Arsenal FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 10/11

Royale with Cheese

Arsenal fail to score against decent defences. They can stick loads passed rubbish teams all they want; but they lack goalscorers when they come up against the big teams, and not so big teams who are well organised at the back and are determined to get a 0-0.

Pepe LeFrits

They don't necessarily even have to be decent defences. Our attack was an a disaster in the cups this season too. Laboured massively against Ipswich, Huddersfield, Leyton Orient and Leeds.

Frisbee

Even rubbish teams have us figured out now. Two banks of four defending the width of the box and all we'll do is pass side to side all game. Most teams are happy to let us kick crosses all day as there usually isn't anyone in the box to challenge for them. And if there is it's a midget.

A genuine, pacy, tricky winger would cause teams to have to rethink how to defend against us as they would have to stop us going down the outside and so leave bigger gaps centrally.

Couple that with another goalscorer, a switch to two up top, and all of a sudden it's nowhere near as easy to defend against us.

Pepe LeFrits

I'm not too fussed about whether it's a 'winger' we bring in but we do need another forward with sharp movement and touch because without those two things we can't open up opposition defences. We get horribly static... with Arshavin for example our game becomes less pass-and-move and more pass. With Bendtner it's pass-and-move-and-miscontrol.

Someone who can do this at pace too would be invaluable. Samir was like this for much of the season and hopefully will be again and Theo can be this player when he's not injured. Even if he wasn't always injured we'd need another player in that mould to rotate and cover.

Frisbee

Nasri, Cesc, Ramsey, Wilshere and Robin all like to operate centrally. (I know Hazard does too but he can at least play wide). We are desperately lacking width.

I agree that whoever comes in need to be more of an 'explosive' player than what we have now. Someone who is willing to change the pace of the game or drive at defences. I just found it painfully obvious, particularly towards the latter end of the season against Bolton, Stoke, Villa and Sunderland, that they knew they didn't have to defend the wide areas as we didn't want to go down there and if we did they'd easily deal with any ball into the box against our solitary midget.

Having someone who can threaten defences with pace down the wing as well as always having one striker in the box will cause them to have to spread their defence a little thinner to try and cut off any crosses, and so leave gaps for Jack/Rambo/Nari/Cesc that at the moment just aren't there for them to exploit.


OR we could clone Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp and Pires and sweep away all before us.

Pepe LeFrits

I don't think it's so much of an issue of width as not being good enough to play through them. We get width from our full-backs and always have.

keano_afc

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Clichy is dreadful. Stupid lapses at the back and awful going forward. Not sure what his redeeming qualities are.

Gibbs has had an awful season too and I would seriously hope he's not the starting left back next season but I've just had enough of Clichy at this stage.

Its a no brainer really. if Clichy goes, we have to sign a replacement. Gibbs is made of glass, relying on him to complete 45 minutes is risky, never mind a whole season.

Fursttimer

Would love to have Benzema in the Arsenal side but f*ck knows how much his transfer would be.

It's widely perceived that he signed a six-year contract with Madrid in 2009, yet some media outlets, including the Guardian, are saying he currently has one year left on his contract

If he still has 3 years left he would cost around €25M, but if somehow it's only one year, he'd likely be sold for a lot less than that. Maybe €17.5M, which would be fantastic business for a 23-year-old top class striker.

Fursttimer

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Clichy is dreadful. Stupid lapses at the back and awful going forward. Not sure what his redeeming qualities are.

Gibbs has had an awful season too and I would seriously hope he's not the starting left back next season but I've just had enough of Clichy at this stage.

I think Clichy has played well this season. Let's face it for some parts of the campaign he's had Arshavin in front of him, the laziest sod in our squad. Personally I think he is excellent going forward. He puts the opposition on the back foot in an instant. He can be clumsy, but what footballer isn't.

He's still relatively young (only 25-years-old). I'd be surprised if we replaced him with a better talent. As already commented, Gibbs, for me, isn't good enough at this stage for a starting place.

