Arsenal FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

gosplan

Seriously Arsne, just break the bank.


Whatever they want, just pay it. We can safely say that a good goalkeeper at this stage would be worth as much to us as Messi - it'd be an amazing signing and solve an ongoing problem for a decade to come.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

gosplan wrote: »

Seriously Arsne, just break the bank.


Whatever they want, just pay it. We can safely say that a good goalkeeper at this stage would be worth as much to us as Messi - it'd be an amazing signing and solve an ongoing problem for a decade to come.

I was thinking the same thing. He looked absolutely quality in the matches against Liverpool and Ireland

Souless

gosplan wrote: »

Seriously Arsne, just break the bank.


Whatever they want, just pay it. We can safely say that a good goalkeeper at this stage would be worth as much to us as Messi - it'd be an amazing signing and solve an ongoing problem for a decade to come.

+1 Definatly I was the same only saw him against Liverpool and Ireland and he looked great, I know someone will say the conistancy argument but he is the France number 1 as well.

Also about the shots and goals let in ratio about that is actually so scary I was shocked looking at it at first and then I thought no it sounds about right I can't remember the last time we kept a clean sheet in the league

cson

Lloris is open to huge improvement, scary that he's only 22 according to Wikipedia there. He's by no means the finished aticle - think he let in 5 a couple of weeks ago vs Monaco :eek:

But, then again Lyon are piss poor this year compared to when they were under Houllier and Le Guen, they've been playing Toulalan in CB which wouldn't help Lloris. If he did come to Arsenal you'd have quite concievably 4/5 of the French back 5! Lloris-Sagna-Gallas-Clichy

Yeah, he'd be a good signing but then you'd more than likely have to tell Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone where to go. Which is not a bad thing either I suppose.

I can see Utd going for him though sadly.

Frisbee

cson wrote: »

you'd have quite concievably 4/5 of the French back 5! Lloris-Sagna-Gallas-Clichy

Clichy doesn't get his game

cson

Ah wishful thinking on my part - he should, I don't like Evra.

Frisbee

cson wrote: »

Ah wishful thinking on my part - he should, I don't like Evra.

I really like Clichy, but Evra is better than him, unfortunately for Gael.

However when Abidal was playing at LB I was thouroughly confused...

leninbenjamin

Pretty sure Lloris wont leave France (at the moment at least). The big clubs were onto him long before he went to Lyon, and he did snub Milan for sure.

cson

To be fair Milan have fallen pretty dramatically from grace in the last 2 years or so. I like to think we had a hand in that, beating them 2-0 at home in the Champions League Q-F's :pac:

Actually; is Flamini getting his game at all these days? He was a starter for France a couple of years ago and I'm not sure he's even making the squad nowadays?

L'prof

cson wrote: »

To be fair Milan have fallen pretty dramatically from grace in the last 2 years or so. I like to think we had a hand in that, beating them 2-0 at home in the Champions League Q-F's :pac:

Actually; is Flamini getting his game at all these days? He was a starter for France a couple of years ago and I'm not sure he's even making the squad nowadays?

He was never a starter for France, he's only made a few appearances. As for with Milan, he's started 12 games in all competitions and 7 in the league. Unless he was injured, you'd have to say he'd be starting all our games.

OPENROAD

Frisbee wrote: »

I really like Clichy, but Evra is better than him, unfortunately for Gael.

And Ashley Cole is better than both of them imo, pity how things turned out.

OPENROAD

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/01/arsene-wenger-buy-striker-january

yahoo_moe

I'd be pretty surprised if we signed anyone in January - it's a World Cup year and no player who's going to be there should really be looking at a move that could disrupt them 5 months before the finals.

Obviously there are only 32 countries going (sorry, John Delaney :rolleyes:) but it still takes out a lot of players, and with the ACN on too that rules out a load more countries.

I'd only be in favour of a loan move to be honest (i.e. cover until Van Persie's back), and even then I'd like to see Bendtner given the opportunity - it's about time we saw him up front through the centre regularly - so all we'd need is cover for him.

gosplan

jasonorr wrote: »

He was never a starter for France, he's only made a few appearances. As for with Milan, he's started 12 games in all competitions and 7 in the league. Unless he was injured, you'd have to say he'd be starting all our games.

TBH I get the feeling he might just be happy with the massive paycheck he's getting having gone there on a free.

There's simply no way that if Flamini was putting in the same workrate as he did in his last season with Arsenal that he wouldn't be playing more.

