Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

GuanYin

Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread July 14th 2008

This thread is for team talk, Gossip and Rumours pertaining to Arsenal. This thread is open for all users to post in. There are no preferences for fans of any team.

Please note the following Rules:

1. NO MATCH DISCUSSIONS
- Match threads will be created for matches/match weeks where required.
- Match discussion will be deleted.


2. Transfers.
- When a major transfer occurs, please post in the specific thread
- We will merge/split discussion on requests
- We will delete transfer discussion that continues here while a tangent thread is in progress.

3. Users who repeatedly ignore these guidelines will receive warnings/bans.

Previous Discussion Thread is located here

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Oooh whats all this then?

First reply!...ish

Aaaaaaanyway, not a hope we could afford Arshavins wages. Tis a shame cos he would have been a nice addition to the squad

OPENROAD

His agent certainly seems to be talking up Arsenal, I think we are in for a very interesting couple of weeks of transfers.

leninbenjamin

it was also in a few papers today that Arshavin's asking price has fallen to about 16million (as opposed to 24 mentioned earlier).

I think at this stage his agent is trying to engineer a move. i'd be surprised if he went to any of the big clubs, they don't need him. a more midtable club like newcastle/spurs beckons i think.

Galvasean

I saw the quotes from Arshavin's agent. Sounds like he's very interested in joining us. With the reported drop in price who knows?

In other news Kerrea Gilbert has joined Leicester on loan.

Galvasean

Ray Parlour hangs up his boots:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/7494043.stm
Sad to hear. He was one of my faves.

Also appears season ticket prices have gone up:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/7506193.stm

OPENROAD

Galvasean wrote: »

Also appears season ticket prices have gone up:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/7506193.stm

To be fair they have not gone up for a few years, would like to think it will be a few years before the nxt increase.

Frisbee

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I think at this stage his agent is trying to engineer a move. i'd be surprised if he went to any of the big clubs, they don't need him. a more midtable club like newcastle/spurs beckons i think.

Too be honest i think he got too big a head after having praise heaped upon him after one sterling performance.
Now that the hubbub has died down and people have realised they can get better players for less than what he's deemed to be worth he's going to have to settle for less.
I'd expect to see him at someone like newcastle tbh...

gosplan

I just don't see the need for Arshavin right now.

We've signed Nasri, Vela is coming through, Walcott will be a first teamer this year, as will Eduardo when he's back, as will Rosicky if he's back(can't believe Eduardo will probably recover first). Add RVP to that, Bendtner as the supersub, and Arshavin is clearly a total luxury at a highly inflated price.

Pepe LeFrits

We need an attacking midfield player, whether that's Arshavin or somebody else.

Vela, Walcott, Eduardo, Bendtner and van Persie are all strikers who typically aren't very effective in midfield. It is looking like the only options of real quality we'll have for the wide positions will be Rosicky and Nasri. The former obviously has fitness issues and it remains to be seen how the latter will perform. After that all we've got are square pegs for round holes in the form of Walcott, Vela, Diaby, Eboue etc.

Mr. Incognito

Hi there,

as a neutral it seems that arsenal is lacking a defensive/holding midfielder- they play amazing football and score at will but have been fairly suspect at holding leads.

Also- do you guys think Nasri will start? He's not joining the squad until the 21st. The pre-season friendlies may be the best indication of whether he will slot into the first team.

jank

Dont think he will be on the team sheet day one but will def be there after a few weeks, especially if Hleb goes.
I would be happy for Hleb to go and Arshvian to come in.

gosplan

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We need an attacking midfield player, whether that's Arshavin or somebody else.

Vela, Walcott, Eduardo, Bendtner and van Persie are all strikers who typically aren't very effective in midfield. It is looking like the only options of real quality we'll have for the wide positions will be Rosicky and Nasri. The former obviously has fitness issues and it remains to be seen how the latter will perform. After that all we've got are square pegs for round holes in the form of Walcott, Vela, Diaby, Eboue etc.

I'm kind of viewing him as a second striker, which we don't need.

Depending on Rosicky's fitness, yeah we might need another midfielder but as cover primarily and I don't think it's him.

He just more unproven attacking talent which we have enough of.

Also, I know Wenger and everyone sees Walcott as a striker but he was great on the wing towards the end of last year. If he tracked back a bit more, he'd be one of the league's best there.

leninbenjamin

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We need an attacking midfield player, whether that's Arshavin or somebody else.

but Fabegas, Rosicky, Nasri, (with Ramsey in reserve) can all do the central midfield attacking role that's basically Fabregas's. RVP, Rosicky, and Nasri (along with Vela i think) can all play in the 'hole' as Hleb did last season. another central player isn't needed imo. an out and out winger for the left maybe but i don't think another primarily central player along the lines of Arshavin is needed.

