Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

PHB

I stand by my initial statement and I think this was a huge result for Arsenal today. Without their two best players they muddled through but won. United had the same issue, but lost. A real statement about squad depth today made by Arsenal I think. I'm beginning to consider them favorites for the league.

BobbyD10

It's still early days, all we are doing is getting in a position come next year that the league will be ours to throw away, rather than playing catch up, with important european games to be played also.

But the season has been excellent so far with the xmas period on the horizon hopefully the few injuries will have cleared up.

Van Persie is due back soon also. Tough away games for the next few weeks will be a bigger test than today's home game.

Galvasean

Thanks to our old boy Anelka for doing us a favor today. Its nice to have breathing space points wise between us and United. Now when United play before us again (as has happened a lot this season) they wont leap frog us to #1 spot and we wont have to put up with the media crowing on about "United back on top!" as they do.

Gangsta

Galvasean wrote: »

Thanks to our old boy Anelka for doing us a favor today. Its nice to have breathing space points wise between us and United. Now when United play before us again (as has happened a lot this season) they wont leap frog us to #1 spot and we wont have to put up with the media crowing on about "United back on top!" as they do.

ugh ya that really annoys me how sky support united.

gosplan

Dear jesus, next week is so big.

Two games for Arsenal and if we win both we're 6 points clear. pleasepleaseplease

Galvasean

So, anybody know when Setanta are getting that Arsenal channel up and running?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Galvasean wrote: »

So, anybody know when Setanta are getting that Arsenal channel up and running?

I saw an ad recently saying its gonna start up in January i believe.

Ah here we go http://www.setanta.com/SetantaSportsPack/arsenal.aspx

CantGetNoSleep

Does anyone think Gilberto should be kept as 3rd choice centre back? Or would he not be happy with that

cson

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Does anyone think Gilberto should be kept as 3rd choice centre back? Or would he not be happy with that

Doesn't want to play there. He'll be another tall player gone. We're a very small team bar the Keepers, Ade and RVP

leninbenjamin

it'd be mad to let Gilberto to though in the middle of the season i'd imagine. at least he can play CB if necessary which is something Arsenal are really light on, and he's still one of the most experienced heads in a young squad. i think, particularly if Arsenal are still top going into the run in, that Gilberto could have an important role to play before the end of the season.

cson

You know the way Wenger is, if a player wants to leave he doesn't make them stay. We need 2 players and Bert to stay if we're gonna stick it out for the title. Modric and a CB sil vous plait.

cson

Another thing; Anyone else think that Eduardo is under the Curse of the No.9 shirt? Any player thats worn 9 for us of later years hasn't really done it - Jeffers, Baptista, Anelka (Although he was good he still left), Reyes (As per Anelka).

Scary stuff indeed :eek:

cson

cson wrote: »

Another thing; Anyone else think that Eduardo is under the Curse of the No.9 shirt? Any player thats worn 9 for us of later years hasn't really done it - Jeffers, Baptista, Anelka (Although he was good he still left), Reyes (As per Anelka).

Scary stuff indeed :eek:

dont forget merson...he was sold not long after switching from 9 to 10..

Nah relax, give Eduardo time. hard to displace ade and rvp when your only in english football a couple of weeks

gosplan

I think Eduardo is going to be a great player.

IMO Wenger hired him because he's got amazing finishing ability and he thinks his team play can be brought up to the required level.

Right now, it would suit him more if he was in a regular team playing on the shoulder and being a typical centre forward. I think in a few months we'll see his link up play hit the Arsenal level and he should be great.

AnCapaillMor

Gallas being captain is possibly one of the best decisions Wenger has made this season. Really grabs the team by the scruff of the neck. Had my doubts in august with the announcement.

