Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

deisedevil

Des wrote: »

Yeah, but last night's game was against ManYoo, not Chelsea

Can't believe ya had to spell it out, lol.

SlickRic

Quazzie wrote: »

Silvestre Dire for the goal and didn't improve throughout the game. Got lucky with a header that went over the bar but could've just as easily ended in the back of the net. Worst player on the night.
DiabyNever looked to get into the game and gave away the ball far too often. Did very little defensively.
SongI thought personally he was very bad. He look tired from the start. He lacked drive and commitment and muscled out of nearly every 50/50. Looked slow and uninterested.

Wenger desperately needs to play 4-4-2 next week in an effort to get back to the game we know and play so well. Attractive Attacking Football.

i've just picked out these.

i think you're being very harsh on silvestre. he had a couple of great clearances and he was solid enough. and if that was toure/gallas heading that over the bar in front of berba you'd have been singing him praises; not calling him lucky that it wasn't an og.

diaby was very very not good. if you're asked to play left, and help gibbs out versus ronaldo, which i'm assuming would have been part of his instrustions, then STAY THERE! poor gibbs was cacking his pants that first half with the amount of 2 on 1s he had to deal with. gibbs looked like he was having a nightmare, but it was down to lack of protection that 1st half.

diaby didn't even make up for it by doing anything when he drifted inside.

a point linked to this; i hate when the excuse is given that 'so-and-so player is used to coming inside'. you're a professional footballer with a brain, do what you've been asked to do as a professional.

song, apart from almunia, was probably your best player on the night. he carried the fight on his own much of the time, and kept it simple. he made a couple of mistakes but he still impressed.

Arsenal, i agree, need to play as Arsenal have played for years. attacking football. wenger needs to trust in the philosophy he's had for years; 2 up front, and try to play utd off the park.

and yes, if he ever plays cesc in that position again, he needs to be hunted down and beat down quite frankly.

yahoo_moe

Des wrote: »

Yeah, but last night's game was against ManYoo, not Chelsea

Yes but Frisbee's talking about the Chelsea match methinks. Though it was pretty much the same story against a different team last night.

Quazzie wrote:

SongI thought personally he was very bad. He look tired from the start. He lacked drive and commitment and muscled out of nearly every 50/50. Looked slow and uninterested.

Have to disagree, on basically every count. Looking slow and disinterested isn't the same as actually being that way, and I thought Song put himself about pretty well. And not just in a 'best of a bad bunch' kind of way either. Plus he won a good few 50/50s from what I noticed (although he put Toure in shocking trouble at one point).

Problem for us with that system compared to Liverpool, who I think it's modelled on, is that when Liverpool play Gerrard up behind Torres, they still have their best (long) passer of a ball playing in a deep CM position. We put someone up top who can play lovely slide balls, etc. but we f*ck up the whole shape of the team by simultaneously removing the player who used to get the ball up there for us in the first place.

Frisbee

Sorry don't know where I got Chelski from there, meant to say Man Utd.

Second brainfart on this thread in 12 hours

leninbenjamin

Frisbee wrote: »

Sorry don't know where I got Chelski from there, meant to say Man Utd.

616th brainfart on this thread in 9 and a half months

:P

gosplan

Seriously, next week just has to be:

Sagna - Toure - Djourou - Gibbs/Clichy
Walcott - Song - Fabregas - Nasri

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RVP/Eduardo---Ade

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premierstone

Quazzie wrote: »

Silvestre Dire for the goal and didn't improve throughout the game. Got lucky with a header that went over the bar but could've just as easily ended in the back of the net. Worst player on the night.
TourePlayed OK. Was good at times and stuck to his task but lapsed concentration at time.
GibbsMy MOTM simply because he done the easy things right and put in 100% throughout. Great prospect for the future.
SongI thought personally he was very bad. He look tired from the start. He lacked drive and commitment and muscled out of nearly every 50/50. Looked slow and uninterested.

