We still can win 2010/11 Title!

Todays post is written by a guest writer, Merlin96

This is how Merlin see’s our fixtures panning out:-

1 – 19 March A WBA – Win
2 – 02 April H Blackburn Rover – Win
3 – 10 April A Blackpool – Win
4 – 17 April H Liverpool – Win – Liverpool is a poor London traveller
5 – 20 April A S*CUMS – Win – you want to win title, WIN THIS GAME!!!
6 – 24 April A Bolton – Win – tough game if fighting for an Euro spot
7 – 1 May H Manchester United – WIN THE TITLE HERE!!!
8 – 7 May A Stoke City – Win – tough game if Stoke is fighting against relegation
9 – 14 May H Aston Villa – Win – Villa has nothing to play for
10 – 22 May A Fulham – Win – tough game if Fulham is fighting against relegation

Look at the above fixtures and they are all winnable provided the players are focused and do not go “Missing In Action” (MIA) in the 2nd half; and play as they can play like 1st half against S*CUMS and Newcastle.

The key is still that our MIDFIELD must up their games and start to score freely like they did during season start in August, September and October 2010.

If all the Football Gods and Lady Luck decided to stay at Arsenal corner and the followings come true:

1 – All senior players are fit throughout the remaining 10 games.
2 – That Fabregas, Van Persie, Walcott, Nasri, Song and Wilshere stay healthy and can play all the 10 remaining games of the season.
3 – That ManU, Chelski and Abu Dhabi City remains inconsistently throughout the season and will not accelerate pass Arsenal during March/April 2011.
4 – That we beat S*CUMS away; Liverpool and ManU at home.
5 – That we win all our remaining 10 matches, collecting 30 points.
6 – Then our season haul will be 57 + 30 = 87 points, enough to win the 2010/11 title.

I believe that the defeats against Birmingham, Barca and certainly if we lose to ManU this weekend will only force and motivate Wenger and the TEAM on, with a burning desire to fiercely focus to win the remaining 10 league games.

No more cup distractions, just get on with it to win league games. This season is the best chance we have in winning the title since February 2006.

But the question still remains – will they bottle it big time [again] like in March 2006?

205 thoughts on “We still can win 2010/11 Title!

  1. rico says:

    morning all,

    thanks for the post merlin, two things though…

    i don’t think we can judge any game we play in right now but i believe tomorrows showing will tell us just how much the players have bounced back or not…

    also, my thought is that wenger will go all out to win the game tomorrow and we’ll get through.

    yes, we can win the league but i also honestly believe we can win the fa cup too, the mancs have a tricky CL fixture in the week….

  2. rico says:

    Hi Will,

    a lot depends on wenger right now, its sure going to be a test of his motivation skills….

  3. amband says:

    Lost cause. Give it up. We need to win and win well to up the goal differences

    I predicted we will lose the manure game and the Liverpool game and at least one other. Chuck in a couple of draws and that’s it’

    Sorry, but there is is. I hope I’m wrong but I doubt it

  4. Lee says:

    Will,you know that we’ll be discussing exactly the same things this time next year….pretty depressing!!!

  5. glenn says:

    Last saturday when i took my seat at the em’s to see what the diaby’s and denilson’s were going to do against sunderland i said to my mate that these next 3 games will give us a win,draw and defeat. I was not sure in what order so let’s hope i was right and we get the win at the manc’s tomorrow. I hear that our wise one is going to play our strongest team, so when the team bus leaves the colney creche this afternoon let’s hope dumb and dumber wave off our boy’s. Wishful thinking i’m afraid these 2 will line up at ot to make life alot harder for our jack in midfield, what must he think when them 2 line up next to him. Also song can you get better soon and get a proper driving licence you muppet.

  6. PartMarty says:

    I think we should also consider one thing. Against Baca, despite having 0 shots on goal, we got a goal, and despite beeing 3-1 down, we could have snached the game.

    I think the players should use this to motivate them and think that all games are winnable if they keep fighting to the end in each game.

    Chin up guys, we are still in it!

  7. Osi says:

    Morning all, 28 points from the remaining 10 fixtures would deliver us the title. 67+28= 85points = title, ManU = 83points.

  8. Osi says:

    They will. ManU minus Nani is half team. Arsenal also will miss Fabregas but we have able players to replace unlike United who don’t have any class replacement for Nani. Also Alex, with CL clash looming, he’ll be in two minds about this tie.

  9. W.A.T.H says:

    he gets a perfectly good kit a little swaety Will, does that help…? Will they deliver KT, maybe a pizza…? a trophy? I doubt it very much…!

  10. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Hi,
    Said earlier that if you make 80 points wins the championship. I think that is enough as well as those who arrive first at 75, has 95% chance to win it. Hence we understand, United, City and Chelsea have the chance to win.
    I’ve been away but I saw the last two games. A poor first half against sunderland and errors of arbitration dictate a tie with two points lost badly as Wigan and Sunderland (again …).
    In Barcelona I did not notice if you wanted to go or if we intend to assert that the next round until x minutes. Regardless of the expulsion, thus playing with 2-1 is, in my opinion, a mistake, with 1-0, ok, not with 2-1.
    The CL should not be a coincidence that those who have won their respective groups, regardless of their position in the championships (Schalke. .. Spudys Schacktar …). Apart from money and prestige that is lost is a lesson for the future. And once again, Braga said, because he won at Arsenal and it is complicated to go Russaia or Ukraine (Kiev D. Cityzens 2 0). Therefore, the CL group was tricky and complicated as he said … and revenue

  11. Osi says:

    I’ve never seen a player getting away with fouls like Vidic. You see him holding players, pushing them from the back without getting a card for it. They also have Flatcher who’s specialed in fouling and friend with all refrees of the premiership. They’re going to win at their home turf with ref. decisions playing a part I guess.

