Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

shano_88

Fellaini would be a great signing. Unfortunately, I think If United and Moyes are genuinely interested in him, he will end up going there.

Sútalún

DenMan wrote: »

With Phil Neville leaving I wonder would Martinez give the Everton Captaincy to Fellaini as a way of trying to keep him there? Not wanting to de-rail our interest in him as I would love if he came. We haven't had a great defensive midfield destroyer in a long time!

Phil Jagielka was installed as captain the other day.. So there's hope!

Pepe LeFrits

Signing Fellaini to play a defensive role seems like an odd move to me, considering his best form for Everton has been in a much more advanced position.

GeorgeBailey

DenMan wrote: »

With Phil Neville leaving I wonder would Martinez give the Everton Captaincy to Fellaini as a way of trying to keep him there? Not wanting to de-rail our interest in him as I would love if he came. We haven't had a great defensive midfield destroyer in a long time!

Surely as Arsenal fans we know that giving a player the captaincy in no way whatsoever guarantees that they'll stay. Quite the opposite in fact.

DenMan

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Signing Fellaini to play a defensive role seems like an odd move to me, considering his best form for Everton has been in a much more advanced position.

He was my man of the match against us recently with his defensive performance.

stuchyg

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Signing Fellaini to play a defensive role seems like an odd move to me, considering his best form for Everton has been in a much more advanced position.

Was talking to my Everton mad bro in law last nite. says fellaini prefers to play the dm role and was not too happy about playing more advanced last season. Also himself and Moyes arent the best of buds, kenwright expects thr fro to leave goodison this summer

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Hahaha

http://news.arseblog.com/2013/06/robson-im-boring-myself/

Stewart Robson has launched an astonishing broadside at himself, claiming that he’s ‘destined to fail’, unless he gets some new material.

The former Arsenal and West Ham man has become widely known for his abrasive point of view when it comes to Arsene Wenger, with recent outbursts suggesting the Frenchman will simply waste Arsenal’s transfer funds.

Robson, now the go-to guy for Wenger criticism, lives in a small workman’s hut outside the Emirates Stadium, sharing the space with a small stray dog he mistreats and calls ‘Wengy’.

Robson spoke exclusively to Arseblog News, and seems aware he’s carving a niche it may be difficult to get out of.

“It struck me the other day,” he said, “when I was accusing a man who has a 30 year career in top flight management, who has won the double twice and guided a team through a season unbeaten, of not being able to coach players or have any idea what tactics were, that I might need a new schtick.

“What if I get typecast as the bitter old grump who only has one thing to say and goes on and on and on about it until people are sick of it?

“What if, by bleating like a sullen crank, any validity to some of the points I make is totally lost? I think I’ve got to change the record, but nobody has records any more, do they? And I’m such a Luddite I don’t know how to change the MP FREE or whatever it is the kids play.”

Robson appears on many broadcasting entities, such as TalkSport, TalkSpite, Kill Wenger FM, Zonal Barking – the blog for angry tacticians, and BBC World (available in 3* hotels across most of south-east Asia).

“I’ve got to find new stuff to say,” he said, revealing he’d be hiring US comedian Carlos Mencia to boost his portfolio of bitterness.

“To be honest though, I’m even boring the tits off myself at this point. Over the last few years some of the opinions that I’ve said were going to be world class haven’t ended up like that.

“I’ve regressed under myself.”

And with that he took himself back into his hut to drink tea from a horribly stained mug, nibbling all the while on a packet of stale Garibaldis, waiting for the next chance to criticise Wenger.

Or, who knows, himself.

Pepe LeFrits

DenMan wrote: »

He was my man of the match against us recently with his defensive performance.

He played well in that game but it'd be exceedingly rare that he'd play that sort of game with us - it'd be a very different type of defensive role and I haven't seen much reason to think he's a £22 million player for that sort of thing.

Marty McFly

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

He played well in that game but it'd be exceedingly rare that he'd play that sort of game with us - it'd be a very different type of defensive role and I haven't seen much reason to think he's a £22 million player for that sort of thing.

In all honesty I think your on your own with your doubts about him, fans of most clubs in the EPL would love to have him in there team for me him and Yaya Toure are the two best powerful midfielders in the league.

Something we have lacked in a long long time something we badly need.

tayto lover

Marty McFly wrote: »

In all honesty I think your on your own with your doubts about him, fans of most clubs in the EPL would love to have him in there team for me him and Yaya Toure are the two best powerful midfielders in the league.

Something we have lacked in a long long time something we badly need.

