Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Quazzie

Mourinho - Things don't seem to be too ecstatic at Inter and he has always said he'd like to come back to the EPL

L'prof

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

Mourinho - Things don't seem to be too ecstatic at Inter and he has always said he'd like to come back to the EPL

He would probably be great for us, my only fear would be that we'd become a bit boring.

gosplan

lanod2407 wrote: »

"Yes I'd prefer Wenger to buy a little more but he has his tactics and they've been good for us so far. "

Let's be realistic here - Wenger's tactics WERE GOOD FOR US up to 4 years ago ......... not anymore.

I've always been a ferocious Wenger supporter, but right now I'm starting to believe that if he continues to insist that he must play the beautiful game and dance the ball into the net, I'm going to have to recommend that he goes to the West End and directs a musical!!! I'm getting sick of the "Arsenal play such great football" comments, while dropping 10 points in 10 games to 4 teams whose collective points at the end of the season wouldn't win the Premiership!!!

WHY WHY WHY did Fabregas, Silvestre & Gallas not know to kill the game and play keep-ball in the Spurs corner for the last 5 minutes last night? You'd kick 10 year olds in the ass for that basic error!

I've said it for the past 2 years (ok, no-one heard me!!) - Wenger is making a massive mistake by failing to put quality back-bone into the team. Gallas ........ one word (Birmingham). Silvestre - spare me. Flamini was the man but his Anelka-esque sense of loyalty has taken him from these shores.

We'll lose Cesc and/or other key players in the next 12 months if we're not in the mix next May. And I hole I'll not be back to "quote" that line!!!!

I have a few different thoughts about all this stuff but can't really organise them into a coherent essay type thing so here's some points.

1: The move to Ashburton grove seriously impacted Arsenal's finances over the last few years.

2: There was no way to pull this off and simultaneously spend in tandem with the Chelsea and Liverpool of the last four years and the traditionally high spending Man U.

3: However, Arsenal went very close last year to winning the league despite throwing far less money at the squad than our direct competitors. People say it was the Birmingham game but I feel that Man U or Chelsea would have caught up sooner or later. I think you also have to realise that when you take one of the top four teams and add a player like Ronaldo who scores 40+ goals in a season, they'll be very very hard to stop.

4: Now that the Grove is there, people want the team to be successful again. 'We've got the stadium, now let's fill it with trophies' type of thing. To do this I think we need to splash out on one serious defensive midfielder(if not two) and a proper stopper to play in central defence. I fully believe that if Essien and Carragher played for Arsenal and remained fit for a season, we'd win the league.

5: The latter type (i.e. the defensive stopper) is a type of player that Arsne has never had much success in bringing up through the ranks. Perhaps he just doesn't like them - players like Vidic, Dunne, Terry, Carragher etc. I'm reminded of a Jack Charlton quote: 'Whenever I hear of a defender with good feet, I think - Oh Fu*k!' I think Arsne might think the opposite way - he only wants defenders with footballing ability. I think you need one serious defender who's main aim is to simply get the ball as far away from the goal as possible - Campbell, Jimmy Nail, etc. We really lack one now and we haven't had much success in finding them recently.

6: Silverstre and Gallas are not the way to go. One of our title rivals was happy to sell one to us and another wouldn't play the other as a central defender - this says a lot.

7: Anyone who says that Wenger's time is over is an idiot. I mean seriously? We're not everyone's 'next favourite team to watch' for nothing'. The man has a superior footballing philosophy and a title won his way is worth so much. If you'd rather the Abramovich/Mourhino type combination and buy and bore our way to successive titles, then fair enough. I want Arsne to stay as long as he can.

8: I think this is the most important point of all. In the past few years, English football has changed totally. Perhaps the 'foreign owner and loads of debt' framework is the way to go and will ultimately be successful but no one's really sure, are they? If for some reason (like a prolonged credit crunch) it doesn't work out, Arsenal will be the 'big one'. I think people look at the success of United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the last four years and see Arsenal as a failure. Arsenal are not mortgaging trophies!!! It might be that this will make no difference in the future and the financial prudence was all for nothing but the club has taken no risk and is not exposed to the same potential problems as others.

