Morning all,
For all those supporters that have been cursing our Manager Arsene Wenger, about how he buys talent and new players, perhaps you will now start to understand how this manager works.
He started off the summer by bringing in Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jenkinson, they were additions to what was in my view a ‘sound base’.
His pattern over the years has always been to leave it as late as possible to get the best deals out there.
Everybody knows the first price of anybody at the start of the transfer window is always the highest and those that did their business early have probably paid through the nose for their players.
Many managers have got the financial backing of very rich owners who are not at all bothered by high prices so it matters not to them what price they pay.
Arsene Wenger will only spend when he believes he can’t get the player for any less and very often he misses out.
If a player has a long contract with his present club the price of that player will be high but if he happens to be in the last year Wenger believes he is in a strong bargaining position.
Not only is Wenger a fine Manager he is also a shrewd negotiator, he leaves it late in the window for players he believes will cost too much at the start of the window but if that player has not been bought by another club he will try and buy them at a reduced price.
Wenger plans meticulously, sometimes it comes off and other times he misses out but when it comes off, he gets a good player for a very good price.
This window has been frustrating for supporters, they have seen our name linked to every conceivable player and naturally expected that player to be joining us.
The press and the media have flogged our club to death, they know we have weaknesses and they have tried to scupper every possible deal and make us pay the highest prices but Wenger see’s things like a kid in a sweet shop.
A kid doesn’t buy the first sweet he looks at, he looks around the shop and would probably want to buy many sweets but only has the money to buy a couple so he takes his time, spoilt for choice you might say. Wenger is like that….
He also looks into the player’s background, looks at their past history and checks whether he has been troublesome, will he fit in with his future plans, will he be a good Arsenal man?
Just because a player looks good on the television doesn’t mean he will fit into the structure of our club, too outspoken can cause unrest in the camp, bad habits can infect the whole squad, so choosing a player is not always about ability, Wenger looks at it similar to a jig saw puzzle and players like one of the pieces.
Supporters believe that we have held back, sold players and were intending to hold on to all the profits. Well, that has been the impression I have got over the last few weeks.
It’s not been about that in my opinion; it’s been about balancing the books.
We still have debts, we still have our running costs and the way Arsenal work, all monies goes into the pot that makes the club financially stable.
The players we have sold have made us a healthy profit and the players boought have been at good prices.
Is that not the way of a good business?
Success is not always about trophy cabinets, it’s about having a sound club which is financially stable with a team that is hopefully improving.
That’s a successful club and Wenger, with his shrewd bargaining will ultimately make us more successful.
Looking back, has Arsene Wenger got it far wrong this summer?
Mikel Arteta
Per Mertesacker
Andre Santos
Chu Park Young
Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain
Joel Campbell (Not Available)
Carl Jenkinson
Gervinho
Yossi Benayoun (Loan)
Jon Toral Harper
Hector Bellerin
Serge Gnabry
Twelve new faces in this transfer window alone, ok Campbell has had to go on loan to obtain a future work permit but Ryo Miyaichi joins us for the first time this season as he has been granted his permit.
Not all looking so bad now is it?
Or do some of you still think Arsene Wenger and Arsenal haven’t done enough?
Written by Steve Palmer
Morning all.
My simple question (an open one, no agendas): of the big name signings, how many were genuinely available, and at what price?
Hazard, Gotze, Kaka, Schweinsteiger, De Rossi, Benzema – club or player refused
Mata – preferred stronger club
MVila, Ribery – price too high?
That’s obviously not a complete selection, but already that covers most of the “big” names we were looking at. The trouble with selling Nasri and Fabregas was that there really are not a lot of players superior to them. Perhaps we were getting our hopes up too high?
lookin good??! benayoun way past his prime, a chelsea left over..now we have two roscikys ….the fact that arteta had to take a pay cut to come here shows the intent of the club …they jst wanna appease the supporters with minimum quid spent plus hes been signed for the treatment table not the first team…mertesacker is the only quality signing and he too had a shocker of a season last year and andre santos is not a defender!!!hes good goin forward hes a winger played at left back and we all know how that works out…hope against hope this works out..
Morning all..
Fine post Steve, my answer is no, not quite….
I think this cuts out reliance on the so called ‘big’ players to perform. By giving the team more players of the same level, I think this would be a more united Arsenal team that would fight for each other. Barring Arshavin of course.
Savage,
we could have got Mata, two weeks before he went to chelsea…
M’vila was for sale, if we met the asking price…
Cahill was for sale, if we met near the asking price
Samba was for sale, if we offered the right price….
Guys, these players may not be world class, but they will certainly lift the whole team! Mark my words! 6 first team players gives us strength in debt.
I think Wenger knows what he is doing. I will never forgive him for the result against United, but I think things will get a lot better from now on, I just don’t like that everything collides with the int. break..
So excited….am a huge arteta fan. Now bring on swansea! The backlash begins…..and oh morning Rico.
good post steve….
im ok with the signings…
yossi benayoun is the one im least impressed with…..
Morning Rico. I read we are topped out with foreign players so perhaps that was a factor. If you look at the likely back 4 it is very different now. Whether it is all enough is somewhat moot. It is what we have. One good thing is that we will have to play in a different way and I hope this will make us less predictable. Wenger’s footballing nous will be tested so let’s see what he comes up with. We have to adopt a sense of optimism though this is bound to be tinged with a dash of trepidation.
ADK – I still think the club could have done more..
Lokk at how much we have made by selling players compared to what we have spent, I know the club doesn’t want to spend what they don’t have and i’m not suggesting they do that but yet again we are happy to take big money for our players yet not prepared to reinvest it
But, we have what we have and yes, it’s better than we had three days ago….
