Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

batistuta9

Mickeroo wrote: »

Did we definitely bid for Gustavo?

yeah

offered either more in wages to him or more of a fee to bayern, maybe even both but he went to wolfsburg, his choice.
he said he wanted to be playing, to a be guaranteed starter basically.

Jesus. First pool, now spurs fans.

Quick reminder:


This is The Arsenal thread.

Anyone got any idea about the line up for tomorrow?

(you know, CL, that thing that pool and spurs aren't in)

Drexel

Deleted User wrote: »

Jesus. First pool, now spurs fans.

Quick reminder:


This is The Arsenal thread.

Anyone got any idea about the line up for tomorrow?

(you know, CL, that thing that pool and spurs aren't in)

team I hope is

Fab
Sanga Mert Kos Gibbs //if they make it
Wilshere Ramsey
Rosicky
Walcott Giroud Santi


To be honest there isnt enough players to play around with the team. Maybe Podolski for Rosicky and move santi to the middle. He might do that for podolskis defensive work

Godge

speedboatchase wrote: »

I agree but I would prefer a new CB to partner Koscielny and we should be targeting a higher level of player than Williams; someone like Sakho maybe. In all honesty, with the exception of right-back all of our trolley dash targets should be players who would walk into our first team. We've had reactionary signings to 'make do' for long enough. By comparison, the majority of Spurs signings over the past two years (Lloris, Vertonghen, Paulinho, Soldado) have been new first teamers who would walk into our lineup.

Spurs have also bought a lot of duds over the last few years. If you could say one thing they were better at, it was getting rid of them quickly.

A few examples:

Scott Parker, bought for £6m two years ago, sold for ??, bet they took a loss on that.

Clint Dempsey, lasted a year, bought for £7m, sold for peanuts?.

Ezekiel Fryers, who??, bought last year for £3m.

Adebarndoor, bought for £5m, now in Bendtner league.

Are Holtby, Sigurddson, Ceballos, Coulibaly, who all cost money in the last two years, new first-teamers who would walk into our line-up??

There is the strange case of Van der Vaart, who never seemed to last 90 minutes, showed a lot of nice touches, but just didn't seem to have that extra bit of class or was it application?

You only have to go back about four years to see the £15m plus big contract spent on David Bentley (some of which ended up in our coffers:)) Don't think there was any Wenger signing as bad as that one in terms of fee plus wages versus appearances and contriubtions.

I am not saying that we are in a good place but faraway hills may look green from a distance but if you get up close and examine most club's transfer dealings in detail, you see as much failure and expense as you see success and value.

Soups123

Godge wrote: »

Spurs have also bought a lot of duds over the last few years. If you could say one thing they were better at, it was getting rid of them quickly.

A few examples:

Scott Parker, bought for £6m two years ago, sold for ??, bet they took a loss on that.

Clint Dempsey, lasted a year, bought for £7m, sold for peanuts?.

Ezekiel Fryers, who??, bought last year for £3m.

Adebarndoor, bought for £5m, now in Bendtner league.

Are Holtby, Sigurddson, Ceballos, Coulibaly, who all cost money in the last two years, new first-teamers who would walk into our line-up??

There is the strange case of Van der Vaart, who never seemed to last 90 minutes, showed a lot of nice touches, but just didn't seem to have that extra bit of class or was it application?

You only have to go back about four years to see the £15m plus big contract spent on David Bentley (some of which ended up in our coffers:)) Don't think there was any Wenger signing as bad as that one in terms of fee plus wages versus appearances and contriubtions.

I am not saying that we are in a good place but faraway hills may look green from a distance but if you get up close and examine most club's transfer dealings in detail, you see as much failure and expense as you see success and value.

I usually dont read long posts , but this is spot on mate.

speedboatchase

Looper007 wrote: »

If we were a club like Swansea, West ham or Fulham then that's respectable business. But we are a mega rich club that brings in a massive income, yet we come off like a bunch of cheap gits counting every penny. Carzola and Arteta in the last few years have been are best signings and as you said the rest have been dross or not good enough. I'm known to be hard on Giroud, but that's cause he should never be our number 1 striker. A squad striker no problem but we should be aiming higher then that.

This will rile up a lot of people but while I like Giroudness and his handsomeness, as a striker I would put him on a par with Osvaldo, Van Wolfswinkel etc - high standard for mid-level PL clubs but not good enough to lead the line for a top 4 side.

