Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

gosplan

greendom wrote: »

This is just starting - i'm sure the truth will out eventually

Meh, if it exists in football, then I'd say it's across the board.

We just paid 10 million for a guy who's going to have to run two half marathons each week till Gibbs is back - would you be that surprised if he was getting a bit of 'help' with his recovery times?

There isn't a huge appetite to look at the possibility of that in football but I think it's because no-one really gives a sh1t. I mean once you reach a particular level of fittness, you're fit enough to play professional football, but that doesn't mean you're going to be any good.

It's not like the olympian sports of cycling, swimming and sprinting where the whole thing is just a test of the human body's capabilities. Obviously there's an element of technique involved in all thos sports but you get what I mean. You can turn Michelle Smyth into a triple olyimpic gold medalist with the use of EPO (allegedly), but Paul McShane will never be Zidane.

It's more like Moto GP or Nascar or something to be honest. People break rules and cut corners with the vehicles all the time but no-one really gives a sh1t because they're just the tool through which the driver can express his talent.

bad2dabone

Deleted User wrote: »

There's no appetite to expose things like that in football unfortunately.

This is true. Ignorance is bliss. It'll never come out.

greendom

Good report on Saturday's game...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/03/nacho-monreal-arsenal-stoke?CMP=twt_gu

Galvasean

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Out of curiosity (not that it'd happen), how would people feel if Barca were to be stripped and we were awarded the CL? Obviously be great to have the trophy but would be a wee bit anti climactic wouldn't it?

It'd knock a couple of years off the "X years since ye won a trophy" line we keep hearing. It'd also put us among the exclusive 'champions of Europe' club - both of which are good things. Just a shame how we never got to experience the exhilaration of actually winning the trophy on the night.

danlen

Galvasean wrote: »

It'd knock a couple of years off the "X years since ye won a trophy" line we keep hearing. It'd also put us among the exclusive 'champions of Europe' club - both of which are good things. Just a shame how we never got to experience the exhilaration of actually winning the trophy on the night.

Only one year.

batistuta9

gosplan wrote: »

Meh, if it exists in football, then I'd say it's across the board.

We just paid 10 million for a guy who's going to have to run two half marathons each week till Gibbs is back - would you be that surprised if he was getting a bit of 'help' with his recovery times?

There isn't a huge appetite to look at the possibility of that in football but I think it's because no-one really gives a sh1t. I mean once you reach a particular level of fittness, you're fit enough to play professional football, but that doesn't mean you're going to be any good.

It's not like the olympian sports of cycling, swimming and sprinting where the whole thing is just a test of the human body's capabilities. Obviously there's an element of technique involved in all thos sports but you get what I mean. You can turn Michelle Smyth into a triple olyimpic gold medalist with the use of EPO (allegedly), but Paul McShane will never be Zidane.

It's more like Moto GP or Nascar or something to be honest. People break rules and cut corners with the vehicles all the time but no-one really gives a sh1t because they're just the tool through which the driver can express his talent.

I disagree with that, you say it'd not make Paul McShane into Zidane which is true but it didn't make Michelle Smith a talented swimmer either, it made her body work better, that was the advantage not a gain in talent

it'd be the same thing if footballers were taking EPO, it'd make their bodies work better athletically, which would give them an advantage on top of the talent - like M.Smith

take Ashley Cole as an example, him on EPO or something would give him & Chelsea a greater advantage than if he wasn't on it because it'd enhance him athletically, which is a big part of his game - making runs up & down the wing all game.

peabutler

Yeah but let's be honest, Barca at that stage where not so far ahead of the rest of the top teams, so is everyone at the same thing ??

Tbh, id be more sicker if it was proven that Barca cheated to win it even more then i was on the night when in my opinion we blew a huge chance to win it.

I just wouldnt celebrate and i just wouldnt feel like we had achieved anything which for me is what its about. The joy and exhilaration of seeing your team being confirmed the best and lift the trophy aloft to the roars of the fans. The joy on the fans, the players and managements faces. The absolute thrill and satisfaction you feel from witnessing it. Its one of the best feelings in the world and you couldnt put a price on it. In any case nothing will be ever proved and tbh that suits me the finest. To lose is disappointing but to lose by foul play is even worse

When Arsenal do win the Champions league eventually, it will be on the night with our captain, Thomas Vermaelen walking up the steps to receive the trophy from the rather disgusted looking Michel Platini.

