Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14

Galvasean

So... Arsenal.

Lord Bendtner looks set to start tomorrow.

darego

EuropeanSon wrote: »

Ah now. You're not serious?

Mata is for me a slight step up from Cazorla. Ozil is a different level entirely.

I wouldn't take Iniesta over Ozil, never mind Mata. Even when Ozil is slightly peripheral, every little involvement is excellent.

Mata is a lot better than Santi imo and a lot closer to Ozil than you would think. And the stats prove it

Fuzzy_Dunlop

darego wrote: »

Mata is a lot better than Santi imo and a lot closer to Ozil than you would think. And the stats prove it

Well the stats say (open to correction but they should be roughly right) that last season Mata had 12 goals and 12 assists in the league whereas Cazorla had 12 goals and 11 assists. So not 'a lot' better if that's what your basing things on.

ahnowbrowncow

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Well the stats say (open to correction but they should be roughly right) that last season Mata had 12 goals and 12 assists in the league whereas Cazorla had 12 goals and 11 assists. So not 'a lot' better if that's what your basing things on.

Mata had 15-17 assists, depending on where you look, in 3 games less.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Mata had 15-17 assists, depending on where you look, in 3 games less.

Oh well I guess espn were a good bit off so. They were the first hit I got when googling quickly.

Wolf Club

Sometimes I wonder if Mourinho is becoming a victim of his own ego, he has been regressing since 2010. I'm not saying his reign at Madrid was a disaster but it can hardly be described as a huge success either. Winning 1 La Liga and 1 Copa del Rey in 3 years with a team of that calibre is not exactly a great return, and not winning the Champions League being the biggest failure, especially considering his current club won it in 2012.

Obviously, he's still one of the top managers in Europe but he seems to be becoming more and more erratic as time goes on. I was completely convinced that Chelsea would win the league with considerable ease this year, and while there's still every chance that they could win it they have been far less convincing than expected, with some fairly embarrassing results along the way.

Gringo180

Few ridiculous comments from the boss today about the Mata transfer, that its not fair to sell a top player to a direct opponent What about us selling the likes of Cole, Nasri, RvP to our rivals

TheGunns

Gringo180 wrote: »

Few ridiculous comments from the boss today about the Mata transfer, that its not fair to sell a top player to a direct opponent What about us selling the likes of Cole, Nasri, RvP to our rivals

I'm pretty sure he was talking about Chelsea having played United twice already and now United will be stronger when other teams (Arsenal) will still have to play them

Spanish Johnny

Gringo180 wrote: »

Few ridiculous comments from the boss today about the Mata transfer, that its not fair to sell a top player to a direct opponent What about us selling the likes of Cole, Nasri, RvP to our rivals

Because we had too? We consistently had to raise cash given our stadium situation. Wenger and the club did an excellent job in putting up a front PR wise but the fact is he knew the situation and had to cut his cloth to measure. I can't wait for Wenger to write a book and tell all regarding this period.

Dolph Starbeam

TheGunns wrote: »

I'm pretty sure he was talking about Chelsea having played United twice already and now United will be stronger when other teams (Arsenal) will still have to play them

Its the same reason he's wanted the January transfer window done away with. Can definitely see where he's coming from.

Gringo180

TheGunns wrote: »

I'm pretty sure he was talking about Chelsea having played United twice already and now United will be stronger when other teams (Arsenal) will still have to play them

Agree to a point but at the end of the day we still sold our best player to our fiercest rivals who went onto win the league because of him (RVP). Just sounds a bit hypocritical and will be jumped on by some journalists/fans with another stick to beat him (Wenger) with.

tayto lover

Gringo180 wrote: »

Few ridiculous comments from the boss today about the Mata transfer, that its not fair to sell a top player to a direct opponent What about us selling the likes of Cole, Nasri, RvP to our rivals

Could not believe my ears as Wenger said that.
Short feckin memory.

Please tell me I'm not the only one sick to the f*cking teeth of these Mata=Matter puns?

And why are we talking about him here anyway? Was never our player, and we're not involved in the deal, so what gives?

Man U are hardly a rival this season anyway.

Gringo180

tayto lover wrote: »

Could not believe my ears as Wenger said that.
Short feckin memory.

Was baffled when he said it myself, Just delighted that none of the journalists pointed out the players we sold to our direct rivals

NukaCola

Deleted User wrote: »

Please tell me I'm not the only one sick to the f*cking teeth of these Mata=Matter puns?

And why are we talking about him here anyway? Was never our player, and we're not involved in the deal, so what gives?

Man U are hardly a rival this season anyway.

Whats the Mata with you?


/runs

NukaCola

NukaCola wrote: »

Whats the Mata with you?


/runs

:mad:





:pac:

tayto lover

Deleted User wrote: »

Please tell me I'm not the only one sick to the f*cking teeth of these Mata=Matter puns?

