Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Frisbee

Think it was back in January?

leninbenjamin

Sky Sports News wrote:

Rosicky 'could play in December'

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes a December return for midfielder Tomas Rosicky is a realistic aim.

Rosicky is sidelined with a troublesome hamstring injury that has plagued the Czech international since January.

The former Borussia Dortmund playmaker has started just 37 Premier League games since he joined the Gunners in 2006, following a number of niggling injury setbacks.

Wenger admits it is 'very difficult' to precisely predict when Rosicky will be fit for first-team action, but is hopeful he could return before Christmas.
Duo update

"I monitor Rosicky's progress very closely, but at the moment it is very difficult to put a date on his comeback," Wenger said on the club's official website.

"We are not pessimistic about the future of his career, but we still need more patience.

"If he comes back before Christmas we have done very well - but I think we can achieve that, so in December he can play again."

Wenger also added that striker Eduardo, who is recovering from a broken leg, is on target to return ahead of schedule, while midfielder Abou Diaby should make his comeback from a thigh problem after the forthcoming international break.

****ing hell... i was under the impression he'd be well back by then.

who wants to start a pool to see how long it will be before he picks up another injury?

Galvasean

Is the Sunderland game on telly tomorrow?
I heard it was on Setanta. Checked arsenal.com they don't have it listed. It could be on Setanta Ireland though. They don't appear on arsenal.com

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Galvasean wrote: »

Is the Sunderland game on telly tomorrow?
I heard it was on Setanta. Checked arsenal.com they don't have it listed. It could be on Setanta Ireland though. They don't appear on arsenal.com

Yep Setanta Ireland

estebancambias

conor henderson injured for arsenal on his debut for the reserves..:(

Galvasean

Hope he gets through okay. Havent had an Irish first teamer since... Eddie McGoldrick

How good is he? Do u think he has a chance to make the Arsenal first team?

estebancambias

well its going to be very tough, especially after this injury which will put him back a good bit but it was rumoured chelsea had a 1 million pound bid rejected for him.

Pepe LeFrits

Too early to say really. If he is a bit special then we should start to hear a lot more about him over the next year as he is at age now.

estebancambias

he's out for the season now.

Pepe LeFrits

Really? Oh dear.

estebancambias

ye thats what i mean like...players will have the chance to push on while he will be left behind. anyway if hes good he could always make it somewhere else and no doubt being at Arsenal will stand to him in the future.

Pepe LeFrits

Can certainly happen alright; Henri Lansbury missed the majority of last season through injury/illness and his star has dimmed since, but the club still rate him and he is beginning to work his way back. Henderson will do the same if he's good enough.

Pepe LeFrits

Why Arsene persists on playing this 4-5-1 I don't know. It's awful. Cesc is completely wasted in the advanced role, as is van Persie on the wings.

Once again Bendtner was our best striker.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Yeah too true. He really needs to keep Nasri in the team, and then just mix things up front with Bendtner or Vela. Its clearly not working atm for the most part

OPENROAD

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Why Arsene persists on playing this 4-5-1 I don't know. It's awful. Cesc is completely wasted in the advanced role, as is van Persie on the wings.

Once again Bendtner was our best striker.

Certainly the way sunderland set out for the draw, everyone behind the ball, it seems a strange formation.

gosplan

I know everyone loves Walcott but I think he might be a rubbish winger.

Probably a great striker who can drift wide but a rubbish winger.

He's got shag-all vision. Not sure if you can develop that but hopefully he will.

Galvasean

One point from six? Hate to sound pessimistic but we can kiss the league goodbye. The mediocre teams have found us out - pack 9 into and around the box and crowd us out. Now every tom, dick n' harry team has a chance at getting one over us.
The highlight was Bendtner's performance. He came on and minced it about with the Sunderland backs, gave them a physical battle. It always took two men to get him away from the ball.
I don't look forward to this months Goal of the Month shortlist, it will just be a compilation of goals scored against us.

estebancambias

wenger has the best job in the world.

Dont be at yourself

On the plus side, with the international break coming up, it should offer ample opportunity for Wenger to reassess his squad and work on their problem areas like defending set-pieces.

You'd be unwise to write off Arsenal's chances at this stage. Players like Nasri, Denilson and Vela are only going to improve with game time. Arsenal have also traditionally done poorer against the less technical sides, but their midweek result underlines their quality.

estebancambias

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

On the plus side, with the international break coming up, it should offer ample opportunity for Wenger to reassess his squad and work on their problem areas like defending set-pieces.