Fursttimer

Clichy's Wikipedia :rolleyes:

MaxPower89

Fursttimer wrote: »

Personally I think he is excellent going forward.

Ah come on! He certainly isnt excellent going forward, no understanding with the strikers and midfielders, doesnt really link up well, crossing is even worse than Sagna's. Always the obvious pass. As much as I dislike him, Evra is far better.

Fursttimer

MaxPower89 wrote: »

Ah come on! He certainly isnt excellent going forward, no understanding with the strikers and midfielders, doesnt really link up well, crossing is even worse than Sagna's. Always the obvious pass. As much as I dislike him, Evra is far better.

I ain't saying he is the very best and I agree he isn't the greatest defender either but in our team he does fit in and he does put the opposition on the back foot attacking wise. I think his link up play is generally good. Like all players, he can be fustrating but he's a good performer and works hard.

gosplan

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

We don't score nearly enough. We've failed to score 8 times (possibly more) this season and we've huffed and puffed and struggled many times more than that again. The defensive mares is a long list but go through our fixtures and look at the offensive horror shows and the list is quite a bit longer.

// actually it's not that much longer - probably about 6 games worse. It's definitely a priority though.

You're correct but I think a major problem with us breaking down defences this year was that our attacking play stagnates without Cesc at the top of his game.

If he stays, you'd hope the rest would do him the world of good and I could see us scoring an extra 15-20 goals next year.

If he goes, we need major squad surgery as 4-4-2 would mean we've three players (Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin) for two positions and only Van Persie and Chamakh up front, assuming Bendtner goes.

If Cesc does go I'd actually like to see two wide men brought in and Arshavin used as a striker again - it's where he's played his best stuff, both for Russia and for us.

Fursttimer

Armand Traore could fill Clichy's position, couldn't he?

ImpossibleDuck

Ive been saying the Benzema transfer wont happen. Read sky sports story on it today and Wenger seems unusually optimistic and willing to discuss the possibility of it happening. So maybe it will? :P

I do regard him as a wonderful talent but I would rather see a world class CB come in than a striker.

iMuse

Sol's been released by Newcastle, Wouldn't surprise me if wenger signed him as defensive cover :pac:

Souless

iMuse wrote: »

Sol's been released by Newcastle, Wouldn't surprise me if wenger signed him as defensive cover :pac:

He actually should of stayed with us probably would have got more game time than he did at Newcastle as well!

Any thoughts on the Nasri situation? Apparently Arsenal have given him til the end of June to sign, or we'll put him up for sale.

I hope he stays, and I'd say he's waiting to see who's coming in. If we don't strengthen by then, I'd ssay he'll be gone.


(or it could all be about money )

Galvasean

The tabloids are really getting behind teh Benzema rumour. hope it's true.

Galvasean

Papa Smut wrote: »

Any thoughts on the Nasri situation? Apparently Arsenal have given him til the end of June to sign, or we'll put him up for sale.

I hope he stays, and I'd say he's waiting to see who's coming in. If we don't strengthen by then, I'd ssay he'll be gone.


(or it could all be about money )

Evra told him he should join United.
Right Wenger, sign Benzema and some other qulaity players. Keep Nasri, Cesc and co. happy

finty

Fursttimer wrote: »

I ain't saying he is the very best and I agree he isn't the greatest defender either but in our team he does fit in and he does put the opposition on the back foot attacking wise. I think his link up play is generally good. Like all players, he can be fustrating but he's a good performer and works hard.

Are you being serious here?

Clichy is perhaps the weakest part of our back 4, a bold statement I know considering some of the stuff played by those around him.

He is so bad in the air at this stage that he doesnt even attempt to attack the ball. Ridiculous in the premier league where long diagonal balls are a regular tactic of many teams.

