Keeper talks today! Uchida, De Rossi, Cabaye & Gourcuff are all in the trolley, will we pay at the checkout?

Morning all,

Temperatures are rising it seems, and the race has final begun to sign players. Well, according to reports.

Valencia keeper Vicente Guaita is due to begin talks with us today according to Superdeporte. He’s 26 years old and 6′ 3″ and I only know that because I looked it up. This story has to be rubbish though, the player has a get out fee of 30 million euros.

Yoann Miguel Gourcuff – the attacking midfielder who has been linked to Arsenal for what seems like, since he was born!

Daniele De Rossi – a defensive midfielder who has been with Roma since the year 2000. He’s now 30 years old.

Yohan Cabaye – a French international footballer who plays as a box-to-box midfielder and is described as a player who possesses “excellent vision, great ball control”, and “provides technical quality”. He’s also known for his free kick and penalty-taking abilities.

Atsuto Uchida – a Japanese footballer, who plays for Schalke 04 and the Japan national football team as a right back.

Micah Richards – Well we all know about him. In my opinion he’d be a great signing and of course, he’s a Gooner.

If we are to believe all the stories, rumours and the media network, all of the above are in the trolley and it just needs that trolley to arrive at the checkout and the Visa card to be accepted!!

One bid which has been confirmed and very quickly rejected, is the one for the Newcastle man and Alan Pardew is fuming. However, the player may have had his head turned having seen that we are interested as he was left out of Newcastles team last night for their fixture against Manchester City.

Something must be going on there, otherwise Pardew would not have left out a player who has been a huge servant for the Geordies since his time up there.

If he ends up joining us, would he make fans happy, or would he be considered to be ‘typical rush signing’?

He’s 27 years old, experienced, he’s Premier League ready and he’s proved. isn’t that what we need?

But, as usual, the offer we have made is nowhere near Newcastles valuation and I strongly suspect that we have little to no chance of signing him. In any case, PSG have joined the race for his signature……….

Would you be happy with ALL of the above?

Plus a striker of course…..

That’s it for another day….

0 thoughts on “Keeper talks today! Uchida, De Rossi, Cabaye & Gourcuff are all in the trolley, will we pay at the checkout?

  1. Woody says:

    I’m not sure I’d be too happy. The players you mention above have too much of a similar feel to the Mertesaker, Santos and Arteta summer.

    Some decent players in their own right, but I don’t see how they are an improvement to what we already have. Yes we need depth, but we also need some better players.

    We need a cutting edge going forward and a bit more concentration and toughness at the back.

    Wenger has said he will only buy if he finds player better than what we have, so he should at least stick to that and not go sideways.

  2. dob says:

    cabaye is another panic buy like poldolski,, if wenger wanted him he could of bought him 2 months ago.. bring back d dein

  3. devilgunner says:

    Good Morning Lady, Sir, Gentlemen and Ladies.

    Are they even in the trolley Rico? Or is IG and AW going hand in hand doing window shopping.

    I DO IMAGINE them buying Christmas presents late on Christmas Eve in the hope that they find a bargain.

  4. devilgunner says:

    More than stars at the moment we need depth Woody. We do not have that. We need to have 8 defenders, 4 DM, 6 AM and 2 CF.

    Getting Michu, Williams, Pogba and Cabaye will give us that. Strength in depth. Then we can add a top top player or two.

  5. rico says:

    Woody, nor would I, Richards yes, the others, just as you say..

    But I doubt many are true…

    Morning Devil. I don’t even think they are in the trolley…

  6. Jón Þórir Þorvaldsson says:

    Don´t forget that we are, according to the gossip, linked with a Casillas bid as well. 😉 Cabeye would help my worries with midfield but he is by no means a marquee signing. We need bigger and better players than him to be considered “title contenders” but depth wise I would consider him a fair buy. Don´t know anything about Uchida so I will no comment on him. Richards on the other hand would be a fantastic purchase if we can get him. De Rossi would be a good purchase but given that M.U. have been chasing him for some time and failing I don´t see us getting him for a “reasonable” amount of money.

  7. emma says:

    This summer transfer window is a colossal failure
    Like woody said it has a familiar feel to last day trolley dash of 2011/2012

  8. southyorkshiregunner says:

    Morning Rico. Cabaye is a good to “very good” player. Certainly not average and his better than the dross we have just offloaded.

    That’s a strange one re: the goalkeeper.
    I’m sure we could get Asmir Begović who is currently one of the top keepers in the world and knows the premier league inside out. I cannot understand why we haven’t gone for him. He’s in the “Excellent” category. £15M is probably the reason why.

    I’ve certainly no problem with Micah Richards. He’s in the “good” category. Nothing special and being an Arsenal lad he should give 100%, which is a damn sight more than Gibbs showed on Saturday.

    By all accounts we tested the water with Geoffrey Kondogbia? The type of signing that lots of supporters have been crying out for.
    He’s French, coloured and just out of short pants – so he’s a typical Wenger-buy …. but possibly not at £15M+ …

  9. tsgh says:

    Good read Rico,

    Ashley has a helicopter so I think we could even fly Yohan to Colney if we sweeten the deal… whilst we are at it why not ask for Ben Arfa too? As Rocky said, the club could make more money for Stan by billing a Dhabi vs Arfa rematch…

    Morning btw…

  10. Jack B says:

    To be honest we don’t need a full-back monreal, Jenko, Gibbs and Sagna are all capable of starting. Cabaye is a very good player linked with PSG and Man United and such but we need a DM more than anything right now, I honestly think Giroud will get 15-20 goals this season, if your were being rumoured to be replaced by all of these world class players you would be fired up wouldn’t you? In addition to that we need cover for our center backs I think Williams would be a good signing, but now we have left it too late he will cost us around 15M. While I would like De Rossi at the club, he would only leave for more money and he earns £100,000 a week and I can’t see us offering him much more than that.

  11. Afc says:

    All these players are pure poo down my toilet. I can’t believe wenger has let it get to this again! Waiting all summer, missing out on top players now we talking about these nobody’s. wenger needs to get sacked at the end of the season along with gazidis, also kronke must step down. The fans need to push him out now!

  12. Woody says:

    I agree re Richards, I’ve wanted him for a few years and he would add depth do right back and centre back…

    I agree we need depth, but by buying better than what we currently have we add quality and depth.

    My preference would be to buy 2 super super top top quality players and 2-3 who add depth.

    But adding 5 that add depth means we have a worse squad the the top 3 and probably the Spuds…and Liverpool would be looking too close.

    I mean even Southampton have pretty much matched our record transfer fee this week.

    If we don’t buy top quality we will slowly slide backwards!

  13. tsgh says:

    I think Emma raised a major red flag with Richards’s injury record… do we need another injury prone player who will demand over 80k?

  14. Woody says:

    Fair comment tsgh, but I don’t see him as a starter so he’d have plenty of rest.

    That said, you just know it doesn’t work like that at Arsenal. You have the smallest sign of an injury and the Arsenal training ground will definitely get it out of you

  15. steiner1010 says:

    Richards yes, Gourcuff yes he actually said he would take a pay cut to play for us and he is an French International.
    Cabaye yes.
    You can keep the rest of them and even these guys are only just good enough to help out now, a start but we need better.
    !st piece of business should be Martinez from Porto, 34 goals last year in all competitions meet his release clause even if it is 40 million.
    Why did we not buy Fellaini? He will cost an additional 10 million now.
    Wenger you are an idiot.