9. This team has a soft underbelly and we need to fix that. I will point out that AC Milan had a similar problem a few years ago - conceding loads to PSV and scraping through in the semis and then letting Liverpool back into the CL final - a match which was dead and buried. Two years later they won the thing with practically the same squad.

10. Last year I believed we could win the league. I think it was Pepe who said the whole way through that the squad was just that bit too light. I never believed we could win the league this year with the squad we started with. It annoys me to drop points to Tottenham but that's life and they're still in the relegation zone.

11: One thing that I considered a lot after Diarra and Flamini leaving last year was about our lack of English players. I don't buy this commentator bollocks about 'needing a spine of British steel' in your team. It's a load of rubbish and it doesn't matter where they players come from - otherwise England would win every World and European cup, no? However, Rooney and Ferdinand will never leave Man U until perhaps their careers decline, Gerrard and Carragher will never leave Liverpool for another English team while they're challenging, Lampard and Terry, the same for Chelsea. On the other hand, we're worried about when Fabregas will eventually leave, Flamini left, Diarra left for Pompey and we could really use him now. Obviously Rooney cost Man U loads, as did Ferdinand but the fact that they're there for life is perhaps reflected in the price paid.

Quazzie

Its times like this I miss hearing the chant of "1-0 to the Arsenal" being sang around Highbury. Maybe boring isn't a bad thing.

gosplan

lanod2407 wrote: »

Flamini was the man but his Anelka-esque sense of loyalty has taken him from these shores.

We tried to sell him to Boro in the offseason. Then Gilberto got injured and Flamini got real good. I don't think he owed us anything really.

I feel differently about Dribbly McNoscore(credit to arseblogger for the nickname). However, I'm more than happy to have Nasri instead.

L'prof

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

Its times like this I miss hearing the chant of "1-0 to the Arsenal" being sang around Highbury. Maybe boring isn't a bad thing.

So we were more sucessful when we were boring, pre Wenger???

Quazzie

gosplan wrote: »

Dribbly McNoscore.

who??

Wreck

Lads give it up, people are letting the disappointment of last night totally cloud their judgement. Wenger is the most important person at Arsenal, there is no way he is going anywhere over the next few years. He is more important to Arsenal than any other single person is to any club, with the possible exception of Abramovich to Chelsea. It is Wenger who drives the club to excellence both on and off the pitch, guides both the footballing and business philosophy.

We owe Wenger pretty much everything. If he had not come to the club I have no doubt we would not have won all the trophies we have over the last few years, we would not be part of the 'big four,' almost guaranteed champions league football each year. Anyone who doesn't realise this really has no understanding of his influence.

Sure enough, we probably won't win the preimership this year, but we wouldn't have won it no matter who was in charge of the team. Wenger gives us the best chance to win trophies going forward, and in the meantime we all get to admire the most beautiful football being played anywhere in the world.

L'prof

Wreck wrote: »

Lads give it up, people are letting the disappointment of last night totally cloud their judgement. Wenger is the most important person at Arsenal, there is no way he is going anywhere over the next few years. He is more important to Arsenal than any other single person is to any club, with the possible exception of Abramovich to Chelsea. It is Wenger who drives the club to excellence both on and off the pitch, guides both the footballing and business philosophy.

We owe Wenger pretty much everything. If he had not come to the club I have no doubt we would not have won all the trophies we have over the last few years, we would not be part of the 'big four,' almost guaranteed champions league football each year. Anyone who doesn't realise this really has no understanding of his influence.

Sure enough, we probably won't win the preimership this year, but we wouldn't have won it no matter who was in charge of the team. Wenger gives us the best chance to win trophies going forward, and in the meantime we all get to admire the most beautiful football being played anywhere in the world.

I agree in that, I'm not calling for Wengers head, but I would like to see our transfer policy adjusted to the effect that we have strength in depth, cover for injuries or fatigue, etc. This is all I want and I don't see it costing us a huge amount of money either!

wandatowell

"The man turned Arsenal into the team they are today and has been wonderful for the club. Yes I'm disappointed in the lack of trophies in recent years but I stand buy him".