Plus he would show a certain amount of steel that the younger players would learn from and adapt to their own game. I know that like most players he can drift in and out of games but he does show up really well in the big games, especially against United, where he ran the show at Goodison last year.

Pepe LeFrits

Marty McFly wrote: »

In all honesty I think your on your own with your doubts about him, fans of most clubs in the EPL would love to have him in there team for me him and Yaya Toure are the two best powerful midfielders in the league.

Something we have lacked in a long long time something we badly need.

I'm definitely not; a lot of people have doubts about him in a deeper role. Considering his best form hasn't come in that position, I'd say it's a fair concern.

emergingstar

I think the point I take from Ivan's q&a is come August judge them as the team better be stronger

I don't care if we spent 50 or 5 million on a player

Don't care if its a big name or no name

As long as come August were in a position to close the gap on utd through our team/squad been alot stronger

Pepe LeFrits

'Fellaini camp, #efc & #afc all deny release clause met. Arsenal not in for Rooney or Cesar. Jovetic on radar but not near top #bbcsportsday'
@bbcsport_david

Shocker :rolleyes:

Marty McFly

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I'm definitely not; a lot of people have doubts about him in a deeper role. Considering his best form hasn't come in that position, I'd say it's a fair concern.

Deeper role is were he plays best and prefers to play, a midfield of him Wilshere/Arteta/ Ramsey and Cazorla yes please thank you very much.

Maybe even Chamberlain switching positions throughout a game aswell, add in a top class CF and we could really be considered challengers once again at least.

Marty McFly

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

'Fellaini camp, #efc & #afc all deny release clause met. Arsenal not in for Rooney or Cesar. Jovetic on radar but not near top #bbcsportsday'
@bbcsport_david

Shocker :rolleyes:

Well now there hardly going to come out and admit yes were after all of them we have made bids, and we thought we would let the world and every club in Europe known in advance now are they?

Pepe LeFrits

Marty McFly wrote: »

Deeper role is were he plays best

Based on what? His reputation has shot up since he started playing off the striker and left games like the 4-4 at Old Trafford in people's minds. I can't imagine there would be as much excitement at the prospect of us signing him for 20-something million back when he was sitting....

Mr Blobby

I'll believe we've signed Fellaini when Wenger announces we are not signing Fellaini :pac:

Marty McFly

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Based on what? His reputation has shot up since he started playing off the striker and left games like the 4-4 at Old Trafford in people's minds. I can't imagine there would be as much excitement at the prospect of us signing him for 20-something million back when he was sitting....

You do realise before last season he was highly sought by a few clubs don't you? his reputation hasn't appeared over night, even when Everton signed him it was considered a shock and a coup they managed to get him in the first place for a fee of 15 million which is and was a huge sum for Everton, he is not some player who just appeared on peoples radar last season out of nowhere.

Mickeroo

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Based on what? His reputation has shot up since he started playing off the striker and left games like the 4-4 at Old Trafford in people's minds. I can't imagine there would be as much excitement at the prospect of us signing him for 20-something million back when he was sitting....

Good DM's don't get raved about that much, people & media only fawn over players who score goals. He was a good player before he had a few good games in a more advanced role too. Even the likes of Toure got much more notice from fans & media alike last season when he started scoring a few goals.

He'd be a hell of a signing imo and would be just what the team need. A top striker and decent back up CB like Williams on top of him and we'll be in a very good position next season.

Pepe LeFrits

He was a good player when he was playing in a deeper role but wasn't being named as Yaya Toure's equal; it's since he's started playing as a #10 that this sort of hype has begun.

premierstone

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Based on what? His reputation has shot up since he started playing off the striker and left games like the 4-4 at Old Trafford in people's minds. I can't imagine there would be as much excitement at the prospect of us signing him for 20-something million back when he was sitting....

Really?? In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons he played exclusively as a DM and was brilliant at it, and considering he was what 22/23 at the time those seasons were pretty damn impressive and when you consider a DM midfielder would reach his peak until around 30, I'd say 22m would be a pretty good deal tbh.

premierstone

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

He was a good player when he was playing in a deeper role but wasn't being named as Yaya Toure's equal; it's since he's started playing as a #10 that this sort of hype has begun.

Perhaps by people who don't understand football (this is not directed at you btw) and watch the highlights on MOTD or check and see how many fantasy football points he got, the guy has been class since he's first full season in England (after he stoped getting booked every ten minutes) the role he has played in establishing Everton as a top 6 team should not be underestimated, and look at all the praise that has been lavished on Everton's back four over the past 3 seasons, no coincidence that they had Fellani sitting in front of them protecting them.

