Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013

sonic85

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Same can be said for Chelsea and Man City really.

(plus newcastle are 14th)

from what i could find online everton spend around 63 million - less than half what we spend yet are only 5 points behind us. newcastle in 2012 spent around 38 million. theres no comparison between us and either of those teams.

i couldnt give a toss about chelsea and city - we cant compete with them on any level really but we should be finishing in the top 4 easily given our size and what we spend.

spurs seem to be where were at level wise at the minute but even they seem to be getting much better value - spending roughly 90 million.

liverpool from what i could find seem to be parting with around 120 million still 20+ million less than us

Galvasean

Speaking of stats, since arsenal.com changed its layout I can't seem to find the 'first team stats' page...

Gringo180

I just feel that alot of people are treating Wenger unfairly lately, remember this is a man who has lost his best players every season for the past 5 years, I am pretty sure no manager in world football could cope with such a loss.

Give it time lads, if what we hear on the grapevine is true that we have big money to spend in the summer to give the team a complete face lift, then I have no doubt in my mind that Wenger is the man to turn us around. I would love him to win us another Premier Lge title just to sicken alot of his critics.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

sonic85 wrote: »

from what i could find online everton spend around 63 million - less than half what we spend yet are only 5 points behind us. newcastle in 2012 spent around 38 million. theres no comparison between us and either of those teams.

i couldnt give a toss about chelsea and city - we cant compete with them on any level really but we should be finishing in the top 4 easily given our size and what we spend.

spurs seem to be where were at level wise at the minute but even they seem to be getting much better value - spending roughly 90 million.

liverpool from what i could find seem to be parting with around 120 million still 20+ million less than us

Well those other teams also don't have CL to contend with either. Liverpool have consistantly performed worse than us even whilst their wages were more (discounting transfers which theirs is greater).

Spurs are doing well alright but still yet to finish above us.

We're not doing exceptional or anything but not the end of days some people make out either.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Comparing two players 14 years apart in completely different teams and the teams being in different situations is as ridiculous as comparing me now to when I was 12.
I don't think Giroud's been a complete flop but he's not good enough either and him being our main striker shows where the club is at the moment.

You might have misunderstood the point i was trying to make but at the same time your more or less proving my point with that highlighted sentance

Back in 1999, Arsenal had a world class team with Bergkamp, Overmars, Vieira, Petit, Kanu, Freddy, the back 4...etc in their pomp. Nicolas Anelka managed 19 goals and that season in that world class team. Granted they were all scored in the PL but that season he had 68 shots on target. Not sure how many assists.

Now the result of all this was alot of media hype and hot air generated by the media towards Anelka and its fair to say he started to believe his own hype for a few following years.

Now Giroud in contrast as you correctly pointed out is playing in a very poor Arsenal team by comparison to that team. Yet despite chipping in with 14 goals at this point of the season, he is being criticised for not being good enough to play for the club and not being the answer to the high standards set by Van Persie, Henry etc.

Giroud is essentially a victim of the clubs success in the past playing in a mediocre team and being made a bit of a scapegoat in some sectors of the media, whereas Anelka was scoring with a world class team on the rise and was getting praise galore....yet he only managed 5 more goals despite this and the season isn't over for Giroud yet.

Im just pointing how perceptions change of players without the media taking any of these factors into account like you correctly pointed out such as the fact the two teams (99 and present) were poles apart.

emergingstar

Two points off third
Hon Arsenal

greendom

sonic85 wrote: »

from what i could find online everton spend around 63 million - less than half what we spend yet are only 5 points behind us. newcastle in 2012 spent around 38 million. theres no comparison between us and either of those teams.

i couldnt give a toss about chelsea and city - we cant compete with them on any level really but we should be finishing in the top 4 easily given our size and what we spend.

spurs seem to be where were at level wise at the minute but even they seem to be getting much better value - spending roughly 90 million.

liverpool from what i could find seem to be parting with around 120 million still 20+ million less than us

So basically for the last 8 years Arsenal have met expectations ?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

greendom wrote: »

So basically for the last 8 years Arsenal have met expectations ?

That's pretty much it really. Though I'd say we would be expected to have a carling/FA cup or two.


Also not to say we couldn't be more ambitiously run of course.

greendom

And how does Liverpool's wage bill compare to ours over the last few seasons ?

Marty McFly

I love this image of Jenkinson that is doing the rounds taken when we scored the winner yesterday.

.jacksparrow.

Marty McFly wrote: »

I love this image of Jenkinson that is doing the rounds taken when we scored the winner yesterday.

