Arsenal Predictions

patrickc

where do you predict Arsenal finishing this season in the champions league, fa cup and premiership, with the new signings, the loss of Henry etc, I think we'd all ideally like to see them win the lot. my predictions are to win the fa cup, to come 2nd in premiership and to get to at least the semis in the champions league, oh and they will win the Carling cup also..

RE*AC*TOR

Premiership - 4th
FA Cup - who knows, who cares
Champions League - Quarter Finals

I think the notion that Arsenal are somehow stronger having shed the dead weight of Henry is laughable. Still there's plenty of talent in the squad, a couple of injuries though, and I'd worry about the depth.

PHB

Can't say until their transfers are done and United's and Liverpool's are done. Right now, I think they are better than Liverpool. Last season they were as good as Liverpool, with massive injuries, to key players such as Henry. If anything, they will be better from last year, not because of shifting Henry, but because they will have more strikers to play with. They have also strengthened in their weakest areas, full backs. I don't think they are done yet in the market either.

GuanYin

I dunno, Henry is a loss to any team so I wouldn't call him dead weight.

What I will say is that they cantered into 4th place last season without him and without Van Persie and other key players for long periods.

With Van Persie back and the depth they've brought in, I think they may be a player away from having caught up with United and Chelsea in terms of potential. I don't know about Pool, if they gel, I actually think they may have moved ahead.

All that said, United still look the best team in the league.

patrickc

psi wrote:

I dunno, Henry is a loss to any team so I wouldn't call him dead weight.

What I will say is that they cantered into 4th place last season without him and without Van Persie and other key players for long periods.

With Van Persie back and the depth they've brought in, I think they may be a player away from having caught up with United and Chelsea in terms of potential. I don't know about Pool, if they gel, I actually think they may have moved ahead.

All that said, United still look the best team in the league.

van persie is world class, walcott will strutt his stuff this season, de silvia should be a good addition to the team, denilson is also a great player, gallos is to mch talk and not enough action, we have a good team so far as said above lets see what transfer deadline brings, Henry will be missed and he was sold too cheaply..

LegacyUser

patrickc2006 wrote:

van persie is world class, walcott will strutt his stuff this season, de silvia should be a good addition to the team, denilson is also a great player, gallos is to mch talk and not enough action, we have a good team so far as said above lets see what transfer deadline brings, Henry will be missed and he was sold too cheaply..

Will Walcott be getting his game though? What about Denilson? Will they be playing regularly?

It's for fantasy football purposes

Reganio 2

Premiership - Hope you get relegated, but I think you will finish 4th.
Fa cup - Win or Semis although I hope you get knocked out by Accrington Stanly
Champs League - You wont get past the group stages.

AnCapaillMor

Reganio 2 wrote:

Fa cup - Win or Semis although I hope you get knocked out by Accrington Stanly

After we knock the pool out again.

Don't want to predict. 2nd/3rd in league.
Fa cup as someone said who cares.
Champions League, a good run semis.

Pepe LeFrits

patrickc

cheesedude wrote:

Will Walcott be getting his game though? What about Denilson? Will they be playing regularly?

It's for fantasy football purposes

it's not for fanasy football at all, just for my little heads imagination

mike65

Impossible to say unless we know what the other 19 terams do. But if recent form remains true (and taking recent signings into account) then no better than 4th and maybe Spurs can move up a notch.

Mike.

LegacyUser

patrickc2006 wrote:

it's not for fanasy football at all, just for my little heads imagination

Yeah but will those players be playing i.e. walcott and denilson? Will they be first teamers?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Walcott might be a bit but Denilson still needs to usurp Gilberto and Fabregas to become a first teamer so i don't think that'll be too soon

Galvasean

Reganio 2 wrote:

Premiership - Hope you get relegated, but I think you will finish 4th.
Fa cup - Win or Semis although I hope you get knocked out by Accrington Stanly
Champs League - You wont get past the group stages.

Bitter about something?

Premiership - 3rd (behind Man U and Chelski in that order)

FA Cup - Final, possibly win it

Carling Cup - Youth team to reach the semis

Champions League - Quarter final, beaten by eventual cup winners

beer enigma

A lot of the predictions depend on ownership through........it looks certain that there will be a takeover now - first Kroenke stating his interest & now Bernie Ecclestone.....

Could completely change the landscape at the club

redzerdrog

prem- 4th

FA cup- semis

league cup-quarters

champions league- group stage

uafe cup-winners;)

cson

As Andip said with rumours of a takeover being imminent it could change the landscape drastically. It'd be interesting to see what Wenger could do with a nice bit of money at his disposal. It'd be nice for us to become a buying club too, we've been a selling club for quite some time now, Vieira, Petit, Overmars, Anelka and now Henry.

AnCapaillMor

cson wrote:

As Andip said with rumours of a takeover being imminent it could change the landscape drastically. It'd be interesting to see what Wenger could do with a nice bit of money at his disposal. It'd be nice for us to become a buying club too, we've been a selling club for quite some time now, Vieira, Petit, Overmars, Anelka and now Henry.