Marty McFly

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

He was a good player when he was playing in a deeper role but wasn't being named as Yaya Toure's equal; it's since he's started playing as a #10 that this sort of hype has begun.

Thats only by the media because goals grab headlines, but by the majority of football fans and teams he has been coveted for years. I remember the hype around him before he signed for Everton and the shock when he did choose Everton.

AdamD

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

'Fellaini camp, #efc & #afc all deny release clause met. Arsenal not in for Rooney or Cesar. Jovetic on radar but not near top #bbcsportsday'
@bbcsport_david

Shocker :rolleyes:

Dreams crushed

bad2dabone

Looking at prices for quality midfielders then 22 to 25 mil for a proven premier league star like Fellaini is good value. And he's very versatile, fits the bill nicely. I'll be disappointed if we don't get him now. Stupid transfer window!

Marty McFly

AdamD wrote: »

Dreams crushed

Relax there never smoke without fire th this extent whether we sign him is another thing but I truly believe were in for him.

This tweet I seen sums it up

You're an idiot if you think Arsenal will tell David Ornstein that they're trying to make two huge signings during negotiations.

Then these two by DavidOrnstein getting thrown back at him might restore some faith.

David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 27 Jun Van Persie to resume talks with Arsenal when back from Caribbean break. He's keen to stay, with or without new contract. Ball in #afc court.


David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 31 Aug 11
Can confirm Arsenal move for Arteta is completely OFF but Benayoun is now likely to join on loan from Chelsea #bbcfootball #afc #efc #cfc


I still have faith .

.jacksparrow.

Why do we do this to ourselves, has the last 16 years not thought us anything!

Pierce_1991

Marty McFly wrote: »

Relax there never smoke without fire th this extent whether we sign him is another thing but I truly believe were in for him.

This tweet I seen sums it up

You're an idiot if you think Arsenal will tell David Ornstein that they're trying to make two huge signings during negotiations.

Then these two by DavidOrnstein getting thrown back at him might restore some faith.

David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 27 Jun Van Persie to resume talks with Arsenal when back from Caribbean break. He's keen to stay, with or without new contract. Ball in #afc court.


David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 31 Aug 11
Can confirm Arsenal move for Arteta is completely OFF but Benayoun is now likely to join on loan from Chelsea #bbcfootball #afc #efc #cfc


I still have faith .

To be fair on that arteta tweet that deal was totally off from arsenals point of view until mikel forced a move and took a wage cut.

Marty McFly

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

To be fair on that arteta tweet that deal was totally off from arsenals point of view until mikel forced a move and took a wage cut.

Yeh but he didnt see it coming , meaning what he says aint gospel, nor did he or anyone know anything about the deal Pjanic until a few days ago when the player himself admitted it nearly happened on deadline day. Think positive I reckon for the first time in a long time the Gazidis and Wenger are coming out sounding confident and saying the right things about were the club is headed.

bad2dabone

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Why do we do this to ourselves, has the last 16 years not thought us anything!

nope, we haven't learned a thing. :pac:

I'm a backer of Wenger, but he needs to spend the funds available this summer to ensure that we have a squad capable of challenging for honors.
He knows it. We know it.
We've been down this road before but with the money available to us and 3 new managers maybe needing settling in time (Mou excepted) then this is the time we should make key signings. 3 to 4 first team players.
a Goalie.
a Deep Midfielder.
perhaps a left winger (as opposed to an inside striker like the Pod)
a top level striker.

Should be really do-able to wrap those positions up for 70m.

ronjo

Well we are already seeing the benefits of coming 4th in rumours anyway.

If we had finished 5th what would the big stories be? ?

Diaby to sign new six year contract.
Santos to be like a new signing.
Clint Hill as replacement for Koscielny.

Pepe LeFrits

So far the only links to Fellaini have been a Times article saying we're interested and then a goal article on top of that saying we've activated his release clause, so I'd remain highly skeptical. So what if David Ornstein got a story wrong (the Arteta move was on/off repeatedly at any rate)? I'd still be inclined to trust his sources more than the Times, who if you haven't forgotten ran a massive Qatari Football League story, and then defended it, even after it emerged the entire thing was made up by a fantasist.

At any rate, Fellaini would be a good signing but I wouldn't be massively fussed if we missed out. He was continually pushed further and further forward by Moyes (someone who does know something about football and appreciates the importance of a defensive midfield player), and it's in that position that his profile has gone from prospect to top performer. I don't mind whether we're looking up to upgrade the top of our midfield trio or the bottom, but if we're going to put serious money down I'd prefer it was on someone who plays the position we're signing them for.

jordainius

ronjo wrote: »

Well we are already seeing the benefits of coming 4th in rumours anyway.