Im truely lost for words with the above seriously you could be a pundit on RTE with gems like these Silvestre was excellent, Toure was extremely good and beat united front players for speed regularly, Song was very good and broke up mumerous attacks and as for naming Gibbs MOTM there were at least 7 united players ahead of him and also Almunia, Toure, Song, Silvestre and about 4 others at least on a par with him. FFS he was making John O'Shea look like Messi :rolleyes:

premierstone

gosplan wrote: »

Seriously, next week just has to be:

Sagna - Toure - Djourou - Gibbs/Clichy
Walcott - Song - Fabregas - Nasri

---

RVP/Eduardo---Ade

---

We'll probably play a goalkeeper aswell

leninbenjamin

premierstone wrote: »

We'll probably play a goalkeeper aswell

nah, seems Wenger likes a challenge these days.

or is on meth.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Well Clichy's out for next week anyway. Also Eduardo and Silvestre both picked up groin injuries so will definitely miss Saturday at least, 'kin hell.

Basically it looks like its gonna be the same **** for next week unless RvP manages to sort himself out in time,ugh.

yahoo_moe

playa3 wrote: »

Also Eduardo and Silvestre both picked up groin injuries

Is that Eduardo's third niggly injury in 3 comebacks? :eek: Think a bit of a rest and some serious tuning up pre-season will be needed before next year. At the moment, we just can't count him as part of our plans for anything...

And we need Silvestre for cover at the very least, although as others have said, things went nowhere near as badly last night as I feared they might for him.

Anyone else think we might be given a break from Rooney next week as he's on a yellow?

I think it's a real possibility, and obviously one I'd very much welcome. Part of me thinks Fergie might try to get a goal and then take him off but I think it'd make more sense to leave him off in case he needs to let him loose for extra time. Fergie has to think they're favourites and he'll most certainly want Rooney for the final... am I just dreaming?

Royale with Cheese

Well you can see why Wenger's been so reluctant to play Eduardo lately. Couldn't last 10 minutes without picking up an injury.

leninbenjamin

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Anyone else think we might be given a break from Rooney next week as he's on a yellow?

I think it's a real possibility, and obviously one I'd very much welcome. Part of me thinks Fergie might try to get a goal and then take him off but I think it'd make more sense to leave him off in case he needs to let him loose for extra time. Fergie has to think they're favourites and he'll most certainly want Rooney for the final... am I just dreaming?

not a hope in hell. Rooney's workrate upfront is what made it so difficult for Arsenal to impose themselves on the game at all, he put so much pressure on Sagna and Toure that it became difficult for Arsenal to pass to the midfield and play it forward. If Rooney doesn't play it'll be much easier for Arsenal to control the match.

Kirnsy

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Well you can see why Wenger's been so reluctant to play Eduardo lately. Couldn't last 10 minutes without picking up an injury.

yeah but in fairness anything from eduardo this season would have been a bonus.next season he'll be ready with a pre season and decent run of matches under his belt.

Green Hornet

Heh heh

http://arsenalshorts.co.uk/2009/apr09/20090430_01.html

yahoo_moe

leninbenjamin wrote: »

not a hope in hell. Rooney's workrate upfront is what made it so difficult for Arsenal to impose themselves on the game at all, he put so much pressure on Sagna and Toure that it became difficult for Arsenal to pass to the midfield and play it forward. If Rooney doesn't play it'll be much easier for Arsenal to control the match.

I'm plenty aware of what Rooney does to make it horrible for the opposition and what he did last night - that's why I'm hoping he won't be playing... I'm just wondering whether Utd's advantage might tempt Fergie to think ahead and just have Tevez (who does it bloody well too) doing that instead. Bear in mind the team he put out against Everton, partly because of pitch concerns - he likes to cut it pretty fine when it comes to protecting his stars.