Nah then we can't b1tch about spuds, them, pool and united. We'll have no excuses.

maxi-twist

If fabregas gets injured/leaves. Arsenal will have a terrible season, if he plays they'll come 4th. He makes such a difference to that team,its unbleieveable. If he doesnt play well then arsenal dont, when they had henry at least they could rely on him, i cant see any other person in the team to give a spark of inspiration. Other than perhaps van persie,if he can stay injury free. Rosisky isnt that well suited to the premiership IMO, i just cant see him cutting it. Walcotts to young and inexperienced, hleb is ****. Adebayor not great. I can only see on 20+ goal scorer in the entire team (van persie). They dont have anyone who provides consistency in scoring.

patrickc

cheesedude wrote:

Yeah but will those players be playing i.e. walcott and denilson? Will they be first teamers?

walcott definitely first team i think, denilson will be if fabregas gets injured me thinks!

patrickc

maxi-twist wrote:

Rosisky isnt that well suited to the premiership IMO, i just cant see him cutting it.

I disagree totally I think Rosiscky is a great player

AnCapaillMor

I have my doubts on rosicky too, but then again Pires was'nt the best when he started, he got better in the 2nd half of the season and was a legend ever season after.

Reganio 2

Galvasean wrote:

Bitter about something?

No just hate Arsenal.

PDN

patrickc2006 wrote:

I disagree totally I think Rosiscky is a great player

Rosicky isn't a great goal scorer, but he scores great goals. I like him because he has the potential to pull something special out of the bag to turn a game around.

Galvasean

Reganio 2 wrote:

No just hate Arsenal.

Don't want to start an argument or anything but is there a specific reason or do just hate all rival teams?

shatners basoon

Most supporters hate rival teams for the sole excuse that they're rival teams (its a pride willy waving contest), its not exclusive to any person or any group of followers of any club (its especially prominent here on the internet where people can't really be considered proper assholes for it!), bit of a pity really but at least it makes for some interesting idiotic "debates"!

Any way i fancy Arsenal to come 4th again behind (in order) Chelsea, United/Liverpool, possibly win a domestic cup (FA or League) and have a good run in the Champions league Qrs or Semis, largely due to the loss of the experience of Henry (father figure compensates for his moodiness) which whils i don't think will necesarily hinder them, will porssibly stop them from maturing to their potential.

Galvasean

I don't automatically hate rival teams myself. I only dislike Chelsea because of Abramovich. I don't like Spurs because every Spurs fan Ive ever met (bar one) acts like a bitter prick when they find out I like Arsenal.
Man Unted and Liverpool I appreciate/respect because they have some absolute quality footballers. You can't argue with skill.

maxi-twist

CAn anyone see them having a 15+ goalscorer other than van persie?

PHB

maxi-twist wrote:

CAn anyone see them having a 15+ goalscorer other than van persie?

Van Persie is he stays fit will defo get 15+ goals next season, just look at last seaons form for that. One player who can do that is all you need. Hell look at United last season, one player got over 15 goals in the league. He was a midfielder.
Goals come from everywhere on the pitch, especially for a team like Arsenal who play real attacking football.

It's not like Liverpool or Chelsea where the attack is organised in such a way you need a player like Drogba to chip in with 20+ goals to win the league. In a footballing style like Arsenal, the goals come from everywhere. Van Persie can chip in 15+ It won't surprise me in the slightest to see Eduardo knock in 15 goals next season. Gilberto to knock in about 10, Adebayor to knock in 7-10. With Toure and Gallas knocking in 2 or 3 each, they will defo score enough to win the league. The only area they are missing goals from is the wings, but Rosicky should have adjusted now and gotten better, and surely Hleb has to be better than last year. The question is imo, will they defend well enough

maxi-twist

PHB wrote:

It won't surprise me in the slightest to see Eduardo knock in 15 goals next season.

Is he any use? I had never really heard of him, totally out of the blue that was! Typical wenger!

PHB

He's 24.
Dinamo Zagreb
Appearances : 104
Goals : 73

It's not just for his club though, for country he has 8 goals in 14 appearances, scoring against Italy, England, and a hat-trick against Israel.

He's a proven goal-scorer everywhere he has played, and just because Wenger found him, it makes him all the more likely to be a cracking player.

patrickc

PHB wrote:

Van Persie is he stays fit will defo get 15+ goals next season, just look at last seaons form for that. One player who can do that is all you need. Hell look at United last season, one player got over 15 goals in the league. He was a midfielder.
Goals come from everywhere on the pitch, especially for a team like Arsenal who play real attacking football.

It's not like Liverpool or Chelsea where the attack is organised in such a way you need a player like Drogba to chip in with 20+ goals to win the league. In a footballing style like Arsenal, the goals come from everywhere. Van Persie can chip in 15+ It won't surprise me in the slightest to see Eduardo knock in 15 goals next season. Gilberto to knock in about 10, Adebayor to knock in 7-10. With Toure and Gallas knocking in 2 or 3 each, they will defo score enough to win the league. The only area they are missing goals from is the wings, but Rosicky should have adjusted now and gotten better, and surely Hleb has to be better than last year. The question is imo, will they defend well enough

id give gallas if he stops being a sulky child a good few more than 2/3 goals.. defence erm lets hope and keep our fingers crossed..

