Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

Galvasean

Galvasean wrote: »

Not disagreeing with your point but Everton still had a half decent shot at Champions League football back then. For them the game against us was billed as a 'must win' to keep the dream alive.

Sounds more like the mentality of the red side of Liverpool :pac:

Pepe LeFrits

An absolutely top level striker would be my number one priority, after that a right back and after that a quality midfielder. Preferably someone with a bit of physicality, but one who is still an excellent footballer - no pure defensive mids please, need someone who can play in the opposition half. I can't really think of any in particular though. Failing that I'd love us to go for Cabaye, he'd be a very handy player for us to have.

Pepe LeFrits

Deleted User wrote: »

I reckon we're in the position for the best shot in the league next year.

To think I was worried that the euphoria of scraping 4th place would lead to people getting carried away...

Mickeroo

I'd be quite happy for them to let Sagna's contract run down rather than sign another right back.

Pepe LeFrits

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

To think I was worried that the euphoria of scraping 4th place would lead to people getting carried away...

Nothing to do with fourth place. I gave my reasons why.

tayto lover

Mickeroo wrote: »

I'd be quite happy for them to let Sagna's contract run down rather than sign another right back.

He played well yesterday in fairness.
His best game in awhile.

L'prof

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A: All the other top 4 teams have changed manager. There has to be a certain bedding in period.

That's an interesting point. If we strengthen this summer the way we all hope, a 10 point increase on this season is a reasonable enough expectation. We just need the other top clubs to take a while to adjust to new tactics/formations and hopefully not do as well or have a similar season. City, United & Chelsea all have very good squads, but it takes a very good manager to come in and make them click instantly. If Mourinho comes in for Chelsea, they'd have to be my favourites though. He ruined our hopes and dreams before and he'll do it again!

TheGunns

Sagna has been inconsistent, which is a problem. Jenkinson could step up and another brought in too. Corchia seems to be the one going around atm

Galvasean

I can't see us getting another RB in unless Sagna goes. Wenger has great faith in Jenk becoming the real deal. I can't see him being demoted to third choice.

Paully D

Soups123

Paully D wrote: »

Wow £10,000 claim on vibrating tools, must get the the missus to stick in a claim against that rabbit company

Chucky the tree

Deleted User wrote: »

I reckon we're in the position for the best shot in the league next year.

As people have said, there's so many reasons that it should work out for us next year

A: All the other top 4 teams have changed manager. There has to be a certain bedding in period.

B: We have money for the first time in years.

C: We have no players itching to leave that will be missed (arguably Sagna, but after his injuries you'd wonder how much of a part he would have played next year anyway)

We have a good solid team based on youngsters. With the additions of a couple more experienced players (Look at what Mert, Kos, Santi and Podolski have brought to the team) we should have the right balance

E: There's a chance it could be Wenger's last season. I'm sure the team will want to end on a high for him.

I think we'll win it next year. Or at least top 2. Especially if we carry this form over into next season.

A. Who says there has to be a certain bedding in period? I mean chelsea changed managers who the summer and again during the season and still finished ahead of yous.

B. According to Wenger you've always had money, he's just never spent it. Also if managers have a bedding in period why don't knew players?

C. True

D. Should improve the squad alright.

E. Meh. Not sure this will make the difference.


As the end of season form, that's really bad way to look at things. I think it will take a very rare and amazing set of circumstances for Arsenal to win the title. I'll be surprised if they are even in with a realistic chance by Christmas.

Marty McFly

Chucky the tree wrote: »

A. Who says there has to be a certain bedding in period? I mean chelsea changed managers who the summer and again during the season and still finished ahead of yous.

B. According to Wenger you've always had money, he's just never spent it. Also if managers have a bedding in period why don't knew players?

C. True

D. Should improve the squad alright.

E. Meh. Not sure this will make the difference.


As the end of season form, that's really bad way to look at things. I think it will take a very rare and amazing set of circumstances for Arsenal to win the title. I'll be surprised if they are even in with a realistic chance by Christmas.

