Morning all.
Rumour has it, Mathieu Flamini has been told he’s free to leave as he’s no longer in the manager’s plans. The Frenchman apparently wants the final year of his contract paid off so he can find a new deal elsewhere.. Good! Surely that means someone else will be signed in his place?
The de Boer brothers seemed to have a very different view on Yaya Sanogo, Frank thinks he can make a star out of the ‘Postman’ but Ronald strongly disagrees saying ‘he has no qualities’ – ouch, and that was not long after the big Frenchman scored a hat-trick for his new club…..
Tomas Rosicky has had an operation and will be out for at least eight weeks. Even if he’s fit Arsene Wenger seldom plays him so a further eight weeks on the sidelines will make little difference for him but it’s a great shame as if anyone deserves to be allowed to leave for another club who will play him, it’s Tomas.
Kev’s thoughts on the squad:
With three weeks left of this transfer window and despite a myriad of rumours, whispers, ITK’s and Agent inspired fantasies doing the rounds, it’s looking likely that what we have is what we’ve got. Well at least up to January.
Assuming that Arsene has in fact done all his business, let’s consider how we think our squad will challenge the ersatz clubs?
When you look at our probable 1st choice XI, it’ll look something like this;
Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal, Ramsey, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Alexis and Giroud…
That eleven is pretty much the same, lest we forget, that beat Man City comfortably in the Charity Shield a year ago, beat Man City at the Etihad, that also beat Man Utd at OT in the FA Cup. It was also the same eleven who thrashed Liverpool at the Emirates, destroyed Aston Villa in the FA Cup final and ran Chelsea very close twice in the EPL before finally beating them at Wembley in the Charity Shield. That was Mourinhos first defeat at Wembley and his first defeat to Wenger.
A steady improvement over the last 3 games against the Champions, unluckily losing at the Bridge, drawing 0-0 at the Emirates and finally beating them 1-0. That’s 180 minutes that this Arsenal team have kept a clean sheet against the Chelsea. To me, that is progress….
Then we have our second eleven who are as important as the first, these are the players that have to take up the slack when Wenger rotates and rests, the players that step in when we suffer injuries and suspensions:
Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Chambers, Gabriel, Wilshere, Arteta, Rosicky, Walcott, Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain…
I think that our ‘squad’ players are as good as most and better than many of the other 19 clubs in the EPL…
Arsene obviously feels very comfortable with what he has, and that’s allowed him to loan out Szczesny, Martinez. Sanogo, Jenkinson, Hayden, Akpom, Toral, Crowley, Gnabry and Maitland-Niles.
Wenger has taken advantage of the loan system and the high regard that Arsenal players are held in. Hopefully most of our loanees will develop and return to the club, better, rounded and more experienced, ready to offer Wenger some squad options and save the club millions. After all, that is surely, the whole point of having an Academy!
Arsene has strengthened his first eleven in an area that has caused concern since post-2006 and the slow decline and departure of Jens Lehmann. Then you look at the second group of players who are vital to any successful team. You look at the quality of the players you may need to step in when injuries, suspensions, loss of form and fatigue affect the first eleven and imo, that group on its own could probably finish in the Top Six.
Finally Arsene has Flamini, Campbell, Wellington Silva, Bielik, Iwobi, Adelaide and Zelalem, with what constitutes the League Cup squad and who could surprise us and come in to do a job on the odd occasion.
Arsene has done a great job post-RVP, gradually building and fine-tuning this squad. The club have finally sorted out the fitness and support staff behind the scenes. Those who do a crucial job and are vital to any successful club.
Do you think that all the above considered and the recent results against top opponents and the recent trophy haul that we are ready to take the next step?
I think that this squad IS good enough to win the EPL. I suspect that Mourinho thinks so!
What about you?
By AllezKev.
Morning. We have a great squad. 2 great additions would be welcome one of which should be a game changer.
Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.
Fine post Kev.
But imo the team needs at least another midfielder and another striker or winger depending where Theo plays.
And the club DOES NEED ……..EVA CARNEIRO.
Hopefully in a miniskirt on match day……ok Ginge.
i can bet that Eva will soon have Adam off the couch/sofa whatever he sits on.
Excellent post Kev, because it keeps some damn perspective after last week’s disappointment. We have a good team, and good depth in most positions throughout. We will do well this year.
But I dont expect a PL title, or even a serious push. My reasoning is that we needed that one rock in the middle to go with Coquelin and rotate. Schniederlin was my pick because of positional astuteness, high tackle count, high pass percentage and was a ball playing DM. We need another like that. Because I forsee an injury to Coquelin, who is in a very combative position remember. We will play Jack in there and the wheels will fall off.
Up front, we are a little short on quality. I like what Walcott gives us as pace and finishing, but tends to be very quiet often, not doing much for many games. At least Giroud contributes with holdup play and assists, even though he can be sometimes frustrating. Note I dont mention welbeck because I dont rate him as anything more than a squad player.
On the whole I agree we have the best squad in recent memory, but sorry its not enough. As I wrote a few days ago, we need on average 13 more points than we reap year after year, concede 7 fewer goals, and score 13+ more just to have a chance. I cant see where this is coming from – unless a tighter PL race sees all the other horses consistently dropping points and this season is some kind of anomaly.
…I cant blame Ronald de Boers Sanogo comment
Morning Kev, good post…
I think we have a great squad but it still lacks strength in midfield imo and in our attack. We need someone to unlock the door to the bus…..
