Morning all.
Big day here in the Uk, it’s Election day, so get down to the Polling Station and cast your vote. After all if you don’t, you can’t moan about which one or two of the posh boys get voted in…
It all started on this day back in 2003. Arsenal hammered Southampton 6-1 at Highbury and we didn’t lose another match until we were stitched up at the Old Toilet 48 games later. That was always going to happen wasn’t it, especially after brawl at the end of the 0-0 at the same ground when RvN cheated to get Vieira sent off and then missed his penalty. How satisfying was that 0-0 back then.
Arsene Wenger used 34 different players that season in all competitions and 15 different players got themselves on the score-sheet. Top goalscorer for the third year running was Thierry Henry, with 39 goals in 51 matches and to no surprise, he was voted PFA Players’ Player of the Year by his fellow peers and the FWA Footballer of the Year by football writers.
Since Henry departed, Arsene Wenger has never managed to find a striker of the same calibre. Robin van Persie was perhaps the only player to come close but even his best performance of 35 goals for Arsenal came in a calendar year not a season and as good as he was, he wasn’t anywhere close to Thierry Henry. Mind you, who is?
Right now Ollie and Alexis have between them scored 30 goals this season so it kind of makes sense when pundits and fans alike, call for an out and out goal scorer to be signed. One who will complement the fine attacking line we have right now, one who will end the season with 20/25 goals+ to his name.
‘There aren’t any players out there’ will be said, but is that really true?
Antoine Griezmann is doing well at Atletico with 22 goals in 34 appearances. He only signed for Atletico last summer so a move is unlikely but Chelsea are sniffing around him according to the media so if they can, we can.
Alexandre Lacazette has already notched up 31 goals in all competitions so he’s one who could fit the bill and his team-mate Nabel Fekir, both linked to Arsenal, has scored 14 goals so far this season and that’s not bad for a midfielder/striker who has made only 33 appearances.
There are plenty of other goal scorers around I’m sure, some who just simply can’t be signed like Ronaldo, Messi etc but in this world of mad financial merry-go-rounds which is football, there are very few players who can’t be bought if the price is right. Not that I’m suggesting Arsenal should go and blitz £100 million on any one player as I really don’t believe in that kind of thing but the club surely have to sign that one player who is missing from our squad up front.
I doubt we’ll ever see a player as good as Henry as he stands alone in my opinion but I’m sure Arsene Wenger can find another gem out there some where and one who can finally increase our goals scored tally dramatically.
Who would be your choice?
Have a good Thursday guys….
There is a prolific dutch striker who likes to score a lot in Spain.
Sign Goonie. At least that is what he says……..he scores a lot in the summer.
😆
I thought he was scoring in the USA Devil…
Good Morning Beuatiful Lovelies and Hunkies.
May the day be as beautiful as you lot are.
Good post Rico. But unlike you I do not like a prolific striker in the Wright/Henry mould. If that were so the team would focus on him and we would be back to square one. I want goals to be shared. I would rather have 4 or 5 players who get into double figures than one who scores 30 plus.
Right now we have these players who have the potential to end up with double figures for the season…..Giroud, Sanchez, Cazorla and Aaron. That is 4 players.
Next season might as well see Danny Welback with that lot and possibly Theo if he stays. MAybe get Pedro for the other wing????
So next season we might have 5 players within the present team who get double figures. That gives us 50 goals minimum.
That is what I want to see.
If we get one striker who gets 30+ we might end up relying on him and if he does not score then we are stitched up.
I read an article the other day that put forward the merits of Danny Wellbeck and the tone of the article was that Wenger converted Henry and that he could do it again . Maybe ? They compared the basic skills of the two players :- Speed , position , Age , and ability. However My take is that Lightning doesn’t strike twice. In both Danny and Theo we have some basic building bricks to make that player . Theo can finish and he has speed but he is no use in the air doesn’t have the body strength or the predatory mind set to be any more than a winger that has permission to cut inside but he doesn’t react to half chances and drifts away from his own defender and leaves him exposed .
Wellbeck has height , speed , can run with the ball and a hard working attitude , he will tackle back , but is parlous in front of goal , his finishing is woeful. Again in my mind they are both fighting for the squad place as first change when we are chasing a game. If we buy another forward to challenge Giroud or play alongside him and I think we should , one of them becomes surplus to requirement. But who ? Which one ?
Thanks Devil. I said ‘goal-scorer’ 😉
Seriously though, I think we need a player who is a lot more ruthless in front of goal like Henry was, RvP was, Anelka etc etc.