For United who arent used to that kind of upheaval I'd imagine there will be a bedding in period, for Chelsea no there well used to the chopping and changing of managers.

New players do have a bedding in period He hasn't had the money that clear as day to everyone really.

I dont think we will win the title but can we challenge if we show the same form as we have in this run in, the best form in the league and with a strenghtened squad I can't see no reason why we wont be at least in the mix with Chelsea who will be my favorites for the league should Mourinho return.

Chucky the tree

Chucky the tree wrote: »

A. Who says there has to be a certain bedding in period? I mean chelsea changed managers who the summer and again during the season and still finished ahead of yous.

I would argue that there was a "bedding in period" for Chelsea, they underperformed relative to their squad strength on paper.

Chucky the tree

Marty McFly wrote: »

For United who arent used to that kind of upheaval I'd imagine there will be a bedding in period, for Chelsea no there well used to the chopping and changing of managers.

New players do have a bedding in period He hasn't had the money that clear as day to everyone really.

I dont think we will win the title but can we challenge if we show the same form as we have in this run in, the best form in the league and with a strenghtened squad I can't see no reason why we wont be at least in the mix with Chelsea who will be my favorites for the league should Mourinho return.

His posted basically said that other teams will have a bedding in period with their managers while all the players Arsenal sign with all their money will hit the ground running. Possible but unlikely. As I said, it will take a unlikely set of events to happen for yous to win the league. The run is of little relevance to be honest. I don't know why it is considered to be a measuring stick.

Deleted User wrote: »

I would argue that there was a "bedding in period" for Chelsea, they underperformed relative to their squad strength on paper.

Chelsea underperformed and still did better - question is will they keep the same squad and not strength it and/or will Arsenal strength their squad so much they will be on a level field when you taking into account the "bedding period".

tayto lover

If we buy early the new players will have plenty of time to bed in. The Emirates Cup and the foreign trip will suffice. Good intelligent players do not take long.
RVP didn't need too long to bed in at United.

Marty McFly

Chucky the tree wrote: »

His posted basically said that other teams will have a bedding in period with their managers while all the players Arsenal sign with all their money will hit the ground running. Possible but unlikely. As I said, it will take a unlikely set of events to happen for yous to win the league. The run is of little relevance to be honest. I don't know why it is considered to be a measuring stick.

How could it not be viewed as a measuring stick? Of coarse it has relevance, form always has relevance. We started performing better as soon as Verm was dropped and Kos came in plus our team underwent major upheaval once again last summer so of coarse it will take time for player to become accustomed to one another and as they did our results improved, were all hoping this season we see no major departures, bring in a few top quality players who unlike previous season will have time to settle and not be thrown in at the deep end . I don't think we will win the league but to right us off as also rans before anyone even sees what happens this summer would be foolish.

the_monkey

Well done Arsenal, another season where they finish 5 places above where they should be.

Look forward to next season where Arsenal win nothing again...

:rolleyes:

Chucky the tree

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Chelsea underperformed and still did better - question is will they keep the same squad and not strength it and/or will Arsenal strength their squad so much they will be on a level field when you taking into account the "bedding period".

If Chelsea spend a billion dollars and only finish a point ahead of Arsenal one one guess it was because of a "bedding in period" or whatever. I don't really get what you're trying to argue, you agree that Chelsea underperformed relative to their squad strength so what else would it be down to? How Arsenal did is pretty much irrelevant in these terms.

Marty McFly

the_monkey wrote: »

Well done Arsenal, another season where they finish 5 places above where they should be.

Look forward to next season where Arsenal win nothing again...

:rolleyes:

:pac::pac::pac: aww we really get to ya don't we?

greendom

tayto lover wrote: »

If we buy early the new players will have plenty of time to bed in. The Emirates Cup and the foreign trip will suffice. Good intelligent players do not take long.
RVP didn't need too long to bed in at United.

It depends on the player hand other variables such as whether the new player in question is expected to play in a similar way/system to what they're used to - there's no hard and fast rule and I'm not sure it's connected to intelligence. Are you suggesting that Michu is more intelligent than Drogba for example?