Yeah your right Wenger did turn us into the team we are today!!! I could not agree with you more. He turned us into a club that hasn't won a trophy for 3 years. RIGHT NOW WE ARE SH1TE!!! We are a shadow of our former shadow. Brutal.

Why should we standby a man who has failed at his job for the past 3 years??? It wouldn't happen at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge would it????
No it would not. Hell Chelsea got rid of their manager and he managed to do more in less than one season than Wenger has managed in 3!!!!! There is a culture of failure at Arsenal. The Board accept Arsene's failures and Arsene accepts the players failures. And im reading here that our own fans are accepting it!!!!

The only thing our young players are learning is how to lose while still playing Wengers beautiful football. Because its AW who decided the way we play football. The buck starts and stops with him. PERIOD.

If it means Arsenal start winning trophies I would gladly give Wenger the sack, without a moments hesitation. What Gooner wouldn't do the same?
No man is bigger than the club and that goes for AW too.

wandatowell

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

who??

Im pretty sure its Hleb

Frisbee

wandatowell wrote: »

Why should we standby a man who has failed at his job for the past 3 years???

If it means Arsenal start winning trophies I would gladly give Wenger the sack, without a moments hesitation. What Gooner wouldn't do the same?
No man is bigger than the club and that goes for AW too.

Do you support Arsenal?
If we didnt have Wenger we would be slumming it out mid-table. If it wasnt for him we would NOT be part of the 'Big Four'. Simple As. Without Wenger there was no Henry. Imagine that.

And as to what gooner wouldnt do the same: Me

Royale with Cheese

wandatowell wrote: »

If it means Arsenal start winning trophies I would gladly give Wenger the sack, without a moments hesitation. What Gooner wouldn't do the same?
No man is bigger than the club and that goes for AW too.

I'd have to say you're right in that respect. If sacking Arsene Wenger guaranteed trophies then I'd do it, pretty much anybody would.

However the only thing sacking Wenger would do would be to see the team slump down the table, the decent players in the squad leave, the flow of young talent coming through dry up, the end of Arsenal as one of the big 4, drying up of income and general fúckedness.

Ok it might not be as bad as that, but you've have to be incredibly shortsighted to think that getting rid of Wenger is in anyway a good idea.

Wreck

wandatowell wrote: »

Yeah your right Wenger did turn us into the team we are today!!! I could not agree with you more. He turned us into a club that hasn't won a trophy for 3 years. RIGHT NOW WE ARE SH1TE!!! We are a shadow of our former shadow. Brutal.

Why should we standby a man who has failed at his job for the past 3 years??? It wouldn't happen at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge would it????
No it would not. Hell Chelsea got rid of their manager and he managed to do more in less than one season than Wenger has managed in 3!!!!! There is a culture of failure at Arsenal. The Board accept Arsene's failures and Arsene accepts the players failures. And im reading here that our own fans are accepting it!!!!

The only thing our young players are learning is how to lose while still playing Wengers beautiful football. Because its AW who decided the way we play football. The buck starts and stops with him. PERIOD.

You missed the point. Wenger turned Arsenal into a club that consistently finishes in the top four and has a reasonable chance of winning trophies in any given season. We are far from sh1te.

Since Wenger joined the club 12 years ago we have won the league 3 times. Over the previous 40 years we won the league 3 times. Under Wenger, we've been runners-up 5 times, and never once finished outside the top 4. We have played sublime football. We have competed with clubs whose financial power massively outweighs our own. And the most amazing thing is we have done all this without creating serious financial problems for the club. And we owe all this to Wenger. No other manager could have got the results he has with Arsenal's budget playing the football we have.

Wenger has not failed at his job for the last three years, in fact he has done amazingly well consdering the financial constraints placed on the club due to our move to the Emirates.

wandatowell wrote: »

If it means Arsenal start winning trophies I would gladly give Wenger the sack, without a moments hesitation. What Gooner wouldn't do the same?
No man is bigger than the club and that goes for AW too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Wenger is bigger than the club. I'm saying three things:
1) Wenger is the man who is responsible for making Arsenal one of the big 4 in the preimership, and no other person could have done this.
2) Despite Wenger's amazing achievements, Arsenal do not have a god given right to win a trophy every year, and a couple of years without winning the preimership does not constitute failure.
3) Wenger deserves our backing, because if any manager is going to win Arsenal the preimership it is him.

gosplan

wandatowell wrote: »

RIGHT NOW WE ARE SH1TE!!! We are a shadow of our former shadow. Brutal.

