Arsenal FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Pepe LeFrits

Thierry has too much class to go to City.

gosplan

Papa Smut wrote: »

This better be a whole big pile of baloney...

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/117660

Nonsense, on F365 the same story is "Yaya Toure to City in Robinho swap".

Nothing but space filler. About as pertinent as the really wide margins you used to put on a '2-page' essay in school.

In other news. Looks like there could be some points dropped among Chelsea/Man U/City/Liverpool tomorrow, lots of tough games and injuries.

Pepe LeFrits

Great results today. Typical post-internationals performance but 3 points and Shava and Robin scoring again. Happy days.

L'prof

Premier League Record:

Reading               4   4   0   0  11   2   9  12 3.00
Watford               4   4   0   0   9   3   6  12 3.00
Barnsley              2   2   0   0   7   0   7   6 3.00
Wolves                2   2   0   0   6   1   5   6 3.00
Wigan                 9   8   1   0  21   6  15  25 2.78
Ipswich              10   8   2   0  23   4  19  26 2.60
Fulham               17  13   2   2  34   9  25  41 2.41
Man City             25  19   3   3  48  18  30  60 2.40
Charlton             16  12   2   2  36  12  24  38 2.38
West Brom             8   6   1   1  18   8  10  19 2.38
Derby                14  10   3   1  27  11  16  33 2.36
Leicester            16  10   5   1  38  13  25  35 2.19
Birmingham           11   7   3   1  22   6  16  24 2.18
Crystal Palace        8   5   2   1  16   5  11  17 2.13
Everton              35  22   8   5  73  28  45  74 2.11
Nottingham Forest    10   6   3   1  13   7   6  21 2.10
Portsmouth           13   7   6   0  24   7  17  27 2.08
Southampton          26  15   7   4  50  24  26  52 2.00
Sunderland           16   9   5   2  30  11  19  32 2.00
Oldham                4   2   2   0   4   1   3   8 2.00
Swindon               2   1   1   0   5   1   4   4 2.00
Middlesbrough        28  16   7   5  62  26  36  55 1.96
Coventry             18  10   5   3  25  13  12  35 1.94
West Ham             28  16   6   6  40  17  23  54 1.93
Bolton               20  11   5   4  32  22  10  38 1.90
Blackburn            31  17   7   7  57  28  29  58 1.87
Villa                34  16  12   6  53  30  23  60 1.76
Newcastle            32  16   8   8  46  27  19  56 1.75
Bradford              4   2   1   1   6   3   3   7 1.75
Chelsea              34  16  11   7  50  39  11  59 1.74
Leeds                24  12   4   8  43  25  18  40 1.67
Norwich               8   3   4   1  17   9   8  13 1.63
Spurs                34  13  16   5  51  36  15  55 1.62
MK Dons              16   7   4   5  30  16  14  25 1.56
Sheffield Wednesday  16   7   4   5  21  16   5  25 1.56
Sheffield United      6   2   3   1   9   4   5   9 1.50
Stoke                 2   1   0   1   5   3   2   3 1.50
Hull                  2   1   0   1   4   3   1   3 1.50
Man United           35  10  11  14  34  45 -11  41 1.17
Liverpool            34   9  11  14  36  48 -12  38 1.12
QPR                   8   1   5   2   7   8  -1   8 1.00

This Season v Previous Seasons:

P   W   D   L   F   A  GD Pts
2009-2010:   8   6   0   2  27  11  16  18
2008-2009:   8   5   1   2  16   6  10  16 ( 4th)
2007-2008:   8   7   1   0  19   6  13  22 ( 3rd)
2006-2007:   8   5   2   1  15   4  11  17 ( 4th)
2005-2006:   8   4   1   3  11   6   5  13 ( 4th)
2004-2005:   8   7   1   0  26   7  19  22 ( 2nd)
2003-2004:   8   6   2   0  16   6  10  20 ( 1st)
2002-2003:   8   6   2   0  21   8  13  20 ( 2nd)
2001-2002:   8   5   2   1  18   5  13  17 ( 1st)
2000-2001:   8   4   3   1  14   9   5  15 ( 2nd)
1999-2000:   8   5   1   2  11   7   4  16 ( 2nd)
1998-1999:   8   3   4   1   9   3   6  13 ( 2nd)
1997-1998:   8   5   3   0  20   8  12  18 ( 1st)
1996-1997:   8   5   2   1  17   8   9  17 ( 3rd)
1995-1996:   8   4   3   1  10   5   5  15 ( 5th)
1994-1995:   8   2   2   4   8   9  -1   8 (12th)
1993-1994:   8   5   1   2  11   6   5  16 ( 4th)
1992-1993:   8   3   1   4  10  10   0  10 (10th)

Rolling Season:

P   W   D   L   F   A  GD Pts
2009-2010:  38  21  11   6  79  42  37  74

Current Run:

P   W   D   L   F   A  GD Pts
2009-2010:   4   4   0   0  14   3  11  12

Frisbee

Another decent attacking performance but once again we concede a very soft goal.

