channel/ InterNet Business etc.
Therefore they see see the Mancs & Scousers as biz partners and are unlikely to slag them off, rather than that, they bum em up!
Kroenke has control of Arsenal’S InterNet interests and the club doesn’t give Sky any priority on news etc {transfers}.
Hench they go easy on the Mancs & Scousers but love to stitch AFC up…
Lee, i would switch to 4 4 2
I’d play RVP & Theo up front, and if Theo doesn’t crack it i’d bring Oxo/Park on to partner RVP.
I’d go really pragmatic in midfield with Coq in front of Jenks and Santos in front of Gibbs so they could double up, alternate with their support of the forwards.
In the middle i’d stick with Ramsey/Song, but bring in Frim if Aaron is having a mare…
Arteta as well, of course.
We need battlers, scufflers, in this situation.
So there’s not room for the likes of Arshavin/Rosicky.
Not unless were cruising in a game and AW could use them to rotate/rest his starting XI…
Morning DG.
Spot on by devil gooner! On th PM4 settling in issues.
Ivan gazidis comment have disappointed me as an arsenal fan, I’m here having a little bit of hope that will make 4th spot and the people in charge of the club have given up. How on earth do they want us as fans to support if they have given up. However, it might just take the pressure of the players. I remember PHW saying something similar in 2009 when it looked like villa were gonna take 4th spot from us. The players rallied w/o pressure and won their last nine game of the season
Finally, the ox did well. Not just about the goals he was a constant threat. I just hope we wouldn’t have a problem keeping our players away from the olympic team next year because right now I see Gibbs, Miquel, theo, frimpong, coquelin, miyaichi, ramsey and wilshere all with big chances of making their various olympic squads
Exactly DG…. He had a whole pre-season to get used to his class mates…
Morning again and welcome freshprince…
you guys seen ramsey’s comments – bit rich coming from a player who has been dreadfully out of form…
but he is right of course….
Morning again Rico.
How is Fido???
Some good goals from Theo & Oxo…
http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/virals/2011-08-10/video-walcott-v-oxlade-chamberlain-%E2%80%93-how-arsenals-new-winger-compares-another-ex-southampton-star
Good tune as well.
Hi AK, she is knacered now and i get an hours peace to make some soup 😛
AK, I like the Strongbow at the beginning 😉
Morning Rico, typical of this Arsenal board, all they want to do is show off about how financially well run they are without thinking about the football consiquences. Thing is who will want to sponsor us and what good player will want to play for us if we don’t compete for the top prizes. Seems like each day the club gets further and further away from the fans..
Morning Sam, totally agree, i’d rather Ivan just kept quiet than talk such sillyness – as if we fans need to hear all that, we want to be hearing about what the positive plans are for the future, thisngs to make us more competative with the other top clubs, not how not qualifying for the champions league is ‘acceptable’…..
A very good balanced readhttp://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/15355:
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/15355
Veggie soup i hope…… hmmmmm i love soup…
And pizza….. 🙂
Small club mentality mixed with arrogance, not a good mix. The problem is that the only people who can make the board leave are the fans and while some still believe the self righteous bullshit of the board and manager this will never change
Swiss Ramble:
http://swissramble.blogspot.com/
——–wol————
Jen-koc-mer-gibbs
AO-art-song-sant
——–arsh———
——–rvp———-
Butternut Squash AK 🙂
I don’t understand all that AK, the ramble or untold 😉
Or AU with the right offer Sam?
Good team there Anders….
And then look at the subs we’d have….
When is the next CC game? Really want to see some of the youngsters in action, we have a decent crop of young players. Ryo Miyaichi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin, Chuks Aneke, Benik Afobe, Oğuzhan Özyakup, Ignasi Miquel.
And two on loan I really want to see play for us soon, Joel Campbell and Wellington Silva.
Any I forgot worth mentioning?
25th Oct ESP
Butternut Squash. Don’t know what it is Rico, but save me some… 😉
Yeah boss, i’m having a job understanding it as well.. 🙂
Conor Henderson ESP, he’s injured [long-term] but he’s a good lad.