Galvasean

I hear Gilberto is off to Panatanaikos (however you spell it) for £2million. If tahts true we will almost certainly need a new holding midfielder, unless Wenger really has that much faith in Denilson (who I always saw as more of a creative midfielder), Song or possibly Djourou.

I also think Walcott should be our first choice right winger. In the later stages of teh season he showed us his amazing pace and pin point accurate crosses. Certainly a better option than Eboué who I hope we sell.

Pepe LeFrits

leninbenjamin wrote: »

but Fabegas, Rosicky, Nasri, (with Ramsey in reserve) can all do the central midfield attacking role that's basically Fabregas's. RVP, Rosicky, and Nasri (along with Vela i think) can all play in the 'hole' as Hleb did last season. another central player isn't needed imo. an out and out winger for the left maybe but i don't think another primarily central player along the lines of Arshavin is needed.

I’d view Arshavin the same as I’d view Hleb, he’s an attacking midfield player who is at his best in the hole behind the strikers but is very accomplished out side. van Persie, Eduardo etc are strikers who aren’t very accomplished in the wide midfield positions.

Rosicky, Nasri and Walcott as the wide midfield options will not be good enough to win us the league next season.

Frisbee

Rosicky, Nasri, Walcott and Vela can all play in an AM role.
And Vela, Rosicky and Nasri can all certaintly play in the hole.
We dont need another attacking player.
We need a DM and a CB

Pepe LeFrits

Well, if we lose Hleb and don't sign another attacking midfield player, I'll remind you of this thread when Fabregas gets injured next season and our game falls completely flat on its face like it did it against Boro.

leninbenjamin

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Well, if we lose Hleb and don't sign another attacking midfield player, I'll remind you of this thread when Fabregas gets injured next season and our game falls completely flat on its face like it did it against Boro.

last season though Rosicky was out for most of it. i'm quite confident that he'll be able to offer cover to Fabregas this year in the centre. that's his natural game anyway, if slightly more withdrawn.

Pepe LeFrits

In his two seasons here, Wenger has never used Rosicky as a central midfielder in the Fabregas role. Like Hleb, he uses him purely as a wide midfielder or in the hole.

Plus, if he did actually start using him as a central midfielder, it'd make us look even thinner on the wings.

It seems fairly irrelevant anyway as it doesn't look like Rosicky is going to stay fit this season either.

leninbenjamin

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

It seems fairly irrelevant anyway as it doesn't look like Rosicky is going to stay fit this season either.

have there been any developments on this front? i thought he was to be back for preseason.

Indie18

i heard on the news today at lunch time that arsenal are aparently looking at the deal with liverpool and gareth barry. i didn't hear the full story though. i wonder how much truth is behind this one

OPENROAD

Indie18 wrote: »

i heard on the news today at lunch time that arsenal are aparently looking at the deal with liverpool and gareth barry. i didn't hear the full story though. i wonder how much truth is behind this one

Martin O'Neill has confirmed that Arsenal have enquired through Pat Rice about Barry, so early days yet.

Galvasean

Apparently Arsenal want to be 'kept informed' of the transfer. Assumedly they will only step in if either
a) Liverpool's deal falls through
b) the transfer isn't too hefty

Fuzzy_Dunlop

I'd agree that we could do with another attacking player, if/when Hleb leaves, preferably a winger mainly due to Rosicky's unreliability. However i would personally prioritise some sort of defensive minded signing first of all, Barry would do fine, for now:pac:

OPENROAD

What are the chances of Wenger playing Walcott as a striker this season, I know he has mentioned it as a position he sees him playing.

DenMan

OPENROAD wrote: »

What are the chances of Wenger playing Walcott as a striker this season, I know he has mentioned it as a position he sees him playing.

Will England play him in that role in the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers?, I am very interested about that. Also Rosicky has played in the middle for the Czech Republic and he is comfortable playing there. A nice selection headache for Wenger to have, knowing his players have the ability to play in a few different positions.

Royale with Cheese

Gilberto off to Greece apparently.

So assuming that goes through the summer so far has been:

In: Ramsey, Vela, Nasri

Out: Lehmann, Flamini, Hleb (very likely), Adebayor (dunno how likely, I'll go with 50/50), Gilberto

Doesn't exactly fill me with joy looking at that.