Moaning all,
If you throw the dice and you don’t get what you want you gotta like what you get.
The window is shut now, we all gotta get behind the team 100% starting against swansea.
Me personally i feel a little short changed, money in the bank doesn’t win you nothing.
Cahill Adam 😉
af – thank goodness he’s only a loan… should have been a pay as you play he’s always crocked…
FFS Nasri had 1/2 a good season and he becomes a world beater? we already replaced Nasri with gervinho. As for the signings if it would have cost us 10 million more to get these players 3 or 4 weeks ago then why the hell did we not do it? We wher stale against abismal Newcastle team, bear against liverpool and i don’t need to remind anyone of what happened last Sunday when we where humiliated because we did not have the quality replacements for the missing players. We could be on max 9 points now but more likely 7 instead of the 1 point we have. that is the difference of attaining 4 place with some confidence and struggeling to do so. the players are not bad the timing of their arrival is
terrible.
I’m happy enough with those signings. A back four of Santos-Vermaelen-Mertesacker-Sagna looks good to me. In midfield we have song, frimmpong and maybe colquin for 1 DM slot and with Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Arteta and Benyoun going for 2 midfield places and plenty of choice up front.
(I know I’ve mangled some names but I don’t care, the players probably don’t read these blogs)
Although alot of these signings may not strenghten our 1st eleven much, we now have a nice bit of squad depth.
Lets wait and see
Exactly Micko, i too feel a little short changed…
Call me an onld cynic but we all knew the Mertesacker and Santos deals had been done on Tuesday but so typical of AFC, wait until deadline day, just to make it sound like a busy final day….
But, as said, we have what we have and it’s certainly stronger, maybe even good enough to keep us in the top four…
Great post,Steve.Well said.I rate it well with all additions.Ok we did not get what (so called Gooners) wanted. The players we did get recently,will fit in well. Steve said it right. Success is not always about trophy cabinets, it’s about having a sound club which is financially stable with a team that is hopefully improving.
That said, We “real Gooners” stick with the TEAM-NO MATTER WHAT!!!!
Papering over the cracks again? Who can tell me the squad is any better than last year barring Per?
Oh and morning all!
Rico, its a bit like waking up on your birthday and getting the womble uncle bulgaria as a present when all the time you really wanted evil knieval……….disappionted love.
In my opinion, no sane fan will ask for more cos what we’ve always asked for is a balanced team with a right mix of youth and experience. All last five signings have got loads of experience and don’t lack leadership as four of d five are international players with two of those four being captains of their national teams and yet another two have EPL experience. We can only wish them luck if u r a true fan. Up gunners. a right mix of youth and experience. All last five signings have got loads of experience and don’t lack leadership as four of d five are international players with two of those four being captains of their national teams and yet another two have EPL experience. We can only wish them luck if u r a true fan. Up gunners. Hey, gud morning to y’all.
I’m pretty pleased with our business on the last two days of the window. Some people won’t be pleased until we win some games, and I understand that….but I also understand how threadbare our squad has been for the last few weeks and with everyone back, our new additions will make us competitive.
I also think we are set to spend more in January. I think we are going for Hazard then. Of course I have no insider knowledge or anything but I think we have the money to do it, and Hazard would like to come here. I think Lille are preparing for that eventuality by bringing in Joe Cole.
If Arteta can stay fit he will be an excellent addition and will complement what we have beautifully. I’m convinced Gervinho will light up the premiership this year and with Vermaelen and Wilshere in the side we will be tough combatants. Not to mention Mertesacker who I think is a wonderful signing.
Lets all just remember the team that lost at old trafford a moment……No Gervinho….no Wilshere…..no Vermaelan……no left back……a kid at RB…….no Song…….no Sagna…..and absolutely nothing of note to call from the bench. Now you may blame Wenger for us being in that position. A more realistic view would be to blame suspensions and injuries…..without which we would have had a more than competitive team.
Our game against Swansea will be the first of the season where we should witness our ACTUAL first team……..I can’t wait!!!
arteta is great business….i think can replace wilshere or ramsey whenever required or even play the holding role…
gooner sam, i would definitely say that we have improved on the left back position.. Santos will be a very pleasant surprise, trust me.
Rico … “old cynic”
Mertesacker is better than Samba, so that one’s dead. I know you’re a Cahill fan, but I’d take Mert most days. Germany uber England, and Mert at a similar age is first choice, while Cahill is barely on the fringe. Nobody was prepared to pay the odds for him and that tells me everything I need to know.
I happily accept that Arteta is not Kaka, but as I suggested, I do genuinely wonder how many players were available. Mata said he didn’t want to come to Arsenal, so that’s dead too. MVila maybe, but he’s not a creative midfielder, and at a monster price.
It’s pretty typical though.
– we sign a foreigner and everyone says we should have got prem experience
– we sign prem experience and everyone says we should have bought foreigners
Like I pointed out yesterday, there are people who just look for problems, and if I ever become one of those people, please let me know so I can address that shortcoming.
If you add up how much we’ve spent this window roughly you get:
Gervinho – 10.8m, Oxlade – 12m, Jenkinson – 1m, Park – 4m, Santos – 6.5m, Meresacker – 8m, Benyoun – Loan (may have paid up to 500k for the loan?), Arteta – 10m, Campbell – 1m
Total – 53.8m!
Takings
Cesc – 35m, Clichy – 7m, Nasri – 25m, JET – 1m, Eboue – 4m, Traore -2m?, Sunu – 500k
Total – 74.5m
Yes we made a profit from the window and coulda spent more, but the wage bill is probably a bit higher now and we may spend 15-odd mill in Jan if we have to.