In our team he does fit in alright....prone to gaffs, fragile when the pressure is on.

and as for his attacking play, what attacking play? I cant remember much of any, stats say 1 assist this season, 0 goals, 1 shot on goal

He was shockingly poor this season

iMuse

I think this summer will be more about speculation on who will leave rather than who we will bring in

KaiserGunner

Galvasean wrote: »

Evra told him he should join United.
Right Wenger, sign Benzema and some other qulaity players. Keep Nasri, Cesc and co. happy

Where did you hear about Evra saying that? As if I couldnt dislike that player even more. I have a bad feeling that Nasri wont sign a new contract and that we will be forced to sell, but we certainly wont be selling to our rivals. Hope not anyway as Nasri is class and would majorly improve their midfield IMO.

MaxPower89

KaiserGunner wrote: »

Where did you hear about Evra saying that?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6951083,00.html

It would be sickening to see him go there, hopefully he will sign though, probably waiting to make sure we are getting rid of the dross and replacing with some quality.

Andre80Johnson

If Benzema were to join, where would he be playing if Van Persie is fit?

premierstone

Nasri should be sold just for even talking to Evra :mad:

UnknownSpecies

Wenger was talking about the rush for clubs buying players because of the fair play rules, hopefully he does his business sooner rather then later in this window. We really need to bring a big player to keep the likes of Cesc and Nasri here with us.

Also, I reckon Benzema wouldn't cost us more then £12million if the reports are true about only having one year left on his contract. That would be a super price for a player like him.

Blatter

dorgasm wrote: »

Wenger was talking about the rush for clubs buying players because of the fair play rules, hopefully he does his business sooner rather then later in this window. We really need to bring a big player to keep the likes of Cesc and Nasri here with us.

Also, I reckon Benzema wouldn't cost us more then £12million if the reports are true about only having one year left on his contract. That would be a super price for a player like him.

Benzema has 4 years left to run on a 6 year contract.

He won't be going anywhere for under £20M.

iMuse

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

Benzema has 4 years left to run on a 6 year contract.

He won't be going anywhere for under £20M.

And thats a deal breaker for me, Cannot see Wenger spending 20m on a player. The only way we will sign him is if Madrid want rid and they sell him on the cheap (Like Van der Vaart)

Blatter

iMuse wrote: »

And thats a deal breaker for me, Cannot see Wenger spending 20m on a player. The only way we will sign him is if Madrid want rid and they sell him on the cheap (Like Van der Vaart)

The issue with that is that there won't be any lack of suiters of Benzema, I'd imagine several clubs would be interested in signing him for circa £20M.

I wouldn't entirely rule out Wenger spending that sort of sum on a player this Summer. There is real pressure on him with regards the transfer market now.

Fursttimer

finty wrote: »

Are you being serious here?

Clichy is perhaps the weakest part of our back 4, a bold statement I know considering some of the stuff played by those around him.

He is so bad in the air at this stage that he doesnt even attempt to attack the ball. Ridiculous in the premier league where long diagonal balls are a regular tactic of many teams.

In our team he does fit in alright....prone to gaffs, fragile when the pressure is on.

and as for his attacking play, what attacking play? I cant remember much of any, stats say 1 assist this season, 0 goals, 1 shot on goal

He was shockingly poor this season

Having looked through your most recent posts, it's quite clear you have the hump with the current Arsenal set-up :pac:

For what it's worth, Clichy was a purchased for around 250,000. He has served the club well during his time. Given that the poor lad almost died, what he has achieved in football is fantastic.

I attended 32 Arsenal games this season and I've no hesitation saying that Clichy has been one of our better, hard-working players

I'll leave it on that note because arguing with you seems like a losing battle for me

KeithAFC

Benzema would be an excellent signing. We should play him upfront with Van Persie imo and go back to 4-4-2.

SDTimeout

Saw the Nasri link the other day, would hate if he signed for United.

Benzema is an exciting prospect though, looking forward if it happens.

Frisbee

Confirmed

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Jaysus I don't know about that now. The shorts certainly don't help it.