  16. tsgh says:

    In my view only Soldaldo is a big buy for the swampies… Capoue is way behind sick note Dhabi at international level. He has no CL experience nor has he won anything so as good as he is, he is a steady joe…

    Paulinho, has potential but not a lot of Brazillians make it in this league… if he was as good as we think he is I bet Porto or one of the Spainish teams would have come for him…

    What the swampies have added is depth in the midfield area but even if everyone is fit I think Sandro and Dembele will start ahead of Paulinho and Capoue…

  17. tsgh says:

    I always thought we did not need another CAM but I think we lack goals from our midfielders needed to push us on to challengers… sicknote Gourchuff at £7M on 70k a week won’t be too bad as a backup to TR07 in my view

  18. bradster says:

    Morning all,

    I see this weekend was the lowest number of English players in a prem weekend. Guess foreign imports are cheaper.

  19. tsgh says:

    Samuel ‏@samuelj29060 48m

    Juventus confirm Marchisio out for a month with knee injury; Surely ends any potential Pogba sale. http://bit.ly/154rQye
    Expand

    Rather unfortunate… but Marchisio is more like TR07 than Paul so just maybe…

  20. Clement Akinnubi says:

    It is now obvious that AW and IG are playing pranks with the emotions of the Arsenal faithfuls. Non the less i would take Richard, and cabaye.

  21. tsgh says:

    Emma-Grenier refused the move though… Aulas said he accepted a bid. Grenier like almost all the players we have bid for think they won’t get gets with us… 🙁

  22. tsgh says:

    Rico, France have won only 1 match since Diaby’s injury in September… all mangers including the current one have stated periodically that a fit Diaby wallks into the team…. even Zidane said Diaby was more important to Le Bleus than Benzema…

    France midfield pairing are Matuidi/Diaby and Cabaye or Podga Believe it or not Joshua G who I have been raving about is ahead of Capoue.. last week against Belgium Josua G and Kondogbia started ahead of Capoue… albeit only 2 caps.

    We may not rate Ligue 1 highly but their youth system and national team even at their worst performs better than our national team unfortunately

  23. Xr!s says:

    Richards is just a little bit better than Diaby in being on the treatment table and he probably earns more,so why we do people clamour for an injury-ravaged player?

  24. emma says:

    Don’t know why we are not looking at Ljajic Adem(21). He’s fiorentina best player and wants to leave. Fiorentina are willing to sell to a foreign club rather than to AC Milan. He has 1yr left on his contract and not willing to renew

  25. OzGoonerGuy says:

    It’s almost impossible to not buy better than what we have.

    Considering we have Park and Bendtner on our books, and a 16 yr old in our CL squad, for Wenger to be at a loss who to buy simply highlights how much trouble he’s in.

    But of course no-one wants to sell at this stage in the transfer window. There’s no point targeting players who aren’t for sale if your pulling power has gone.

    We’re in deep water, getting deeper.

  26. rico says:

    I get that Ts, but how can a crocked player be better than one who is playing?

    I’d swap Capoue for Diaby today if I could…

  27. tsgh says:

    You are right Rico… at least one is always available whilst one is a figment of our imagination… only if’s with Diaby.

  28. odoko enock says:

    please sign players before your rumors,we are tired of rumors every time but not signing players AM TIRED OF PAINFUL LOSES

  29. Elegele Denyefa says:

    What are we waiting as Arsenal fan. The only justification is Wenger sack. He has already couse the damage .

  30. tsgh says:

    😮 Interesting enough… Robbie Savage defended Arsenal, saying Newcastle have no excuse & Cabaye should’ve played…

  31. martin wengrow says:

    Super super quality……Williams, Richards, Michu, Capoue. These are all decent players, but won’t take us to the next level. Would Man City consider selling Richards if he was top level ? Of course not. We aspire to reach that level, but at best this quality of player might get us into contention for fourth spot again. I repeat AT BEST!
    60 years + an Arsenal fanatic, believe me we are facing the worst crisis in our post war history. We all know the requirements to get the club moving forward again. They are 1. New owner 2. New Chief Exec. although somebody has to be the slippery conduit between owner and manager.3. Completely new coaching staff. 4. Completely new scouting network. 5. Completely new youth set- up
    6. Complete overhaul of Medical set-up.7. Completely new boardroom set-up.
    So you can see that there’s really not much to do then!
    Seriously, who do we have to save our beloved Arsenal ?
    One more thing required. About 30,000 fans to transform the Emirates into a fortress, and back our players. The current situation is not of their making.

  32. rico says:

    Said that yesterday about William, we are a joke, an absolute joke…

    Spurs are going to batter us in a few weeks time…. If they do, Wenger will need more than just a hard hat!

  33. tsgh says:

    ”One more thing required. About 30,000 fans to transform the Emirates into a fortress, and back our players. The current situation is not of their making.” can’t disagree with that MW especially when over the last 3 seasons our away record in the league is better than our home record… if we had matched our home record with our away record last season we would have finished higher than Man $hitty…

    So Pardew lied when he said the bid was made on Sunday… JC says we made the bid on Friday morning… no surprise there from the ex-spuddie.

  34. bradster says:

    This has to be made up by journos. They say were enquiring about the Monaco striker Riviere who they signed in Jan for 3m and scored a hattrick on the weekend.

  35. ktr7 says:

    Good read.Guaita is a very good GK.he was on the shortlist to replace valdez alongside Ter Stegen of B.Monchengladbach and De Gea of MUFC.he is good and id have no problems with him.

  36. vernat1066 says:

    Willian 25 years old 5 ‘ 7 and 11 stone 2 caps for Brazil £30 million Meh… He might be good for Spurs but for us he would last 30 minutes when he starts getting kicked around the pitch. Hernanes from Lazio would be a better buy on his record 5 foot 11. 17 caps for Brazil and 30 goals in 101 games for Lazio.

  37. rico says:

    MW – This is what happens when we faff around and leave it late…

    I’m sure a different manager would have spent a few million by now and on some top top players…

  38. devilgunner says:

    Bradster………have you ever believed that any player we have been associated with these last 10 years have not been made up by journos??? I dare say 99.3% were made up by journos.

    Guaita is very good. Better than Chezzer and Flappy imo.

  39. ktr7 says:

    I hope this Guaita story is true.he would be 1st choice immediately.am tired of hearing about szczesny’s potential.its about time we bought in that area since 2006 (I think).

    I remember watching Madrid vs valencia and Guaita was sensational that day.the likes of Ronaldo were frustrated by him.some in spain rate him higher than De Gea.

  40. Steve says:

    Saw a piece last night which said we had a scout in Portugal also looking at a keeper. So much for forward planning.

    Nowhere is our shambles of football management better illustrated than our appointment of goalkeepers. We’ve seen it all before – remember how we mucked David Seaman about at the end of his career, how Lehman was in and out of the team or the nonsense over spending £2m for Mark Schwarzer.

