Ever since I have been supporting the AFC, that is, 37 odd years, I have always had a soft spot for those players who put their bodies on the line.
Don’t get me wrong, I like those players who dazzle and mesmerise the crowds with their skills, however, I have always tended to prefer those quiet lads who prefer to stay out of the limelight and work for the team. Players like Liam Brady, Paul Merson, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Charlie Nicholas, Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin are all crowd pullers. They all create a certain buzz when they are coming out of the tunnel or have the ball at their feet.
However for these gentlemen to weave their skills another type of footballer is needed. Gilberto, Flamini, Storey, McNab, Vieira, Petit and Song are all important when the coach is putting up his team sheet. And while the supporters rightly expect players like RVP to be the first on the team sheet, it is equally plausible to think that such players like Gilberto were also contenders for the first name to be written by the manager’s feather quill.
Times change, and with the winds of change the world develops.
As we grow older we start to realise that footballer is no longer a team of two type of players, namely those who graft and those who dazzle. With the advent of internet the world has shrunk from being a planet to what now we call a global village. Also with the internet, coaching methods, techniques and tactics today travel quicker than a coach can deliver a session based on the above themes.
Now we have players who are equally adept at grafting and creating a buzz with the ball at their feet. And with you-tube we get to see even a nine year old from goodness knows where juggling a ball and doing mind boggling tricks with his feet. And suddenly everyone jumps on the band wagon wanting to sign this next best thing since sliced bread.
So we get players from everywhere from around the world. And suddenly AFC is looking more like the foreign legion than looking like Dad’s army.
But do we supporters enjoy such a situation? Some of us do some of us don’t. I for one will try and stay impartial but even that is difficult when considering all the pros and cons.
Personally I would like Arsenal to have had Essien in midfield but wouldn’t Schweinsteiger have done the same job? Can’t Fellaini do the same job? How many supporters wouldn’t have enjoyed seeing Eto’o grace our red shirt? Or Drogba? Can’t Mario Gomez be our number nine? Are you happy with Park? Or Chamack? RVP is not a classic number nine although he is playing like one.
This takes us to the next question, from where would you like our club to sign players?
Africa produces good and strong players with raw power. Brazil produce ball players, France produce technical ones while Spain produce the best players on the planet at the moment.
Each country has its pros and cons.
Africa has the Africa Nations cup every two years. Brazil, Argentina, Japan etc have long distance trips which require players to rest when coming back. Much as they do produce good players I personally think that the cons far outweigh the pros. Also one has to consider that the football ethos in these countries is far different to the European mentality. And another thing which one must take into consideration is the player’s background. This affects heavily on the output of the player since his background and up bringing often influences the player’s mentality and influence on his team mates besides his reaction to contractual situations.
At the moment it is a fair and easy bet to say that the best players suited for the league’s bread and butter daily situations are those hailing from Germany, Belgium, Holland, England, France and Spain. WHAAATTTTT????? No players from Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Russia or Italy. Or any from an African nation?? We have Gervinho, Park, Song. We had Gilberto, Toure, Lauren, Edu, Adebayor……!!!!!!!
Yes I agree, some of them were great players, some of them served AFC well and some of them gave us moments of joy wrapped up with moments of mad antics (Eboue take note). We also get this from those hailing from the above four destinations I mentioned.
However, I would like to point out some important issues.
As a coach would you like one or more of your players going away for around 6 weeks to the Africa Nations Cup? Would you like one or more of your players coming back from a trip across the globe for a meaningless friendly? Would you like one or more of your players having to go for military service when he is twenty eight and may be absent for two years?
Don’t get me wrong. I do like those Arsenal players who pull on the shirt and work their socks off for the good of the team and show to the crowd that they are putting their body on the line for the greater good of the club. And that is enough to make a manager waive away the passport issue. However the above points need to be taken into consideration when buying a player.
Don’t forget……..the greatest Arsenal legends of recent times were Henry (French), Bergkamp (Dutch) TA06/Keown/Bould, Winterburn/Dixon and Seaman (English), Brady(bred in England), Vieira/Petit/Pires (French).
Oh I forgot, Jack Wilshere is English too.
May he eclipse them all.
Written by DevilGunner
Morning all
Estonia 0
Republic of Ireland 4
Well done to the ROI – that should keep a few on here happy 🙂
Cracking Post DG…
I have written my answer twice but each time erased it, i’ll have to think again 😉
If the ACON is, as has been suggested, going to move to the summer, the signing of African players will no longer be such and issue.
But I would personally like to se AW buy a couple more English players, Cahill and Adam Johnson would do 😉
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2060462/Arsenal-sell-Sebastien-Squillaci-Marouane-Chamakh.html
Good 🙂
it doesnt matter where the players are from really at the end of the day its all about the individuals personality..
the foreign players get labelled as merceneries yet weve had two instances with the club over the years where ashley cole bent us over yet only this summer a player of artetas class took a pay cut to make it happen..
although with the rules nowadays it would be nice to have a few more english lads
good morning everyone 🙂
West Ham are close to agreeing a loan deal with one of our defenders according to Karen Brady.
‘Now we are close to agreement with Arsenal for a foreign defender.
The problem is this could disqualify him from a permanent move abroad in January and another move bites the dust’.
Bloomin heck, Morning jj, how you doing??
morning ricolicious im not bad thanks..hows tricks with you my dear?
