Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

Irish Aris

Back from holidays, so happy holidays everyone!!

Really big win, still holding the top spot.
Though I could do with a bit more calmness, especially towards the end.

gosplan

cson wrote: »

I'm not a fan of buying for the sake of buying but you'd wonder what a biggish signing in January could do for morale and positivity around the place. A Reyes effect.

Jesus, they'd want to be feeling positive at this stage.

wandatowell

3 points in the bad, happy days!

DenMan

wandatowell wrote: »

3 points in the bad, happy days!

bag

shano_88

Ya Rosicky was brilliant today. Great squad player.

Give that man a new contract.

Green Hornet

Much as it pains me to say it, Bentner actually was worth his appearance there today. He defended pretty well from the front when they were steaming forward in fairness. Hope I never see him again but thought he did that job well for the few minutes he was on.....

gebbel

Didn't like it when Walcott was subbed. Thought he would be ideal to hit them on the counter when they went all out.

Watched the game in a bar full of English yobs who were roaring us down all thru.

I had the loudest roar at the end though. Happy new year from Saigon.

.jacksparrow.

Great result! Supporting arsenal should come with a health warning, **** my heart.

Galvasean

Ramsey 13 (8)
Giroud 11 (8)
Walcott 5 (4)
Ozil 5 (4)
Wilshere 4 (2)
Podolski 3 (3)
Mertesacker 2 (2)
Bendtner 1 (1)
Flamini 1 (1)
Cazorla 1 (1)
Arteta 1 (1)
Gnabry 1 (1)
Eisfeld 1 (0)
Sagna 1 (1)
Gibbs 1 (0)

Mickeroo

Green Hornet wrote: »

Much as it pains me to say it, Bentner actually was worth his appearance there today. He defended pretty well from the front when they were steaming forward in fairness. Hope I never see him again but thought he did that job well for the few minutes he was on.....

I think he was brought on for defensive reasons and a pair of fresh legs, if we wanted to go for another goal it would have been Pod coming on and Walcott staying on the pitch.

Still can't believe Jenkinson didn't take that throw quick, would have fancied Bendtner to score there.

Alfred Borden

Delighted for Giroud

Marty McFly

Green Hornet wrote: »

Much as it pains me to say it, Bentner actually was worth his appearance there today. He defended pretty well from the front when they were steaming forward in fairness. Hope I never see him again but thought he did that job well for the few minutes he was on.....

Were we watching the same Bendtner? I seen him loose two in the air battles in defence then at one stage Rosicky was running around chasing the ball in the Newcastle half while Bendtner casually strolled around behind him.

shano_88

Green Hornet wrote: »

Much as it pains me to say it, Bentner actually was worth his appearance there today. He defended pretty well from the front when they were steaming forward in fairness. Hope I never see him again but thought he did that job well for the few minutes he was on.....

Far from a fan of Bendtner but he is capable of playing up front on his own and holding it up.

Wouldn't be suprised to see him start vs Cardiff.

Galvasean

dvemail wrote: »

Bloody love Rosicky. After 90 minutes he is still sprinting after the ball, and he is supposed to be the oldest of our lot.
What a guy.

He must have been on a quest to find the fountain of youth for those 2 years he was out 'injured'.

Green Hornet

Mickeroo wrote: »

I think he was brought on for defensive reasons and a pair of fresh legs, if we wanted to go for another goal it would have been Pod coming on and Walcott staying on the pitch.

Still can't believe Jenkinson didn't take that throw quick, would have fancied Bendtner to score there.

Yeah, it was purely for defensive reasons. I detest the guy but rather than just slating him as I normally do, he did force a few throw ins in their half. Bad mistake by Jenkinson alright.

.jacksparrow.

Anyone else baffled by Wenger s subs? Just invited them on.

Looper007

Brilliant result considering Newcastle beat Chelsea, Utd and Spures and Drew with Liverpool over this season. We weren't at our best today but we won the game and that's all you want to see. Rocisky was brilliant as was our defence. Carzola was shocking today.

Looper007

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Anyone else baffled by Wenger s subs? Just invited them on.

A bit, especially taking Walcott off considering his pace would have been handy in the end with Newcastle going on the attack.