    As SYG asked earlier why do we not just go and buy the best candidate – Begovic. It’s not as if Stoke weren’t expecting to lose him. Were we not in the same boat last year – why not Lloris or Cesear ?

    Sometimes Arsene doing the simple, bleeding obvious is also doing the right thing !

  41. ktr7 says:

    rico he wants to leave Valencia after getting dropped for Diego Alves against Malaga on the opening weekend.he felt it was disrespectful after the superb year he had.he seems determined to leave and it seems we have smelt blood and are ready to pounce.apparently Dick Law will be there later today to negotiate a deal.

  42. tsgh says:

    Hi Oz, Kt, V10 and Brad…

    The more I look at Vicente, the more I think if true he will be another SC19 masterstroke…

    He has CL experience which maybe Begovic has not got…

    Oz we need a DM, but there are no Viera’s around anymore… AW is looking for another Petite/Edu and I think Cabaye would have been good but still no move yet.

  43. ktr7 says:

    i’m not too fussed about willian but i would cry if spurs got Lamela.in terms of technique he is the closest to Rvp that i’ve seen.if his development goes on well he will be superb in a year or two.

  44. ktr7 says:

    I think we’ll get Guaita.this is because Valencia have two equally talented GKs in him and Alves.Guaita started 25 matches in la liga last season.this year however Alves has been preferred to him and he wants out as a result.he is by no means a panic buy.when valdez stated in April that he wanted to leave when the season ended Barca went for Guaita before valdez ultimately decided to stay on.

  45. tsgh says:

    vernat1066 I like your comment about Willian… sometimes I do not want to comment about other players when we are not performing well. It is good someone else watches enough football to see things objectively.Most players are overrated imho… AW’s issue is that he never has a balanced team but pound to pound he is the best manager on the planet.

    How much did our current team cost in relation to others. No other manager has built 5 different teams in 7 years and still performed well enough for fans to say finishing 3rd/4th is a disaster.

  46. ktr7 says:

    With all the purchases spurs are making it seems a transfer for Bale has been agreed in principle and they are replacing 1st before sanctioning the sale.I wish we were that proactive in the market 🙁 and as much as it pains me to say their new director of football is doing a superb job.

  47. ktr7 says:

    ts what remains a mystery to me is why our forward links have all gone cold.do we have a deal somewhere or am i missing something?…because we really need one and i doubt its michu.

  48. tsgh says:

    very true Kt…

    We were meant to be going for the Ajax striker Sigthorsson another injury prone talent…

    I was very excited about the Cabaye bid but after hearing the bid was made before saturday and we have not gone in with a better bid bothers me to say the least

  49. devilgunner says:

    At the moment Spain is the hub of technical and tactical levels. Why not for Guaita? Why not for Juanfran the RB and put BS as a CB? Why not for Michu? Good players which give us depth.

    If we get Pogba we will be getting another PV. Same age as when PV came and built for battles and speed. He will be great.

  50. tsgh says:

    The Lamela to spurs rumour is gathering pace… it pains me to say that we allowed Gerv to go to AS Roma and we failed to get a player like Lamela… shocking to say the least.

  51. devilgunner says:

    Had I been the one doing the deal I would have told Mike Ashley…….HIS DICK.

    I doubt that Cabaye would love to part with his erm….. PART. 😉

  52. tsgh says:

    The big question is why has Sagna not been given a contract?… the boy gives his all and his Mrs is a gooner…

  53. ktr7 says:

    If we sort out our squad imbalances we are actually not that far behind the likes of city/utd/chelsea.that imbalance has amplified that gap imho.if we were to sort it out we’d have no problem going toe to toe with any of them.

  54. devilgunner says:

    Do me a favour mates and do not read too much into one single snapshot. For all we know that pic may have been taken ages ago. And maybe that has always been his demeanour when thinking. The person who posted this so that it would be interpreted that way must be a joke himself.

  55. Woody says:

    I agree with Devil – you could get the same photo at Chelsea, City or united if the manager is thinking about something.

    It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just more stirring…

  56. Judge me in May says:

    Afternoon, I posted on the wrong page by mistake.. lol

    I’d take cabaye for now..
    I wouldn’t mind Richards neither..
    Begovic has to be a priority imho..
    TSGH you contradict yourself mate, how come wenger is the best manager on the planet yet he has never had a balanced team!!. Plus u always go on about his tactics or lack of..
    Something has to give in, wenger was a great manager but he refused to move on with time…
    What used to cost 10p cost 50p now..
    I thought Robbie savage was the worst football pundit of all time, till I listened to carragher last night, and I am not talking about his scouse accent..

  57. rico says:

    🙂 Woody…

    Devil, there could have been more ‘Wenger looking broken’ pictures than the one posted – in fact plenty during the Villa game…

  58. Woody says:

    Wenger is a great manager, the problem is that he gets involved in things he shouldn’t.

    There is the coach side…training, picking a team and motivating players and on that front I don’t think he’s ever let us down really.

    Then there’s the transfer side and here he has let us down BIG TIME!

    I have no doubt in my mind that no other manage out there could have done any better than him with the teams he’s has over the last 10 years, but most managers would do better in the transfer market.

    It’s sad because he used to excel in this area and I think that is also the problem.

    In 2004-5 everything changed and for some reason Wenger still thinks he can create title winning teams on a budget like he used when the competition was just United!

  59. rico says:

    Judge

    ‘Something has to give in, wenger was a great manager but he refused to move on with time…

    What used to cost 10p cost 50p now.’

    Spot on….

  60. Woody says:

    I’m sure there could Rico, but any manager could look the same even if they are winning but a decision goes against them, or someone gets injured in training.

    This is someone looking for problems – you should see the state of me watching matches that we’re winning. You’d think my team were about to get relegated!

  61. ktr7 says:

    If spurs get Lamela they will be very strong no two ways about it.i hope its not true but if it is we are in big trouble

  62. rico says:

    Not just Saturday Woody, he has looked lost for a few seasons now imho, the game has moved on yet we still try and play the same old way, regardless of who we face..

    AW has been great for us, but ‘has been’ is what he seems right now.

    It’s such a shame to see someone who once was great for us, undo all that he has done…

    I can’t forgive him for what is is doing right now….

  63. Lee says:

    If i’ve offended people then i apologise…”Happy Clappers” or whatever I’ve said, I don’t really care as all I want is Arsenal to do the right thing! May it be Wenger or the board I don’t really know BUT what I do do know is that this shit cannot continue…. we are a proper established football club, stop taking the piss out of us fans/customers!
    Rant over……

  64. rico says:

    Talking of similar, Hope Powell has been sacked after 15 years as manager of England…

    Kt, I think they are very strong already…. That Bale money must all be spent by now…

  65. allezkev says:

    The fans reaction will change things Rico, it has always been thus…

    Football Directors, in the main, are reactive…

  66. Woody says:

    I hear you Rico, I just don’t think that we can use pictures as proof. Any person can have a picture taken where you can put all sorts of reasons to it.

    to me he just looks deep in thought – with any luck he’s just realised that he needs to go spend some money.

    I’m not disagreeing that he’s lost the plot in the transfer market, but we don’t need a picture that tells us nothing to know this.

  67. rico says:

    Hi Kev. Shouldn’t come to that though should it? By then we could be in dire straights..

