Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

Soups123

Gringo180 wrote: »

You would have to be very naive to think that we have anywhere near a good a squad as Chelsea have, if we had of had there fixture schedule towards the back end of the season there is no way we would be playing Champs Lge football next season. Were maybe 3 or 4 top signings off there standard of squad and thats even without them signing anybody, they have been totally mismanaged at the head of the club and that has had a huge impact on there Prem Lge campaign the past 2 seasons.

We played the exact same teams the same number of times in the league. For whats its worth I think they are slightly ahead of us nothing too much though.

AdamD

Gringo180 wrote: »

You would have to be very naive to think that we have anywhere near a good a squad as Chelsea have, if we had of had there fixture schedule towards the back end of the season there is no way we would be playing Champs Lge football next season. Were maybe 3 or 4 top signings off there standard of squad and thats even without them signing anybody, they have been totally mismanaged at the head of the club and that has had a huge impact on there Prem Lge campaign the past 2 seasons.

Call me naive if you want but I think their squad is completely over rated. They have poor strikers, with Lukaku having a good chance to fix that. They are weak at CM, Ramires is decent, Mikel's poor and Lampard's on his way out. And are still a bit dodgy at CB. I've seen claims that they have a better squad than the Manchester clubs which is utterly ridiculous imo.

Gringo180

AdamD wrote: »

Call me naive if you want but I think their squad is completely over rated. They have poor strikers, with Lukaku having a good chance to fix that. They are weak at CM, Ramires is decent, Mikel's poor and Lampard's on his way out. And are still a bit dodgy at CB. I've seen claims that they have a better squad than the Manchester clubs which is utterly ridiculous imo.

Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Luiz, Cech, Cole, would all easily get into our starting 11, then you have the likes of Lampard who has probably had his best season is a long time forget about his age because it doesnt look like he is on his way out, they can bring on Demba Ba who would arguably be a starter for us too.

G1032

farna_boy wrote: »

I don't know where all the love for Fabergas is coming from. Yes he is a superb player, but he engineered himself out of the club when Barca came calling, essentially going on strike. What makes anyone think that he won't do that again the second Barca start looking for him again a year or two down the road?

I would prefer to sign someone who may show some loyalty in the future, instead of someone who has shown to turn their back on the club, the second someone comes sniffing around.

Hear hear
I don't get the Fabregas love in here either. He claimed injury, refused to go on pre season tour and as farna_boy says, effectively went on strike to force his move out of the club. I for one hope we never see him in an Arsenal shirt again. I don't care how good he is. When it boils down to it he's no better than Nasri, RVP or Adebayor.

TheCoolWay

When Higgy starts banging them in we'll be laughing

Soups123

Gringo180 wrote: »

Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Luiz, Cech, Cole, would all easily get into our starting 11, then you have the likes of Lampard who has probably had his best season is a long time forget about his age because it doesnt look like he is on his way out, they can bring on Demba Ba who would arguably be a starter for us too.

So you pick 6 players who would make our starting 11, so we'd have 5? Luiz I wouldnt agree with anyway. But 6 out of 11 means we are almost neck and neck then no?

I would have Giroud all day over Ba

Skylinehead

I don't see where Oscar would be an improvement either.

Pepe LeFrits

Fabregas gave us far more than the likes of van Persie or Nasri ever did. It was obvious he wanted to go a lot sooner than he did but he stuck around and played through injury to try to bring us success. The rest of them jumped ship the first offer they got.

Gringo180 wrote: »

Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Luiz, Cech, Cole, would all easily get into our starting 11, then you have the likes of Lampard who has probably had his best season is a long time forget about his age because it doesnt look like he is on his way out, they can bring on Demba Ba who would arguably be a starter for us too.

Luiz wouldn’t get into our starting eleven, and I don’t think Cole would now either. Giroud, even though I may not massively like him, is better than Torres and Ba.

Chelsea do have a better squad than us though.

gnfnrhead

Galvasean wrote: »

No thanks. I don't think I'd be bothered supporting Arsenal anymore if they became a Sugar Daddy team. What the likes of Man Cirty and Monaco are doing to football sickens me. I want no part in it.