Galvasean

I still think we should have swooped for Richard Dunne while he was available.
I mean at CB we have Gallas+Touré. Then theres Senderos (clumsy), Song (unproven midfielder), Djourou (injury prone+unproven).
I wonder will we catch a glimpse of Nordveidt in the CC or pre season?

leninbenjamin

one of the strangest transfer stories i've seen so far. this time the independent. seem to suggest that Arsenal will make a bid for Barry once the Gilberto sale is finished, but then completely backtrack and suggest it's unlikely...

Arsenal expect to be in a position to make an offer for Gareth Barry this week when they finally close the deal to sell their former captain Gilberto Silva to Panathinaikos. The Brazilian is flying to Athens today to sign a three-year deal with the Greek club that should be worth around £5m to Arsenal.

Aston Villa announced yesterday that Barry will return to training today, although at which club he will start the new season is by no means clear. The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has let it be known to the club's hierarchy that he rates the England midfielder highly and Wenger rarely discloses the identity of a transfer target until he is reasonably certain that he is sure of the player's suitability. His Villa counterpart, Martin O'Neill, confirmed this week that Arsenal have made a preliminary inquiry.

The relationship between Villa and Liverpool has been soured by Rafael Benitez's very public pursuit of Barry, leaving O'Neill much better disposed to a bid from another club. Villa do not regard selling their club captain as inevitable, but they are doubtful that Liverpool will ever be able to come up with a deal that is acceptable to them. Barry was fined two weeks' wages for criticising O'Neill for what he claimed was his manager's failure to move the deal along.

Gilberto is expected in Athens on a flight from Brazil this afternoon with a view to an announcement on his new three-year deal either today or tomorrow. Everton have made strenuous efforts to persuade him to speak to them, but the lure of a lucrative final payday for the 31-year-old was decisive in the end. Everton's interest was real but the club did not move quickly enough to put together a deal sufficiently competitive for the Brazilian.

Villa were due to play a friendly against Lincoln City last night and play in Denmark against Odense on Saturday in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup tie. It is doubtful whether Barry, whose pre-season effectively begins today, would play in either match. The key factor is whether Arsenal will pay the £18m fee that has proved such a sticking point for Liverpool. Wenger has lost Mathieu Flamini and is about to sell Gilberto, but even he must balk at paying that size of fee for a holding midfielder. The club's record fee is around the £12.5m- £13m mark, which was roughly what was paid for Sylvain Wiltord, Jose Antonio Reyes and Eduardo da Silva.

Arsenal's chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, suggested yesterday that Arsenal were not preparing to make a major signing. "Buying a whole lot of stars and hoping to mould them together is one way of doing it, but it is not Arsène's way," he said. "He prefers to build long term as best he can and develop young players in the way he wants them to play. I am very much in favour of that. There is an awful lot of talk about big transfers, but throughout the UK and Europe that money is not quite as easy to obtain as it used to be. A lot of people don't seem to realise that in the long run you must run a football club on a sensible commercial basis."

also Arseblogger has a nice entry on the weak state of affairs in the transfer market this morning. seems to think that Adebayor will be forced to stay because no one is willing to go in for him.

Raskolnikov

There's no chance we'll see Barry at Arsenal.

IrishMike

No chance, he is not what Arsenal need in their midfield.
They need someone to replace Flamini and for me Barry is not that type of player at all.

Pepe LeFrits

I wouldn't think it likely either.

If Gilberto goes, and it looks likely now, I’d say Wenger will bring in another midfield player. We’ll have lost Gilberto, Flamini and Diarra in the space of the year. While there’s the possibility that he could decide to promote from within and use Denilson, Djourou, Song and Diaby, he hasn’t typically displayed that much confidence in these players before so it’d be surprising if he were to make that leap of faith now. Personally I’d like to promote from within AND keep Gilberto as an insurance policy instead of signing someone new.

Regarding Nordtveit – I’d say he’s a dead cert to start in the Carling Cup this year. He was going to start last season but he suffered an injury that ruled him out. Wenger seems to rate him extremely highly – saying he needs to improve physically but is otherwise ready for Premiership football – and he spent the guts of £2m on him, which he doesn’t do for 17 year olds too often.

Indie18

According to the sky sports news web site hleb is in barcalona for a medical today so i would imagine he will be gone in the next couple of days. although i think he is over rated a little he is still a very good player and they need to bring somebody in to replace him sharpish.