Something different…
Hiya Potter. I would prefer Theo to be sold. Danny has the edge in that he is younger, is taller, can head and above all he can track back and help in defence. Danny’s work rate is better than Theo.
Theo has one thing which lets him down. He is still at crossroads as to what he is……a centre forward or a lateral attacker. Until he puts his head down and works hard he will always be a nearly person.
Darren Bent
Theo’s contract situation may answer your question Potter.
Agree re your summing up of both Welbeck and Walcott, if only the two could combine ad become one, we’d have a very good footballer then….
Hi potter for me we need a false no.9 like rues,if you watched the game against hull giroud was left behind because he didnt have the speed of ozil,sanchez and ramsey.we need someone who will run when caunter attack
Morning Kev 🙂
Do you think Chuba will e in the squad next season or another loan?
Bongu Kev le taxi.
how are you mate?? did you vote or are you still fiddling with the JAck???
Morning all;(
Wath, if you offer me a crate of your bootleg GG I will vote who ever you tell me to… 😉
Good read rico…
I have to agree with Dev there re. sharing the goal load…
I will accept a younger Bati-goal though… 😉
I thought goonie was Van Bastens’ illegitimate child?
On a serious note why is it that no one ever talks about Bacca of Sevilla… watch him against fiorentina tonight.
Hi Rico
Interesting post. If we did buy a striker Lacazette would probably be the only one who fits Arsene’s bill, but I don’t know what type of player he is or what sort of goals he scores. Strikers only score goals if they get the right assists, you need a round peg for a round hole.
My own preference would be to give Chuba his chance . If it works it will save us a fortune and keep the English count up, if it didn’t work we would still be in the good position we are now and we could buy someone in January.
I still think Theo will go in the summer – a new challenge would be the best thing for him at this stage of his career, so we would need an out and out right winger (not a striker played on the wing).
The only other player we need is a defensive-minded midfielder to give us cover in all positions – I think Mertz, Koscielny, Gabriel and Chambers will give us as good a centre pairing between them as anyone has, and we have two players for each of the full back positions.
And I won’t hear anything about Chec!
Brian .
I like Bacca Ginge. But would he play second fiddle to Ollie??? Can he play with Ollie??? would we have to change the formation if he was to be introduced???
Dev- I think Bacca is very versatile… he can play across the front 3…; he played 2nd fiddle to James and the main Colombian strike force which I thought was a shame…
If he were to join it will definitely be the end of welbz or possibly theo…
Maybe Rico might tell me he is too old.. 😛
I also liked Vietto but he has stopped scoring now…; Parejo looks decent but not top top quality…
Good Morning to The Lady of the House and all Fellow Gooners in residence.
Rico – I have to agree with Devil. If we get a ‘world class’ striker there will be the temptation to build the team around that one player which will make the team one-dimensional. The superstar may also expect and demand that to happen. That also makes the team vulnerable if the SS gets injured or wants a transfer (e.g. Luis Suarez at Liverpool).
Right now we have an ensemble team who work for each other and usually the ball goes to the man in the best position to score. Giroud didn’t score on Monday but it was obvious he could see how the play was developing and that his best move was to move to the side, taking the CB with him and opening up a channel for a team mate to run into. He did that on a number of occasions when he wasn’t in the best location/position to receive the ball. It is a real team dynamic with everyone working for each other and the team – not their individual egos and glories.
Giroud was out for a while with injuries. If he had a whole season fit, I’m sure he would break the 20-25 goal mark. Ramsey and Walcott were also out injured for a while and we missed their goals. Also, Welbeck hasn’t been a big scorer this season, but he has worked hard for us from the wings. He should improve next season.
If we buy another striker, I’d like to see a young promising player like Dybala.
Devil – Goonster may be a high scorer, but his goals aren’t what the team needs. At least not on the field.
Lacazette is too much of a 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 striker imho…; a top finisher but Lyons formation is very different to ours and the team is set up to play through him…
He seems to play with Fekir or Clinton most of the time…
Although I find Alexanddre an interesting option I am still not sure he is that top quality… I know Snap will tell me I dislike French players. 🙂
I see him joining Juve for some reason..
If I was to buy from Lyon it will be Gonalos or grenier (Syg’s fave player)
Ts – I’m all for sharing the goal tally but even when we had Henry firing them in, others like Bobby, Pires etc were all joining in and that’s what we miss today imo.