Why should we standby a man who has failed at his job for the past 3 years???

There is a culture of failure at Arsenal.

The only thing our young players are learning is how to lose while still playing Wengers beautiful football.

If it means Arsenal start winning trophies I would gladly give Wenger the sack, without a moments hesitation. What Gooner wouldn't do the same?
No man is bigger than the club and that goes for AW too.

If it means losing fans like this, I would gladly not win any more trophies for years, without a moments hesitation. What Gooner wouldn't do the same?

gosplan

jasonorr wrote: »

I agree in that, I'm not calling for Wengers head, but I would like to see our transfer policy adjusted to the effect that we have strength in depth, cover for injuries or fatigue, etc. This is all I want and I don't see it costing us a huge amount of money either!

I agree with this. I think most Arsenal fans would hope that now that the money is there and the club is secure in the new stadium that we would spend decent money on a player or two and complete the squad.

wandatowell

Frisbee wrote: »

Do you support Arsenal?
If we didnt have Wenger we would be slumming it out mid-table. If it wasnt for him we would NOT be part of the 'Big Four'. Simple As. Without Wenger there was no Henry. Imagine that.

And as to what gooner wouldnt do the same: Me

So given the choice you choose Wenger over Arsenal winning trophies???? And your asking me "Do I support Arsenal"??? Time to take off your Wenger tinted glasses. Go ask a Liverpool fan what they would want!!? The attacking flair of Wenger Football or A Champions League trophy???
If it wasn't for the Spurs team getting a dose of the sh1ts 2 years ago we wouldn't have qualified for the Champs League. Then we would have been a
part of the "BIG FIVE"

Funny how back in the old days we managed to win a European Cup and get to a final of another, only to loose that to an amazing goal. Arsene has lost both European finals he guided us to. Culture of failure.

Lads im just saying, since when did promoting mediocrity be a good thing. Man Utd and Chelsea aren't just happy being a big club, being in the top four teams in the EPL. They strive for success but at Arsenal I feel the club is just happy to be clinging on the pigtails of the larger teams. Playing beautiful football carries no weight with me, id much prefer silverware.

DenMan

Henry and Gilberto are off the wage bill. What was their wages each? I believe both were on 100K+ a week, maybe Gilberto was 90K p/w. That coupled with the Highbury re-development that certainly is a tidy sum. That's not taking into account revenue from The Emirates, sponsorship etc. There is plenty of money at the club. Let's hear what Stan Kroenke has to say on the matter soon, he wanted to go straight into the transfer market during the summer. His connections over in Denver have scouts looking at the best players potentially for Arsenal. What was it Sir Peter Hill-Wood said? "we don't need his sort around here", then he goes and makes a u-turn welcoming him over when Usminov starts agressively building up shares.

Wreck

DenMan wrote: »

Let's hear what Stan Kroenke has to say on the matter soon, he wanted to go straight into the transfer market during the summer. His connections over in Denver have scouts looing at the best players potentially for Arsenal.

Yeah, cause what we really need is an american businessman dictating transfer policy and advising Wenger on who to sign. Seriously, wtf?

Galvasean

Suddenly the Stoke game looks a must win. If we don't win it we will most likely end up 8/9 points off the pace.

wandatowell

Galvasean wrote: »

Suddenly the Stoke game looks a must win. If we don't win it we will most likely end up 8/9 points off the pace.

Hopefully spurs can do a job on the pool. Cant see Chelsea and Utd loosing this weekend tho

gosplan

wandatowell wrote: »

So given the choice you choose Wenger over Arsenal winning trophies???? And your asking me "Do I support Arsenal"??? Time to take off your Wenger tinted glasses. Go ask a Liverpool fan what they would want!!? The attacking flair of Wenger Football or A Champions League trophy???
If it wasn't for the Spurs team getting a dose of the sh1ts 2 years ago we wouldn't have qualified for the Champs League. Then we would have been a
part of the "BIG FIVE"

Funny how back in the old days we managed to win a European Cup and get to a final of another, only to loose that to an amazing goal. Arsene has lost both European finals he guided us to. Culture of failure.