IrishMike

Very suprised Wenger didnt try and do an exchange for Toure in that deal to be honest.
Quality player and exactly what the Arsenal midfield need in my opinion

Indie18

IrishMike wrote: »

Very suprised Wenger didnt try and do an exchange for Toure in that deal to be honest.
Quality player and exactly what the Arsenal midfield need in my opinion

there gonna need a player in that position as well as hlebs position now that gilberto looks to be on the way out. it's gonna be the same type of season for arsenal as the last few where arsen wenger puts too much fate in youth and will just end up with nothing again which in turn will lead to more players leaving next season and the cycle will continue. gloomy for arsenal fans.

yahoo_moe

leninbenjamin wrote: »

also Arseblogger has a nice entry on the weak state of affairs in the transfer market this morning. seems to think that Adebayor will be forced to stay because no one is willing to go in for him.

Much like Drogba, it seems - and almost the way the Hleb transfer went at one point. Seems to be a slow summer with inflated prices making a lot of deals impossible so far. Though from an Arsenal point of view, this might have to change soon if last season is going to be improved upon.

I know Wenger's on record as saying that Walcott will end up as a striker but surely at this stage, he'll be first choice out wide with Rosicky/Nasri taking the other side between them and Ramsey as occasional impact sub? I'm struggling to see who Wenger could possibly bring in now as an established first-teamer (like everyone else, a move for Barry would really surprise me...)

It also looks like Denilson/Fabregas as first choice CM pairing which is messy if we also consider Denilson as our best cover option for Fabregas... lot of ifs and buts at the moment

PHB

I don't think you'll miss Hleb that much. To me he typifies Arsenal of 2 years ago, amazing up to the box, not much after it. His goals and assists record is just utterly shocking for a player of his talents.

I do think you must be looking at another midfielder. If you can get that and another defender or two, experienced if at all possible, you'd be doing well.

gosplan

Indie18 wrote: »

there gonna need a player in that position as well as hlebs position now that gilberto looks to be on the way out. it's gonna be the same type of season for arsenal as the last few where arsen wenger puts too much fate in youth and will just end up with nothing again which in turn will lead to more players leaving next season and the cycle will continue. gloomy for arsenal fans.

Some managers buy good teams, I think Wenger builds them.

He was in the middle of building a new and successful Arsenal team when his plans were derailed by Flamini, Diarra, Hleb and possibly Adebayor.

I think we've no choice but to throw another year at it due to these setbacks because Arsne has never been a chequebook manager.

The worrying thing is that when your style is to buy young players and give them time to settle in, it's a very worrying thing when players agitate for moves away. Team loyalty is really important to Arsenal and it seems that that's on the wane.

(I kind of excuse Flamini cause we didn't show him much loyalty till he got good - trying to flog him to Boro and all that)

gosplan

What about that young dutch man-mountain that played midfield in the Euros.

Enkellar or something?

Was he DMF? He seems like an us signing.

leninbenjamin

gosplan wrote: »

What about that young dutch man-mountain that played midfield in the Euros.

Enkellar or something?

Was he DMF? He seems like an us signing.

Engelaar. just signed for Schalke anyway. overrated imo, i didn't think the dutch midfield looked fantastic, they didn't retain the ball enough for my liking and their offensive presence is almost non existant. they relied on the likes of Schneider, van der vaart coming deep or else a quick counter. not good enough for Arsenal imo.

Arsenal don't need a sitting midfielder anyway, too static for their system. the success Flamini had came from his ability to be everywhere on the pitch. you were just as likely to find him closing down in the opponents half as his own. the ideal signing must be a counterweight for Fabregas, which your typical DMs never do, they just patrol their own patch usually. DMs sit and absorb, where Arsenal need people who press.

Pepe LeFrits

gosplan wrote: »

I think we've no choice but to throw another year at it due to these setbacks because Arsne has never been a chequebook manager.

Frankly if Arsene does not make signings this summer to address the flaws in the squad that have been evident for three seasons now, he should get the sack.

leninbenjamin

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Arsene ... should get the sack.

:eek:

eZe^

Recently on a Barca forum an apparently intelligent Arsenal fan posted this about Hleb;

''Arsenal fan (and season ticket holder) here. It's no secret that Hleb is about to join Barcelona, and I, for one, am really annoyed. He is a top quality player and the best player Arsenal have -- yes, even better than the vastly overrated for his looks and age, Cesc.