We are not scoring enough goals in other areas so we need another player to get us more goals.
Giroud and Alexis can’t do it on their own…
Ts – I’ll tell you something funny. I was writing my post this morning and included Bacca in the striker list but removed it. He’s Columbian isn’t he and has 20 goals this season if my memory serves me right….
Morning Cg.
I’m not really suggesting AW sign a world class striker although that would be fantastic imo as Ollie isn’t at that level. He’s good but someone quicker and more lethal playing off of him in certain games or instead of him in others would be the final piece of our attacking jigsaw. We have the creativity, we just don’t have that killer, ruthless striker ahead of that. (imo of course)
Aguero would be ideal… 😉
Cg- ditto above
Dybala reminds me of Jovetic though.
😀 Rico… very interesting…; you are right re. his info
Did you take his name off because he wasn’t talk enough and under 25 y.o? 😉
Imo there is only one player who would take Ollie’s place and score more…….LEWANDOWSKI
Ginge will agree.
Morning all.
Giroud has improved each season, and will again in 15/16.
He was a full time student 5 years ago, so was a late developer.
Sanchez is killing it and it’s only his first season.
Ozil is improving, and without doubt, world class.
Ramsey has not been as explosive as last season, but is hitting form again.
Santi has been incredible.
Ox has barely played.
Theo, neither.
We had long term injuries to two of those players…Ozila and Giroud…and Ramsey has been stop start.
Do we actually need to improve our attack?
Now I’m happy with Ospina, but if someone better was brought in, I’d be happy.
Get us another world class CB and DM and we are set.
A new top class striker, however, would be at least partially funded by the sale of Podolski, Camobell and Sanogo, so it’s a possibility, but it don’t think it’s as important as the CB and DM.
Hi Brian.
I really like the sound of Lacazette and the thought of him going to the Chavs doesn’t excite me. The Dippers too are rumoured to be interested i’m but I really hope him being French helps Arsene Wenger get him. If he’s for sale of course..
How’s Akpom doing on loan?
Boring Boring Chelsea…
Rico something is wrong here about 5 of my comments do not appear
Hi Rico…
Not sure that Chuba Akpom is ready yet?
He hadn’t scored a senior goal yet, which doesn’t make him a bad player, but also doesn’t make him ready for Arsenal…
A loan to another EPL club would be good.
Brentford if they come up or Bournmouth, is the way to go for Chuba?
Rico – In the last 25 years, even when we have had the likes of Wright or Henry, we have always had our best seasons when at least three of the other players have scored 10+ goals each. Players like Anelka. Bergkamp, Ljunberg, Pires and Vieira. If Walcott goes, I’d like to see a proper winger to complement Sanchez. A lot will be dependent on what Arsene wants to do with Akpom, Campbell, Podolski, Sanogo and Silva.
Hi Coach, all is good.
Yeah, I voted for the Wood Party…. 😉
yes KEv le taxi….the chavs are boring mate. you still have to tell us if you are still playing with your Jack and musing on Bent 😛
u ok habib???
hi all, rico you mention some excellent choices but only one blockbuster striker. Lacazette. Im going to call him the new drogba. Power pace and great finish. And only 23. Perfect for arsenal. And young. can maybe get him for 20-something million.
Fekir looks like the real deal and is only 21 but wont give you 20 goals next season. Still would be good buy.
Griezmann we shouldve signed last summer as i said at the time on numerous occasiins. Midfielders who score are gold. Eg alexis and aaron.griezmann wont move after only 1 season at atletico
Thats my 5 cents!
A false no.9 is what we need;a skillful;speedy player and we Will be good to go
Not sure why Drake, they are not anywhere behind the scenes…
When are we signing Draxler?
Is lewandoski available?
No Ts, he and a couple of others were struck off.. lol
Kev – agree re Chuba but hope he isn’t sold off like Afobe.
Cg – agree too, if AW keeps Campbell, Podolski, Silva and Sanogo, I can’t see him signing any other attacking players, although I think all four could be on their way….
Scott, I’m not convinced AW will sign another defender, not with Chambers and then Hayden behind the main three.
There’s a part of me that thinks Belik (spelling) might be the next CDM too although I sure hope I’m wrong. He’s still young and needs a season or two out on loan… imo
How about sanchez for that cf role and buy a winger during a transfer window?since he is the closest to the 30 goal mark?
Rico, you could be right.
How is Miquel doing?