Maybe I was being a bit hopeful to say that it's a "real possibility" but maybe if got a campaign going to ask Fergie really nicely, that might work?

itsjaybud

Eduardo's latest injury puts him out for 3 weeks according to skysports :mad:

Jesus hopefully RVP makes it through the fitness test tuesday morning but i wouldnt hold my breath on it.

And then the complete opposite for utd with getting positive news regards Rio's knock fcuking typical :mad:

keane2097

itsjaybud wrote: »

Eduardo's latest injury puts him out for 3 weeks according to skysports :mad:

Jesus hopefully RVP makes it through the fitness test tuesday morning but i wouldnt hold my breath on it.

And then the complete opposite for utd with getting positive news regards Rio's knock fcuking typical :mad:

IT'S A MEDICAL CONSPIRACY - ALL THE DOCTOR'S ARE IN FERGIE'S POCKET1!!11!!!:pac:

gosplan

gosplan wrote: »

Seriously, next week just has to be:

Sagna - Toure - Djourou - Gibbs/Clichy
Walcott - Song - Fabregas - Nasri

---

RVP/Eduardo---Ade

---

Seriously, next week just has to be:

Sagna - Toure - Djourou - Gibbs
Walcott - Song - Fabregas - Nasri

---

RVP(pleasepleaseplease)---Ade

---

We're another injury and a fitness test away from being totally f*ucked.

Frisbee

gosplan wrote: »

Seriously, next week just has to be:

Sagna - Toure - Djourou - Gibbs
Walcott - Song - Fabregas - Nasri

---

RVP(pleasepleaseplease)---Ade

---

We're another injury and a fitness test away from being totally f*ucked.

Sagna - Toure - Djourou - Gibbs
Walcott - Song - Fabregas - Nasri

---

Mexican Pelé---Ade

---

He'd bag at least a double hat trick

Pepe LeFrits

Kroenke ups his stake in Arsenal to just over 28%...

yahoo_moe

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Kroenke ups his stake in Arsenal to just over 28%...

Yup, saw that. The club's top level have obviously decided to move quickly and make sure he's at the threshold of a takeover bid in case Usmanov gets there too.

The changeover's being managed very very carefully but it seems like we're slowly becoming a Kroenke club - don't particularly mind him myself, seems to have a decent rep as a club owner.

If one person hits 30% and has to launch a takeover bid, does that mean that no other shares can trade hands? Or could we end up with two 30%+ shareholders simultaneously?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

1428: TEAMS Portsmouth v Arsenal
Portsmouth: James, Pamarot, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Davis, Hughes, Mullins, Belhadj, Crouch. Subs: Begovic, Primus, Nugent, Kanu, Basinas, Utaka, Cranie.

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Song Billong, Djourou, Eboue, Walcott, Denilson, Ramsey, Arshavin, Bendtner, Vela. Subs: Mannone, Bischoff, Coquelin, Emmanuel-Thomas, Merida, Randall, Frimpong.

Glad to see a lot of the players being rested and the youngsters getting a shot. Not sure about Theo and Song starting but perhaps Theo will be used as an impact sub on tuesday if we play 4-4-2?

Royale with Cheese

Weak team out today, not surprised.

---

Fabianski

---

Sagna

---

Song

---

Djourou

---

Eboue
Walcott

---

Denilson

---

Ramsey

---

Arshavin

---

Bendtner

---

Vela

---

Subs: Mannone, Bischoff, Coquelin, Emmanuel-Thomas, Merida, Randall, Frimpong.

yahoo_moe

yahoo_moe wrote: »

If one person hits 30% and has to launch a takeover bid, does that mean that no other shares can trade hands? Or could we end up with two 30%+ shareholders simultaneously?

yeah hes obliged to make a bid but the club dont have to accept. i think it has to go to the 75 or 80% mark for him to become automatic owner. in that case the other shareholders have to relinquish their share holdings. dont quote me on that though

DenMan

Well Wenger has made 8 changes to the team to face Pompey today. Delighted to see Ramsey and Vela start and I hope Fabianski has a good game. It's going to be difficult to break them down and if we win 1-0 I'll be delighted with that.