Not bad thanks jj, bit happier now the team a doing a little better 😉
Great, now DG has written a post too…..*sigh* oh well. Morning people.
its the mentality..
previous years the squad hasnt been good enough and wengers come out with all this pampering about mental strength and titles and trophies and whatever and it collapsed under the pressure…
we had to start from scratch we took a royal hiding several times but its gelling and this time instead of gelling under the pampered attitude its gelling under pressure..which is a good sign..we still need abit more firepower in jan though but overall we are getting there..
we need a striker certainly i feel..
and another wingfoward..
but i think the rest of the squad is settling especailly in midfeild..
Jonjon we could use another”cesc type” player. The work load on ramsey could see him burn out before february. We don’t know if we ll see LJW anytime soon. Granero looks the part. Hope we get him though. Am a huge fan.
Agree jj, def need a striker – and it looks like Chamakh is off in jan…
i dont really want to see another cesc type player to be honest goonster..
sick to the back teeth with everything going through the middle for the passed 5 years and the kryptonite with shit teams and their parked buses..
rambos doing fine, arteta is playing a huge role at the moment hes spreading the play like butter on toast..and theres jack and rosicky..
if we are going for another midfielder then i think it should be a more defensive one and if like mvilla..
jj – did you see LG’s post when Pedro met the dr and physio, they were expecting 7/8 medicals on DD – i hope the ones that didn’t get to London arrive in Jan…
Morning goonster..
For me less french national cos they seems to be money motivate but never loyal eg nasri flamini clichy viera henry and petit all left arsenal for bigger pay some legends some dickhead legend who critise arsenal every chance they get (petit).
your back of the net thingy says it all rico..
rvp and then whoever else can help with the odd goal isnt exactley briming with firepower..somebody needs to start chipping in with more and if they dont, come jan we need to go get one..
jj what if wilshere don’t play this season? We don’t want ramsey to be another wilshere do we. That kid played too many games last season now we are paying for it.
rico ive read a few sources where alot of our targets didnt come for one reason or another (maybe cos we had all summer and we left it too late, but thats water under the bridge now)
we pretty much know we made bids for gotze, hazard, mvilla, i think come january we’ll make some moves again..this summer was a shambles really we couldnt get rid of players properly and we coulndt get all the intented targets in..the rebuildings only half way complete i just hope wenger doesnt take this jan for granted this time..we are fighting back lets not blow it eh..
Morning rico…..how are you holding out? This bloody interlull is killing me.
Agree – Park scored again last night but hasn’t played enough for us to know if he will replicate his form in the PL, even if he does, it’s not enough…
M’vila for me too, or similar…
I have a hunch if we buy in jan, he will be German…
Also, would love us to get Drogba
Jj do we really another teen? We ve got a whole lot of them. Afobe,aneke,AOC,Ryo to name a few. Don’t get me wrong goetze is a classy player but he’s still a teen and just like nashit he ll want out in a couple of years. We need players within the ages of 26/27 not teenagers.
A top debut post, DG. 😉 I don’t think passports really matter provided that we don’t put too many eggs in one basket. But we did see Vela having had to rest even if we wanted to play him because of how internationals are scheduled. Oh, and I loved your last two lines. 🙂
Hello, rico. You have another writer, it seems. 🙂 Hey, JJ. Howdy? Where have you been? 🙂
Goonster, I’m probably the only one who wants an RB now. And I want him Dutch. 😀
Hi ya agag….a RB? What do we need that for? Anyway van der wiel looks set to join the chavs. Rico, drogba ll do. Him and granero ll do for me. No more teens dammit. German or not!
good point about the selling jj but with nik and denilson on loan, they won’t be sold in jan – annoyingly so will have to wait… hopefully, the others are already in the process of finding a new club!
spot on, we have our heads peeping around the corner, 2 or 3 more in jan should see us turn it…..
bored with the break too goonster, see Kos got his first cap last night….
Morning agag, how’s you?
VdW can play anywhere along the back can’t he? 😉
judging by jacks tweets goonster his xrays are tip top his rehabs ahead of schedule and he’s already doing light training..
could be back for xmas..
graneros a good player but i think if he comes it will be in summer when rosicky and yossi goes..thats if rosicky dont get a new deal..
as for kids yeah as long as they are wonderkids i dont mind them coming and gotze is a wonderkid, but to be fair id prefer hazard..
goonster – i honestly don’t mind AW buying the younger player IF it’s not at the expense of the first team – if he goes out and get three quality players in jan, and an 18year old, i wouldn’t give a hoot 🙂
Hey agag I took your advice ma’am and canceled my trip to mindanow. Going to phuket with a few friends will be back by Christmas.
The medical staff say Feb for Jack…. Lets not rush him back…
howdy agag..hope your well..
i been away a while..collecting my thoughts 😉
we dont need a RB..trust me jenks is the nuts and with a run of games he’ll shine..better than eboue already and can cross like beckham..
rico i think the germans are where we should be looking right now..theres a few..
ifor a striker id take drogba or berba..but i think we need competition for theo and with gervinho going acn a wingfowrard is a must as well in jan..