And besides, France were greatly aided in qualifying for a world cup by handling the ball. How many dives could be contested that cost teams in the past? The hand of god in 1986? All cheating...What was done about them? Nothing. Even in the cases where teams were stripped, Juventus in 2006 for example. How did the Inter Milan players and fans feel being paper champions?

Jaap Stam tested positive for EPO in 2001. Does that put Manchester Uniteds premier league win into question that season?

Pierce_1991

I'd well head out on the jar that night if they gave us the Champions League, would end the 7 year drought

peabutler

I honestly believe we can win the FA cup this year if we really go hell for leather for it, and I don't think it'd jeopardize the race for 4th !!

gosplan

batistuta9 wrote: »

I disagree with that, you say it'd not make Paul McShane into Zidane which is true but it didn't make Michelle Smith a talented swimmer either, it made her body work better, that was the advantage not a gain in talent

it'd be the same thing if footballers were taking EPO, it'd make their bodies work better athletically, which would give them an advantage on top of the talent - like M.Smith

take Ashley Cole as an example, him on EPO or something would give him & Chelsea a greater advantage than if he wasn't on it because it'd enhance him athletically, which is a big part of his game - making runs up & down the wing all game.

You are correct in what you say. It would give players an unfair advantage. What I'm kind of getting at though is that Messi is still awesome, regardless of what treatment he got.

greendom

Deleted User wrote: »

When Arsenal do win the Champions league eventually, it will be on the night with our captain, Thomas Vermaelen walking up the steps to receive the trophy from the rather disgusted looking Michel Platini.

Does Platini have a gripe with Arsenal ?

GT_TDI_150

tipp_Gunner wrote: »

Jaap Stam tested positive for EPO in 2001. Does that put Manchester Uniteds premier league win into question that season?

It should do really, the one player they transfered out test positive?!?

gosplan

Comparing our remaining fixtures with Spurs remaining fixtures will cheer you up a bit on a Monday morning.

Galvasean

peabutler wrote: »

I honestly believe we can win the FA cup this year if we really go hell for leather for it, and I don't think it'd jeopardize the race for 4th !!

I can see us losing to Blackburn. It's three days before Bayern Munich so Wenger may be tempted to rest lots of players. Monreal is cup tied for the CL mind you, so he should play in the FA Cup.

tayto lover

Galvasean wrote: »

I can see us losing to Blackburn. It's three days before Bayern Munich so Wenger may be tempted to rest lots of players. Monreal is cup tied for the CL mind you, so he should play in the FA Cup.

The LB position will probablyu be the undoing of our CL hopes.
Wenger had loads of time over the last few years to fix this problem but failed to do so. Imagine playing Bayern with Santos at LB :eek:

Marty McFly

I'd imagine Wenger will put Verm at LB against Bayern but in my own opinion that just as bad as having Santos there anytime Ive seen Verm play there he looks completely lost and along with that its completely kills any attacking threat we have down the left side of the field. Id much rather even give Sagna or Jenks a shot at LB it couldn't be any worse.

Oranage2

I don't think it matters who we play left back, it will by pure luck that we don't concede.

danlen

tayto lover wrote: »

The LB position will probablyu be the undoing of our CL hopes.
Wenger had loads of time over the last few years to fix this problem but failed to do so. Imagine playing Bayern with Santos at LB :eek:

To be fair it will prob be down to a lot more than one player. At this moment in time Bayern are far ahead of us, Santos or no Santos.

gosplan

danlen wrote: »

To be fair it will prob be down to a lot more than one player. At this moment in time Bayern are far ahead of us, Santos or no Santos.

People are being too hard on Santos. He shouldn't be a scapegoat for our bad defending because he hasn't been near the pitch for the vast vast majority of it.

Edit, in fact in the four league matches he's started or played the majority of, we've let in five goals (1 vs Norwich away, 0 vs QPR home, 2 vrs utd away, 2 vrs liverpool home). That seems about right for our season given the quality of the opposition. Also, Verm was directly responsible for more of the above goals and Santos wasn't yet on the pitch for our Benny Hill moment against Liverpool.

I'm not saying Santos is a great defender or anything but to think we're weak at the back because Gibbs is out is totaly unfair on him, and ignorant of the faults of other players. And fcuk anyone that boos him when the teamsheets are called out!

greendom

gosplan wrote: »

I'm not saying Santos is a great defender or anything but to think we're weak at the back because Gibbs is out is totaly unfair on him, and ignorant of the faults of other players. And fcuk anyone that boos him when the teamsheets are called out!