    We are not far off now…. 13 days in fact..

  68. allezkev says:

    It always comes to that Rico, i’m sure you can recall the gradual malaise that overtook the club at the fag-end of Bertie Mee’s reign.

    Then we had Terry Neill, another Boardroom shambles…

    George Graham’s end was speeded up because we had Dein on side.

    But the Hill-Wood’s, their indecision was final…

  69. rico says:

    I’m not that old Kev 😉

    But if Kroenke stays, I can’t see him ever sacking AW.

    I wish AU you step in right this minute, make Kroenke an offer he can’t refuse and get the sale done asap…

  70. Judge me in May says:

    Conspiracy theorists claim that wenger, with the approval of his mate DD, are making all these shambles on purpose to anger the fans and hope that would force kronkie and the board to fuck off and sell to usmanov..
    Either that or wenger has really become a shite manager with shite coaching methods, shite scouting network and delusional vision…

  71. Woody says:

    I find it almost unbelievable that this is the first summer where we don’t have big players leaving, yet it feels like the worst summer I can remember.

    How does that work?

    It’s as if the club are saying…”You haven’t gone through the pain of seeing us sell our best players this year, so we’re really going to fuck with you in another way, because Arsenal fans are not allowed a decent summer”

    It annoys me soooooo much. Especially when other clubs are able to keep their best players who want to leave…Rooney and Suarez, yet we never managed it with RVP, Fabregas etc.

    How can we be so inept?

  72. emma says:

    We have £70m to spend. Lets not include the TV money that most teams are using to break our transfer record. With this current team if it stays the way it is we will struggle to finish in top 4. Sorry for being pessimistic

  73. rico says:

    Clearly not very hard emma… He’s only had since Christmas to get a plan together..

    Does he even know who he wants to sign?

    Would any top player really want to join us?

    Would Wenger go all out to get players, regardless of how much they cost?

    Questions questions …… We’re a joke.

  74. Woody says:

    If we spend £15-18m on Cabaye, when we could have got Fellani for £23m then I will be writing letters…

  75. devilgunner says:

    Judge me in May says:
    August 20, 2013 at 1:35 pm
    Conspiracy theorists claim that wenger, with the approval of his mate DD, are making all these shambles on purpose to anger the fans and hope that would force kronkie and the board to fuck off and sell to usmanov..

    Mate I have been saying that for the past season. The housers will back me up on this. I have been stating all along that boardroom politics is all behind this.

  76. emma says:

    ditto rico 1:40

    Love or hate him Levy is a shrewd biz man if he finally pulls off £90-£100m for bale. Imagine we sold Fabregas for a peanut. 3 assists over the weekend

  77. rico says:

    Heard that theory before Judge and it sounds plausible, but, just can’t see that someone/two people who profess to love the club would let that happen….

  78. rico says:

    Would be crazy Woody, Fellaini would change us o/n imho. Then add Suarez/Rooney and we’d be on our way.

    3/4 really good players as well and fans would soon feel a whole lot better..

    But it’s unlikely isn’t it….

    We were stuffed with CF though emma, he only wanted one club so Barca had all the cards.

  79. devilgunner says:

    You and I do not think its plausible Rico because we love the club. But I have a feeling that that is the only option and Judge is right.

    Those who slate AW as being inept and past it are all wrong imo. I feel its all planned and in the end there is eventually going to be only one winner and many loosers. SK will win and the club, the fans and AW will loose.

    Unless SK sells to AU………

  80. tsgh says:

    I am not going to get into a slanging match… but if people will be honest with themselves, what is going on now has been happening at the club since 1999.

    Why and how did we allow Edu, Pires, Kanu, Lauren and Wiltord to move for free..

    We have always been a selling club it make pain some people to admit but we always sold and bought cheaper options…

  81. Woody says:

    Edu decided to leave at the end of his contract (a new offer was made, but he wanted more playing time). Pires wanted more than a one year rolling contract (we did the same with all the over 30’s including Bergkamp, Adams, Keown, Dixon, Parlour etc). Kanu wasn’t good enough by the time he left. Lauren’s level probably dropped and Wiltord probably wasn’t good enough.

    I would have loved Edu to stay but it was his choice, but I do think we should have given Pires more than 1 year

  82. devilgunner says:

    the present situation and what you are mentioning may seem the same Ginge, but the scenario is different. What Judge has said today, and what I have referred to as Boardroom Politics behind the present situation are the reality. The management at the club are playing a dangerous game which could backfire.

    Yes there is a loggerhead situation where IG and SK want a marquee signing (Suarez) while AW does not want him. That is why this impasse.

    IG has said a sentence which no one at AFC has ever uttered before………We have 70 million to spend.

    Yes the money is there. IG made the worst possible statement when he said that. Clubs would hold for more money and fleece us.

    Mike Ashley knows that 10 million for Cabaye is enough. But he knows AFC has the money and he wants to squirt as much as possible from us.

    IG is the one to blame. See the last meeting where IG sat next to SK and AW sat far away. That speaks volumes.

  83. tsgh says:

    Exactly Dev… it surprises me why fans can see this and are fueling this hysteria…

    We can do better that is for sure;no one can deny that but to believe the assertions that we are failures and no player wants to join us is a big farce…

    A Brazillian international was scared to join our club because he knew it is a big stage even coming from BM…

    And anyone who knows anything about football history can’t compare our situation to BM or PSV’s at all…

    Porto have always spent more than us…

    BM got given almost £100M for free by Bavaria. They pay no fees to police force… we are amongst the only team who pay corporate tax…

    Without AW in charge we won’t be discussing 3 or 4 marquee signings… we would be discussing top 6.

    What makes me thing that… well the 2nd most successful club and one of the most successful in Europe have spent 2 times more than us and still finish 12 points behind us… they have not even built their own stadium…

  84. tsgh says:

    Woody, good point but my point is DD was still there when we were selling players and allowing contracts to run to 0 days…

    When pundits sit on TV and say, what we did with NAsri and VP is new in football I have to laugh…

  85. W.A.T.H says:

    AK your 1:08 has one very big problem…. The board have “ZERO” power to sack wenger even with huge fan revolt…We’re owned by a bloke who lives on another continent he sees and get no grief no abuse what so ever so he sees no issue or problem with the current situation. If he lived in Hampstead and attended every game I would agree with you but riots outside the ground and mass protests liek when Neill got the tin tack won’t make the slightest bit of difference unless it’s beamed round the world and they yank then decides he don’t like the bad press…!?!?! It won’t happen mate.

  86. emma says:

    If true based on the conspiracy theory, then Wenger is threading on a dangerous territory. He will be the one to bear the crux when the volcano erupts

  87. rico says:

    Woody, ditto re Edu.As for Pires, he was heartbroken on the night of the CL final….

    As was AW there, maybe it was all his idea and Dein backed it…

  88. tsgh says:

    Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Leonardo both said AW told them personally that an American should not run a football club… AW is not stupid…

    DD even said on TV that he knows AW will try to do the best for Arsenal this window… was he telling lies?Nasser Al-Khelaifi bought Pastore and the likes on AW’s recommendations… from the horses mouth..