Two more for me….
How you doing Syg? Long time no see….
Howdy SYG! Who would your two be?
Good read AK…
We see eye to eye rico… 🙂 Hope wenger does too!
Lee, which of the three are you going to? Nothing on the tapas menu for me… ?
Top read Kev, and a very positive one.
I wonder what happened to the ‘Skeptic Kev’ or was it the ‘doubting Kev? 🙂
Syg- how be?
Dev- I knew Eva on the sidelines in a mini skirt will compel you to call your travel agent to book a ticket for the UK. 😉
We often do Roger… ?
Morning all, again.
SYG have you been on holiday?? Long time no hear! Welcome back.
Nice one Kev. Largely I agree with you re the squad we have and , I do believe Wenger thinks he’s got enough! I too, will be surprised if he buys any significant player(s)before deadline day. But, that may change if we lose to Palace on Sunday. Another trolley dash may ensue. The plan I think is, we don’t need to spend oodles of cash on spectacular signings as we have excellent players throughout the squad and so we are ‘complete’
The die will be cast on Sunday! We’ll have to wait and see!
May I quantify my post by adding that it was written between the euphoria of beating Chelsea, and the anti-climatic West Ham result…
Frankly we’re never that good or that bad.
But I still think that we can win the EPL.
Good post, Kev.
Yes, we have the quality, but as always, injuries will play their part, and we can’t afford many at all-that’s our problem, and we are very vulnerable,
There’s no excuse for us to be in this position.
Morning all.
Roger- since I know you rate Coquelin can you guess how many games Kosser and Per played together before 13th December, 2014?
Ha ha Kev, the high followed by a big low eh….
Broadgate Rico, there’s nothing on the menu you’d eat? You’ll have to tuck into the draft Estrella then!!! 😉
Can someone tell me how many players we currently have in our squad atm? It seems really lean to me right now!!
A strategist always plans for the worst and hopes for the best.
AW it appears works the other way round…
Kev attest’s to the Hannibal of carthage doctrine in military academies… 😉
Tsgh, I definitely think Coquelin was a revelation for Arsenal last season because a) noone expected those performances from him b) Wenger hopefully re-learned the value of this type of player to fight it out in the trenches and sit in front of defence. But I dont actually think he is better than other quality DMs in the top leagues (eg the ones we get linked to). So I think he doing very well and good luck to him this season, but I dont think he is an elite DM in Europe.
How that relates to Kosser and Per, I dont know… but Im going to guess they didnt play together in their much because Kosser was injured for a period and we even had Monreal and Debuchy in there during the injury crisis. So… I will guess 8 times?
Sounds like a good plan to me Lee, I’m sure they would do a portion of chips…. ?
24 including Campbell and Flamini.
Ginge, I know what you’re getting at.
Giroud also came back around that time, and had an impact.
It wasn’t JUST Coquelin coming in, but where you believe plenty overestimate his influence, I reckon you underestimate it 🙂
22 then Rico……..
Rico, just say 22 🙂 🙂
Bloody time zones, hey Lee lol
20 without Jack and Tomas Lee.
Not a bad guess at all Roger… 6 times before that date when Kosser came into the squad. 😉
Do you know what the win ratio of the team is between 13th Dec to Fa cup final for 2014/2015 season?
Could you also guess what the win ratio is for that same period the season before last?
19 including Arteta… Lol
Ts, where are you going with your guessing stuff? You’ve lost me….
😀 Scott.
I am sure Roger who rates Coquelin and won’t be biased can tell us what the teams win ratio is when Kosser and Per play together with Coquelin plus Kosser and Per with Arteta in CDM.
Also compare the win ratio of SC19 & le coq vs the pivot of Arteta & Ramsey…
If fans views are to be believed the emergency wards will be full with Arsenal fans if Coquelin was to get injured or suspended…
imo the team….1st 11 and the subs are enough to be able to challenge. last sunday’s result was not a reflection of the team capabilities. but everyone underperformed.
However I feel that AW is clearing the decks for 2 more major signings. yes all things may point out at no signing however I feel that Krychowiak will come and with him a winger or striker.
For those bashing Le Coq……one swallow does not make a summer. similiarly one bad game (from everyone) does not make him bad. imo as I said last time, why play Cazorla on the wing when clearly Coquelin and CAzorla functioned well together?
we went with a game plan and it backfired. bad tactics, bad attitude and overall a bad day at the office.
I hope he’s doing just that Devil.
The London Evening Standard reckon he’s done for the summer though…..
Devil, your last paragraph nailed it.
Ginge, you know I still rate Arteta, so you’re preaching to the converted there.
Arteta is not suited to pacey sides, and Coqulein is.
If Coqulein gets injured though……that’s the issue, for mine.
Nice post Kev. As Sunday showed too well, the squad is part of the battle but the attitude, tactics, man-management, desire, fortitude, zee mental strength et al are just as critical. If not more. The challenge of motivating young multi-millionaires with inflated egos is certainly a major factor and that’s why you need some bloody-minded belligerence too.
Perhaps constant evolution, which includes regular strengthening can be employed to disrupt those players who believe the hype and are looking for a comfort zone existence.
Remember the Galacticos? I can’t remember them winning too much.
If Wenger doesn’t win the PL or CL this year or at least goes very, very close, then what happens next?
I say, nothing.