    Anyway, Although I’d love us to win and progress into the next round,I don’t want us to focus on that because I think we have real opportunity to win the league. Therefore, it will be nice if we don’t rush our players who are injured or half fit like VP,Song and others.

  12. JonJon says:

    bonjour my good people
    i still think we only need to win 8 of those games
    we can afford to drop 4 points
    draws against stoke and spurs away will be acceptable but the rest we must win, including the game v the mancs at home…
    26 points from here on will win us the title
    then in the summer we have a fucking clear out bring in a few kids and buy at least 2 top top top players,
    a winger and a striker if nothing else..

  13. JonJon says:

    nanis been utds biggest threat this year
    fergie knows the talent he had is not it the team anymore so hes gone back to basics
    80’s football
    fill the team with energy players stay tight at the back and use the wingers…
    the reason they got bummed at anfield is cos their defence was thread bare, there was no park and fletcher so he had no workrate and they lost nani to a grazed knee early on…
    their game went to shit
    vidic will be back for us and so will fletcher but park and nani are out so they have no duracell bunny and they have no wingers and vidic wont be able to handle rvp by himself..
    we can take em, if we play our best side

  14. JonJon says:

    hi ktr..
    hazard..sell the crap in the side raise the money and bid high for hazard..
    if we end up as PL champions as well it makes us a tastey prospect for any new recruit..
    its all about pulling power..
    ‘do you wanna join the champions’ has more edge than ‘do you wanna play for the nearly men’

  15. K-TR7 says:

    JJ its also a bonus that anderson is out or else we’d have faced all their workers together:anderson/carrick/park/carrick/fletcher.

  16. JonJon says:

    that ryo kids supposed to be the mutts nutts, hes tearing the dutch league to bits already but hes not elliegble for us for a while and theres no point waiting for him to get a permit, could take years
    lets stop the mucking about giving more gametime to average players go out and get a pacey dribbler..and whenever ryo comes we have two….

  17. K-TR7 says:

    JJ i hope there is a clearout this summer.id like to see den,rosicky,almunia and bendtner.AA and diaby are also walking on thin ice.

  18. JonJon says:

    diabys gone for me ktr
    hes a one trick pony and hes always injured..
    let him go and replace him with a high energy player whos legs aint made of twigs

  19. JonJon says:

    who do we think is gonna be AW’s emergency loan signing??
    shay given?? nah..dont be daft jj..
    think hes injured anyway aint he??

  20. K-TR7 says:

    The thing i like about ryo jj is how direct he is.i hope we don’t alter his playing style.3 Tv stations have bought the rights for the Eredevisie just to watch him.if he is able to earn a cap or two he may be in with a chance when we appeal his work permit in the summer.

  21. JonJon says:

    hes got to play in 75% of japans senior games in the international calender year
    i dont know when the calender year is or how many games japan play in that time but if if he plays in the majority of them hes eligable for us

  22. Will says:

    JonJon says:
    March 11, 2011 at 1:44 pm
    hes got to play in 75% of japans senior games in the international calender year
    i dont know when the calender year is or how many games japan play in that time but if if he plays in the majority of them hes eligable for us

    Or Man Utd have to be applying.

  23. HCAA says:

    Good afternoon all at HH. I hate to say it K-TR7, but to win CL next year we need huge investment in the squad and maybe even a new manager.

  24. JonJon says:

    lol will yeah that too

    ktr we’ll never beat barca..
    not whilest cesc is captain anyway..

    the circus that surrounds it is too much…we’ll never beat them in the nou camp..the authorities will never allow such an act and barca are the dirtiest team bar the mancs and they do what they want and cesc cant handle the occasion so theres no point even contemplating it..

  25. K-TR7 says:

    JJ a few weeks ago you asked me if nasri could play as a false nine similar to messi.AA tried to play there but failed.since nasri isn’t a playmaker he won’t play in cesc’s position.id like to see him tried there in preseason as a probable plan B.it was also barca’s plan B but since it worked so well it became their plan A.

  26. JonJon says:

    yeah ktr i think nasri could do it..
    but id prefer a more clinical man to play there with nasri feeding off him..
    messi can do it cos the balls stuck to his feet and hes got two world class, cheating fuckers, playing alongside him

    nasri will have someone like nikki so it wont work for a start..

  27. JonJon says:

    heres the changes i propose
    put the takings of the emirates gates for a season…
    put them in a brown envelope..
    and stick it nicely in blatters arse..ooops i mean pocket..

  28. Will says:

    We need

    A top class experienced keeper
    A top class experienced central defender
    A top class experienced defensive midfielder
    A top class experienced clinical striker who can play 30-40 games a season and score 1 in 2.

  29. HCAA says:

    K-TR7, I don’t hate Wenger, but some of his buys are just poor. The GK situation has been talked to death, yet remains a burning issue. And as brilliant as Thierry Henry was for us, he like Fabregas & van Persie are not leaders. I think we had a lot more about us & carried a far greater threat when we played 4-4-2 which we seem to have abandoned. A few years ago we were smashing teams, 3 or 4 up after 30mins, job done. We lack leadership & potency up front. Wenger didn’t replace Vieira, Pires, Bergkamp or Henry, and that makes him culpable.

  30. JonJon says:

    i dont think we need a keeper
    i think ches has done enough to prove his right to be our number one
    i dont think we need a defender..we have 3 top class defenders in tv, jd, and kozz and its highly unlikely we will have a third season in a row where one of thems injured for the season..with iggy and kyle as back up we could be ok
    i do think we need another midfielder..not a pure dm as such but another box to box high energy take no shit guy
    we do need a pacey wideman who can take 2-3 players out of the game in one run
    and yeah we need a pacey powerful clinical guy uptop to help robin..