You have a point re us not scoring enough goals…
I think we as a team are too inefficient… we are 4th on chances created table and so we are where we are in regards to goals scored imho…
@rico i dont think belik is ready for 1st team football
I’d forgotten about him Scott. Not sure how he’s doing on loan… Don’t even know where he is… 😉
Draxler is in the Arsenal gossip pages again this morning..
That’s my point really Ts, we create the chances but we are taking enough of them. Mind you, when they fall to Merts on his left foot, do we expect to score…. 😉
Hahahahaha on Draxler……I don’t even know why I brought him up lol
The top 4 teams in terms of chances created…
1. man city 2. Chelsea 3/4th. Arsenal and Liverpool…
The chavs seem boring but they have created 17 more chances than us this season…
Chelsea have scored 69 whilst we have scored 66 goals and so it is a myth that we are less prolific in front of goal…
We have also scored more goals outside the area than Chelsea…
We have also conceded only 6 more goals than Chelsea who have the best defence in the league…
The issue is we do not create enough at all that was why AW was so keen to buy Ozil when most thought Suarez was the answer…
And if you consider we are 12 points behind it goes to show how inefficient we are as a team…
Roger – Lacazette for me too… lol
Drake- Sanchez will score goals wherever he plays imho… but playing him as a CF imo and based on history shows he causes inbalance as he drops too deep;Chile in WC is an example. 3 other managers have signed him and played him initially as a CF and moved him back to the wings…
Scott – Hot of the press just for you;
http://www.squawka.com/news/reports-arsenal-preparing-30m-bid-for-julian-draxler/371164
@ts i say let Sanchez in that Cf Role and Buy a World class winger
Scott, I didn’t bother in the post either. Can’t think why… lol
Ts – I disagree there, we create plenty of chances but don’t take them and regardless of the Chavs stats, they are still bleedin boring. 😉
No more jacks for me Coach…
How about taking Podolski back for a year?
He’d be a good option off of the bench…
Whilst Akpom is out on loan.
There’s a lot of names out there, big reputations, big wage demands but no certainty that they’re any better than what we already have…
Griezmann would have been a brilliant signing.
Ginge – You watch a lot more of the continental games than I do, how do you rate Pedro? I see we are being regularly linked with him.
How many penalties have Chelsea had this season?
Ginge, how many penalties have they scored compared to us?
CG, I really did pull it our thin air…..of all days!!
Lewandoski would have been brilliant as well, but that train has left the station.
Scott – The rumour mills have barely started, they should be up to full speed just after the FA Cup finals when the commercial media will have little else to talk about. Enjoy?
Kev – You follow the Academy teams fairly closely, are any of the young pros ready to step up for the start of the season?
Shame he only ever seemed to want to move to one club Kev.
Arsenal have made their first moves towards signing Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, sources have told ESPN FC.
Arsenal had been strongly linked with a move for Schneiderlin last summer but Southampton refused to allow him to leave after seeing Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren exit St Mary’s.
The France international had made public his frustration that he was denied the chance to move on, but ESPN FC has been told that Saints officials have reassured him that he will be allowed to leave at the right price this summer.
Although Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino remains an admirer of the 25-year-old after having worked with him at Southampton, the player has made clear his desire to play Champions League football next season and Arsenal appear to be the frontrunners.
The Gunners have now made contact with Southampton, although they have yet to register an offer.
I have a feeling that we Will sign a player many wont join us.my money is on bale or reus
CG, I don’t mind it, but i also take most of it with a grain of salt.
Scott- Pedro is not Enriques’ first choice at the moment at barca…; that is not a bearing on him though as Suarez is now playing ahead of him..
he will give us 13 or so goals…
Rico that would be great if we end up signing morgan
Scott- 21 of our 66 goals have come from set-pieces.
Chelsea 15 and city 17… so if the commentators say we are bad at set-pieces they are talking crap…
Drake, Bale would cost an awful lot of money though, but I to would never say never.
We were bad at set-pieces Ts, the ones against us.. lol
@ts how about reus?
Would you believe we have been awarded the most penalties in the league?
Chelsea have been awarded 3 pens and even Yanited…
Everyone rates Reus but imo, his injury record over the last 2 years that the old BVB physio has left is a concern…
CG, there’s some interesting youngsters, that potentially have the ability to step up, but the move from Reseves team football to 1st team has never been greater for a club like Arsenal…
As Rico says Hayden, if he can stay fit, is definately one who can step up. Likewise Gnabry…
Toral is another with great ability who has been held back by injuries…
Pedro will give us 13 or so goals Ts… that’s very precise…! That the crystal ball or the lucky dip from the local chinese takeway..?