Jj and rico we do have a few wonderkids of our own. Campbell,ryo jack and AOC. How the hell are they gonna get their chance if we keep buying more kids. Lecoq was complaining a few days ago wasn’t he? Besides we have ozyakup(spelling)ebecillo,olson etc. We don’t need anymore kids guys.
we dont need to rush him back..
arteta, rosicky, rambo, yossi, even diaby if he decides to turn up this season..we covered..
he’ll be back earlier than we think because of this.
goonster, we wouldn’t be so worried about Sagna’s injury layoff if we had gotten vdW in the summer. 😀 Makes for easy viewing, too. Haha.
rico, with AW’s proclivity for playing players out of position, we can stick vdW at LB. 😀
oxos not a wonderkid..neither is campbell or ryo..
young players with good potential but reletively unknown quantitys..
gotze is in jacks category..wonderkids..even chezzer..
kids who command a first team spot..
if we signed gotze he wouldnt come to play in the youth team, the cc team or the reserves he’d come to play in the first eam..but i think hazards better..
jj – jenks has to be one of the best cheap buys in wengers history, big, strong, and yes, he can bend it like Becks, i love him already..
And he is a gooner 🙂
I like that agag, he’d be better than the two we have, the left of defence is our weakest spot at the moment imho, apart from a goal scorer (rvp not included)
le coq and frimpong are the reason i dont think we need to sign mvilla..
if we are spending that type of money it should be on an attacking player who can give comp to theo and fill the void by gervinho after jan..
potentially we could go get drogba and cahill this jan on the cheap and then splash out on a player who can play wide..
then we’ll have a sqaud thats capable of doing something..
jenks was shining in preseason..
he just got a rough deal after the 8-2 but there were worsse players on the pitch that day..
hes composed as a defender, he can defend, he can cross and he sticks to the flanks doesnt run inside..all the things eboue couldnt do..
positioning needs working on but that will come with games he’ll get better and better..
We need more steel at the back, and few are better than vdW, imho. Haha.
JJ, good to see you back. 🙂 Go get writing. 😉 I like Jenks, he was the business v. West Brom. Great crosser, too.
goonster, Mindanao is great, but there are places to avoid. You should have gone to Boracay or Bohol or Palawan. Having said that, you seem more the Phuket type. And I would bet anything, you have planned a full moon party at Koh Phangan. Am I right, or am I???
Jack is already ‘there’ goonster and the only one we can be pretty sure that will ‘make it’ from those you name is Oxo, the others, we don’t know….
rico, the only players I want right now are vdW and Hazard. I would always want Torres, he would flourish with us. He looks awful in that chavvy blue. Red’s his color. 😳
I’d like us to have a bit more height in the midfiled, Coq and Frimpong are small, I know they are good on the ground but we need to start winning a few more aerial battles….
Diaby you may mention, but he’s never fit!
He’s rubbish these days agag, i think he’ll go back to spain…
did someone mention reyes is available on a free 😉
i liked that aygnew kid whatever he’s called..
one of the brothers at marseilles..when they played us he ripped us to bits..
remided me of ashley young the way he drifted from right to left..fast and tricky..
Good post Devil Gunner, and a very interesting read it was, i must admit that as you say it is an interesting subject. players coming from all the different places around the world, seems to be common place now and as you say long journeys back and forth for them to play for their respective countries, most of these players travel first class and are able to sleep on the flight, which is not to much a hinderance but to sign a player that has got to go and serve his country seems a bit daft, he would have to be a bit special.i hope ours are
I thought they were both pretty good jj…
Morning Steve…
i think it was the older one..
Just popping in 😉
It will be really interesting this January as I wonder if Wenger will actually do anything or wait until the Summer.
It is now being alleged that Chamakh and the Squid will be off most probably in January.
IMO Arshavin will go in the Summer as his value to the club in monetary terms (and he can fill a useful cameo role) won’t be much different.and it will be interesting to see what happens with Rosicky and Benayoun who is on loan.
Miquel may go back to Spain, Frimpong is muted to be going out on loan and Lansbury will most probably stay for the time being out on loan.Bartley, don’t know.
Why did we buy Park on two year deal ? Some say to sell shirts in Asia, but how many can afford £50.00 and in case most of them wear replicas/knock offs.
Then we have Almunia,Bendtner and Vela already out on loan or in Almunia’s case completely out of favour, and i wouldn’t be surprised to see Fabianski go and Manone step up as number 2.
As much as nic has his faults he is a better player han the moroccan,but i understand the bridge has been burnst between him and AW.
Do we need 5 keepers on our books ?
Jack seems like he will be ready after Xmas and if Chamakh is gone, Gervinho is the only player that will go to the ANC.
Many possibilities but i can only see one possible January signing.
Oh what right has Theo got to eyeball the kid jenkinson.
This transition period will continue into next season.
Anyway you can go and see Coldplay for £95.00 in June 🙂
Morning rico, and welcome back JJ morning Agag, you must have been everywhere do you ever get a chance to work.
Good day guys and chicks.
Thanks for the encouragement. When I will have time I will chip in with another one.
Incidentally I agree with Drogba and Cahill signings. Cahill is long term but Drogba, although short term might have a great effect on the club. If he does the business for one season and a half then he will prove good value.
Goonster, wait till I catch you.
hello mr palmer hope alls well
cant see many of our squad leaving til summer kelsey..
id hope that we see players in though
feel it would help with the rvp contract situation which isnt looking good at the minute..