Saab Ed

Soups123 wrote: »

I usually dont read long posts , but this is spot on mate.

Its spot on till you read the transfer balance sheet then it becomes horse manure.

speedboatchase

Begovic, Kondogbia, Sakho please. All absolutely gettable and all would slot right into the first team, which you can't say for Williams or Guaita.

batistuta9

Deleted User wrote: »

Jesus. First pool, now spurs fans.

Quick reminder:


This is The Arsenal thread.

Anyone got any idea about the line up for tomorrow?

(you know, CL, that thing that pool and spurs aren't in)

i'd expect - if fit - 9 of the 11 that started on saturday with cazorla & podolski starting instead of chamberlain & rosicky

and in CL news; fenerbache's CAS case is being heard on the 21st & 22nd with a decision expected on the 28th, the day after the second leg
UEFA have are apparently undecided with what to do should the go through & have their ban upheld

the untitled user

batistuta9 wrote: »

yeah

offered either more in wages to him or more of a fee to bayern, maybe even both but he went to wolfsburg, his choice.
he said he wanted to be playing, to a be guaranteed starter basically.

Honigstein seemed to suggest the opposite on one of the Guardian's podcasts. That Gustavo's preference was for Arsenal but that the agent pushed him towards Wolfsburg.

Mickeroo

Godge wrote: »

Spurs have also bought a lot of duds over the last few years. If you could say one thing they were better at, it was getting rid of them quickly.

A few examples:

Scott Parker, bought for £6m two years ago, sold for ??, bet they took a loss on that.

Clint Dempsey, lasted a year, bought for £7m, sold for peanuts?.

Ezekiel Fryers, who??, bought last year for £3m.

Adebarndoor, bought for £5m, now in Bendtner league.

Are Holtby, Sigurddson, Ceballos, Coulibaly, who all cost money in the last two years, new first-teamers who would walk into our line-up??

There is the strange case of Van der Vaart, who never seemed to last 90 minutes, showed a lot of nice touches, but just didn't seem to have that extra bit of class or was it application?

You only have to go back about four years to see the £15m plus big contract spent on David Bentley (some of which ended up in our coffers:)) Don't think there was any Wenger signing as bad as that one in terms of fee plus wages versus appearances and contriubtions.

I am not saying that we are in a good place but faraway hills may look green from a distance but if you get up close and examine most club's transfer dealings in detail, you see as much failure and expense as you see success and value.

Apparently Willian is a done deal now. Will be the third time they've broke their transfer record this summer. I agree with what you're saying to an extent, but at the end of the day they're having the transfer window i wanted us to have. They were ****e against Palace though, so there's always that

Soups123

Saab Ed wrote: »

Its spot on till you read the transfer balance sheet then it becomes horse manure.

That doesnt make any sense. His post isnt a direct dig at Spurs, his point could relate to a host of teams all his points are valid.

Transfer balance sheet means fcuk all, as an Arsenal fan we know that more then most

speedboatchase

Mickeroo wrote: »

Apparently Willian is a done deal now. Will be the third time they've broke their transfer record this summer. I agree with what you're saying to an extent, but at the end of the day they're having the transfer window i wanted us to have. They were ****e against Palace though, so there's always that

And they might break it again for Lamela.

Godge

speedboatchase wrote: »

This will rile up a lot of people but while I like Giroudness and his handsomeness, as a striker I would put him on a par with Osvaldo, Van Wolfswinkel etc - high standard for mid-level PL clubs but not good enough to lead the line for a top 4 side.

Don't know about that, he is certainly better than Adebayor, Defoe, Soldado, Sturridge, Jelavic, Mirallas, Kone, so apart from Suarex, none of the clubs supposedly about to beat us to fourth place have better strikers.

Van Persie, Aguero, Rooney, Suarez, they are the only strikers that come to mind who are definitely better than Giroud as things stand. You could make a case for one or two others but did those others score more goals than him last season in England?

Lukaku, Benteke and Michu are potentially good enough for a top six team yet they could be the next Andy Carroll as much as the next Van Persie.

MaxPower89

Saab Ed wrote: »

Its spot on till you read the transfer balance sheet then it becomes horse manure.

As in the price of the players in question or what? I don't fully get what your on about here.

speedboatchase

Godge wrote: »

Don't know about that, he is certainly better than Adebayor, Defoe, Soldado, Sturridge, Jelavic, Mirallas, Kone, so apart from Suarex, none of the clubs supposedly about to beat us to fourth place have better strikers.