With that in mind, I think you have to reevaluate his final season with us. He played the football of his life once he wasn't wanted and nearly was sold to Boro. Since he's sorted his club and contract out, he's obviously taken his foot off the pedal.

tony1kenobi

gosplan wrote: »

TBH I get the feeling he might just be happy with the massive paycheck he's getting having gone there on a free.

There's simply no way that if Flamini was putting in the same workrate as he did in his last season with Arsenal that he wouldn't be playing more.

With that in mind, I think you have to reevaluate his final season with us. He played the football of his life once he wasn't wanted and nearly was sold to Boro. Since he's sorted his club and contract out, he's obviously taken his foot off the pedal.

Ahh that is a bit cynical isn't it? I'd have him back in a second.

Roaster

I fear this is just a soundbite from Wenger to placate the fans after Sunday's game.

I wouldn't risk Horseface because of his injury record over the last couple of years.

If he was serious he should go after Villa (throw in Medira & Vela as part of the deal)...one can dream.

SlickRic

Roaster wrote: »

If he was serious he should go after Villa (throw in Medira & Vela as part of the deal)...one can dream.

if wenger is willing to spend £30m as well as those 2 at the very least, then go ahead.

L'prof

SlickRic wrote: »

if wenger is willing to spend £30m as well as those 2 at the very least, then go ahead.

No chance!

Frisbee

Hoping for a good match tonight, In work so I won't get to see it.

I'm hoping there will be a sprinkling of first team players in with the reserves coz City are most likely to play a full team so we need some experience in there, I'd like to see:

---

Mannone

---

Eboue

---

Senderos

---

Silvestre

---

Traore

---

Ramsey----Coquelin----Rosicky

---

Walcott

---

Vela

---

Wilshere

But there's very little chance of that happening, is it worth risking Traore considering he's our first choive left back for the next few weeks?

keano_afc

Frisbee wrote: »

Hoping for a good match tonight, In work so I won't get to see it.

I'm hoping there will be a sprinkling of first team players in with the reserves coz City are most likely to play a full team so we need some experience in there, I'd like to see:

---

Mannone

---

Eboue

---

Senderos

---

Silvestre

---

Traore

---

Ramsey----Coquelin----Rosicky

---

Walcott

---

Vela

---

Wilshere

But there's very little chance of that happening, is it worth risking Traore considering he's our first choive left back for the next few weeks?

Arsenal (from): Fabianski, Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Coquelin, Eastmond, Ramsey, Merida, Wilshere, Watt, Vela, Szczesny, Randall, Frimpong, Bartley, Sunu, Cruise, Emmanuel-Thomas.

Thats the squad so no place for some of the senior players. I think he definitely shuld have put some experience in there, this is a trophy we could do with having a good shot at.

L'prof

keano_afc wrote: »

Arsenal (from): Fabianski, Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Coquelin, Eastmond, Ramsey, Merida, Wilshere, Watt, Vela, Szczesny, Randall, Frimpong, Bartley, Sunu, Cruise, Emmanuel-Thomas.

Thats the squad so no place for some of the senior players. I think he definitely shuld have put some experience in there, this is a trophy we could do with having a good shot at.

As far as Wenger's concerned (agus mé féin) his Carling Cup policy has served him well and has greatly aided in the development of our younger players. This isn't going to change and the only time senior players will be included is when they are trying to get match fitness or are no longer part of the first team!

I didn't think Senderos was in the squad?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

keano_afc wrote: »

Arsenal (from): Fabianski, Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Coquelin, Eastmond, Ramsey, Merida, Wilshere, Watt, Vela, Szczesny, Randall, Frimpong, Bartley, Sunu, Cruise, Emmanuel-Thomas.

Thats the squad so no place for some of the senior players. I think he definitely shuld have put some experience in there, this is a trophy we could do with having a good shot at.

Never trust the BBC for the squad information, they just guess.

Here's the official one

Arsenal Football Club have today announced the following 18-man squad for the Carling Cup Quarter-Final against Manchester City.

Tomas Rosicky
Carlos Vela
Aaron Ramsey
Alex Song
Mikael Silvestre
Jack Wilshere
Lukasz Fabianski (GK)
Vito Mannone (GK)
Emmanuel Eboue
Armand Traore
Fran Merida
Kyle Bartley
Francis Coquelin
Craig Eastmond
Emmanuel Frimpong
Kerrea Gilbert
Mark Randall
Sanchez Watt

It's decent enough with Rosicky, Song and Eboue being there but no Senderos means it'll probably be Song at CB

Roaster

I hope Song is playing so he can tear Adeybayor a new one...