    Why is he not doing that with us… well maybe if someone who tells the Q&A audience his job is to make money for the club stops telling people every summer we have money to spend but fails to ensure we sign players…

    IG has been with the club for under 5 years and he has gotten/given himself a 320% pay increment… people complain about a manger of 16 y.o earning £150k a week but will pay Wooney £250k per week…

  89. tsgh says:

    I hope we are on of the clubs… Totti and De Rossi won’t be happy men if all the better players are leaving AS Roma…

  90. tsgh says:

    ”As was AW there, maybe it was all his idea and Dein backed it…” Maybe true but if DD who most people claim to want back is also controlled by AW then what chance do we have…? If he is that powerful why are we bothering stressing.. Mugabe can’t even compete with AW based on what we all think… lol

    Considering it was DD’s wife who recommended AW and convinced him I am amazed DD was would be manipulated on a string by an employee but I guess everything is possible…

  91. tsgh says:

    Syg/Dev/Emma

    Another of our tips…

    Matteo Bonetti ‏@TheMilanGuy 38s

    Psst, secret for Arsenal: If budget is a concern, go for this guy: Adem Ljajic
    Expand

  92. tsgh says:

    If true… A Robert Pires type impact imho…

    Last RT; Miralem Pjanic to Arsenal? 2 years after he almost joined from Lyon on deadline day?
    Expand

  93. tsgh says:

    Are people still expecting AW to train the squad and still be negotiating for players?

    Are we holding anyone else accountable.. even when AW tells the world he is not responsible for negotiations…

  94. tsgh says:

    AC Milans transfer plan…

    @JanuszESPN Same situation at Milan. If they get a good result today expect a typical Galliani hectic last week of the Mercato.
    View conversation

  95. Woody says:

    Does anyone else think the Suarez thing is not over yet?

    I’m not saying he would be coming to us, but we’ve not heard much from Suarez himself and I can’t help but think that if he was staying at Liverpool, he would have made a statement for the fans?

    We’ve heard from Rodgers that he’s apologised to the squad, but surely he needs to do more than that for the fans??

    I can’t help but think that something has been agreed with the player and the club, where he could be allowed to leave, but if it doesn’t happen he can’t have burnt his bridges with the club/fans.

    I wonder whether Real Madrid have spoken to Liverpool just in case they can’t get Bale…

  96. rico says:

    I wouldn’t get too excited Adk…

    Woody, Sept 2nd imho, IF he is moving to us. Funny how it’s all gone quiet..

    Hopefully the Stoke management keep Hughes nose out of it Ts.

  97. allezkev says:

    Yeah Wath, I understand your point entirely, and yes, you are correct.

    But Americans are very sensitive to public opinion, especially if it is adverse, so i, as you say, that there were demos both outside and inside the ground, and it is beamed around the world as the EPL is these days, then don’t worry my friend, the Syrup would be nervous…

    His pocket would be affected.

    And things would change

  98. Woody says:

    It would certainly explain why we are not moving very quickly. Do we have an agreement IF we get in to the CL?

    I can’t believe it would be the case, but it’s funny how it has all gone quiet and also how Suarez can go from releasing statements one minute to nothing the next.

    Something has to be agreed with someone…surely?

    This whole process is far too painful – the transfer window needs to shut on 31st July.

    It’s a total shambles, we should all be focusing on the new season and the games we have coming up but instead we have to all moan at each other and listen to dross on SPN every single day.

  99. allezkev says:

    Wath, can you imagine the shit-storm if the Scum rock up with all their new signings, the day before the deadline, and give us a thumping???

    I was speaking to a Spud mate of mine yesterday Watb, and believe me, they are cock-a-hoop at the disarray at Arsenal atm…

  100. rico says:

    Kev, I can see exactly that happening and they walk away with all the points… If things stay as they are today…

  101. vernat1066 says:

    Here is what you can really call bad news, so we don’t buy any players lose games in the end all that happens is we don’t buy some players and we lose some games.

    Trying walking in this guys shoes to see what bad news is.

    Joost van der Westhuizen: Still fighting on his deathbed

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/23699697

    I don’t mean that we don’t need to change things, we do or that we don’t need to buy players we do but the whole end of the world, OMG we haven’t signed X or Y is in the end hardly the end of the world is it?

  102. Judge me in May says:

    Rico, devil I agree there is dirty politics somewhere.. Wenger would be guilty either way
    By the way that’s not my conspiracy theory and I really don’t believe it..
    TSGH I don’t know any marquee player Arsene signed..
    He used to be good at developing young talents and make them world stars..
    I think he lost that now..
    U go on about champs league qualifications.. Tell me what’s the point if we go in it just to make the numbers and bank the millions!? . We don’t compete and we certainly don’t attract stars players..
    I see them going to all other clubs.. Even tiny totts, Newcastle, Southampton., Monaco, Liverpool. Never mind the big guns of Spain and the the sugar dadys in England..
    The stadium… The whole point of moving to the Emirates was so we could complete with the elite clubs of Europe… That how it was sold to us anyways.. But are we..
    As I said if wenger is not guilty as you think he should come out clean and tell us what is going on for the good of the club.. Or otherwise he is one of them..

  103. W.A.T.H says:

    AK, agree with the bad publicity but what goes on in London really wont affect him 2 much unless it gets totally out of order which it could well do “IF” we lost to the swampies and get knocked out of the CL…? What you need is mass protests outside the ground which gets onto the news rather than just the back pages of the papers… Yank out banners and grief aimed at him could indeed make him uncomfy… lets hope so mate cos until he goes the same shit stays the same in my mind.

  104. rico says:

    V10, that is a horrid story but the two shouldn’t be compared imho.

    What goes on in real life is very different.

    But in a world of football, signing no players and losing many games is the end of the world…

  105. vernat1066 says:

    I agree totally the two should not be compared and that we need to change things especially at board level and sign some players and spend some f*****g money.

    But in the end Football is a game and games are meant to be fun, if we get so wound up on what we don’t do and why we don’t do it and take that out on other people by abusing them etc.. its kind of defeating the purpose is it not? Please note this is not an accusation at anyone on this forum its just my opinion. If its not enjoyable stop doing it you are only going to do your self and others harm.

  106. rico says:

    But no-one is abusing each other on here, sorry but I don’t get your point?

    Arsenal matter, big time and watching all this unfold hurts like heck. That’s why frustrations run high…

  107. ArsenalDK says:

    tsgh, Pjanic is from Bosnia, like my self, that’s why it’s a double wohoo for me 😀

    It’s actually funny, but before he went to Roma, we had already agreed terms with him and everything. But his father had given his word to Roma, that they would get him, so he ordered his son not to choose Arsenal..

  108. tsgh says:

    Judge, please explain that to Stan and the board not me… you seem to have all the answers so lchange it all for us all.

    I live in between a spuddie and a Chelsea family (both late 50’s to earlier 60’s) and until this summer both men would have given an arm and a leg have AW as their manager.

    The Chavs supporter must be the only man I know who does not rate Mauren-ho but the media says he is the best when he has not made a career for a single player in his 2 decades in management.

