Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

Royale with Cheese

How many games have Hoyte and Traore played this season though? Sagna's been out for the past few weeks and that's it. Has Clichy missed many games this season? Didn't think so.

Mitch Connor

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

How many games have Hoyte and Traore played this season though? Sagna's been out for the past few weeks and that's it. Has Clichy missed many games this season? Didn't think so.

Indeed - wasn't Traore's game against Liverpool last week his premiership debut.

arbeitsscheuer

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

How many games have Hoyte and Traore played this season though? Sagna's been out for the past few weeks and that's it. Has Clichy missed many games this season? Didn't think so.

Correct. In fact Clichy has played in every Premier League game for Arsenal this season, and Sagna aint far behind with 29 League appearances. Overall, Clichy has played 45 first team games for Arsenal this season - more than any other player - and Sagna has played 40.

The fullbacks have actually been one of our strongest, most reliable, most consistent areas of the field all season. Clichy and Sagna are two of the reasons we have been challenging this season - Clichy should've been given Man of the Match yesterday, he was absolutely immense.

eZe^

Tauren wrote: »

Indeed - wasn't Traore's game against Liverpool last week his premiership debut.

Ill get slated for this, but imo, Traore played quite well against Liverpool, I know he had a howler against united in the FA Cup. But against Liverpool I thought he reminded me of a naive clichy, give him some time.

Mitch Connor

arbeitsscheuer wrote: »

Correct. In fact Clichy has played in every Premier League game for Arsenal this season, and Sagna aint far behind with 29 League appearances. Overall, Clichy has played 45 first team games for Arsenal this season - more than any other player - and Sagna has played 40.

The fullbacks have actually been one of our strongest, most reliable, most consistent areas of the field all season. Clichy and Sagna are two of the reasons we have been challenging this season - Clichy should've been given Man of the Match yesterday, he was absolutely immense.

Does clichy ever actually get tired? He seems to just keep going, and going, and going.

two best LBs in the league on show yesterday, no doubt about that.

PHB

But you have to have cover in case of injuries. Sagna has played most of the season, but the games he's missed he's been sorely missed.

Would Liverpool have even scored against Arsenal if Sagna had been on instead of Sendoros? I'm not sure they would have

Galvasean

Now that theres nothing up for grabs (just make sure pool dont pass us out) is it too much to ask that Walcott be given his starting place ahead of Eboue?
If Arsenal have any real ambition the likes of Eboue, Gilberto and Nicky (squad moral eating) Bendtner need to be shipped out.Ditto, we must hold on to Flamini, give him what he wants.
We also need 3 key signings; an experienced winger, defender and holding midfielder.

I wonder if Wenger will play Lehmann for the last few games so he can get his Euro Championship place.

Pepe LeFrits

We're sorted at full-back. Gallas and Toure are both fine backups, as good as any in the league. The problem is at CB. Gallas and Toure has not been the best pairing and should be broken up, which will free them up to play the full-back positions when required.

I'll be very surprised if Flamini signs a new contract now. I think he's going. Combined with the coming departure of Gilberto and the problems with Denilson (whatever they are), the squad will suddenly look very short there, and reinforcements will be required.

Needing a new winger is a given. In attack I think Adebayor, Bendtner, van Persie, Eduardo, Walcott and Vela is sufficient.

A top class goalkeeper would be nice but I think Almunia will have to do for now.

IrishMike

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

In attack I think Adebayor, Bendtner, van Persie, Eduardo, Walcott and Vela is sufficient.

If i was an Arsenal fan i would be very worried if they were the attacking
options at the club next year.
Adebayor is quality.
Bendtner is an average squad player - 3rd choice striker at best
Van Persie is outstanding but is seriously injury prone.
Eduardo probably wont play for 9 months and may never ever be at the level he once played at
Walcott has had 2 good games since he joined.
Not exactly full of strength in depth if you ask me.

PHB

We're sorted at full-back. Gallas and Toure are both fine backups, as good as any in the league. The problem is at CB. Gallas and Toure has not been the best pairing and should be broken up, which will free them up to play the full-back positions when required.

Fair enough, you just need more defensive cover, whether it comes for full backs or for CB.
IMO you should always try to maintain your CB pairing, as a good partnership is more important there than anywhere else on the pitch.

Do you not think that you need another creative passing midfielder in order to take some of the load off Fabregas?

Royale with Cheese

Hleb can play as Fabregas if more wingers are bought. He's a centre mid playing on the wing anyway. Even Rosicky would be the same if he wasn't made of glass. So buy more wingers and then rotate.

cson

PHB wrote: »

Do you not think that you need another creative passing midfielder in order to take some of the load off Fabregas?

Luka Modric except he's megabucks

eZe^

Theres plenty of creative midfielders on the market this summer anyway, Modric, Diego, Rakitic to name a few. Id always imagined that the perfect person to mentor Fabregas would be Riquelme, I think he'd suit their play nicely. Pity he's 29 now.