@rico Morgan or gondogbia?
So Hazard must fall outside the box a hell of a lot 🙂
As for some of my GG Ts you got zero chance mate, you go vote for who you want I couldn’t give a XXXX no one gets at my GG stash….!
Of the younger ones, there’s Iwobi, O’Connor, Crowley, Dobson, Zelalem (although I have my doubts about him), Mavididi, to name a few, but most of them are two years away still…
Bielik is an interesting player, I’ll be keen to see how he progresses over the next 12 months….
And then there’s Martinez….,
@kev crowler is the one that impresses me the most; as for zelelam it hype because i have not seen much from him
Very true Rico…; But we are better than City and yanited btw…; the media won’t point that out
Last season 43% of the goals 41 goals we conceded came from set-pieces; of which 36 was from within the box…
Note 18 of those goals came against Liverpool, city, and United… not including the 3 we conceded against everton
This season its less… but 30 of the 33 goals we have conceded have come from the 18 yard box with 13 being set pieces… I will work out which of the 13 was penalties shortly.
Again reason I do not believe we have improved this season.
If true we may yet be able to get a few pounds for Podolski. That is if he agrees to go. He didn’t really fit in before he left and doubt he will now. He is a lot like Walcott in not wanting to track back and help defend.
http://www.turkish-football.com/galatasarays-never-ending-quest-to-sign-arsenal-forward-podolski-continues/
And Toral is no youngster any more Kev, at 20 years old he should be ready to push for a place. Didn’t you say he’d signed a contract extension recently?
I hope Shad can sort his and Haydens injuries out…
Wath.. its always the crystal ball.. clue the ’13’. 😛
It will be nice if toral broke through too..
folks forget 2 seasons ago Serge was starting more games than Ox and Theo…
It was Loew mouthing off that caused AW to stop playing him… plus injuries of course; But I prefer the conspiracy. 😉
Also his father suggesting Serge should move on loan to Germany so he makes the world cup must have been a bad move…
Just testing Ts I wondered if you had maybe burnt some tea leafs as well but that would mean smoking your office out..!
@kev crowler is the One who impresses me the most for zelalem it hyped i have not seen much to Be wowed
Rico, I suppose that Coquelins success has proved that it’s never too late, so 20 isn’t too old imo…
Ginge, you asked me about a couple of defenders yesterday?
Thiago was one, but Wenger would never spend the fee required to get him, for a defender…
The other guy I know nothing about…
Adam is the expert on La Liga.
He told me about Costa and Gabriel before anyone else…
I hold his judgement in the highest of regard…
And he’s quite good on the banjo…
😀 Wath.. there is always the toilet but you knew that already.
Were you not kicked out of school for smoking the old lucky strike cigarettes? Micko will definitely know 😉
Kev, he is good on the banjo or with a banjo… could he hit the proverbial barndoor..?
@ts ganbry has a potential to Be a Monster player he need a barclay loan next season because It suits him
Drake, yes Crowley is a very very good footballer, as is Willock (both of them), but it’s a bit too early to be thinking of them in terms of the 1st team…
It’s a chasm between U21 football, even League Cup football and the EPL…
Fortunately Ts it was never me doing the smoking i just burnt things down…! Micko, now that’s another story…!
When you look at Bellerin, who at the start of the season was a rookie.
Then you see the progress he’s made, that’s what our other lads have to do….
Bellerin, a novice in EPL terms is keeping a £10m international out of the team….
That’s a hard act to follow…
Kev- agreed AW can’t or won’t even attempt to buy a defender like Thiago..
I meant Thiago the DM of FC Munchen…
I don’t really follow the Bundesliga as closely as you Ginge.
Is he any good?
:d Wath…
I guess Goonie must have been the kid in school who went around asking the girls for a kiss in exchange for a sweet…or was it the Casanova Dev?
Wath, not sure about Adam and a barn door mate…
But he’s great with a fuzz box…. 🙂
Scott- Hazard does not con all the refs with his diving.
Drake, I like Kondogbia…
Ts – not all folks have forgotten Gnabry playing, in fact I doubt anyone has tbh…
Kev- Thiago Alcantara as a teen kept Cesc out of the Barca squad when cesc return…
he was meant to be the next Xavi and use to come on for Xavi in later part of games…
His issue is that he thought he was as good as his father Mazinho of Brazil national team was…
Thiago apparently asked to be played or sold; When pep joined FC Hollywood, Thiago was his first signing at 25 Million euros’; Strangely Pep quickly turned Lahm into a CDM and choice not to play Thiago; when Thaigo came into the team he got injured…
He started for Bayern last night and is keeping Martinez out of the CDM currently….