We need to start shutting teams out much better if we wan't to be taken seriously in a challenge for anything.

gosplan

gosplan wrote: »

Nonsense, on F365 the same story is "Yaya Toure to City in Robinho swap".

Nothing but space filler. About as pertinent as the really wide margins you used to put on a '2-page' essay in school.

In other news. Looks like there could be some points dropped among Chelsea/Man U/City/Liverpool tomorrow, lots of tough games and injuries.

Bah, had a tenner on Utd, Chelsea and Pool to lose at 230-1.

Kirnsy

we've scored a ridiculous amount this season but also conceded massively too. we have serious trouble defending high balls be it crosses, hoofs or set pieces.

Royale with Cheese

Yeah it's 11 conceded so far from 8 games, not going to win anything with that kind of defending.

L'prof

Kirnsy wrote: »

we've scored a ridiculous amount this season but also conceded massively too. we have serious trouble defending high balls be it crosses, hoofs or set pieces.

Most we've ever scored, but also the most we've ever conceded. Goals are coming from everywhere which is great to see.

Redzer7

Any out standing performers yesterday?
Didn't see the game .

Kirnsy

delighted with the spread of players scoring, from arshavin sniping away to van persie turning himself into the focal point of the attack and taking on the responsibility to score,diaby and denilson have contributed along with rosicky and gallas.

but if they all fail to score at least we have the verminator to rely on to hit the net! some man for one man!

Redzer7

Defoe to miss the Arsenal game

Frisbee

Redzer7 wrote: »

Defoe to miss the Arsenal game

Fairly worrying for me tbh as it means Crouch will play.
Which means long balls...

Redzer7

Crouch :pac::pac::pac::pac:.

Frisbee

Redzer7 wrote: »

Crouch :pac::pac::pac::pac:.

The Arsenal defence dealing with set pieces and long balls :pac::pac::pac::pac:

Pepe LeFrits

Chelsea and United aren't exactly defending brilliantly either at the moment, though I agree we do need to improve.

Adebayor lashes out at Alex Song whilst on international duty

God, he's some sap. Have to wonder if he's entirely stable.

Frisbee

At least he asked to be taken off before really hurting him... :pac:

gosplan

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Chelsea and United aren't exactly defending brilliantly either at the moment, though I agree we do need to improve.

Adebayor lashes out at Alex Song whilst on international duty

God, he's some sap. Have to wonder if he's entirely stable.

Had a poor game as well today - could be down to international break though. Still, I'd say that before too long, his workrate at City will drop and he'll start to have problems there.

City's transfer policy is flawed I feel. They shouldn't be looking to sign players that other clubs have gladly let go or passed up.

Essentially Tevez was a squad player at Man U, Toure was past his best at Arsenal and Adebayor was just not a good person to have in the team. This summer they should have looked to sign up and comers like Diego, Filipe Melo and so on.

I'd bet that in two years, if Man City are really serious about winning things, then all of these players will have been replaced.

After all, you're not going to break into the big four using players the big four either passed on or passed up.

L'prof

gosplan wrote: »

Had a poor game as well today - could be down to international break though. Still, I'd say that before too long, his workrate at City will drop and he'll start to have problems there.

City's transfer policy is flawed I feel. They shouldn't be looking to sign players that other clubs have gladly let go or passed up.

Essentially Tevez was a squad player at Man U, Toure was past his best at Arsenal and Adebayor was just not a good person to have in the team. This summer they should have looked to sign up and comers like Diego, Filipe Melo and so on.

I'd bet that in two years, if Man City are really serious about winning things, then all of these players will have been replaced.

After all, you're not going to break into the big four using players the big four either passed on or passed up.

I don't think it's flawed to be honest, they're going after the best players out there, they just don't want to come at the moment...that will change with time and money.

Frisbee

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-fans-taylor-chant-was-atrocious-

Birmingham fans who chanted Martin Taylor's name during Saturday's game have been branded as "stupid" by Arsène Wenger.

Seven minutes were on the clock at Emirates Stadium when Liam Ridgewell felled Theo Walcott with a full-blooded challenge which won the ball but took the man as well. As Walcott writhed in agony on the turf, visiting supporters sang 'One Martin Taylor...' in reference to the Birmingham defender whose tackle shattered Eduardo's leg and ankle in February 2008.

The Birmingham fans seemed to take pleasure in watching another Arsenal man suffering at the hands of a Blues defender and Wenger condemned their chants when he spoke to reporters after the match.

"That was frankly atrocious," he said. "They [the Birmingham fans] will not be remembered for the quality of their taste with that kind of remark.