  31. HCAA says:

    When Wenger played 4-4-2 we took the game to the opposition as demonstrated with devastating effect in our ‘Invincibles’. 4-5-1 (or 4-3-3) is fine if you have the necessary quality to execute it, but sadly we don’t. Arshavin has done nothing to justify spending £15m on him, I can’t remember van Persie ever giving us the performances that Henry gave us week-in week-out, and we are far too reliant on Fabregas. If we’d have had van der Vaart and Suarez against Barcelona, I think we’d now be in CL last 8.

  32. JonJon says:

    the invincibles were the invincibles for a reason…
    no other team has ever done what theyve done and it will be a bloody long time before its done again..

    that was a team that can never be replaced…by anyone..

    forget it…

  33. K-TR7 says:

    I think its unfair to compare any team to the invincibles.teams like that don’t come along often.even barca fans know they are lucky to have their current team.golden generations don’t come along easily.

  34. Osi says:

    We have a superb squad who are mentally fragile. Fabregas is quality but I don’t remember doing much against strong opponents. At Nou he was rubbish and so in every big ground we played in the last two years. He’s only superb when they team is playing well, so can be everybody else.

    Arsenal football is built around him to garantee us a good share of possession, but all I saw at Nou Camp was him giving away the ball so cheaply so often. Fabregas can only work well when he has space to turn to and dribble, but in the tight situation he’s pretty average.

    Van Persie, on the other hand, is very talented player who has close control, good turns, vision and deadly shots. He’s been unlucky with injuries so It’s unfair to compare him with Henry who had good run free of injuries in his early Arsenal Career. Van Persie, if you look at the table on the right hand side of this blog, you’ll notice he has 15 goals so far and that’s really impressive. I have no doubt that he’ll continue to do same for the remaining fixtures if the rest of the team provided him with opportunities.

  35. HCAA says:

    They used to say the same thing about the ‘Double’, JonJon, but since Man Utd did it in ’94, they’ve done it twice again (including the ‘Treble), we’ve done it twice more, and now Chelsea have done it. Football has become more condensed and more elitist, and I wouldn’t rule out 1 of the ‘super-powers’ going a season unbeaten. Wenger himself was talking of a new-breed of ‘Invincibles’ last year.

  36. W.A.T.H says:

    HCAA, greetings, good to have you back for a chat, agree that we have never replaced the key players from the invincibles and agree slightly with JJ that you can’t replace DB10 and TH14 BUT you can at least try and who AW has bought has come nowhere near close, we def need to buy a new spine for sure, TV is out til 2015 so we most definately need a top quality centre half, we need a big dynamic midfielder and we need a 25 goal a season striker, I’d buy a winger with proceeds from selling the deadwood/fringe players and I’d also go back to 4-4-2 as 4-3-3 which is a fancy version of 4-5-1 doesnt work…!

  37. HCAA says:

    Osi the thing with van Persie is we never get anything near a full season out of him. And on the biggest stage at SA WC, he was very ordinary, and up-staged by Sneijder.

  38. JonJon says:

    agree
    there has to be a balance
    replacing those individuals isnt worth debating, but we can buy players who will make the team tick…
    cant let vieira leave and then use diaby and denilson
    diaby and denilson aint even of parlours standard and he was a squad player in that era..
    cant let denie and terry leave and use nikki…nikki aint even as good as wiltord…
    we have the core of the team together the first team is shit hot its time to boulster it with more players who can push the first team and not be shit when we need them..

  39. HCAA says:

    Afternoon WATH. I appreciate we have certain constraints on our transfer-budget, but surely we could have invested in someone better than Arshavin? Or Squid, Diaby & Denilson? Why are our players so weak and brittle?

  40. JonJon says:

    the invincibles should have won more than they did..
    another thing about the invincibles is that the majority of them stayed fit for the entire season..
    we used practically the same players every game..
    we never lost momentum..
    chopping and changing the players like AW does in the PL isnt any use..especially when the players he uses are shit

  41. Osi says:

    That Nederland’s team was rubbish, and VP was left isolated. Had he been playing in any other top such as Spain, Germany, Argentina he could make difference. Sneijder, for me, was pretty average and selfish as shooting a lot without really hitting the target while in so many occasions he had VP available in good positions.

    You’re right about the injury bit, but I really feel that this season and coming seasons will be different for him in that department. I was already surprised that he was fit to face Barca while the most optimistic fan, players and coaches expected him for longer than that. I for once told to myself that his season may be finished.

  42. JonJon says:

    cos theyve been pampered
    theyve spent the last 5 years getting told its ok just get to 4th
    all this trophy business is new to them

  43. Will says:

    I am with HC here, Wenger sold the top players and replaced them with players with half the quality and has sold us the future.

    Well Mr Wenger, the future is now.

  44. K-TR7 says:

    Barca’s dream team 1 was dominant in the early 90s under Cryuff.barca fans had to wait for almost 2 decades to have an even better team.our first 11 is excellent when in synch but it has injury prone players.we need to bolster our subs like jj said.we are not far off but Aw must be proactive for us to get anywhere close to the invincibles level.

  45. Lee says:

    The team wants a solid back-bone and within the new recruits a no nonsense voiciferous leader….we are so fcking close to greatness!!

  46. JonJon says:

    the players just won the PL without being beaten
    how was highbury supposed to support a team where every single player wanted 100k a week…

    wenger made cutbacks
    we would have died at highbury with the same team for a few more years and we would have died when trying to pay for the emirates with the same players on such wages

    i dint agree with it..but he had to do it..

  47. kelsey says:

    Hello,
    I just did the BBC predictor and I make us coming second on 77points,United winning with 80 points, Chelsea third and City forth. I have taken us to beat United,draw with Liverpool and lose at Spurs plus other various results.