Kev I read the other day that Martinez contract expires this May, is that true?
Hi Wath
when Cesc returned*
We have a Young spanish defender in our under 21;how is he doing?
Good point Kev re Toral but he’ll look at his mate and soon want playing time surely before he gets itchy feet…
Ts – as soon as you type ‘note’ – I switch off….
Rico- Danny Ings and Glen johnsons’ contracts also expire this summer in addition to Khedira, Distin, carrick, Jonas Gutierrez.
For equal measure.. Christopher Samba and Joey Barton are also free.. 🙂
Flamsters’ is not even on the table…
Miquel Drake, Scott mentioned him earlier – I haven’t a clue how he’s doing out on loan. No doubt Ts will log into his stats file and tell us all in a minute… 😉
Vlaar is free this summer… is he an option?
@ts thiago is a cm like xavi; barca really lost his replacement when they Let him go
Thanks Ginge, yes I recall the name…
But is he any good?
Do you think that he would suit our style?
Rico, you are right.
It expires this June…
They don’t play for us though Ts and I doubt any ever will, although Ings would be good to replace Sanogo and Campbell is they are on the way out…
Cg – read something the other suggesting that Arsenal will allow Podolski to leave for free just to get his wages off the books. Don’t know whether it’s true or not though…
That’ll be him gone then probably Kev. Shame, he looks like he could be very good. Fingers crossed that changes….
Talking of off, walk time for me so catch up later..
Kev- Thiago will not pass you and Rico’s height test so… 😛
He is a typical Spanish midfielder; very good on the ball and intelligent. He is not a proper CDM though.
Rico, so I please you.. Miquel has been injured and has not played since September… he and T.Vermalen share a similar DNA. lol
Agreed Drake but I think Rakitic is doing a better job and he was cheaper…
@rico not miquel(we sold him to norwich).there is the other One who is 17 years old
I’m off for the night. Have a great day everyone.
I see AGAG was on yesterday after I logged off. If she is on again today, please pass along my regards.
Keep The Faith!
Sleep well Cg..
@ts thiago would not have cost them a cent because he was there already.this thing is happening even in the national team spain had the best talented Young players but they do not want to use them the likes of isco; de gea; koke they should have been in the starting 11 and It back fired
Sleep well @cg
I mean During the World cup @ts
I did what Ginge??? asked girls for a kiss in exchange for a sweet??? what are you smoking??? papers full of stats???
Give to goonie what is goonie’s.
I dont go after girls. Ladies are better.
Good Afternoon beautiful Lovelies and Hunkies.
did someone say Bale for AFC??? Hmmmmm. I would put him as a centre forward if it were for me.
Coach, what do you make of Draxler…
The rumour is probably rubbish and £30m for a guy whose scored, what, two goals this season, seems insane…
But I guess you never know?
Imagine Bale spearheading the attack against the sperms!!!!!
Delightful.
Too good to be true.
Game won before kick off
Draxler is young. But he plays mainly as a playmaker. In Ozil’s position. yes he can play on the wing but his lack of goals lets him down.
you ok Kev?? we all ok
I also see that Arsenal are again being linked with Jackson Martinez… Yawn…
Yes Coach, I am good, thanks for asking.
I’ll email you soon, with the latest…
Yanited have made their first summer signing…
Tony Adams is trying to buy Aston Villa. lol
@ts yes manu are at it again, i wonder how much will they spend this time
Drake, however much yanited spend I feel their spiral is downward. They will never reach those heights again.
I agree Devil, the king is now dead and nearly buried, and with him goes the magnificence that was manure! They will never be the same again, at least I hope not, along with millions of other ‘football’ fans.
The CF debate is the same old, same old, I’m afraid. Wenger will not buy any of the players mentioned in today’s blog, he will find, as he always does, Diaby’s brothers nephew who a coach saw playing outside Eurodisney doing keepie uppies! And busking money off the punters! He will be the second coming……..And you all know I am right!!
The season I started watching the Arsenal the previous season’s top scorer was Alan Skirton who had 19 goals to his credit. I think Greaves had scored at least 35? And several others were in the twenties, we were way behind!