Dev- I recall Sc19 came into the middle at the start of the 2nd half before 2nd goal went in…
Also another anomaly possibly but do you know how many times Sc19 and Le Coq have started in midfield together without ramsey or Tr07 or Welbz in team or rhs or with Ox staring in the team?
My point is the pivot worked last season because from March onwards AW did not play Ox or Theo on rhs.
AW packed the midfield with Gibbs, Welbz, Ramsey and TR07 on loads of occasions.
too many variables involved for anyone to make the assertion that we were more defensively sound from 13th dec…
As I said yesterday before los to spuds we had won 5 out of our last 6 games…
Not sure tsgh, I would have to scrape together some stats from somewhere and compile, unless you have a friendly database to point me to so I can throw it in excel?
But I agree with your sentiments (if I understand properly) that Arsenal is better when Kosh plays with Merts (merts played most games). This is obvious because Kosh is quality, and he has the pace to cover merts in some situations.
This is hard to isolate because its also the time Coq came on board last season. I definitely noticed fewer incidences of oppostion running at our defence directly – because coq did a job in breaking up breaks, just by being positionally conservative. Whether its coq or another top quality DM in there, this is what Arsenal needs imo.
I agree with devil that I would rather Santi central – he has 2 feet and uses them both well. Remember when Santi was on the left this was the time that some fans were saying sell Santi (not me).
We have a good squad if we are not playing UCL or 3 games every 7 days….
Look at our historical results between September to February over AW’s era especially in the last 11 years.. you will see a very similar trend.
😀 Agreed we need a faster CDM.
Reason I always called for Morgan S. and Jedinak way before most bloggers came to like Morgan S.
But our first 11 are never fit….
You forgot “cohesion” Brudder….
Arteta isn’t good enough for this team, I like him but him and the gesticulator needed shipping out and upgrading….
Adam, I thought about asking one question here and that is, would a stronger manager get more out of our current squad?
No room for sentiment eh Lee… I reckon the only reason he’s staying is because he’s the captain… We’ve lost enough of those according to the media…
Hiya. Just been really busy.
Two great players? There are several out there – all of whom are ‘gettable’.
A great striker … and a great holding midfielder the latter who can be both accountable and that when playing the so-called weaker teams, can also integrate into attack.
Coquelin was a revelation last season because he is actually accountable for his position. Never flash and just sweeps up in front of the back four and keeps it tight. This is great v the top five or six and in Europe but unnecessary v the so-called lesser teams who opt to and as everyone says – park the bus. He is a more polished version of Flamini.
I have always said Javi Martinez of Bayern would be ideal but the game changes and I’ve not seen anything of him in a while. Asier Illarramendi and the Sevilla midfielder are an option but so was Cabaye. The thing is with Wenger he doesn’t see the position as something that would warrant a world class player – a game changer, the same as he never did with a goalkeeper. I still think if he strengthens here, it will be a massive plus for the team. Illarramendi cost Real £25M – we couldn’t give Coquelin away. That sort of tells you where we are at.
A world class striker costs money.
Suarez was always the answer but Wenger was being cute with Liverpool. Losing Suarez was the Anfield clubs downfall. It is hard to replace class … Look at AFC with Brady.
Benzema is the name being touted as a striker, so who knows. I like both Giroud and Walcott but I have never rated Welbeck, although the latter was a billion per cent improvement on the pile of shite that is Sanogo. Hopefully this position gets addressed, but £0-£15M won’t buy you world class – £50M – maybe.
Van Persie for £3M ? Now there is a strange one.
Me personally I think Wenger is after Reus, Gotze or perhaps Draxler. They are Wenger-type players. The Rosicky, Hleb, Nasri-types.
Who knows.
Ginge, it just struck me why your constant use of Dec 13th is pissing me off.
My wife was born that day, and it’s haunted me for years now 🙂
I have answered that question several weeks ago Rico. With the squad we have Mourinho would have got at least two/three more cups and maybe even a league.
He would have bored us to death as well.
Mine on the 14th……….
Lee, we nearly commiserate the same day lol
Rico. Now that is the question that dare not speak its name. Arsene spans the ages. He is obviously a very decent man who is, like all of us, the sum of his experiences. Perception and reality are awkward bedfellows and we all draw our own conclusions based on extremely limited evidence. Some like to play ‘swap the player’ where the team is constructed rather like a jigsaw puzzle where one face might fit a position better than another. Personally I think that the psychological aspect of the game is where the nuance lies. Whatever the case I think that most would agree that, we have bundles of money and that brings pressure. I still think Arsene wants to beat Chelsea, Man City, MU and Liverpool by underspending. I believe it is important to his psyche that he does so. But he is obviously stubborn and extremely predictable.
A simple question then. Would Schneiderlin have been a better option for us this season that Arteta? If the answer is yes, then why didn’t Wenger buy him, unless of course he is going to bring someone better in?
I know it’s not as simple as that but I believe he must win something major this season.
Daft question but where was Bellerin on Sunday? Debuchy was nothing short of a joke – slow -unfit – offered very little going forward -anyone shocked he was subbed?! We better get rid of him next season and allow Jenkinson a place in the squad. The first time in about 10 years I really felt we’d be there this season but if we lose to Place this weekend (it is very possible with the team they have now and was always going to be the harder of the two games) we have literally kissed goodbye to the league on average it’s around 4 loses max that wins you the league….. with 2 games down and maybe two loses the confidence in the squad will be rock bottom and another shocking start….
I’m still fumin about Sunday’s result!