And why are we talking about him here anyway? Was never our player, and we're not involved in the deal, so what gives?

Man U are hardly a rival this season anyway.

As a Mata of fact they could do us untold harm at the Emirates.
Hope we're up for it this time and wallop them.

Gringo180

Gringo180 wrote: »

Was baffled when he said it myself, Just delighted that none of the journalists pointed out the players we sold to our direct rivals

Think he might be pissed off with the hypocrisy given that Chelsea wouldnt even let Ba go on loan to us.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Gringo180 wrote: »

Few ridiculous comments from the boss today about the Mata transfer, that its not fair to sell a top player to a direct opponent What about us selling the likes of Cole, Nasri, RvP to our rivals

He didn't say it was unfair to sell to a direct opponent, he said he was surprised by it and that the january transfer window can be unfair.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Please tell me I'm not the only one sick to the f*cking teeth of these Mata=Matter puns?

Whats a Mata you hey
Why you looka so sad?
It's-a not so bad, it's-a nice-a place
Ah, shaddap you face




....Ill get my coat shall I

wandatowell

Mods can we close this thread for a few hours please, we all need a break I think

emergingstar

Utd are not our rivals not worried who they sign

Mr.Micro

emergingstar wrote: »

Utd are not our rivals not worried who they sign

They could still take 3 vital points from us.

keane2097

Wolf Club wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder if Mourinho is becoming a victim of his own ego, he has been regressing since 2010. I'm not saying his reign at Madrid was a disaster but it can hardly be described as a huge success either. Winning 1 La Liga and 1 Copa del Rey in 3 years with a team of that calibre is not exactly a great return, and not winning the Champions League being the biggest failure, especially considering his current club won it in 2012.

Obviously, he's still one of the top managers in Europe but he seems to be becoming more and more erratic as time goes on. I was completely convinced that Chelsea would win the league with considerable ease this year, and while there's still every chance that they could win it they have been far less convincing than expected, with some fairly embarrassing results along the way.

Completely agree for what it's worth.

Wolf Club

Wolf Club wrote: »

Sometimes I wonder if Mourinho is becoming a victim of his own ego, he has been regressing since 2010. I'm not saying his reign at Madrid was a disaster but it can hardly be described as a huge success either. Winning 1 La Liga and 1 Copa del Rey in 3 years with a team of that calibre is not exactly a great return, and not winning the Champions League being the biggest failure, especially considering his current club won it in 2012.

Obviously, he's still one of the top managers in Europe but he seems to be becoming more and more erratic as time goes on. I was completely convinced that Chelsea would win the league with considerable ease this year, and while there's still every chance that they could win it they have been far less convincing than expected, with some fairly embarrassing results along the way.

Great organiser he may be but quiet frankly when your number one plan is to have all your outfield players deep in their own half defending and hoping to capitalise on a break then Special One he surely is not.

If this Arsenal team could only have taken the lead on them at Christmas id have fancied us to hold on, but instead we seem to have some sort of ingrained fear of losing built in to us against the big teams lately.

When we actually believed in ourselves against both City and United and went for it we dominated but by that stage we'd given ourselves a bit too much of a hill to climb. I just think if we could get the nerves out of our game and get the passing more sharper and up the tempo we'd give ourselves a better chance of winning these games. As it is i feel we start way to slow and it takes us too long to get a rhythm going. I appreciate that its hard to keep a high tempo up for the majority of a match and we could be vulnerable on the counter attack but the other side is if we score one or two and knock the stuffing out of the opposition then we can take the sting out of the game our own way.

Soups123

Spanish Johnny wrote: »

Because we had too? We consistently had to raise cash given our stadium situation. Wenger and the club did an excellent job in putting up a front PR wise but the fact is he knew the situation and had to cut his cloth to measure. I can't wait for Wenger to write a book and tell all regarding this period.

so its ok to sell if you have to but not if you want too! the moan just made him look stupid

his point was more aimed at the fact united dont have to play chelsea again but even that isnt worth moaning about

.jacksparrow.

Soups123 wrote: »

so its ok to sell if you have to but not if you want too! the moan just made him look stupid

his point was more aimed at the fact united dont have to play chelsea again but even that isnt worth moaning about

Will just give Jose fuel for another rant/troll/love session with the media.

L'prof

Wenger has always questioned the January transfer window. Don't see why people are making a big deal about it now, Media making more out of what was actually said...as usual!

Spanish Johnny

Soups123 wrote: »

so its ok to sell if you have to but not if you want too! the moan just made him look stupid

his point was more aimed at the fact united dont have to play chelsea again but even that isnt worth moaning about

Am yes obviously. One is forced the other is a choice. Big difference!