PHB

I said it when he was appointed and I think he's a great appointment. He epitomises what Arsenal have been this season, plays beautiful football, but willing to sacrifice that if he must for a win.

keano_afc

Have to agree, wasnt in favour of it when it was announced but he's proved a few wrong. I reckon AW must have decided pre-season that Bert wasnt gonna start regularly and therefore not skipper material.

yahoo_moe

not in favour when Gallas was appointed (injuries & potential sulks) but he's done well so far - the real test will come if the team goes through a rough patch, though.

delighted with bendtner again. he's doing a serious job of moving himself up the pecking order - every time he's on the pitch, he seems to work hard and contribute something (link-up play, occupying defenders, passing and/or finishing). great to have while theo and eduardo continue to develop and settle respectively

tred

yahoo_moe wrote: »

not in favour when Gallas was appointed (injuries & potential sulks) but he's done well so far - the real test will come if the team goes through a rough patch, though.

delighted with bendtner again. he's doing a serious job of moving himself up the pecking order - every time he's on the pitch, he seems to work hard and contribute something (link-up play, occupying defenders, passing and/or finishing). great to have while theo and eduardo continue to develop and settle respectively

I think the signing of Sagna has being one of his master strokes in years. There is chelsea and United paying millions for full backs, and wenger pulls another unknown from france(unknown in premiership), straight into the team.. fair play to him..

leninbenjamin

tred wrote: »

There is chelsea and United paying millions for full backs, and wenger pulls another unknown from france(unknown in premiership), straight into the team.. fair play to him..

I actually think Utd paid less for Evra than Arsenal paid for Sagna

AnCapaillMor

Sagna was'nt exactly cheap.

Pepe LeFrits

He wasn't alright and comparing him to any United or Chelsea signings is unnecessary. He is proving to be a terrific signing; that's all that needs to be said.

I noticed we were linked to Van der Vaart on SSN the other day. A Dutch guy I know who knows his stuff reckons he has a release clause in his contract that enables him to leave for a tiny fee in 2009 (about £1m) so he might be available relatively cheap in January. He's more of a central player but with Rosicky made of glass, he might come in handy. Although he has had constant injury problems his entire career he still plays a fair few games, and he is a sensational player. With Modric looking too expensive (a superb player though), I'd be delighted if Arsene went for him in January. We are short a creative player for the flanks for when Rosicky/Hleb get injured; adding Van der Vaart would make the squad formidable.

DubDani

VDV won't leave in the Winter. He might leave in the summer, but for not less then 20 million Euro.

Valencia wanted him in August and failed with a 23 mil. bid. Hamburg are currently in negotiations with him, and offered him a new contract doubling his salary (to 4.6 mil a year) in exchange for dropping the 2009 buy out clause.

But I doubt he will go to the UK. He is desperate to play in Spain, as his mum is Spanish, and his grandparents and parts of his family is still living in spain.

Necronomicon

What kind of team are people expecting Wenger to put out against Seville, having qualified? Gotta get my FF in order

Pepe LeFrits

Something like the CC team. Gallas, Clichy and Adebayor aren't in the squad.

Necronomicon

Thanks. Think I'll leave Fab out to air on the side of caution.

Pepe LeFrits

Although on the midfield situation, I'm continuing to hear very good things about Carlos Vela. Apparently he had a goal disallowed and assisted another for Osasuna tonight. He'd be available in January.

PHB

Vela keeps popping up as an excellent prospect. I was under the impression he was kinda like an attacking midfielder/striker.

Van Der Vaart is always gona join a big club, the question is when. I think he'd be a great addition, as I think he could work in a midfield with Fabregas (especially in Wengers 4-5-1 in Europe/big games), while at the same provide cover for him.

PDN

Michel Platini is really starting to annoy me. I used to admire him as a player, but as an administrator he keeps coming out with crap.

His latest tirade against Arsenal:

"If I am looking for the manager of England, I would try to find a good English guy who everybody trusts to make a good team," he added.

"I like your football, I like the games, I like the fans and the passion - but I don't like the fact that it is too open in allowing in foreign players.

"In Arsenal now you don't have an English coach, English players, maybe not an English president soon.

