Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

speedboatchase

j14 wrote: »

Ha I had a feeling this statement would get that type of response but I think Michu would be a solid striker but probably not the mega money / statement making deal that everyone wants.

Although I dont think I could ever see Michu ending up at Accrington Stanley like poor ol' Frannie Jeffers...where did it go wrong...

Michu might yet be a one-season wonder in the PL though. He's at a great age for a forward (27) and he was amazing last season but that was the only the second time in his career that he scored over 10 goals in all appearences in a season. If we could get a good price then he'd be worth it but Swansea will probably ask for £15m or above.

j14

keano_afc wrote: »

I think the shudder was in reference to Jeffers and not Michu.

Yeah I know he was...I think a few Arsenal fans would quite like Michu, don't know how he would go down overall as I think everyone was expecting a big money deal after what we heard from Ivan banging on about how we can afford the best of the best.

On another note, Flamini is on a free this summer...wonder would he come back to the Prem?

.jacksparrow.

Maybe only Wenger knows this is his last season and wants to leave some cash for the next manager?

Would make sense the rumours of a rift between him and the board that he won't spend the money.

speedboatchase

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Maybe only Wenger knows this is his last season and wants to leave some cash for the next manager?

Would make sense the rumours of a rift between him and the board that he won't spend the money.

Maybe, but if we miss out on CL football then his replacement 1. probably won't be the type of manager we would all hope for and 2. won't be able to attract the same level of players we currently can this summer. So I hope that theory doesn't ring true.

.jacksparrow.

speedboatchase wrote: »

Maybe, but if we miss out on CL football then his replacement 1. probably won't be the type of manager we would all hope for and 2. won't be able to attract the same level of players we currently can this summer. So I hope that theory doesn't ring true.

Well he got us into the cl with the team he has now, could be his thinking but its only a thought.

speedboatchase

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Well he got us into the cl with the team he has now, could be his thinking but its only a thought.

On a purely speculative note, although they screwed us on the Higuain deal, we should go hunting at Real if the Bale deal goes through. They have an enormous midfield and will likely be looking to sell the likes of Di Maria, Khedira etc in the next few weeks.

.jacksparrow.

And if he did get Suarez his thinking could be Suarez would stay for maybe 2 years then go to Madrid and the club could recoup a lot of the fee they paid to Liverpool, so he wouldn't be spending a lot of money in the long run going into his last season, once again just my overactive imagination.

gosplan

keano_afc wrote: »

But in fairness, if the club come out and spout BS about them having loads of money and finally being in a position to back it up, you'd expect there to be some evidence of that by now. Instead we have the same intransigence. Yes they might pull something out of the bag, but the signings we need at CB, CM and CF wont all be completed by the start of the season, and I dont think saying that makes anyone a crybaby.

We're all fans and we all want to see the club do well. Nobody would disagree with that. I just want the club to back up what they said in May. They havent. Does anyone want to see us scrapping around on deadline day when we've had the whole summer to do business? Of course not. Bottom line is the teams around us have all strengthened (apart from United, who won the league in second gear) and we have let 20+ players go. Yes, we will probably do business. But there's still a sense of an opportunnity missed about this summer.

Grand but at this point can I just suggest that everyone get's that.

Obviously as Arsenal fans, we're all concerned and would like to see more action.

What this thread normally does for us is provide an outlet from the daily grind, give us a bit of 'us time' to go with kids, job etc.

I hate coming here and seeing the same negative stuff rehashed.

I we choose to just put it to one side and wait till Sept the first before calling curtains on it, then it's rather annoying to see the same world is ending stuff every time done randomly links Bernard with Porto or anyone with Spurs.

It seems these days that any rumour whatsoever about another club strengthening or a player who might suit us going elsewhere is reported here as fact and further evidence to the failure, stubbornness and outright duplicity of Arsenal and Wenger.

Now if some people choose to interpret every bit of activity and gossip this summer as one endless narrative of failure on Arsenal's part, then that's up to them. And I guess that those who want to post all of that here have the freedom to do so but those of us who accept that it's going to be a deadline day job again would like to just get to that point without hearing over and over again how the sky is falling in.

