Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

Quazzie

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Groundhog day,its a great film,a must watch,especially after 3 times...

It's bizarre. The club just procrastinates until it HAS to do something. There would be no signing this window if Gibbs didn't get injured. I don't understand why they don't start negotiations in May and have them wrapped up ready to Fax come June 1st.

.jacksparrow.

Quazzie wrote: »

It's bizarre. The club just procrastinates until it HAS to do something. There would be no signing this window if Gibbs didn't get injured. I don't understand why they don't start negotiations in May and have them wrapped up ready to Fax come June 1st.

You must be new to following arsenal,welcome!

extra gravy

According to the rumours, the other player Wenger was close to signing was Etienne Capoue. One for the summer maybe.

greendom

extra gravy wrote: »

According to the rumours, the other player Wenger was close to signing was Etienne Capoue. One for the summer maybe.

An excellent signing if a little prone to yellow and red cards. That would have made the January window a very good one.

People are moaning about the circumstances in which we came to acquire Nacho but the bottom line is that the squad is improved hugely by his arrival. From having to play Gibbs constantly the position can now be shared between 2 (hopefully) excellent players.

Soups123

I agree don't really care what forced the purchase, if I am honest I dont think Wenger would buy a player for nearly 10 million just because anothe player is out for 3-6 weeks.

Its possible they were looking to offload Santos in the window and maybe that was the hold up and/or they he just felt they could take advantage of Malaga's situation on deadline day.

Mickeroo

greendom wrote: »

People are moaning about the circumstances in which we came to acquire Nacho but the bottom line is that the squad is improved hugely by his arrival. From having to play Gibbs constantly the position can now be shared between 2 (hopefully) excellent players.

All its done has papered over the cracks imo. But for a thigh strain we'd have had another transfer window without Wenger/the Board/whoever actually doing what needs to be done.

If we had signed a forward/winger and a strong midfielder I could have gotten over Santos being in the team tbh.

keano_afc

Mickeroo wrote: »

All its done has papered over the cracks imo. But for a thigh strain we'd have had another transfer window without Wenger/the Board/whoever actually doing what needs to be done.

If we had signed a forward/winger and a strong midfielder I could have gotten over Santos being in the team tbh.

Agree. Is a replacement left back that was only signed because of injury going to give us the extra push for 4th place? I'm not so sure. We needed strengthening in other areas.

greendom

Mickeroo wrote: »

All its done has papered over the cracks imo. But for a thigh strain we'd have had another transfer window without Wenger/the Board/whoever actually doing what needs to be done.

If we had signed a forward/winger and a strong midfielder I could have gotten over Santos being in the team tbh.

Is the need for a forward/winger that necessary? Don't get me wrong I would have been over the moon to see Villa in an Arsenal shirt but we have Giroud, Podolski, Walcott and Gervinho who can all play the centre forward role.

The latter 3 can also play wide as can the Ox. I agree about a strong midfielder but we would have had to off-load as we have plenty although none are as physical as I would like.

Mickeroo

greendom wrote: »

Is the need for a forward/winger that necessary? Don't get me wrong I would have been over the moon to see Villa in an Arsenal shirt but we have Giroud, Podolski, Walcott and Gervinho who can all play the centre forward role.

The latter 3 can also play wide as can the Ox. I agree about a strong midfielder but we would have had to off-load as we have plenty although none are as physical as I would like.

Giroud and Podolski are the only ones out of that four who would be effective up front. Walcott is best on the wing, Gervinho is awful no matter what position he's played in, Ox isn't the finished article. We haven't one natural left winger in the squad. We have 2 strikers and three right sided midfielders there, and none of them are particularly good at crossing. Cazorla is our best option for the left at the moment imo.

I don't think we'd have had to offload to accomodate a midfielder either, as it is there hasn't been enough depth in the squad to adequately rotate what we have.

greendom

Mickeroo wrote: »

Giroud and Podolski are the only ones out of that four who would be effective up front. Walcott is best on the wing, Gervinho is awful no matter what position he's played in, Ox isn't the finished article. We haven't one natural left winger in the squad. We have 2 strikers and three right sided midfielders there, and none of them are particularly good at crossing. Cazorla is our best option for the left at the moment imo.

I don't think we'd have had to offload to accomodate a midfielder either, as it is there hasn't been enough depth in the squad to adequately rotate what we have.