    Hope i am wrong,but my head says I may be right.

  48. W.A.T.H says:

    HC, there are no financial restraints now only Wengers ego….. He did wonders keeping us in contention on a shoestring but now is the time to buy the necessary quality to make us a truly top side and we do have young players that will be top top class Wenger just needs to boot out the ones who have not fulfilled their hype and potential and the ones who are far to comfy and there are a few of them. We need hunger back in an Arsenal shirt and a desire to win and thats lacking

  49. K-TR7 says:

    As much as we like to praise the invincibles they struggled in Europe.teams like Ajax and Deportivo would run rings around us.the current team is better in Europe.what Aw is trying to achieve is fusing the two philosophies to attain glory domestically and in Europe.we’re not far off but we need to clear some deadwood first.

  50. Merlin96 says:

    Form is temporary, but class is permanent.

    The key is that a classy Arshavin will surely shake off his poor form for the past few months and play as he can played.

    Nasri is finally getting to terms with English Football, but he can’t get do it on his own and needs support form Arshavin, Fabregas, Van Persie..and yes, Wilshere driving into the box from deep….like what Fabregas did last season.

    Do notice that our defence is getting stronger and had been keeping clean-sheets; and cutdown those silly mistakes drastically. Koscielny is improving all the time..and hey, even Squillaci is gettign his act together and visibly improved at Orient game.

    Fabregas?
    Like Vieira doing his wanderlust in 2004/05 after his failed move to Real, dreadful from August to January, and suddenly realised that he got to impress his future employer. He upped his game and was at his scintillating best from Feb to May 2005.

    And I am confident that Fabregas will end his wanderlust like Vieira and will be mentally focussed and fiercely determined to win every games to compensate for his disappointment at Nou Camp.

    We may also get a lucky break if Fabregas is not fully recovered to join the SPanish squad for the 25-MArch international match……more recovery time for him then.

    If Wenger is that astute man-management genius that he is, then he will find a way to motivate and cajole his players to repeat that feat of 1997/98 Team which won the last 12 games of the season and pipped ManU to the title.

    And Lady Luck is certainly in our corner as our last league game of this month is against a weakened WBA on 20th and follow by a most welcome international break for our injured players to recover to play a part in the next home match against Blackburn Rover on 02-April.

    And we have Theo and Fabregas back for all those crucial “must-win” April matches.

    And Ramsey has an adiditonal month to regain match sharpness as well…..as the cliche goes “like a new signing”.

    This weekend FA Cup tie?
    No mid-week game, and I tend to agree that Wenger may play his strongest squad as a dress rehearsal for the title-decider on May 1, 2011.
    Dare I say that we will see this TEAM tomorrow?

    ………………..Almunia

    …Sagna……Djourou…..Koscielny….Clichy

    ……….Denilson………..Diaby

    …Nasri………..Wilshere………Arshavin

    ……………….Chamakh

    As all Football Gods will love a good larf and cock a snout at Rednose, I see a drawn game tomorrow…like most of ours FA Cup tie……like FA Cup FInal 2005.

    That is, Arsene Wenger may repeat “Rope Da Dope” with counter-attacking 4-5-1 to surprise Rednose who may be anticipating an all-out attacking gungho Arsenal playing 4-3-3, throwing all cautions to the wind, to win or lose and not to draw the game?

  51. HCAA says:

    Chelsea seem to manage & Stamford Bridge only holds 42,000. We’re supposed to be as rich-if not richer-than Chelsea, and they’ve already invested £70m with next season in mind. They can still win the title & CL this season!

  52. Osi says:

    “But Wenger is on the ropes at the moment and if Manchester United do win, I can see Arsenal’s title challenge falling apart in short order.” John Giles.

    This so called expert would love to Arsenal to collapse so badly. In this country bold assumptions are considered as and believed to be the TRUTH.

  53. JonJon says:

    chelsea have this dude
    they call him roman abramovich
    he writes cheques every year for 100mil
    thats how they survive
    if romans private jet comes crashing down tonight then chelsea dont exist by tomorrow morning

  54. Will says:

    HC, Chelsea can’t be used as a yardstick. They have limitless money, we don’t.

    Ok guys, let’s have an honest look at the team. Name me the very top players we have. Players who would get in the top teams across Europe.

  55. HCAA says:

    Whether or not they own Stamford Bridge isn’t the issue. Yes they have Abramovic, but isn’t our own Ivan Gazidis supposed to have more wealth than Abramovic?

  56. JonJon says:

    our first team fully fit could get into any top team in europe, outside of barca and real madrid…
    id say 7-8 of our players could get into the utd team..cesc, jack, nasri, rvp, song, sagna, jd, koz
    but thats enough to win the league
    we just need to bolster the bench so when we lose 4-5 players we aint struggling

  57. kelsey says:

    not only don’t they own the bridge but if they move they have to change their name to chelsea….., something to do with the duke of westminster and the chelsea pensioners.

  58. JonJon says:

    you mean kreonke and uzmanov
    its not about wealth though
    its about self sustainability..
    theres not another team in the top four who can self sustain and finish in the top four like we can..they all need to borrow or be financed by a sugar daddy

    we doing just fine but there is money we do make we need to spend and stop saving..
    and thats what we want wenger to do..
    not go out and spend 100 mil we dont have that
    but we do have about 30, plus any monies we make from the deadwood
    we want him to spend that..

  59. K-TR7 says:

    One of the reasons why barca attacked us relentlessly was that we had no raw pace in the side.if theo was there they would have been ultracautious.rvp isn’t the quickest but thrives on having quick players making the runs.the likes of nasri/cesc don’t really need pace as they are quick thinkers.we need an extra wideman with dribbling ability and raw pace to give us another dimension.if we have rvp/theo/hazard as a frontline we would murder teams similar to ronaldo/rooney/tevez.