Yes, we might be the ones sticking our fingers in our ears and going 'la la la' ignoring the writing on the wall but we still should be given the chance to do it.

I mean last night a twitter rumour about Liverpool signing a defender appeared on this thread with the narrative of how this was someone else strengthening and Arsenal's comparative failure etc etc.

I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. Like I said, it's a free thread and I get that done people feel a particular way but does a Liverpool rumour really need to spark the same discussion of the same stuff that we all know or fear?

While crybabies is a bit strong. That's the response of someone who comes to the thread in the evening and sees 10 pages to read - GREAT.

Then it turns out to be the same three or four points just rehashed over and over.

FWIW, I can't remember the last time anyone gave an opinion on a player and where they might fit in. It's all 'big name-sign him'. You'd swear by this thread that Suarez, Rooney, Higuain and Soldado are all the same player.

Anyway a while ago I was doing well ignoring the lack of news. Then all that Suarez stuff sucked me back in. I'll do my best to disappear again and save myself some pointless arguments till we actually sign someone.

.jacksparrow.

gosplan wrote: »

Grand but at this point can I just suggest that everyone get's that.

Obviously as Arsenal fans, we're all concerned and would like to see more action.

What this thread normally does for us is provide an outlet from the daily grind, give us a bit of 'us time' to go with kids, job etc.

I hate coming here and seeing the same negative stuff rehashed.

I we choose to just put it to one side and wait till Sept the first before calling curtains on it, then it's rather annoying to see the same world is ending stuff every time done randomly links Bernard with Porto or anyone with Spurs.

It seems these days that any rumour whatsoever about another club strengthening or a player who might suit us going elsewhere is reported here as fact and further evidence to the failure, stubbornness and outright duplicity of Arsenal and Wenger.

Now if some people choose to interpret every bit of activity and gossip this summer as one endless narrative of failure on Arsenal's part, then that's up to them. And I guess that those who want to post all of that here have the freedom to do so but those of us who accept that it's going to be a deadline day job again would like to just get to that point without hearing over and over again how the sky is falling in.

Yes, we might be the ones sticking our fingers in our ears and going 'la la la' ignoring the writing on the wall but we still should be given the chance to do it.

I mean last night a twitter rumour about Liverpool signing a defender appeared on this thread with the narrative of how this was someone else strengthening and Arsenal's comparative failure etc etc.

I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. Like I said, it's a free thread and I get that done people feel a particular way but does a Liverpool rumour really need to spark the same discussion of the same stuff that we all know or fear?

While crybabies is a bit strong. That's the response of someone who comes to the thread in the evening and sees 10 pages to read - GREAT.

Then it turns out to be the same three or four points just rehashed over and over.

FWIW, I can't remember the last time anyone gave an opinion on a player and where they might fit in. It's all 'big name-sign him'. You'd swear by this thread that Suarez, Rooney, Higuain and Soldado are all the same player.

Anyway a while ago I was doing well ignoring the lack of news. Then all that Suarez stuff sucked me back in. I'll do my best to disappear again and save myself some pointless arguments till we actually sign someone.

If you go over to the united thread there exactly the same, so to say its just arsenal fans here who is impatient is a bit unfair.

speedboatchase

I'm well aware this could be utter nonsense but here goes...

James McCarthy agrees personal terms with Arsenal
http://wordonthepitch.com/mccarthy-agrees-personal-terms-with-arsenal/

Quazzie

I think anyone who thinks that it's not acceptable to be a little impatient especially after the merry dance we've been lead on by the board are a little selfish. If you don't want to read negative comments from frustrated fans then I suggest you give supporting arsenal a miss for a while because I foresee this being a full summer of it. Maybe you can come back in and gloat in September when we sign Remy or someone equally underwhelming but for the meantime we have right to complain about our club when we are being sold a fairytale but being delivered a nightmare. Asking us to respect your "right" to not read negativity is ironic considering you won't respect our right to feel aggrieved.

cathalio11

speedboatchase wrote: »

I'm well aware this could be utter nonsense but here goes...