Morning to those just joining today…
my god 5 players signed in 2 days , 2 with a wealth of prem league experience , 2 national captains, 1 club captain with 75 german caps and a brazilliant left back , the reaction ………more moaning about how much they didnt cost!!!! perhaps AW should have just offered above what they are worth so he broke even . are we in a better position?? damn right we are players who will give their all for the club can only be a good thing , something we have been lacking . come on you gooners a great day for the club yesterday could we rally have asked for much more ?? we now have leadership all over the place and quality that runs through the squad, get a grip all gooners have a right to feel good today !!
Savage – i’m more than happy with mertesacker, honest, just feel we needed one more, BUT, i do like Cahill, i rate him very highly and dreaded him going to the totts, however, i’m calmer now as i know we’ll get him in jan, or on a freebie next summer – he’s made it clear its afc he wants to join and i think thats why he turned our neighbours down… 😉
In fact, benayoun aside, i think the signings are very good ones 🙂
Gooner sam – i think it’s a tad deeper sqaud, and like ADK said, Santos is a really good addition, not for Gibbs, but for us 😉
Ju will be a surprise too i think….
Agree TT, we needed them in June but better late than never i guess 😉
So our absentee landlord of an owner turns out to be an asset stripper !
At least I can see a trophy on the horizon – Europa Cup anyone ?
And I thought I was an old cynic Steve 😉
Merts and Benayoun bring CL experience with them, I think we will do better this season in europe…
Until we meet either of the mancs or barca 😉
Can’t believe Arteta took a £10k pay cut to sign for us!!
No wonder Everton are broke 😉
Barry – Cahill in January 😉
Hi goonster and af..
Micko, i always wanted uncle bulgaria 😉
Honest Rico I’m looking forward to seeing all these new players in the red & white, it’s just that I no longer have any faith that Wenger knows what he’s doing or where we are going.
As one journo’ beautifully put it a couple of weeks ago, we seem forever lost in a confusing fog between Wenger’s past and Wenger’s future.
Incidentally, while I always appreciate Steve’s and everyone else’s posts, the feeling on Le Grove is that Wenger had nothing to do with yesterday’s business as he has been away from the club for a couple of days.
I’m a very happy gooner this morning,wenger and the club did the right thing signing mertersacker over cahill.
Ok there not massive superstar’s that some wanted,but i believe the club has secured some very good players and we are stronger for it.
I’ve always liked arteta and i think it’s the coup of the season.Everton fans are really gutted.
Steve – we are not far different on our views…
i think wenger has done a fantastic job for us but that was from 1996 – 2005/6..
Since then he has slowly undone all the good he has done by persisting with sub standard performers and soley relying on youth.
I heard wenger was in france, surely he must have told IG who to buy, IG is too far removed from football to even know who these players are….
Hi Mr Is, i wanted Cahill and Merts – then i’d be really happy this morning 😉
But, I’m a lot happier than i was a couple of weeks ago, that’s for sure….
So did i rico 😉
But were get cahill in jan for half the price 😆
chez
sagna verm tv5 santos
song wilshere
gervinho arteta park
rvp
I hope so Mr Is, like i say, just glad the rag and bone man down the road didn’t get him 😉
Same old same old. Were about 18million in profit again and weaker than we were last year. I know eaxtly what we are going to win this year again – f@#k all.
If M’vlla was 25 million adn he was the forst choice he should have just paid it. instead we end up with Benny-yawn. What a joke.
At least Cahill didn’t go up the Seven Sisters Road. I hope we get him next season on a free with a healthy signing-on fee for him. Dumb move by Bolton.
Adam, agree, that one backfired on Coyle, unless Cahill does a big u-turn and signs an extension, he’s gone for either very cheap in jan, or free in the summer….
And, he’s left with an unsettled player during that time, makes the Nasri deal seem so much more sensible….
Orson,
i think most want M’vila and i think he would have made the signings we have made look so much better but now, we have what we have and we are better off than we were a few days ago…
Next summer, Mvila’s price will be a lot higher no doubt if he has a good season, then he’ll be at Citeh 🙁
Rico. Bolton you mean. Also a very odd move by Spurs I think. To turn down £40 million cash for Modric when they are clearly tight for money? Now they have an unhappy player on their hands whose value might never be as high again and all to justify Levy’s ego? Not that I’m complaining. ‘Arry looked sick about it. Probably thinking of the little earner he missed out on.
rico I have to disagree with you there Benny is actually a astute signing that can come off the bench when Walcott has fluffed his lines and deliver a accurete ball/pass. he is very good at getting into the right positions and has bundles of exsp that he can share with the younger wingers.
Oops, I was thinking about Arteta while writing 😉
Good point made about Modric, he’ll sulk for months and I hope it effects the rest of them 😉
TT, depends how much we are paying him and whether he stays fit, if he does stay fit then yes, he can certainly do a good job for us and he’s got bags of experience, also won’t need time to get used to this league….
Got to go off for a couple of hours, catch up later all…..
Moan moan moan….do you lot ever get satisfied? No matter who we bring in some fans ll still moan. Arteta is step up from ramsey and rosciky. Would you we rather play a rosciky and ramsey combo or an artera/wilshere one. There’s no pleasing some people. We finally got rid of the dross in our team and our squad looks better than when we started the season. Denilson bendtner eboue almunia diaby and squillachi are all sidelined and in their place comes park ben ayoun arteta ryodinho the OX gervinho Santos and mertesacker. Relax guys we are season starts now. COYGs
Morning all.good read steve.i am pleased with the business so far.after our catipulation at OT what we needed were signings to steady the boat.we have signed 5 players,2 with PL experience.Götze/hazard may be eye catching but in our largely inexperienced squad and with all the turmoil it would have been very difficult for them to make an impact.now we have bought 4 club/country captains that will form a solid foundation for us.if things go well and by jan we are in a very good position we may splurge for these marquee wonderkids,if not then in the summer.putting jack/ramsey/götze/hazard in the same team without solid experienced pros around them would not have worked at all.