You'd be unwise to write off Arsenal's chances at this stage. Players like Nasri, Denilson and Vela are only going to improve with game time. Arsenal have also traditionally done poorer against the less technical sides, but their midweek result underlines their quality.

How does that work?

OPENROAD

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

On the plus side, with the international break coming up, .

International break is bad for us imo, risk of injury and we always seem to play poor after the break, too many international breaks this season, no Arsenal for two weeks now

Pepe LeFrits

gosplan wrote: »

I know everyone loves Walcott but I think he might be a rubbish winger.

Probably a great striker who can drift wide but a rubbish winger.

He's got shag-all vision. Not sure if you can develop that but hopefully he will.

Strange comment; he's been one of our best players this season and has often been our main (and sometimes only) threat.

Dont be at yourself

How does that work?

Arsenal are undoubtedly at their best when playing against high quality, technical opposition. They have no trouble taking apart the likes of Porto, and I've no doubt they'll take points off Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool. However, time and time again they've come undone to the likes of Bolton and Blackburn. Look at the bad results this year... Fulham, Hull and Sunderland. All well-drilled, well-organised and physical teams, with not a huge amount of technical flair. A 4-5-1 passing game will be eaten up as these teams get numbers behind the ball, and Arsenal do seem to be lacking a Plan B at times like that.

International break is bad for us imo, risk of injury and we always seem to play poor after the break, too many international breaks this season, no Arsenal for two weeks now

I don't know, I would say Arsenal fans should welcome it. You've had something of a slow start to the league, so a bit of a break to refocus minds could do a world of good. Arsene too will welcome the chance to work on the training ground with those not on international duty.

estebancambias

Kieran Richardson, Andy Reid, Dwight Yorke, Dean Whithead, Steed Malbranque...hardly the most physical midfield in the world.

Actually I'd say only Whithead would be known as a tackler from that list.

What I mean is, everyone in the EPL other than the other three and Spurs and Man City could fit that decription as being not 'that technical'

Sunderland are not Bolton at all.

There were times when you could have opened them up but Arsenals passing was not very good.

yabadabado

dont think anyone should write off arsenals chances but there are a few problems to be addressed- lack of height at centre back,need a experienced/battling midfielder and i think van persie has to play off the striker wasted outwide.only thing is wenger wont spend the money needed to sort this out.imo arsenal play the best football in EPL and u have to admire the youth policy but will arsenal fans stay patient?

cson

What got me today was the lack of urgency and repetition. We only seem to have one plan against teams we can't open up > Song/Fabregas get in in the centre and drive forward, pass it out wide to Clichy/Denilson who get bottled up, passed back into centre again, pass it out wide to Sagna/Walcott who cross, Opposition win header and we repeat the process ad infinitum.

Adebayor needs to be dropped for Bendtner. I kinda wish he'd gone to Milan now, he'd have been found out as an above average player at best.

I'd absolutely love to see Eduardo play off Bendtner, I think they'd knock off exach other very well.

I think Wenger needs to just write off Rosicky and start looking for a new left winger. I would have said Ricky Quaresma fitted the bill but he went to Inter this summer. I'm not sure if Ashley Young is a left winger but he'd be a great addition imo, plus he's an Arsenal fan too.

On a side note, should anything happen to Fabregas we are fooked. He's the only one playing with any semblence of urgency and passion. He was great today.

Frisbee

Problem was donw to the formation.
Wouldnt look out of place going to the San Siro in the Quarters of the champions league with a team like that.
But that set up against Sunderland?? Gives a seriously bad impression that Wenger seemed to be playing for a draw...
Also Fab as an AM? Dont think so...
Adebayor needs to be dropped for a game, dunno how Wenger is letting him play every minute most weeks...

Galvasean

For anyone who is interested...

The ladies team beat Everton 3-1 in the league Cup today.

Also youth team beat Chelsea 2-0
http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3034630/youth/arsenal-yth-v-chelsea

keano_afc

As somebody rightly said, the problem on Saturday was the formation. we really needed to win that game, so to start with 5 in midfield with a striker who scored 2 in his last game on the wing made absolutely no sense. As for our defensive midfielder, the less said the better. why he was standing behind their goalscorer with his hands in the air only he knows. I wouldnt be so hard on Theo, with only one guy to look for in the box he's up agianst it from the start. the break is a good thing now, are Cameroon playing by any chance? Really hope nothing happens to Song:rolleyes:

yahoo_moe

gosplan wrote: »

He's got shag-all vision. Not sure if you can develop that but hopefully he will.