We shall never see another Henry, he was quite unique, couldn’t score with his head though, Giroud is better in that department! However, I think some said the same about Ted Drake, during the thirties. Every generation or so we seem to produce really good strikers, Herd, Stapleton, Wright et al. Maybe Akpom will be the next or Sanogo????
The search goes on………isn’t football marvellous?
Afternoon everybody everywhere.
Afternoon all,
Doesn’t matter who you vote for, the government always get in !
The very same Bale who topped the premier league for diving in 2012, he can fcuk off to Mancunia, the cheating sheep shagger.
Does make you wonder how many more goals Thierry could have scored if he hadn’t insisted on taking all our corners and penalties which is was taken out in.
Drake – do you mean Julio Pleguezuelo?
Afternoon all…
Ronaldo it is then Micko…
This deciding who we should buy in the summer is hurting my head. 🙂
Thanks to tsgh it shows how little has to change between us and Chelsea we have only conceded 6 goals more than them and have only scored 3 goals less than them with a again in hand.
Is Depay any good? The Dippers wanted him too according to the media and they don’t aim too high… lol
A game in hand
Na rico, another over-rated self important prat ! Anyway didn’t we nearly sign him already !
tsgh 12.58, less of your myth-busting facts thank you, this is an Arsenal site you know.
Joe – I’d have thought you could work it out for yourself what the difference between us and the Chavs is.
Right now I think it’s 13 points…. And don’t forget, Ts just C&P from some super duper stats site… lol
You like him about as much as me then Micko. Orrid footballer..
Why do the work when Tsgh does it so much better 😉
Can we also get whole lot of new refs next season. 😉
That’s a matter of opinion Joe…. lol
I’d rather work it out for myself thanks, stats are deceiving….
@rico Yes it julio and wenger did not want depay so it seems he knows something is wrong with the kid.next season we will get to see who is wrong, i hope it not wenger:)
The gossip pages suggest AW wanted Depay Drake, but then they would now he’s agreed a move to Utd..
Drake, don’t worry about typing the @, its a waste of finger useage… Lol
By the way Rico, Tsgh only provided the stats I interpeted them to back up my belief that PL refs are like Spuds =sh*t. 🙂
Ok rico lol,de telegraph is the most trusted news paper in holland than uk news papers lol.maybe you should ask goonie
Phew Joe… Lol
Drake, the Telegraph aren’t alone….
Evening Rico and all.
Evening Adam…
The Telegraph!! Their coverige of the election, on occasions have been libellous! They as a responsible paper should be ashamed. There has been no balance at all. Bias is one thing vilification is something completely different. I have, you understand, just cancelled my subscription…….their loss!
As for the sports section, as with the news section, it used to be reasonably even handed, latterly Henry Winter in particular but others too have had a real downer on the Arsenal, any light praise. Has been most grudging. I have two reasons for dissatisfaction.
Mind you the whole press report items and make assertions that are of their own making and have little reflection of the truth. I don’t know why they bother! They too are a dying breed, see my earlier post, soon all our stuff will come via social media and we all know 99% of what is written there is complete crap with 1% truth. I can deal with that as I know I’m reading shite! But believing the ‘quality’ press is a thing of the past, a completely different historical era.
Rant over as is my reading of the phoneygraph!!
Rico i think we will get our signings early,as you have said it we have contacted soton about morgan
Wavy, I do love reading your comments….
Not me Drake. ESPN sports – I’ve no idea if that story is true…
How rude of me evening adam
Rico espn is better than metro:D
My gossip is better than the Metro Drake and I know bugger all… Lol
Rico yes you are the best
Ha ha Drake, I don’t think so….
Lol Well i do not think it gossip what you are doing and why i joined the blog
That is why i joined this blog
I only write what’s in the papers Drake… I’m not itk and never profess to be. Some might, but not me….
Some more stats since the 29-11-2014 we have won 27 games of domestic football drew 1 and lost 3.
Up to 29-11-2014 we won only 4
But you allow us to voice our opinions 🙂
Sure do Drake, that’s my motto…
I’m off now so have a good night all..
Catch up tomorrow …
Joe, stats and hh don’t work well, they hide too much. Ones own view and opinion is much more interesting….
Night guys..
Night rico
It should be drew 2
It’s irrelevant how many games we’ve won etc if we are still “x” points behind the winners of PL. No one will look back and say “oh Arsenal went x games unbeaten!” People will just remember who won the league…..
And they won’t remember Chelsea are boring either… 😉
Morning Lee and all….
Morning Rico, Brudder and all.