Morning all.
I agree with TT regarding Benny. Surely it’s a win-win? If he’s grabage, we turf him back to the Chavs. If not, and we get some good performances out of him, then that’s an added bonus. He can’t be worse than what we already had! Ok, he’s not the marquee signing we all wanted, and, agreed, he’s the least exciting of the signings from yesterday, but he can still do a job. Even if all he manages to do in his time here is to teach Theo how to spot a pass and be able to execute it properly, then that’ll do for me!
Yosi ben will get better as he gets more games.
We have more players almost at the same level so we will have real competition.
The problem with Fabregas and Nasri was that we were too reliant on them and they knew it so they did not give their all in the last 2 seasons.
evidence of that was Nasri and Fabs performances in the new clubs.
We will get the best of players like Arshavin , Djuru,Diaby ,Ramsey and even Wilshere now because they know there is more competion.
Now when RVP is injure we will deploy a decent Park,
when Walcott is injured we will deploy Yosi Ben and Gevinho will take up the right hand side.
When TV is injured Djurur will know it is rare chance to impress the boss.
Song knows that Frimpong is right behind him in case he makes a stupid mistake and gets a 3 match ban.
We have always lacked this kind of competition for a while now so it is good thing for me that we signed all this players.
Then Wenger has the option of playing Song and Frimpong together when we are playing rugby teams like Stoke,Sunderland,etc.
hi all
I’m not exciting about our signings excepting the Brazilian lad. I saw his clips and the were impressive; dribbles, crosses, sharp passing, short passing and tricks. But, not great defending. I was told the German guy’s fantastic and consistent. ok. Arteta is spanish and injury prone plus someone will believe he has some spanish club DNA if he’s successful with us. Benayoun lightweight and won’t last half season long. The Korean look like he’s scared of something maybe the sound of North Korean missiles. devastated we didn’t get Hazard.
Afternoon Folks,
How can we be weaker than last year?
The back four, which everyone’s been screaming about, is now transformed.
You think Mertesacker’s worse than Cahill… ask Shrek.
You think Clichy was such a devastating loss… not from my recollection of the points he cost us the last two seasons.
Our back four was an embarrassment at the end of last year… now it looks solid and commanding and experienced… let’s see Delap chuck a ball over PM and onto Crouch’s nut.
Midfield on paper looks weaker… I have to agree, but
on the park it’s an improvement. Cesc was injured a lot last year, and when he wasn’t he was operating at fifty per cent of the commitment he showed in that first-ever major tackle on Paddy Vieira.
Nasri was great on a handful of occasions, but Gervinho doesn’t constantly take on too many, and run into blind alleys; he makes space and finds the right cross, and anyone who gives Barton a slap is O.K. in my book.
Up front we’ve improved immeasurably; Let’s see Bendtner try his ‘I’m a superstar’ routine on the boys in the north-east… this loan will either make or break him… either way we’re better off, and meantime we’ve got some great-looking prospects.
Sure I’d have liked to see a superstar signing, but value for money has to come into the equation, and the value just wasn’t there. When we did look like getting Mata, we were gazumped by people who don’t seem to have any regard for basic economics or FFP. Until uefa grows a pair, we have to live with that.
Balance and experience is what this window has been all about… and now we’ve got both in spades.
I heard Grimandi say we had identified cesc’s replacement but that club said in no uncertain terms that they wouldn’t sell.rumours suggest we were looking at götze/hazard.if its true those clubs have just made the CL and its understandable.lets be honest,very few players can replace cesc and the few are at clubs bigger than ours.am 100% confident jack will do the job.now he has experienced players around him the pressure on him will be less.ms that they wouldn’t sell.rumours suggest we were looking at götze/hazard.if its true those clubs have just made the CL and its understandable.lets be honest,very few players can replace cesc and the few are at clubs bigger than ours.am 100% confident jack will do the job.now he has experienced players around him the pressure on him will be less.
Osi, what footage were you watching? Come on man. Get behind the team. We looked really appealing against the mancs….do you really think the mancs would have rolled us up like a rug with ateta ben ayoun mert and Santos on the pitch. Please people don’t kill the season before it starts. How many of you guys would have given up anything just to have arteta in our team last season when cesc was injured. We are better placed than last season. Stronger than we ve ever been for years and yet you lot complain.
Osi get a live will you…
We have a solid foundation to build on.once we get back to our normal level of playing then we can add the likes of hazard.it will be easier for them to bed in.
Osi Osi Osi , look Wenger didn’t just surprised us fans i bet he surprised his fellow managers as well who were waiting for our clubs downfall.
Suddenly the top four would not be easy for anyone anymore even Man Utd.
Osi, see the light at the end of the tunnel because i can see it.
Arsenal has brought in experience and decent quality and got rid of the dead woods which freed up some fund to get the necessary players and the young protegees will have something to learn from.
Osi, now watch Wenger show what he is made up of, cant wait for our next match.
Park and benayoun will be very good tactical subs.according to my chav mate benayoun was the best chav during preseason.he reminds me of hleb and now unlike at chav/pool he’ll be in a passing team.he being on a year long loan gives us time to negotiate to sign götze/hazard next year.he isn’t going to start alot but like park for the mancs and kuyt for pool he’ll be an astute tactical sub to have. my chav mate benayoun was the best chav during preseason.he reminds me of hleb and now unlike at chav/pool he’ll be in a passing team.he being on a year long loan gives us time to negotiate to sign götze/hazard next year.he isn’t going to start alot but like park for the mancs and kuyt for pool he’ll be an astute tactical sub to have.