AND he’s Irish…. 😀
Afobe is out injured for a while i think 🙁
Fabianski 😉
AK, i know you are teasing 😉
According to rumours coming outta the Academy ESP, goalkeeper Damian Martinez [Arg] has the potential to be better than Szczesny….
Hopefully we might see Campbell next season.
25th, Bolton [h]
To think we’re only just into October and wenger has already come out and told us we can’t win the league and now gazidas is telling us we can cope without the champions league.
I wonder what the next cracker is gonna be, maybe as from 2012/13 we will be moving all our home games to Underhill as we feel it makes more financial sense.
Its pretty ironic that we have the new badge this season with ‘forward’ printed on it and all we seem to be doing is going backwards.
Instead of ‘forward’ it should have been ‘swim for your life’
I think Afobe could be close to a return on the 25th Rico, i hope so anyway….
Hi guys….the interlull couldn’t have come at a better time for us. This ll give the players a few days off all things arsenal and hopefully they ll return in a better state of mind….we ve got stoke and sunderland after the break hopefully we should take the maximum six points available. They are both home games,right?
Moaning Micko, good to see ya so cheerfull… 😉
Don’t think we’ll see campbell for a while yet, he’s probably been pencilled in as Park’s replacement in a couple of years time.
I personally dnt think we can beat stoke home or away, the other title challengers couldn’t beat them and in our dreadful form…. All I can hope for is a draw
Yeah goonster, sunderland first, another 6 pointer.
Hi ya kev……I see the wife’s finally let you off your leech huh? How re you doing?
Stan, i think it goes;
Sunderland [h] EPL
Marseilles [a] CL
Stoke RFU [h] EPL
Bolton {h] CC
Chelsea [a] EPL
Marseilles [h] CL
That’s where you are wrong fresh prince…..we ll probably win the next two home games and the AKB’s ll start singing there’s only one arsene wenger…then we ll fall against the next team we play….
Hiya Stan. I’m good amigo.
Yes i’ve been a good boy. Done all my chores. And thus, have been allowed my PC back.. 😀
Hi Micko, cracker 🙂
Thanks ak…trust you to come up with stats,fixtures and results. Feeling the intetlull yet? Am not!
Stan, maybe a break from all the carnage will do us all a favour.
Quite looking forward to the England game, for a change. Might even go to the pub to see it…
Hey mama….miss me?
Yuck no way am watching that lot….I ll rather watch the dutch side. I can’t stand rooney and terry individually…put them together in the same team…..what do you got?
I wonder if wenger will move gibbs or santos to right back for the sunderland game ? or stick with jenks.
I ll rather he plays coquelin on the right micko….he played there a couple of times for lorient last season. He ll probably cover for bac till he comes back…lecoq is my player of the moment you guys. This guy is immense.
Hi goonster, for sure… You been busy at work….
Jenks I hope, he’s looked ok there, or he might push Coq back?
Ah, never knew that goonster.
Chris powell the charlton coach was on the box the other day saying how he thought jenks would only get a run in our CC side this season, the lad has been thrown in at the deep end.
Coquelin looks to have something about him alright.
Yeah I am. The big man caught me blogging all through on Wednesday and threatened me with a sack….guess I love my job more than the arse….heck who am I kidding….its arsenal before anything, including my fiancée! Don’t tell her though. *winks*
Micko he reminds me of flamini in his last year….ahhh flamster what I ll give to still have you wearing the red and white….he would have made a great captain too.
Micko, i think we all thought that too, big step up from charlton reserves to our first team…
One big thing though, he’s a Gooner, he’ll try his best that’s for sure, and he’ll give his all….
That’s not so good goonster, you’ll have to be a bit smarter at work 😉
Stanley….. You look after your job, right..!
Arsenal will still be there when you get home. 😕
Yeah yeah ak….thanks rico I ll be more careful but it ain’t my fault. I can’t let you good people have all the fun…the goonster needs fun too.
Am looking forward to seeing our korean play….anybody here know what time they ll be playing?