No offence, but that is a load of crap. You'd stop supporting Arsenal if they had money to spend? On what planet does that make sense? I'm sure Chelsea lost tons of fans when Abramovich took over, right? City too? No. They became more popular because they were able to compete with the likes of United for the title. You dont stop supporting a club because they have a chance of being successful.

Plus, with Wenger still in charge who is to say he would spend the same amounts that Monaco and City spend? We were in for Mata but once Chelsea got involved, we couldnt compete. If we had the money, we could easily have signed him instead. If we had the money we could have kept the likes of van Persie who just won the league for United. We lost the best LB in the country at the time over £5,000 a week.

City and especially Monaco were quite a bit off challenging when they were taken over. We're not. We wouldnt need to spend anywhere near the same amounts.

TimeToShine

Would take Mata over Fabregas every day of the week if i'm honest.

darego

TimeToShine wrote: »

Would take Mata over Fabregas every day of the week if i'm honest.

would take fellaini over both, he is exactly what we have needed in our team for years since vieira left and diaby taking the piss with injuries. fellaini + higuain would be a perfect summer for us imo

gnfnrhead

gnfnrhead wrote: »

No offence, but that is a load of crap. You'd stop supporting Arsenal if they had money to spend? On what planet does that make sense? I'm sure Chelsea lost tons of fans when Abramovich took over, right? City too? No. They became more popular because they were able to compete with the likes of United for the title. You dont stop supporting a club because they have a chance of being successful.

Plus, with Wenger still in charge who is to say he would spend the same amounts that Monaco and City spend? We were in for Mata but once Chelsea got involved, we couldnt compete. If we had the money, we could easily have signed him instead. If we had the money we could have kept the likes of van Persie who just won the league for United. We lost the best LB in the country at the time over £5,000 a week.

City and especially Monaco were quite a bit off challenging when they were taken over. We're not. We wouldnt need to spend anywhere near the same amounts.

I think we can compete with the current model though whether the board are prepared to spend or not is another matter. Certainly Usmanov's rights issue was an idea that should have been given food for thought. I dont like the idea of one man footing the bill like Abramovich but a an equal democratic spread of owners putting back into the club what they are getting out is not a bad idea.

gnfnrhead

Deleted User wrote: »

I think we can compete with the current model though whether the board are prepared to spend or not is another matter. Certainly Usmanov's rights issue was an idea that should have been given food for thought. I dont like the idea of one man footing the bill like Abramovich but a an equal democratic spread of owners putting back into the club what they are getting out is not a bad idea.

Usmanov would still be my first choice. He's actually interested in the club but Stan seems determined not to sell to him. All Stan is interested in is his bank balance. Since he wont sell to Usmanov, he might be willing to sell to this guy. Since he has a relative in the club, he'd be more interested than most billionaire owners.

G1032

Deleted User wrote: »

I think we can compete with the current model though whether the board are prepared to spend or not is another matter. Certainly Usmanov's rights issue was an idea that should have been given food for thought. I dont like the idea of one man footing the bill like Abramovich but a an equal democratic spread of owners putting back into the club what they are getting out is not a bad idea.

Just as an aside here....
I was listening to the Steve Bald podcast the last day and found out that Usmanov doesn't actually own 30% of the shares himself. He bought them along with an Iranian guy called Farhad Moshiri. They own 15% each. Moshiri is a United Fan!!
Anyway its just a useless bit of info but Usmanov doesn't personally own as many shares as most people think he does.

Galvasean

gnfnrhead wrote: »

No offence, but that is a load of crap. You'd stop supporting Arsenal if they had money to spend?

That's not what I said at all. I said Id' stop supporting Arsenal if we became a Sugar Daddy team like City. I reiterate that I think the likes of Monaco and Chelsea have gone along way to ruining football.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

On what planet does that make sense? I'm sure Chelsea lost tons of fans when Abramovich took over, right? City too? No. They became more popular because they were able to compete with the likes of United for the title.