Chucky the tree

Marty McFly wrote: »

How could it not be viewed as a measuring stick? Of coarse it has relevance, form always has relevance. We started performing better as soon as Verm was dropped and Kos came in plus our team underwent major upheaval once again last summer so of coarse it will take time for player to become accustomed to one another and as they did our results improved, were all hoping this season we see no major departures, bring in a few top quality players who unlike previous season will have time to settle and not be thrown in at the deep end . I don't think we will win the league but to right us off as also rans before anyone even sees what happens this summer would be foolish.

For 10 games last season from 16oct until 31 dec Arsenal won 26 points from 30, again later in the season from 4 feb until 11 April you won 27 from 30 points. That good run of form didn't correlate into a title challenge next season. In the 10 games you finished this year you played the relegated sides 3 times, only 2 sides in the top 6 and both of them were at home. You don't get that kind of run over 38 games so a sample size of 10 is useless really.

Deleted User wrote: »

If Chelsea spend a billion dollars and only finish a point ahead of Arsenal one one guess it was because of a "bedding in period" or whatever. I don't really get what you're trying to argue, you agree that Chelsea underperformed relative to their squad strength so what else would it be down to? How Arsenal did is pretty much irrelevant in these terms.

My point is they underperformed and still finished ahead of you. Why will next season be any different? You will add better players, but chances are they will as well.

tayto lover

greendom wrote: »

It depends on the player hand other variables such as whether the new player in question is expected to play in a similar way/system to what they're used to - there's no hard and fast rule and I'm not sure it's connected to intelligence. Are you suggesting that Michu is more intelligent than Drogba for example?

Michu has had only one good season in the EPL so i'll judge hime after next season ends.
Drogba was a brilliant striker who would have suited Arsenal very well in my opinion. Intelligent and brave.
I believe a good player can play in many positions.

greendom

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Chelsea underperformed and still did better - question is will they keep the same squad and not strength it and/or will Arsenal strength their squad so much they will be on a level field when you taking into account the "bedding period".

The squad that Chelsea have should have been pushing Man U all the way and should have done much better n Europe. All the upheaval meant they were competing in the Europa league and were only assured of CL football in the last but 1 fixture.

greendom

tayto lover wrote: »

Michu has had only one good season in the EPL so i'll judge hime after next season ends.
Drogba was a brilliant striker who would have suited Arsenal very well in my opinion. Intelligent and brave.
I believe a good player can play in many positions.

Yes absolutely, my point was that he had a relatively slow start to EPL football - he needed more than a few friendly matches. I agree with you - Drogba would have been an amazing purchase for Arsenal. He and Essien as Arsenal players would have made a world of difference to our fortunes.

Marty McFly

Chucky the tree wrote: »

For 10 games last season from 16oct until 31 dec Arsenal won 26 points from 30, again later in the season from 4 feb until 11 April you won 27 from 30 points. That good run of form didn't correlate into a title challenge next season. In the 10 games you finished this year you played the relegated sides 3 times, only 2 sides in the top 6 and both of them were at home. You don't get that kind of run over 38 games so a sample size of 10 is useless really.

Yes you could look at it that way or you could look at it in a more positive way we finished the season on a high good run of form which began with beating Bayern Munich in the second leg of the champions league tie, Arsenal have under Wenger have always been a team built of confidence one loss we can crumble but we are also able to go one great runs and there is nothing to say that form and confidence cant be carried over into next season with a stronger and more unified squad than Arsenal has seen in a few years. Unless you can see into the future .

But hey keep writing us off Ill reserve my judgement until I see what the summer brings. As I said though Chelsea and City would be my two front runners for the league next year, but theres nothing to say we cant at least compete more next season.

Galvasean

the_monkey wrote: »

Well done Arsenal, another season where they finish 5 places above where they should be.

Look forward to next season where Arsenal win nothing again...

:rolleyes:

Feels so good to see 'em all wound up!

tayto lover

the_monkey wrote: »

Well done Arsenal, another season where they finish 5 places above where they should be.