  60. JonJon says:

    yeah will weve got enough youth players we dont need no more
    thats what the academies for we dont need to keep buying em
    we need to be buying the real deal now..

  61. JonJon says:

    i think the Tv being our best defender is abit of a myth to be honest
    he was good last year but gallas was better…
    Tv became our best defender by default seeing as though he was the only one left but JD and koz have been just as impressive this season as what tv was last
    id put my neck out and say they are better.
    but i still want TV back
    then we have three

  62. K-TR7 says:

    I thought Nasri looked devastating for France against England alongside Gourcuff.Gourcuff did the playmaking while nasri accelerated their play in the final third sort of like iniesta-xavi axis.nasri looks good when he moves central but he needs someone else to do the playmaking.

  63. HCAA says:

    Yes that’s them, soz, it was Gazidis who said we could compete with them in transfer-market. I know Wenger would never have bought Torres or pay £20-odd million for a centre-half, but would Suarez been out of our price-range?

  64. K-TR7 says:

    JJ i got battered on another site for stating exactly the same.even in youtube most clips of his are of his goalscoring exploits.in the CL messi tore him apart something kos did much better.rooney and drogba dragged him out of position easily.Tv is by no way a poor player but when it comes to defending kos and JD have shown to be better in my opinion.JD is better in the air while kos is better on the deck.Tv is only better than both in attack and passing.

  65. Merlin96 says:

    People, Arsene Wenger is given a budget that included all the players’ salaries as well.

    Tehrefore, with all those new contract extensions, plus a few more contract extensions for Arshavin, Nasri and Clichy, there is not much dosh left in the FY2012 Transfer Budget.

    And Wilshere will be given an enhanced contract extension in the summer which may boost his salary to 100,000 pw.

    With our salary bill most likely exceeding 130-mil…and our turnover may not hit 260-mil for FY2011, our financial status may not as strong as before when player salary bill exceeds 50% of revenues.

    If Fabregas is willing to sign another contract extension…say from 2015 to 2018…his salary may hit as high as 160,000 to 200,000 pw…which is another drain to Wenger’s FY2012 Budget.

    Meaning..Wenger cannot afford to sign 2 or more 20+ mil players like Gary Cahill, Jack Rodwell, Oxalde Chamberlain..and even 25-mil rated Hazard or 20-mil Vertonghen or Van Wiel……

    Put it this way, 20+ mil players may not want to join Arsenal especially with our rigid salary scale when these “marquee” players will demand Adebayor-like salary fo 160,000 pw or more.

    Bluntly, ManU, Abu Dhabi CIty, CHelski, Real, Barca, Milan,..and even Liverpool cna outbid Arsene Wenger by offering lucrative contracts to thes e”marquee” players.

    I see Wenger can only stick to finding 10 to 15-mil “unknowns” French players..and of course half-a-dozen 16, 17 & 18 year old Youngsters to “build for the future”…in the hope of unearthing another “Cesc” or “wilshere”.

    Not forgetting that it is always Arsene Wenger’s Policy to promote from within..with plenty of youngsters ready to step into the team next season.
    E.g..
    1 – Kyle Bartley
    2 – Lansbury
    3 – Frimpong
    4 – Coquelin
    5 – Botelho
    6 – Conor Henderson
    7 – Benik Afobe
    8 – Aneke
    9 – JET???
    10- Toral Harper
    11- Ryo Mayiachi??
    12- Galindo???
    13- Wellington Silva?

    Out of Ryo, Galindo and Wellington, which one of this trio will get a “Special Talent” work permit for 2011/12 season?

  66. JonJon says:

    we can compete with them
    we just cant compete with the wages they offer..
    we have a rigid wage system that fits in with how much money we turn over and any potential signing will have to fit in that system..
    we need to cull some of the squad before we make any signings..we have too many players the wages are through the roof..

  67. Merlin96 says:

    Will, I was thinking on Cryuff 3-4-3 (a modification from 4-3-3)with Djourou-TV-Koscielny…..and TV or Djourou interchanging as DCM or “libero”.

    And TV can cover LB as well!

    Last seaosn, we knew TV can score form distance and has a superb left-foot.

    This season?
    I wonder how many goasl we had scored from outisde the box?

    Last season, TV, Cesc and even Denilson were hitting shots from outside the box and scored.

    DO you know that Cryuff had heavily influenced Barca as a player, and as a coach?

    And those Dutch coaches in Rinus Michels, Johan Cryuff and Lious de Gaal had coached Guardiola and set the foundation of what Barca is today.

  68. Merlin96 says:

    JJ..I praying hard for Ryo to get a “Special Talent” work permit next season.

    The rule is that a team can only applied for one “Special Talent” permit per year.

    But then, if Ryo plays for Japan National Team nwo and is a regular….he can qualify for a work permit by next Janaury 2012….

    The more reason why this summer, Arsenal should tour Japan, South Korea and China to expand our commercial business.

    Understand that Botelho will qualify for a Spanish passport thsi year…..and his physique and versatility can address our “weak left-side” as he cn play Left Bak, Left Midfielder or left winger as e is playing with his current Spanish team.

  69. kelsey says:

    Merlin,

    yes we do have a high wage bill, I believe third in the country on published results,but soon to be over taken by city.
    however arshavin is our highest wage earner on 90k a week.

    look at ade, was on 35k, got an increase on one good season to 85k and then buggered off.

    these players like arshavin will never remain loyal as in a few years ago, and will bugger off if they or more importantly their agent,gets them a better deal.
    would you pay theo 60k a week.i wouldn’t as he is work in progress like many others.