Green Hornet

Think that's the worst I've ever seen Cazorla play. The number of times that he kicked away possession in the last 10 minutes was criminal.

dvemail

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Anyone else baffled by Wenger s subs? Just invited them on.

It is something he has done a few times this year to hold onto a one goal lead by either bringing on Monreal or Vermaelen.
Has worked so far, and although it is quite negative, i feel it is much better to defend what we have rather than keep attacking like we used to only to be caught out on the counter. Many times in the past has this caught us out.

HazDanz

That was one of the most satisfying wins of the season by far. One proper chance, took it and closed up shop because we had the confidence in defense to do that.

Fantastic.

Spanish Johnny

dvemail wrote: »

Bloody love Rosicky. After 90 minutes he is still sprinting after the ball, and he is supposed to be the oldest of our lot.
What a guy.

He is brilliant to watch. Even when Rosicky is playing poorly he never EVER goes missing. It's a fantastic trait and you can see his determination to win something with Arsenal.

I also cannot understand why we take off Walcott when we are defending a lead. Surely he is the most valuable asset you can have in a situation like that or am I completely clueless?? (very possible). It would tend to pin teams back a little and not have the oppositions goalkeeper playing on our halfway line!

Also I don't understand why Cazorla didn't get more central time today? He looked so good against West Ham.

Anyway delighted Giroud scored and we won but I don't want to experience many more 15 minutes like the end of that for a while!

dvemail

Yeah you would have though Cazorla would have been the better option to take off rather than Walcott. Neither add much aerial presence but at least Theo has the pace on the counter.

Topbike77

Hopefully Giroud's goal will give him another run of confidence.

Hyzepher

I think we are starting to see the effect of the heavy run of games taking effect. The Cardiff game should be interesting to see who he starts with. I think Pod id due a start.

HazDanz

The most important thing lads is that we have Premiership football for another season secure. Relief!

dvemail

Anybody know if Gibbs substitution was injury related?

HazDanz

dvemail wrote: »

Anybody know if Gibbs substitution was injury related?

Not sure. I thought he was just having a bit of a howler tbh.

ronjo

Best league win of season lads?

I think so

gosplan

Spanish Johnny wrote: »

He is brilliant to watch. Even when Rosicky is playing poorly he never EVER goes missing. It's a fantastic trait and you can see his determination to win something with Arsenal.

I also cannot understand why we take off Walcott when we are defending a lead. Surely he is the most valuable asset you can have in a situation like that or am I completely clueless?? (very possible). It would tend to pin teams back a little and not have the oppositions goalkeeper playing on our halfway line!

Also I don't understand why Cazorla didn't get more central time today? He looked so good against West Ham.

Anyway delighted Giroud scored and we won but I don't want to experience many more 15 minutes like the end of that for a while!

I see Wenger's thinking tbh. We never looked like conceding when we were focused on defending.

I get that Walcott's pace would be ideal but then he latches on to a wide ball and suddenly three players run up to support. Then we're in trouble when it breaks down.

I'm not saying I agree with it but Wenger backed his defence and midfield not to let one in ... and they really didn't give up any chances.

Plus the substitution of Gibbs probably had a knock on effect as Flamster was no longer patrolling the midfield.

dvemail

ronjo wrote: »

Best league win of season lads?

I think so

Has to be up there, the win against Sp*rs was massive also in the grand scheme of things. Big reason why we went on that run of wins that put us top of the league.

Soups123

ronjo wrote: »

Best league win of season lads?

I think so

Most important. Possibly best, West Ham was big too to stop the rot, an excellent 6 pts

Moneymaker

You all think beating Newcastle was the best win of the season?

Jeez i'm flattered.

Drexel

I've no problem with him taking Walcott off. Don't think he did much all game really. Newcastles defense were fairly high up the pitch and he didn't really make any runs in behind at all. It was very strange.

bad2dabone

Huge result. Lovely.

EuropeanSon

Moneymaker wrote: »

You all think beating Newcastle was the best win of the season?

Jeez i'm flattered.

Well, it was a lot tougher than the Pool win, and we haven't beaten anyone else of note in the league.

Dortmund away was the best win though for me, without a doubt.

cathalio11

I have absolutely no problems with Wenger's substitutions.

They have been working all season by bringing on Monreal or Jenkinson. In fact, we were perfectly set up for the corners, with Jenk, Sagna, Per and Koscielny in the centre come the end.

