Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

eirebhoy

Mossy Monk wrote:

Where are the dates of all the matches listed eirebhoy. Need to know the days for all the English clubs.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15105/index.html

Mossy Monk

Sound.

AnCapaillMor

Well we're on the same night as united so we might get to see 1 of the matches.

Mossy Monk

At least we will be able to see every game with the combination of RTÉ, Setanta, ITV and Sky. Forget about RTÉ and ITV1 though. They both love their Manchester United.

Royale with Cheese

Does anybody know if I'd stand any chance of getting a ticket for the away game in Sevilla (assuming they qualify)? I'm a red member.

I have friends over there I was going to visit at some stage anyway, but this would be the perfect oppurtunity.

PHB

Very unlikely I would imagine. Aways are impossible to get for any of the big clubs, even more so for nice european cities. You're best bet is to try and trade with another Arsenal fan.

Royale with Cheese

Hey look at that, Arsenal actually signed somebody. Diarra from Chelsea.

AnCapaillMor

Another right back\central midfielder, we'll have as much midfielders as spuds soon.

kryogen

id like to get some opinions of you guys on this one, current debate has been going with my friends for a long long time now, even before henry left.... but do you think Arsenal as a team are better without him? maybe that he overshadowed certain players? or that maybe people expected him to win games by himself and didnt perform to their highest level?

all comments appreciated.

Pepe LeFrits

I knew there had been rumours around Diarra coming for ages, but I still can't believe this. He is a quality player no doubt, but seriously, what are we going to do with the number of CMs and RBs we have?

Centre-mids: Fabregas (20), Gilberto (30), Denilson (19), Diaby (21), Flamini (23), Song (19), Diarra (21). +Djourou
Right-backs: Sagna (24), Eboue (24), Hoyte (23), Diarra (21). Potentially you can add Toure, Gallas, Flamini and Djourou to that list too.

I guess it spells the end for Flamini and Song (why did Wenger even bother signing him? He got a look at him here after a year's loan, then signed him, then signed three more central midfielders), but even then there's a real squeeze for places.

PDN

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

I knew there had been rumours around Diarra coming for ages, but I still can't believe this. He is a quality player no doubt, but seriously, what are we going to do with the number of CMs and RBs we have?

Centre-mids: Fabregas (20), Gilberto (30), Denilson (19), Diaby (21), Flamini (23), Song (19), Diarra (21). +Djourou
Right-backs: Sagna (24), Eboue (24), Hoyte (23), Diarra (21). Potentially you can add Toure, Gallas, Flamini and Djourou to that list too.

I guess it spells the end for Flamini and Song (why did Wenger even bother signing him? He got a look at him here after a year's loan, then signed him, then signed three more central midfielders), but even then there's a real squeeze for places.

Maybe Wenger has plans to switch someone's position? Remember, Kolo Toure was an attacking midfielder but Arsene obviously saw the potential in him to be one of the best centre backs in the world.

PDN

kryogen wrote:

id like to get some opinions of you guys on this one, current debate has been going with my friends for a long long time now, even before henry left.... but do you think Arsenal as a team are better without him? maybe that he overshadowed certain players? or that maybe people expected him to win games by himself and didnt perform to their highest level?

all comments appreciated.

Just over a year ago I remember hearing some guy on radio arguing that it would be better for Henry to leave because his presence was holding other players back from fulfilling their potential. I thought the guy was talking crap and, like many Arsenal fans, I was delighted when he signed that new contract.

Now I'm thinking I was wrong. Hleb, in particular, seems to have so much more confidence, and Fabregas is well on the way to fulfilling all the promise he has showed over the last two seasons.

Maybe Henry's presence, even when he was injured and watching from the sidelines, was too massive for the younger players to cope with? Also, the pantomime every Summer of "Will I stay or will I go?" from the likes of Vieira and Henry must have been unsettling for the younger players.

Pepe LeFrits

PDN wrote:

Maybe Wenger has plans to switch someone's position? Remember, Kolo Toure was an attacking midfielder but Arsene obviously saw the potential in him to be one of the best centre backs in the world.

Nah, Kolo was a CB before he arrived here but Wenger used him as a utility man initially, as he often does with new young players.

Anyway, I'm looking at the squad now and I'm really unsure as to what Wenger is going to do - there are definately too many players in central midfield though.

His treatment of Flamini for example is bizarre - he was ready to let him go in the summer, Flamini U-turns and stays. Wenger puts Flamini ahead of Denilson in the early season pecking order, and then signs Diarra? Where is Diaby in the pecking order, and has he even been injured?