Van Persie, Aguero, Rooney, Suarez, they are the only strikers that come to mind who are definitely better than Giroud as things stand. You could make a case for one or two others but did those others score more goals than him last season in England?

Lukaku, Benteke and Michu are potentially good enough for a top six team yet they could be the next Andy Carroll as much as the next Van Persie.

I wouldn't say he's better than Soldado and he's not 'certainly better' than Sturridge. Giroud got 11 league goals in 34 games, Sturridge got 10 in 14 for Liverpool. I'd be happy enough with a Michu signing at this rate (I'm worn down after the Higuain and Suarez pursuits) but in general I want us to set our trolley dash sights a little higher than Williams and the Valencia sub-keeper.

cathalio11

Godge wrote: »

Don't know about that, he is certainly better than Adebayor, Defoe, Soldado, Sturridge, Jelavic, Mirallas, Kone, so apart from Suarex, none of the clubs supposedly about to beat us to fourth place have better strikers.

Van Persie, Aguero, Rooney, Suarez, they are the only strikers that come to mind who are definitely better than Giroud as things stand. You could make a case for one or two others but did those others score more goals than him last season in England?

Lukaku, Benteke and Michu are potentially good enough for a top six team yet they could be the next Andy Carroll as much as the next Van Persie.

This post makes a lot of sense and I just hope the fact that you boldly put Soldado into that list doesn't blind people from how much sense it made in a way.

MaxPower89

speedboatchase wrote: »

I wouldn't say he's better than Soldado and he's not 'certainly better' than Sturridge. Giroud got 11 league goals in 34 games, Sturridge got 10 in 14 for Liverpool. I'd be happy enough with a Michu signing at this rate (I'm worn down after the Higuain and Suarez pursuits) but in general I want us to set our trolley dash sights a little higher than Williams and the Valencia sub-keeper.

Not the fairest of comparisons given their EPL experience, this years comparison would be more accurate imo.

Godge

Mickeroo wrote: »

Apparently Willian is a done deal now. Will be the third time they've broke their transfer record this summer. I agree with what you're saying to an extent, but at the end of the day they're having the transfer window i wanted us to have. They were ****e against Palace though, so there's always that

Yes, and why most Arsenal fans are looking at Spurs with envy this summer is that the signings they have made are typical Wenger signings. They are all players that are a step below top-class (why didn't one of the La Liga top two buy Soldado? why is Paulinho the only Brazilian not to be in Europe already?) but with the potential to make the step-up.

Can Villas-Boas get them to make that step up?

Arsenal have attempted something different this summer going after the likes of Higuain, Suarez, Rooney, Gustavo, players which are already world-class and out of Spurs' league. It was an effort to make a step-up from fighting for fourth place to fighting for the top. That strategy has failed to date and it seems we are about to revert to previous transfer attempts and lower our sights.

speedboatchase

MaxPower89 wrote: »

Not the fairest of comparisons given their EPL experience, this years comparison would be more accurate imo.

Oh I agree but that's why I think it's premature to say that Giroud is 'certainly better' than Sturridge at this point.

Gringo180

Marty McFly wrote: »

Good interview with Tim Payton of the AST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5mK6kPTtio

Cheers for that, he is spot on what he says especially about going out and signing a new keeper.

jonny666 wrote: »

team I hope is

Fab
Sanga Mert Kos Gibbs //if they make it
Wilshere Ramsey
Rosicky
Walcott Giroud Santi


To be honest there isnt enough players to play around with the team. Maybe Podolski for Rosicky and move santi to the middle. He might do that for podolskis defensive work

You see I don't think the Wilshere Ramsey midfield works for us they leave the back 4 too exposed, I would rather give young Frimpong the start and tell him his job is just to sit in front of Mert and Kos and protect and break any of Fenerbaches attacking play up. We will continue to look all at sea at the back if we don't bring in a proper DMF, all of the top teams have one so why shouldn't we?

Godge

speedboatchase wrote: »

I wouldn't say he's better than Soldado and he's not 'certainly better' than Sturridge. Giroud got 11 league goals in 34 games, Sturridge got 10 in 14 for Liverpool. I'd be happy enough with a Michu signing at this rate (I'm worn down after the Higuain and Suarez pursuits) but in general I want us to set our trolley dash sights a little higher than Williams and the Valencia sub-keeper.

cathalio11 wrote: »

This post makes a lot of sense and I just hope the fact that you boldly put Soldado into that list doesn't blind people from how much sense it made in a way.