Look at kos gervinho says it all really.

batistuta9

Galvasean wrote: »

Speaking of stats, since arsenal.com changed its layout I can't seem to find the 'first team stats' page...

mouse over teams on the banner and it's on the last list on the right of the drop down menu

or just click teams and then the statistics button (on the top nearly right above mannone's head)

http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/statistics

Mickeroo

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Look at kos gervinho says it all really.

yeah, wtf in fairness.

batistuta9

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Look at kos gervinho says it all really.

though i seen him showing a bit of life on the highlights for the goal/wenger reaction, he could've just been fixing his blanket/towel though :pac:

Mickeroo

Mickeroo wrote: »

yeah, wtf in fairness.

batistuta9 wrote: »

though i seen him showing a bit of life on the highlights for the goal/wenger reaction, he could've just been fixing his blanket/towel though :pac:

Ah to be fair they were caught within a fraction of a second of Arsenal scoring. The goal happened pretty quickly. Jenks may have just been more alert to it for that fraction of a second, Arsenal supporter aside.

I certainly rate Koc highly and wouldnt dream of considering him not caring enough. Im not going to give out about Gervinho's reaction either despite him not being good enough.

greendom

With the 2 goals conceded today by Chelsea, Arsenal now have the equal 2nd best defence in the EPL :eek:

Maire2009

greendom wrote: »

With the 2 goals conceded today by Chelsea, Arsenal now have the equal 2nd best defence in the EPL :eek:

WHAT? :eek:

greendom

Maire2009 wrote: »

WHAT? :eek:

go and check the table - best defence away from home too (only 11 goals conceded) 3rd best overall attack too

Maire2009

greendom wrote: »

go and check the table - best defence away from home too (only 11 goals conceded) 3rd best overall attack too

Yeah I just did there - we've the same 30 goals conceded as Chelsea and Spurs (hope West Ham sort that tomorrow night ) I suppose we've not got a hammering at any stage have we? Have we conceded more than 2 goals in an EPL game?

sonic85

greendom wrote: »

So basically for the last 8 years Arsenal have met expectations ?

yeah basically. i dont think ive said otherwise? im just talking about this season and struggling in every competition. for the amount we spend we can do much better.

finishing fourth and not having a hope of winning the premier league doesnt mean that we shouldnt be going all out to win the cups or go as far as we can in the CL.

im pretty much of the opinion that well never win a PL title again as long as city and chelsea have sugar daddys along with united remaining around.

sonic85

Maire2009 wrote: »

Yeah I just did there - we've the same 30 goals conceded as Chelsea and Spurs (hope West Ham sort that tomorrow night ) I suppose we've not got a hammering at any stage have we? Have we conceded more than 2 goals in an EPL game?

conceded 3 against newcastle and fulham

Galvasean

Galvasean wrote: »

Walcott 18 (11)
Giroud 14 (9)
Podolski 13 (9)
Cazorla 11 (11)
Gervinho 5 (3)
Arteta 4 (4)
Mr. Owen Goal 3 (3)
Chamakh 2 (0)
Koscielny 2 (1)
Oxlade-Chamberlain 2 (1)
Wilshere 2 (0)
Arshavin 1 (0)
Gibbs 1 (0)
Mertesacker 1 (1)
Miquel 1 (0)
Ramsey 1 (0)
Rosicky 1 (0)
Vermaelen 1 (0)

(League goals in brackets)

Looking at this, we've got four players with 10+ goals in all competitions. Last season by season's end it was only two (Walcott-11 and RvP-37). I think we've actually scored more this season than at the same point last season. It just shows how much of a one man team RvP was last year. It's encouraging to see the goals more spread out now. Means we're not one injury away from our campaign imploding.

jonneymendoza

a shame we have lost more games this season....

still not have progressed from last season imo

AnCapaillMor

greendom wrote: »

With the 2 goals conceded today by Chelsea, Arsenal now have the equal 2nd best defence in the EPL :eek:

Makes RVP leaving more depressing, with his finishing we'd be in a much better position.

greendom

But without his transfer money, who would we have bought out of Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski ? Not all of them for sure, maybe just Cazorla if we were lucky. How much better off would we have been ?

greendom

sonic85 wrote: »

conceded 3 against newcastle and fulham

So unbeaten in the league every time we've conceded more than 2 goals. What a weird season this is turning out to be.

AnCapaillMor

greendom wrote: »

But without his transfer money, who would we have bought out of Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski ? Not all of them for sure, maybe just Cazorla if we were lucky. How much better off would we have been ?

They were all signed before he left, still reckon we would've bought them if he'd stayed which is more infuriating.

greendom

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

They were all signed before he left, still reckon we would've bought them if he'd stayed which is more infuriating.

They knew that in all liklehood he was going and that's why the funds were released for transfers.