  70. JonJon says:

    yeah and how long have they been doing it??
    since guardiola was a kid….
    theyve had that system in place for over 20 years and it wasnt until the last few that theyve produced a super team
    weve been doing it about 5..so weve got a long way to go…

  71. K-TR7 says:

    Merlin96 that formation is a very good idea.i even use it in my FIFA 11.teams playing against us with 4-4-2 will have no chance.teams that play with a 4-3-3 though may stretch our CBs allowing midfield runners to score.its a good plan B to have.you can even switch it to a 3-4-1-2 to have rvp and chamakh upfront with AA as a trequarista behind them.

  72. JonJon says:

    kelsey
    if we got rid of the likes of AA, rosicky, denilson, diaby, nikki, etc we would relieve that bill massively..
    not only would it give us crucial transfer funds for top players it would also provide space for their wages

    id rather have 11 top players on 90k a week than 22 average ones on 45k

  73. Will says:

    I would play Nasri further forward. Who do you know that can take a pass on at pass, control it, beat a player and slot the ball away in tight spaces like Nasri?

  74. K-TR7 says:

    Barca went trophyless between 1999-2004 when they were integrating the likes of xavi and puyol into the team.they complemented this by purchasing players that their academy lacked and thats their formula for success.they have had to splash on alves,villa and abidal to form their current team.we are in the same position now.all we need is that investment and we’ll dominate the next decade.

  75. JonJon says:

    nasri has the potential to be an arsenal great..
    i just hope we win something before he decides to piss off and join at club that does

  76. JonJon says:

    so who do we want in then??
    we pretty much all agree unanimously who we all want to get shut of
    whos in??

  77. kelsey says:

    who we want and who we get are entirely different matters.defensively i would look at germans or eastern european as wenger never buys from within the p.l.

    when benitez was at liverpool at one time they had 8 spanish players but no one called them a spanish team.

    wenger must get away with the french obsession,by the way have you seen reyes lately, he is like a man reborn.

  78. Will says:

    Top class keeper

    Sagna JD Kos Clichy

    Tv

    Cesc Jack

    Theo Rvp Nasri

    Who would your subs be?

    Who would you change in that side?

  79. JonJon says:

    well mexes is out of contract this summer so we might as well have him for good measure..
    swap traore and denilson for melo???
    hazards gotta be number one target for me though
    id take a striker too..just dunno who
    then id bring in lansbury and jet and from the reserves..hopefully bring ryo in as well

  80. JonJon says:

    id like us to play the three up top will but i dunno if wenger will budge from the 4231
    it gives us more balance..

    my team for next year

    ———–ches
    sagna—jd—–koz—clichy
    ——-song—-jack
    —-nasri–cesc–hazzard
    ———–rvp

    fabianski, tv, gibbs, melo, ramsey, theo, another striker

    then we got jet, lans, ryo etc making up the numbers

    or something like that

  81. HCAA says:

    Just read that even though Arsenal have 1st refusal on Hazard, Lille are under no pressure to sell, and his price could rise to £30m, putting Chelsea in pole-position.

  82. JonJon says:

    hcaa
    your right mate..30 would make wenger sick..
    but if we sold nikki, denilson, diaby and rosicky, they would easily fetch that 30mil

    id sell them all for hazzard in a flash and promote the kids to replace them…

    we would still have our basic transfer kitty for wenger to go out and buy his normal 10mil unknowns

    all we need to do is to sell the dead wood but will wenger do it??

  83. Will says:

    The thing that annoys me the most about Wenger is he will not spend to win. I am not talking a Chelsea,Man City spend but that one special player.

    I know he is an intelligent guy but this is the one part of him I can’t stand.

  84. HCAA says:

    Totally agree with you JJ, but Wenger did say recently that he’d never spend £30m on a player, and if he sticks by that policy we could miss out. Is any of what Steven Howard says in The Sun true?

  85. rico says:

    jj

    ‘but if we sold nikki, denilson, diaby and rosicky, they would easily fetch that 30mil’

    there is no way Rosicky is worth £25 million 😉 😉

    Evening

  86. JonJon says:

    hahahaha rico
    where u been my dear

    and i think chelsea wont go in for hazzard..theyve been chasing around sergio guirro and alexis sanchez for sometime and they cant sign everyone…

  87. Will says:

    If Hazard doesn’t come to us when he has been begging us to buy him, it is time for Wenger to move. There, I said it.

  88. JonJon says:

    hazards gotta come
    he is the next big thing
    aw held talks with him in december to see if he wanted to come and an agreement was made
    the new contract with lille only puts his price up..it dont mean he wont leave
    they probably installed a minimum fee release clause so they get full whack for a player they developed and who is tearing the french league to pieces…

  89. JonJon says:

    if we lose him to some other fucker and AW tells us he almost had him like he did with ronaldo but lost him over 5 pence il shit down his chimney at xmas myself…

  90. rico says:

    You know what guys, i don’t care what others do, it’s all about what we do to turn this ‘nearly there’ side into a stronger side…

    The reality is Wenger will probably not see it the same…

  91. rico says:

    jj,

    wenger on mains gas, you should know that by now, the amount of hot air that comes from him……

  92. rico says:

    Arsenal fans are short-changed – Steve Howard

    ARSENE WENGER continues to sit on a transfer kitty of at least £50million.

    He refuses to spend it because, as this column maintained back in the days of Alex James, the Frenchman is determined to prove us all wrong.

    That, eventually, he will deliver his Superteam.

    When Arsenal left Highbury for the Emirates six years ago, it was hailed as the move that would enable them to take on the European elite on an equal footing.

    Then-managing director Keith Edelman said: “We recognise people are not coming to look at a great stadium, they are coming to look at a great team. That development is paramount.”

    Turnover increased an immediate 46 per cent.

    Profits in 2008 rose from £27m to £36m with chairman Peter Hill-Wood saying: “We moved to compete with the top European clubs not only on a financial footing but from a footballing perspective.”