Goonster i’m 100% behind the team. But i’m disappointed as expected big name signing. I thought that we saved to splash on this very day. I’m not only questioning the quality of the 2 playmakers I’m saying that they’re both injury prone. I believe in the quality of our team even without much addition so I definitely expect us to improve.
It seems you’re all happy about our signings and looking forward to seeing them in action. For me, I’m exciting about Me’sacker; he’s tall and looks like he’s gonna have fun marking the Stokes, Blackburn, Black Cats players on the air. I’m exciting about the Brazilian as he’s going to offer attacking threat with his crosses and passing ranges and as far as his defending is concerned I don’t think he’s going to be worse than Clichy, so at least he offers something plus. My problem with Arteta is that I fear he may spend some time out with the medicals.
Anyway looking forward to seeing new faces with some real experience.
Osi , Frimpong will protect Arteta 🙂
oh by the way we all forgot that Arteta is a free kick specialist.
I´m going to wait and see. However, our mistake: Meireles (between the names moving on), the right man for the midfield position we need. He his not playing in the right position in Liverpool but in chelsea, with a portuguese manager, we will see. Probably will be one of the most valuable players of the league in the final of the season.
We need a new blood in the team. From this perspective is good. We must wait until December/January. If we are lucky in the Cl, the League and going ahead in the Cups,we can win money in CL and close the top of the League in this time. Probabaly we can attack again for others players and replace other ones.
And I don’t know if there are some agree with any movement only in January…:-)
(Porto had buy 3 players at he beginning of the season but they only come in January)
Lets not underestimate the impact Arteta can have.when ronaldo left the mancs rednose went and bought valencia from wigan.this season he has bought A.young.both of these aforementioned players were just decent players but going to a bigger club has given them that extra spring.they look like worldbeaters now since they have gone up a level.with valencia/young being PL players they hit the ground running immediately.thats how rednose has maintained his dominance in the PL.lets hope the same happens to Arteta.
i think arsene is a shrewd negotiator, but i think he sometimes outsmarts himself. the evidence of our first three league matches shows the squad was woefully unprepared for this season – specifically lacking in depth and experience. i think we did well to address many of our problems, but i am a bit saddened that conceding eight goals may have forced our hand. i think some of this business could have been done earlier in the summer – and i think that would have lead to a better points haul and atmosphere arouind the club…
with that said, the club did take action and we are unquestionably stronger and better equipped. while a genuine title challenge is not automatically guaranteed, results should certainly pick up from here. arsene’s challenge will now be to integrate these new players in a fashion that gets the best of as many as possible…
for those who don’t think new signings provide a boostto the players as well as the supporters, just read jack’s tweets from yesterday.
Its about time we scored from direct FKs.Arteta,santos and park are freekick specialists.rvp should no longer be the default FK taker.
I agree JM.Pool will regret letting Meireles go.he was their best Midfielder bar Gerrard.
Hi oliver.jack has also revealed that Arteta was the best midfielder he faced in the PL last season.
Spot on KT arteta has a lot to prove….if he hits the ground running it won’t be long before the spanish national team handlers ll notice him. Don’t forget he ll be playing in the champions league…..moreover I don’t know why you guys keep ruling us out of challenging for the title we still have a chance….the mancs ll still play us at the EMS….come ob people its just three games into the season there are still a whopping 35 games left to play…come on!
Spot on goonster.Arsene wants players that will hit the ground running immediately.Arteta will go up a level now,he’ll play out of his skin to prove himself now.he has waited for this chance his entire career.
Yeah KT he might not really replace cesc fully but he’s the closest we could have gotten besides this guy is a hard worker and has a mean tackle on him. Arteta won’t go down without a fight. Pulis and his bunch of thugs better watch out this arsenal team is ready to mix it up.
Im also excited at the prospect of us ripping apart teams on our left flank.gerv/santos can form a very dynamic partnership and maybe sagna will not be forced to bomb forward that often.our team looks like it will be more direct and pacy,dangerous at setpieces and sound at the back,we have balance now.we may lack ‘stars’ but id rather us have a team.every player will take responsibility to take his share of the load to replace cesc.im fine with that.
What if we had signed hazard m’villa and goetze and they flopped big time like torres is currently doing….a lot of fans will still moan that we should have gotten premier league proven players…..there’s no pleasing some people….chelsea spent a fortune on torres yet he only has one goal to his name…..he’s a 1/50 man like my friend would say.*winks*
guys.. would you say we are settled at the back?
ADK thats what we are hoping for.we now have leadership and experience in spades at the back.hopefully that will make us settled.
Hi dk…..more settled at the back than we ve been for years. Verm and mert are beasts in the air. Sagna is probably the best right back in the British isles or even europe and we finally got rid of a stagnated clichy while replacing him with a real wing back! The brazilians have perfected this act…they seem to always produce the best wing backs…..R carlos cicinho D alves maicon the list goes on. This guy santos ll rip most defenses to shreds.
KT do you know if mertesacker is a leader? Was he captain of Bremen?
Do you see him replacing VP?
Signing Benayoun on a season long loan also gives Arsene the time to closely monitor the development of ryo/oxo.they will still play but will not be thrown in the deepend.by the time the season ends Arsene will know if splashing out on hazard/götze is really necessary depending on the progress of ryo/oxo.
I hope you are right goonster. I am buzzing! 😀
Mertesacker was the Bremen captain and Germany vicecaptain.
We no longer have the youngest team in the league 😮
Am really looking forward to seeing the lads against swansea but its in europe I really fancy our chance…wait for it guys. This team ll surprise a few. We ooze class all through the pitch. Sagna at right back…verm and mert in the middle…..jack the lad arteta and song in the middle and RVp gervinho and theo up top. Wow am creaming my pants already…..COYGs and fuck the interlull!