Alfred Borden

Spurs drop points tonight, we beat them next week, Chelsea have tough game against West Brom and have struggled at home under Rafa, and we sit third with Spurs going to Anfield the following week, sounds good.

greendom

Raf32 wrote: »

Spurs drop points tonight, we beat them next week, Chelsea have tough game against West Brom and have struggled at home under Rafa, and we sit third with Spurs going to Anfield the following week, sounds good.

Fingers crossed

Galvasean

Raf32 wrote: »

Spurs drop points tonight, we beat them next week, Chelsea have tough game against West Brom and have struggled at home under Rafa, and we sit third with Spurs going to Anfield the following week, sounds good.

*subscribes to newsletter*

It's certainly not unthinkable.

Drexel

What would people who would like Wenger to leave think if we got 3rd? Which is very doable I think

gosplan

jonny666 wrote: »

What would people who would like Wenger to leave think if we got 3rd? Which is very doable I think

I'd say they would argue that 3rd/4th/5th are all easily possible with this Arsenal team but that ultimately we'll put in the same season as always. If Chelsea fcuk up, we'll get third. If Spurs do really well, they might finish ahead of us.

The problem is this has very little to do with us and we're still firmly behind the teams challenging for the title. That gap isn't getting any narrower. We've just carved out a new niche in the table - upper middle!

I wouldn't like Wenger to leave but I reckon if we get third this year it will go down as a Spurs and Chelsea cock-up rather than success by Arsenal.

greendom

We're not far away though, I don't think. Say in some bizarre imaginary World (as mentioned already by AnCapaillmor) that we had kept RVP as well as sign the 3 guys we actually did bring in, we wouldn't be far off. Who knows ours and United's league position could have been reversed :eek:

Mickeroo

gosplan wrote: »

!

I wouldn't like Wenger to leave but I reckon if we get third this year it will go down as a Spurs and Chelsea cock-up rather than success by Arsenal.

So the same as last season then. The fact that Chelsea won the CL last season completely papered over the fact that they finished 6th last year. The amount of people I've talked to who genuinely thought they finished above us is ridiculous.

.jacksparrow.

gosplan wrote: »

I'd say they would argue that 3rd/4th/5th are all easily possible with this Arsenal team but that ultimately we'll put in the same season as always. If Chelsea fcuk up, we'll get third. If Spurs do really well, they might finish ahead of us.

The problem is this has very little to do with us and we're still firmly behind the teams challenging for the title. That gap isn't getting any narrower. We've just carved out a new niche in the table - upper middle!

I wouldn't like Wenger to leave but I reckon if we get third this year it will go down as a Spurs and Chelsea cock-up rather than success by Arsenal.

I disagree

If we finish third its because we deserved it and earned it.same if we finished 1st or last,the take doesn't lie.

maximoose

Spotted this addition to my kit guy in China's catalogue:

gosplan

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

I disagree

If we finish third its because we deserved it and earned it.same if we finished 1st or last,the take doesn't lie.

Us deserving it and another team messing up are not mutually exclusive events.

andrew241983

maximoose wrote: »

Spotted this addition to my kit guy in China's catalogue:

I thought we werent going to adidas until 2014/15? I could be wrong!!
Reminds me of this badboy

.jacksparrow.

gosplan wrote: »

Us deserving it and another team messing up are not mutually exclusive events.

But if a team messes up its a measure of where they are,if we don't mess up as bad and finish ahead it means were better therefore we deserve it.

andrew241983

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

But if a team messes up its a measure of where they are,if we don't mess up as bad and finish ahead it means were better therefore we deserve it.

+1 its in our hands now if we beat spurs and everton i think we would get 4th atleast ,we are not waiting on them to slip up again we just have to beat them which we have some control over and we will get 4th prob 3rd

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Apparently some dick head put a Wenger out sticker on Thierry's statue. Fuck sake.

Marty McFly

greendom wrote: »

We're not far away though, I don't think. Say in some bizarre imaginary World (as mentioned already by AnCapaillmor) that we had kept RVP as well as sign the 3 guys we actually did bring in, we wouldn't be far off. Who knows ours and United's league position could have been reversed :eek:

I seriously doubt it, our problems really aren't in the final third we have still scored plenty of goals this season, I think if we had a much more solid defence we would be in a far better position. The defence needs more protection from the team and then themselves need to be better organised and try cut out the silly errors which have plagued us. I think until we sort that regardless of how many goals we score we will not be title challengers, because even if we score four were just as likely to concede four.

greendom

Marty McFly wrote: »

I seriously doubt it, our problems really aren't in the final third we have still scored plenty of goals this season, I think if we had a much more solid defence we would be in a far better position. The defence needs more protection from the team and then themselves need to be better organised and try cut out the silly errors which have plagued us. I think until we sort that regardless of how many goals we score we will not be title challengers, because even if we score four were just as likely to concede four.