Nevermind about ‘yeah yeah’…… 🙄
Guys….am waiting.
😆 goonster –
not sure re korea, i’d like to watch it, might be the only chance to see Park play…
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/1173/63/ac-milan-aiming-beat-arsenal-signing-cut-price-fiorentina-star
Agree AK, you behave at work goonster 😉
Come on kev….I can always get another job or girlfriend or any other stuff….but there is only one ARSENAL!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15169334.stm
Stanley……. I am lost for words… 😯
Kev you still listen to talkshite…I thought we all agreed! Those mugs ll only get ya BP up. Like me dad used to say”leave them to their own folly”.
Stanley!! 😮
AK, I love that kid, wish he was back with us…..
Off for a flu jab, back in a bit….
If your girlfriend, puts up with you Stanley…. Then i reckon you should make sure you keep her… 😉
No Stan, i just look on the website for any ‘balanced’ arsenal info.
Ditto Rico re: KB.
Had my jab yesterday… 8)
Ok man….I promise I ll cut down the amount of time I spend blogging….but that’s not fair on rico. She needs me too*grinning*
Tbh Stan, when i’m working [driving] in London, i channel-hop the radio and occassionally listen to Talkshite for a minute or two. But a minute of Adrian Durham and the other ‘poor excuses’ for journalists on that station soon have be back on the BBC
Stan, you stay on here as long as you like mate, we all enjoy your contributions, but don’t take any risks.
I guess am lovable that’s why kev….she probably can’t get enough of the goonster.
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/arsenal-interested-in-martin-montoya/topic/ansicht_180_1260_page1.html
Stan….. 🙄
Talkshite is anti arsenal yet I wonder what an arsenal legend like ian wright is doing hanging around those lot. He’s a disgrace. Why can’t all our ex players be like Dixon keown and henry? Why? You never hear that prick roy keane slagging off manure or redcrapp bad mouthing spurs or Liverpool. Its appalling!
Kev am tired of believing such rumors besides I don’t think we ll be signing anybody anytime soon. The wage bill is creaking about to burst loose. We won’t add anyone….not even in january! Am not trying to be pessimistic but knowing wenger and the board we ll probably weather the storm with the current players till june.
Great another catalan with barca DNA…..we don’t want him. Kick him back to catalooner.
Maybe Stan, or maybe we’ll go in for one biggish move in January, along the lines of Reyes or Arshavin.
Keane can’t really slag off ManUre, not when they’re winning.
Plenty of ex- LFC players were moaning when Benitez was in charge mate.
Yeah but not to the extent of calling us shit. We all know collymore is a moron and will say anything to get at us for taking the title away from them at anfield but wright should stand up for us. He’s always spouting shit most times and its always about arsenal. This is the club that made you, you mug!
morning all…
no news is…no news…
although ju scored both of the republic of korea’s goals against a szczesny-less poland side…
Afternoon oliver….park scored both goals! You don’t say! Why won’t wenger give this guy a chance. We only have him for two years! He ll be gone to serve in the korean military so why not milk him now. Sometimes I wonder how arsene makes his decision.
Who was in goal for poland oliver? Fabianki?
i think it was fab – i cannot say for certain…he has had so little recent match action, however…
other than our two goalkeepers, jurek dudek and artur boruc, i don’t know who the other poland goalkeepers are…i doubt dudek has been anywhere near the national team in the past several years, and i am not sure boruc figures either, since he left celtic…
the match finished 2-2, btw…
as to why arsene won’t at least use him as a sub more regularly, perhaps there is something there that is not apparent to any of us…
ju does have a good scoring record for his national side…but then so does chamakh…
Yeah but he ll only get better with regular football…..keeping him on the bench ll only make him match rusty. We don’t want to run the risk of him becoming another chamakh….whom by the way I think is a good player being played out of position.
Hiya Oliver. Greetings from LimeyLand…
How are things over there in King George’s colonies?
Stan, i reckon Park will get a start against Bolton in the Carling Cup, and then AW will take it from there.