I was just about to correct myself and include Cazorla as another who could play wide (on either flank). As for midfield, now that Ramsey seems to be regaining form and hopefully Diaby can stay reasonably fit, we are well catered for as was proved by the midfield not seeming to miss Arteta that much over the last few weeks.

Soups123

Big deals just dont happen in this window, big players at big clubs dont move this time of the year as they are critical to there teams.The only big player move was the nut from ManC.

We probably signed the next high profile, experienced player.

The failure to buy was in the Summer, January is never going to rectify the problem.

Mickeroo

greendom wrote: »

I was just about to correct myself and include Cazorla as another who could play wide (on either flank). As for midfield, now that Ramsey seems to be regaining form and hopefully Diaby can stay reasonably fit, we are well catered for as was proved by the midfield not seeming to miss Arteta that much over the last few weeks.

If Diaby stays fit (I read earlier Squiilacci has more starts than him in the last three years :eek:)then good and well but the fact is to accomodate Arteta's injury all we can and have been doing is playing other players out of position. Even Arteta isn't really a defensive midfielder (though he has made the position his own in fairness), arguably Diaby isn't either. We've plenty players for the other two midfield postions but not for the one we needed to strengthen.

Regards big players not being available, we really didn't need to spend big to strengthen central midfield imo.

Soups123

Mickeroo wrote: »

If Diaby stays fit (I read earlier Squiilacci has more starts than him in the last three years :eek:)then good and well but the fact is to accomodate Arteta's injury all we can and have been doing is playing other players out of position. Even Arteta isn't really a defensive midfielder (though he has made the position his own in fairness), arguably Diaby isn't either. We've plenty players for the other two midfield postions but not for the one we needed to strengthen.

Regards big players not being available, we really didn't need to spend big to strengthen central midfield imo.

Who was available that could do the job better than what we have?

MaxPower89

Wenger says that Nacho can play left midfield also, meaning either Podolski, Gervinho or Wally could play up top if Giroud is unavailable.

Whilst I would have liked a striker brought in, its the goals we are conceeding that is costing us, so I am happy enough with the business done.

Vermaelen is a doubt for Stoke, so we could see a back 4 of:

Sagna Mert Kos Nacho

Sagna could be dropped but unlikely given we might have a debutant already at LB. I'd like to see Ramsey start again in midfield, he has been impressive recently there and a good showing against the orcs could really be the confidence boost he needs to kick on.

Ill guess at this:

Chez

Sagna / Mert / Kos / Nacho

Wally/Wilshere/Ramsey/Cazorla/Poldolski

Giroud

emergingstar

I honestly don't think wenger wants a DM he is happy to have an arteta/Ramsey type player as the deep lying midfielder
I think he wants his physical midfielder playing in the pivot where diaby plays

All the more bizarre we didn't have a punt on diame

Mickeroo

Soups123 wrote: »

Who was available that could do the job better than what we have?

I think if they had really tried for Diame or Wanyama they could have gotten them. Both would do a better job imo.

tayto lover

Frisbee wrote: »

Happy we signed Monreal but the fact we did so late is worrying.

If Gibbs hadn't got injured until our next game would we have still bought Monreal? Doubtful. Just shows how reactive we were in the transfer market instead of being proactive which is what we really needed to be.

We always seem to wait for the sugar to run out before we buy a new bag.

tayto lover

So all those know-all tweeters had their knickers in a twist yesterday, had they ?

premierstone

Mickeroo wrote: »

All its done has papered over the cracks imo. But for a thigh strain we'd have had another transfer window without Wenger/the Board/whoever actually doing what needs to be done.

This deal was not completed in 24 hours it was happening before Gibb's got injured and had been reported in the Spanish Media as a done deal as far back as last Sunday.

keano_afc wrote: »

Agree. Is a replacement left back that was only signed because of injury going to give us the extra push for 4th place? I'm not so sure. We needed strengthening in other areas.

He is not a replacement LB he is so far ahead of Gibbs you have abviously never seen him play??

dvemail

Our left back is a very important area imo. Just as much for defending as attacking. Some of our best matches was when Gibbs and Podolski where linking up well along the left. Lets just hope now that Nacho and Poldi can get a good thing going down that side because i feel we rely heavily on either the LB or RB when attacking.

gandalf

According to the bits and pieces flying around Nacho was pencilled in to come to us in the Summer. Apparently Gibbs injury prompted Arsenal to accelerate the schedule. The lad has apparently been taking English lessons for the last couple of months. This was a planned purchase and tbh I am delighted that we have signed a proven tier 1 international player to help shore up an area of the team that was one of our biggest weaknesses rather than panic buy another couple of Chamakhs who turn out to be deadweight in the team. I would have loved another big signing but as a few others has said the big players tend not to move unless there is an issue with them like the former "El Loco" Man City player.