IrishMike

eZe^ wrote: »

Theres plenty of creative midfielders on the market this summer anyway, Modric, Diego, Rakitic to name a few. Id always imagined that the perfect person to mentor Fabregas would be Riquelme, I think he'd suit their play nicely. Pity he's 29 now.

Bit slow for the premiership, likes a lot of time on the ball.
When he can get that time on the ball he is amazing, but would not get that
space in the premiership and would struggle extremely badly due to the
tempo of the games and his lack of pace.
Still an absolute genius of a player and probably the most humble player
i have ever seen interviewed.

eZe^

I dont know, I think he's that player who looks like he'll have as much time on the ball as he wants. When Ive seen people try to hussle him off the ball he always seems to make himself another couple of yards of space by bypassing them.

Mr Alan

Wouldnt deem Modric megabucks, we were linked with him last week for around 18 million. In this day and age, thats hardly megabucks.

Pepe LeFrits

PHB wrote: »

Fair enough, you just need more defensive cover, whether it comes for full backs or for CB.
IMO you should always try to maintain your CB pairing, as a good partnership is more important there than anywhere else on the pitch.

Do you not think that you need another creative passing midfielder in order to take some of the load off Fabregas?

I think a creative player is required but not so much of a passing type, we have enough of those in Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky. Someone like Ribery, Ben Arfa, Villa (although he's more of a striker) would be what I'd like to see Wenger go for. I guess a runner who can dribble, score goals and pick a pass at the right time would be ideal.

Modric would definately improve the team but wouldn't really offer much variation to the existing theme.

arbeitsscheuer

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I think a creative player is required but not so much of a passing type, we have enough of those in Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky. Someone like Ribery, Ben Arfa, Villa (although he's more of a striker) would be what I'd like to see Wenger go for. I guess a runner who can dribble, score goals and pick a pass at the right time would be ideal.

Modric would definately improve the team but wouldn't really offer much variation to the existing theme.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there mate.

When we were playing phenomenally well over the first 6 months of the season and looking incredible I don't think anyone was questioning our quality, resilience (we scored most of our bloody goals in the last 10-15 minutes of games ffs), character and so on. But when things began to go wrong and players lost a little form, confidence and sharpness, thinking in particular again of the games against Wigan, Aston Villa and Boro, maybe we lacked just that little bit of variation and real direct football to pummel through despite being poor.

A winger, or at least a proper pacy dribbling player fullstop, looks essential. Ben Arfa might fit the bill, Ribery certainly would have but it's too late to moan about that now, perhaps Villa because altho he is a striker he's more direct and pacy than anyone we have right now with the exception of Walcott and Arsene seems set on playing him from the bench for the time-being.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Oh yeah i found Denilson!

Hopefully a few of those lads will get a run out against Reading. I must say im kinda looking forward to the match as i enjoyed the Reading matches last year, they usually go out to play.

L'prof

This is hilarious, even if it is meant to be a joke at our expense!

Mossy Monk

I love that.

L'prof

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I love that.

It's stopped moving for me for some reason though!

Mr. Presentable

Trezeguet.

Now that Juventus has finally got Amauri he may be surplus to requirements. Could he be the piece Wenger needs to complete the frontline?

Royale with Cheese

I'd prefer Villa to be honest.

Evil_Clown

nipplenuts wrote: »

Trezeguet.

Now that Juventus has finally got Amauri he may be surplus to requirements. Could he be the piece Wenger needs to complete the frontline?

Maybe some sort of swap deal involving Gilberto perhaps, would make financial sense

But as above I would prefer Villa or even Benzema

Mr. Presentable

Evil_Clown wrote: »

Maybe some sort of swap deal involving Gilberto perhaps, would make financial sense

But as above I would prefer Villa or even Benzema

Yes, but it's about what's likely, not what's wished.

Royale with Cheese

I don't see how Villa would be unlikely. Can't see him staying at Valencia with the way their season has gone.

PHB

Exactly, Villa must surely be moving on after the EUROs.

jank

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8750_3430477,00.html

Interesting Read there. I agree with it in a way but cant see all those new players coming in.

Royale with Cheese

I'd agree with most of that, the goalkeeper bit aside (judging Fabianski on one game is lazy journalism tbh). I doubt Wenger will have enough to get all those players in so I'd say a goalkeeper really isn't needed that badly, + a striker will probably have to wait if nobody is available on the cheap.

PHB

So he says you need a:

New goalkeeper
New RB cover
New CB cover [possible could be the same player]
2 central midfielder if Flamini stays, 3 if not.
New top class winger
New striker

That's a lot for one summer. I don't think you need a new goalie, other areas more important, and Fabinzski still looks decent enough.
Also you only need a new striker if Van Persie can't stay fit. And if he can't, he can be sold for a decent enough amount of cash.