    People talk about our deadwoods how many deadwoods has Jose signed in his career… all throughout his career he waits for people like

    I would loved us to win yearly but if we don’t I am not going to lose sleep over something I have no sway over… after all I am a mere customer… like PHW said if we don’t like it we can go somewhere else… unfortunately its nothing like that Penta Engineer,Machado who built Porto, Raneiri who built Chelsea, Munchini who built Inter, Pellegrini who built the current RM team… this current Chelsea team has been built by a technical director but I bet Jose will take the plaudits for it…

  109. Gtid says:

    Re-watching our game against villa.
    We never really did play very well plus we actually played with 10 players and later reduced to 9 because Walcot did not make any meaningful contribution.
    It’s good to know the referee is getting punished for his bias refereeing.
    Are we close to buying any player atm?

  110. tsgh says:

    Its funny how all of a sudden all the media leeches are going on about Baldini… a few months ago they were the same guys slating NUFC for appointing Kineer as DoF… saying DoF was not English…

  111. rico says:

    SS’s reporting that the reason Arsenal made a bid for Cabaye was to ‘placate’ the fans..

    What utter poop

  112. Woody says:

    Why is it that we were told that we had to move to a new stadium to be able to compete with the big teams, yet spuds are able to spend what they are, which is significantly more than we’ve spent EVER, with the same stadium capacity as Highbury?

    Plus, we were playing CL every season and they clearly haven’t been.

    My brain is going to explode because I can’t get my head around it.

    Something is not right and it isn’t just Wenger’s stubboness.

  113. rico says:

    That’s what started it all Woody, we moved to compete with the best. I suspect most fans knew that things would be tough for a few seasons, but how long ago was that now?

    Wenger’s ‘I’d hand back £100 million’ comment makes me think it is mostly to do with him.

  114. tsgh says:

    LadyArse @ LadyArse 2h
    Moron claims he Could do a better job than Wenger. Clearly that’s why he’s writing for the Mail and not earning £ 7m in soccer then.
    Retweeted by Groover
    Expand

  115. tsgh says:

    If someone of the street gave me £100M too I will give it back; however if I won the lottery or was given £100M in a will I will take it.lol

  116. tsgh says:

    ON THIS ARSENAL DAY 1977 Arsenal start the season with a 0-1 defeat to Ipswich. The campaign would end the same way in the #FACup final.

  117. Wavy says:

    What if the 3 players including Pjancic are not here to sign for Arsenal? Moronyo says he wants ‘one’ more Pjancic, for example not Rooney! And the other two are going to other London clubs, the scums being one and a.n. other for the other?
    Written by the doommaker!
    And what ever became of Cabaye, even a part pf him? Or is it that we are too proud to re-bid, even £10m +£1 or was that our value and not a penny more. I bet it was. Our attitude and behaviour in the market is absolutely piss poor, or at least that is how it seems to an interested on-looker.

  118. rico says:

    Virginia Wade won Wimbledon that year too, but she won’t make a difference to what goes on now at Arsenal… 😉

  119. rico says:

    Do you have a plan b if if you don’t sign Wayne Rooney?

    Jose replies – Yes, and a plan c….

    We don’t seem to have a bleedin plan A…!!

  120. southyorkshiregunner says:

    I think the pitch at Portman Road that day was waterlogged as it had rained heavy, Ginge.
    Match of the Day used to show clips of a sliding tackle as part of its intro…..
    An amazing factoid ….. not lol

  121. rico says:

    Wavy, that’s how it looks to me too….

    Mind you, £10 million for Cabaye is about right, he’s hardly set the world alight since the geordies paid under £5 million for him…

  122. Micko says:

    Cheers tsgh, I’ll be having Willie Young flash backs all night now !

    Hope we don’t end up blowing the kitty on the 2 Swansea players mentioned, we know they’ll be looking for top whack.

    Yesterday it was Song, today Diaby, are you lot on a wind up !

  123. rico says:

    From LadyArse:

    According to the Independent PSG have followed Arsenal’s lead and submitted a bid for Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye. No doubt their offer will be more gratefully received coming after Newcastle got tanked even though Arsenal submitted theirs on Friday and not Monday as Pardew keeps yammering on about.

    Arsenal offered £10m for the player and now reports claim that the French side have offered £15m and it’s hard to see Arsenal bettering that to be honest. Of course, I could be wrong, but it looks like Arsenal could have to break their transfer record in order to land him and is Cabaye really a player worth doing that for? That being said, at this point, Arsenal need bodies but as we said yesterday, not in this position.

    Arriving at Newcastle from Lille in 2011 in a deal worth less than £5m it would seem as if Cabaye is set for the Newcastle exit door.

    Having had his head turned by Arsenal it is not clear if he has a preference between Arsenal and PSG but without wishing to be a negative Norm you also have to think PSG will offer better wages than Arsenal, often the deciding factor no matter what the player claims.

    Most depressing transfer window ever – and we haven’t even lost any star players.

  124. Judge me in May says:

    TSGH we all agree kronkie and the board are a a bunch of greedy bastards. .
    However I think wenger is just as guilty for all the reasons we discussed and I don’t want to repeat. .
    I don’t pretend to have any answer however you can tell from his ridiculous excuses and contradicting statments that he is not being honest enough or has completely lost it..
    I know you love your football and Arsenal. .we all do..I just think your blind faith in wenger is just crazy. ..so peace man I give up..
    I didnt say morinho or x or z better than him I just think he is stuck in the past and lost it..it can happen in any profession when you lose momentum you lose command..
    Arsenal is a top 6 European football club business and fan base wise..football wise iam not sure..
    Unlike you I do lose a bit of sleep and become cranky when things don’t go well with arsenal..am I a loser!? My wife and kids would tell you iam not. ..lol

  125. Wavy says:

    £10m is about right for Cabaye, in the normal run of things, maybe less, but thhis TW is/has been exceptional as well as most unusual. It stems firstly from the Falcao transfer £50m, looks a snip now, followed by the Bale offer,£93m I read today, a ridiculous amount of money and this exacerbated by our £40m+£1. We are now open to all sorts of financial abuse and we will pay the price for IGs foolishness.
    Cabaye will cost at least £15m imo and probably more, because we can afford it! And we have got it! Or the not for sale sign will go up. It isrobably a good thing that fat Ashley is a greedy bastard and will take the cash…….eventually.
    But I question how keen Wenger is to hire Cabaye, if it was just a punt to get the fans off his back then the geodie frenchmanwill notnbe coming. He will be upset no doubt but the Arsenal will care less! Didn’t Brenda accuse us of lacking class, he may have a case. I am not impressed at all about the way we have gone about our business this TW. Negligent, I’ll say! Not to mention incompetent and shameful.
    Come on Arsenal get a grip!

  126. rico says:

    Totally agree Micko, poor thing. It’s so tough on her she’s about to head off into the sunset for pastures new. Shame.

    And Nik, will David get to shove a pillow over his head in time?

  127. rico says:

    Sky Sports reported earlier that the bid was just that Wavy, just so we could be seen to be trying. Same with Suarez.

    Every club knows we are desperate, they’ll sting us if they can and that’s all because we didn’t show a bit of clout early.

    The totts did and look how their side is shaping up. When they make the Bale move official, the fans won’t be half as annoyed as they would have been had he been sold first.

  128. Micko says:

    Well I suppose you could call that good news emma, was really fearing the worst.
    Hope Wenger doesn’t let our medical team anywhere near him mind ya or you can probably double that estimate.