Soups123

Mickeroo wrote: »

I think if they had really tried for Diame or Wanyama they could have gotten them. Both would do a better job imo.

Really Diame? I know the hype is on him at the minute but what has he done, released by Wigan, only West Ham willing to sign him, a few good games this season. he had a buy out clause yet no one activated it, there is a reason for all this. He was available on the cheap and not even QPR wanted him and they wanted everybody.

I've watched Wanyama and he is good and would be an option but he wasnt going to be available at a reasonable price this window.

MaxPower89

Soups123 wrote: »

Really Diame? I know the hype is on him at the minute but what has he done, released by Wigan, only West Ham willing to sign him, a few good games this season. he had a buy out clause yet no one activated it, there is a reason for all this. He was available on the cheap and not even QPR wanted him and they wanted everybody.

I've watched Wanyama and he is good and would be an option but he wasnt going to be available at a reasonable price this window.

Agreed on all this, we are reletively injury free at the moment and just need to push on with what we have now. I doubt Celtic would have been willing to sell one of their best players with important CL games coming up.

Drexel

Im very happy with out January dealings. The players we all wanted to come in was never goina happen. Especially in January. I dont know much about Nacho but from what Ive read he is decent and is coming in as prob a first team player in an area that has been a problem for us. We have been leaking goals from the left side this season so hopefully he might plug the hole. Also gettin Walcott signed up was good business. Ive been very critical of him in the past and said I wasnt fussed if he left but im goina do a u-turn as he has been very good this season in general and seems to be gettin better each season

gandalf

jonny666 wrote: »

Also gettin Walcott signed up was good business. Ive been very critical of him in the past and said I wasnt fussed if he left but im goina do a u-turn as he has been very good this season in general and seems to be gettin better each season

Walcott has said the whole negotiation process did distract him and given the improvement in his play since this was sorted I believe this was the case.

Marty McFly

danlen wrote: »

In fairness though January is a horrendous time to try and sign big players. Teams are just more unlikely to allow star names to leave mid-season. I would be pretty certain at this stage that we were trying hard to sign Villa but if Barca flat out refuse to sell what do you do?

While I'm sure everyone will agree with you that we need more quality players all over the pitch, it wouldn't make sense to spend £20m+ on a player now that isn't really who we want to sign.

I'm struggling to think of a genuinely top-class player who their club would have agreed to sell mid-season. Villa? Fellaini? Gotze? Cavani? With all of the respective clubs there going strong and facing an important run-in, there just isn't a hope of getting them, unless you offer stupid money. Apart from Balotelli, what other big moves have there been?

Saying that, this summer really is the last chance for AW and this board to do something.

While I get what your saying aren't we just making excuses for Wenger and the board on this one once again? They had all summer to bring in what was required they didn't once again they then had five months to sort the transfer out in January that we were promised would happen once again they didn't.

They were willing to wait till the summer to let Nacho come in meaning they were willing to bank on Gibb's of all people's fitness for the rest of the season with Santos as back up who Wenger clearly doesn't trust another dud signing which is shocking enough as it is, but then they move forward to Nacho deal to get it done sooner which shows it can be done in January .

greendom

Marty McFly wrote: »

While I get what your saying aren't we just making excuses for Wenger and the board on this one once again? They had all summer to bring in what was required they didn't once again they then had five months to sort the transfer out in January that we were promised would happen once again they didn't.

They were willing to wait till the summer to let Nacho come in meaning they were willing to bank on Gibb's of all people's fitness for the rest of the season with Santos as back up who Wenger clearly doesn't trust another dud signing which is shocking enough as it is, but then they move forward to Nacho deal to get it done sooner which shows it can be done in January .

You know how tightly the Arsenal board run things though. This must be the first window in a long time where we've spent more than we've recieved. The board were probably hoping for the sale of Santos to off-set the cost of Monreal in the Summer. The injury actually forced them to fork out for once. I wonder how much persuasion Wenger needed to use to get them to act ?