He's already developing it pretty well as far as I'm concerned. Wenger is constantly talking about Theo's decision making and while it's still not perfect (against Hull, for example, he seemed to take too much out of the ball at times) I'd certainly say that it's improving.

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Arsene too will welcome the chance to work on the training ground with those not on international duty.

Which was 3 people last time out if I remember correctly? International break will make sod all difference bar possible injuries (and certainly won't help Gallas or Toure start going for headers).

Our 3 poor league results this year haven't been against monstrously rough, untechnical sides, by the way - the Hull match, in particular, wasn't an especially physical match. The team just haven't found a consistent run of form yet - though playing 4-5-1 ain't gonna help them find it.

Galvasean

I think we should be brave and play 4-3-3 against Everton with from left to right; RvP, Bendtner, Walcott.
Not gonna happen though.

For the record I taught Van Persie's goal against Sunderland should have stood.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Silvestre and the great unknown Bischoff are set to make their debuts for the reserves this evening against stoke.

http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/0809/pre/reserves/reseeves-arsenal-v-stoke-city-preview?tab=preview

Amaury Bischoff and Mikael Silvestre have been named in the Arsenal Reserves line-up to face Stoke City at Underhill this evening.



Injuries have prevented the pair from featuring for the Club since their summer transfers but both players will make their first appearance against the Potters’ second string.

Silvestre is fully fit after a muscular strain and the former Manchester United star looks set to partner Kyle Bartley in the centre of defence as Neil Banfield makes four changes to the back five that lost to Aston Villa. Wojciech Szczesny comes in for Vito Mannone between the sticks while Luke Ayling, Kieran Gibbs and Silvestre replace Gavin Hoyte, Tom Cruise and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas respectively.

Bischoff has been recovering from a groin injury since his move from Werder Bremen and he will slot into midfield alongside Jack Wilshere, Mark Randall and Francis Coquelin. Henri Lansbury and Emmanuel Frimpong, who lined up against the Villans, miss out with the latter selected amongst the substitutes.

“The manager thought Bischoff and Silvestre need a game,” said Banfield. “Mikael asked to play, he’s a good pro and he feels he needs a run-out so that will be good for him. Amaury will play as part of his rehabilitation so everything is coming along fine.”

Last season the most goals that the Reserves conceded in any match was two but that number has been surpassed twice already in 2008/09. Chelsea managed three on the opening day and the four hit by Villa condemned Banfield’s boys to their heaviest defeat since losing 6-0 at Reading in October 2006. The inclusion of five-time Premier League winner Silvestre will add some vital experience to the back-line.

Stoke’s first season in the Premier Reserve League South has not started very brightly with just one point registered in their opening two games and they will be hoping to secure their first victory in Barnet.



Perhaps the most notable inclusion in the Potters’ line-up is Tom Soares. The deadline-day signing from Crystal Palace played the last 25 minutes of Stoke’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at Portsmouth yesterday and he will pose a real creative threat from midfield.

“I think you know what you are going to get with Stoke, we know how Tony Pulis sets his sides out and I imagine it is the same throughout the club,” said Banfield. “They really work hard at their game and they really put you under pressure when you’ve got the ball and I think it will be a very difficult game tonight.”

“Obviously the whole squad are disappointed with the Villa result and they want to do themselves justice. It may have been some of them still feeling the effects of the Carling Cup game on the Tuesday beforehand but hopefully we will get back on track tonight.”



You can watch a live video stream of the clash on Arsenal TV Online tonight.

The game will kick off at 7pm but coverage starts in the LIVE channel from 6.30pm with all the pre-match build-up and team news.

For those who miss our live video stream of Monday's game, extended highlights and post-match reaction will be available on Tuesday.

How do you access our live coverage? It's simple. Subscribe to Arsenal TV Online now and you'll get the best view possible as Neil Banfield's boys look to step up their Reserve League title challenge.

cson

I know its early to compare but I was flicking through last years table and saw we lost the lowest amount of games in the league (3 - One to Chelsea, one to Utd and ???) along with Chelsea.