  129. southyorkshiregunner says:

    €30M for Manuel Almunia MKII ?
    Pay half that and get the best goalkeeper in the Premiership ….

  130. southyorkshiregunner says:

    … I would have tapped them up for Ever Banega and Adil Ramil as squad-fillers while I was there…. I’m sure they could do with a few million ….

  131. rico says:

    Begovic for me too, top top class signing…

    And, Wenger says he only want that kind of signing…

    😆 😆 😆

    Yeah right!!

  132. tsgh says:

    Hi Micko. were you at Portman Road in 1977?lol

    Vicente is more than the spainish waiter I believe… 🙂

    Those keen on tactics, watch this video of Manuel talking about tactics…. you will be intrigued… it may explain why AW always beats MP and Jose always beats MP and AW…

  133. tsgh says:

    Rico, I think watching it will completely change your mind…Imho every football lover should watch it…

  134. tsgh says:

    No changing…

    Arsène Wenger believes the Champions League play-off matches against Fenerbahce will be Arsenal’s most important of the season.
    The Gunners will reach the group stage of Europe’s premier tournament for a 16th successive season if they can overcome Ersun Yanal’s side.
    Arsenal won 5-2 on their last visit to Sukru Saracoglu Stadium and Wenger insists that playing at the top level is vital for his team.
    On the back of our defeat against Aston Villa, it’s important as well to bounce back straight away

    “Yes of course [they are the most important games of the season],” he told Arsenal Player. “We fought very hard last season to be in the top four and that game has a vital importance.
    “It’s a consequence of what we tried to achieve last season and therefore, on the back of our defeat against Aston Villa, it’s important as well to bounce back straight away.
    “To be part of the top level – that is for us the most important thing. All the rest are the consequences of it. When you are a football player, you want to play at the top level and that’s what the Champions League is about.
    “We try to win everywhere we go. That is the only target we have to set ourselves.
    “We respect Fenerbahce highly but in the history of our club we have gone everywhere, all over, and always had a desire to win and that is what we will do again.”

  135. devilgunner says:

    Good Evening Fine Friends.

    Ginge. at least AW pushed Santos. I would have kicked him. He is not doing his training properly. His lackadaisical attitude is infuriating. watch him properly. He is not focused and if that is the kind of attitude he has in training it explains his round waist and lack of speed.

  136. tsgh says:

    Dev, its amazing how AW saw him but then would publicly back him up.

    Its similar to how B-52 and AW fell out after the Barca game 3 years ago, why B-52 has not been allowed near the first team since…

  137. rico says:

    Meanwhile, Wenger keeps the chequebook closed and hopes that should we lose, Uefa ban Fenerbache for match fixing….

  138. tsgh says:

    Rico should be pleased…

    David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 24m
    Spoken to reps of PSG CB Sakho – say Barca, Milan, Arsenal & Tottenham have contacted to express interest. €12m fee, €6m salary #bbcfootball
    Retweeted by Samuel
    Expand

  139. tsgh says:

    This should show who deals with transfers at least in this case…

    David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 9m
    Arsenal contact from Gazidis, Spurs from Freund. Not followed up yet but Sakho camp want to meet all parties before decision #bbcfootball

  140. tsgh says:

    Jose follows stats…lol

    That was a surprise yes, because we always expect the big teams and the title contenders to win their matches, but we know we cannot win all the time and we lose points sometimes and it happened to Arsenal this match. Probably in the second fixtures it will be another contender who loses points. But that is the beauty of this league and of football.

    ‘It was not such a big surprise because Aston Villa can do that to anyone of the contenders, and if you see the stats on last season they had more points away from home than at Villa Park so they are a team with quality to play away, to play the counter-attack game they played at the Emirates.’ (via Chelsea FC)

  141. devilgunner says:

    That is an old Video Ginge.

    He is not far from AW in terms of schooling and methods. But I feel that AW was blessed with better players all the time (with the exception when MP was at RM). There he did not fail, like Jose did not. RM do not need a coach. They all play the way they want or the board want.

    But he offers a good insight on coaching methods to those who have never seen or experienced coaching methods.

    I am not far away from that sort of methodology. Obviously the level is lower and the pool of players is younger, but the methods remain the same.

    I do not play 4-2-3-1 but I play 4-3-3 which is unique in the execution of tactics. However I always adapt the system to the players instead of vice versa.

  142. tsgh says:

    Cheers Dev,
    .
    very interesting there… as I do not have any formal coaching training I am always intrigued about the differing views on changing tactics to suit opposition.

    Most NATO military academies teach that every nation has its own strategy in war. A big nation never changes its tactics to suit a smaller nation. It sounded like MP saying a big club should not change his tactics to face a smaller club…

    That idea is also applied in martial arts where the assumption is that if you do what you are good at better then you should beat your opposition most times…

  143. tsgh says:

    It sounded very similar to Sacchi’s views. I will like to hear frrom the new school re Laudrup, De Boer etc.. Then again they are all similar to Cruyff especially Laudrup; whilst Kluivert is more like Huddink…

  144. rico says:

    Any good manager will change his tactics to face who they play.

    A good manager will exploit an oppositions weakness, he will have studied the opposition before hand..

    We play the same way, regardless of who we face…

    imho.

  145. rico says:

    Ts, you are a database man, check his wikki page. He’s won bugger all of any significance…

    Real hoofed him out after just one season…

  146. tsgh says:

    Do you think Juve’s bid for Kondogbia is a replacement for Paul or for Marchiso who is injured…

    People rate Willem of PSV but he is very much like Santos when it comes to defending… stilll very young so more time to improve…

    Maher is a player and a half…

  147. devilgunner says:

    My yardstick and role model has always been Sacchi, Ginge. I used to be enthralled and fascinated by his methods and usually I adapted them to my sessions. I also like the dutch method, especially where grassroots are concerned till under 15 level.

  148. tsgh says:

    Rico, your comment sounds like something I will make re MP… 😀

    I agree with you though… he is a nearly man. Not ruthless enough.

  149. tsgh says:

    Reporter: “Isn’t Cabaye similar to your current midfielders? Ball-playing midfielder?” /
    Wenger: “You have your opinion.”

  150. devilgunner says:

    I have always changed my tactics to suit my players with one or two twinges every week depending upon who we are playing.

    Normally I play 4-3-3 as I said above. But one day I played a funny formation to catch the opposition out and boy did we turn them on their heads.

    This team played in a certain way in the first round where they nullified my CF to the extent that we were playing with a player less. They put two CBs on him and the FBs stuck to the wingers like two leeches.

    Well I went 4-3-1-2 but the two forwards were playing on the wings with the CF playing like the hungarian type…..a false 9 who dropped in midfield.

    What happened????

    Well one of the CBs kept following him in the channel where there is the DM with the result that only one CB was in the centre. The two Forwards who were wingers kept attacking the lone CB 2 on 1 at the same time and the CF kept releasing the ball between the FBs and the CB.

    By the time they worked it out who had to mark who we were already out of sight……4-0 up in the first 20 minutes.

    Then we reverted to the normal tactics and we won the game 6-1. 🙂

    That is the occasional twinge. But as I said….I always adapt the system, methods and tactics to the players I have, the opposition and the type of game it is.