Lads im just saying, since when did promoting mediocrity be a good thing. Man Utd and Chelsea aren't just happy being a big club, being in the top four teams in the EPL. They strive for success but at Arsenal I feel the club is just happy to be clinging on the pigtails of the larger teams. Playing beautiful football carries no weight with me, id much prefer silverware.

No but I'm amazed that you think it's as simple as sack Wenger - win trophies.

Count all the successful premier league managers you can think of.

Yes, we have one of four. Two of those (Dalgleish and Mourhino) simply outspent their way to the top.

Teams like Liverpool, Newcastle & Spurs have spent far more than us and gone through many many managers making assaults on the premiership and none of it has succeeded. This year may be Liverpool's year but they've still only won one decent trophy in recent times, are talking wishfully about moving into a new stadium and are massively in debt at the moment.

Wenger's guidance of the football club has put Arsenal in a position where we can now begin to compete on the same financial playing field as Man U and Chelsea. I agree that it's time to start bringing in some big players but you seem to want to fire them man before he's had a proper chance to build on the amazing foundations he's laid for Arsenal football club for many years to come.

If in some time (and I mean a few years) he's still finishing behind the leaders and spending an average of 1 million on transfers, then I might think differently.

But on the other hand, if we buy some excellent players and have a great season next year only to be eclipsed by Man City who go out and get Kaka and Messi and buy a title as Chelsea did, are you going to consider this another year of failure?????

DenMan

Wreck wrote: »

Yeah, cause what we really need is an american businessman dictating transfer policy and advising Wenger on who to sign. Seriously, wtf?

He is no fool Wreck. His scouts were working with Wenger and they helped sort out the training facilities in Denver for Arsenal, organise an annual club tournament over there for a lot of clubs to take part in and promote the setting up of a center of excellence. That is good practical sense and with Barcelona wanting to be have a base in Miami, I think we are ahead of the game. It's not interference in my book, just a solid foundation to build on.

wandatowell

gosplan wrote: »

No but I'm amazed that you think it's as simple as sack Wenger - win trophies.

Count all the successful premier league managers you can think of.

Yes, we have one of four. Two of those (Dalgleish and Mourhino) simply outspent their way to the top.

Teams like Liverpool, Newcastle & Spurs have spent far more than us and gone through many many managers making assaults on the premiership and none of it has succeeded. This year may be Liverpool's year but they've still only won one decent trophy in recent times, are talking wishfully about moving into a new stadium and are massively in debt at the moment.

Wenger's guidance of the football club has put Arsenal in a position where we can now begin to compete on the same financial playing field as Man U and Chelsea. I agree that it's time to start bringing in some big players but you seem to want to fire them man before he's had a proper chance to build on the amazing foundations he's laid for Arsenal football club for many years to come.

If in some time (and I mean a few years) he's still finishing behind the leaders and spending an average of 1 million on transfers, then I might think differently.

But on the other hand, if we buy some excellent players and have a great season next year only to be eclipsed by Man City who go out and get Kaka and Messi and buy a title as Chelsea did, are you going to consider this another year of failure?????

Yeah it would be pretty naive of me to think that just sacking Wenger will automatically make us start winning trophies because it wont. And I know how much Arsene Wenger has done for the Club. The point I am trying to make is that given the choice I would choose winning trophies over EVERYTHING else. People seem happy just to have Wenger here and for us to win nothing every year. He was been building teams for years, It seems that we are finally on the verge of something great then our top players head off and we the fans will have to wait a few more years. There seems to be a constant cycle of this at Arsenal.


Every Premiership manager who has won the league has spent money. Jose being the main culprit. Ferguson has been able to buy a fair few £20m to £30m pound players himself. Wenger to his immence credit has spent a lot less than his peers on his title winning teams.I know that Arsenal have had to keep an eye on the cheque book but didnt Fiszman say that there's money for a £30M pound man if Arsene wanted to spend it. Our shinny account books say there's loads of cash available. Why not just go and raid another big European team of their asset's like they do to us. It seems to me that we are short quality players because Wenger chose NOT to buy!!