"So why are they playing in England? Because of the fans, because of big business, because of the TV, because the clubs like that."

Is there some kind of history between this guy and Arsene Wenger?

Hyzepher

Platini is just trying to make a name for himself. The English league is now becoming the best and biggest in Europe and that just gets on the goat of some of the non-english names in the game. They still cant get away from the past.

Evil_Clown

As Wenger said England haven't won a world cup since '66 and he only started in '96 do people want to blame him for '66 to '96 aswell.
On hardtalk last night on BBC there was another one of those England havent qualified because Arsenal and Liverpool have too many foreigners speel.
I am really getting sick of it, they need something to blame and are finding an easy target. A chap on that show said Man U had a good mix well wouldn't we all love a good mix if we had loads of money, in order to get a good mix you need the following (17m Carrick, 24m Rooney, 30m Ferdinand, 17m Hargreaves)
England have a fantastic pool of players better than many countries that have qualified, just because they consistently choke due to inept managerial decisions and poor performances (ie playing 3 5 2 in Croatia and drawing with Macedonia) isn't because there are too many foreigners in the Arsenal and Liverpool teams.
So please stop blaming Arsenal, Mr Platini et al

Fin

cson

Probably annoyed that he can't bring in his foreigner quota courtesy of the EU labour laws. Wenger has pointed out umpteen times that he would buy English players except they are vastly overpriced. E.g: Curtis Davies who we wanted, WBA wanted £10-12 million, Villa bought him for £9 million and so far this season he's started 2 games.

AnCapaillMor

PDN wrote: »

Is there some kind of history between this guy and Arsene Wenger?

I think Wenger was his manager at Nancy for a while before platini went onto bigger and better things. Wenger would'nt be too popular with the french coaches, he's clashed a few times over confed cup and friendlies with french managers.

I think platini still bears a grudge against english teams after heysel. English teams are not too popular amongst the other FA's, I gurantee you Henry would have at least one world player award only for the fact that he played in england.

PHB

EU law means there is absolutely no chance of this happening. I firmly believe Platini and Blatter want this quota in order to hurt the clubs, and bring international football to the front again. As such, it will give them more power.

Hyzepher

Is it that the English media/public seem to think that their players aren't good enough? That's the only reason they could be spouting this non-English tripe. England have one of the best teams on paper, none of which have had any problems coming through the ranks and playing in England.

yahoo_moe

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

I think Wenger was his manager at Nancy for a while before platini went onto bigger and better things.

They weren't at Nancy at the same time - Platini was at Juve when Wenger was managing there.

Personally, I think Platini just has that Sepp Blatter streak in terms of publicity-seeking proposals...

AnCapaillMor

yahoo_moe wrote: »

They weren't at Nancy at the same time - Platini was at Juve when Wenger was managing there.

He was alright, However Platini's da was director of football at nancy when Wenger was there, could be something there.

As for englandm they remind me of the dutch a few years ago, great players but could'nt play together if their lifes depeneded on it. I blame all the biographies.

leninbenjamin

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

I blame all the biographies.

I blame lots of things, firstly is tactical ineptitude. they don't seem to be able to adapt, ever. England managers have repeatedly never been able to employ anything other than 442 in recent years as the players can't get their little heads around it. secondly is the ego (the biographies), almost all the big players in the England squad have their club team built around them, they simply seem to think that everyone around them should alter their playing style to suit them (Lampard in my opinion is the biggest culprit of this), thirdly, the managers of recent years haven't been strong enough to drop who needs to be dropped and say what has to be said it seems, they get no backing from anyone it seems. 4th, physique and strength still seems hugely important to the english in terms of developing players but not everyone on the team can be the combative midfielder/forward/defender. They need more players who are more composed when they play. not since Scholes have they had a really composed passer of the ball in their midfield, Gerrard and Lampard are much more pressing players, they can pass but more often than not they are either too ambitious, too frantic or shoot instead. the rest really are grafters. good grafters, but not enough on their own.

anyway.... that was kinda offtopic...

