Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

PHB

Arsenal look damm good again, gona be a fun season As always much better than the sum of their parts.

Pepe LeFrits

ahaha great goal from 16 year old Jack Wilshere. Loving this!

Frisbee

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

LOL another great goal, Bendtner starting and finishing the move with an assist this time by Vela. They look like a nice partnership.

Gonna give it a few more weeks before I throw it in the face of my mate who said Vela was only good in FM

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Clichy is a fuckin hero! Vela has been really impressive in the games so far.

OPENROAD

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

ahaha great goal from 16 year old Jack Wilshere. Loving this!

I'm getting very excited about Wilshere I think he is going to be good

keano_afc

Raging I'm missing this, sounds like a good performance.

DenMan

Can somebody please tell me what tonight's score is. Sky Sports Live Score Center has it clocked in at still 0-0. Am I missing something?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Just finished 3-1. Good performance in the end

keano_afc

Goals are on arsenalist.com if anybody wants to see them.

OPENROAD

Arsenal 12/1 for the Carling cup has to be an outstanding bet.

Pepe LeFrits

Am I imagining things or did Wenger say last night that the squad is still 1 player short?

If he did, I pray that he brings in a quality defensive player.

Very pleasing display last night. I’m surprised at how seamlessly Vela appears to be settling in so far. I knew the fella was gifted but I was expecting him to look a little bit out of sorts, especially in pre-season. He’s a very intelligent player, particularly with his movement and his link-play, while his touch is excellent. He’s quick and pretty strong too. He’s been likened to Walcott but he looks a lot more physically developed than Theo.

Bendtner is getting sharper but that is no surprise to me. The people who slag him off like he’s some sort of Danish Emile Heskey are going to be made to look like complete clowns before too long.

Oh, and Nasri looked very Rosicky-esque. Hopefully he doesn't share his fondness for the treatment table!

leninbenjamin

was travelling yesterday so I just got to see the highlights today. couldn't really infer much from them, but i will say i'm more and more convinced every time i see Bendtner play that he's a cracking player. I reckon he will earn himself a starting spot by the end of the season.

leninbenjamin

Wenger admits taking a gamble on Bischoff.

football365.com wrote:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he has "taken a gamble" on new signing Amaury Bischoff due to the young midfielder's fitness issues.

The Gunners announced the signing of the Portugal Under-21 international from Werder Bremen on Wednesday afternoon.

And Wenger admits that after two groin operations, it will be at least two months before the 21-year-old is ready for action.

"Amaury is a young, promising player who we have taken a gamble on because he has been out for a long time," Wenger told arsenal.com.

"We have to get him to a very good [fitness] level.

"He has talent but we'll have to wait two or three months to get him competitive. He has had two surgeries on his groin so it is a gamble on his talent."

no doubt it's what we were all thinking, but i find it strange that Wenger himself would say it outright. he normally displays utter confidence in his players in public so i find it hard to fully attribute these quotes to him...

i think the signing itself though is a reflection of how difficult Wenger is finding it to find suitable players in the current market.

yahoo_moe

leninbenjamin wrote: »

no doubt it's what we were all thinking, but i find it strange that Wenger himself would say it outright. he normally displays utter confidence in his players in public so i find it hard to fully attribute these quotes to him...

i think the signing itself though is a reflection of how difficult Wenger is finding it to find suitable players in the current market.

I really wouldn't read too much into it - if it was a big name that had cost a lot, then you'd be worried about saying it in public but an unproven youngster with a history of injuries? I'm basically expecting nothing from this and if he begins to contribute to the first team at some point, then great. He was free remember.

I don't think there's anything there to shake Bischoff's confidence either - he obviously knows himself that he's got a history of injuries...

herbieflowers

on a side note, Vela's goal last night was quality

leninbenjamin

herbieflowers wrote: »

on a side note, Vela's goal last night was quality

i was more impressed with bendtners ball tbh. Vela did very well but it was a fantastic ball to see the run and pick him out. perfectly weighted and placed.

herbieflowers

Yeah, twas an excellent pass alright, hmmm...maybe Arsenal will be serial underdogs again this year! If Bendtner and Walcott step up, a good first season from Nasri...who knows? Of course, they'll run out of steam around April...

PHB

It aint the attack that is the worry though is it?

Frisbee

PHB wrote: »

It aint the attack that is the worry though is it?