Possibly a couple of apps from the subs bench, but Afobe is gonna be a better player anyway imho.
i think he needs minutes also…we still have absolutely no idea of what we have with him (ju). perhaps these two goals will remind arsene and we’ll see him play a bigger role starting with the mackems…
as for chamakh, i don’t know what to say…i had hoped his goal against blackburn would have been the start of something, but that has not proved to be the case…he didn’t impress despite starting against shrewsbury – we even had to turn to robin late on…his omission from the squad for the derby may – may – signal that arsene is no longer prepared to wait forever for the guy to get it together…
this may be a situation where time away from the first team squad will do the player some good. drop him, start him the reserves so he can at least get some minutes and hopefully build some confidence…if he can do that, he’ll be back in the first team before too much longer…but i am starting to doubt if he will be able to turn it around with more last ten minutes sub appearances or the once in every six matches start…
and i’ve confirmed that fab did start in goal for poland…so both ju’s goals were against one of his arsenal team-mates…
hi kev…ok…yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs last night, so i am not too down…ra will hate it, but it does not bother me in the least…
97 wins and a first round playoff exit…starting to resemble joe torre’s last few years there…
Oliver, i suspect that a half-decent offer [PSG ?] could see Monsiuer Chamakh onto the EuroStar train and back to continental europe…
NYY only get one game Oliver?
Thought you had a series of matches mate…
Warren Buffet. Billy Beane…..
Tell me something about them Oliver.
They seem to be fans of AW.
mmmm…possibly…i would not give up on the guy just yet…however, if he is just going to hang around the first team squad, get sub minutes here and a low-impact match start there, then we should probably not be surprised if he never returns to the form he showed his first few months with us…
if the above is how arsene is going to play it, it would probably be in everyone’s interests to sell him…
i wonder if the rumours about gourcuff – supposedly chamakh’s partner in more ways than one – possibly joining are another means to get chamakh back in form?
Gourcuff has been linked with us for a long time Oliver.
I have read comments about him not being robust enough to cope in the EPL.
Not sure of the validity of those comments, but as far as i know, Arsenal have not firmed up any interest in him.
I think he’s a quality player, but surely Chamakh shouldn’t need him to hold his hand. And if ‘that is’ the case, then it’s all stations to Paris for Maroune methinks….
it was a best of five series…they lost the deciding fifth game at home to detroit last night…the amount of chances they had to win was almost absurd, but they couldn’t cash in…it happens…
buffett? rich philanthropist…don’t that much about him except his is rolling in it…
billy beane is the moneyball advocate, that is the model he brought to the oakland athletics baseball team…simply put, it advocates value for money (sound familiar?), places more emphasis on unconventional statistics when assessing a players value…at the beginning of last decade, beane’s oakland team won a few al west titles, and led the league in a few categories, but never came close to winning the world series – they could win their division, but couldn’t get past either the yanks or boston in the playoffs…he uses the sabermetrics methodology to assess player value…
oakland, btw, has not made the playoffs since 2006…in their own division they finished third – and improvement upon last season’s cellar finish – but are miles behind their powerhouse division rival texas rangers (who open the al championship series at home against detroit tomorrow night, with a trip the world series at stake)…
many of beane’s methods are being used by several mlb teams – including my team, the new york mets. interestingly enough, our gm (sandy alderson) was oakland gm prior to beane, and won a world series there, albeit with several juiced players (canseco, mcgwire, etc)…still, beane had jason giambi – a notorious juicer – in his oakland sides…but his formula has not been recently successful…
stop me if much of this sounds familiar…
has the movie moneyball opened there? that is based on michael lewis’ book about beane and his oakland teams…
hiya AK.
Here’s one for the future.
Kif Int DG… 😉
L’Arsenal ha pronta l’offerta per l’attaccante brasiliano Hulk: al Porto, secondo il sito footylast, dovrebbero andare 23 milioni di euro più il cartellino di Chamakh……
That in italian website Calciomercato.com translates that Arsenal have offered Chamack+money for Givanildo Hulk.
Oliver…. Oakland 2006, Arsenal 2006.
Must be something lacking in the process both clubs are engaging in?