It has worked all throughout the season so far and it seems that the game against Everton is the only time we have given away a win; and let's remember that Everton scored straight after we did.

gosplan

Moneymaker wrote: »

You all think beating Newcastle was the best win of the season?

Jeez i'm flattered.

They're a tough team to play and it's a tough time to play anyone tbh.

Put it this way. It wasn't easy for Utd and City to scrape past Palace and Norwich yesterday. We did the same but in a much much tougher fixture.

Not dropping points here was a huge achievement.

.jacksparrow.

cathalio11 wrote: »

I have absolutely no problems with Wenger's substitutions.

They have been working all season by bringing on Monreal or Jenkinson. In fact, we were perfectly set up for the corners, with Jenk, Sagna, Per and Koscielny in the centre come the end.

It has worked all throughout the season so far and it seems that the game against Everton is the only time we have given away a win; and let's remember that Everton scored straight after we did.

We were very lucky not to concede, the dubs invited Newcastle on for the last ten mins.

You're probably right it's a dangerous game but it paid off.

Moneymaker

gosplan wrote: »

They're a tough team to play and it's a tough time to play anyone tbh.

Put it this way. It wasn't easy for Utd and City to scrape past Palace and Norwich yesterday. We did the same but in a much much tougher fixture.

Not dropping points here was a huge achievement.

Absolutely but the fact it was such a big win for you shows how much we've improved since the nightmare of last season.

greendom

Apparently Giroud played the rest of the game in pain after the challenge by Tiote.

He's been off-form scoring wise, but he's a real warrior who never goes missing.

Quazzie

Boring boring Arsenal with a 1-0 win.

Galvasean

Giroud looked knackered. I think he needs a rest. Wouldn't be surprised if Bendtner (with support from Podolski?) started against Cardiff.

Next 5 league games are very winnable. Need to pick up lots of points as two very tough games on the trot come in afterwards.

Cardiff (h)
Villa (a)
Fulham (h)
Southampton (a)
Crystal Palace (h)
Liverpool (a)
Man Utd (h)

cathalio11

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

We were very lucky not to concede, the dubs invited Newcastle on for the last ten mins.

You're probably right it's a dangerous game but it paid off.

Well, I understand your perspective.

But Arsenal concede mainly from counter-attacks and when they're caught out for numbers at the back. The fact is that we had 10 men behind the ball and we're perfectly capable of keeping the ball out of the net like that.

Every cross that came into the box was easily dealt with. This is as opposed to earlier in the game where Newcastle had genuine chances on goal at corners and counter-attacks.

The truth is that all of Newcastle's best chances came earlier in the game and not when they were in our half for the last 10 minutes.

Galvasean

Was hoping Liverpool would have gotten a draw at Chelsea. Oh well, will have to settle for us being table toppers!

enfant terrible

Galvasean wrote: »

Was hoping Liverpool would have gotten a draw at Chelsea. Oh well, will have to settle for us being table toppers!

Me too I was saying to people I fancied Liverpool to finish fifth when they were top so was hoping for a liverpool win today.

enfant terrible

jonny666 wrote: »

I've no problem with him taking Walcott off. Don't think he did much all game really. Newcastles defense were fairly high up the pitch and he didn't really make any runs in behind at all. It was very strange.

He whipped in a wicked ball that Giroud barely had to touch to score.

gosplan

I like Liverpool and appreciate their philosophy far more than City or Chelsea. But given the abuse we received from some of their fans for trying to buy Suarez and the noise they've been making about being near the top, the childish side of me finds it fcuking comical that after half the season, they're 5th.

enfant terrible

gosplan wrote: »

I like Liverpool and appreciate their philosophy far more than City or Chelsea. But given the abuse we received from some of their fans for trying to buy Suarez and the noise they've been making about being near the top, the childish side of me finds it fcuking comical that after half the season, they're 5th.

Suarez is not the smartest is he why did he sign a new contract.

What is the release clause?

TimeToShine

enfant terrible wrote: »

Suarez is not the smartest is he why did he sign a new contract.

What is the release clause?

Signing a contract was to the benefit of both Liverpool and Suarez, more money for Liverpool and he gets a bigger signing on fee and wages in the summer. I think it's £80m which Madrid will probably pay even though he'll be 27.