    By September 2010, sales of 700 flats on the Highbury development had produced a record pre-tax profit of £56m.

    In the completion of a brilliant financial plan, Edelman’s prediction that gate returns would become the highest in world football came true with matchday income of £3m for every home game.

    Last September, they had cut the £400m debt on the new stadium to just £135m.

    The new chief executive Ivan Gazidis said: “We have a policy of building, not buying – and that’s a difficult path to tread some times. As a result, we are seeing a tremendous number of good players progressing and developing into the finished article.”

    Except, so far, they haven’t.

    If they were the finished article, they would have picked up their first trophy in six years against Birmingham in the Carling Cup final.

    Yes, defeat in Barcelona in midweek was not unexpected.

    Yet the failure of Wenger’s would-be Superteam to get even a shot on target in the Nou Camp in midweek was an awful indictment of his young, free-scoring side.

    It also added to the belief that Arsenal supporters have been seriously short-changed – despite the massive profits. Some claim it to be the big Arsenal con.

    They are better prepared for the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations than any other club in Europe. Even Barca, like Manchester United, are sitting on a £500m debt.

    But Wenger’s reluctance to spend – apart from on cut-price players in the minor European leagues – is testing even the patience of his own devoted fan club.

    I have been down this road so many times before – especially his almost arrogant refusal to buy English players.

    His need to purchase a centre-half (Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka), a supporting central midfield player once he had let Mathieu Flamini go (Scott Parker, perhaps) or a central striker (Andy Carroll) who could take knocks without being out for two months. Sometimes even a season. And he hasn’t got them.

    Arsenal left Highbury, apparently, to secure the funds to take on Europe’s elite.

    In the five years prior to the move, they spent £84.45m in the transfer market. In the five years since, it is £85.15m.

    So much for team development being paramount.

    Tomorrow, they take on United in an FA Cup quarter-final that will define a season that, lest we forget, still maintains hopes of a domestic Double.

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    There can be no half measures here.

    In 2007-2008, they went to Old Trafford in the fifth round, top of the table and leading United by five points.

    Chelsea were another 10 points adrift.

    Wenger fielded a weakened side and United won 4-0.

    Some 9,000 Arsenal fans felt betrayed – and rightly so.

    The Gunners, their characteristically fragile confidence undermined, would win only one of their next eight league games as both United and Chelsea overtook them.

    On the flight back from Barcelona, one Gooner said to another: “See you at Old Trafford, then.”

    The reply? “Not this time. I can’t stand another disappointment.”

    Yet I still take Arsenal to win this one against an equally deflated United, despite their home record.

    Wenger will field his strongest team. The fact it isn’t stronger is his own fault.

  93. rico says:

    KT,

    that stat isn’t really positive – all it says is when the chances come for the oppo they score… look how many we have conceded….

  94. K-TR7 says:

    If Aw lets hazzard slip through the net i’ll go crazy.the mancs may get sanchez,the chavs already have torres and luiz and who knows who they’ll add.we have to sign him to notch us a level.

  95. JonJon says:

    i can sort of see where this bloke is coming from
    but my answer would be the the reason weve cut our debt from a staggering 400mil+ to a measly 135mil in just 4 years is cos weve not paid massive amounts to strengthen the squad…
    yet weve still finished in the top four every year and we all know if wenger spends some of the cash we’ll be ready

  96. rico says:

    i don’t think wenger will get hazard guys, we have ryo and wellington to come in, and he will promote the kids….

  97. K-TR7 says:

    Rico most of those shots were conceded in the early parts of the season.we have only conceded 5 goals this year.we barely let teams have a sniff nowadays.Barca had only 2 shots on target.with our improving gk sitiuation we’ll get better.

  98. JonJon says:

    the club have been trying to pay off the debts quickly..we have a loan repayment plan for 24 years or something but the club want it paid off asap, the financial rules will soon come into effect…

    i think weve got the money now and we should spend it in the summer

  99. JonJon says:

    wellingtons supposed to be shit..
    they dont really like him where he is…hes apparently causing them problems outside of football too…
    id like to have ryo here though..feyenoord have been buzzing recently they was shit and near the bottom of the league before he joined now they are slowly making they way up…

  100. HCAA says:

    Nice one Rico. We have consistently finished in the top 4 JJ, but our season ends in March. And even if we only won it once, I’ll personally never be satisfied until we have a European Cup in our trophy cabinet. It is bigger & more prestigous than the Premier Lge.

  101. K-TR7 says:

    What is it with the journalists fascination with jagielka,cahill and caroll? Caroll has barely played a full season and yet he cost 35 mil.we have repaid our loan and now we have the cash.if Aw doesn’t spend it now then criticize him.he has done the hard part already now let him finish what he started.

  102. JonJon says:

    this is where i disagree
    i dont care about the cl..its a media hyped lotto..like euro millions..every game we play in it creates a media circus and i fully blame the thing on our domestic form…
    i think we would have won the cc if it werent for the fact we had barca in the cl…its just a distraction

    but the PL is where its at..thats the one i want and the one we should concentrate on fully every year..

  103. rico says:

    jj, wellington looks like the bees knees, he’s just peed off i think about not being with us, he’s over dosing on pizza’s and not putting the work in in training….

    comfort eating is what many do when they are ‘down’ trust me, i know these things being a lady 😉

  104. K-TR7 says:

    I read an article from YG where they had a South American correspondent said wellington is overhyped and that no one was sad that he left.

  105. JonJon says:

    lol rico

    yeah ktr i think we got stung with that one but if he comes back to us and starts banging in the goals its all good

  106. rico says:

    i’m with jj, i would rather win the fa cup, cc cup and pl every year…..

    kt, we have been getting there for too long, we now need to get there….