Platini is Blatter mkII. both awfully power hungry but trying to achieve total control without doing it overtly.

Royale with Cheese

Senderos is still shite

Roddy23

Senderos is still ****e

Did you see him picking up the ball, when the ref hadn't blown his whistle - summed up his game.

Royale with Cheese

Dreadful performance. Never looked like getting a goal in the second half. Gilberto was terrible, he loves giving the ball away these days. Eduardo was largely ineffective. Senderos shite. He's too slow and clumsy to be a top class defender. A new centre back is a must in the transfer window.

Fabregas was largely annonymous. Traore + Denilson gave the ball away far too often. Bendtner looked half decent at playing the lone striker role so at least that's something. Eboue wasn't too bad either.

Pepe LeFrits

Fabregas didn't play great but did you notice how we completely fell apart as soon as he was subbed off? Rosicky replaced him, and I couldn't even tell if he was playing.

I felt sorry for Bendtner as he was playing well until Cesc went off, at which point he came to resemble Peter Crouch for England. Endless high balls lumped in his general direction, and he had no support at all. I felt sorry for Eduardo too as he tried hard in a position that doesn't suit him, although his diving and acting was embarrassing. Ditto Eboue, who I am sick to death of.

Absolutely abysmal performance. Without Hleb and Fabregas we're seriously poor.

Let's see how they bounce back against Villa.

Pepe LeFrits

I'm hearing that Cesc had a hamstring problem, anyone able to confirm?

If he's out for any length of time, given that Hleb is already out for a few weeks, we're boned.

Royale with Cheese

Apparently he felt a slight strain in it and he was taken off as a precaution. Guess we won't find out til later in the week if he's out or not.

PHB

I think while Arsenal look weak with Fabregas and Hleb, I think if Gallas had been playing the result would have been different. Sendoros seems to have regressed far beyond what he was in his first year.

Peyton Manning

PHB wrote: »

I think while Arsenal look weak with Fabregas and Hleb

Christ, Id hate to see them when theyre not weak so!

Pepe LeFrits

I've just re-read my post above and I don't feel it accurately conveys my feelings towards Emmanuel Eboue.

Unfortunately, the forum rules here prevent me from doing so.

Wenger, please sell him ASAP.

As an aside, Senderos and Gilberto look finished.

cson

Senderos has been ****e for some time now. Ever since Drogba made bits of him, he hasn't been the same. As for Bert, playing like a man that doesn't want to be there I'd imagine, I didn't see tonights game. Testing times indeed for our season. The only comfort being that RVP is back, and my how we need him.

I think we're pretty much agreed that a midfielder and CB are needed in Jan, now I know Modric has been linked and Pepe put up Rafa Van Der Vaart as another one, my main concern is who can we get for CB? Who is a decent CB that's avalible? Kolo's gone to AN in Jan and god forbid Gallas gets injured. We've Djourou back but all the same....

Pepe LeFrits

I don't think we're getting a CB full-stop. Gilberto and Senderos will blunder their way through it until young Nordveit is ready to take their place... not unlike the way Cygan blundered his way through an inordinately long Arsenal career until young Senderos took his place. Hopefully Nordveit turns out better.

Royale with Cheese

Senderos was never that great to begin with. I was never convinced by him, even when the press were saying how great the backline was in the Champions League final run. He's making more and more mistakes now. He's almost guaranteed to cost the team a goal per game, certainly to give away some decent chances. He needs to go.

Djorou's not great but he's better than Senderos, which is why it amazed me when Wenger let him go out on loan.

Rosicky doesn't really seem to be working out. Thought he was a steal at £6m when Wenger got him but any more than that now would seem like money wasted. Although it took Hleb a couple of seasons to get going and look at him now. Tough one, Rosicky would want to actually stay fit for the rest of the season if he's to make an impression. Would reassess his situation at the end of the season. He's getting the odd goal though so he's doing his bit for the team, just doesn't have anywhere near the impact on the team that Pires had.