+1

Still waiting on this fabled CB...

Galvasean

Wilshire is only 16? Wow!

Just watched the highlights. 3 great goals. take that Jens! :P

Was that Paul Merson I heard doing commentary?

Roddy23

Galvaesan, think it was Martin Hayes (thanks denman, openroad).

So FC Twente in the Champions League. There were easier teams to get, but I'm just happy we avoided Atletico Madrid or Schalke.

Evil_Clown

Happy enough with that draw, as said could have been harder
McClaren will know lots about Arsenal and set twente up to be tight but even so I expect to win both legs

yahoo_moe

Evil_Clown wrote: »

Happy enough with that draw, as said could have been harder
McClaren will know lots about Arsenal and set twente up to be tight but even so I expect to win both legs

I'd be confident alright - they've been pretty efficient getting through the qualifying round the last few years too...

leninbenjamin

FC Twente will make for a pretty interesting tie. they've been horribly overachieving really prior to McClaren's arrival, so it'll be a very very big test for him. i think it'll be a tight cagey affair, and i'm quite looking forward to it.

herbieflowers

PHB wrote: »

It aint the attack that is the worry though is it?

Well the defence hasn't changed, and they did have the second best GD in the league last season...

yahoo_moe

herbieflowers wrote: »

they did have the second best GD in the league last season...

Because they scored the second-highest amount of goals - we conceded the most goals last year of the top 4, often at vital times. Wenger's assessment at the end of last season pretty much summed it up - it wasn't scoring goals against the top teams that was the problem, it was hanging onto the leads we got against Chelsea and Utd in the run-in.

PHB

Indeed. Arsenal and United are always going to be open to concedding more goals than Chelsea and Liverpool due to their expansive styles, but the defence after the front 4 is horrendously weak.

AnCapaillMor

Twente, i hope maclaren does'nt pull one of his usuals. He and boro beats us a few times when we least expected it.

Galvasean

Should be a good test against Twente. I'dhave preferred a smaller team (ie: Drogheda) but I wont complain.

Galvasean

Reserves bear Rushden&Diamonds 2-0.
Baratzite and Fonte with the goals.
http://www.arsenal.com/matchreport.asp?thisNav=fixtures&fxid=349404

New away kit out today. As soon as I get some money im gonna get one with ROCKY 7 on the back.

edit: Check it out, the Armoury had shirts for sale pre-made with players names/numbers from the 89 season

ErinGoBrath

Galvasean wrote: »

im gonna get one with ROCKY 7 on the back.

I had planned to do the same. One of the lads in work also looking to get Rocky on the back too.

Love the new away jersey, looks great. Hopefully the season can be as successful as 89!

leninbenjamin

i notice in the United thread that there is a few quotes from the Barca technical Director Tixi Birgisssasflkjaspijt... *ahem*. anyway the interesting point is that they are still seemingly still in the chase for Adebayor if they can get enough to finance the deal from the sale of Eto'o.

tbh, the more this drags on the more i want him sold. perhaps his sale will convince AW to invest heavily in the likes of an up and coming big name CB like Zapata or similar (i'd actually love to see someone along the lines of Samba myself). the more we see of the reserves the more i'm convinced it's the defence ahead of midfield that needs to be prioritised.

DenMan

leninbenjamin wrote: »

i notice in the United thread that there is a few quotes from the Barca technical Director Tixi Birgisssasflkjaspijt... *ahem*. anyway the interesting point is that they are still seemingly still in the chase for Adebayor if they can get enough to finance the deal from the sale of Eto'o.

tbh, the more this drags on the more i want him sold. perhaps his sale will convince AW to invest heavily in the likes of an up and coming big name CB like Zapata or similar (i'd actually love to see someone along the lines of Samba myself). the more we see of the reserves the more i'm convinced it's the defence ahead of midfield that needs to be prioritised.