Look forward to next season where Arsenal win nothing again...

:rolleyes:

Deja vous for you again then.

gnfnrhead

Chucky the tree wrote: »

For 10 games last season from 16oct until 31 dec Arsenal won 26 points from 30, again later in the season from 4 feb until 11 April you won 27 from 30 points. That good run of form didn't correlate into a title challenge next season. In the 10 games you finished this year you played the relegated sides 3 times, only 2 sides in the top 6 and both of them were at home. You don't get that kind of run over 38 games so a sample size of 10 is useless really.

I agree, thats why most have been looking at the second half of the season, IE 19 games. We finished only three points off United in that case and our form picked up as the games went on. Half a season is as good a sample as youre going to get. Any more and too much changes, any less and it's not a long enough period. It of course doesnt guarantee anything, but it is a reason to be optimistic from an Arsenal point of view, especially when the form improved as the games went on.

bad2dabone

the_monkey wrote: »

Well done Arsenal, another season where they finish 5 places above where they should be.

Look forward to next season where Arsenal win nothing again...

:rolleyes:

aww be nice.

Chucky the tree

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I agree, thats why most have been looking at the second half of the season, IE 19 games. We finished only three points off United in that case and our form picked up as the games went on. Half a season is as good a sample as youre going to get. Any more and too much changes, any less and it's not a long enough period. It of course doesnt guarantee anything, but it is a reason to be optimistic from an Arsenal point of view, especially when the form improved as the games went on.

Considering United had the title wrapped up very early I'm not sure why that's a great measure either. If compared it with Uniteds first 19 games you finished 9 points off them.

gosplan

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Considering United had the title wrapped up very early I'm not sure why that's a great measure either. If compared it with Uniteds first 19 games you finished 9 points off them.

jesus dude, give it a rest.

Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski were all brand new to the league this year and we had to basically figure out how to play without RVP and rely heavily on these brand new players - three of our four top scorers.

Of course we finished the season better than we were going to start it. And of course there's some optimism for next year.

I may as well ask you if you think someone like Kagawa has peaked at man United or if you think that he might have a good second season.

Personally i think he'll be great but obviously Fergie was sparing of him this year, giving him time to adjust and keeping the team solid rather than busying himself bedding in new players.

How many minutes did Kagawa play this season?? Cause Cazorla played 3300 out of a max 3400 for the year.

gosplan

the_monkey wrote: »

Well done Arsenal, another season where they finish 5 places above where they should be.

Look forward to next season where Arsenal win nothing again...

:rolleyes:

You know the thing about the Tiger economies of the 80's, Korea, Taiwan etc is that they were never popular. They catapulted their economies forward but they didn't have a whole lot else going for them and when the arse fell out of manufacturing, they were left high and dry with an outdated way to the top and not a lot else going for them.

This is why the middle east are now going sponsor crazy. They're building for the future. They know the oil is going to run out so they need a plan for afterwards and they're going on a soft-power offensive to try and increase their popularity and attractiveness before it does.

Chelsea are taking the tiger economy route and as such will be open to collapse. You see no-one likes Chelsea. You're basically West Ham but with a sugar daddy. Sure they can go out and spend another 50 million on midfielders or buy another 40 million striker but the future in that is unknown. Obviously the owner could think ahead but he seems incapable of doing much right bar writing cheques and messing things up by meddling every couple of years. I'm not sure if the financial rules will mean anything or change anything but if they do but if they do, Chelsea will just be an unpopular club with a 40,000 seat stadium and no hope of reaching the heights they're currently at.

All that said, until they do Chelsea will obviously be a force in English football and most likely will continue to finish above Arsenal. But what else would you expect? - problems in creative midfield area. Who cares? We'll just buy Hazard, Oscar, Mairin and Moses.

The funny side to this is that you're a Chelsea fan talking about where a club 'should be'.