Marty McFly

Nice write up on Ozil from Arseblog

http://arseblog.com/2014/01/another-fine-mesut-you-got-me-into/


Edit: Also does anyone know if the game is on tv tomorrow? Be perfect Friday night viewing.

Spanish Johnny

Marty McFly wrote: »

Nice write up on Ozil from Arseblog

http://arseblog.com/2014/01/another-fine-mesut-you-got-me-into/


Edit: Also does anyone know if the game is on tv tomorrow? Be perfect Friday night viewing.

Yip definitely on BT.

Marty McFly

Marty McFly wrote: »

Nice write up on Ozil from Arseblog

http://arseblog.com/2014/01/another-fine-mesut-you-got-me-into/


Edit: Also does anyone know if the game is on tv tomorrow? Be perfect Friday night viewing.

Yeah he is fairly spot on. I often seen Ozil this year and said 'Jeeez he has done absolutely nothing' and yet when you actually watch the highlights he is almost always involved in a goal with a killer assist. A player that for an opponent you just cannot take your eye off.

Spanish Johnny

Spanish Johnny wrote: »

Pretty sure it's on BT.

Hate their coverage. That cheesy theme music combined with Michael Owen is a very hard combination to listen to.

Spanish Johnny

Deleted User wrote: »

Hate their coverage. That cheesy theme music combined with Michael Owen is a very hard combination to listen to.

You'll be thrilled to know our games against Liverpool and United are with them too!

cathalio11

If you watched the press conference, you'll see that Wenger was very compromising and not one bit aggressive when he said that.

He said that he has no problems with Chelsea doing it because it is within the rules. He suggested that the rules should be revised.

He has always been against the January Transfer Window.

And it's actually not the first time that he said this. When Newcastle signed 6 or 7 French players in January, he came out and said it was unfair on teams who play Newcastle later in the season.

He is standing by his guns because he knows that he is as important as anyone in the battle to get rid of the transfer window.

tayto lover

cathalio11 wrote: »

If you watched the press conference, you'll see that Wenger was very compromising and not one bit aggressive when he said that.

He said that he has no problems with Chelsea doing it because it is within the rules. He suggested that the rules should be revised.

He has always been against the January Transfer Window.

And it's actually not the first time that he said this. When Newcastle signed 6 or 7 French players in January, he came out and said it was unfair on teams who play Newcastle later in the season.

He is standing by his guns because he knows that he is as important as anyone in the battle to get rid of the transfer window.

By that logic Wenger should not have bought anyone in transfer windows in the years gone by and certainly not played them until the new season.
I wish he's stop giving interviews tying and himself in knots.

cathalio11

tayto lover wrote: »

By that logic Wenger should not have bought anyone in transfer windows in the years gone by and certainly not played them until the new season.
I wish he's stop giving interviews tying and himself in knots.

I disagree completely. This was in the post you quoted:

cathalio11 wrote: »

He said that he has no problems with Chelsea doing it because it is within the rules. He suggested that the rules should be revised.

So by said logic, he has no issues with Chelsea or any other club for that matter. His problem is with the rule and he wants it to be changed as it would be fair on every club.
That doesn't mean that he has to refuse to buy players in January.

For example, if a player is sent off for a last man challenge in the box. And the opponents score and play the rest of a game with a man up, I feel that's unfair. But I wouldn't protest in the game because it's clearly the rule. I'd just protest outside the game.

To repeat, he clearly stated that he had no problems with Chelsea, as a club, playing Mata and he felt it was a good idea to wait until now. He just feels that the rule is unfair. Simple as that.

WoollyRedHat

Is tomorrow's game not Fa Cup?

Spanish Johnny

tayto lover wrote: »

By that logic Wenger should not have bought anyone in transfer windows in the years gone by and certainly not played them until the new season.
I wish he's stop giving interviews tying and himself in knots.

Not really. It's in the rules so he plays by them although he disagrees with it but is disapproval will do absolutely nothing to change it. Don't see much wrong with that myself.

tayto lover

cathalio11 wrote: »

I disagree completely. This was in the post you quoted:



So by said logic, he has no issues with Chelsea or any other club for that matter. His problem is with the rule and he wants it to be changed as it would be fair on every club.
That doesn't mean that he has to refuse to buy players in January.

For example, if a player is sent off for a last man challenge in the box. And the opponents score and play the rest of a game with a man up, I feel that's unfair. But I wouldn't protest in the game because it's clearly the rule. I'd just protest outside the game.

To repeat, he clearly stated that he had no problems with Chelsea, as a club, playing Mata and he felt it was a good idea to wait until now. He just feels that the rule is unfair. Simple as that.

The rules are the same for every team.

cathalio11

tayto lover wrote: »

The rules are the same for every team.

I don't see how this sums up as a reply to what I said.

Just because the rules are the same for every team, doesn't mean that they are fair.