  107. rico says:

    thing is, a year ago we were all excited about wellington, lets not let the paps change that until we see him play….

    wenger buys crap older players but he tends to get it right with the young uns, well, 80% of the time…

    😉

  108. W.A.T.H says:

    Why take out a 25yr ring fenced loan to allow you to spend on the team but then pay the loan off early yet invest fuck all on the team yet still charge the highest prices in world football to watch dumb n dumber…? Piss take….!

  109. W.A.T.H says:

    Allow’s mr ego free reign with his kiddie project, long as he gets top 4 the board are happy and then they say we still improving building getting better…! utter tosh, bla bla bla thats not what they said when we left Highbury. The more the fans fall for this crap the longer it will go on…!

  110. JonJon says:

    hey wath
    yup..thats what theyve done
    theyve told us one thing and done the opposite
    i know what theyve done
    i dont agree with it
    they lied about the highbury flats as well they said that was ringfenced but the fact they keep banging on about now its over and we have freed up some cash showed it wasnt..

  111. W.A.T.H says:

    As for 30mil for hazard why spend even half that on a player thats done and proved nothing, the kid has potential and thats it, even the Belgian coach says he’s lazy with a poor attitude. . . . . Sound familiar..? We need proven qaulity its what we all moan about yet half you lot wanna buy players who have a media reputation and thats it…!

  112. W.A.T.H says:

    I think/know we have tons of cash JJ and the simple reason it’s not used it mr ego won’t spend it….!

  113. JonJon says:

    once the debts are totally clear the board will sell
    thats what they are waiting for
    why sell a club in debt?? its not worth as much as a club thats debt free and makes 30mil a year
    we are a cash cow, being plumped for market..

  114. JonJon says:

    ive been watching hazard all year practically its not a media thing..hes the mutts nutts..
    i cant remember the last time lille won anything in france and they are about to win the league
    becuase of him..

  115. W.A.T.H says:

    He’s hype JJ we can all watch him on the tv…..! Lille are a good side it aint just him and he’s still potential, 12 muillion fine buy him 30 million stick it up their arse, for 30million I want proven world class simple…! he isnt proven world class not by a long shot…!

  116. JonJon says:

    yeah we know he wont spend it..
    theyve been banging it in the bank instead

    but now we have a situation where we are set to have too many players we’ll at least see the crap sold..

  117. HCAA says:

    Of course I want us to win our domestic trophies, PL and FA Cup, but winning the CL creates it’s own prestige shared by Liverpool, Man Utd, Real Madrid etc. We’re a big club, but they are considered bigger because of their European success, an area given our status where we’ve been piss-poor.

  118. JonJon says:

    but 30 mil wont even buy torres
    and hes supposed to be proven

    if we’d have beat chelsea for torres signature how dumb would we all feel now??

    they dont feel dumb cos they can throw 50mil into the fire and not give a shit..we cant..

    you spend 50mil u want instant results…

  119. JonJon says:

    the invincibles should have won the cl..
    but they didnt..its not that easy..
    everyone wants to win it but whenever youve got this current crop of barca players we dont have a chance..
    so we might as well put all our efforts into the league

  120. JonJon says:

    he cant keep them all wath..
    and if he sells lansbury etc for the sake of denilson and diaby i’ll want him to resign..

  121. W.A.T.H says:

    There are proven players around JJ without getting into the hype or trying to outbid for a player the chavs or citeh want….! Only so many players who will move for dosh some want dosh and to play and win…! Wenger aint even looking cos he so far to stubborn to admit he needs to buy to finish the jigsaw…!

  122. W.A.T.H says:

    He’ll keep them all JJ send the best ones out on loan tell us he has the best ever squad and then when we hit by injuries yet again and then we have to settle for the crap thats left….!

  123. JonJon says:

    see before i could understand why he kept them
    he had faith in them and there was nobody to replace them..he wont buy 4-5 players in one go so he just kept them
    this season hes used them hardly at all.which tells me hes going off them…and when he has theyve been utter shit..
    i think he’ll get rid this time..
    if anyone will take them

  124. W.A.T.H says:

    Who gives a shit just get rid of them. . . . . . . They aint worth a toss anyway, save wages, show em the door, cab to the airport…. Bye……!

  125. W.A.T.H says:

    The list is long KT and we pretty much been over all of them the last few days….! we all know which ones thing is wenger wont’ do it so all our comments actually count for sweet fa…..

  126. JonJon says:

    waths list is pretty much the same as everyone elses ktr
    night wath
    i hope we win tomorrow for your sake mate, i can tell your getting pissed off more and more with this by the minute
    i just hope we win something cos if not that makes two of us…

    we do need to win tomorrow tho..no two ways about it..if we lose the pl is still on but beating the mancs will really get us going..if we end up losing then i fear the worst for the run in..

  127. JonJon says:

    has anyone seen the reports about the barca fans dont want cesc back cos after watching him play the last few times for us v them they think hes shit

    something like 75% of them dont think hes worth over 25mil
    and 50% wouldnt buy him at all…

    fuck me…lol

  128. Merlin96 says:

    Then JJ, Barca’s loss is Arsenal’s gain.

    Time to win that title and persuade him to sign a 3-year contract extension, from 2015 to 2018.

    This will give us the stability to build the team for the next 5 years.

    I believe Cesc is the highest paid as his contract kicked in with that one year option from 2014 to 2015 and he is on 110,00 pw. Anybody can confirm?

    Nasri?
    He is looking for a pay-rise to 100,000 pw.
    If he is crowned BPL Player of the Year and Abu DHabi CIty comes in with a bid of 35-mil and offered him 160,000 pw…..then it will be a test of his loyalty.

    The key to persuade all these key players to sign another contract extension – Cesc, Nasri, Arshavin – is winning the title.

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