Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

yahoo_moe

i think we were very good at times against pool and a win wouldn't have been a completely unreasonable result... but at the same time, they struggled a bit (albeit against a very deep-lying Liverpool side) to create really clear-cut chances so I'm not sure the win was definitely deserved...

any thoughts on the team for Man U next week? My feeling on Sunday was that Wenger was trying not to expose Eduardo/Walcott to the possibility of things going badly in a big match - Eduardo because things haven't quite clicked yet (between injury and the settling-in period he'll naturally need) and Walcott because the confidence gained from two good showings against Bolton and Slavia could have evaporated quite quickly if things went pear-shaped in a high-profile game...

I think Ade is stuck a bit at the moment, though - working decently for the team and still showing for the ball but my feeling is that he could maybe do with someone closer to him for longer periods of the game (even Hleb playing in his pre-season role again?)

Anyone reckon the team will change from last week? Or will that team and set-up do fine against a Man U side that won't lie as deep as Liverpool?

AnCapaillMor

He'll play 2 up forward against united, don't ask me me who, there'll be more freedom against utd than there was against the pool.

Galvasean

Lets not forget the game against Sheffield United tomorrow night live on Sky Sports One!
Sean Bean is going down...

Pepe LeFrits

There are stories in the newspapers today that Gilberto has been dropped from the squad for refusing to play centreback against against Sheffield United. Very surprising if true and I'll be disappointed if it is the case, as one would expect much more from Gilberto, especially given the lack of cover in that position. Senderos is injured and I have a sneaking suspicion Nordtveit is too, so it means a first teamer (Toure, Gallas or Sagna) will have to play there unless Wenger decides to go with a Song & Justin/Gavin Hoyte CB pairing.

cson

Hard to blame 'Bert though, he's getting his game for Brazil but not Arsenal :eek: Personally I though he would have been a better choice at CM/DM than Flamini at the weekend but that said Flamini hasn't done anything to drop himself. However I do think we need a physically big centre mid, at corners at the weekend the only tall player we had of note was Ade. We're a small team, even at CB.

yahoo_moe

Have to say, glad he wasn't parachuted back in out of panic on Sunday (which wouldn't have been very Arsene-like) but thought he did very well while he was on - Flamini was just beginning to look a bit knackered (and he was asked to shuffle between centre-mid and left-back :eek:) but Gilberto slotted in well and added a real sense of composure when it was needed

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Very surprising if true and I'll be disappointed if it is the case, as one would expect much more from Gilberto

As would I but I think Wenger handled the captaincy situation very badly at the end of the summer and Gilberto was obviously quite hurt by that.

Funny to think that when he gave Gallas the armband, Arsene also referred to the leadership role Kolo, Jens and Gilberto would have to play - two of whose knickers are now supposedly in serious twists and who could be out the door in January...

Pepe LeFrits

“I deny that categorically, and I find this assessment disrespectful to a great professional like Gilberto,” said the manager. “He is 100 per cent professional and is in the squad for tomorrow. He will play.

“I believe that as a manager and as a player you always have one thing in your mind and that is what is good for the club and the team. I cannot fault Gilberto on that since he arrived here.

“Recently he has played less, but his mentality has been superb. It is important to win every single competition and in this one I use younger players because traditionally it has always been like that. It has helped us a lot to develop the players.”

The only injuries in the Arsenal squad are Philippe Senderos (back) and Robin van Persie (knee) but there is every possibility neither would have played. Wenger has always put out a squad side in this competition and it seems he will continue in the same vein on Wednesday.

“You could see Justin Hoyte and Song,” he said. “Walcott maybe and Eduardo will play. We will need a strong squad up there.”

That's that sorted out then.

The team will presumeably be: Fabianski; Traore, Song, Gilberto, Hoyte; Diaby, Denilson, Diarra, Walcott; Eduardo, Bendtner

Should have more than enough for Sheffield United.

Galvasean

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

The team will presumeably be: Fabianski; Traore, Song, Gilberto, Hoyte; Diaby, Denilson, Diarra, Walcott; Eduardo, Bendtner

If thats the team that lines up I predict a 3-1 win for Arsenal.

gosplan

Yeah, Arsenal rule!!!!

Dying to see this match as much as last weekends or the coming one.

That does sound crazy but bear with me for a second. Tonight we get to see:

Diarra after his amazing performance vrs Newcastle.

Traore after his amazing performance vrs Newcastle.

Walcott who after good sub performances and a great champs league debut is now expected to be one of the main goal threats. Will he deliver??

Merida who's expected to get a bit of gametime.