Maybe Devil, but I wouldn’t want tha piece of poop anywhere near our club…
I was thinking about how well Bilic got his team playing against us….
Great comments, Adam.
Rico, I doubt any of us want that little shit near our club.
Adam, his stubbornness will his be his downfall imo, if he is trying to win the league by spending limited funds then I think he’s only going to fail once more. Even the FA Cup will be harder to defend this season because other clubs have strengthened well.
In fact I’ve gone from thinking this could be our year to no chance and that’s not because of West Ham, it’s because we haven’t signed the missing parts of the jigsaw..
That could yet change of course….
José Pizarro (Broadgate) ? surely not La Tasca , neither really authentic tapas ala Espana but I am sure looking at the menu it’s very nicely done.
Schneiderlin should of been bought…
Welcome Steven. Bellerin was injured with a muscle strain…
I’d of still played him haha
Just Eva it seems Scott having reading a few comments from yesterday… Lol
Potter it’s good but not obviously real Spain.
http://www.restauranteramon.com/public_html/presentacion.html
The above restaurant is a cracker, one of my favourites!
Ditto Lee, crazy to let him go to the Mancs…..
There’s always one lol
😀 Scott. I keep getting my foot in…
Roger, I wish I could point you to a database you could automatically compute such data.
I used my personal password for EFS and opta to compute it and it was fairly quick.
I tried to do it manually on soccer punter and soccer base and it took me about 10 minutes.
I would really like you to analyse it and then you will begin to see what I have been saying for a while now…
You are correct though on your view that our win ratio with is better with Kosser and Per (if we discard their first 3 games of every season in the team. Its almost as good as Cahill and Terry
Syg- gotze and the likes won’t improve this squad.
Reus has redrawn his verbal request apparently as he has seen tuchel is a super manager.
Could we have afford Vidal on £20m or even Aranguiz on £12m/
AW will bring silva on loan possibly if Perez allows it even though RM would want to sell Asier to us… I think
I’m not getting the train to that place Lee…. ?
Ha ha Steven, unlike Wenger not to have done so…. Lol
Scott- I remember a few saying they wanted Jose to manage us before he poked another managers eyes. 🙂
Yeah not me, Ginge lol.
I can not think of a manager I’d least rather see at the helm.
Well, maybe Rodgers and Pulis, but you get my point.
Not me either!
Kev, have you seen this?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/club-best-second-xi-rate-6243796
Thought it was interesting after your post today….
Afternoon, Interesting Rico, your 11.29, that dope, Shearer on match of the day 2 weeks ago after the community shield, said “if Mourinho managed any of the top 4 teams, he,d win the league, he,s that good”, k**b. time is moving and still no deals, can,t help thinking only for the Cech deal, which I just think Wenger was lucky, that Cech didn,t want to leave London, we,d be 2 weeks into the new season, with still no signings, and a bad defeat.
Hi Dublin, good point re Cech…
Shearer, although I can’t stand the guy, has a point. Although praising Mourinho irks so I won’t… Lol
Hi all
Good post Kev. Unfortunately, with the glass half empty, it is also the squad that has failed to look like scoring against Swansea, Chelsea, Sunderland and West Ham in our most recent home games. (I don’t really count the West Brom game as they were already on the beach!) It’s games like these and Monaco at home when we look so clueless and our team of ball players gets physically owned that worries me the most.
you know you need to bring in a striker, when your when your main supply of goals is only 25/1 to be top scorer, Henry would of been 3/1 fav. thats the difference.
Hi Bob, my glass is totally empty as far as winning the league goes…
Good work from the mirror on second 11s. They actually had to think for a few minutes.
Let’s hope Giroud or Theo prove the betting world wrong…..
Rico. Your glass is half empty? 🙂
The glass is definitely half full imo – it was half empty until recent seasons, and now we have optimism, FAcups, Alexis and Ozil… even if no more beer in the glass!
Afternoon All,
Thought I’d pop in a say hi and read a little. I’ve been so busy at work, never get to sit and check out what’s happening in the goonersphere.
good news on bellerin, he,s in line for a recall against Crystal Palace this weekend.
Arsène Wenger has revealed the latest team news ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace:
on the team news…
Hector Bellerin is back and is available for Sunday. Danny Welbeck is making good progress, but is still not available.
on Jack Wilshere…
We said Jack would be out for four weeks, and he’s in the second week now so he’s on schedule.
on Tomas Rosicky…
Tomas has had surgery on his knee. His agent said he will be out for one or two months, but it will be longer. How long exactly, we don’t know yet.
on Alexis…
Alexis Sanchez is fit, he’s been working hard and is ready for the weekend.
Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source
13 Aug 2015
Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150813/team-news-bellerin-wilshere-and-alexis#S1W0c1A60E7PK6Pu.99
It is Adam, surprising as that might sound…. ?
Hi Bradster, get another job… Lol
Roger, my glass will fill when AW signs two players… Lol
The comment on Tomas Rosicky is rather odd.. ‘His agent says he’s out for one or two months’……
My cup is half empty too. We don’t seem to have an x factor player to make something happen by doing something exceptional, no leadership to change a game we’re struggling in and simlilar one dimensional players right accross the midfield.
Only players to get excited about is Ox and a fit Sanchez who do things differently.
I also miss Ramsey’s late surges into the box where either he shoots or opens up space for someone else to.
Well yes it will fill with a few top players Rico. Like other seasons. But it wont be full in the Barcelona treble winning sense for quite some time Im afraid.