If we had finished 5th what would the big stories be? ?

Diaby to sign new six year contract.
Santos to be like a new signing.
Clint Hill as replacement for Koscielny.

Lets not forget, there were posters here who actually wanted us to finish 5th a few months back:pac:


The big question for me now is, with the departure of Seb Squillaci, who will be the next person to carry on our long standing tradition of being a very dodgy Frenchman in the number 18 shirt??? (Grimandi, Cygan, Silvestre, Squillaci, ? )

Grimandi wasn't that bad in fairness!

jordainius

jordainius wrote: »

Lets not forget, there were posters here who actually wanted us to finish 5th a few months back:pac:


The big question for me now is, with the departure of Seb Squillaci, who will be the next person to carry on our long standing tradition of being a very dodgy Frenchman in the number 18 shirt??? (Grimandi, Cygan, Silvestre, Squillaci, ? )

Grimandi wasn't that bad in fairness!

Grimandi cursed that shirt the day he left
I liked Grimmy myself. Forget Makelele, he was the original

Marty McFly

jordainius wrote: »

Lets not forget, there were posters here who actually wanted us to finish 5th a few months back:pac:


The big question for me now is, with the departure of Seb Squillaci, who will be the next person to carry on our long standing tradition of being a very dodgy Frenchman in the number 18 shirt??? (Grimandi, Cygan, Silvestre, Squillaci, ? )

Grimandi wasn't that bad in fairness!

Ah being a bit harsh on Grimandi he was no Zidane but he done a job the when called upon he certainly better then the rest that followed.

and he still works for the club, so he is a loyal servant.

Oops just seen your little subtext saying he wasn't that bad, my apologies

Roddy23

I don't use the word "hero" very often, but Grimandi is the greatest hero in French history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtidXpWaVVM

brianregan09

Re Gazidas's comments ....

Been reading what he had to say on rooney and just thought to myself, Why the **** is he even saying these things , Is it himself of the fans he's trying to convince, I'm severly skeptical about this summer, I mean if we can afford to buy all these players, then why haven't we ??

No Comment from the City,United,Chelsea boards about Transfers, City have gone out and spent almost 60 million already on Navas (not confirmed yet) and Fernandinho , We've spend **** all and had the usual rumour mill about every player going even coming to us, I'd rather Iven kept his mouth shut being honest and just went out and put the money where his mouth is,

and for the record I'd love to see us sign fellaini he's exactly what we've needed for about 5 years now , a foil for the more creative players, Hope it happens

Marty McFly

brianregan09 wrote: »

Re Gazidas's comments ....

Been reading what he had to say on rooney and just thought to myself, Why the **** is he even saying these things , Is it himself of the fans he's trying to convince, I'm severly skeptical about this summer, I mean if we can afford to buy all these players, then why haven't we ??

No Comment from the City,United,Chelsea boards about Transfers, City have gone out and spent almost 60 million already on Navas (not confirmed yet) and Fernandinho , We've spend **** all and had the usual rumour mill about every player going even coming to us, I'd rather Iven kept his mouth shut being honest and just went out and put the money where his mouth is,

and for the record I'd love to see us sign fellaini he's exactly what we've needed for about 5 years now , a foil for the more creative players, Hope it happens

Relax a bit we all feel your frustrations but remember the transfer window doesn't even open for a few weeks. Hopefully he will put his money were his mouth is and there wont be blue murder to pay come 31st of August.

I wouldn't be to jealous of City either they havent spent wisely plus there spending before they even have a new manager never a good idea.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

brianregan09 wrote: »

Re Gazidas's comments ....

Been reading what he had to say on rooney and just thought to myself, Why the **** is he even saying these things , Is it himself of the fans he's trying to convince, I'm severly skeptical about this summer, I mean if we can afford to buy all these players, then why haven't we ??

No Comment from the City,United,Chelsea boards about Transfers, City have gone out and spent almost 60 million already on Navas (not confirmed yet) and Fernandinho , We've spend **** all and had the usual rumour mill about every player going even coming to us, I'd rather Iven kept his mouth shut being honest and just went out and put the money where his mouth is,

and for the record I'd love to see us sign fellaini he's exactly what we've needed for about 5 years now , a foil for the more creative players, Hope it happens

Who have Chelsea and United signed? Unfortunatley it's not typically easy to get deals done quickly unless you're willing to spunk a load of cash like City.

brianregan09

Agree with both , I guess I'm just annoyed at the way he comes out says silly things like this, Leave the interviews and stuff to the manager and the team ,sTay in the background and do you're work , How many years is Abramovich in the English game now and not once have we ever heard him talk up how much he can spend he just does it

Pepe LeFrits

Abramovich isn't CEO, he's owner. His directors talk to the press. It's part of a CEO's job.