  151. rico says:

    Just truthing Ts. I speak from my heart. Web pages mean very little to me, just like stats, they are full of falseness…

    The eye see’s what really goes on…

    Gone now…

  152. devilgunner says:

    During the above game the two forward/wingers kept dropping in midfield so it seemed as if we were playing a 4-6-0 team shape. When the ball was on the right we looked up to play it diagonally to the player cutting in from the left wing between the CB and FB, and when the ball was on left it was played diagonally to the right behind the CB for the player cutting in from the right.

  153. devilgunner says:

    In the first four goals we had 3 one on one with the keeper. Scored each time. The 4th goal was from a corner so that did not count as part of the tactic.

  154. tsgh says:

    night…Rico.

    Master class Dev.
    That 4-3-1-2 is similar to what Fatih uses now at Gala but with Sneider as the 1 behind 2 strikers several yards apart…

  155. devilgunner says:

    Sometimes simple tactics are much more effective than letting players play and decide for themselves. We worked for a whole week on this tactic starting from the simple going to the complex. I had all the players working on it and while we got on with our business as usual we built it up slowly in every session. The players enjoyed it so much that they wanted to use it more often, but I pointed out that it works only when the back four stay back and stick to the attackers like leeches. when they FBs overlap we need to play a different game. Especially when its against 3-5-2.

  156. devilgunner says:

    but my 1 was the CF who played a very deep role while the two strikers were far apart the width of the pitch. There were moments when we had no one in the central part of the attack.

    And bdw………..that was way back in 2005. Those who say that Spain invented the false 9 should look back to the 60’s hungarian team who inspired a youth coach (me) to play with such a tactic.

  157. tsgh says:

    Its a shame local English clubs don’t try teaching youngsters that in our country…

    Reason why our national team is rubbish…

    Fat Sam philosophy only.lol

  158. tsgh says:

    Oxlade-Chamberlain tweets that he hopes to be back in 3 months, hours after Wenger said player would be out for 6 weeks.

  159. devilgunner says:

    That is why I keep on harping that English clubs should chuck out all the English coaches at youth level and employ coaches from across Europe and Latin America especially with youths from under 15 down.

    At under 15 level I have played a total of 14 games against foreign teams…..English, Scottish, Italian, Swiss and Albanian. And out of these I only lost 3…all against Italian teams. The rest were won except two which were draws. They were all tournaments or friendlies but even though I do not give an arse about winning or loosing at that level still went in to win them. At least for prestige if not anything.

    English clubs have the mentality that they are the best. But they are mistaken.

    If AFC want to move forward with the times they should hire Dutch, Spanish or Italian coaches at youth level with their assistants being English. That way the English coaches will learn from the best and become the best themselves.

  160. tsgh says:

    If AFC want to move forward with the times they should hire Dutch, Spanish or Italian coaches at youth level with their assistants being English. That way the English coaches will learn from the best and become the best themselves.

    An excellent point Dev… look at how our youth fail to progress from 16/18 years old onwards… Aneke, Afobe all had the talent but no proper coaching…

    Gatting is a shocker…

  161. Scott from Oz says:

    Hi guys.
    Lee, on your 1.00….mate, i was not offended, and didn’t take it personally.
    It’s just that, in my opinion, we soile be banding together to get some changes happening and not taking digs at each other.
    If the AKB’s and WOB can not get together to form a united front, then there is now way the fan base will ever be listened to.
    The club is in big trouble atm…that is stating the obvious….but fighting on a few different fronts will get us nowhere.
    I don’t pretend to know the answers from over here, but i reckon we are all better off somehow taking on Stan and his board, because then and only then can we really see some changes being made.
    Potter, how is the forum going??
    Any updates?

  162. W.A.T.H says:

    Scott, what you don’t see is or appreciate is the poisonous and toxic atmosphere in the ground… Arsenal fans at each others throats and like it or not thats what Arsene has done to the supporters…! I’ve never seen or heard fans so divided by whats going on in over 30yrs and as AK said earlier we the fans got rid of Terry Neill but is that gonna happen now… Not in a million years in my opinion but then again I know jack shit…!

    What it highlights is the fact Wenger still has a staunch following for whom he can do no wrong rightly or wrongly and yet that number is dwindling rapidly but the fact is that should it ever mean Arsenal fans come to blows in our own Stadium…? it ‘s pathetic that it’s come to that…? do the club or Wenger actually give a shit..? do they care what they are doing to the fans…? do they care about the rifts they are creating..?

    I think it’s a sad indictment of whats going on at our club that fans are at each others throats and care far more about our club than the manager and the owner do.

  163. Wavy says:

    Wath, but what you are not taking into account is that after 30years in management you can’t tell Wenger anything about how to manage the club, its players or the transfers in or out because, HE HAS THE EXPERIENCE and you and I know nothing and can tell him nothing because Arsene Knows Best.
    I suspect the plot has been lost, if there ever was a plot!

  164. Scott from Oz says:

    Wath, i agree there are those who see him never doing any wrong, but they are entitled to their opinion.
    I have said it before and will stick by it…..from what i have seen on various blogs, forums and FB pages, it is invariably the Wenger out guys that start the personal crap and insults….why is that?
    Even those who defend him know the club has massive problems, but they choose to lay blame elsewhere and could well be right.
    We do not know anything for sure other than plenty are telling lies.
    What would happen if Gazidis or Wenger came out and stated categorically that Wenger has NOT had the cash to spend?
    It may not happen, but nobody can say for certain it will not happen.
    Anyway, toxic environment or mot, arguing with and insulting other Gooners is not the way to get anything sorted.

  165. rico says:

    Transfer strategy??

    Be interesting to see that, if he has one…

    Meanwhile, the neighbours are getting stronger…

    Morning all..

  166. tsgh says:

    Morning all,

    Well it seems like Dick failed in Spain with the Vicente bid. Nothing new there I guess. Valencia have made 15M profit they are aren’t really desperate for cash now….

    Scott- My question is when did our club go from PHW/IG- ‘AW has always got money to buy whoever he wants’, to IG-‘we now have the financial power to compete on the market’?

    There was a small caveat though, IG mentioned in 2 years time we will be up there with the elite… hmmm

    Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair will be disappointed with themselves they could not recruit IG to help them out in 2003…

  167. Scott from Oz says:

    Ginge, Wenger is an obvious and easy target.
    Partly because he leaves himself open, partly because he cops it without rocking the boat.
    No doubt he is not perfect, but also there is no doubt the arseholes above him hang him out to dry.

  168. vernat1066 says:

    Morning, I agree with Scott on other sites (not here) the abuse and insults are unreasonable. We definitely need changes in how things are run at the club and signings this window but the stories on transfers have not been from our side, all the news and comment has come from the team we have tried to sign from and how much we can trust that is debatable.

  169. rico says:

    Hi Ts, how much did we offer?

    Think his clause in his contract is 30m euros, I doubt we offered that when Begovic would be cheaper and PL ready…

  170. rico says:

    Sometimes I wonder if AW thrives on stuff like this…

    Who else would behave in such a way in the transfer window when he has money in his pocket…

    Even Southampton have been busy and plenty of other clubs. Di Canio still wants another 5 players, he’s already bought loads…

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