James McCarthy agrees personal terms with Arsenal
http://wordonthepitch.com/mccarthy-agrees-personal-terms-with-arsenal/

Everton have apparently turned up at Wigan's door with a bid of 15 million so that is looking unlikely

tayto lover

speedboatchase wrote: »

Michu might yet be a one-season wonder in the PL though. He's at a great age for a forward (27) and he was amazing last season but that was the only the second time in his career that he scored over 10 goals in all appearences in a season. If we could get a good price then he'd be worth it but Swansea will probably ask for £15m or above.

Michu might be another Odemwingie i.e. a one season wonder.
As for the 15 million, I don't think so. Swansea would know that the window has little time left and would milk us for money as they would see us as panic buying again.
We have lost the window and all the good players are nearly sold.
Technically there's a month left but most clubs have done their business early this year.
I don't blame R.Madrid for getting the most out of the Higuain transfer either. We should have done likewise over the years with our captains but we showed our niaveity in the transfer market.
I reckon that if we do get players then they will be unknowns and not the proven pros we need.

plus anyone complaining about negativity on here should read what some of the English based fans have to say about the club's negativity.

bad2dabone

Alright, I’m going to step back from twitter and the F5 olympics, gonna leave behind the frustration. I’m gonna enjoy the emirates cup this weekend, and I’m going to enter negotiations with the Mrs about heading over to see the Villa game on the 17th of August.

Even though I’m going mental that it appears we’re making a pigs mickey of this window I’m still very fond of a lot of this arsenal team, and even though I’d like to give him a shake sometimes Wenger is still the finest manager we’ve had in my lifetime, and probably anyones.
Positive vibes from here now.

wandatowell

speedboatchase wrote: »

I'm well aware this could be utter nonsense but here goes...

James McCarthy agrees personal terms with Arsenal
http://wordonthepitch.com/mccarthy-agrees-personal-terms-with-arsenal/

Handy player, but Everton have tabled a reported £15m offer

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/329630/Everton-to-return-with-improved-15m-bid-for-Wigan-star-James-McCarthy

Arsenal fans whinging about whingers, oh the irony.:pac:

.jacksparrow.

bad2dabone wrote: »

Alright, I’m going to step back from twitter and the F5 olympics, gonna leave behind the frustration. I’m gonna enjoy the emirates cup this weekend, and I’m going to enter negotiations with the Mrs about heading over to see the Villa game on the 17th of August.

Even though I’m going mental that it appears we’re making a pigs mickey of this window I’m still very fond of a lot of this arsenal team, and even though I’d like to give him a shake sometimes Wenger is still the finest manager we’ve had in my lifetime, and probably anyones.
Positive vibes from here now.

I give it till 5 o clock and those feelings will return!

speedboatchase

wandatowell wrote: »

Handy player, but Everton have tabled a reported £15m offer

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/329630/Everton-to-return-with-improved-15m-bid-for-Wigan-star-James-McCarthy

Damn. Looks like everyone can outbid our 'warchest' this summer.

wandatowell

speedboatchase wrote: »

Damn. Looks like everyone can outbid our 'warchest' this summer.

Its a bad sign when Bill Kenright out bids you

speedboatchase

wandatowell wrote: »

Its a bad sign when Bill Kenright out bids you

Doubles our bid, even. (If we actually have bidded)

bad2dabone

is James McCarthy the standard of player we are after? I think 15m for him is nutso.

speedboatchase

bad2dabone wrote: »

is James McCarthy the standard of player we are after? I think 15m for him is nutso.

I think he'd be a great signing and there's a huge upside to him at 22. £15m sounds crazy though, Wigan will bite their hand off.

bad2dabone

speedboatchase wrote: »

I think he'd be a great signing and there's a huge upside to him at 22. £15m sounds crazy though, Wigan will bite their hand off.

Perhaps, although I’m fairly confident we’ve got the whole young midfielder thing covered with our squad 
15m from everton would imply that Fellaini perhaps is on the move. /sigh

AdamD

j14 wrote: »

Ok...so things have turned a litte sour with the Suarez deal so who else should we be looking at?

Rooney...IF he leaves Utd the only place I can see him going is Chelsea, I can't see him going abroad. I'd say if we just left him up front...no worrying about coming in MF to collect the ball that he could get 25 league goals this year. Fergie had him all over the place last year to accomodate RVP (boo...hiss...burn him........witch!).