Good post Kev.
Sunday popped my pre season bubble. Im keeping the faith and want to see the first 5 games before gettting emotional. My heart tells me we are title challengers, gut says we are fighting for 3rd spot.
Will support AW and squad but want us to push over the line, this team have been together long enough to gel.
Big concern, the gulf that existed between top 4 and mid table has narrowed due to tv revenues and astute purchases by Stoke and Palace etc.
Chavs are getting headlines for wrong reasons due to special ones arrogance which is good news for Gooners.
I believe score draw this weekend but if we are natural challengers, must win this tough away day.
Cheers
Brad, the leadership thing really cheeses me off…
Roger, just a league winning looking squad would get my glas filling…. Lol
😀 Scott. I know you never did want Jose near AW.
Not trying to sound smart but imo Shearer is wrong.
if Jose was in charge of this group of players he would have gotten rid of Theo, Ox, Welbz, JW, Arteta already. Possibly Sc19 too…
That means Jose won’t manage this squad of players.
Look at what he did to Mata.
How do I know that, well, I got slated on here for saying Jose will get rid of Mata because Jose will not tolerate lack of ‘running’ or hardwork…
If Pep was in charge of Arsenal, Per would be gone.
Arteta will be in CDM instead of Le Coq. Same as he bought Alonso and dropped Martinez and Gustavo for Lahm and Thiago…
If pep was in charge of Arsenal, he will get rid of AS17 or make him a squad player at best like Pep did with AS17 even though he signed AS17. his reason for his regret was that AS17 held onto the ball too long unnecessarily…
You been chatting to Pep again Ts…. ?
True rico! For me too.
If Jose was in charge of Arsenal he wouldve bought Matic or similar 5 years ago.
Pogba has been spotted in the U.K
A117′ agree re Palace, after fluffing our opening line, got to make up for it on Sunday…
North or South Lee? Lol
Roger ?
Pep also moved Mascherano a proper CDM into CB position.
Pep is an AW disciple who all come from the Cruyff school of management.
he believes in having one ball playing CB beside a proper CB.
Javi and Boateng partnership.
At barca Toure and Puyol before Pique arrived and then he also had Marquez who was a CDM/CB for Monaco before he joined Barca…
Didn’t Alexis only have one season under Pep before he headed to Germany?
😀 Rico. In my imagination. 😉
Indeed Rico. Just one season…
I remember you pulling out sanchez’s stats for me when we were linked to Suarez saying he was too short. 😛
I thought as much Ts…..
I don’t recall that Ts, perhaps your journalism is as good as mine as you’ll know I only mention height when it comes to defensive players, especially as we seem to fail on set-pieces as the midgets we have can’t jump….
Grzegorz Krychowiak has got a cracked rib apparently…….as it’s such a superficial injury Wenger has decided to pass on signing him! He is currently scouting 5’1″ Namibian with a prosthetic arm, all’s good in da hood!
? that’s so close to possibly being true it’s scary….
Lol.. Rico.you pulled up AS17’s stats to say he only scored 9 goals so you did not want him…
The first question was who was your source…
and tehn you said AS17 was not good enough as oppose to Suarez. which is true of course.
I don’t think so Ts…
Afternoon all
Lol.. Rico fair enough… 😉
The last time I copied and pasted that, I got in trouble and it ended up making Micko’s day.
Afternoon Drake…
Good Afternoon Rico and All.
Interesting Read Kev. But all those teams you mentioned that we beat, including the ManU in the FA Cup, have all strengthen. So if we go with the mindset that we beat them before and we could do it again, we’ll be in for much surprise.
We rolled Morinhno in the CC and from that defeat I promise you, he had learned something from it. The next time we meet Chelsea it’ll be different.
Hi Drake, Ng…
Majority of ex-pros don’t have any common sense.
I wonder why the EPL has the least number of ex-pros involved in the game apart from just repeating the same sound bite.
Even most of the stats they show on TV is computed by ordinary folks like myself who collect/manually verify stats and don’t get paid for it…
most of the ex-pros are glory hunters and only think about them selves.
Only a few like Saints legend Lee tissier stayed loyal to their clubs.
I don’t hear Merson talk about his time at Boro’ but he goes on about Arsenal signing this and that even though he never has any choice words to say about AW and Arsenal.
He even tried to flog a book on an imaginary concoction of injection he was given at Arsenal…
I never hear the likes of Woodgate, Kewell, Lee Bowyer etc go on about the bad deals the signed at Leeds instead they blame the former chairman Peter Risdale.
They all jumped ship like rats out of a sinking ship…
The media love Jose and can’t see past his despicable personal. If winning is every thing why is it that Jose won’t be welcomed at any of his former clubs?
AW although sacked by Nantes, Monaco is still a legend at those clubs…
I agree with Pep’s tactic now that most teams go for a single striker. have a sweeper to clean up if the CB misses his tackle, long balls and cover the flank they break down and a DM to cover whatever else is on either on the flank or down the middle.
….apart from just repeating the same sound bite on TV* it should read
How many players who are injured already?
Why players havent we made signings?
Is arteta injured too?lol
rico to answer your Q a strong mananger would sell many of our 1st team players? What irks me is seeing a quality player like gabriel on the bench
Hi Kev. Thanks for the reminder we should have belief in our squad. It’s trully a decent squad. But reality is we can’t win the league with this squad.
Imagine this scenario; an injury to Le Coq for up to 3 months sometimes in late September. No way we have a cover worth winning the league for us.