For the benefit of all the readers here its better if we speak plain English AK. Not everyone knows maltese like us.
Moneyball Oliver..? Not to my knowledge mate.
But i will definately look out for it now.
Or Italian…. 😀
Moneyball is what Wenger uses to get the best players (statistically speaking) and everyone raved about it for years but it is now being found out….just like Wenger. Unfortunately Kroenke loves it too, hence why we are screwed until Usmanov buys the club
Gotta say, despite all the fuss, i’ve never really been that impressed by Hulk.
KT, if your about, what do ya think of him?
Personally I never liked Hulk.
The problem with the last Wenger teams in the past 6 years is that everything always has to go through one player. First it was Henry, then it was Fabregas now it is RVP. When we were winning and had leaders everywhere you never knew from where the ball was coming. left right or centre. but now its always through one person. and that is the crux of the problem.
Boo 😛
When in the woods AK do as the bears do………!
Hope that clarifies things for you…!
Hi WATH, you grizzly 😉
Rub your back on a tree Rico there is nothing like it 😉
I know Wath, i love it too 😉
You guys have issues, gazidis has a lot to answer for.
I’d rather Gazidis kept his gob shut completely Micko cleared his desk and vacated the premises…. A mega prized prick spin doctor if ever there was one…!
Diito Wath, he can take Stan with him too – I’m sick of them …..
issues Micko, me 🙁
Scenerio for you:
If AU bought us out, brought David Dein back in and together they gave Arsene Wenger money and support to buy the right players to get us back to be real contenders, would you be happy if Wenger stayed??
As subtle as a sledge hammer wath, we all needed this weekend off.
The board have got one foot in the frying pan and the other one on thin ice.
I’m not so sure Micko, right now I fear another one or two injuries could be picked up…..
I’m not talking about the players rico, us fans are suffering as well.
I know Micko, honest but I’d honestly rather see us playing again this weekend, having had a week together to batter out all that has gone on….
But that’s just me….
Rico, i wouldn’t be unhappy but I think wenger may go next summer anyway, the club needs a good shake up from top to bottom, a new manager would bring in his own staff and inject fresh idea’s, its like we’ve just gone stale, things have to change, we can’t carry on like this, in the past when we weren’t winning people would say yeah but we play the most attractive football, we can’t say that anymore, now the same people blame injuries when its obvious the squad isn’t strong enough, excuse after excuse.
hmmm…anyone would think that our chief executive has not endeared himself to many of our supporters…
Wath, do you use charmin toilet tissue, as all the bears seem to? 😀
Oliver, I stopped trusting him last summer when his halo slipped.
I’d be happier than i am right now Micko – and I am still not convinced that the board is not right behind Wenger, the more crap Gazidis comes out with, the more it deosn’t all add up…..
hello everybody!
yes, change Chamack for Gameiro !
Good read rico,
I.Gazbo has put he’s foot in it again. he would be better off saying Nothing gives out all the wrong vibes, Arsenal may be running smoothly at the moment,Money wise, but it has to be said that the reason Wenger brought late was that the smooth running Arsenal never released funds and Wenger was press ganged by Barca so the funds came late, Wenger only spent what he got in but he spent it really quick. Gazides is wrong the champions league is important, maybe not for the smooth running of the club, but for supporters to see their team in the top flight. It seems to me that Wenger and the board are playing down our chances so as to pre warn us, if we don’t win anything. Our form has been poor but a run of results could boost our position rather quickly, personally i would like to see our youngsters used, they all seem to be playing fairly well, and should be rewarded while Theo and Chamakh miss chance after chance, we are now in a position where we can use these youngsters who are in form and uninjured without it affecting our position in the league, Maybe Theo and the others could muster a bit of support from the stands
Hi oliver – he hasn’t, he and Stan, well what a pair!