I will remember how boring Chelsea are/were. 🙂
Shame that Millipede won’t be in No.10 🙂
Good Morning Beautiful Lovelies and Hunkies.
May your day be as beautiful as you lot are.
Lee is right…..its irrelevant how many points you have unless you finish top of the pile. we might have 82 points and in some seasons that would have been enough. but not in this season as the chavs have 83 and that is simply not enough. so all the people will remember is who won the EPL…..not how they won it or the runs we had. but simply the winners.
imo…..and this is a very important point…..we have to do well from the beginning of the league. we have to be on our toes from day one. and make that concentration count till the end of the season. Do that in every game and we could end up not only as champions but also unbeaten.
can we go unbeaten all season again?? who knows. we might. we might not as well
one thing really irks me…..Ray Parlour or any one else saying that out of the present squad only Alexis might get in the team of 2004. imo that is insulting to both the 2004 team and the present one. why? simply because the game is differnet today than it was 11 years ago. I always thought that comparisons are odious. and I still find it difficult to compare.
what happens if the present team does the unthinkable and really goes through the season unbeaten and gets a point (yes just a point) more than the team of 2004?? How will people like Parlour answer that???
yes I might get bashed on the head…..but there is always that possibility.
Morning Adam, I have been laughing since just after 6am. Ed Bollox was the best… 🙂
Rico. As a posh person yourself you must be delighted that an old Etonian and Bullingdon club member is back in charge. 🙂
Devil, but just think how many of todays players would replace the subs in that 2004 side… 😉
Adam. I certainly am. Delighted is an understatement… 😉
Rico. I thought so. 🙂
yes Rico you may be right……however that squad is THAT squad….while this squad is simply this squad. every squad has its own attributes and flaws.
There is only one player from the past who I would put in today’s squad and its not on technical level or whatever……its purely on leadership and that person is TA06.
🙂 Adam..
Devil, I don’t really take too much notice of what pundits say, as you say, times are different, football is very different…
Guys – I have a problem with the dashboard and haven’t time to sort it out now as have to go out for a couple of hours. Back around midday so keep yourself amused 😉 😉
Laters..
Get ready for no defender to come in and for Debuchy to be turned into a CB……..
…….Arsene Wenger has insisted he wants to keep Carl Jenkinson at Arsenal long term after holding talks with the defender this week. Wenger says he wants to keep the right back and will only consider another loan deal for the defender next season but could bring him back.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Monday’s game with Swansea, Wenger said: ‘The decision is now whether to bring him back now or give him one more year on loan.’
The news will come as a blow to West Ham who were hoping to tempt Arsenal with a permanent deal for the right back in the summer. Carl Jenkinson current loan deal with the Hammers finishes on the 24th May.
Morning all.
Jenks to stay….brilliant news.
Morning all,
Good a read as the post is, I still don’t believe we need any other striker. Like CG pointed out, Giroud would have broken 20-25 goals if those injury three months weren’t involved. Alexis may yet get to 20. Ramsey, Welbeck, Carzola and Ozil are potential 10-goals-per-season candidates, injury permitting.
Then Walcott. I find it shocking that many Gunners want him gone. Theo is the best finisher in the present team. The ligament he did was so terrible and since hasn’t truly come back. Why? Wenger has been very cautious and the team has been excellent without Theo. I believe coming pre-season will see Wenger prepare Theo for the kill next season. At 26 and having gone seven years with Wenger and Arsenal, it will be throwing away the most tactically aware player in the fold just because he had one bad injury-restrained season.
As fast as he is, Theo hardly ever stays offside! He times his runs and movements to perfection and he is always a big game player. Barcelona has never beaten Arsenal with Theo playing! At 26, he’s peaking and give him next season free of injury and imagine how our attack with him, Sanchez and Giroud leading the front three would scare oppositions!
I know enough of Wenger to believe Theo is not only staying but will also be completely involved from next season’s kick off.
I imagine an attacking side of Giroud, Welbeck, Sanchez, Walcott, Ox-Chamberlain with Ozil, Ramsey, Carzola supporting and ask why Wenger should break this already existing chemistry and bring in another striker, who will take one season to bed in.
In Wenger’s shoes, I’d get Schneiderlin, a monster of a CB and win the title next season. Ospina is good enough to be an EPL-winning GK. Keep everybody, add just these two and we’re good!
Afternoon all..
Tai, good to see you back, have you been busy or just struggled to access HH?
New Post is finally up 🙂
Just been busy. Never had trouble accessing HH.