Pepe LeFrits

PHB wrote: »

So he says you need a:

New goalkeeper
New RB cover
New CB cover [possible could be the same player]
2 central midfielder if Flamini stays, 3 if not.
New top class winger
New striker

Which is absurd.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

PHB wrote: »

So he says you need a:

New goalkeeper
New RB cover
New CB cover [possible could be the same player]
2 central midfielder if Flamini stays, 3 if not.
New top class winger
New striker

Ah well at least we're sorted here, Villa's in the bag lads!:p

Royale with Cheese

I really don't think the list is that absurd, he's stretching in it when he says a new goalkeeper is needed but apart from that the squad could use new players in every other area he's suggested.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I really don't think the list is that absurd, he's stretching in it when he says a new goalkeeper is needed but apart from that the squad could use new players in every other area he's suggested.

Yes but what is absurd is that Wenger would never buy that many players. I think the max he'll buy is 3, with a bit of luck 4/5 including a few youngsters depending on if players head out the door.

Pepe LeFrits

8 new players is absurd.

The teams in the wafer cup places wouldn't even need 8 new players to compete for the title.

PHB

I think you could argue you need all those players to get to the perfect squad.

Like United, if they kept all their players this summer, and signed a new RB, another winger, and a striker, they'd have a perfect squad able to cope with pretty much anything.

Then again, who ever has a perfect squad?

Pepe LeFrits

Me. I signed Iker Casillas, Manuel Neuer, Marcelo, Vincent Kompany, Lucio, Miguel Veloso, Lorik Cana, Rafael van der Vaart, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sergio Aguero, Goran Pandev and Karim Benzema.

But that was in FM2008, and not reality. Some people seem to get them confused.

Peyton Manning

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Me. I signed Iker Casillas, Manuel Neuer, Marcelo, Vincent Kompany, Lucio, Miguel Veloso, Lorik Cana, Rafael van der Vaart, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sergio Aguero, Goran Pandev and Karim Benzema.

But that was in FM2008, and not reality. Some people seem to get them confused.

For FM2008, thats a hell of a squad. May I also suggest Renato Augusto.

Bounty Hunter

It wont happen (or atleast really isnt likely now) but Micah Richards really is exactley what Arsenal need IMO. fills the R/CB role suggested perfectley and would be worth the ridiculously big fee you would have to pay for him. Just like im sure Man utd fans would say Rio was worth the then record fee the payed for him.

Pepe LeFrits

I'd rather someone a bit more adept at reading the game than Richards. There is better value for money out there anyway.

Linked to Amauri today. Can't see it.

I wonder if Wenger would go for Robinho again? Not sure he'd be suited to playing on the wings anyway. Wenger will probably go for a lesser name like Dimitrov or Sulejmani.

Galvasean

Id love to get David Villa or Benzema, but i doubt we'd pay the money for either

AnCapaillMor

I wish Villa had said nothing, because i know there's no way we'll go for him.

gosplan

Villa would be great and I can't see any reason not to go for him.

We'll be starting next season with Ade, Bendtner and the rarely fit Van Persie. If we want to still be in the hunt at Christmas we need another striker.

Why the hell Would we not go for Villa if we have the money and he's interested?

Also reading the stuff about Berbatov's agent pushing for a move, I thought about how comically funny it would be to sign him from the spuds. :D He'd suit our play as well but might be a bit on the lazy side.

Pepe LeFrits

gosplan wrote: »

Villa would be great and I can't see any reason not to go for him.

We'll be starting next season with Ade, Bendtner and the rarely fit Van Persie. If we want to still be in the hunt at Christmas we need another striker.

I don't agree with that. We started this season with only van Persie, newly signed Eduardo and a rookie Bendtner. Not long after Adebayor returned did we lose van Persie. We still led for most of the season.

gosplan

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I don't agree with that. We started this season with only van Persie, newly signed Eduardo and a rookie Bendtner. Not long after Adebayor returned did we lose van Persie. We still led for most of the season.

OK maybe out by Christmas is harsh but I don't think we should be relying on Van Persie's fitness and to get us through to chirstmas when Eduardo may or may not be coming back. Bendtner has got potential but unless he improves drastically during the summer, he's not good enough to be a key part of a title winning squad.

If Arsenal want to win the title next year, Arsenal should sign another striker.

Pepe LeFrits

I think it's clear that another attacking player is required, but for me that can be a wide midfielder instead of a striker. Most teams, including ourselves these days, don't play 4-4-2 anymore. At best it is usually a 4-4-1-1. Adebayor has the main striker role locked down, with Bendtner as understudy, while we have van Persie, Eduardo, Walcott, Vela and Hleb as options for the support role. Although not ideally suited to it, van Persie can play up top with someone supporting him too.

For me that is a lot stronger than the competition in the wide positions, where we have Hleb, Rosicky, Diaby, Eboue, Walcott and Vela. Most of whom aren't very well suited to the role at all.

MBC

Supposely New Arsenal Shirts for the 08-09 season:

Home and Away

Also Home in 3D

PHB

"Arsenal is now another team added to the list of teams interested in Amauri," the player's agent Mariano Grimaldi told Terra Brazil.

"We have already received proposals from Liverpool and Real Madrid, in addition to what we already had from Juventus."

Seems the transfer season is starting early.

Royale with Cheese

MBC wrote: »

Supposely New Arsenal Shirts for the 08-09 season:

Home and Away

Also Home in 3D

uggh they're not good