Hi kelsey
I don’t want to see mannone as our back up keeper, he’s not good enough….
parks signing was stop gap..as was yossis
we needed numbers and we missed out on long term targets for lack of time and probably money..
so hey ho..
neither is fabianski..
I know jj, he will be low on cofidence too and we all know what happens then 😮
If we clear out the keepers, we need an older one who has ‘been there’…
Yeh not bad thanks JJ, I some how think he may buy, but he usually sells to balance the books
Morning DG, didn’t see you sneak in 😉
Cahill and Drog are just what we need in Jan, then in the summer, sell those who we should have this summer and strengthen again…
I think he’ll sell in Jan Steve, Almunia and Chamakh, maybe even Arshavin too….
we wont be bringing in any keepers..
Afternoon all,
A coach should always look at a players passport, just ask wenger about edu and sylvinho.
I don’t think it really matters where the players come from as long as they’re good enough, however it is essential to have a band of home grown players in the team, when the going gets tough it will often be these guys who send out the battle cry.
Devil, I loved charlie nicholas to bits as well, wasn’t sure about his perm at first but it grew on me.
As for park, thats why we got him so cheap, its a 2 year deal, he has said we will be his last european team before he returns home.
Shame
Hey Micko, i told you you would win last night 😉
Wonder what is going to happen with Carlos Vela…..
Woke up this morning rico and thought i had a bullet lodged in my brain, i really don’t agree with lock-ins.
It was a great result, the last euro championships ireland qualified for was back in 88.
😆 Micko, one too many then of the black stuff? don’t blame you either, roi are almost qualified now aren’t they?
i think those books were already balanced in summer when we made a fortune on cesc and nasri 🙂
i think he’s looking to top up again in jan then come summer we’ll see the completion of the clearout and maybe one or two more come in after that..
Back in 10 mins, got to rake up a few leaves….
Brady(bred in England)???!
I could have swore he was from somewhere close to here…
That’s all we ask for jj, had wenger bought 2 players each window and move a few disapointed on, we would be much further forward than we are now…
ESP……Brady was born in Dublin and came to AFC at the age of 15 in 1971.
Hi ESP, but he came to Arsenal at 15 years old 😉
oops, sorry DG, didn’t see your comment…
Micko…….eversince I have been supporting AFC there were only two players who were signed from another club and who made me stand up and feel a glow of warmth spread over me. These were DB10 whom we signed from Inter…………and the other one who was signed from a scottish club. His name??? Charlie Nicholas.
Honestly I think that even if Charlie Nicholas was playing today, he would have fitted perfectly with the present squad.
wenger couldnt see it though..he himself is a man of principle so he thought his players would all stay loyal and grow together..even though they were leaving season after season he wouldnt have it..until he lost cesc and nasri..that hurt him as much as it hurt us
not to mention the players that werent good enough and he kept standing by them..and they wanted to leave too..now we struggle to offlaod them..so with some of them we’ll have to wait until contracts expire
half his team wanted out of the door in the summer so his 5 year plan exploded in his face so hopefully hes seen the light and the remaining years of his contract will see the changes we needed..hes got 2-3 years left so he aint got time to have the same priciples as before..hes got to balance the act now and this current crop is balanced.its now important to add to that and not lose robin..i think he sees it..i hope he sees it..he said at the AGM mistakes have been made and there was no talk of trophies this time..which is a start..no talking no excuses just get on with it..
This is for you Micko.
Enjoy, especially minute 4 and 50 seconds. That had me jumping wildly, I still remember.
good comment jj – i wish those who wanted out had all gone as i think we all know who they were…
i hope he has learned too, no matter how loyal he is to players, the players will not always return that loyalty – and how after all that both nik and denilson have said they weren’t sold i never know…. No doubt we are still funding their salary – we would have been better off just taking what we could for them and get rid…..
And yes, no more talking about winning all four etc, it all too often set us up for a mighty fall….
Still Irish i am afraid to say!
Has anyone else read that some of our bargin bin players are up for grabs? As they were in the summer…
Hi rico,jonjion and all
i think the main reason half wanted out was cesc. he wasn’t liked by many of the squad and the great player he was for us he must go down as one of the worst captains in many a year.his whole demeanor was wrong from xmas onwards and i know for a fact that a deal was brokered in february for more money han we eventually got.The BoD originally wanted more money and as we all know AW eventually sanctioned the deal.nasri was just another Adebayor,went for cash is king,
I think RVP will stay,there is a bonding in th team,shown so well after the win at chelsea .
I don’t know what kroeke is thinking but i don’t expect a major boost to transfer funds,although he is in it for the long haul.too much reliant on the FFP rules so to an extent a gamble,but this team will improve no doubt, but we are taking two steps forward and one back.
All trophy winning teams are based on a solid efence,and ours is improving but we are still letting in too many goals from set pieces.
I like the young pole in goal, nothing fazes himm, but he needs to improve his general distribution and an older more experienced keeper could and should have been bought in for a year or so for him to b his mentor,but it is too late for that..
it depends who wants them though..
cant see many clubs going after the likes of squillaci, almunia, denilson..not clubs who can give them what we gave them..
so we could be stuck
nikkis different..he’ll get offers and if he has a good season at sunderland we’ll command a good fee..
chamakh will still get offers too..his reps not totally tarnished but it depends if wenger does want to sell and if he does it wont be jan i dont think..acn will hamper that..
cesc was a bad banana kelsey
we wouldnt have sold him for that price to nobody at that stage of his contract if he didnt want to leave..
the rvp captaincy is more bonding and with the departures of the bad apples we have more unity even though we have less quality..i do beleive he wants to stay but he will assurances that the team is moving forwards..