My main problem with CDM is we are relying on one person for an entire year! He can’t be on form all year.-he’s human.
Bielik isn’t ready. Arteta would pull a harmstring every 60th min on the pitch.
As for the striking dept, I wont waste my breath. Wenger is an arrogant stubborn grandad.
Brudder. I think that he decided against him as his acquisition made complete sense.
That’s a shame as he’d been working on that particular acquisition for ages…….
Didnt mean ? Why scout a players when you have no interest in signing them?
Either wenger wins something big or he is out.we are so close to being a side that compete for bigger cups,we are just asking for TWO,just TWO SiGNINGS!
TS. I would never listen to a man who has spent millions on drink and coke and because he is out of his mind, fails to spot a 30 ton lorry on the motorway before driving into it.
If it wasn’t for his deal on SS I reckon we’d see another Sansom with that clown.
Brudder. As soon as he read that you were in favour he decided against it. 🙂
Four more signings for me and two departures. I’ve got two hopes for that to happen though. Bob Hope and no hope.
Hi Rico.
There are DMs out there that can do better than Le Coq. I’m not say or overlooked what he did during the second half of the season, but a better DM with a better long passing range and a better tackles could make all the difference.
What I’m hearing is that Le Coq and SC19 bond well, that is true, but what happens when Le Coq or SC19 is injured?
Drake, you have a point re Gabriel. Wonder if he’ll get much playing time…..
Same here Marshall re the cdm..
Adam, I didn’t know Merse put a mixer in his drink….
Which four positions Adam?
And who out?
Maurice….. Brudder.
Manager manager manager and manager
Amen Nashua
Ha ha….
Rico. Central defender, Central Midfield, proper strike force of 2. All would be top class players. Out would go Arteta and
I might feel differently later though. 🙂
Oops. And Quiffy.
Headline on NN suggesting Utd have bid £50m for Benzema…
Adam, then I think your only hope is not Bob…. ??
Rico. You are right of course. I feel as if I am caught in a Groundhog Day where I wake up during every transfer window to Sonny and Cher and the same old stuff.
Bender
Reus
Draxler
Rico. Don’t believe it until you read it in The Metro or TBR. 🙂
Actually it wouldn’t surprise me at all tbh. He who hesitates is Arsene Wenger.
Lewandowski
Ha ha Adam, our summers are so predictable aren’t they…..
Four for you too then Kev… Lol
Adam, I’d rather they waste £50m on him than us…. ?
I know Rico. We all know he isn’t as good a Giroud anyway. 🙂
You’ve finally accepted that then Adam? ?
Its mostly the same thing every year, we need more people with football knowledge at the club to challenge/question AW. We need a set up like Bayen Munich with ex-players/football men on the board to question, share ideas and challenge AW. At least there would be some degree of accountability and knowledge of transfer, and a team that is able to challenge for trophies. Who at the club is willing to challenge AW on why TR, MA, MF and JC still at the club?
Of course Rico. Just as Coquelin is better than Pogba, the Stones were better than the Beatles and Gibson make better acoustic guitars than Martin. I also believe that Ronaldo is better than Messi, that salt is better than pepper and that nobody makes a better hamburger than McDonalds. 🙂
As you well know, I have little in the way of taste or discernment and prefer to go with the flow. Brudder Lee will confirm this. Kev too.
🙂 Adam.
Dna- like Ruminege and sammer allowing Pep to buy a DM but not play him and then move a RB into CDM position? 😉
Pep buys more garbage than AW…
Even Jose buys garbage and has always bought garbage players.
Salahs, Cuadrado, Nathan, Pantic, Marco van Ginkel etc…
Every club or system on this planet needs ‘wastage’.
The team he has got now apart from Matic was bought by someone else. His first team was bought by ranieri. His team at RM was bought by Pelle’ and his team at Inter was bought by Mancini.
It is fair to slam Aw for not making signings but his record holds up to the best managers in European football..
Gdna, that’s been said before and I for one think it would be a great idea… Someone like Keown would be ideal imo….
? Adam, I preferred the Stones to the Beatles……
Not sure about McDonalds though… Lol
Mind you, I didn’t really like the Stones either….lol
But the Bay City Rollers maintain their position at the apex Rico.
The Stones were great live in their early years. They gigged at Eel pie island which had a wooden floor on piers.Litterally the place was bouncing.
Now you are talking Adam…..
Absolutely Rico. I listen to their Greatest Hits album most evenings. No-one like them imho.
Ts, “Pep buys more garbage than AW”
What I was implying is AW needs help in football decisions at the club, why are you mentioning Jose and Pep. Isn’t Pep and Jose more successful manager than AW? I can also assure you that any record AW holds in European football is just relevant to you.
Evening Gdna. Though it’s probably afternoon where you are.
He had Keown at the club for a while, I thought, and then he didn’t! I suspect that Keown had the temerity to challenge the aged one’s decisions and mind set etc. the only place he was going was out of the door. Wenger will listen to nobody, imp. He has his philosophy of football, life, politics and his own raisin d’être and nothing nor nobody will persuade him that his views are ever wrong! Do you remember the comment about the ‘thirty years he had been in football had taught him all he knew and he knew best’ in a nutshell that rather sums him up. For the most part he does seem to have most of the answers and usually gets his players playing really well, but he has Nelson like blind spots! The more folk go on about him needing to buy this that and the other player the less likely he is to respond, positively.so we are stuck with what we’ve got, like it or lump it!