[edit] Is it me or do the crest and sponsor look ridiculously big on that?

Frisbee

Frisbee wrote: »

Confirmed

<PIC>

ewwww

KaiserGunner

That has to be possibly the worst ever Arsenal kit, its horrendous looking and as Fuzzy pointed out the sponsor looks way too big on the jersey. It also looks very cheap and not a proper jersey.

Galvasean

Thumbs down

Galvasean

Who do you guys think was our player of the season? No one REALLy stands out for me. nasri was brilliant in the first half of the season but ran out of steam later. van Persie is in epic form, but missed a lot through injury.
Wilshere maybe?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Actually who was that confirmed by Frisbee? It's not on the official site still and there's conflicting reports about the colour of the shorts.

KeithAFC

Galvasean wrote: »

Who do you guys think was our player of the season? No one REALLy stands out for me. nasri was brilliant in the first half of the season but ran out of steam later. van Persie is in epic form, but missed a lot through injury.
Wilshere maybe?

Wilshere. Then Van Persie.

Frisbee

Galvasean wrote: »

Who do you guys think was our player of the season? No one REALLy stands out for me. nasri was brilliant in the first half of the season but ran out of steam later. van Persie is in epic form, but missed a lot through injury.
Wilshere maybe?

van Persie

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Actually who was that confirmed by Frisbee? It's not on the official site still and there's conflicting reports about the colour of the shorts.

Well when the official website did the release of the home jersey a few weeks back someone left that blue/navy one hanging up in the background so it was all but confirmed. Been confirmed on twitter this evening by a number of Arsenal bloggers including Young guns who I'd be inclined to believe.

ImpossibleDuck

Galvasean wrote: »

Who do you guys think was our player of the season? No one REALLy stands out for me. nasri was brilliant in the first half of the season but ran out of steam later. van Persie is in epic form, but missed a lot through injury.
Wilshere maybe?

No one by a mile, but I think Wilshere just sneaked it :P or maybe RVP

eagle eye

Personally I thought Alex Song was Arsenal's best player but he never gets the credit he should get. Van Persie was better than anybody else over the games he played but he did miss a big portion of the season.

shano_88

eagle eye wrote: »

Personally I thought Alex Song was Arsenal's best player but he never gets the credit he should get. Van Persie was better than anybody else over the games he played but he did miss a big portion of the season.

No way was Alex Song pots. He was way too inconsistent.

Galvasean

Song had a mixed season. Some epic games, but some bloody terrible ones too. Not as consistent as last season IMO.

keano_afc

POTS was van Persie by a mile. Without him in the second half of the season we'd be outside the top 8 at the least.

That monstrosity of a jersey must not see the light of day, especially with those shorts. We'll be (even more of) a laughing stock.

ImpossibleDuck

http://thegoonblog.com/2011/05/benzema-a-headline-maker-but-an-unrealistic-transfer-option/

About 3/4 of the way down that article, the author makes a very good point.

With Season Ticket prices just gone up by 6.5% or something, surely some fans will have to call it a day because they just can't afford it and it's not like they're missing anything at the minute - which is a fair enough point.

Do you think perhaps these headlines being generated by Wenger (i.e. Benzema, Hazard, Samba etc.) are just a ploy to get fans to buy the new more expensive season tickets, which, before these headlines, may not have been bought by the same fans?

the untitled user

I like that new Away jersey, tacky goodness

gosplan

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

Do you think perhaps these headlines being generated by Wenger (i.e. Benzema, Hazard, Samba etc.) are just a ploy to get fans to buy the new more expensive season tickets, which, before these headlines, may not have been bought by the same fans?

Possibly, but I think he's going to try and buy big this summer. He's never really been dishonest as regards his transfer dealings and I wouldn't expect him to start now just to secure more season tickets.

More likely I'd say he's trying to encourage players to stay.

Nasri to Man U makes me get sick in my mouth.