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Song Billong, Djourou, Eboue, Walcott, Denilson, Ramsey, Arshavin, Bendtner, Vela. Subs: Mannone, Bischoff, Coquelin, Emmanuel-Thomas, Merida, Randall, Frimpong.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Oh by the way. If we win or Villa don't get a better result than us, we will guarantee fourth. Should be an interesting game

FearDark

http://fulbitotv.foroactivo.com/

If anyone wants to watch the pompey game.

Royale with Cheese

Arsenal are always great to watch when there's no pressure on. Worryingly so far, Walcott's been fairly shíte.

DenMan

Another one here, this is the one I'm following it on. Looking very good so far. Dare I say it, but Super Bendtner is on show today.

http://www.atdhe.net/6730/watch-portsmouth-vs-arsenal

FearDark

Hey, I only put up a stream link because theres a thread started in the Rugby forum by a mod looking for people to post streams, so I assume its ok now?

Frisbee

Mexican Pelé

tony1kenobi

Romford Pele.

L'prof

This season v previous seasons:

P   W   D   L   F   A  GD Pts
2008-2009:  35  19  11   5  63  32  31  68
2007-2008:  35  21  11   3  66  29  37  74 ( 3rd)
2006-2007:  35  18   9   8  59  33  26  63 ( 4th)
2005-2006:  35  17   7  11  58  28  30  58 ( 4th)
2004-2005:  35  23   8   4  76  33  43  77 ( 2nd)
2003-2004:  35  24  11   0  69  24  45  83 ( 1st)
2002-2003:  35  21   9   5  73  38  35  72 ( 2nd)
2001-2002:  35  23   9   3  72  33  39  78 ( 1st)
2000-2001:  35  19   9   7  59  34  25  66 ( 2nd)
1999-2000:  35  21   6   8  66  35  31  69 ( 2nd)
1998-1999:  35  20  12   3  55  15  40  72 ( 2nd)
1997-1998:  35  22   9   4  64  28  36  75 ( 1st)
1996-1997:  35  18  10   7  58  29  29  64 ( 3rd)
1995-1996:  35  16  10   9  46  30  16  58 ( 5th)

Rolling season:

P   W   D   L   F   A  GD Pts
2008-2009:  38  22  11   5  71  34  37  77

Current run:

P   W   D   L   F   A  GD Pts
2008-2009:  21  12   9   0  38  14  24  45

Biggest game of our season on Tuesday, unfortunately it's probably a step too far!

Galvasean

Anyone got a link to goals from yesterdays game?

L'prof

Galvasean wrote: »

Anyone got a link to goals from yesterdays game?

Bendtners first, Bendtners pen, Velas goal, Vela shot.

Pepe LeFrits

Well, tonight was a watershed for me. Things have to change, starting this summer. Either the youth policy changes or the manager changes. I can't imagine the club's new leadership were too impressed with that. Fans streaming out after sixty minutes will translate into empty seats before too long.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

OPENROAD

Iolar wrote: »

Do ye think its time for Wenger to be shown the door?

Don't be daft.

But he does need to buy in some areas.

Royale with Cheese

Completely inept in all areas. Never once looked like scoring in 180 minutes against United, dodgy penalty aside.

Going forward that was the 1st choice side tonight, besides Arshavin. Really not good enough.

Nasri is a decent player but is not really a winger. Walcott is very frustrating, he still doesn't look like he knows what he's doing in the final third. Fabregas had 2 very poor games against United.

There is strength in depth going forward, Arshavin, Rosicky, Eduardo all missing. None whatsoever at the back though. Song has come a long way this season, would still prefer to see a decent defensive centre mid brought in.

L'prof

Iolar wrote: »

Do ye think its time for Wenger to be shown the door?