Roberto Soldado scored 17 goals in 32 games in 2011/12 in a league where Carlos Vela scored 14 goals in 36 games in 2012/13. Not much better than Carlos Vela who was not good enough for Arsenal.

Granted he stepped up in 2012/13 with 24 in 35 but I La Liga is a league with only two teams.

You may both be right that Soldado will be better than Giroud but I am not convinced by one penalty against Crystal Palace. We will wait and see who scores more this season (assuming Arsenal do not replace Giroud with a Rooney or a Suarez).

TheGunns

Vela also played on the wing

Lightbulb Sun

Godge wrote: »

Spurs have also bought a lot of duds over the last few years. If you could say one thing they were better at, it was getting rid of them quickly.

A few examples:

Scott Parker, bought for £6m two years ago, sold for ??, bet they took a loss on that.

Clint Dempsey, lasted a year, bought for £7m, sold for peanuts?.

Ezekiel Fryers, who??, bought last year for £3m.

Adebarndoor, bought for £5m, now in Bendtner league.

Are Holtby, Sigurddson, Ceballos, Coulibaly, who all cost money in the last two years, new first-teamers who would walk into our line-up??

There is the strange case of Van der Vaart, who never seemed to last 90 minutes, showed a lot of nice touches, but just didn't seem to have that extra bit of class or was it application?

You only have to go back about four years to see the £15m plus big contract spent on David Bentley (some of which ended up in our coffers:)) Don't think there was any Wenger signing as bad as that one in terms of fee plus wages versus appearances and contriubtions.

I am not saying that we are in a good place but faraway hills may look green from a distance but if you get up close and examine most club's transfer dealings in detail, you see as much failure and expense as you see success and value.

Some of these clearly weren't duds. Parker had an excellent season before he became injured and never regained that form. He recouped the transfer fee with his early performances.

Dempsey got some vital goals last season but was sold to balance the books for incoming players.

Van Der Vaart was a genuine success at the club and went back to Germany to save his marriage.

Gringo180

Soldado is on a different planet to Vela lads there is no comparison between the 2. I watch a lot of La Liga and this Soldado fella is lethal.

Looper007

speedboatchase wrote: »

This will rile up a lot of people but while I like Giroudness and his handsomeness, as a striker I would put him on a par with Osvaldo, Van Wolfswinkel etc - high standard for mid-level PL clubs but not good enough to lead the line for a top 4 side.

I couldn't give a damn if it riles people up. I think for the size of our club we should be getting better then Giroud. He lack's pace and can't change a game, and he's not clinical enough. I can't believe people on here think we don't need a world class striker. We need one as badly as anything.

batistuta9

the untitled user wrote: »

Honigstein seemed to suggest the opposite on one of the Guardian's podcasts. That Gustavo's preference was for Arsenal but that the agent pushed him towards Wolfsburg.

i heard that, he was saying sometimes the agent has more of a say in where the player goes than the player himself or something like that wasn't it?

i just mentioned gustavos' quotes & they were the same reason he was looking to get out in january
I'd very much doubt wenger guaranteed him to be a starter though

T-b0n3

Godge wrote: »

Spurs have also bought a lot of duds over the last few years. If you could say one thing they were better at, it was getting rid of them quickly.

A few examples:

Scott Parker, bought for £6m two years ago, sold for ??, bet they took a loss on that.

Clint Dempsey, lasted a year, bought for £7m, sold for peanuts?.

Ezekiel Fryers, who??, bought last year for £3m.

Adebarndoor, bought for £5m, now in Bendtner league.

Are Holtby, Sigurddson, Ceballos, Coulibaly, who all cost money in the last two years, new first-teamers who would walk into our line-up??

There is the strange case of Van der Vaart, who never seemed to last 90 minutes, showed a lot of nice touches, but just didn't seem to have that extra bit of class or was it application?

You only have to go back about four years to see the £15m plus big contract spent on David Bentley (some of which ended up in our coffers:)) Don't think there was any Wenger signing as bad as that one in terms of fee plus wages versus appearances and contriubtions.

I am not saying that we are in a good place but faraway hills may look green from a distance but if you get up close and examine most club's transfer dealings in detail, you see as much failure and expense as you see success and value.