Remy...I'm not too sure if the outcome of his alleged rape case is yet known but he is already living and settled in London had a good first season and is now down in the Championship plus we were linked with him in the past. Could be got cheap enough I'd say.

Michu...we would probably have to pay over the odds for a player that Swansea bought for 3m but he has played in the Prem and done well. A new "Fox in the box" a la Jeffers perhaps.

Just some other options from the English Leagues that we could be looking at.

Rooney - yes
Remy - last resort
Michu - no

For me.

Other possibilities around Europe we're yet to be linked to but we could hold the smallest of hopes that deals are being done far more secretively than Liverpool are allowing us to...:
Jackson Martinez from Porto
El Shawaaray from AC Milan
Lars Bender from Leverkuson
Erik Lamela from Roma

Obviously all long shots but who'd have thought we'd be in for Suarez?

As much as I like James Mccarthy 15m for him instead of 22m for Fellaini doesn't add up to me.

bad2dabone

i wouldn't be surprised to see a bid going in for Lars Benders brother Sven.
He's a fine player too, if not as good, and a good bit cheaper. Wengernomics.

speedboatchase

AdamD wrote: »

Rooney - yes
Remy - last resort
Michu - no

For me.

Other possibilities around Europe we're yet to be linked to but we could hold the smallest of hopes that deals are being done far more secretively than Liverpool are allowing us to...:
Jackson Martinez from Porto
El Shawaaray from AC Milan
Lars Bender from Leverkuson
Erik Lamela from Roma

Obviously all long shots but who'd have thought we'd be in for Suarez?

As much as I like James Mccarthy 15m for him instead of 22m for Fellaini doesn't add up to me.

Those are some good suggestions but the secret transfer dealings theory for our lack of activity doesn't add up for me. It's no longer in club's interest whatsoever to keep news of bids secret, especially when making them public could attract a bidding war.

2ndcoming

bad2dabone wrote: »

is James McCarthy the standard of player we are after? I think 15m for him is nutso.

In the current market 15m is spot on for McCarthy. He was in the top 5 rated young midfielders in Europe's top 5 leagues last season (think that was from ZonalMarking but can't be sure) on pass accuracy / interceptions / chances created.

Under-rated probably because he plays for Ireland despite him being our best player for the last year. He's not what we need at all though. If Everton are going in there they must be planning on off-loading someone.

gosplan

gosplan wrote: »

Yeah, he's totally off the mark.

This one has at least 8-10 new pages of whinging per day.

I think there's been one post suggesting we'll be relegated (it may have been sarcasm:rolleyes: ) and I don't recall anyone else saying Spurs will win every match.

McCarthy for €15million? At least someone's enjoying how little Arsenal have done so far this summer.

wandatowell

James McCarthy is worth the 15m imo

Where does he fit in our starting 11?

Sergio

Although its worrying that we havent signed anyone yet i think not many other teams havent signed any players either apart from Man City and Liverpool but the market is very slow this year overall so i still thing we will wenger will pull off a few good signings yet.

astonaidan

Quazzie wrote: »

If suarez is the only player we sign I'd consider this transfer Window a failure.

Hence why I said regarding

tayto lover

Sergio wrote: »

Although its worrying that we havent signed anyone yet i think not many other teams havent signed any players either apart from Man City and Liverpool but the market is very slow this year overall so i still thing we will wenger will pull off a few good signings yet.

You must be joking??

http://www.betinf.com/england_transfer.htm

speedboatchase

tayto lover wrote: »

You must be joking??

http://www.betinf.com/england_transfer.htm

Wow...

Fuzzy_Dunlop

tayto lover wrote: »

You must be joking??

http://www.betinf.com/england_transfer.htm

And how many of those transfers would be of any interest to us? Fernandinho, Jovetic, Negredo, Schurrle, Paulinho, and maybe Mignolet?

Of interest?
None.........

Unless you're talking about fantasy football

emergingstar

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Where does he fit in our starting 11?

This right here

Instead of just buy every player available lets discuss why we should buy him

He wouldn't fit into out team and with everyone fit wouldn't make the bench

tayto lover

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

And how many of those transfers would be of any interest to us? Fernandinho, Jovetic, Negredo, Schurrle, Paulinho, and maybe Mignolet?