Hello JM, now I like that idea 🙂
micko, reading his comments at face value, i don’t think it is unreasonable to have a contingency plan in case we miss out on the top four…but i would question the timing of discussing this – a few days after we lost the derby to a team that figures to compete with us for that spot (although at the moment we are the ones who are not exactly competitive)…
i also think that what he didn’t say – specifically what areas will suffer if we have to compensate for the loss of potential cl revenues – is significant…
i don’t think we should be under any illusions that it will impact some key areas…my suspicion – admittedly unfounded – is player purchases and wages (including new deals for current playing staff) will be one of the areas affected…
politician that he is, our chief executive probably could have sold the message better if he expressed it in the context that the club will do its utmost to achieve at least a top four finish this season, but if that failed, contingency plans exist that will ensure a season or two out of the champions league will not be catastrophic…
instead, it came out more like missing out wouldn’t be much different from business as usual, and anyways, it is foolhardy to build a model which takes qualification and associated revenues for granted…i think this is what makes the message so unpalatably to many…not that missing the top four and associated contingency planning exist, but that they are discussed in almost “no big deal” terms…
if we step back, perhaps we’ll see that planning for life outside cl is prudent, if nothing else…but there also have to be plans to ensure we reclaim that status as quickly as possible…
and i will second steve’s comment that there is much, much more to cl qualification than simply the associated revenues…there is the prestige, the status of playing in club football’s top competition, and the opportunity to win it by being in it…we may not suffer as badly as, say leeds or newcastle, once their turns at the trough ended, but our brand, our image will suffer badly…this is a point our chief executive failed to acknowledge but is every bit as relevant for our club as the money issue.
if nothing else, it gives the impression that financial strength is the only relevant metric certain people use to measure our club’s relative health…but it is only part of it…if we are not financially strong, the rest of the model – sponsorship, player recruitment, results – will be affected…
conversely, if we are financially strong, but the squad is under-strength (and this can come in many forms, such as lack of experience, lack of a winning culture, etc), then results will suffer and so will our brand name and associated revenues…they are all bound together, whether our majority shareholder and chief executive like it or not…if we lag/underachive in one area, it has a horizontal effect across our model…some areas may be hit worse than others, but few are unscathed.
This ones for you Oliver;
http://mr-renoog-videos.blogspot.com/
Notice how many chances we miss…..
Champions league nights are fantastic, barca at home last season was outta this world, will stay in the memory for a long time.
Yes JM, Arsenal missed out on a very good striker in Gameiro. But i think he wanted to stay in France.
But as with Bobby Pires, there’s a chance we might still get him…
Evening Steve
Steve – didn’t you write a post about the funds that we have and how spending early will lose interest on the money we have, which workds out to be a lot of money?
If that is the reason for the late transfers, it’s not the best way to operate and it’s cost us a good start….
Just why we need to be there next season Micko….
Reading some of the after games reports these last few weeks in the news papers, would make a non football person believe that we are getting hammered, apart from the united result where at the end we conceded 8 goals, we have not played that bad i don’t think. Every one of those games we could have won, had we took our chances. The United game we could so easily have been in the lead had we taken the chances, the penalty was key, heads did drop a little and as we went further behind our wheels fell off but all credit to the team they hung in there for quite a time, and United will struggle to find us that weak in the future, this teams confidence may be down but having key players out that the manager could not have possibly seen prior to our signings has had a massive impact on us, but now we seem to be gelling slightly better and they have now realised we have who we have and it will only drive them on. A big knock for the team is Sagna’s latest injury, but Bacary’s loss may just be a youngsters gain, these youngsters are ready to be introduced early and i look forward to viewing the future Arsenal team earlier than i thought.
Hi Steve, how are ya doing mate?
Your right there rico, i did write that post, and i believed that the funds were there, After all the board have been saying for some time that the funds were there, but did they release them, i can only sumise that they didn’t why else would Wenger leave it to the last day. he could quite easily have got the players that he got for the same price a week before.
Steve – it matters not, we lose…..
Why are we not taking our chances
Why are we gifting own goals
Why are we still giving oppo players too much time to shoot as we did Walker
Just a few why’s, and why’s that really could be rectified quite easily imho
Hi AK, not bad mate, to much work and not many Arsenal results and getting a hard time from the govner but apart from that i’m buzzing, and i must admit i scratch in the woods as well.