Our shareholders must be very happy, i know as a fan im not.

Im just saying im not happy with Arsenal finishing 4th, 3rd or 2nd. There seems to be this "All things considered we had a pretty good year" attitude with Arsenal fans. Im just sick of it.

Frisbee

Getting rid of Wenger will not bring trophies.
It will more than likely resut in a slide down the table.

As for him losing both European Finals I'd hardly call that a culture of failure.
Chelsea lost two semi-finals in a row. Does that mean they have a culture of failure?
Barca have failed to win the ECL in a few years now. Culture of Failure?

wandatowell

Frisbee wrote: »

Getting rid of Wenger will not bring trophies.
It will more than likely resut in a slide down the table.

As for him losing both European Finals I'd hardly call that a culture of failure.
Chelsea lost two semi-finals in a row. Does that mean they have a culture of failure?
Barca have failed to win the ECL in a few years now. Culture of Failure?

No it doesn't mean they have a culture of failure. Barca have not won the Champions League for a few years now but they have won their league in 2006 i think (I might be wrong here) and as for Chelsea they also completed a league double. Arsenal have won zilch.

Frisbee

How does not winning anything mean a Culture of Failure?
It's not as if they went out to lose. There's nothing you can do if a match doesnt go your way. We had bad luck in the CL Final with Lehmanns sending off.

I just can't accept your 'Culture of Failure' arguement as viable. Yes its disappointing we haven't won anything in a while. However we have nearly always been very close.
I am very happy for Wenger to see out his contract and if he wanted to sign another, Im even happier

Wreck

DenMan wrote: »

He is no fool Wreck. His scouts were working with Wenger and they helped sort out the training facilities in Denver for Arsenal, organise an annual club tournament over there for a lot of clubs to take part in and promote the setting up of a center of excellence. That is good practical sense and with Barcelona wanting to be have a base in Miami, I think we are ahead of the game. It's not interference in my book, just a solid foundation to build on.

I never said he was a fool, I was implying that he is in no way qualified to give Wenger advice on the transfer market.

wandatowell

Frisbee wrote: »

How does not winning anything mean a Culture of Failure?
It's not as if they went out to lose. There's nothing you can do if a match doesnt go your way. We had bad luck in the CL Final with Lehmanns sending off.

I just can't accept your 'Culture of Failure' arguement as viable. Yes its disappointing we haven't won anything in a while. However we have nearly always been very close.
I am very happy for Wenger to see out his contract and if he wanted to sign another, Im even happier

It was bad luck to have a player sent off alright. We took the lead too after.

Maybe Culture of Failure is the wrong way to put it. Acceptance of Failure is another way you could phrase it. "We might not have won the league but didnt we do o so well challenging" its just not good enough for The Arsenal

Frisbee

Last year I really do think we would have won the League if it wasnt for the Birmingham match.
We lost Eduardo who was our form striker at the time, he was banging them in for funsies.
Gallas' strop really didnt help the team's morale aswell. It was after that game we went on our streak of draws. And we still finished only 4 points behind.

OPENROAD

Frisbee wrote: »

Such as?
I really cant think of any other manager I'd want at Arsenal atm except for:

David O'Leary - He'd change the playing style too much I'd say, and tbh would only consider him because of his previous service to the club.

MON - Taken


And I wouldn't even really want either of them, only put them forward for the sake of names

O'Leary? God no, don't rate him all that much as a manager and he is certainly not very popular amongst Arsenal fans due to his comments about Pires while managing Leeds, but as a manager God no.

Arsene will be at the club for another few years, I think we all need to calm down a bit anyone would think we are bottom of the league, let us see how things are come May. I'm certainly going to have a nice bet on us for the league, at 12/1 the odds are too tempting.

it felt so much like a defeat. it was like liverpool at anfield in april all over again. playing them off the park with passing yet not putting the game to bed and punished for woeful defending. defending you wouldnt see as bad in a tipperary junior league match. i think any goalkeeper that gets caught from 40 yards should not be defended, just get him out of the club.

i thin we can now assume the premier league is further divided. 'the big three', arsenal, and the rest.

another false dawn for this once great club with such high standards and who could defend. another trophyless season ahead!!