For sure he is Irish ESP, that can never be questioned…
kelsey, that was down to him being able to do no wrong, wengers little golden boy….
ok, if we have Cristiano Ronaldo we have almost the perfect squad. But, we haven’t.
Did any player be injury for those friendly games?
Afternoon guys….any news? Heard robin made it. Hallelujah! Hey rico wait for my post. DG has just raised the bar. Am gonna take it up a notch. Hey DG, you re going down.
should have sold cesc to the highest bidder….
we did sell him to the highest bidder..
the little shitbag only wanted to play for one team..
and it wasnt us..
he had to be sold..make no bones about it he banged in a transfer request and refused to play another season..
you know what i mean jj, wenger should have been less soft, if he wanted out from us, Citeh would have paid double what Barca did but i know, he wouldn’t have gone there…..
hey ho, he’s gone and now he’s history….
VdV has suffered injury with Holland, hamstring … that’s a great shame for him….
rico..
wheres the likes of WATH, kev, will, erick, ktr and the rest of the gang these days?
they still knocking about?
Shame for him rico…..great for us.
Yep, they are all around except Will, he hasn’t been around in a long while, not sure where he went – Kt was poorly a few weeks back, have emailed him but no reply so i hope he’s ok…..
Harry got one over us with Freidel , he would have been perfect and I think he’s possibly surprised that he has become first choice at his age. Fabianski and Mannone are both good keepers but they need to play to get the glitches out of their game. Neither will do that with us and should be loaned or sold really for their own development. Szczesney is doing fine but is still learning but he comes from a better position and his loan at Brentford was invaluable. I always think that unlike outfield players a keeper needs to go to a defence that keeps him busy , the lower league was a perfect way to learn how to defend himself as much as anything and of course it helped with his shot stopping too. We have an abundance of talent and despite still looking a bit dodgy at the back our real problem is still the conversion of chances. We read continually about getting the next teenage prospect but Podolsky was mentioned the other day , I would see that as a reason to make a major purchase and one that might show RVP that we mean business. Hi all BTW.
i know goonster, i was being a tad ironic 😉
Hi Potter,
agree re Freidel, would have been just what we need, there must be another older keeper out there who would be an ideal number 2?
Maybe that’s why Wenger wanted Schwarzer, or Jussi Jaaskelainen
weve been linked to podolski for years..
he is a good player..
think hes at koln so hes defo gettable
links sadly mean diddly squit, i just hope we see one or two signed in jan, don’t care who really either as long as they are ready to lay themselves on the line for the Arsenal cause….
Rico how long’s is the “fart’ out for? A couple of months I hope?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15696942
and more good news
Not sure goonster, hopefully a few months 😉
About time too for them Kelsey, great news indeed….
Devil, that clip brings back memories, i used to travel all over the country watching us back then, it was about a pound to get into the North Bank and you could stand where-ever you wanted every week, Charlie loved scoring against spurs, we didn’t win a lot but they were great days.
Charlie nicholas and kenny samson were signing photo’s at brent cross shopping centre in north london around the time, I remember jumping on a bus to make sure i got mine, still got them in a box with the programmes and before anyone asks, no I am not a stalker !
😆 Micko ‘the stalker’…..
Hehe rico, I’ll be trawling my old patch on the 26th for the fulham game.
Lucky you Micko, that should be a good game….
How’s your head??
some football news the unber 18s beat ipswich 2-0, alban bunjaku scored both. had a little laff to myself when i read this, nic b says he won’t sign for sunderland in the summer because he wants cl football (i started to worry he was on his way back). then he says he won’t come back to arsenal eitheir, so were in his own special little world his going.
Fully fit again, although its gonna be a quiet one tonight.
Didn’t realise the fulham game was being televised when I booked otherwise i would have worked around it, its an evening kick-off, might clash with your strictly come dancing, there’s only gonna be one winner.
Mog, Bendtner has delusions of grandeur, the wheel is still turning but the hamster is dead.
Have a good evening folks, laters.
hi mog – good news about the u18’s and if only nik was as good as he thinks he is eh…
night Micko, have a good one and stay off the black stuff 😉
oops, wordpress logged me off…..
Inter Milan want Alex Song in January…..
Would like to have seen Arteta in the spanish squad tonight.
do’es highbury house = rico
nik said a lot of clubs came in for him in the summer so if he wanted cl football why go to sunderland. not wanting to sound all high and mighty but not much chance of sunderland finishing top 4 is there, in fact if he came back to us theres no guarante of it.
perhaps is biggest fan (daddy) said they want you at the stadium of light but did’nt tell him it was sunderland not benfica.
good evening to you to micko.
ESP, i don’t think he’ll ever get into that side, a bit closed door imho….
it does mog, it’s the facebook site – and when wordpress logs me off, it defaults to facebook…
Nik’s dad said loads of clubs came in for him, they either laughed at his wage demands or daddy was telling porkies, i suspect a bit of both….
I dunno Rico, i think if he’d played for a big club instead of Everton he could have been a regular by now, would be nice to see him get a least one cap for Spain, even if it is a friendly, he could be back up for Alonso!