PHB

Well, I think the problem was in the full back areas. If Sagna works out,

Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy is pretty darn impressive. Clichy is clearly the weak link, but it's a fantastic central defence

maxi-twist

PHB wrote:

Appearances : 104
Goals : 73

Thats unbelieveable! I revoke my previous statement!

PHB

I know it's scary stats, no matter what the level of the league. But the stats he has for his country show he's just a natural goalscorer, it doesn't matter who he is playing

AnCapaillMor

Question is, can he handle the more physical nature of the premiership.

Pepe LeFrits

AnCapaillMor wrote:

Question is, can he handle the more physical nature of the premiership.

lol, he has come from the Croatian league. He is not starting a career in the ultimate fighting championship.

It is the pace of the league that he needs to adapt to.

PHB

That's always the question with imports Can they handle the strength and tempo of the premiership? Thing is, Arsenal in general don't play a physical game, so it'll be easier for him to settle in than say Shevchenko or Torres.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

maxi-twist wrote:

Thats unbelieveable! I revoke my previous statement!

Last year he also had the highest number of assists in the Croatian league as well as finishing with 34 goals in 32 matches, so hopefully he'll manage to at least not miss all those sitters á la Ade and Baptista, surely?. But sure we won't know how he's going to do really in the end in the premiership.


PHB, I think Clichy is great and with Traore making excellent progress the left back position isn't really in any trouble at all in my eyes. Don't know why you have a problem with Eboue, sure last year didn't he keep Ronaldo quiet;) The problem with the defence is that Gallas and Toure are too similar

PHB

playa3 wrote:

PHB, I think Clichy is great and with Traore making excellent progress the left back position isn't really in any trouble at all in my eyes. Don't know why you have a problem with Eboue, sure last year didn't he keep Ronaldo quiet;) The problem with the defence is that Gallas and Toure are too similar

I think Clichy is good, not top quality, nowhere near as good as say Cole (which you really need to be challenging)
My problem with Eboue is the same problem I had with Lauren. He is a cracking footballer, but defensively, there are big question marks imo.
I'd think Gallas and Toure can work together, they just didn't get a chance to gel last year.

Pepe LeFrits

Clichy was 3rd or 4th in Arsenal's player of the year last season which shows how he performed last season. There was **** all difference between him and the other LBs in the premiership.

There was however never any consistency in the CB pairing and Eboue was injured a lot, and he's never been great defensively even when he has been fit. Hopefully Sagna will solve that problem, but I'm not sure about Gallas/Toure.

~Rebel~

AnCapaillMor wrote:

Question is, can he handle the more physical nature of the premiership.

Well, he's played against 2 english style defences, Arsenal in the champions league, and England in a Euro qualifier, and scored against both so looks to be somewhat suited to it.

DSB

3rd place for Arsenal this season. They'll probably get through the CL groups but not much further. FA Cup is so difficult to predict. They could get Chelsea or something in the Third Round and that could be it. At least the CL is seeded and therefore far more easy to predict.

thebaz

My prediction is that arsenal will flop this year ...
with lyunberg joining henry , through the revolving door, nearly every team in the premiership is stronger , bar arsenal .. and with the boardroom crisis alive and kicking , today directors saying theres no problem and all is ok , while the experienced lyunberg leaves .... with the likelihood becoming less and less of a return of dein, i predict wegner to leave before the year is out and arsenal to muck about with ourselves (everton) , boro and villa in mid table.

Mitch Connor

there is an arsenal predictions thread.....

Wenger won't leave mid season - it simply won't happen

Mossy Monk

thebaz wrote:

while the experienced lyunberg leaves

Who was **** last season so he is no real loss at all.

Chong

Agreed, people are truly underestimating the gooners, Ljungberg was crap last season as Mossy said, and Henry was injured for most of last year. They still finished 3rd.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Agreed, Ljunberg was shite for the past two years and at least now maybe a new winger will come in

Raskolnikov

Premiership - 5th
FA Cup - who knows, who cares
Champions League - Group Stages

Money talks in football and as Arsenal found out last season, you simply cannot rest on your laurels and expect to compete for the Premier League. Arsene is a fantastic manager and if he proves me wrong then he cements his reputation as one of the greatest in the world.

thebaz

while i agree lyunberg has been pretty crap recently , where is the bottle and experience going to come from , particularly up north, on dirty wet nights -- i just see arsenal great young players , collapsing without any old heads ... keown, dixon, adams, viera ... with henry and lyunberg gone , whilst hardly hard men , at leat they were experinced .. sorry i see a crisis this season, and there is only so much wegner will take .

Necronomicon

It's so hard to call. As people say, Arsenal can just turn it on in their day and rip any team apart. I don't think Henry's departure will affect them badly, but I still think they could be caught out in the same places as always - who'll take the game by the scruff of the neck when they're playing a Bolton or a Blackburn and have to match them phsyically?

I dunno, I'm not gonna call it! I think Eduardo could be a great signing, and if Van Persie stays fit, with all the younger players another year older, who knows.