Wreck

Deleted User wrote: »

i think any goalkeeper that gets caught from 40 yards should not be defended, just get him out of the club.

Yeah, we should never have hung on to Seaman after Nayim, no good ever came of it.

OPENROAD

Deleted User wrote: »

it felt so much like a defeat. it was like liverpool at anfield in april all over again. playing them off the park with passing yet not putting the game to bed and punished for woeful defending. defending you wouldnt see as bad in a tipperary junior league match. i think any goalkeeper that gets caught from 40 yards should not be defended, just get him out of the club.

i thin we can now assume the premier league is further divided. 'the big three', arsenal, and the rest.

another false dawn for this once great club with such high standards and who could defend. another trophyless season ahead!!

I agree with you about it feeling like Anfield last season.

However I don't see how you can say the Premier League is the big 3 then Arsenal, certainly we are behind Utd and Chelsea but I can't have you saying Liverpool are ahead of us Yes they have started well results wise but from what I have seen of them they have been quite lucky, we are only at November a long way to go.

L'prof

OPENROAD wrote: »

I'm certainly going to have a nice bet on us for the league, at 12/1 the odds are too tempting.

Seriously? I'd rather keep my money!

OPENROAD

jasonorr wrote: »

Seriously? I'd rather keep my money!

12/1 is too tempting.

Wreck

Wreck wrote: »

Yeah, we should never have hung on to Seaman after Nayim, no good ever came of it.

I was never a massive fan of Seaman after that. it a bad sign when a goalie gets caught like that as it shows they are not looking at the play as much as they should. Seaman won alot for arsenal but was weak under high balls as ronadinho later proved. What he won will always define the player but what he could have won will also leave a few question marks. buts that's another area for another day altogether.

i wouldn't call Liverpool lucky either. it dawned on me that whilst decisons did go for them in last seasons cl game vs us, they work very hard as a tam and pretty much out worked chelsea sunday. i think arsenal are in serious danger of being left behind the other 3 if they continue to defend like they do and seasons will be over for them earlier and earlier each season.

Wreck

Deleted User wrote: »

I was never a massive fan of Seaman after that. it a bad sign when a goalie gets caught like that as it shows they are not looking at the play as much as they should. Seaman won alot for arsenal but was weak under high balls as ronadinho later proved. What he won will always define the player but what he could have won will also leave a few question marks. buts that's another area for another day altogether.

You are totally underestimating just how good Seaman was right up to his retirement. Anyway, I don't particularly want to argue about this, I just think its ludicrous that you want to get rid of a player based on one goal.

Wreck

Wreck wrote: »

You are totally underestimating just how good Seaman was right up to his retirement. Anyway, I don't particularly want to argue about this, I just think its ludicrous that you want to get rid of a player based on one goal.

but its not though is it. Almunia has made several mistakes and Seaman made a few too there's no point denying and bad ones at that. i don't particularly want to get into it either so that's all i have to say. i have seen arsenal being loyal to too many players who let them down in big games over the years. letting a ball fall out of your hand fair enough or playing a bad goal kick, fine it can happen, but being caught off your line from 40 yards is inexcusable and proves a sheer lack of concentration.it wont do Almunia any good if he's left play on. drop him and let him prove ho keen he is to amend his mistakes.

OPENROAD

Deleted User wrote: »

but its not though is it. Almunia has made several mistakes and Seaman made a few too there's no point denying and bad ones at that. i don't particularly want to get into it either so that's all i have to say. i have seen arsenal being loyal to too many players who let them down in big games over the years. letting a ball fall out of your hand fair enough or playing a bad goal kick, fine it can happen, but being caught off your line from 40 yards is inexcusable and proves a sheer lack of concentration.it wont do Almunia any good if he's left play on. drop him and let him prove ho keen he is to amend his mistakes.

So who would you like to have?