We haven't conceded 4 in the league all season and yet we've scored at least 4 on a number of occasions . Twice we conceded 3 and we got results from both those games. Agreed the defensive side can be improved but I think you're painting too black a picture; as I mentioned earlier with 30 goals conceded this season we have the equal second best defensive record in the league.

tayto lover

jonny666 wrote: »

What would people who would like Wenger to leave think if we got 3rd? Which is very doable I think

What will we win?

Mr.Micro

Marty McFly wrote: »

I seriously doubt it, our problems really aren't in the final third we have still scored plenty of goals this season, I think if we had a much more solid defence we would be in a far better position. The defence needs more protection from the team and then themselves need to be better organised and try cut out the silly errors which have plagued us. I think until we sort that regardless of how many goals we score we will not be title challengers, because even if we score four were just as likely to concede four.

Yes, its leaking goals at the back that causes the lack of confidence and belief. Several players prone to off days, Vermalen, Sagna, Mertasacker and Santos (now thankfully with another club) and goal keeper. So it is the odd occasion when all are synchronized in defence mode, which has been rare this season.

jester77

Marty McFly wrote: »

I seriously doubt it, our problems really aren't in the final third we have still scored plenty of goals this season, I think if we had a much more solid defence we would be in a far better position. The defence needs more protection from the team and then themselves need to be better organised and try cut out the silly errors which have plagued us. I think until we sort that regardless of how many goals we score we will not be title challengers, because even if we score four were just as likely to concede four.

We have the second best defensive record in the league, only Man City have conceded less. It's hard to argue against that. We are missing the killer instinct and not finishing off teams. If Van Persie had stayed we would be fighting it out closer to the top instead of struggling for fourth.

Marty McFly

greendom wrote: »

We haven't conceded 4 in the league all season and yet we've scored at least 4 on a number of occasions . Twice we conceded 3 and we got results from both those games. Agreed the defensive side can be improved but I think your painting too black a picture; as I mentioned earlier with 30 goals conceded this season we have the equal second best defensive record in the league.

I was being hypothetical on the four goals , as in you never know what our defence is capable of doing. We may have the second best but we all know anytime any team of any caliber attack us we never look comfortable and always look likely to concede, the better the opposition the easier they find it to pick out the holes we leave. Even watching the Villa game again last night the amount of space we gave them between our midfield and defence was criminal they could have torn us apart many a time just luckily for us they didnt take advantage.

I do honestly think if we tightened up the defence we would beat the better teams instead of scoring but loosing the games . If we had a solid defence I think we would be a lot more comfortable in many a game. We used to be comfortable in the knowledge of leading a game 1-0 these days even when we go 1-0 up im on the edge of my seat.

gosplan

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

But if a team messes up its a measure of where they are,if we don't mess up as bad and finish ahead it means were better therefore we deserve it.

Granted but you're forgetting the original point.

The question was how will the 'Wenger out' people feel if we get third.

My point was we can always get third but are producing the same seasons and points total year after year. Us finishing third means we did our usual thing and Chelsea weren't at the races that year. It doesn't signify any kind of progression.

jordainius

Raf32 wrote: »

Spurs drop points tonight, we beat them next week, Chelsea have tough game against West Brom and have struggled at home under Rafa, and we sit third with Spurs going to Anfield the following week, sounds good.

I'd be thrilled if this happened. Problem is, it's just as likely a scenario that Tottenham win tonight, beat us next weekend and Chelsea beat WBA leaving us with a proverbial mountain to climb.

A general point I'd make is that it is impossible to predict what Arsenal will do for the rest of the season, the last 3 seasons we haven't finished a season well or with any consistency. Last season we lost to two teams in the relegation dogfight (QPR away and Wigan at home) and drew at home to Norwich. 3 games we would have expected to win.

The season before we won just 2 of our last 11 (against Blackpool when Jens played in goal and at home to ManUtd), we had been right in the title race and would have expected to win a lot more of those games beforehand.

The season before we lost 3 of our last 5 (against Tottenham and Blackburn and Wigan)

To look at our fixture list compared to Tottenham and Chelsea and deduce we have any sort of advantage would require one to overlook the fact that we haven't finished strongly in seasons gone by and the fact that we have dropped points many times this season against teams we would have expected to beat beforehand.

The really frustrating thing is knowing that we're just as likely to go on a run where we win 8, 9 or 10 of the last 11 as we are to collapse and win just 2, 3 or 4. You never know what to expect, we are a gamblers nightmare! Bookies must love taking bets on Arsenal games.