Yeah, a bunch of glory hunters started supporting them. With all due respect f#ck glory hunters. I don't give a toss who they support.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

You dont stop supporting a club because they have a chance of being successful.

Again, not what I said. I want Arsenal to be successful, but I want them to go about it the right way. Personally I think that getting a billionaire Sugar Daddy on board and effectively buying the title is the wrong way to do it.
I don't want people to be able to turn around and say, "Arsenal would never have won that title if it weren't for their Sugar Daddy. That's not real football!" Because that is exactly what people say about Chelsea and City's league wins.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Plus, with Wenger still in charge who is to say he would spend the same amounts that Monaco and City spend?
We were in for Mata but once Chelsea got involved, we couldnt compete. If we had the money, we could easily have signed him instead. If we had the money we could have kept the likes of van Persie who just won the league for United. We lost the best LB in the country at the time over £5,000 a week.

City and especially Monaco were quite a bit off challenging when they were taken over. We're not. We wouldn't need to spend anywhere near the same amounts.

If we don't need to spend all that money then why bother with a Sugar Daddy in the first place? You seem to be contradicting your own point somewhat in the last part of your post.
If, as we are being led to believe, Arsenal are going to have spending power this summer regardless would it not be all the more sweet to know that we won something without the aid of some oil billionaire's riches? If we spent our way to the league it would be little more than a hollow victory and I think every Man City fan who chants, "this is what it's like to be small" knows it deep down.

I don't speak for everyone, but I'd be ashamed to support a club like City or Monaco.

Pierce_1991

If you gave me the choice of any player in the world to sign (not including the two deadly lads in Spain) I'd pick Fabregas. Perhaps its my heart ruling my head but I love the guy. Also any talk of him engineering a move or going on strike isn't looking at the whole picture. He had been told by the club they wanted him for one more season and then he was free to go. When the season ended the club tried to back track on that deal. He didn't go to Barcelona for money or even trophies. He went because it was his team, the club he loved. Would anyone here not do the same if we were playing for Barca and had the chance to sign for Arsenal?  In an era of football ruled by money and almost defined (for arsenal at least) by a sense of betrayal and disloyalty, Cesc is one player who stands above all that. Comparing him to Adebayor is outrageous. Cesc understands what the game is about and I would for one would love nothing more than to see him back in an Arsenal shirt.

/rant

G1032

G1032 wrote: »

Just as an aside here....
I was listening to the Steve Bald podcast the last day and found out that Usmanov doesn't actually own 30% of the shares himself. He bought them along with an Iranian guy called Farhad Moshiri. They own 15% each. Moshiri is a United Fan!!
Anyway its just a useless bit of info but Usmanov doesn't personally own as many shares as most people think he does.

Yeah but he sort of virtually does as Red and White Holdings is their company who are chaired by David Dein (who would be the most vital ingredient if he returned). They own almost 30% so R&W would have to offer for all the shares should they cross the 30% threshold and their objective seemingly is to do so.

The current Arsenal model would be ideal if they could create that situation where you have a diverse range of shareholders who have to put a certain sum of their own takings into the club in line with their percentage holding. i.e Red and White put 30%, Kroenke 64% Others 6%.

Of course Kroenke wouldnt come within a mile of the club if that was the case. We all know his objective

stuchyg

Don't think even kroenke knows what his motives are. He just sacked George Karl who coached hid Denver nuggets to the best record in.their history while winning coach of the year.

Marty McFly

Ivan Q&A taking place now some the stuff filtering through from twitter


Ivan "thanks for support, not a classic season. Just satisfactory. Big summer ahead"


van "its a big summer,we've worked hard to bring money to compete at top end of game, I know stan and fans want that"

Ivan"Trophies will come, finally long term deals are up for renewal, ground, kit, secondary partnerships"

Ivan "AW done fantastic job,seen us through what could have been difficult period,we are confident in the tools we can give him"

Ivan"we want to extend him out (AW) and will be announced at right time"

Ivan...key for us is to drive revenues to £300m which is same as Bayern,no reason with that type resources we cannot compete"