Sorry to be stepping into your territory but a lot of that is wrong.

Scott Parker, Had a great season when we signed him, granted last year he wasn't great at all though. But for that season alone he was surely worth it. I'm sure most Spurs fans would agree.

Dempsey, we sold for the same we bought him for and bagged about 15 goals, a lot of which were crucial goals (man united and city for example.)

Ezekiel Fryers is a young English CB/LB that came up through the United youth, promising player. Not ready for the 1st team yet obviously.

Ceballos was a free? So didn't cost anything.

Holtby was about £1.5 Million. German under 21 captain, again a promising youngster who has played a good few first team games.

and VDV? He was great for us, 24 goals over two seasons.

David Bently was a flop, everyone accepts that.

Not like you haven't had your fair share of flops...

Cant believe your post got so many thanks, when in the most part it's incorrect.

Looper007

speedboatchase wrote: »

Begovic, Kondogbia, Sakho please. All absolutely gettable and all would slot right into the first team, which you can't say for Williams or Guaita.

If they could turn us into a title side then I'm all for it.

Looper007

More news coming out of Italy, with Roma's director of football Walter Sabatini reported to have flown into London this morning. Tottenham and Arsenal have been linked with Roma forward Erik Lamela, with Spurs said to be closing in on the highly-rated Argentina international.

This from Sky Sports Transfer clockwatch

Gringo180

Looper007 wrote: »

I couldn't give a damn if it riles people up. I think for the size of our club we should be getting better then Giroud. He lack's pace and can't change a game, and he's not clinical enough. I can't believe people on here think we don't need a world class striker. We need one as badly as anything.

We should tempt Utd with a 15 million bid for Javier Hernandez.

Looper007

Gringo180 wrote: »

We should tempt Utd with a 15 million bid for Javier Hernandez.

He's not got sparkling pace but is more clinical then Giroud. I think we need a step above that someone who will put the fear of god up all the defences.

the untitled user

Gringo180 wrote: »

Cheers for that, he is spot on what he says especially about going out and signing a new keeper.


You see I don't think the Wilshere Ramsey midfield works for us they leave the back 4 too exposed, I would rather give young Frimpong the start and tell him his job is just to sit in front of Mert and Kos and protect and break any of Fenerbaches attacking play up. We will continue to look all at sea at the back if we don't bring in a proper DMF, all of the top teams have one so why shouldn't we?

I agree on the Wilshere Ramsey midfield not working, but I don't agree that we need someone who's primary role is to break up play. The rest of the team play so high up the pitch that we rely on our deep midfielder to start the moves and carry the ball out from defence. If we dont have someone who can do that, we end up playing overly ambitious balls to the likes of Walcott/Cazorla, or else have them drop too deep to be effective. As he's been out for so long, Frimpong's ability on the ball is simply too rough around the edges for that role imo.

In short, we need a deep lying playmaker. Someone like Alonso, disiplined enough in their positioning not to leave gaps between midfield and defence, but good enough on the ball so that we can comfortably play out from the back. And as we don't have cover for Arteta currently, the next best thing is to ask Wilshere and Ramsey to double up because at least this way we maintain our attacking threat.

speedboatchase

Looper007 wrote: »

If they could turn us into a title side then I'm all for it.

Well we'd still need a winger and a striker but it would be a start.

Gringo180

Looper007 wrote: »

He's not got sparkling pace but is more clinical then Giroud. I think we need a step above that someone who will put the fear of god up all the defences.

Its his movement that I like he would drag defences all over the place and is deadly in front of goal.

Looper007

speedboatchase wrote: »

Well we'd still need a winger and a striker but it would be a start.

A Striker and a DM is my top 2
A GK and CB then a LW but all five would be nice.

Looper007

Gringo180 wrote: »

Its his movement that I like he would drag defences all over the place and is deadly in front of goal.

He's been hit and miss for me, and we go after a top club's squad player isn't making a big statement. He barely plays for Utd these days.

speedboatchase

@SevillaFC_en is reporting that Sevilla have opened contract discussions with Kondogbia (likely to remove his €20m release clause) and that they rejected a €15m bid from an unnamed club. That bid was likely from either us or Monaco.