TheCoolWay

Sure Tommy Vermaelan can convince him to sign before he gets flogged!

the untitled user

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

He was a good player when he was playing in a deeper role but wasn't being named as Yaya Toure's equal; it's since he's started playing as a #10 that this sort of hype has begun.

That's not giving him enough credit to be fair. He's hadn't created the headlines to the same extent but he's always been on the radar for bigger clubs even before he moved to Everton. It's fairly simple, everton were quick to tie him to a long term deal at every opportunity so he never generated the press like the other big names do.

bad2dabone wrote: »

nope, we haven't learned a thing. :pac:

I'm a backer of Wenger, but he needs to spend the funds available this summer to ensure that we have a squad capable of challenging for honors.
He knows it. We know it.
We've been down this road before but with the money available to us and 3 new managers maybe needing settling in time (Mou excepted) then this is the time we should make key signings. 3 to 4 first team players.
a Goalie.
a Deep Midfielder.
perhaps a left winger (as opposed to an inside striker like the Pod)
a top level striker.

Should be really do-able to wrap those positions up for 70m.

I think you have it arseways, goal keeper and dm haven't been a major issue for us this season (we could improve of course, but we've been solid there when we've had to be for the most part). It's been an inability to break the deadlock in the tight games. We don't even necessarily need a striker, it's another quick passer like Cazorla to help break the two ranks of 4 we so often come up against, or help us hold onto the ball better against the bigger teams like Bayern. Striker/Winger/Midfielder, doesn't really matter so long as they can hold onto the ball in the final third and create that opening to split the defence.

brianregan09 wrote: »

Re Gazidas's comments ....

Been reading what he had to say on rooney and just thought to myself, Why the **** is he even saying these things , Is it himself of the fans he's trying to convince, I'm severly skeptical about this summer, I mean if we can afford to buy all these players, then why haven't we ??

No Comment from the City,United,Chelsea boards about Transfers, City have gone out and spent almost 60 million already on Navas (not confirmed yet) and Fernandinho , We've spend **** all and had the usual rumour mill about every player going even coming to us, I'd rather Iven kept his mouth shut being honest and just went out and put the money where his mouth is,

It's simple, the money City/United and Chelsea have been spending lately doesn't represent value. At least not in our terms. And it's not about transfer fees, it's the wage budget that matters. Gazidis is telling the truth but those quotes aren't reflective of the full context....

City and Chelsea's owners have bottomless pockets, so it's not fair to compare, they are quite happy to run up massive operating losses in order to raise their profile. We can't take that risk.

United and Bayern on the other hand are who we should be comparing ourselves to. The difference between us and them is that their commercial revenues are way in excess of ours (2-3 times I think). That means they can sustain much higher levels of wages. Add that to the costly mistakes we made overcompensating the likes of Denilson and Bendtner, we've been focusing on getting the best return to the $/£/€ so that situation doesn't arise again.

In other words, United or Bayern make a costly mistake in the transfer market they can absorb it easily. We can't. If we do, it could potentially put us back in the same financial purgatory we were the the Emirates move and the property market crashed.

Have I missed much?

Marty McFly

Deleted User wrote: »

Have I missed much?

Lots and lots of speculation

jonneymendoza

how much did monaco pay for falcoe?

jonneymendoza

brianregan09 wrote: »

Re Gazidas's comments ....

Been reading what he had to say on rooney and just thought to myself, Why the **** is he even saying these things , Is it himself of the fans he's trying to convince, I'm severly skeptical about this summer, I mean if we can afford to buy all these players, then why haven't we ??

No Comment from the City,United,Chelsea boards about Transfers, City have gone out and spent almost 60 million already on Navas (not confirmed yet) and Fernandinho , We've spend **** all and had the usual rumour mill about every player going even coming to us, I'd rather Iven kept his mouth shut being honest and just went out and put the money where his mouth is,

and for the record I'd love to see us sign fellaini he's exactly what we've needed for about 5 years now , a foil for the more creative players, Hope it happens

the transfer window closes at the end of August

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Please be true


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-transfers-gonzalo-higuain-move-1938430?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Joeyjoejoe43

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Please be true


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-transfers-gonzalo-higuain-move-1938430?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Some seriously tasty finishes here..

Pepe LeFrits

Not entirely convinced Higuain would be a massive success for us, but can't think of a better alternative, so sign him up Arsene!