Anyone who will have watched Hleb play more than a couple of games will immediately realise he does create a shedload of chances. It's just fortunate for us (Arsenal) that we have poor finishers getting on the end of what he creates. Those who simply look at the assist figures are showing themselves to be clueless. The "Hleb doesn't create" is a fallacy. And a laughable one at that.

One aspect on which he does need to improve on is his goalscoring. I cannot (and don't wish to) make any excuses about that. For an attacking midfielder (despite being played out of position) he does not score enough. He has been guilty of overplaying which is startling when you consider he does have a decent shot on him.

He isn't young, nor is he too old. He has only just turned 27, so the "he's nearly 28" folk can do one. Just 28 days older than Arshavin, who is not considered too old...go figure. He still has years left in him at the top. Like Bobby Pires, he should be able to carry on going until 31/32, at the least. 4/5 years is a long time.

The best thing for Barcelona is that his game is 100% suited to their style of football and La Liga. The amount of times he gets kicked is ridiculous. It's something Arsene Wenger has complained about, but it still goes on. Hleb is a player opposition in England target because they know just how influential he can be. Without generalising too much, it's suffice to say the rigor of the Premier League has finally got to him, and he knows he'll be able to perform much better in La Liga where there is an emphasis on technical, creative play as opposed to the more physical approach in England. But I'm sure you lot know more than Pep, eh?

All in all, I don't know what you muppets are moaning about. He is due to complete his move in the next couple of days, and I am gutted about it. You have a history of taking our best players, but this will be the most annoyed I've been at a player leaving since you took Overmars in the summer of 2000. I was nowhere near this concerned with you took Thierry because I knew he was past it. Hleb isn't. He is the real deal, and you guys better make sure you give him a warm welcome because he is going to take La Liga by storm.''


Ignore the silly comment about Fabregas, because we all can agree that Fabregas is one of the most ridiculously talented kids of the noughties!

How can an avid fan of Arsenal try to defend Hlebs absolutely atrocious scoring/ assist record? He tries to blame it on arsenals 'lack of cutting edge infront of goal'.. It seems like a bit of a cop out...

Ive been dwelling on this Hleb transfer for a while, and my conclusion is- He'll never come near to replacing Deco or Ronaldinho, and he may not be a first choice player, but he's actually the perfect squad player. He is a very hard worker, and his style of play may suit Barca perfectly, as Arsenal are the closest to Barca's style that I can think of.. Also, reports are claiming he will be quite cheap, which is quite a good thing for us, as we always pay over the odds for Arsenals players as Wenger is a genius in the market...


Another arsenal supporter posted this, and Im much more inclined to agree with this;

''So much rubbish is coming out of the mouth of TH14. Firstly, you blame our poor finishing for Hlebs poor assist record. Ok let me finish that silly argument with four simple points:

1) Walcott has got 12 assists for Arsenal even though he played less minutes (probably half the minutes, in fact) and one less season.
2) Eduardo got 8 assists in 29 matches this season.
3) Fabregas got 23 assists this season alone.
4) Eboue has got 12 assists in his three seasons at Arsenal despite playing at RB for two seasons and barely playing on the wing this season.

I've shown that everyone else's number of assists hasn't been affected at Arsenal despite your claim of poor finishing, so how the f*** has Hleb's been affected? He is not an exception to the rule. How you are blaming finishing is beyond me and I total destroyed that argument. Dont bother replying...

Secondly, these fans are hardly muppets moaning about a player who is quite old but still hasn't shown his football to be anything other than 'art'; what I mean by that is he can produce beautiful moments BUT whats the use of producing these moments when these things rarely turn into goals?

Hleb has only produced key moments (assists and goals) 25 times in three seasons. Now lets compare that to Fabregas's key moments over the past three seasons and then you'll realise your argument has no basis; Fabregas has 66 key moments (goals and assists) in the past three years. Furthermore, Fabregas has 36 key moments from last season alone - more than Hleb has in his three years at Arsenal. They play similarly attacking roles.

I hope you get me there. Key moments = Goals and Assists by a player.

You say he is being played out of position but where is he going to be played at Barca? Out of position. Thus, it is vital to know how effictive he is going to be in that exact position. Therefore, the out of position argument has no basis in this topic.

He poccesses a lot of the qualities of Bergkamp and Deco... only he cannot finish or find the killer ball often enough to play for Barcelona.

Dont try and fool people because they don't watch Arsenal as much as you. You wont get away with that sort of bull**** with me around.''

Galvasean

PHB wrote: »

I don't think you'll miss Hleb that much. To me he typifies Arsenal of 2 years ago, amazing up to the box, not much after it. His goals and assists record is just utterly shocking for a player of his talents.