Right, offski to the pub.
See ya Gooners
SP 😆
Theres a lot of whys there rico but who expects a keeper to be beaten by a 25 yrd shot certainly not me and i would expect the Arsenal defenders felt the same, WHY did he miss it
Night AK, have one for me 😛
But it’s in the build up to Steve, Walker should never been allowed the space to shoot, but yes, Ches, and he say’s so himself, could have positioned himself better but – how many times did he mop up errors with great saves that day?
He’s young and will learn, if fans don’t think he is good enough then maybe that is Wengers fault for putting trust in him so early in his career?
Who takes three minutes to line a wall up then moves to the other side of the goal where he can’t see the kicker
He also got beat several times from outside the box in the united game, is he short sighted
And as far as our chances, why have Chamakh and Theo missing chances one after another when our youngsters are scoring for fun for their contries
Everything points to our manager, Not spending funds which has been stated as being there, and then spends as soon as he sells two players, i must admit i don’t know why he hasn’t used oxo more and as far as ryo and park will he ever be allowed to play them has he got the permits,last time i heard there was a hitch somwhere.
So, I ask the same question Steve, why is he our number one keeper if some fans think he is not good enough?
Re the chances – I don’t know the answer but, someone has trust in them and you and i know who that is, so is Arsene wrong to have so much faith? Or is there something wrong at Arsenal and the way we play?
Steve, that is why so many fans are frustrated with Arsene – and that is why so many are calling for his head.
The summer signings made prove he had funds, why wait until the last day?
Why hasn’t AW played Park when we are struggling to get goals?
There are so many whys….
Ryo should be coming off the bench when we need something different, same for Oxo, but why oh why doesn’t Arsene try it?
And then I read this….
Ju Young Park
South Korea 2-2 Poland, October 7
Ju Young Park was among the goals once more as his brace helped South Korea to a 2-2 draw with Poland in Seoul. South Korea welcome UAE to Suwon on Tuesday for their World Cup 2014 qualifier.
Off for dinner…..
Personally rico, i believe that we have a very strong squad of players, and in my opinion Fabianski has done nothing wrong since he was our no one keeper only that he got injured, and has not got back in since, i believe the keepers would both benefit from a rotational period, competition is always a good thing and i would be more convinced after Czez’s comment in regards to Barca. even the greatest manager in the world would have problems after our bad start of the season, and i count all competitions in that statment Qualifying for the champions league with two mof our best players banned before the competition has even started, our manager in the stands, and then banned for the next three games that tells me that we wasn’t supposed to get through, Players suspended in our first game for just being there and injury after injury our seasonal broken leg two of our best players out for months and maybe not at all this season, loseing our best midfielders in cesc and nasri who he tried his hardest to keep, the customary ofside goals against us handball goals against us bullying against us, and all supporters have to blame is Wenger he has done all this to us . Well no wonder we are where we are.
Steve, the squad is good but soul less. There is no leader who can get the team by the scruff of the neck and kick up the player’s ass. The players are not afraid from one who is above them. There is no one who leads the team onto greater things. Wenger has destroyed that passion. Anyone can tell me that we need world class players. yes we do…but not in the technical department. its in the heart department that we need world class levels. players whose head does not drop with the first or second goal conceded……look to the 2nd scum goal for that. we need players who if you score against them will vent their fury on you for having dared to cross the line. We need more like that. We need a keeper who if he does not get the ball gets an opponents head for having dared to try and head the ball or venture into the six yard box. Fabianski is easily intimidated. Seaman and more appropriately Lehman were never intimidated. I still remember the CWC semifinal vs Juventus in 1980 when Zoff went for the ball, missed it and punched Bettega’s head instead. His own mate That type of language means that this is my area. Dont dare venture into it. Remember when Neville et al destroyed Reyes??? We were angry then no. But how many leagues have PLC won since then and how many have we won. That is the type of attitude I would like to see at AFC……not artistry of the noble art type. We are not Barca, we will never be them. We are Arsenal. And the problem is that AW has tried to turn us into a carbon copy. Hell he even takes some of their youngsters in the hope of doing so. But he will not succeed. It’s like God telling Moses that the Jews will eventually reach the promised land….but not under his tenure.