Oranage2

Mickeroo wrote: »

I think if they had really tried for Diame or Wanyama they could have gotten them. Both would do a better job imo.

Are these players that far ahead of coquelin? They might be just slightly better at a push, we really need someone far better than coquelin if we want to purchase a dm.

Marty McFly

greendom wrote: »

You know how tightly the Arsenal board run things though. This must be the first window in a long time where we've spent more than we've recieved. The board were probably hoping for the sale of Santos to off-set the cost of Monreal in the Summer. The injury actually forced them to fork out for once. I wonder how much persuasion Wenger needed to use to get them to act ?

Yeh that is true you would have to imagine it was Wenger who pusehd them to do it, but with all the crap Wenger spouts you never can be entirely sure who's side he takes on this as in he on the boards side or the fans side wanting more signings.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Just watching youtube clips of Nacho. Seems to have good overlapping runs and nice pace on his passes.


If we continue to raid Malaga; Isco, Toulalan and finally Pellegrini please.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Just watching youtube clips of Nacho. Seems to have good overlapping runs and nice pace on his passes.


If we continue to raid Malaga; Isco, Toulalan and finally Pellegrini please.

I was surprised Nacho gave up CL football for this season to join us at this stage to be honest. Understandable Malaga may have wanted a quick sale owing to their financial trouble but from Monreals personal point of view you would think he would have seen out the season at least. Could be his last time playing CL football in a while

gnfnrhead

Deleted User wrote: »

I was surprised Nacho gave up CL football for this season to join us at this stage to be honest. Understandable Malaga may have wanted a quick sale owing to their financial trouble but from Monreals personal point of view you would think he would have seen out the season at least. Could be his last time playing CL football in a while

Next season isnt that far away

gnfnrhead

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Inother news, heard today that Lehmann is with us for coaching badges. Imagine him being your manager! He'd rip your head off for being late, no fines needed :pac:

Jens is a crazy crazy man but i will say one thing, he was some pro. Great man to come out and take a ball clean in the event of a corner but prone to the odd lapse in concentration.

gnfnrhead

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Next season isnt that far away

There is no guarantee that we will qualify for next seasons CL. Im surprised Nacho gave up a Champions league team this time of year

TheGunns

Deleted User wrote: »

Jens is a crazy crazy man but i will say one thing, he was some pro. Great man to come out and take a ball clean in the event of a corner but prone to the odd lapse in concentration.

Lapse in concentration was usually followed by him doing something even worse to cover his first mistake. Loved him at the club and good to see him back. Would be excellent to see him play some sort of role in the future, hopefully he'll show Szczesny a thing or two as well!

greendom

Deleted User wrote: »

I was surprised Nacho gave up CL football for this season to join us at this stage to be honest. Understandable Malaga may have wanted a quick sale owing to their financial trouble but from Monreals personal point of view you would think he would have seen out the season at least. Could be his last time playing CL football in a while

That's a very negative way at looking at things.

HazDanz

Going by the last decade and a half he has played a safe bet.

Gbear

Deleted User wrote: »

I was surprised Nacho gave up CL football for this season to join us at this stage to be honest. Understandable Malaga may have wanted a quick sale owing to their financial trouble but from Monreals personal point of view you would think he would have seen out the season at least. Could be his last time playing CL football in a while

I'm pretty sure Malaga are banned from Europe next year for not paying any of their staff in several months.

Ed Winchester

Jens was a legend. My favourite ever Arsenal keeper.

greendom

greendom wrote: »

That's a very negative way at looking at things.

Negative or Positive it could well be a reality. Our faith is in the hands of those who are even unwilling to tackle and cant defend and thats a plain simple fact

HazDanz

HazDanz wrote: »

Going by the last decade and a half he has played a safe bet.

Sure if we are using the past as a measure then we are still better then Chelsea. Doesnt work that way my friend

Ed Winchester

Ed Winchester wrote: »

Jens was a legend. My favourite ever Arsenal keeper.

Safe hands made errors but no way was Jens better than him.

Gbear

Gbear wrote: »

I'm pretty sure Malaga are banned from Europe next year for not paying any of their staff in several months.