And if we are talking about great groups how about my best band….ever, Steely Dan? Perhaps the implement from which the name derived might encourage Bender to come to Arsenal!!!
Woody will be thrilled to know that Adam… ?
Was that the year we got to the CL final Wavy?
Wavy. Interesting band Steely Dan and unlike the Stones, always in tune. 🙂
Rico. 🙂
He’s the only one I can remember Adam.. Lol
Just tried LM’s veggie meatballs – rather tasty….
Good Evening Lovelies and Hunkies.
Guardiola has won……
Barcelona BT
ercera División: 2007–08
Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12
Supercopa de España: 2009, 2010, 2011
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09, 2010–11
UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011
Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 2013–14, 2014–15
DFB-Pokal: 2013–14
UEFA Super Cup: 2013
FIFA Club World Cup: 2013
———————–
Mourinho…..
Porto
Primeira Liga: 2002–03, 2003–04
Taça de Portugal: 2002–03
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2003
UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
UEFA Cup: 2002–03
Chelsea
Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2014–15
FA Cup: 2006–07
Football League Cup: 2004–05, 2006–07, 2014–15
FA Community Shield: 2005
Inter Milan
Serie A: 2008–09, 2009–10
Coppa Italia: 2009–10
Supercoppa Italiana: 2008
UEFA Champions League: 2009–10
Real Madrid
La Liga: 2011–12
Copa del Rey: 2010–11
Supercopa de España: 2012
—————
Ancellotti has won……
Juventus (1999–2001)
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999
Milan (2001–2009)
UEFA Champions League: 2002–03, 2006–07
UEFA Super Cup: 2003, 2007
FIFA Club World Cup: 2007
Serie A: 2003–04
Coppa Italia: 2002–03
Supercoppa Italiana: 2004
Chelsea (2009–2011)
Premier League: 2009–10
FA Cup: 2009–10
FA Community Shield: 2009
Paris Saint-Germain (2011–2013)
Ligue 1: 2012–13
Real Madrid (2013–2015)
UEFA Champions League: 2013–14
UEFA Super Cup: 2014
FIFA Club World Cup: 2014
Copa del Rey: 2013–14
Guardiola has won 20 major honours in Spain and Germany in 8 years as coach
Mourinho has won 22 major honours in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain in 15 years as coach
Ancellotti has won 18major honours Spain, France, England and Italy in 20 years as coach.
Clearly Mourinho is head and shoulders above them all. However it is easy to say that he is the one who has spent most during his managerial career.
I did not include playing careers since Mourinho was never a player.
but from the above 3 who would you have???
my choice is Ancelotti.
veggie meatballs…..:- Oxymoron.?
Interestingly AW has won…..
Monaco
Ligue 1: 1987–88
Coupe de France: 1990–91
Nagoya Grampus
Emperor’s Cup: 1995
J-League Super Cup: 1996
Arsenal
FA Premier League (3): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup (6): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15
FA Community Shield (6): 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015
19 honours in a coaching career of 31 years. He has managed in France, Japan and England. Clearly he would have won more hadnt there been widespread corruption in France.
Ha ha Potter but Adam knows what I mean….
Hi Devil…
How many times has Ancelotti beaten Mourinho?
However AW has 2 honours which neither of the above three has had till now……A season unbeaten and a transfer of AFC from Highbury to Ems. And he had to face financial constraints, which none of the above three has ever experienced.
I still believe AW could have won more by playing square pegs in square holes and being more defensive over the years….
Ancelotti has beaten Mourinho at least once for sure…..when they were in a conference and Mourinho was taking the piss with regards Ancelotti. Carlo sat in silence and then when Mourinho seemed to have finished, Ancelotti reminded him that he had won CL and Leagues BOTH as a player and as a coach. ……something which Hosay cannot boast of.
Rico. I have just had th Home Farms veggie balls. They are reconstituted meat made to resemble the taste and texture of mixed veg. They were sickening and vile so I will try LM’s authentic version. 🙂
AW has beaten him once too.. Lol
They sound disgusting Adam… I think you’ll like LM’s, they have a little bit of spice to them…
Rico, I can’t remember which year it was, you may well be right though. None the less his treatment and dismissal of Keown was, I think, both high handed and blindingly shortsighted! (Sorry at the puns again)?
Wavy, you won’t catch me disagreeing with you there…
I get what you were ssaying now. Dna.
Super post Dev at 7:47
Rico. They are enough to drive a man to Pescatarianism. I shall certainly give them a go though but I got rather bored with the Mozarella burgers and began eating a lot of crispy seaweed from Korea. This meant adapting regular dishes to its strengths like egg, seaweed and chips or Penne a la seaweed. I think you’d rather enjoy it. 🙂
I do feel groggy this evening.
I love seaweed Adam, not sure about the chips though.. A moment on the lips and all that…. Lol
Having a fun evening then? ?
Chicken breast with salad, some vino and to finish off some chocolate liquor. Now that is one hell of a meal. The chocolate liquor is simply wonderful. And chocolate was dark and pure. Mixed with alcohol it’s a bomb.
Very healthy Devil.
I’m off guys, have a good evening…
Thanks again for the post today Kev…
Night all…
And enjoyable boss. Ever tasted chocolate liquor?
Night Lady.
Thanks all the positive and interesting comments…
Very busy today (rain 🙂 ) so I never had a chance to comment further….