Hyzepher

We have Newcastle at home in the Carling Cup

leninbenjamin

PDN wrote:

Just over a year ago I remember hearing some guy on radio arguing that it would be better for Henry to leave because his presence was holding other players back from fulfilling their potential. I thought the guy was talking crap and, like many Arsenal fans, I was delighted when he signed that new contract.

i've been saying that for a good while now. it's no surprise to me that Hleb in particular is looking a better player without the shadow of Henry, i always felt Henry's presence was what was holding some players back

i'm not sure at the moment if the team is better or not now, but certainly over the course of this season we'll start to see a lot of other players coming into their own, and in time i'm pretty sure they will be better off without him.

kryogen

im of the same opinion of henry, i feel he was too big a star, too much of an ego/talent/shadow for some of the players to really step up, i have felt (as a man u fan) that arsenal have possibly the best young footballing talent in europe and i feel they will be all conquering if ye get a bit of luck (which i must say i hope ye dont!) in the next 3-5 seasons

i also agree that the pantomime every year had run its course, just like the viera one.... it cant be good for the younger guys to be wondering whether their mentors or whatever you want to call them, guys that im sure they looked up to anyway, would be there playing with them next season... and also i believe henry was complaining about the clubs lack of ambition in not signing experienced players, this cant have done any good for the younger guys confidence

Galvasean

You guys won't be complaining about us having too many players if we get the same amount of injuries as we did last season.

Royale with Cheese

Hmmm after watching that game I reckon Arsenal are probably a Goalkeeper, centre back, and top class attacking midfielder/forward away from having a title challenging squad. Pity Wenger didn't actually buy any of them.

Galvasean

He bought a goalkeeper... who has yet to play for us.
And a centre back... who is apparently too young to play.

PHB

Arsenal looked very impressive I thought, a good blend of attractive football and a desire to win. Looking like they are gona be there or thereabouts

Mossy Monk

Looking at the tv schedules and I see neither Sky or Setanta will be showing the north London derby. Pricks.

kryogen

you will be able to watch it online im sure, ill post a link for you.

http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com

Mossy Monk

I know but the picture is generally ****.

gosplan

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Centre-mids: Fabregas (20), Gilberto (30), Denilson (19), Diaby (21), Flamini (23), Song (19), Diarra (21).

I imagine that it's a case of having 7 centre midfields now and maybe 4 that are capable of improving(or are already at) title winning form.

Essentially, a midfield combination of Fabregas and Gilberto is good enough to win the title but none of the others are yet.

Gilberto has maybe two years left in him and Febregas while ruling all may not be at Arsenal in a few years.

I think part of buying loads of youngsters is you don't know how they'll develop. A great 19 year old does not always turn into a complete midfielder at the age of 25. The worrying thing is obviously that they need gametime.

That said, addding yet another does seem like overkill. I think that the Diarra thing is just a great price for a quality player.

You could probably have a great transfer policy of signing players on the cheap after an unsuccssful spell at Chelsea....Parker, Smertin, Kezman, Duff, Crespo, Boulharouz, Johnson, Mutu and so on and so forth.

Pepe LeFrits

Anyone know any pubs in Dublin that have satellite and would show the NLD? I'm thinking that place on Parnell Street might be a good shout.

Pepe LeFrits

Yeah, Outback (Wool Shed Baa) on Parnell Street has satellite and shows a lot of sport on there (I watched an Arsenal CL game before and they had about 4 games showing concurrently). They update their website (http://www.woolshedbaa.com/wevents.html) weekly with the stuff they're showing in the coming week so that'll be worth checking next week.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

I think Pepe has gone crazy, talkin to himself:D

Hobart

A quick question for ye Gunners. I was talking to a mate of mine last night in relation to the many signings Wenger has made over the years. We could not come up with one player who cost anywhere near or over £10M. Is there one? Who was the most expensive player Wenger signed?

leninbenjamin

Hobart wrote:

A quick question for ye Gunners. I was talking to a mate of mine last night in relation to the many signings Wenger has made over the years. We could not come up with one player who cost anywhere near or over £10M. Is there one? Who was the most expensive player Wenger signed?

Reyes. £12 million i think plus add ons.

Vokes

Henry, Wiltord isnt it?

Ah, ok, Reyes it is then.

kryogen

yeah Reyes was about 12 million pound sterling, but thats been pretty much it for his big spending, Wiltord was around 9 i think.... he generally snaps them up on the cheap and sells them for nice profit, i.e. Anelka

leninbenjamin

SofaKing wrote:

Henry, Wiltord isnt it?

Ah, ok, Reyes it is then.

actually you could be right about Wiltord. i remember Reyes at the time being touted as the most expensive, but i think the add ons were being included, so they were mentioning the possible £17m, not the actual figure. Wikipedia has wiltord as having transferred at £13m

anyway, Henry, Reyes, Wiltord are the only one's i can think of who were above 10million

kryogen

i thought it was 17 million euro? and 12 million pounds? meh..... the main point is that no he doesnt ever spend alot of money on players! didnt even know henry was above 10 million!

Hobart

Wiltord I honestly forgot about. I thought Henry was cheaper than he was (10.5). Cheers for the answers.

Galvasean

As far as I know:
Reyes: £12m (+add ons however not all add ons were reached before he moved on)
Wiltord: £11m
Henry: £9m (possibly less)
Francis Jeffers : £8m (wasted)
Richard Wright: £6m (wasted)

However for every bad transfer don't forget that Fabregas only costed 50k

Royale with Cheese

Fabregas was about 2 million wasn't he?