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

Ivan Q&A taking place now some the stuff filtering through from twitter


Ivan "thanks for support, not a classic season. Just satisfactory. Big summer ahead"


van "its a big summer,we've worked hard to bring money to compete at top end of game, I know stan and fans want that"

Ivan"Trophies will come, finally long term deals are up for renewal, ground, kit, secondary partnerships"

Ivan "AW done fantastic job,seen us through what could have been difficult period,we are confident in the tools we can give him"

Ivan"we want to extend him out (AW) and will be announced at right time"

Ivan...key for us is to drive revenues to £300m which is same as Bayern,no reason with that type resources we cannot compete"

I dont mind Gazidis to be honest. He seems to be taking alot of flak for what is essentially the decisions and policies of the board long before he arrived.
His hands were already tied with the front loaded sponsorship deals that were in place when he arrived at the club and he has since negotiated some new commercial deals which could shoot us into the big time.

Very few will complain about Gazidis if we can secure top signings and trophies next season and such is the fickleness of football fans, the previous 8 years will be a pretty distant memory. All about the here and now amongst football media commentary and supporters alike

Marty McFly

Deleted User wrote: »

I dont mind Gazidis to be honest. He seems to be taking alot of flak for what is essentially the decisions and policies of the board long before he arrived.
His hands were already tied with the front loaded sponsorship deals that were in place when he arrived at the club and he has since negotiated some new commercial deals which could shoot us into the big time.

Very few will complain about Gazidis if we can secure top signings and trophies next season and such is the fickleness of football fans, the previous 8 years will be a pretty distant memory. All about the here and now amongst football media commentary and supporters alike

He has also pointed out something I never really thought about when questioned about Kroenke he said what we already know about him having vast interests in sports teams but that he has has been a huge help in securing new commercial deals through his contacts and vast knowledge basically.

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

He has also pointed out something I never really thought about when questioned about Kroenke he said what we already know about him having vast interests in sports teams but that he has has been a huge help in securing new commercial deals through his contacts and vast knowledge basically.

To be fair if Kroenke has his positives then yes that is one particular positive. He is definitely a very astute businessman....bit too astute though if truth be known. He is more your corporate big-wig as opposed to viewing his investment clubs and franchises as a supporter like Usmanov or Abramovich

Surprised though we haven't linked up with the likes of Walmart (who is wife is a heiress to) albeit through ASDA.

TheBza

https://twitter.com/DarrenArsenal1 has live updates from the Q&A if yous want to read.

Marty McFly

Deleted User wrote: »

To be fair if Kroenke has his positives then yes that is one particular positive. He is definitely a very astute businessman....bit too astute though if truth be known. He is more your corporate big-wig as opposed to viewing his investment clubs and franchises as a supporter like Usmanov or Abramovich

Surprised though we haven't linked up with the likes of Walmart (who is wife is a heiress to) albeit through ASDA.

Very true and as Gazidis pointed out he hasn't taken any money out of the club or laid a burden of debt on the club he's respectful to the traiditions of Arsenal and how the board think it should be run. He took the moral high ground when questioned about Usmanov also said FFP will come into effect next season well October bur more so next year and admits no ones to sure how strict or how it will pan out.

TheBza wrote: »

https://twitter.com/DarrenArsenal1 has live updates from the Q&A if yous want to read.

Yeh that who I've been reading a few are posting updates but he been by far the best, posting every question and answer.

Marty McFly

Hmmm Gazidis just said its been difficult were targeting players at managerless clubs.

Oh come on, if people can't see that we're a good bit behind Chelsea it's not really worth talking about much else. With a decent manager and some focus they should've been challenging for the league last year, with Mourinho back they definitely will be next season. They're missing a striker but the 3 behind the striker are ridiculously talented.

Fabregas, meh, he's been misused (somewhat) at Barcelona but unless we got him cheap I wouldn't be bothered with him. If any team other than Barcelona paid the kind of money they did for Fabregas and got what they got out of him they'd be lampooned morning, noon and night.

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

Hmmm Gazidis just said its been difficult were targeting players at managerless clubs.