Mickeroo

gosplan wrote: »

All that said, until they do Chelsea will obviously be a force in English football and most likely will continue to finish above Arsenal. But what else would you expect? - problems in creative midfield area. Who cares? We'll just buy Hazard, Oscar, Mairin and Moses.

The funny side to this is that you're a Chelsea fan talking about where a club 'should be'.

Steady on it's only been one season since the last time we finished above them (by three places!!) Everyone keeps forgetting that :pac:

gnfnrhead

Vermaelen seemingly make more errors leading to chances than any other outfield player..... in the whole league!

Enjoy the bench.

MaxPower89

Might have been mentioned here last month but this is a good interview article with Marco Reus, and he credits Tomas Rosicky as his idol growing up, saying he "copied everything about him, right down to the sweatbands". What a shame that Tomas suffered the injuries he had at Arsenal, he could have been one of our best.

He also says of Wilshere, "Boy, he's ****ing good". Brilliant.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/01/marco-reus-dortmund-interview

wandatowell

Such a pity about Rosicky alright. We can still easily get another 2 years at least out of him though.

I love his style of play, he can take the ball on either foot, he's angles are fantastic from his first touch and his tackling is pretty spot on too.


A few more goals and we'd be laughing

beer enigma

Just hitting twitter......

"According to @dylan_fahy Mediaset claim Jovetić is close to #Arsenal move. Agent Ramadani is in London to discuss deal worth €29m."

Anyone know anything about this Mediaset crowd ?

emergingstar

Andip wrote: »

Just hitting twitter......

"According to @dylan_fahy Mediaset claim Jovetić is close to #Arsenal move. Agent Ramadani is in London to discuss deal worth €29m."

Anyone know anything about this Mediaset crowd ?

Is he worth that money??

Just asking dont no much about him, is he th type of player we have be looking for

If so happy days

AdamD

If we were to have 1 big forward signing between Higuain and Jovetic (they've both been very heavily linked, and the numbers have been 20-25m each), who would people take?

Personally I'd go for Higuain. Jovetic seems to play a bit deeper and we already have Wilshere and Cazorla getting in each other's way. A proper goalscorer is required really.

Having said that I've barely seen either play so I'm sure somebody else has a more informed opinion.

Mr Blobby

emergingstar wrote: »

Is he worth that money??

Just asking dont no much about him, is he th type of player we have be looking for

If so happy days

He's a great talent. But €29 Million seems a lot...

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Couldn't care less if we 'overpay'. If Wenger thinks he's worth that much then let him fire away. Him or Higuain would be awesome, not picky:pac:.

Pepe LeFrits

Higuain.

gnfnrhead

Both :pac:

€29m is about £25m.

Pepe LeFrits

Andip wrote: »

Just hitting twitter......

"According to @dylan_fahy Mediaset claim Jovetić is close to #Arsenal move. Agent Ramadani is in London to discuss deal worth €29m."

Anyone know anything about this Mediaset crowd ?

http://www.sportmediaset.mediaset.it/mercato/calcioestero/articoli/105724/jovetic-a-un-passo-dallarsenal.shtml

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

http://www.sportmediaset.mediaset.it/mercato/calcioestero/articoli/105724/jovetic-a-un-passo-dallarsenal.shtml

Is that saying the price would be lower for us rather than him going to Juve? Any ideas if they are credible?

wandatowell

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Both :pac:

€29m is about £25m.

About the same money United paid for Veron all those years ago :eek:


Jovetic is a very very tidy finisher. Loves passing the ball into net as well as the odd tap in.



Tbh I think he'd offer more to our general play that say Huigan


Big money though

keano_afc

Higuain would be an absolute dream signing.

Mickeroo

Higuain seems like more of a goalscorer so would probably prefer him. Would be over the moon if the jovetic stories are true though.

jester77

I haven't seen the lad play but for a striker his stats are fairly average and something doesn't add up to the prices mentioned here. Or am I missing something

He has 12 goals in 33 appearances this season. That's similar to Carzola's strike rate and would put him behind Podolski, Giroud and Walcott. Not seeing how this would be an improvement on what we have, especially for the price.