I felt really bad for the guy when he came on last Wednesday - he really doesn't deserve that.

Marty McFly

greendom wrote: »

I felt really bad for the guy when he came on last Wednesday - he really doesn't deserve that.

Likewise he my not be a great player or in all honesty good enough to wear an Arsenal jersey sadly, but I can only imagine how sould destroying it would be to hear 50 odd thousand people of you own fans booing your name, going by his twitter account he comes across as a upbeat and nice man and doesn't deserve that.

peabutler

Santos is the new Eboue, push him up the pitch and watch him go.

farna_boy

Out of interest, what would people think of just using Santos as a LW replacement, say if Poldi was unavailable?

Oranage2

Hes very poor at defending and passes the ball to the opposition quite a lot from dangerous positions. League cup is all id be happy seeing him in.

Mr Blobby

farna_boy wrote: »

Out of interest, what would people think of just using Santos as a LW replacement, say if Poldi was unavailable?

Would rather Ox

Alfred Borden

farna_boy wrote: »

Out of interest, what would people think of just using Santos as a LW replacement, say if Poldi was unavailable?

Wouldnt mind to be honest, its either him or Gervinho as replacements on the left so bad either way!

greendom

greendom wrote: »

Good report on Saturday's game...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/03/nacho-monreal-arsenal-stoke?CMP=twt_gu

Sorry to quote my own post but what really interested me about the article is that the team was selected with the opposition in mind. Diaby was selected deliberately for his height and to counter the Stoke's midfield penchant for winning the 2nd ball.

Add that to the fact that we haven't been starting games well recently made this a wise move.

And in stark contrast to the Arsene of old whose attitude was to disregard the opposition when choosing which team to select. Is it a realisation that the squad is not as strong as it used to be and that he has to think about the style and qualities of the opposition when selecting his side ?

tayto lover

blobby360 wrote: »

Would rather Ox

Ox can't string two passes together lately. He gave the ball away about 10 times in the first half alone last Sat.

Mr Blobby

If i had to choose between Ox,Santos,Gervinho

I'd pick Ox every time.

HazDanz

It's tough for the ox at the minute. Very much still learning his trade. He needs time to develop as a winger and I think it's probable the most difficult position to play on the pitch as a regular player as you are constantly trying to create inches of space. With time though he will improve himself and I think he will prove his worth, he just needs more experience.

irish son

The problem with Ox is that he played so well last season, better than we expected at his age and lack of experience at that level. He's not playing as well this season but he's at about the level he should be at this stage in his career, how he's doing in training is more important than what he's doing in games at this stage IMO.

jester77

Check out the new Arsenal.com.

It's big & bold, and a bit too much scrolling on the main page. I like the new menu but overall I think it's too loud and not very official looking.

jordainius

gosplan wrote: »

Comparing our remaining fixtures with Spurs remaining fixtures will cheer you up a bit on a Monday morning.

I was looking at this earlier, I don't share your optimism!

Home fixtures in bold.

ARSENAL: Sunderland, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Everton, Swansea, Reading, West Brom, Norwich, Fulham, Man Utd, QPR, Wigan, Newcastle.

TOTTENHAM: Newcastle, West Ham, Arsenal, Liverpool, Fulham, Swansea, Everton, Chelsea, Man City, Wigan, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland.

Pro's; We have Wigan at home, Tottenham play them in Wigan.
We have Norwich, Reading and Villa at home, we should win those.
Tottenham have to go to Anfield and Stamford Bridge and must host Man City.
They also have tricky trips to Stoke and West Ham.
Our goal difference is 7 goals better (for now) if both teams finish level on points.

Neutrals; Both Arsenal and Tottenham host Everton and both must play away to Swansea.
We have West Brom and QPR away, winnable, but not to be taken for granted.

Con's; We are 4 points behind.
We have to go to White Hart Lane.
They are at home to Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham, we are away to those 3 teams.
We have to play Man Utd who have made a habit of beating us infuriatingly easily in recent years.

Our fixture list is slightly easier, but not much. Plenty of banana skins there for both sides!

extra gravy

jester77 wrote: »

Check out the new Arsenal.com.

It's big & bold, and a bit too much scrolling on the main page. I like the new menu but overall I think it's too loud and not very official looking.

Just tried it on my phone and it worked great on that. The old website used to take an age to load and wasn't optimised for mobile or tablet like this one seems to be.

tayto lover

jordainius wrote: »

I was looking at this earlier, I don't share your optimism!

Home fixtures in bold.