Not at all, but our transfer and wage policies have to change and you can't blame Wenger for that!

Pepe LeFrits

jasonorr wrote: »

Not at all, but our transfer and wage policies have to change and you can't blame Wenger for that!

Why not?

L'prof

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Why not?

Because we've never had the money to compete financially with the other big clubs and even smaller clubs in the league, but Wenger has still won 3 leagues and 4 fa cups. If something doesn't change soon, he'll be gone though as the board will never accept responsibility for any of that.

Maybe a Kroenke takeover is exactly what we need???

Beau x1

I feel sorry for Gibbs. Wenger must buy, Arshavin was simply not enough.

Still, I can imagine our next PL game with Man Utd will be very different.

Pepe LeFrits

jasonorr wrote: »

Because we've never had the money to compete financially with the other big clubs and even smaller clubs in the league, but Wenger has still won 3 leagues and 4 fa cups. If something doesn't change soon, he'll be gone though as the board will never accept responsibility for any of that.

We used to spend money though. Not huge amounts but we spent when required. Since winning the league unbeaten Wenger has basically stopped spending altogether - we've actually made money on our transfers iirc.

Not only that but he has brought in our current youth policy which sees us play young players absolutely absurd wages so much so that our wage bill is similar to Man United.

4 years without a trophy now. You have to go back to the eighties to find us on a streak that bad.

Quazzie

Beau x1 wrote: »

Still, I can imagine our next PL game with Man Utd will be very different.

It frikking better be because I'll be at it. :mad:

greendom

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We used to spend money though. Not huge amounts but we spent when required. Since winning the league unbeaten Wenger has basically stopped spending altogether - we've actually made money on our transfers iirc.

Not only that but he has brought in our current youth policy which sees us play young players absolutely absurd wages so much so that our wage bill is similar to Man United.

4 years without a trophy now. You have to go back to the eighties to find us on a streak that bad.

Don't you think the building of the Emirates may have had something to do with that? A huge investment that will bring its reward in time but a huge burden to the club at the time. I think Wenger has done remarkably well to keep Arsenal competing over the last 4 years.

Pepe LeFrits

Well, the Emirates was on the cards for quite a while and he kept spending, it is only really since he won the league unbeaten that the current trend started.

Besides, all the financials released and everything that the senior figures have said since before and after the ground has been built is that there is money to spend.

OPENROAD

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Besides, all the financials released and everything that the senior figures have said since before and after the ground has been built is that there is money to spend.

Agree but is it me or are we been told two different things, one moment we are told Arsene can buy if he wishes, the next thing we read is that we don't have money, our accounts appear to show that we have ample spare cash, is it a case that this is being directed into the repayments rather than spending on the squad.

OPENROAD

Wenger's comment in L'Equipe

Quick translation...

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"Arsène Wenger was clear after the elimination of Arsenal in the semi-finals of the Champions League by Manchester United (0-1, 1-3). "This is my biggest disappointment. Fans were expecting a great evening ... And to disappoint them like that, it's a huge disappointment. "The French manager intimated that the loss could affect his future work in London. "I have to take a step back and review the situation. In recent months we were making good progress. But we are failing to win the matches that really matter. This calls for reflection. "

Wenger admits that Manchester was the better team, "but it is difficult to admit the absence of a real battle. "I did not feel we played a semi-final. It was over after ten minutes. Especially facing a team that also defends well and that is fluent in counter-attacks. That's the hardest thing to swallow: the match was over before it started. It is disappointing to go such a long way in the competition and then give the game away like that. Conceding two goals in three minutes ... Against a team like that, it's impossible after ... We continued but after that start a great deal of our belief was gone. "

The French manager was also unhappy with the refereeing by the Italian Mr. Rossetti. "He had a very bad match. He gave them free kicks that are not awarded in the English Premiership. But conversely, the red card by Darren Fletcher is very severe."