Silva and Aguero I assume.

darego

Marty McFly wrote: »

Hmmm Gazidis just said its been difficult were targeting players at managerless clubs.

higuain

Marty McFly

Deleted User wrote: »

Fabregas, meh, he's been misused (somewhat) at Barcelona but unless we got him cheap I wouldn't be bothered with him. If any team other than Barcelona paid the kind of money they did for Fabregas and got what they got out of him they'd be lampooned morning, noon and night.

He's been completely misused by Barca not somewhat. He is a terrific world class player who they constantly play out of position, in there last game he was played a CF for christ sake, but still managed to score a wonderful goal.

Bit of a hint Barca play a world class player were he plays best and you will see the best of him.

Marty McFly

darego wrote: »

higuain

Exactly Higuain and Felliani were my first thoughts as to who he could be hinting at.

AdamD

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh come on, if people can't see that we're a good bit behind Chelsea it's not really worth talking about much else. With a decent manager and some focus they should've been challenging for the league last year, with Mourinho back they definitely will be next season. They're missing a striker but the 3 behind the striker are ridiculously talented.

Fabregas, meh, he's been misused (somewhat) at Barcelona but unless we got him cheap I wouldn't be bothered with him. If any team other than Barcelona paid the kind of money they did for Fabregas and got what they got out of him they'd be lampooned morning, noon and night.

29 goals and 32 assists in 96 games. His supposed poor form has been rather exaggerated and as it stands hes the only world class player we have even the smallest of hopes of getting. I actually think the only reason its been 'lampooned' is because its Barca, hardly a flop by anybody else's standards.

iMuse

Marty McFly wrote: »

Exactly Higuain and Felliani were my first thoughts as to who he could be hinting at.

More than likely Kone from wigan rather than Higuain

Galvasean

What clubs are managerless at the moment? Madrid, Everton, Wigan....?

Marty McFly

Galvasean wrote: »

What clubs are managerless at the moment? Madrid, Everton, Wigan....?

Napoli were till a couple of days ago aswell.

TheBza

Malaga as well.

greendom

Man U and Everton (and Chelsea come to that) have only recently appointed theirs so that would cause a delay while the new guys get their feet under the table

Marty McFly

Clear to see who got the better of the footballing genes in Sczez family

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

AdamD

AdamD wrote: »

29 goals and 32 assists in 96 games. His supposed poor form has been rather exaggerated and as it stands hes the only world class player we have even the smallest of hopes of getting. I actually think the only reason its been 'lampooned' is because its Barca, hardly a flop by anybody else's standards.

In a team that scored 115 goals in the league last season. They paid a lot for a player who hasn't improved their first 11.

extra gravy

To be fair to Gazidis, he's taken a lot of flak over the last few years but I think he should be commended for having the Q and A and giving fans the opportunity to talk to him. I'm sure there are fans of other clubs who wish their CEO would do the same.

farna_boy

Pierce_1991 wrote: »

If you gave me the choice of any player in the world to sign (not including the two deadly lads in Spain) I'd pick Fabregas. Perhaps its my heart ruling my head but I love the guy. Also any talk of him engineering a move or going on strike isn't looking at the whole picture. He had been told by the club they wanted him for one more season and then he was free to go. When the season ended the club tried to back track on that deal. He didn't go to Barcelona for money or even trophies. He went because it was his team, the club he loved. Would anyone here not do the same if we were playing for Barca and had the chance to sign for Arsenal?  In an era of football ruled by money and almost defined (for arsenal at least) by a sense of betrayal and disloyalty, Cesc is one player who stands above all that. Comparing him to Adebayor is outrageous. Cesc understands what the game is about and I would for one would love nothing more than to see him back in an Arsenal shirt.

/rant

That's all well and good, but if he does this leave Barca this year, they will probably want him back at some stage, say, for example, when Xavi retires in how ever many years.

Do you think he would have any problem leaving us (or anyone else for that matter) for the club he loves, no matter how well we are doing or how much we need him?