In the meantime we need someone who kicks up a couple of assholes who sit poshy waiting for their fat-cheques and doing fuck all.
And by the way, how come Theo plays so well with England (see the peach of a cross he gave for the opener today)? That is because he is scared of Capello. A coach who has won everything on club level with different clubs in different countries. Once Theo did something that Capello did not want and the latter told him that if he did that again he will murder him. Theo was gutted and his form suffered. What did Capello do? Molly coddle him? No he dropped him from the world cup squad. That is the type of attitude we need. Do your stuff or you are out…..with the stiffs. would Wenger drop Theo, or RVP?? no he would not. but I would…..and then I will tell them “listen you need to move it on a bit otherwise its goodbye to the Euros” Who do you think Capello would choose…Theo who is not playing or Oxo who is playing week in week out. The answer is simple.
Steve, imho, had fabianski been playing, we could very well lost our matches by a greater margin, but that we will never know for sure..
we def lack a leader, as much as i love rvp, he is not a captain and he should not have that burden on his shoulders…
Totally agree that we lack heart and soul Devil, so why has that been allowed to happen?
And we definately need someone to kick the players up the jacksie, which brings me back to……
good comment devil, wenger mollie coddles them all far too much, he needs to adobt a bit more of a ruthless streak and when they are crap, face the medis and tell it as it is, don’t blame the grass, the linos, the ref the weather etc etc….
just be honest….
The answer to that question is simple Rico. And it can be traced back to AW’s first game in charge at AFC way back in 1996. Yes 15 years ago. you read right. Pat Rice shouted angrily to a player from the touchline and AW stopped him doing it. That is soul and emotional destroying methods. In the end a team looses its heart. Players like Campbell, Vieira, Adams who could stand up to AW were never replaced with like for like. The reduction of such players works like the sea on the rocks…….erosion. You do not notice it but it is there and its happening. When you notice it the rock has already been eroded and half or less than what it was once. We do need creators but we do need destroyers as well.
Regarding Fabianski, can you imagine him playing against Nat Lofthouse, Ted Drake, Pongo Waring et al???? How many times would he have been barged into the net??? I cringe at the thought!!!
devil – i know, honest – look at rice after the scum game, but he should have been allowed to do that at h/t, not full time……
the players you list make it clear why wenger buys the players he now buys, he doesn’t want to be challenged…. otherwise, he would go and do the right thing and get keown in to help, but jeez, that man would tell it as it is, thats for sure….
i’m not the one that needs convincing 😉
Don’t devil, i just doesn’t need thinking about ….. but, in his defence, when he played before his shoulder injury, he was so so much better that the season before – he was dire then….
It’s my time to head off, I’ll catch you all tomorrow….
Be good and stay safe, nighty night…
Steve, thanks for the post, it will be up in the morning…
TTFN all, have a good one 🙂
Devilgunner and rico, sorry i thought you had all gone and left me.
It seems to me that you have made your decision, and you want a new manager, you of course are entitled to that opinion, I just hope that the Board Backs Wenger and he stay’s not to spite you of course but to prove that once our debts has ben sorted that he can then get back to the managing the football team and is less involved with the financial stability which was imperative to our future.
I keep hearing that Keown this and keown that has he done somthing good to prove he is Arsenals saviour since he retired or are you sumiseing that because he bulied van nistleroy in a game that he will sort our team out as well, yes he was an ok player but not a saviour. nte all
Erm. Did I mention replacing AW??? I dont recall. All I said is that some things must change. Whether or not that means the way things are run is something totally different.Like you I would like AW to turn it around and win. Very highly and with all my heart. But his attitude must change. If he is capable of doing so then yes….by all means he must stay. But if not then like the board, he must go.
Sorry Devil, i missinterpreted.
New Post up
steve – keown could help us, he was the man responsible for the great defensive displa that got us to the cl final in 2006, and with a lb in flamini who had never played in that position before…