The Board
There is still something wrong with the relationship between Wenger and the Board and Gazidis. Something just doesnt smell right looking back on this summer.
As for our signings… I’d like to have seen 1 or 2 more defenders. They needn’t be super stars, just solid players with some EPL experience. We still lack sufficient depth in the back to allow us to rest and rotate our players. Its a vicious circle really… more injuries result when players aren’t rotated out and rested occasionally throughout a season. Once injuries set in, a manager has even less ability to rotate his players.
We have the israel,czech,welsh,russia and belgium captains in our dressing room.we have the German vice too.there is no better dressing room for the likes of jack/ryo/oxo to develop in than that.
Chill out Doc……we ve got mertesacker!
Vertsacker goonster 😉
Goonster, your like popeye when he’s downed a tin of spinach today, fair play to you, keep flying the flag.
Alrighy then….spot on KT…..that’s what we ve been lacking since the invisible era…….LEADERS. After viera left we ve never really had a real leader. Henry did a good job, so did gallas for a while but we totally fell apart after we made cesc captain. With mert verm santos and ben ayoun the workload is shared.
Afternoon all, seems your all pretty happy with yesterday’s buys….!
WATH, there’s always room for improvement.
Hey micko my man…..am ecstatic this is the best window in years. We ll be a different prospect. Watch how we tear the league a new one……COYGs
Come on WATH…..get the fuck in!
Im looking forward to seeing us play with raw pace again.Wengerball 4:Need for speed 😉
I hope your right goonster starting with swansea.
Really looking forward to the game now.
Ticked a lot of boxes Micko thats for sure and your never gonna please everyone even if we bought Messi and the likes but then again most of us have never gone on about buying players like that in anycase. The team looks much better the squad stronger but for me still one area lacking and thats central midfield from a physical point of view its the one reason I badly wanted us to get M’Vila. Think we’ve made a right boo boo there….!
Did wenger really need to watch the humiliation that was sundays game to go buy what we’ve needed for ages OR was he over ruled by the board who went and got these players in…? Makes you wonder…! Typical that yet again though we nearly lost Arteta cos we offered a shit salary, we really are quite pathetic on that front…!
Good on ya Stan…. 😉 Good to see you happy mate was worried about you a few weeks back….!
Hi wath the sailor.I just saw this somewhere…Wenger arrives at the Colney and asks pat rice:eeeer pat,who are zees people? 😉
WATH, never watched m’villa play but by going on what i’ve read, he sounds like someone very much in the petit mould to me, I thought he was a great player for us, very strong, took no prisoners and chipped in with a few goals as well, your probably gonna tell me i’m way off the mark now.
Makes you wonder KT how far from the truth that is…! Also seems the whisper is Gazidis takes longer to make a decision that it takes the titanic to reach port….! he’s half our problem a non footballing man dealing with deals that he doesnt fully understand, he needs to stick to getting in decent sponsorship deals…! If we had 20 working on transfers what they been doing the last 3 months..?
Yeah WATH was mlfed that we missed out on mata but in ben ayoun arshavin and park maybe we ll replicate what he would have offered…..just saw a clip of santos. Men, some premier league full backs ll have their hands full. The gerv and Santos combo is something I look forward to…….COYGs
M’vila is a very good player micko.he is a big ball winner with excellent positioning sense.we are very keen on him but it seems Rennes were unwilling to let him go.if we do well by January i can see us going for him again.
Watched him a lot Micko, he’s an in betwen PV4 and Petit, big strong and technically very good, the kind of player to win the ball protect the back four and protect the flair players around him and at 21 only going to improve and be more valuable as well seeing as that seems to be how we access a buy as well these days so what ever the cost his sell on would be big in 4/5 yrs as well…! As said i think we dropped a boo boo there and really would of took us up that last level…!
KT, i must have been the only bloke on the planet who hadn’t heard of him up until last week, I gotta try and keep up.
Arteta replaces cesc the spaniard the girls love.Benayoun replaces nasri as the dirty looking lesbian.Arsene knows 😉
M’villa is class guys but we didn’t get him. Let’s focus on what we have now. Am really impressed with the quality of our second sting team…..wow class all over…we ve got park ben ayoun arshavin ramsey frimpong and the list goes on…..not to mention the young uns in the squad. This time last year we had diaby denilson almunia eboue bendtner etc. I see a trophy or two guys……come on keep the faith.
I can see Arsene giving santos dani alves-esque freedom on the left while making sagna the more defensive fullback especially to cover for Mertsacker’s perceived lack of pace.Santos scored 10 goals in 52 games for Fenerbahce and 25 in 98 games for corinthians.it will be like the cole/lauren combination for the invincibles.
@ WATH, I think it might have been the other way around. I think Wenger wanted the players (and higher wages) all along, but the board, Gazidis and Stan didn’t wake up until the Man U game.
That’s what I mean by something doesn’t smell right. Meantime I stand by my wish for more defenders. Am I happy with signings. Yes. Over the moon. But we are still thin in the back. We have a solid starting 4 now (on paper at least). Let’s just hope and prey no one gets hurt. Look at the depth our rivals have.
Doc, maybe your right fella but then why is it all the comments are that wenger states the terms of the deals and what he thinks the players should get…? why have the dross been paid so highly…?
Your right though something is not right upstairs at all….!
If we had signed the likes of götze the media would say we are buying inexperienced youths and that we have a weak spine.now we have bought solid experienced pros we are panic buying and in decline.its so hard to please everyone.
What do you think? Can we reach the title or not? We are going to play for at least the 4th position?