If a rule was introduced that you get an extra goal if you hold the majority of the possession throughout the match, that would be extremely unfair. Even if "the rules are the same for every team".

One could also cite the financial fair play rules which really should be made more strict.

Chelsea have a slight advantage because of this whole scenario. And the league shouldn't be influenced by little manouvres like delaying inevitable transfers. Chelsea were playing within the rules but the rules should be revised.

tayto lover

cathalio11 wrote: »

I don't see how this sums up as a reply to what I said.

Just because the rules are the same for every team, doesn't mean that they are fair.

If a rule was introduced that you get an extra goal if you hold the majority of the possession throughout the match, that would be extremely unfair. Even if "the rules are the same for every team".

One could also cite the financial fair play rules which really should be made more strict.

Chelsea have a slight advantage because of this whole scenario. And the league shouldn't be influenced by little manouvres like delaying inevitable transfers. Chelsea were playing within the rules but the rules should be revised.

But things are never going to be the same for everyone.
Injuries, weather, referees making mistakes, clubs richer than other clubs etc etc. If we didn't sell RVP to United they wouldn't have won the league in my opinion. The January window is just like the summer window except that its mid-season.

brianregan09

Amongst all this no one has ever mentioned Chelsea have now bought Matic and Salah ..A team behind us has strengthened and we haven't and that pisses me off are we going to stand still again

Spanish Johnny

Spanish Johnny wrote: »

You'll be thrilled to know our games against Liverpool and United are with them too!

Christ.. The channel is only a few months old and is already in need of a radical overhaul. Owen is insufferable.

Gary Neville may not be everyone's cup of tea on Sky but I have to say i like him as he has given Arsenal considerable praise the past two seasons and if im honest i dont mind Carragher either. BT badly need to get in pundits who are at the very least entertaining. I dont mean a populist spoofer like Dunphy but someone who at the very least has the courage of their opinions .

brianregan09

brianregan09 wrote: »

Amongst all this no one has ever mentioned Chelsea have now bought Matic and Salah ..A team behind us has strengthened and we haven't and that pisses me off are we going to stand still again

Especially with the injury to Walcott i felt we needed even a loan a striker to plug the gap. Giroud just cannot be expected to play every game. Perhaps Wenger is keeping Pod fresh for the run in hence his reluctance to give him game time?

That said i believe we should not just buy for the sake of buying but buy exceptional quality. I wouldnt mind a stop gap loan here or there especially this time of year but i dont want us to tie ourselves down with any more Park type signings. The real top players it would seem are unavailable this time of year with the exception of Mata who was pretty much bizarrely frozen out by Mourinho.

I think the plan will be to go for a top striker in the summer. We are short on a centre back too i feel and id imagine Verminator might eventually decide its time to leave if he cannot dislodge the Mert/Koc partnership

tayto lover

Deleted User wrote: »

Especially with the injury to Walcott i felt we needed even a loan a striker to plug the gap. Giroud just cannot be expected to play every game. Perhaps Wenger is keeping Pod fresh for the run in hence his reluctance to give him game time?

That said i believe we should not just buy for the sake of buying but buy exceptional quality. I wouldnt mind a stop gap loan here or there especially this time of year but i dont want us to tie ourselves down with any more Park type signings. The real top players it would seem are unavailable this time of year with the exception of Mata who was pretty much bizarrely frozen out by Mourinho.

I think the plan will be to go for a top striker in the summer. We are short on a centre back too i feel and id imagine Verminator might eventually decide its time to leave if he cannot dislodge the Mert/Koc partnership

I didn't expect Wenger to buy in this window but the argument that the players are not there does not hold water. Other teams seem to be able to find what they want.

emergingstar

tayto lover wrote: »

I didn't expect Wenger to buy in this window but the argument that the players are not there does not hold water. Other teams seem to be able to find what they want.

Who do you think we should get?

tayto lover

emergingstar wrote: »

Who do you think we should get?

I wouldn't have a clue. Don't watch foreign football.
Didn't believe we would get anyone anyway.

Wasn't Jose quick in getting his man though?

.jacksparrow.

tayto lover wrote: »

I wouldn't have a clue. Don't watch foreign football.
Didn't believe we would get anyone anyway.

Wasn't Jose quick in getting his man though?

Exactly it's not our job to scout the players, there is people at arsenal paid to do this.

Spanish Johnny

emergingstar wrote: »

Who do you think we should get?

Exactly. Some people it seems would be delighted if signed Jedward just so they could say we signed someone.

We need a striker. Nothing else is a priority. I am sure that the man paid 7 million pounds a year and whose full time job includes finding these 'strikers' is looking into it. I am also sure if there was someone that would improve us is available that he will try get him.

I am most confident that he will not go out and spend £10-15 million on a chance player to appease fans on internet message boards.

If the right option is there we will get them if not he is right to continue as we are.