Hardly any but that's not the point. There is plenty of business being done by other clubs.

AdamD

Dunno why we didn't go for Jovetic at that price

farna_boy

tayto lover wrote: »

Hardly any but that's not the point. There is plenty of business being done by other clubs.

So we should buy for the sake of buying to please the fans?

Didn't we just get rid of all the deadwood? We don't need them to replace them that quickly.

AdamD

AdamD wrote: »

Dunno why we didn't go for Jovetic at that price

Again I wonder how much Higuain is worth on this new scale.

tayto lover

farna_boy wrote: »

So we should buy for the sake of buying to please the fans?

Didn't we just get rid of all the deadwood? We don't need them to replace them that quickly.

Rubbbish.
We should buy because we need the players and GOOD ones.
19 points behind United last year and we are not going to close gaps without investment. If we're in it then it should be to win it.
We are lightweight in many areas of the field. A few bad injuries and we could be out of it before it warms up.

farna_boy

farna_boy wrote: »

So we should buy for the sake of buying to please the fans?

Didn't we just get rid of all the deadwood? We don't need them to replace them that quickly.

So Suarez was a well thought out planned transfer?:pac:

farna_boy

farna_boy wrote: »

So we should buy for the sake of buying to please the fans?

Didn't we just get rid of all the deadwood? We don't need them to replace them that quickly.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85710114

Actually just to improve on that post, if we got rid of all of the deadwood then this is our squad:
Szczęsny
Sagna Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal
Wilshere Arteta Cazorla
Walcott Giroud Podolski

Subs:
Fabianski
Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Gibbs,
Ramsey, Diaby, Frimpong, Miyaichi, Coquelin, Rosicky,
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo, Campbell.


So yes, we really do need to sign some players.

Mickeroo

Deleted User wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85710114

Actually just to improve on that post, if we got rid of all of the deadwood then this is our squad:
Szczęsny
Sagna Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal
Wilshere Arteta Cazorla
Walcott Giroud Podolski

Subs:
Fabianski
Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Gibbs,
Ramsey, Diaby, Frimpong, Miyaichi, Coquelin, Rosicky,
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo, Campbell.


So yes, we really do need to sign some players.

Campbell and Coq are off on loan so you can take them off there too.

We're only 3 or 4 players from having good depth imo, which is what makes it even more frustrating.

I think Ryo/Frimpong/Sanogo will be grand as back up but you would be wanting at least 2 players ahead of them in the pecking order.

Squad looks much tronger if you add in just three players which I've picked based on rumours/availability at an estimated cost of £69m

Scez
Gamez Mert Kosc Gibbs
Wilshere Capoue Cazorla
Walcott Suarez Pod

Back up: Sagna, Jenkinson, Vermaelen, Ox, Giroud, Ramsey, Arteta, Diaby, Sonogo, Ryo, Rosicky, Frimpong

Injury Crisis: Eisfield, Gnabry, Zelalem etc.

I think that squad woukld make a good go of competing this season and they wouldn't have to spend beyond the "war chest" to get it either imo.

wandatowell

I think we need another left sided player.

Gibbs can fall apart at any given moment, So that leaves us Nacho as our only constant LB (and he's injured now ain't he?).
With Gervinho gone/going we are gonna need someone to backup Podolski.


Basically a left foot player and 3-4 more to shore up the squad.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

tayto lover wrote: »

Rubbbish.
We should buy because we need the players and GOOD ones.
19 points behind United last year and we are not going to close gaps without investment. If we're in it then it should be to win it.
We are lightweight in many areas of the field. A few bad injuries and we could be out of it before it warms up.

The point is that we should only be interested in good players to replace the dead wood, as you say, and there hasn't exactly been a load of transfers involving players of the quality we should be looking at, which makes your comment about all these other transfers moot. Deals involving worse players are easier to get done and we shouldn't care that Crystal Palace signed Kevin Phillips on a free.

Isco signed for less than 26mil, I was shocked we didn't even sniff around him.

Frisbee

I'd be happier with Ramsey instead of McCarrthy in the team tbh.