Argh, it's gonna be great. :D

Pepe LeFrits

gosplan wrote: »

Traore after his amazing performance vrs Newcastle.

I'm afraid not, he's been left out of the squad. He must have been in action for the France U18 team last night.

A shame as he was so good in the last game, but it means we will now see either Gavin Hoyte, Merida, Barazite, Gibbs or Lansbury get a first start. I reckon it'll be Gavin Hoyte at right-back (even though he is a CB) with Justin at left-back, although it could be Diarra at RB with one of the young midfielders taking his place. Gibbs could even play at LB. It'll be interesting to see anyway. It should be a tough test.

yahoo_moe

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I'm afraid not, he's been left out of the squad. He must have been in action for the France U18 team last night.

A shame

Shame indeed - I love watching Traore, latest in a line of seriously good Arsenal left-backs and an awesome prospect...

could be a tough one (Sheff Utd always seems to be) but reckon Arsenal will have too much going forward for a side struggling to find its feet this season...

gosplan

Arsenal linked with Real Madrid's 15-year-old Spanish striker Pablo Sarabia.

...so young he's not even on youtube

yahoo_moe

gosplan wrote: »

Stick it up your hole Platini!!!

Looks like we can add 'The Thing From Tring' to that too... talk about mountain out of a molehill and nothing's even happened yet!

The Premier League has no qualms over referee Howard Webb officiating an Arsenal game for a second week running. Former referee Graham Poll is worried about the pressure Webb will be under: "Never before have you seen a referee in the Premier League get appointed to the same team in consecutive weeks.

"It doesn't happen. What's Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson going to make of that?

"Is Howard Webb going to have to prove his impartiality and will that mean he is going to favour Manchester United?

"There are all sorts of connotations with it. It's unfair pressure on a very good referee."

The Premier League spokesman added: "Graham Poll is entitled to his opinion but it is not particularly helpful."

ErinGoBrath

God Blatter and Platini are really starting to annoy me now. K-nobs.

Really looking forward to the Carling Cup tonight. Will be great to see how Diarra and Gilberto get on starting in centre mid. Would also be nice to get half an hour or more of Fran Merida to see what everyones blowing on about!

Giving the strenth of our 2nd team we should have the beating of Sheffield United.

Come on ye gooners!

AnCapaillMor

Its seems like everyone outside england has it in for the Prem.

Galvasean

"Graham Poll is entitled to his opinion but it is not particularly helpful."
I wouldnt worry about the ref who dishes out 3 yellow cards to one player.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Team to play Sheffield:

Arsenal

* 21 Fabianski
* 31 Hoyte
* 17 Song Billong
* 08 Diarra
* 34 Gibbs
* 02 Diaby
* 15 Denilson
* 19 Silva
* 32 Walcott
* 26 Bendtner
* 09 Eduardo

Substitutes

* 40 Mannone,
* 39 Lansbury,
* 41 Hoyte,
* 42 Perez,
* 43 Barazite

Good to see Fran Merida on the bench. Don't know how the team is gonna line out really. I'd imagine it'll be Hoyte-Gilberto-Song-Gibbs at the back and then the rest is fairly routine at this stage

Bounty Hunter

fabianski not gilberto captain?

Pacifico

Yeah very strange!

~Rebel~

playa3 wrote: »

Team to play Sheffield:

Arsenal

* 21 Fabianski
* 31 Hoyte
* 17 Song Billong
* 08 Diarra
* 34 Gibbs
* 02 Diaby
* 15 Denilson
* 19 Silva
* 32 Walcott
* 26 Bendtner
* 09 Eduardo

Substitutes

* 40 Mannone,
* 39 Lansbury,
* 41 Hoyte,
* 42 Perez,
* 43 Barazite

Good to see Fran Merida on the bench. Don't know how the team is gonna line out really. I'd imagine it'll be Hoyte-Gilberto-Song-Gibbs at the back and then the rest is fairly routine at this stage

Am i missing something? I dont see his name there...Does he go by a nickname or something?

Pacifico

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Am i missing something? I dont see his name there...Does he go by a nickname or something?

Yeah Perez is his last name

~Rebel~

Ah gotcha, I've only ever seen him referenced as Merida (mind you now that i think of it, people could easily have been talking about perez and i wouldn't have put 2 and 2 together).

Jeez the bend on Denilsons goal, after the deflection was really weird! after it hit the player and spun off it looked like it was headin for where the keeper was diving for, then suddenly out of nowhere it started curling back off left. crazy.

keano_afc

Aside from Song as usual, an excellent performance form the young guns. Thought Diarra was brilliant at right back, Denilson and Gilberto were superb also. Bendtner looked very out of sorts, constantly gave the ball away. Some finshing from Dudu. Getting back to Alex Song, how do other Gooners feel about him? Personally I think he's one of the worst players I've ever seen in an Arsenal shirt.