We've already lost two this season. And the names certainly aren't as glittering. Hull and Fulham. Not two that I thought would strike fear before the start of the season.

I won't lie, I'm quite worried.

keano_afc

cson wrote: »

I know its early to compare but I was flicking through last years table and saw we lost the lowest amount of games in the league (3 - One to Chelsea, one to Utd and ???) along with Chelsea.

We've already lost two this season. And the names certainly aren't as glittering. Hull and Fulham. Not two that I thought would strike fear before the start of the season.

I won't lie, I'm quite worried.

Middlesborough was our first defeat last season, in December. Its very worrying, we really have played nobody yet either. Everton at home next, then West Ham and the Spuds. We need the maximum there, our November is pretty horrid.

Frisbee

keano_afc wrote: »

our November is pretty horrid.

Tell me about it.
Stoke, United, Villa, City, Chelsea.

Not a nice run at all, its entirely feasible we could come out of that run of fixtures with little to no points....

Pepe LeFrits

Frisbee wrote: »

Tell me about it.
Stoke, United, Villa, City, Chelsea.

Not a nice run at all, its entirely feasible we could come out of that run of fixtures with little to no points....

It's also very feasible that we could come out of it with 15 points. We certainly have the ability, just not the consistency at the moment.

Pepe LeFrits

Great goal from Coquelin, 1-1. Left foot stinger into the corner from about 20-25 yards. He's looked very good since arriving in the summer.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

That goal from the big massive Stoke guy was a cracker too, though maybe the keeper coulda done better.
2-1 now at half time, Jay Simpson from the spot. Plenty of yellow cards anyway!

L'prof

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

It's also very feasible that we could come out of it with 15 points. We certainly have the ability, just not the consistency at the moment.

Sorry, but no chance no matter how well we're playing! We'll definitely drop points there. I couldn't see anyone in the league coming out with 15 points there!

Galvasean

Anyone know anything about this guy?
http://www.arsenal.com/reserves-youth/players/james-shea

Sounds Irish. Probably not though

OPENROAD

Galvasean wrote: »

Sounds Irish. Probably not though

Born and bred Islington.

Galvasean

OPENROAD wrote: »

Born and bred Islington.

Full of Paddy DNA that place

Fabs to assess future at end of season


I wouldnt be too happy reading this as a Gooner. As a Barca fan tho I'm

Pepe LeFrits

As a general rule, I ignore everything that comes out of the Spanish press.

jasonorr wrote: »

Sorry, but no chance no matter how well we're playing! We'll definitely drop points there. I couldn't see anyone in the league coming out with 15 points there!

The point I was making is that it's no more likely than coming out with the exact opposite.

homergriffin

Deleted User wrote: »

Fabs to assess future at end of season


I wouldnt be too happy reading this as a Gooner. As a Barca fan tho I'm

Damn, you're right I don't like the sound of that. I fear that if we don't bring in big named players then even the young players won't even want to come to Arsenal. The reason why we get in so many young player is our history of success. The problem is we've had 3 dry seasons and can't afford to have a 4th.

yahoo_moe

Happiness not medals for Cesc
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12040_4196504,0.html

Good to see Sky aren't engaging in short-term 'fill the international break' journalism anyway :rolleyes:

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Fabregas back in Barca but I'm not sure it'll be next year - Xavi's still only 28 and he's the one who Cesc seems best suited to replacing so I think it'd be more likely to happen in a couple of years.

leninbenjamin

well, it's bound to happen eventually i guess, probably sooner if they don't start winning things again. as long as they get a fair valuation, in today's market someone as talented as Cesc should be going for 50-60million.

OPENROAD

leninbenjamin wrote: »

well, it's bound to happen eventually i guess, probably sooner if they don't start winning things again. as long as they get a fair valuation, in today's market someone as talented as Cesc should be going for 50-60million.

I can't see him leaving yet but no doubt from now until August 31 2009, the papers will be full of it. He has had a slow start though I suppose maybe this can be put down to playing for Spain over the summer.

Frisbee

leninbenjamin wrote: »

well, it's bound to happen eventually i guess, probably sooner if they don't start winning things again. as long as they get a fair valuation, in today's market someone as talented as Cesc should be going for 50-60million.

Even at that price I still wouldn't want to lose him unless Denilson starts to seriously improve...