Do you think Utd will put in a bid for Eto'o, if Ronaldo goes? Real today signed Van der Vaart from Hamburg so it may/may not happen. Between the two options regarding Ronaldo either one can take place:

1)Staying at Utd and playing for a club he doesn't really want to be at.
2) Going to Real where competition for places is so high and with the Board running that club and both the media and fans always on your back, a bad performance and you are out of the team.

leninbenjamin

DenMan wrote: »

Do you think Utd will put in a bid for Eto'o, if Ronaldo goes. Real today signed Van der Vaart from Hamburg so it may/may not happen. Between the two options of Ronaldo either one can take place:

1)Staying at Utd and playing for a club he doesn't really want to be at.
2) Going to Real where competition for places is so high and with the Board running that club and fans always on your back, a bad performance and you are out of the team.

a United bid for Eto'o would depend more on them not getting Berbatov rather than Ronaldo. if Ronaldo goes they'll be looking for a winger as a direct replacement. i can't see Eto'o at United. tbhI think it's unlikely he'll go to the prem, although i guess i wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea went in for him at the last.

Bounty Hunter

who is F. Coquelin? just saw his name on SSN as 1 of 4 pl;ayers wenger has brought in during this transfer window... never heard of him

Royale with Cheese

Did the same thing myself. Some French 17 year old who will go straight into the reserves/youth team set up. Dunno why sky sports have it down as one of the signings.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

He's actually been very good in the games he's played. Gets around the pitch a lot and puts in a good tackle, Flamini esque you could say.

AnCapaillMor

playa3 wrote: »

He's actually been very good in the games he's played. Gets around the pitch a lot and puts in a good tackle, Flamini esque you could say.

As in he'll bugger off to milan at the first chance?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Ha hopefully not. He came from the french 3rd division like Clichy, so with a bit of luck he'll be like him in that respect!

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Adebayor- Why I'm staying and signing new deal

Only available to subscribers unfortunately but basically he is adamant that he is staying and that all this **** was made up behind his back while he was on holidays. Says he will be signing a new contract in the next few days and is very happy at the club and how Wenger is like a father and all that kinda thing. At one point he refers to himself in the third person which i thought was funny:D

Galvasean

Its all looking very rosey isn't it? I wonder how close he was to leaving, really

AnCapaillMor

If it came from anywhere other than a club website i'd be happy. They're hardly to post an article with him saying adios.

Mr Alan

a friend of mine said that there was a SSN news thing earlier and it showed a wenger press conference, the journalist asked him about Ade leaving and Wenger got agitated and said that Adebayour had never said he wanted to leave and the whole thing was made up.

The journalist responded, "Arsene, i was there and he said he wanted to leave"

to which Arsene had no response.

Not sure if its exactly through, but thought it was funny!

OPENROAD

I wonder if we will go for Barry, he doesn't seem to rule it out, personally I would rather we try and secure a quality cb,the one area I think we are slightly weak in.


http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=news&article=494725&cpid=703&title=Wenger+-+I%27ll+only+buy+if+I+can+find+the+quality

AnCapaillMor

I wish the pool get barry and we get Xabi.

Mr Alan

I just cant in a million years see Wenger paying 18m for a 27 year old English midfielder.

vincenzo1975

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/08/01/SOCCER_Arsenal_Nightlead.html

some interesting tieing up of things in this artical. Wenger takes credit for developing Spurs new boy (heehee) and the gunners get 6 mil in the deal...nice.

Looks Like arsene is looking for a good experienced midfielder that ticks very certain boxes, if my reading between the lines is right. I just think Barry is a little too old to be splashing such big money on, I just dont see wenger making the plunge, especially since he has limited european/International experience for a 27 year old.

i would much rather see arsene go for Jérémy Toulalan from Lyon. This guy is about to become the new rock for france for the next decade and at 24, is my pick of top defensive players in europe right now.

Gotta love the way ade smiles as he says he never 'said he wanted to leave', still an all, Its nice to go into the new season with our number 1 pairing of van persie and Ade raring to go.

Do you guys think Nasri will be a reguler starter, or will he be given a bedding in period till October before he becomes a reguler?

depending on if a new midfielder is bought, I think that Diaby will be given the midfield slot beside Fabregas. I think this is one of the problems Wenger has. If he brings in someone it could upset the applecart with Diaby and Denilson, so maybe it time to give the boy a chance.

OPENROAD

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/08/01/SOCCER_Arsenal_Nightlead.html

some interesting tieing up of things in this artical. Wenger takes credit for developing Spurs new boy (heehee) and the gunners get 6 mil in the deal...nice.

I agree I think he can take some credit.

Royale with Cheese

Arse - Juventus on Sky Sports today at 4.15. Wooooo

Im_No_Superman

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Arse - Juventus on Sky Sports today at 4.15. Wooooo

Cool, looking forward to seeing Nasri play.