Spain really are a team of midfielders.
Bendtner’s been running his mouth? Pssss what’s new? Evening guys..heard rosciky had a blinder for the czechs. Good to have all our players firing from all cylinders. We need them all fit and raring to go next weekend. Park scored again too,didn’t he? Fuck the interlull!
rico learn something new every day, wonder how much truth in the alex song story i’ve just seen it on metro.co they do’nt seem to reliable to me. seem to just print anything just for hits were did you see it.
I just the Spanish set up is all closed door stuff ESP, they seem a clicky lot… I’d love to see him get a cap….. I thought he should have one before now to be honest……
I wonder if he has any Irish relatives?! Better than the two clowns we have in midfield..
Goonster, whats new with Nik, sooner he’s gone the better….
Re Song mog, I first read it on LG a few days ago, then today the Metro have picked it up as well….
Which two clowns??
I’m chuffed for Tomas, i really am…..
Clowns? ESP? What are you talking about fella?
Andrews and Whelan.. clowns!
Ah, The Irish team, i thought you meant Arsenal 😆
Talking about the Irish team Goonster..
Is Denilson back or is he staying in Brazil?
Oh sorry….
Staying in Brazil as far as i know. at least i hope he is, can’t believe he has picked up so many red cards…..
Ha, I despise how the Irish national team plays football. Its awful to watch.
Cesc is on…
just put the england game on Fabregas looks dreadful!
nothing like when he was with us…..
Well if it isn’t the international version of Arsenal, one attack one goal conceded!
Evening Gooners
Evening Rico.
A top top post by DG.
And i see that JJ was here earlier.
No doubt having a break from arguing with Pedantic George!
It is ESP…. i won’t be watching much longer….
Hi Kev, how’s you, another busy day 🙁
Was good to see jj here, who is PD??
Ramos should have just been given a red card, shocking two footed, studs up tackle on Bent!
Fabregas has become a cheat and a dirty player, who is trying to look like Ramos!!
In fairness Cesc was always a bit of a prick, he was just our prick.
Inter now, wants every good player
Darrent Ben isn’t an arsenal fan?
Thats true ESP, we defefnded him, as we should of course … what is it with the spanish, long greasy hair – is that the fashion out there??
Yeah, a bit busy. Had an appointment at Tesco’s.
Then stopped off at The Bell for a couple….
Enjoying [suprisingly] watching England…
Hi JM, yep, a big AFC fan is Bent….
Enjoying watching England Kev, just how many did you have at The Bell… 😉
I guess it must be rico!
England really have done a “job” on spain, spain have been v.poor this half.
Torres has really lost his way.
Rico, re: 12.10. Jussi Jaaskalinen is out of contract in the summer i believe.
Player/Coach..?
Lucky them eh ESP, glad its not here..
It’s the younger players in the side, they don’t give a hoot who Spain are…..
Agree re Torres, i commented earlier that I think he’ll end up going back to Spain, the PL is too much for him now 😉
David Villa is such a greasy looking creep.
We should snap him up then Kev – How old is Jussi now??
He was amazing his first year for liverpool. But I also think he will sod off to Spain soon enough.. I wonder if the chavs will get their monies worth?! 😛
I’ve always quite liked Villa, well, before he went to Barca… Had hoped he’d sign for us one day but now i have to agree with you ESP, in fact, they all look the same….
Jussi is 36, just checked – got another 2/3 seasons in him yet and then coach, good point Kev…
ESP, just the thought of them selling him to Atletico Madrid for £15M makes me smile 🙂
Was just wondering if Torres would play better if he was at Arsenal, then I thought of course he would, himself and RVP up front would be a sight to behold no doubt, RVP really needs a partner in crime!
I wonder if Fran Merida wishes he’d stayed…. hasn’t played all season for his on loan club Braga and only played 17 times all last season…
Silly Boy!!
agag would agree with you there about Torres, all he needs is the right supply….. i wouldn’t mind if we got him…..
Very silly, like a few others who have gone.
Spot on again ESP… I always thought Merida had his career made with us…..
Still, their loss…..
Hope lecoq ll learn from him though. He seem to be heading in the same direction. We ve had a few over the years. The most notable one is David bentley. He had the world at his feet but what did he do? Stupid little prick.
That’s me done for the day guys, off for dinner and then a Strictly and X-factor night for me….
Have a good one all, stay safe…
Nighty Night….
I thought Helb threw the most away, talk about career suicide.
Exactly goonster….
Nighty…..
And Reyes ESP….
Shame…
Def gone now……
Hey whatever happened to amaury bishoff? That was one weird wenger signing!
Jussi is about 38 or 39 i think, at that age he’d love a chance to play for a big club, even if it was only in the cups and the odd CL game
And she dances off into the night.
See ya boss… 😀
ESP, i think Denilson has some Irish blood in him… 😉
Kev I am afraid he would look like a superstar in that Irish midfield!
Denilson has as Irish blood as much as you have gozitan blood AK.
How are you and the family mate??
Pa’s here with me. Just seen England win. Did you see Fabregas in the game?? We tried to search for him even in the Wembley crowds, and Pa went to search for him in the Wembley toilets but we could not find him. Maybe he was snogging JT’s lass? Or meeting AW to come back??
WSU??