In_tuition

A draw match would be a great result.

City are unbeaten at home this term - 3 wins 3 draws (3 draws though coming against Fulham, Burnely & most recently Hull)

They have conceded 9 goals at home, and a lot of them from open play.

Man City's last 6 games have all ended in a draw and only 1 of them has finished goalless, here's hoping for another draw tonight.

Frisbee

In_tuition wrote: »

here's hoping for another draw tonight.

Personally I'm going to look for the win as it's certainly possible.

Isn't there peno's in the event of a draw tonight?

L'prof

Papa Smut wrote: »

Isn't there peno's in the event of a draw tonight?

Extra time and penalties!

Pighead

Here's the line ups:
Man City----Given, Richards, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, SWP, Ireland, Barry, Bellamy, Tevez, Adebayor.

Arsenal

---

Fabianski, Eboue, Song, Silvestre, Traore, Eastmond, Ramsey, Merida, Wilshere, Vela, Rosicky

I expect Man City to win by at least two goals this evening. That Arsenal midfield (while skilful) is weaker than your man in those Mr Muscle ads.

2-0 or 3-1 to City.

gosplan

Bah, it's been a fcuking depressing last fortnight.

Stoke on the weekend - please god no, I can't take much more of this.

Souless

gosplan wrote: »

Bah, it's been a fcuking depressing last fortnight.

Stoke on the weekend - please god no, I can't take much more of this.

I feel the same missed the game tonight as I was in work but hopefully we won't lose to Stoke (again lol)

Frisbee

Was in work so waiting to see the highlights, disappointed overall though, I wasn't too optimistic of a win but 3-0 seems like a mauling

Frisbee

Silvestre is a fcuking human wrecking ball, he needs to be brought out behind the woodshed and shot, it's embarrassing seeing him in an Arsenal jersey.

Wonder why Eastmond started ahead of Coquelin again, seems he's fallen out of favour.

Merida looked like a great prospect once again

FearDark

That was hard to watch tonight, lightweight all over the field.

In_tuition

Frisbee wrote: »

Merida looked like a great prospect once again

He rattled the bar with a fantastic shot towards the end of the match despite that though he was very ordinary. His touch was off, his head was down and he lacked muscle/craft and energy tonight.

I've been calling for Eboue to come into the team at right-back of late but tonight proves why he doesn't fill that role on a weekly basis. It's a position that needs urgent attention - Sagna is not good enough imo.

Traore does not have a future at the club.

Vela - he's a little maestro who is being wasted in the current set-up, for his sake I hope he moves on - he has awesome potential but if we don't play to suit him (that being with a big man upsides him) then he is wasted and he will never fit in at the emirates. Would love to see him and Bendtner up top.

Fabianski :eek: retire please.

No doubt others will disagree with some if not all my thoughts, but that's exactly what they are, my personal thoughts on the current state of things.

Frisbee

In_tuition wrote: »

Sagna is not good enough imo.

I really can't think of any other RB in the PL, except perhaps Bosinwa that I'd rather have.

In_tuition wrote: »

Traore does not have a future at the club.

Unfortunately, I have to agree, I really rate him, but it's just unfortunate for him that he has Clichy and Gibbs both ahead of him.

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

I really can't think of any other RB in the PL, except perhaps Bosinwa that I'd rather have.

Never thought he was great to be honest. I think Sagna is fantastic, was very disappointed that the goals were given away on his side though!

EDIT: On Sunday against Chelsea...

In_tuition

jasonorr wrote: »

Never thought he was great to be honest. I think Sagna is fantastic, was very disappointed that the goals were given away on his side though!

He can't cross a ball! He's brutal at it.

Full backs are difficult to come by, it's also a difficult part of the pitch to play as we know.

I can't think of someone off the top of my head, a lot of them are hit and miss, I think Sagna falls into that category, he plays his role okay in that he links up well with those ahead of him but from a defensive point of view and crossing he is average at best

Frisbee

In_tuition wrote: »

He can't cross a ball! He's brutal at it.

He's fairly malojen at crossing alright, as is Clichy

In_tuition

Frisbee wrote: »

Unfortunately, I have to agree, I really rate him, but it's just unfortunate for him that he has Clichy and Gibbs both ahead of him.

I do rate him but he is not as good as the two you mentioned. In fact quite a bit behind. Really admire Gibbs.