Pepe LeFrits

I don't see what Alex Song did wrong tbh.

Perez is Merida's mother's name, it shouldn't be used. It'd be like calling Cesc 'Soler'.

Denilson was our best player tonight, kept things ticking over nicely. Bendtner did quite well I thought. Diaby was poor.

Lansbury being the first sub on despite being the youngest was telling.

keano_afc

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I don't see what Alex Song did wrong tbh.

Perez is Merida's mother's name, it shouldn't be used. It'd be like calling Cesc 'Soler'.

Denilson was our best player tonight, kept things ticking over nicely. Bendtner did quite well I thought. Diaby was poor.

Lansbury being the first sub on despite being the youngest was telling.

But what did he do right? He gave away countless fouls, and would have put a less skillful player than Diarra in trouble with his distribution. Maybe I'm being harsh on him, but i really cant work out what it is he does.

gosplan

A couple from Cesc, Denlison's last night and Hleb's in the last champions league game.

Has anyone noticed how many lampard-esque goals we're scoring these days?

It's all good but wher the hell were they last year?...and don't say we weren't taking shots.

PHB

gosplan wrote: »

A couple from Cesc, Denlison's last night and Hleb's in the last champions league game.

Has anyone noticed how many lampard-esque goals we're scoring these days?

It's all good but wher the hell were they last year?...and don't say we weren't taking shots.

The thing is, Lampard goals happen a lot because of his technique. He hits the ball incredibly straight and incredibly hard, so if it does get a deflection, it nearly always hits the player creating the right type of spin. Also, I'm 100% sure that Lampard when he is deciding where to shoot takes into account the other player.
I would imagine that Cesc and Denilson and Hleb have improved their shooting technique.

Mr Alan

PHB wrote: »

The thing is, Lampard goals happen a lot because of his technique. He hits the ball incredibly straight and incredibly hard, so if it does get a deflection, it nearly always hits the player creating the right type of spin. Also, I'm 100% sure that Lampard when he is deciding where to shoot takes into account the other player.

PHB, i reckon that is nonsense tbh, a lot of his goals are defelected because quite simply he shoots, A LOT.... he is like the Riise of the centre of midfield.

PHB

You make your own luck. Lampard shoots a lot, although nowhere near as much as Ronaldo, but also gets a crapload of assists. He shoots when he has a decent chance of scoring, and the fact that you rarely see his deflections deflect wide would tell you something. If you are aiming at the goal, if you strike the ball with enough power, it's still gona go in. The weaker you hit it, the more likely it is that the direction of the ball is gona change. Lampard hits the ball incredibly hard, which is why lots of his deflections go in.

yahoo_moe

keano_afc wrote: »

Aside from Song as usual, an excellent performance form the young guns. Thought Diarra was brilliant at right back, Denilson and Gilberto were superb also. Bendtner looked very out of sorts, constantly gave the ball away. Some finshing from Dudu. Getting back to Alex Song, how do other Gooners feel about him? Personally I think he's one of the worst players I've ever seen in an Arsenal shirt.

Actually I thought Bendtner did quite well - kept showing for the ball, held up possession really well and occupied SU defenders all night... i was actually quite encouraged to see him work for the team without a goal always being the only thing on his mind - showed good maturity and a bit of humility that I wasn't sure he had

Agree about Gilberto and Denilson, both superb - Gilberto's sense of positioning obviously isn't going rusty with less game time and Denilson showed again that he's got toughness and a great temperament to go with his skill

As for Song, didn't think he was particularly wonderful or awful - Diaby probably gave the ball away more and I didn't really notice a huge amount of frees from Song. I would've rated him as fairly average, about on a par with Hoyte (bear in mind they were both out of position too)

lordgoat

Mr Alan wrote: »

PHB, i reckon that is nonsense tbh, a lot of his goals are defelected because quite simply he shoots, A LOT.... he is like the Riise of the centre of midfield.

Except he actually scores goals.


And isn't ginger.


Gilberto and Den is a lovely little partnership alright. Compliment each other nicely.

Galvasean

Confident performance from the young Guns. Dominated from start to finish away from home with no fear at all. Our long term future is looking bright.
Speaking of the future, how about the short term? United on Saturday. Predictions?