Haha, Paul, surely your boys can’t be that bad….
What’s happened to all those great Irish players i grew up watching?
Gotta get the kids away from those bloody video games mate.
What’s the current score AK? Did spain whupp you guys? Shame you can’t see the big grin on my face.
Denilson has as Irish blood as much as you have gozitan blood AK.
How are you and the family mate??
Pa’s here with me. Just seen England win. Did you see Fabregas in the game?? We tried to search for him even in the Wembley crowds, and Pa went to search for him in the Wembley toilets but we could not find him. Maybe he was snogging JT’s lass? Or meeting AW to come back??
WSU??
I used to like John Devine, but he never really developed into the attacking full-back he should have been.
Had the potential to be a great player.
Really don’t know what went wrong with him?
Goonster I am going to compete……..and leave you in my wake!!!! 🙂
England won 1-0 Stan. Are you in the Falklands?
DG, there’s nothing wrong with Gozo.
Dragut never beat them… 😉
Heck blooming no….am in phuket. Getting down with the mamachitas. Hey DG,you re on.
Good to see that you read the book I sent you last year. Did you enjoy it???
Pa said ‘hi’.
DG, Cesc has certainly become more Spanish since he went back to his roots.
Not sure he’s as good as he was with us?
DG, once i got into it i couldn’t put it down.
Reading a great book on the Ottoman Empire now.
Stan if your in Phuket, and your see a women with a lot of shopping bags, then that’ll be Agag… 😉
agag,kev? Send me a photograph. I ll wanna kidnap her for keeps. Agag is HOT!
easy kev..long time mate was hoping to catch you..
cescs got wanker roots and denilson hasnt got any brazilian or irish in him..
in fact im pretty sure hes from san marino..
http://arsenal-opinion.com/2011/11/12/arsenal-evolution-or-revolution/
A good read.
Hey JJ, how ya doing buddy?
I always look out for ya on ACLF, but i either miss ya or your in a deep discussion with those boys, so i just have a read.
How’s your saucepan lid mate?
Hey Kev, I wish there weren’t as bad!
The culture here is the bigger you are the better you are, I remember getting kicked off the pitch week after week for being a more technically gifted player than most, and the sort of rough treatment was more than encouraged here, so it is now being reflected in the national side.
Stan, you couldn’t afford her mate.
She has expensive tastes.. 😉
Paul, how can that be from a country that gave us technicians like Blanchflower [Danny & Jackie], Giles, Brady, O’Leary, McGrath..?
I used to like Gerry Daly, Mark Lawrenson too.
Do you think it’s a hangover from the long-ball, Charlton days..?
shes brilliant mate..almost 2 going on 22..
she keeps me on me toes..
whats new with you..what do you think to the new arsenal squad look now its settling down..
its funny, but i perfer the feet on the ground, fighting back arsenal to the underachieving diva culture arsenal..
Kev I really do, Charlton was the golden years for football here in Ireland, and people waned to emulate the style of play, which (form years of watching Wenger’s teams) I detest.
It really starts off as kids, I remember being slated for trying to find a pass in my own half, up as quickly as you can.
I would love to b a coach, teach kids how to really play the beautiful game 🙂
I like Arteta, i think he’s a bit of an unsung hero.
Very impressed with Big Mert. He does a lot of stuff that goes un-noticed.
Benayoun has done ok in his cameo’s. A very cool calm player.
Not sure about Santos. To me he needs to lose a couple of stone.
I saw Park [live] in the Carling Cup. Thought he did ok, but don’t think he’s the answer to an alternative to support RVP when he needs a rest.
What are you talking about AK? Have you seen me? Am like the “George clooney” of the blog world. What lady won’t wanna get with this?
I like Oxo, but don’t think we’ll see the best of him until next season, I like Ryo a lot, but likewise.
I wasn’t too taken by Gervinho at first, he reminded me of Glenn Helder, but now i like him.
To me the team/squad is developing nicely.
JJ, great news on your little girl.
Bet one day she’ll be playing for Arsenal Ladies… 😉
Yeah Paul, i know what ya mean.
Wenger has opened all [or most] of our eyes to a better way of playing.
When i watch England and they knock it back to the keeper for him to punt it forwards, i just say ‘That’s possession lost’…
It does my head in.
That’s why Jack looks so good when he’s in the England team.
Don’t you mean the Rosemary Clooney, Stan 😆
ive always liked arteta..hes not that flashy, which is probably why the spaniards ignore him, but he does the biz..hes a spaniard with an english mentality and he took a pay cut so he really wants to be here and hes no diva..
big pers just a defender first and foremost..again nothing flashy and hes not that quick but he knows how to defend.
gervinhos adding more to the team than nasri..again not as technical but he runs all day and he creates goals so hes a team man and i like team players..
The spanish way of playing should be applauded for the way they play, its actual football.
Every kid should be taught to play like that, I would love to coach football. (Just so I get to play football all day every day! :P)
Very funny kev…..you seem to be in good spirits mate. Does this have anything to do with england winning.