I'll be honest and say that I think Traore should be played in a team left-midfield. He has speed to burn, he's crafty on the ball and he can deliver a ball and link up well.

Defensively he lacks the reading of the game in that part of the pitch. He's an attack minded player, hope he moves on and finds a nice role at a decent club. Be a great asset to a mid table team that lack a bit of flair and energy on the wings - Birmingham spring to mind.

L'prof

In_tuition wrote: »

He can't cross a ball! He's brutal at it.

Full backs are difficult to come by, it's also a difficult part of the pitch to play as we know.

I can't think of someone off the top of my head, a lot of them are hit and miss, I think Sagna falls into that category, he plays his role okay in that he links up well with those ahead of him but from a defensive point of view and crossing he is average at best

Doesn't need to do that at Arsenal to be honest, we don't attack in that way and if we did we'd have to overhaul our whole style of play.

Don't get me wrong, I wish we did do that a bit more and got goals from it.

Personally, I can't fault his defending in general...maybe I'm missing something?

In_tuition

jasonorr wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I wish we did do that a bit more and got goals from it.?

Do you actually know how many potential goals we could get from doing so? It's frightening..here's an example

Last season in the Premier League Arsenal outscored Aston Villa by 14 goals, 68 to Villa's 54.

Of Villa's 54 goals 22 of them came from a cross - of Arsenal's 68 haul only 5 of them came the way of a cross.

Chelsea 13 by way of a cross from a total of 68.

Man United 12 from 68.

Liverpool 13.

I know we scored the same amount at the end of season but consider the amount of possession we have in the final 3rd each week, we should be looking at an extra 10-15 goals and goals win games and those wins means extra points.

Chelsea have scored 11 goals already from a cross this season that's probably why they sit top.

L'prof

In_tuition wrote: »

Do you actually know how many potential goals we could get from doing so? It's frightening..here's an example

Last season in the Premier League Arsenal outscored Aston Villa by 14 goals, 68 to Villa's 54.

Of Villa's 54 goals 22 of them came from a cross - of Arsenal's 68 haul only 5 of them came the way of a cross.

Chelsea 13 by way of a cross from a total of 68.

Man United 12 from 68.

Liverpool 13.

I know we scored the same amount at the end of season but consider the amount of possession we have in the final 3rd each week, we should be looking at an extra 10-15 goals and goals win games and those wins means extra points.

Chelsea have scored 11 goals already from a cross this season that's probably why they sit top.

I agreed with you on that point, it would take fair bit of time and new players for us to take advantage of those situations. It's so frustrating watching the games (when we're bombing down the wings) and just knowing that there's no point crossing the ball in and when we do, there's 4 defenders and maybe, just maybe one attacker nowhere near the ball.

In_tuition

jasonorr wrote: »

I agreed with you on that point

Yeah I know mate - sorry.

Didn't intend to come across that way.

Wasn't being forceful with 'do you actually know'

Stoke should be handy - they have conceded 15 goals, 9 of them from open play and 8 of them away from home.

Arsenal have scored 25 of their 36 goals from open play.

Could and should be around 3/4-0

L'prof

In_tuition wrote: »

Stoke should be handy - they have conceded 15 goals, 9 of them from open play and 8 of them away from home.

Arsenal have scored 25 of their 36 goals from open play.

Could and should be around 3/4-0

:eek:

Stop it please!!!

Do you really not want us to win???

In_tuition

jasonorr wrote: »

:eek:

Stop it please!!!

Do you really not want us to win???

To Arsenal (I should have added :cool:)

Frisbee

I'm nowhere near as confident, imo this will be very like the Fulham game with a goal deciding it, Stoke have a very good defense.

ErinGoBrath

jasonorr wrote: »

Never thought he was great to be honest. I think Sagna is fantastic, was very disappointed that the goals were given away on his side though!

C'mon admit it. Eboue does a job that Sagna doesn't. Who questioned his footballing ability earlier? He was brilliant and an attacking threat...

L'prof

ErinGoBrath wrote: »

C'mon admit it. Eboue does a job that Sagna doesn't. Who questioned his footballing ability earlier? He was brilliant and an attacking threat...

I dunno to be honest...I like Eboue, great worker. I wasn't too keen on him defensively and going forward, well he just loses the ball or can't finish chances...just not really sure what job he does that Sagna can't?

Frisbee

jasonorr wrote: »

just not really sure what job he does that Sagna can't?

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

Ah, the stick your ársé out dance? That can be learned surely???