Agreed, personally i think heis one of the best dribblers of tha ball in the modern game and his positioning is exceptional. But as you said his end product is woeful. At the end of teh day you can do as many beautiful dribbles and skillful moves as you like, but if you don't create goals you are not a good attacking midfielder.

leninbenjamin

I agree with the first poster really. Hleb's contribution to Arsenal over the past few seasons has been immense. he may not be statistically as good as Cesc an co. but so often he was the guy who started off their entire move! plenty of those assists wouldn't have happened if Hleb wasn't on the park.

However while i was disappointed at the prospect of Hleb leaving, it's clear his mentality i all wrong. i'm not convinced he'll be a success at the Camp Nou for this reason alone. he comes across as the type of player who enjoys being a big fish in a small pond, rather than actively challenging and working to improve himself. for this reason i really don't care about him any more.

Pepe LeFrits

Not sure how Guardiola intends on using Hleb so it is hard to say how he will fare there but he is a very good player. He doesn't score many or directly assist many because of his personality - he doesn't take responsibility, he shirks it... which I guess partially explains why he's leaving, because he feels that Arsenal won't win him trophies. At the other end of the spectrum you've got someone like Fabregas, who is staying at Arsenal because he wants to win Arsenal trophies (note the important difference), and this is visible on the pitch as it is Fabregas who takes responsibility and takes risks.

What Hleb will do at Barcelona is make them even silkier, harder to get the ball off, and he'll make Barca more effective at working the ball up the pitch, even against packed defences. He won't put the finishing touches on moves though, so they'll need someone else to do that.

yahoo_moe

Hleb was a huge part of Arsenal's success last season and assist stats (alone) are a load of crap as the basis for an entire argument about a player's ability - is a player who taps the ball 6 inches for an indirect free-kick better than the player who carries the ball past three challenges and wins that free kick?

Hleb's 'end product' wasn't always there but he wasn't always needed (or intended) to be an 'end product' player... even apart from his ball retention/carrying and his passing (often working positions for an assist from Fabregas or anyone else), the amount of free-kicks he won in great attacking positions was unreal...

Time's right for him to go if he wants to but it leaves a big gap in the team and the football they played with him in it.

Galvasean

Tony gets our #3
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=492960&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Gunners%27+Greatest+Players+-+3.+Tony+Adams

As for Hleb, how many times this season alone has he been in a goalscoring opportunity position, only to hesitate, stall and pass it to someone in a worse position, wasting the chance?

jank

Hleb is a very good technical player but flatters to decieve IMO.
What concerns me is the gilberto story. If he goes what will our CM be like?

Its the same old story really. Always building but never stable enough to challenge fully.
That will be 3 players gone from Arsenal now, all of them midfielders. Now with Nasri we have a replacement for Hleb but none whatsoever for flamini or gilberto.
The team is weaker then it was last year and everyone and their dog knew that it needed to be strengthened in key areas. Now if gilberto does go I will think there will definately be a replacement brought in, but that will probably be it for the summer!

The defensive issues will have been ignored again and of course where is our winger we have been craving for the last 2 years? Never mind the luxury of a goalkeeper!

Im telling you now Cesc will be gone next year! After that the game will be up. Wenger cannot work miracles every year. The board want to have their cake but eat it too.

Im_No_Superman

I see Alonso is being linked with Arsenal today, probaly just agent talk but would you see him as a good signing? Himself and Fabregas would be abit too similar to play together imo, an interesting propostion though.

Xabi Alonso's agent has claimed the Liverpool midfielder is aware of interest from Arsenal.

The Spaniard has seen a possible move to Juventus hit the buffers after the Italian giants signed Christian Poulsen from Sevilla.

However, reports continue to suggest that Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is prepared to sell Alonso to fund his own spending plans.

Alonso is rated in the £14million bracket and has now been linked with a move to the Reds' Premier League rivals Arsenal.
Up to Liverpool

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is in the market for a midfielder after losing Mathieu Flamini, while Gilberto Silva is set to join Panathinaikos.

Reports in Spain suggest contact has been made between the two clubs and the 26-year-old's agent Inaki Ibanez says the player is waiting for Liverpool's decision.

"The player knows about this subject and now the decision lies with Liverpool," Ibanez told Spanish newspaper Publico.

Alonso's sale would give Benitez the funds to sign Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry, who has also been linked with a move to Arsenal.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_3825590,00.html