Gringo180

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Fabregas gave us far more than the likes of van Persie or Nasri ever did. It was obvious he wanted to go a lot sooner than he did but he stuck around and played through injury to try to bring us success. The rest of them jumped ship the first offer they g

Luiz wouldn’t get into our starting eleven, and I don’t think Cole would now either. Giroud, even though I may not massively like him, is better than Torres and Ba.

Chelsea do have a better squad than us though.

Ah jaysus stop man Cole is still one of the best left fulls in Europe. Luiz would get into our starting 11 as well. Sometimes I wonder how blinkered some of our fans are, Rating Gibbs ahead of Cole and Mertesacker ahead of Luiz :O

12gauge dave

my opinion on transfers happening

higuain:55%

fellani:30%

fabregas:15%

rooney:5%

i have very little faith in any of them happenning only higuain since it was reported wenger has actually met with him but its still very unclear as to whats happening as madrid have no manager at the moment.
things will get clearer in july as to whats truly hapenning with transfers

gnfnrhead

12gauge dave wrote: »

my opinion on transfers happening

higuain:55%

fellani:30%

fabregas:15%

rooney:5%

i have very little faith in any of them happenning only higuain since it was reported wenger has actually met with him but its still very unclear as to whats happening as madrid have no manager at the moment.
things will get clearer in july as to whats truly hapenning with transfers

Was that supposed to add up to 100%? Becuase you have 105

Real have seemingly said £25m for Higuain.

12gauge dave

ha no mate just what chance out of 100% for each to happen.

i just worry if arsenal give higuain a £130,000+ a week contract will other players start acting up and wanting more etc

Marty McFly

12gauge dave wrote: »

ha no mate just what chance out of 100% for each to happen.

i just worry if arsenal give higuain a £130,000+ a week contract will other players start acting up and wanting more etc

I think your being pessimistic on transfers all the noises are that we will make moves and moves that will please the fans.

On wages well of coarse and as Ivan hinted at, at the Q&A with extra income and better planning on future wages we should and will be able to afford to pay more wages. The sooner we start paying our best players top wages the less likely we are to loose them to one the oil rich clubs.

12gauge dave

we hear this every year dude im refusing to get excited yet.

unless i see it scrolling across the bottom of the sky sports news screen beside breaking news i aint bellieving sh1t:)

Marty McFly

12gauge dave wrote: »

we hear this every year dude im refusing to get excited yet.

unless i see it scrolling across the bottom of the sky sports news screen beside breaking news i aint bellieving sh1t:)

That we do, but its different this time. Gazidis practically admitted Wenger has been working under tight financial constraints tonight for a long time.

Wenger and himself have made much more positive noises than they have in years.

I'm still a bit sceptical and not until I see a player sign on the dotted line will I be happy but I'm feeling a lot more positive and I really hope its true for one be great to see a Arsenal challenge again and secondly it be great to stick one up at the amount of people who write us off and get enjoyment out belittling Arsenal so much these days.

L'prof

12gauge dave wrote: »

my opinion on transfers happening

higuain:55%

fellani:30%

fabregas:15%

rooney:5%

i have very little faith in any of them happenning only higuain since it was reported wenger has actually met with him but its still very unclear as to whats happening as madrid have no manager at the moment.
things will get clearer in july as to whats truly hapenning with transfers

The bookies make it:
Higuain: 25%
Fellani: 48%
Fabregas: 35%
Rooney: 35%
Jovetic: 17%

Realistically, if we got one from that list I'd be happy. 2 would be a great transfer window imo. No chance of anything more to be honest.

12gauge dave

L'prof wrote: »

The bookies make it:
Higuain: 25%
Fellani: 48%
Fabregas: 35%
Rooney: 35%
Jovetic: 17%

Realistically, if we got one from that list I'd be happy. 2 would be a great transfer window imo. No chance of anything more to be honest.

not one over 50%:( im suprised higuains at only 25% and cesc and rooney at 35%. i agree 2 of the above would be a good summer for once:)

L'prof

12gauge dave wrote: »

not one over 50%:( im suprised higuains at only 25% and cesc and rooney at 35%. i agree 2 of the above would be a good summer for once:)

Juve are odds on favourites for Higuain unfortunately. Favourites to sign Jovetic too :-/