For me, the fist goal in the League, his be close at the top sooner possible. Then we see. Our squad not have so individual players like the others. Let’s see how is the “engine” in a whole. The most eficient team is not that one with more individual players.; is that who can combine all the “stones” in the rigth places and improve the best of them all. If in January our goals are reaching I think we will be ready for improve a little bit more the squad.
Arteta gets the number 8 while ben ayoun gets number 30……and hey robbie savage is a c**t of the highest order. What a muppet. I hate him more than I do Barton.
Afternoon all…..
Afternoon Rico…..feeling my arteta love in ain’t ya? We ve got all what we lacked in previous teams……muscle height pace trickery and most of all EXPERIENCE…..don’t know why you guys don’t see it but I believe we ll surprise a few…..look out world there’s a new look arsenal team coming for ya…..woohoo
hi goonster, i’m not unhappy with who we have signed, honest, just hoped for another CH – but i know he’ll join us in Jan 😉
We seem to be taking some serious body shots over last nights transfer dealings….hmmmm funny isn’t it. Maybe they feel threatened cause the MIGHTY arsenal is back…..if I don’t know any better I ll say they are all scared of our BACKLASH.
You reckon we ll still get cahill? Oh mama bear come on……wenger won’t sign four centre backs in two years! No chance. We ll probably get one of hazard m’villa or christian eriksen….judge me in February….*winks*
On a no win sitaution goonster, had we not bought we would have been chastised, now we have it’s deemed ‘panic buying’…
Merts has said his signing was not a result of sundays result….
I do goonster, Cahill has Chamakh written all over it….
No chance Rico….I ll eat my hat if we do…..besides you think cahill will wanna come to us when he has the option of going to the chavs or man shitty? No way…..that one’s gone out of the window am afraid.
If any of those you name wanted him goonster they would have bought him, he has made it clear it’s us he wants to join and that’s why i think he didn’t go to the totts…
Also, he’s one of Jacks best buddies, if we don’t get him in Jan, he’ll join us for free next summer
Bet you 50p… 😉
Am sorry Rico he never said he wanted to join us….only wanted to play champions league footie…..that’s why he turned the swamp dwellers down….I ll bet you in january he ll be off to the chavs mancs or man shitty…..and make that a 100p
sorry goonster, i’m right on this one, he told his mates he wanted to join us 😉
Make that a tenner 😉
Oh well I give up….but I ll be expecting a cheque for my ten pounds…
😆 goonster, me too…
We’ll have to wait and see, but i promise to pay up if i’m wrong….
You ll think the media ll lay off the arsenal after last night but NOOOO they still follow us about like fleas on a dog…
Am really loving the new boy santos…..he’s so happy to be with us. Said all our previous Brazilian players had nothing but good words about our beloved club……am so excited. He’s gonna be a crowd favorite soon…..only wish jack wasn’t injured right now.
Of cousre they will follow us goonster, they hate us, the trick is to ignore them, like i said earlier, whatever we as a club do, they will always critisise…
Bit like me really 😉
Boo! Steve, good upbeat write. I have had quite enough of the doom and gloom. Can’t say I am displeased about our signings. 😉 Disappointed only about the failure to get Hazard in.
rico, I think we’ll get Cahill in January, too. 😉 Like you say, the Machester chavs can’t buy all of the good ones.
nice to see you so happy, goonster. 😉
You said Rico
Had no Internet or Tv yesterday, had to get up at the crack of dawn to wander down to the local Spar to pick up a red top and see who we had bought yesterday. Quite happy to be honest, was thinking that we might not get in a creative midfield player. Both will be valuable additions in midfield, Arteta to replace Ramsey in midfield and Yossi on the bench.
Will wilshere be fit for our next match? Didn’t get an out and out striker, but we did get a striker, so I can’t complain. Bit odd that some players like a certain No.1 didn’t get the boot, same with 18!
Shame we didn’t get M’vila, would have tied the room together!
hi agag, we have what we have now, i won’t be all down hearted unless swansea take a point or three off of us 😉
Hi ESP, wondered where you were, thought the occasion had ‘got to you’ 😉 Spot on re M’vila, maybe next time….
goonster, cheeky – I’m quite upbeat really….
Tsk tsk tsk not you too agag….wenger intends to get rid of squillacci next season while promoting miquel and hopefully bartley into the first team…buying cahill will only “KILL” their development….but I could still do with a cahill though
Time for me to go and be nurse 😉
Back around 7ish if anyone around…
Laters….
rico, bite your tongue; the way we’ve started our season, Swansea just may do that. Hah.
To be honest, goonster, I have never been right about who’s coming in or leaving. I was convinced we were getting Torres, and that nasri would sign without fuss. 😀
ESP, how could you have survived the suspense? Was up all night checking the news… and didn’t wake up until it was too late to go to work. A self-declared holiday for me. 😀
I want to see the new look arsenal so bad! Fuck the interlull…..bring back footie
Nicely done AGAG!
I was moving house for college, and just had to wait! Was pretty unbearable!
I declare a fair few of those, ESP. 😀 You must have been on tenterhooks, I know I was. Moving house is a pain. Eek.
Looking forward to Swansea now. Eager to put the debacle at OT officially behind us.
ESP, spot on re Arteta, light yourself a cigar sir.
Evening all,
I am very happy with our signings, and can only see a rosey future, good signings at pretty good prices, Maybe Cayhil and Hazard later, at least he got in touch with their clubs, and they know we want them, Maybe for the best that we didn’t get them this window. Cahill may just be a future great buy as he hasn’t moved and the same with Hazard, i’m just keeping my fingers crossed, but i can see our form improving very soon, and those players will be looking at our results. And Will, if your having a crafty read, come back son i miss ya.