(Thank God you all say 😀 )
Adam. Groggy. Never…. 😛
Good evening Adam, my respect sir.
Roger, 10.41; yeah I would have liked Schneiderlin, and Adam sumed up that situation when I think he said that if there was a choice between Arteta and MS, that it was a no- brainer…
Or words to that effect…
For myself, it was always Vidal…
Signing him would have been a massive statement…
As I think that signing Cech is a big statement.
Time will tell if that is enough?
Night All
Kev, in a nutshell slim and none and slim just left town !
rico / tsgh, Alexis for a short arse didn’t do too bad in the Cup Final out jumping half the Villa defense to nod it down for Feo to open the scoring, it’s not all about the size of dog in the fight.
Roll on Sunday, roll on Custard Palace.
Have we made a bid for Pedro or not?
With Pedro and the polish from Sevilha we have a team to run for the League and for the cups and both are not very expensive comparing to Benzema, Cavanni….
Morgan, probably one of the best DM’s in the league over the last couple of seasons, arsenal bound many thought a no-brainer, would he have killed Le Coq, I doubt it not with the amount of games we play, both would have got their fair share of playing time on the pitch this season, still Arsene knows best, gawd only knows why he leaves it two weeks into the season every year until he makes his move and knows we’re having to play catch-up…..who’d be a Gooner.
Eduardo, I stand to be corrected !
JM, to cut to the chase it all depends on whether ManUre make a offer on him or not !
Nite all, time for my bunk.
Mikel Arteta talking about Wenger… unlike other managers, the Frenchman has never looked for scapegoats and always shouldered responsibility for disappointing results.
**cough**
**cough**
**cough**
AW is the worlds worst for excuses, ze pitch, ze ref, ze inuries, ze ten men wall, ze early start to the season, ze world cup, ze bus……. 😉
Morning Lee and all…
But if the club captain captain believes this….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b063s4gx/bbc-proms-2015-season-radio-1-ibiza-prom
Brudder/rRico check this out…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11802458/Arsenal-transfer-news-and-rumours-Grzegorz-Krychowiak-move-in-doubt-due-to-injury.html
That’s half the problem Lee, they are under his spell….
I will later on the ipad Lee, I’ve got rid of flashplayer or whatever its called on chrome as it kept crashing…
That combined with him shoe horning his “favourite” players into the team….
53,000 Scousers meet in Anfield for a ‘Scousers Are Not Stupid’ convention.
Steven Gerrard addresses the crowd.. ‘We are all here today to prove to the world that Scousers are not stupid. Can I have a volunteer please?’
Wayne Rooney gingerly works his way through the crowd and steps up to the stage.
Gerrard asks him ‘What is 15 plus 15?’
After 15 or 20 seconds Rooney says, ‘ Forty!’
Obviously everyone is a little disappointed. Then the Scousers start chanting ‘Give him another chance! Give him another chance!’
Gerrard says, ‘Well since we have a capacity crowd, world-wide press and global broadcast media here, I think we can give him another chance.’
So he asks, ‘What is 5 plus 5?’
After nearly 30 seconds he eventually says, ‘ Twelve?’
Gerrard looks down and just lets out a dejected sigh.
Everyone is disheartened and Rooney starts crying.
But then the 53,000 Scousers begin to yell and wave their hands shouting, ‘Give him another chance! Give him another chance!’
Gerrard, unsure whether he is now doing more harm than good eventually says, ‘OK then, what is 2 plus 2?’
Silence hangs over the stadium.
Rooney closes his eyes, and after a whole minute eventually says, ‘Four?’
Pandemonium breaks out throughout the stadium as the Scouse crowd stand to a man, wave their arms, stomp their feet and scream,
‘Give him another chance! Give him another chance!’
No offence Emma!
A little cracked rib wouldn’t or perhaps shouldn’t put AW off…
Ha ha – I like that….
Like that that Lee,
It reminded me this
Two Scousers on a motorbike are riding along the M62 from Manchester to Liverpool, when their motorbike breaks down.
A trucker stops his lorry to see if he can help and the scousers ask him for a lift. He tells them he has no room in the back of his wagon as he ihas a full load of 20,000 bowling balls.
He is quite mechanically-minded and agrees to take a look at the bike for them, but no matter what he tries he is ultimately unable to get the bike going again.
Some time has passed and now he’s late for his delivery so he tells the scousers he has to leave.
However, he doesn’t like the thought of leaving them there stranded, so he squeezes the scousers and their bike into the back of the wagon along with the bowling balls.
To make up for lost time, the trucker puts his foot down. Next thing PC Plod of Greater Manchester Police pulls him up for speeding. The police officer asks the driver what goods he is carrying to which he replies “Scouse Eggs”.
The policeman laughs and says “there’s no such thing” and demands to see for himself what is in the back of the wagon. After opening the back door he quickly shuts it and locks it.
He gets on his radio and calls for immediate backup from all cars in the area.. The dispatcher enquires as to what emergency could be possibly have to need such a level of backup.
“I’ve got a wagon with 20,000 Scouse eggs in it – two have already hatched and the bastards have managed to nick a motorbike already”.
morning Ric, Brudder and all. Crap day here.
Love it Fred. Very funny, very funny! And so true!
Morning all.
Ha ha Frdd, nice one..
Morning to you, Wavy and Adam..
One of the new rules this season
Simulation.
So why hasn’t that little diving
Bel-end been charged yet.
Maureen has covered it well
once again..Hasn’t she.
New post up now..