Ye but my point is they are still in this years competition and he cant play with Arsenal in their next tie. Malaga, Arsenal or both may or may not make next seasons Champions league. The player will basically miss the chance to play in Malaga's remaining ties in this years competition

greendom

Deleted User wrote: »

Negative or Positive it could well be a reality. Our faith is in the hands of those who are even unwilling to tackle and cant defend and thats a plain simple fact

Can't defend ? - only 2 teams have conceded fewer goals than us away from home (Swansea and City) Admittedly our defending at the Emirates needs improvement (18 goals in 12 games is unacceptable) but a team that has conceded less than a goal a game away obviously can defend.

sonic85

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Just watching youtube clips of Nacho. Seems to have good overlapping runs and nice pace on his passes.


If we continue to raid Malaga; Isco, Toulalan and finally Pellegrini please.

i wouldnt be using youtube as any indication of how good or bad he is at this stage. i watched clips of santos before he joined that made him look like a superstar. look how that ended up

Fuzzy_Dunlop

sonic85 wrote: »

i wouldnt be using youtube as any indication of how good or bad he is at this stage. i watched clips of santos before he joined that made him look like a superstar. look how that ended up

Nah not judging his quality. Just good to get an idea of his playing style.

greendom

greendom wrote: »

Can't defend ? - only 2 teams have conceded fewer goals than us away from home (Swansea and City) Admittedly our defending at the Emirates needs improvement (18 goals in 12 games is unacceptable) but a team that has conceded less than a goal a game away obviously can defend.

Maybe the tighter pitches away from home is a factor but i dont accept that our defence doesn't need sorting based on a statistic that may well be down to pure fortune and judging by the many mix ups that is all its down too. Individually they could be alright but as a unit, teams are scoring goals far too easily against us.
I dont believe that Mertesacker becomes any better a defender at the Britannia then he does at the Emirates either. He still reacts slow and his legs still cant move when they should. I think Vermaelen, Chesney and Koc's respective form is simple down to a lack of confidence. All 3 are performing lower then their capabilities but as a unit Verm and Koc look solid.

As for the fullbacks, Sagna not the same player since he came back from the injury and Gibbs is still naive getting caught up forward. While this new signing has played CL, ill reserve judgement until ive seen him play the rest of the season. He could be good going forward but backs are backs at the end of the day and shouldnt get caught out of postition

greendom

Deleted User wrote: »

Maybe the tighter pitches away from home is a factor but i dont accept that our defence doesn't need sorting based on a statistic that may well be down to pure fortune and judging by the many mix ups that is all its down too. Individually they could be alright but as a unit, teams are scoring goals far too easily against us.
I dont believe that Mertesacker becomes any better a defender at the Britannia then he does at the Emirates either. He still reacts slow and his legs still cant move when they should. I think Vermaelen, Chesney and Koc's respective form is simple down to a lack of confidence. All 3 are performing lower then their capabilities but as a unit Verm and Koc look solid.

As for the fullbacks, Sagna not the same player since he came back from the injury and Gibbs is still naive getting caught up forward. While this new signing has played CL, ill reserve judgement until ive seen him play the rest of the season. He could be good going forward but backs are backs at the end of the day and shouldnt get caught out of postition

i'm not saying things are perfect, far from it, but your "simple fact" was a little harsh on the defence. We seem more prone to costly mistakes than any other team and if they could be cut out (or at least drastically reduced) the defence would be much improved.

We need to ask though - what is causing those mistakes? I really have no idea but I think it's no coincidence that we've conceded so many more goals at home (18 to 11). The disgruntled fan reception is being felt on the pitch and leading to nervousness and individual lapses by our defenders. If the support at home could come close to matching that away, i'm sure we would start to see the amount of errors reducing.

Drexel

greendom wrote: »

i'm not saying things are perfect, far from it, but your "simple fact" was a little harsh on the defence. We seem more prone to costly mistakes than any other team and if they could be cut out (or at least drastically reduced) the defence would be much improved.

We need to ask though - what is causing those mistakes? I really have no idea but I think it's no coincidence that we've conceded so many more goals at home (18 to 11). The disgruntled fan reception is being felt on the pitch and leading to nervousness and individual lapses by our defenders. If the support at home could come close to matching that away, i'm sure we would start to see the amount of errors reducing.

Great post!

AdamD

The crowd were fully behind the players at the start of the Liverpool game, no anxiety ringing around the stadium or any of that, just proper cheering. Despite this our defence still managed to pull off the longest run of **** ups leading to a goal ever known to man.