Gringo180

the untitled user wrote: »

I agree on the Wilshere Ramsey midfield not working, but I don't agree that we need someone who's primary role is to break up play. The rest of the team play so high up the pitch that we rely on our deep midfielder to start the moves and carry the ball out from defence. If we dont have someone who can do that, we end up playing overly ambitious balls to the likes of Walcott/Cazorla, or else have them drop too deep to be effective. As he's been out for so long, Frimpong's ability on the ball is simply too rough around the edges for that role imo.

In short, we need a deep lying playmaker. Someone like Alonso, disiplined enough in their positioning not to leave gaps between midfield and defence, but good enough on the ball so that we can comfortably play out from the back. And as we don't have cover for Arteta currently, the next best thing is to ask Wilshere and Ramsey to double up because at least this way we maintain our attacking threat.

To be fair to Frimpong have we seen enough of him to pass judgement on his passing ability, his game against Liverpool a few years back he was outstanding even with bad injuries he surely has improved since then.

MaxPower89

T-b0n3 wrote: »

Sorry to be stepping into your territory but a lot of that is wrong.

Scott Parker, Had a great season when we signed him, granted last year he wasn't great at all though. But for that season alone he was surely worth it. I'm sure most Spurs fans would agree.

Dempsey, we sold for the same we bought him for and bagged about 15 goals, a lot of which were crucial goals (man united and city for example.)

Ezekiel Fryers is a young English CB/LB that came up through the United youth, promising player. Not ready for the 1st team yet obviously.

Ceballos was a free? So didn't cost anything.

Holtby was about £1.5 Million. German under 21 captain, again a promising youngster who has played a good few first team games.

and VDV? He was great for us, 24 goals over two seasons.

David Bently was a flop, everyone accepts that.

Not like you haven't had your fair share of flops...

Cant believe your post got so many thanks, when in the most part it's incorrect.

He was making a rebuttle to the argument that Spurs are signing great players all the time and we are not, and merely pointing out that that is rubbish, both have signed good and bad players. Ade was a pants signing too.

Now ffs enough about Spurs, there is enough dross posted in here without reading about ye too.

speedboatchase

Unrelated to us but worth mentioning that Gianluca Di Marzio (Sky Sport Italia reporter, 225k followers) says that the Bale deal is done. £93m + Contreao :eek:

EDIT: ^^ Sorry MaxPower89 :-/

Godge

Lightbulb Sun wrote: »

Some of these clearly weren't duds. Parker had an excellent season before he became injured and never regained that form. He recouped the transfer fee with his early performances.

Dempsey got some vital goals last season but was sold to balance the books for incoming players.

Van Der Vaart was a genuine success at the club and went back to Germany to save his marriage.

T-b0n3 wrote: »

Sorry to be stepping into your territory but a lot of that is wrong.

Scott Parker, Had a great season when we signed him, granted last year he wasn't great at all though. But for that season alone he was surely worth it. I'm sure most Spurs fans would agree.

Dempsey, we sold for the same we bought him for and bagged about 15 goals, a lot of which were crucial goals (man united and city for example.)

Ezekiel Fryers is a young English CB/LB that came up through the United youth, promising player. Not ready for the 1st team yet obviously.

Ceballos was a free? So didn't cost anything.

Holtby was about £1.5 Million. German under 21 captain, again a promising youngster who has played a good few first team games.

and VDV? He was great for us, 24 goals over two seasons.

David Bently was a flop, everyone accepts that.

Not like you haven't had your fair share of flops...

Cant believe your post got so many thanks, when in the most part it's incorrect.

I fully admit Arsenal have had their fair share of flops, I could list them for you as well. All clubs have their fair share of flops, or not-so-much flops, players who don't perform for the fee that was paid or don't perform at the level necessary to take the club forward.

The only reason I used Spurs was in response to a post suggesting Spurs had done great business over the last 2 years. If that was so clearly the case, then Spurs would have made the Champions League with the improvement.

As for Van der Vaart, 24 goals over two seasons, 12 a season is a success for a striker who cost £10m? Granted you made a profit on him and in my post I did point out that you seem better at moving on your duds. You only took at £1m hit on Clint Dempsey and a £2m hit on Scott Parker, players who are just not good enough for a team with top four aspirations. We took a bigger hit on Andre Santos alone.

No club's transfer dealings stand up to scrutiny. If you think about it, if any club had the magic touch in the transfer market, they would have Arsenal's transfer balance sheet and Utd.'s trophy cabinet combined. They certainly wouldn't be Spurs.