Well done the British teams this weekend, makes a change to have a clean sweep. not heard any injury news but hope our boys are all right. i noticed Cesc has let his hair grow he looked different but still a class player
park and yossi are just stop gaps so i was never expecting much from them anyway..
and yossi was caught celebrating when we thumped chelsea (what a result by the way) so that will do for me..
the kids are just the kids we’ll see them in the next few years so theres no rush..
santos is the only one i have reservations about, he does look like hes been at the pies and i think hes more of an attacking winger than a fb so it leaves huge gaps at the back but that could settle down the more he adapts
JJ you sound more up beat than you used to, have you been rejuvinated
Hi steve, gloating are ya?
JJ, i saw Mert in one of his first games at Ashburton, and he made a series of smart, intelligent interceptions, that were ignored and not shown on MotD, they simply concentrated on 3 mistakes he made and made him out to be a donkey.
I really like him JJ. He gives us something different and what we’ve lacked since Sol left, presense at the heart of the defence.
Not at all Goonster, suprised thats all
Stan i’m just listening to some sounds from U-Tube and chatting footie to my fellow Gooners.
A good reason to be happy.
Hiya StevieP, you ok mate?
i go thru stages steve..
it all depends if i like what im seeing..
if i see overpaid players taking the piss and playing like they cant be arsed il call it..
we could have won the title last year and the cc but half the team was fucking about trying to negotiate moves away from the club since the turn of the year and we wonder why it fell apart?? and we had one of the worst years in terms of falling from grace weve ever witnessed..twats the lot of them..never deserved to be here in the first place..
but now im seeing players that were written off and called panic buys turn this club round in the face of adversity and cant knock them for it..
ESP you are welcome to come with my team any time and see me coaching……except my boys are not little kids but older ones. However that is the way I teach football to be played.
The problem lies with the coaches at younger level. Some of the coaches I have seen are really bad with the kids……they play to win only and care only about the result. They do not care about the kids development. Kids need to play, to experiment and to be shown what they have to do to play properly irrespective of the result. There were moments in my career that I decided to do away with the result so as not to destroy a kid’s confidence and development. A loss always hurts. But the pride you get when you see a person who was once your player and now they are putting into practice what you taught them beats winning a cup or winning a game.
That is why I have always enjoyed working with kids.
Paul i do admire the way the Spanish play, but they do overdo it sometimes.
The Dutch are still my favourites.
I love their outlook on life and it reflects in their football.
Why don’t you take a coaching course Paul..?
Fine thanks Ak, Good result mate eh
presence is the key word kev
hes got an aura..just looking at him puts players off..
he is really clever too he reads the game really well..the germans havent given him 75 caps for being shit and hes only 26..
give him 6 months and everyone will be calling him and atreta the signings of the season…
Btw DG, that was a quality post.
Paul, the English FA, the Scottish FA and Irish FA all do good courses. You can enter their websites and go on coaching courses. Maltese courses are also good, however they are very tough. You get grilled in them. The best I found were the Scottish FA courses at Inverclyde. The coaches there were simply amazing.
However they are all expensive mind you. But its an experience worth going for.
And if you get to coach kids…….well that beats also winning the lottery if you have got the right aptitude.
Thanks AK.
Steve, i usually don’t give a monkeys about watching England. The football is too painfull.
But they did well today.
Thought Parker was immense.
parker was the nuts.
What surprised me about England was the way they bamboozled the Spanish team by changing tactics to suit the situation. When Lampard scored, bless his gross amount of luck, they went to 4-3-2-1, then when the spanish steam of vengeance deflated a bit they went to 4-1-4-1 and then when Wellbeck came on they went to 4-3-3. And did it seamlessly. The defence was also good but parker was as you said IMMENSE. All of them block capitals.
Completely agree JJ.
Patience is in pretty short supply at Arsenal at present.
But i’m more optimistic now than i’ve been for a couple of seasons.
Getting shot of the deadwood was a really big statement of intent by Wenger even if it was 12 to 24 months overdo.
I’m really enjoying watching this team and how they are growing.
Hey DG, I have looked into the FAI coaching badges before, but at the moment college takes up any free time I have, but I think the second I get a chance to earn some of those badges I will! Didn’t make it as a player, maybe I’ll have better luck as a coach! 🙂 Thanks DG!
I feel its my duty to support them painfull at times but today they played well, as you say Parker was great. I wondered if you saw the Wales game when the interviewer after the game was talking to Bale and he was going to award the MOTM and he asked Bale to give it to Belemy Bales face was great
DG, you should do a post about doing your UEFA course in Scotland.
Go into this website Paul…………
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football.cfm?page=6
Also thought Wellbeck looked usefull.
Good pace and able to hold the ball up.
Thought he gave the Spanish defence a lot of problems.
Don’t think we missed Rooney….
DG, could you do a post about coaching, how modern players are coached would be an interesting read
Thanks for the ideas AK and Steve. Will try it in the future. I have already got the plans and short notes for the next two articles done already and will add the next two you suggested.
Missed Rooney???? Rooney is a great player but today there was a TEAM which played together. Not for someone.
I felt that England played as if they wanted to keep the score down rather than win, i bet it was a suprise to them more than anything else
It’s all going wrong for Harry.
A cardiac operation and now the ‘ol’ bill’ and Inland Revenue are sniffing around.
Cheerios mates and chicks.
Off to bed. Got to rest so that I will wake up fresh in the morning. Get ready to throw the towel Goonster. Game on. 😉
nte DG
nte all catch you later
Just been downloading some AVG security.
Seems you’ve all gone now.
Goodnight Gooners, a really good chat tonight.
New one up….