“I didn’t say a word [when I heard the chant], I just thought 'that’s low'.

“Eduardo was here for the game. I don’t know how he felt about the chants. I just put that in the ranks of stupidity, you want to forget about it and not talk too much about it because there’s not a lot to say.

“With people like that, one starts to say something stupid, everybody follows, even intelligent people. People lose their identity together, and their sense of responsibility."

Massiwe loss of respect for the Birmingham fans after reading this...

Pepe LeFrits

You don't want to go reading any BCFC forums then, 'cos I suspect them claiming Taylor was the victim in the Eduardo legbreaker may annoy.

Funny thing is Villa fans sang the same thing 18 months ago...

Frisbee

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

'cos I suspect them claiming Taylor was the victim in the Eduardo legbreaker may annoy.

*twitch* *twitch*

yahoo_moe

jasonorr wrote: »

I don't think it's flawed to be honest, they're going after the best players out there, they just don't want to come at the moment...that will change with time and money.

Plus while there aren't a lot of examples of this kind of change in a club's purchasing power, we can look at Chelsea - and they had two phases of buys as well.

Phase 1: Mostly proven Premier League players - Glen Johnson, Lampard, Bridge, Scott Parker, Duff, Hasselbaink, etc.
Phase 2: Bigger signings from abroad - Essien, Ballack, Shevchenko, Carvalho, Alex, Crespo, Drogba, Anelka, etc.

Interestingly, they probably did better trophy-wise from the first lot than the second but there were a lot of other factors at play as well so the signings aren't the whole story.

L'prof

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Plus while there aren't a lot of examples of this kind of change in a club's purchasing power, we can look at Chelsea - and they had two phases of buys as well.

Phase 1: Mostly proven Premier League players - Glen Johnson, Lampard, Bridge, Scott Parker, Duff, Hasselbaink, etc.
Phase 2: Bigger signings from abroad - Essien, Ballack, Shevchenko, Carvalho, Alex, Crespo, Drogba, Anelka, etc.

Interestingly, they probably did better trophy-wise from the first lot than the second but there were a lot of other factors at play as well so the signings aren't the whole story.

Lampard, Petit, Zenden and Gallas were all bought in 2001 before Abramovic (which arguably got them that champions league qualification which was the main reason Abramovic bought Chelsea).

Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Aleksey Smertin, Damien Duff, Hernán Crespo, Juan Sebastián Verón, Claude Makeléle, Adrian Mutu, Scott Parker, Wayne Bridge, Gérémi were bought in Abramovich's first season.

Mateja Kezman, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Arjen Robben, Petr Cech, Tiago, Jirí Jarosík, Alex in season 2.

Lassana Diarra, Mickaël Essien, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Asier del Horno, Maniche in season 3.

Henrique Hilário, Michael Ballack, Ashley Cole, Ben Sahar, Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel, Khalid Boulahrouz in season 4.

Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben-Haim, Juliano Belletti, Franco Di Santo, Nicolás Anelka, Florent Malouda, Branislav Ivanovic

José Bosingwa, Deco, Mineiro, Ricardo Quaresma last season.

Ross Turnbull, Daniel Sturridge, Yuri Zhirkov, Nemanja Matic this season.

Compare that to City:
Geovanni, Elano, Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo, Martin Petrov, Gelson Fernandes, Benjani, Javier Garrido, Vedran Corluka in 2007.

Gunnar Nielsen, Gláuber, Shay Given, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Tal Ben-Haim, Robinho, Jô, Nigel de Jong, Craig Bellamy, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips last year.

Sylvinho, Stuart Taylor, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tévez, Joleon Lescott, Roque Santa Cruz, Kolo Habib Touré, Gareth Barry this year.

I think they've done quite well to be honest, they have a big and strong squad. They didn't have the attraction of champions league football that Chelsea had, but that will come with investment which will lead to the bigger players around the world wanting to join.

Royale with Cheese

Walcott out for about a month.

He's turning into a bit of a disaster injury wise.

Paleface

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

[/URL].

He's turning into a bit of a disaster injury wise.

I see your point but he got absolutely clattered by Ridgewell on Saturday. You wouldn't see that kind of tackle in most other leagues. Fair but hard. Very hard!

Lets hope he can recover quicker than predicted.

Galvasean

It wasn't fair at all. The law of the game says you cant go throgh a man with excessive force like that even if you do get the ball. It should definately have been a free kick, but probably not a yellow card.

Also, I am delighted to see Adebayor wont be at the World Cup. Extra sweet to see the final blow to his campaign was done by a team with an Arsenal man in it + lollers at rigobert Song stepping in and mincing Adebayor out of it for kicking Alex.

Frisbee

I've searched youtube and 101 great goals but can't find a clip of his foul on alex and getting bashed by rigobert.

Anyone have a link to a video?