DenMan

Fabianski must be chomping at the bit now.

wandatowell

I think Wenger prefers to have an experienced keeper between the sticks, might explain why he stuck with Super Dave and Lehmann for long

wandatowell

Frisbee wrote: »

Last year I really do think we would have won the League if it wasnt for the Birmingham match.
We lost Eduardo who was our form striker at the time, he was banging them in for funsies.
Gallas' strop really didnt help the team's morale aswell. It was after that game we went on our streak of draws. And we still finished only 4 points behind.

that fookin match, heartbreaking. Theo scored two lovely goals that day.

Wreck

Deleted User wrote: »

i think any goalkeeper that gets caught from 40 yards should not be defended, just get him out of the club.

This is what you said, and what I strongly object to.

Deleted User wrote: »

letting a ball fall out of your hand fair enough or playing a bad goal kick, fine it can happen, but being caught off your line from 40 yards is inexcusable and proves a sheer lack of concentration.it wont do Almunia any good if he's left play on. drop him and let him prove ho keen he is to amend his mistakes.

Almunia has played extremely well this season, and it hasn't exactly been easy for him given the defence has been so dodgy. And now people want him dropped for a single mistake. Its absolutely crazy. And furthermore, I'm one hundred per cent certain if we had held on to win last night you would not be on here ranting about getting Almunia out of the club.

Arsenal1986

Almunia ha an absolute belter of a game against fenerbache some amazing saves only a week ago an ppl are turning on him after one bad night.......I wouldnt be too worrie about last night for 89 minutes we were brilliant dominating a class above spurs.....

wandatowell

to be fair to manu he's had a weak defence infront of him this year and he's done pretty well, he's a good keeper

gandalf

To all those who are asking for Wengers head I have two words for you "Bruce Rioch".

As the intelligent have said if Wenger wasn't there then we would be mid table material.

jesus_thats_gre

Arsenal getting rid of Wenger would be one of the most retarded things they could do as a club. While Wenger isn't the only person who could do as well with a similar level of expenditure, it would take extremely long for the person who comes in to get their own players and personnel in. The players there at the moment would also seem to have a major affiliation with Wenger and would possibly jump ship if he was to leave.

What Wenger has done with so little money is amazing. I think that is actually starting to work against him now however. In recent seasons, Wenger and Arsenal have come very close to winning quite a bit but have ultimately failed at the final hurdle. In alot of cases, the shortcomings in the squad has been obvious. At the beginning of the year, it was suspected that lacking a quality experienced defensive midfielder may cost them.

I think that the players are aware of the shortcomings and the longer they are there, grow frustrated with the club's or Wenger's unwillingness to shell out for an immediate solution. I am nearly convinced that while the players obviously respect Wenger, they possibly see the lack of money being spent as a lack of ambition. I think that this is what allows your best players heads to be turned by "bigger" clubs.

History/heritage and money being spent on ambition are two things that attract top players to clubs. Arsenal are obviously a big club but they are not anywhere near as highly regarded internationally as United, Liverpool, Milan, Madrid and so on. Chelsea made up for this by splashing the cash. Arsenal are sort of on the second tier of clubs on a worldwide scale while also being on the second or third tier in terms of spending.

I genuinely believe that is Wenger spent 20 or million every year or two on a world class player to fill obvious holes, that it would complement the youth policy and make a clear statement as to their intent or ambitions. This would end the situation of your top players being courted like occurred during the summer and would undoubtedly lead to success on the pitch.

I think that Liverpool, while having overspent for years, have nearly achieved the perfect balance in the the past year. That is reflected in there no longer being rumblings of Gerard leaving or there never being any talk of Torres or other top players being tapped up. Agger is the only one in recent years and that was Milan trying to take advantage of him being dissatisfied at the lack of first team games.

Hope i have made my point clearly. Posted on my phone so hard to read over the post.

wandatowell

gandalf wrote: »

To all those who are asking for Wengers head I have two words for you "Bruce Rioch".

As the intelligent have said if Wenger wasn't there then we would be mid table material.

As far was I know Bruce Rioch was only there as a stop gap measure till
Wenger finished up his contract with Grampus8, saying that tho in that he managed to alienate wrighty from the squad. Called him a "big time charlie" if memory serves

PHB

The thing I find hilarious is that people think that Wenger has loads of money to spend, but chooses not to spend it. Ultimately, I think thats bs. He is severly restricted by the board who are desperate to make profits even during this transitional financial situation.