Wenger's best ever deal was buying Anelka for 500k and selling him for 21 million

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Galvasean wrote:

However for every bad transfer don't forget that Fabregas only costed 50k

An don't forget Van Persie 2.5 million, Toure 500k(ish?), Clichy free(or so sky sports say, actually thought he cost a little bit at least) etc.

kryogen

Royale with Cheese wrote:

Fabregas was about 2 million wasn't he?

Wenger's best ever deal was buying Anelka for 500k and selling him for 21 million

without a doubt the best bit of business hes done financially in the transfer market! i do have a question actually, considering he spends little, that you are a successful team over the last decade and would receive plenty of sponsorship and prize money, and he has made a couple of major profit sales in the transfer market....i hear the wages are well structured too mind...... how come you always hear that you guys have financial issues??

where does the money go?

Joeyjoejoe43

The new Emirates stadium has eaten up a lot of the cash, plus I dont think Wenger goes in for over-priced players in the same way the other teams do, he prefers to buy potential and his eye for potential is unrivaled by any manager in the world IMHO. I reckon even if he had say 100 million pounds to spend, he'd be hard pressed to spend it all, he's too shrewd... Best ever Arsenal manager, lets hope we can hold onto him..

Pepe LeFrits

Hleb was 10m too... well, technically it was something like 9.99975m, so for betting purposes...

gosplan

kryogen wrote:

without a doubt the best bit of business hes done financially in the transfer market! i do have a question actually, considering he spends little, that you are a successful team over the last decade and would receive plenty of sponsorship and prize money, and he has made a couple of major profit sales in the transfer market....i hear the wages are well structured too mind...... how come you always hear that you guys have financial issues??

where does the money go?

To my knowledge Arsenal are only just in the red, and that's with building a new stadium.

Very astute comments from Wenger a few days ago about the financial bottom line in clubs. Arsenal, for me, (along with being the world's greatest ever football team) are the best run club in business terms. There are a lot of clubs that are surviving on massive handouts from chairmen or are deeply deeply in debt. Neither one of these is a solid foundation for success.

Man U are in a situation where they have to get Ferguesons replacement right first time. A couple of years off the top and out of the CL and they'd be in deep deep sh*t.

Chelsea pretty much are Abramovich now. He's got enough money where he can afford to make a loss for ever and not worry but it's all pretty much down to him.

Galvasean

Royale with Cheese wrote:

Fabregas was about 2 million wasn't he?

Nope, they just need to buy out his youth contract at Barcelona. Only costed about 50 grand

Gangsta

I agree with most of what you say gosplan but in fairness, Chelsea have a plan where they will eventually breakeven. By 2010 or something like that isn't it?

gosplan

Gangsta wrote:

I agree with most of what you say gosplan but in fairness, Chelsea have a plan where they will eventually breakeven. By 2010 or something like that isn't it?

Yeah but it depends on a lot of things.

Mainly having a good youth system(nothing there yet) and somehow lowering wages dramatically while staying competitive.

There's nothing like a good plan though(see sig)

Noelie

Gangsta wrote:

I agree with most of what you say gosplan but in fairness, Chelsea have a plan where they will eventually breakeven. By 2010 or something like that isn't it?

Well they claim that they will cover their costs every year. But that's kind of cheating as they just write off any debt from before that point and then say our income is higher than out goings.

No other club can just ask daddy for 500million to get a team together and then claim to be breaking even after a set date.

Royale with Cheese

Exactly. If Chelsea were a normal club they'd have to pay that £500m+ back at some stage and that's never going to happen. They can talk about breaking even in the future but they'll never turn a £500m+ profit in the next 200 years.

Galvasean

I still remember Mourinho's taunt at Wenger after the Carling Cup final:
"I wish i had five years to build a team without winning any championships"
:rolleyes: Yes and I bet Wenger wouldn't mind unlimited transfer funds too.

PDN

Galvasean wrote:

I still remember Mourinho's taunt at Wenger after the Carling Cup final:
"I wish i had five years to build a team without winning any championships"
:rolleyes: Yes and I bet Wenger wouldn't mind unlimited transfer funds too.

Did you hear the interview on Skynews this morning where Wenger said he didn't want a lot of money for transfers? I think he prefers the challenge of picking out youngsters who have the potential to be world beaters.

I would hate Arsenal to get a rich sugar daddy like Abramovich & start throwing hundreds of millions around.

AnCapaillMor

Gangsta wrote:

I agree with most of what you say gosplan but in fairness, Chelsea have a plan where they will eventually breakeven. By 2010 or something like that isn't it?

Like the others said, break even by 2010, basically not make a loss come in 2010. It'll take a hell of alot longer to repay the 500M+, they would have accrued if it were'nt for roman.

About wenger, i'd like to a few more home players, i.e. english, altho apparently the youth team is 90% english and looks very promising.

PDN

AnCapaillMor wrote:

About wenger, i'd like to a few more home players, i.e. english, altho apparently the youth team is 90% english and looks very promising.

The thing is that a 'promising' young English (or Irish) player is unlikely to be good enough to play for Arsenal. That's why the likes of Stokes & Bentley have to eventually go elsewhere to become Premiership players (although Hoyte & Walcott may prove me wrong!).