Redzer7

'Cmon Arsenal.

Edit: Nice 1 nil. Fabregas 35th minute. 40th goal of the season .

Frisbee

Would have taken a point before the game but that's a sickening way to get it...

Pepe LeFrits

Nasri made his comeback for the reserves tonight. Good news as hopefully it means we'll see Diaby on the bench soon.

Royale with Cheese

Ah Diaby. An excellent player one week, an awful one the next. Just far far too inconsistent.

Frisbee

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-are-there-for-fabregas-if-he-needs-it-

Gael Clichy says the Arsenal squad are rallying round Cesc Fabregas while he deals with personal issues back in Spain.

The captain missed his country's final World Cup qualifier last week due to family reasons but played a full 90 minutes for his club against Birmingham on Saturday and then scored Arsenal's goal in their 1-1 draw at AZ Alkmaar on Tuesday.

Clichy declared his support for Fabregas and paid tribute to the 22-year-old for maintaining his high standards on the pitch despite problems off the field.

"In the dressing room he is always the same, like on the pitch, he is a good example for everyone," said the full-back.

"He is the captain and sometimes you go through bad moments in your private life and maybe this is one for him. But we are there for him if he needs it and once again he showed the character and we don't see that something is going wrong in his life.

"I hope everything will be good for him and his family. But in the dressing room and on the pitch he is still the big man."

Anyone know what happened exactly? I had assumed a death in the family, or an illness maybe, but can't find anything.

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/-we-are-there-for-fabregas-if-he-needs-it-




Anyone know what happened exactly? I had assumed a death in the family, or an illness maybe, but can't find anything.

No idea, but I assume an illness or an accident of some kind.

Galvasean

Whatever it is it hasn't been negatively effecting his form. He is on fire at te moment for club and country. He must be using his football to take his mind off whatever it is.

gosplan

jasonorr wrote: »

No idea, but I assume an illness or an accident of some kind.

Think his grandfather was quite sick.

gosplan

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Nasri made his comeback for the reserves tonight. Good news as hopefully it means we'll see Diaby on the bench soon.

Yeah. We've been lucky with injuries in that it hasn't really slowed the team down that much but quite unlucky in that two of Bendtner/Eboue/Diaby always seem to be playing.

It's even still up in the air as regards our first choice. Personally I'd go with:

Song - Rosicky -Fabregas
Walcott, RVP, Arshavin

But that's just based on the great work Rosicky's done recently. Obviously it's hard to see Nasri and Denilson out of the side.

Galvasean

I see we are playing West ham live on Sky sports on Sunday.
Perhaps we should get a posse together and go to a pub for it?

L'prof

Galvasean wrote: »

I see we are playing West ham live on Sky sports on Sunday.
Perhaps we should get a posse together and go to a pub for it?

Yeah, get a bus to Longford

yahoo_moe

gosplan wrote: »

Think his grandfather was quite sick.

Yep - he skipped the second Spain match to be with him, then came back to England early. I didn't see a death reported anywhere so I can only assume he's still quite ill, hence Clichy's comments.

Pepe LeFrits

Galvasean wrote: »

I see we are playing West ham live on Sky sports on Sunday.
Perhaps we should get a posse together and go to a pub for it?

I'd be game.

I'd be up for it. Where?

OPENROAD

Any other news on the AGM today?


http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/tv-online-watch-wenger-s-speech-at-the-agm

Have to say part of me hopes things stay the way they are at the moment/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8320807.stm

Radharc na Sleibhte

Agree, the current board seem happy with Kroenke and what he is doing and what he plans to do, if he plans to do anything.

If PHW is happy with him, then so am I.

Galvasean

Papa Smut wrote: »

I'd be up for it. Where?

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I'd be game.

How about the Woolshed?

Galvasean

So.. anybody up for meeting up for the game tomorrow?

Frisbee

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-i-won-t-name-best-english-keeper

Arsène Wenger has refused to be drawn on who he believes should be England's No 1 goalkeeper.

The French manager has kept a close eye on the Three Lions' progress since arriving in England 13 years ago and with Arsenal set to come up against Robert Green in the West Ham goal on Sunday, Wenger was asked who he believes should play between the sticks for Fabio Capello's side.

"Until now it was always David James," said Wenger, "[Capello] has chosen Green now because James is injured maybe.

"I don't know what he will do when James comes back again.

"If I say one and not the other, the guy who plays against us will be super-motivated."

Brilliant honesty there

yahoo_moe

Galvasean wrote: »

So.. anybody up for meeting up for the game tomorrow?

Sorry, not this time for me anyway - already booked to watch the two matches elsewhere.

I'll gladly do it at some stage though.

Redzer7

C'mon Arsenal we could do with a win with United losing .

Paleface

Today is a great opportunity to close the gap at the top.


COME ON THE GUNNERS!!!