Steve, we’ve put ourselves in a position to compete again, sunday was a real downer, we’re gonna be reminded of it for the rest of the season every time we turn the box on.
Much happier with the defence, its something that we should have addressed long before now, I think mertesacker is going to go on and do really well for us.
Its been a tough couple of weeks, now we gotta push on and show we mean business.
Evening Micko, to right there, i think that result will be with us for a bit longer, but when we get our own back i shall feel a hell of a lot better. I see one or two think we are in a worse position now than we were last season, i don’t understand that at all
-Micko
Happy with the dealings sir??
As regards to the media coverage, it was a lose lose situation we found ourselves in, if arsenal had sat on their hands and not bought the media would have bashed us, and now that we bring 5 in, they point and say its panic buying. Damned if you do huh?!
Would still like to see a new medical team and coaching brought in.
I HATE THE INTERLULL!!!!
So, can we fight for the title or not?
What do you thing?
I wanna see santos, mertesaeker and arteta play for us….can’t wait. The anticipation is killing me
Yes we can Joaquin….we have all we ve always wanted now and according to Rico and agag we ll be getting cahill in January so things are shaping up pretty well. COYGs
who are Jon Harper, Hector Bellerin and Serge Guabry ?
Kids we got from la masia academy in Barcelona….why did you ask…
ok… just for know. They have name of players 😉
How old are they ?
JM, i reckon we could have challenged with the team we had before the last two days of the window, with the suspensions and injuries i don’t think we had a bad squad but now i think we can win the league, and i expect us to as well.
The way our sending offs have come, i some how think we may have a few more though, could become a problem.
That’s what I ve been saying all along Steve…..we can win the league but none shares the same optimism.
We have no excuses now Goonster, and i think we are only going to get better.
Spot on steve….with santos on the left I ll sleep better at nights. Swansea is a good start. Its a good start.
If we go through the second round in CL and close the top on December/January, maybe good season. However, it depends how is now the squad in a whole. We have not so many individual good players then others but link with all maube better thaen the others. And if that is true, it’s a great advantage.
I think its a blessing in disguise that we don’t play for a couple of weeks, gives them time to practice together, always a plus
Relax jm….we ll be alright.
I love the INTERLULL…
Sort of. At least in this case it will give some time to get the new boys worked in and acclimated.
Theo may still be the fastest gooner, but Wenger sure has added a lot of speed (mertesacker aside).
What are you talking about Doc they are all on international duty…I hate the interlull…aarrggghhh
I’m relaxing. I really hope the bad days are off and now, step by step, we climb up until the top. With good football,pleasant time and exciting support everywhere
Steve, we’ve brought two experienced internationals into our defence, that can only make us stronger.
I would have liked another striker up top, I cringe everytime rvp takes a knock.
As for winning the league there’s more chance of seeing Elvis sat next to me eating a chip sandwich at the swansea game saturday week, I think the best we can hope for is top 4 this seaon, i’d loved to be proved wrong.
ESP, i went for cahill, parker and benzema so what the hell do i know.
Boo, have we signed anyone 😉
Blooming Heck
Arsenal failed in their attempts to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Gotze for £35m on transfer deadline day, according to reports in Germany.
😮
Micko, i think you will have a happy suprise, Elvis may have left the building , but the Ems will be full, as in the film field of dreams, ” if you build it, they will come”
Evening rico, many thanks as usual,
I read that as well, can’t belive it though
BD is on CL… maybe in January !
Benik Afobe will be the striker to break into the side this season, i think thats why we didn’t buy….
Evening Steve, shocked you today I bet 😉 Now you know why I kept it, it’s a good un and it’s me that needs to be thanking you….. And I do…
We needed players but wenger still held out over a players wages, a leopard dos’nt change his spots. and thats in the last few minutes
JM, who is BD please??
tell you what guys, i am looking forward to watching Santos, he sounds like a cracking signing, right age, comes from a tough league and he’s brazilian – he’s going to give us some exciting moments with a few scarey ones aswell i’m sure 😉
The Roberto Carlos of Arsenal 😉
Steve, re your theory on wenger leaving it late buying players, not being a git here, but when was the last transfer window in which wenger made more than one signing on the final day??
And I don’t know the answer…..
Hi guys so fucking bored with the interlull…..bring on the boys in red and white
Steve, I like it, turn the emirates into a fortress and we’ll be half way there.
I did say that he misses out on quite a few rico ha ha
Micko the away support at OT was second to none, Hardly heard theirs at all
Sneaky answer Steve 😉
I have to be alert with you rico
😆 Steve…
I’m off guy’s &gals going to count our signings again Nte Nte
night Steve, thanks again for today….
hectic day yesterday and today, but we look much better equipped for the upcoming matches…
i am going to guess that arsene and the club have done a drug deal to sign someone (hazard? goetze?) after this season…
I’m heading off too – catch up tomorrow guys and gals…
Nighty Night, stay safe…..
hectic for all of us oliver, i haven’t stayed up that late in years 🙂
Enjoy the rest of your day….. Nighty…
nite…i wish we were playing this weekend, but…
rico, BD is Borussia Dortmund… 🙂
12 signings in 1 season? is this the same arsene wenger that said new signins change nothing?
for 6 yrs he has said he is building for the future then he buys practicaly another team!
arteta is 29 cost 10 mil and has been given a 4 yr contract , by the same man that said he would only give players over 30 1 yr deals!
arsene contradicts himself all the time how about -“you cant pretend your a big club if you sell your best players”? we all saw what happened there
look on the everton forums and most toffees will tell you arteta has been pretty bad and injured for the last year or 2 and very lazy!
i realy hope he has got this right
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