P.S. Before you say something about Arsenal claiming the transfer market trophy again, I would much prefer to lose some money on the transfer market and win a few trophies but I also prefer being in the Champions League every season to not being there except once in a decade.

gosplan

the untitled user wrote: »

In short, we need a deep lying playmaker. Someone like Alonso, disiplined enough in their positioning not to leave gaps between midfield and defence, but good enough on the ball so that we can comfortably play out from the back. And as we don't have cover for Arteta currently, the next best thing is to ask Wilshere and Ramsey to double up because at least this way we maintain our attacking threat.

Yup. English football is obsessed with the notion of a tough tackling defensive midfielder.

We need someone who will cover space and protect the back four while giving the ball to the next available midfielder at any opportunity. It's less about tackling and more about positioning - less De Jong, and more Busquets. I think Wilshire and Ramsay lack the necessary experience to do this well.

Wilshire can always beat the first man, and generally tries to. The problem then is that if we lose it, our defensive mid is standing 15 yards forward with a guy in space behind him. Or if he spots another gap, he'll just keep going and get totally out of position.

Ramsey's the same, he gets too involved in play and is a bit too slow in possession.

Arteta last week against City was brilliant at this. He'd simply get the ball, take a couple of steps forward draw the man close and then give it to the next available player. Then move into space, drop back a few yards and be ready to get it again and switch it to the other side.

It's unbelievably simple when you see it but it requires so much discipline and a complete and total absence of ego on the pitch ... which is probably why younger players like Wilshire, Ramsey and Song don't do it well enough.

You'll never score, you'll never assist. You do get great passing stats though.

Looper007

speedboatchase wrote: »

Unrelated to us but worth mentioning that Gianluca Di Marzio (Sky Sport Italia reporter, 225k followers) says that the Bale deal is done. £93m + Contreao :eek:

EDIT: ^^ Sorry MaxPower89 :-/

Good deal that.

danlen

Gringo180 wrote: »

We should tempt Utd with a 15 million bid for Javier Hernandez.

He's no improvement on what we have already though imo.

gosplan wrote: »

Yup. English football is obsessed with the notion of a tough tackling defensive midfielder.

We need someone who will cover space and protect the back four while giving the ball to the next available midfielder at any opportunity. It's less about tackling and more about positioning - less De Jong, and more Busquets. I think Wilshire and Ramsay lack the necessary experience to do this well.

Exactly this.

Kerry Gooner

Looper007 wrote: »

More news coming out of Italy, with Roma's director of football Walter Sabatini reported to have flown into London this morning. Tottenham and Arsenal have been linked with Roma forward Erik Lamela, with Spurs said to be closing in on the highly-rated Argentina international.

This from Sky Sports Transfer clockwatch

They want to give Gervinho back!!

slingerz

Looper007 wrote: »

Good deal that.

I truthfully do not believe that Bale is worth that. i think that even the idea of 50 million for him is excessive

Drexel

gosplan wrote: »

Yup. English football is obsessed with the notion of a tough tackling defensive midfielder.

We need someone who will cover space and protect the back four while giving the ball to the next available midfielder at any opportunity. It's less about tackling and more about positioning - less De Jong, and more Busquets. I think Wilshire and Ramsay lack the necessary experience to do this well.

Wilshire can always beat the first man, and generally tries to. The problem then is that if we lose it, our defensive mid is standing 15 yards forward with a guy in space behind him. Or if he spots another gap, he'll just keep going and get totally out of position.

Ramsey's the same, he gets too involved in play and is a bit too slow in possession.

Arteta last week against City was brilliant at this. He'd simply get the ball, take a couple of steps forward draw the man close and then give it to the next available player. Then move into space, drop back a few yards and be ready to get it again and switch it to the other side.

It's unbelievably simple when you see it but it requires so much discipline and a complete and total absence of ego on the pitch ... which is probably why younger players like Wilshire, Ramsey and Song don't do it well enough.

You'll never score, you'll never assist. You do get great passing stats though.

Good post.

Soups123

slingerz wrote: »

I truthfully do not believe that Bale is worth that. i think that even the idea of 50 million for him is excessive

I agree I think he is going to the most expensive flop ever, I just don't see him getting to that level.

Great business again by Levi

Looper007

slingerz wrote: »

I truthfully do not believe that Bale is worth that. i think that even the idea of 50 million for him is excessive

I mean for spures. I agree he's worth about 50 million but he gets better that 93 million will look a bargin.