ARSENAL: Sunderland, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Everton, Swansea, Reading, West Brom, Norwich, Fulham, Man Utd, QPR, Wigan, Newcastle.

TOTTENHAM: Newcastle, West Ham, Arsenal, Liverpool, Fulham, Swansea, Everton, Chelsea, Man City, Wigan, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland.

Pro's; We have Wigan at home, Tottenham play them in Wigan.
We have Norwich, Reading and Villa at home, we should win those.
Tottenham have to go to Anfield and Stamford Bridge and must host Man City.
They also have tricky trips to Stoke and West Ham.
Our goal difference is 7 goals better (for now) if both teams finish level on points.

Neutrals; Both Arsenal and Tottenham host Everton and both must play away to Swansea.
We have West Brom and QPR away, winnable, but not to be taken for granted.

Con's; We are 4 points behind.
We have to go to White Hart Lane.
They are at home to Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham, we are away to those 3 teams.
We have to play Man Utd who have made a habit of beating us infuriatingly easily in recent years.

Our fixture list is slightly easier, but not much. Plenty of banana skins there for both sides!

On current form Spurs will get as many points as we will from those fixtures.
I think we have to beat them away. That is the fixture that will decide 4th.
Anything less than a win will be too little.

Marty McFly

tayto lover wrote: »

On current form Spurs will get as many points as we will from those fixtures.
I think we have to beat them away. That is the fixture that will decide 4th.
Anything less than a win will be too little.

Dont forget it does look more and more like 3rd spot could be up for grabs Chelsea are looking very rocky at the moment. The more spots available the better the chance we have.

tayto lover

Marty McFly wrote: »

Dont forget it does look more and more like 3rd spot could be up for grabs Chelsea are looking very rocky at the moment. The more spots available the better the chance we have.

I think Chelsea have a better starting 11 than either us or Spurs.
I really think we are in a battle for 4th. We have to do better than Everton and Spurs to clinch 4th.

Marty McFly

tayto lover wrote: »

I think Chelsea have a better starting 11 than either us or Spurs.
I really think we are in a battle for 4th. We have to do better than Everton and Spurs to clinch 4th.

Oh I've no doubt about that, but I also thing they had a better starting eleven than us last year aswell. I think they are very much getting dragged into dogfight for Champions League places once again. I think Everton will fade away.

tayto lover

Both have Everton at home and which is crucial.
I must actually examine Chelsea's fixtures later too.
It will be a dogfight at the end and hopefully we can rise to the challenge.
Injuries will play a huge part too i'm sure.

Mr.Micro

Marty McFly wrote: »

Oh I've no doubt about that, but I also thing they had a better starting eleven than us last year aswell. I think they are very much getting dragged into dogfight for Champions League places once again. I think Everton will fade away.

We might win the CL, lol....who knows. At least its another route that Everton or Spurs do not have at the minute. I think that Spurs are the more likely as well but we will have to fight to the bitter end this season for 4th and its not guaranteed with Liverpool behind us as well. Its exciting at least. A pity the fight for the title was not more exciting, as its a one horse race.

If Bale gets injured, they're fubared.

Fingers crossed for nothing serious. Maybe a hamstring twinge that keeps him out for 6 weeks would be nice :pac:

greendom

tayto lover wrote: »

I think Chelsea have a better starting 11 than either us or Spurs.
I really think we are in a battle for 4th. We have to do better than Everton and Spurs to clinch 4th.

They have a better starting 11 than Man U imo but it's not doing them much good

danlen

Deleted User wrote: »

If Bale gets injured, they're fubared.

Fingers crossed for nothing serious. Maybe a hamstring twinge that keeps him out for 6 weeks would be nice :pac:

Let's not get too picky now...:D

iainconlon12

Gotta say, I love this goal!

iainconlon12

iainconlon12 wrote: »

Gotta say, I love this goal!

It'll be up there with the goals of the season imo

TheBza

iainconlon12 wrote: »

Gotta say, I love this goal!

Lionel Walcott.

Colonialboy

This might already have been posted , but just in case , great interview with 'chippie' .... about his footballing life and Arsenal.

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/130205/exclusive-liam-brady-jack-wilshere-will-become-one-englands-best-ever-pl-1910

Quazzie

Colonialboy wrote: »

This might already have been posted , but just in case , great interview with 'chippie' .... about his footballing life and Arsenal.

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/130205/exclusive-liam-brady-jack-wilshere-will-become-one-englands-best-ever-pl-1910

Wrong link maybe?