Evil_Clown

I think(hope) Arsenal might just sneak it 2-1

It will be very tight and promises to be a great game (although many games have promised this before and failed to deliver)

I wonder if wenger will start Eduardo after his performance mid-week or will he stick with the 5 man midfield like the liverpool game

My gut says at home he will go for 2 out and out strikers

kryogen

against us i can see you playing two up front as unlike liverpool united will go to play attacking football, the game will be more open and i imagine it will be better for you to have two up front as playing adebayor up on his own seems like a waste of time

Pepe LeFrits

4-5-1 again, fuppit.

ZorbaTehZ

Great game. Was a bit worried when he took off hleb and eboue though. Sagna was immense.

Royale with Cheese

A draw was probably the right result. Van Persie is still being badly missed. Adebayor may work hard and hold the ball up well but he hasn't scored in ages and pretty much all his goals this season came in one week. Thank god for Fabregas or Arsenal would be sliding down the table fairly rapidly right now. One of the other strikers needs to come good with goals. Not to worry at the minute now though as the rest of the team are more than helping out, but I feel that's the kind of game Arsenal would have won with a world class striker on the pitch.

Almunia has proven he's not good enough, again. What was he doing for the second goal, and it wasn't the first time he came rushing out of his goal for no reason in the match. Lehmann's Arsenal career is probably over, he'll be leaving at the end of the season at the latest. Maybe Fabianksi is decent? If not Arsene would want to bring in a decent, established keeper. Can't afford to be unsure in that position.

Pepe LeFrits

Fabianski didn't look ready to me, but how much can you tell after one game?

Almunia seems on a mission to lose us the game every time we played United. That's three seperate games against them that he's ****ed it up for us.

Irish Gunner

Got to love this pic

Pacifico

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Got to love this pic

Haha class

Remember seeing that when he went to take the corner

PHB

That was hilarious, also after that the lady behind her is pointing at her and laughing. That picture is probably why I love football

AnCapaillMor

I thought gallas running off celebrating and eveyone else playing on was hilarious especially when they start congratulating Theo. Anyone see cescs reaction to Rio after the 2nd goal?

Irish Gunner

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Anyone see cescs reaction to Rio after the 2nd goal?

Gave him some stick due to the muppet given Theo stick after they scored

Dont think you need to be a lip reader to know what Cesc said

Check his reaction Here

Roddy23

You've got to love Fabregas, his celebrations after scoring the last two weeks have been brilliant.

Did any one happen to record the clip where Anderson is looking for the ref to show a yellow, and Fabregas goes up to him, and embarassed him in front of 60,000, think even a few Utd supporters had a laugh at that one. Cracker

Irish Gunner

Here is one of Cesc mimicking his phantom pain

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6841/cescandersonaltxj3.gif

Peyton Manning

Oh how I love Arsenal GIFs. Heres a nice Eboue one, fits in nicely with Fabregas' impersonation.

http://myspace-821.vo.llnwd.net/00747/12/86/747346821_m.gif

Pepe LeFrits

Millersangel not letting you troll him today Archimedes?

Evil_Clown

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Almunia has proven he's not good enough, again. What was he doing for the second goal, and it wasn't the first time he came rushing out of his goal for no reason in the match. Lehmann's Arsenal career is probably over, he'll be leaving at the end of the season at the latest. Maybe Fabianksi is decent? If not Arsene would want to bring in a decent, established keeper. Can't afford to be unsure in that position.

I totally agree, again Arsenal have lost points because of a goal keeping mistake. Almunia is an excellent shop stopper but some of his decision making is crazy.
Wenger the brilliant manager that he is at spotting out field players, needs to bite the bullet here and splash the cash on a decent ready made worldclass goalkeeper. The other 3 sides in the top four have a better keeper than Arsenal and you can't say that for other positions
Arsenal run a tight ship which is great (the entire Arsenal team on Sat was £37 million roughly the same as Ferdinand and Vidic!) but I think spending £15 Million on someone like Buffon would be well warranted
I'm sick of playing really well only to lose a result due to keeper error
So please Arsene invest in a safe pair of hands in January

PHB

I nearly spit out my drink at that, Buffon for 15 million? Sure while you're at it, buy Villa for 10, and Iniesta for 12.

Safe pairs of hands are almost impossible to find these days. Look at VDS, he's very good, but he still makes a couple of mistakes a year. Cech BUffon and Casillas are the only real safe pairs of hands out there, and even Cech can make some mistakes. It's the one position that there isn't a ****load of top class in.

Evil_Clown

PHB wrote: »

I nearly spit out my drink at that, Buffon for 15 million? Sure while you're at it, buy Villa for 10, and Iniesta for 12.

My deepest sympathy if my valuation of Buffon is shocking
But that is not my point my point is that Arsenal need a world class Goalkeeper and should pay for them

BTW how much is he worth, If my price is so wrong ??