Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Warning Linked in OP

egghead.

Chelsea, Everton, Spurs and Man City in the first 7 games along with CL qualifiers.

ronjo

egghead. wrote: »

Chelsea, Everton, Spurs and Man City in the first 7 games along with CL qualifiers.

Cant be leaving business until August 31st this season.

dvemail

egghead. wrote: »

Chelsea, Everton, Spurs and Man City in the first 7 games along with CL qualifiers.

I like that. Best to play them early on if at all possible.
I doubt it will be the same next year, but last season both Chelsea and City were piss poor starting off. Repeat of the same hopefully and we can catch them while they are cold.

farna_boy

Watching South Korea last night, I still don't understand how Park never played for us. I've seen a whole lot worse play for us over the years and the whole thing just seems totally bizarre. He still looks handy enough, not amazing or anything but we could have used him in a few games this year.

fulmer1984

farna_boy wrote: »

Watching South Korea last night, I still don't understand how Park never played for us. I've seen a whole lot worse play for us over the years and the whole thing just seems totally bizarre. He still looks handy enough, not amazing or anything but we could have used him in a few games this year.

my feeling is he was bought for jersey sales in Asia 😊

TimeToShine

Everton (A), City(H), Spurs(H) and Chelsea(A) in the first 7 games is a very tough run IMO.

Muirshin Durkin

farna_boy wrote: »

Watching South Korea last night, I still don't understand how Park never played for us. I've seen a whole lot worse play for us over the years and the whole thing just seems totally bizarre. He still looks handy enough, not amazing or anything but we could have used him in a few games this year.

Didn't we rob him from under Lille's noses? i reckon it was revenge for not selling Hazzard to us, back fired though obviously.

Alfred Borden

Muirshin Durkin wrote: »

Didn't we rob him from under Lille's noses? i reckon it was revenge for not selling Hazzard to us, back fired though obviously.

Could have been revenge for selling us Gervinho too :pac:

Fuzzy_Dunlop

TimeToShine wrote: »

Everton (A), City(H), Spurs(H) and Chelsea(A) in the first 7 games is a very tough run IMO.

Better to have it towards the start rather than later on in the season when the injuries pile up at least.

Muirshin Durkin

Raf32 wrote: »

Could have been revenge for selling us Gervinho too :pac:

Haha, i must be the only one who actually liked Gervinho. Looks like he had a decent season this year as well.

Alfred Borden

Muirshin Durkin wrote: »

Haha, i must be the only one who actually liked Gervinho. Looks like he had a decent season this year as well.

ah i didnt mind him either, he had good stats this year but saw him a few nights ago and although he got a goal, he has to be one of the most awkward footballers ever :pac:

Ken Shamrock

Do you guys actually welcome the Balotelli talk?? I mean i know he has moments of quality but i just think his personality is the opposite of what an Arsenal player should be, i like to think we have hard working, home grown/cheap honest players who simply play the game the way it was meant to be played, as a team. Balotelli, is not hard working, he will no doubt be expensive and he's far from honest, or a team player, i just don't think he would suit, also getting sent off and doing stupid **** all the time isn't going to help our chances of winning a major title.

To be fair tho, i don't think Wenger will sign him, definitively not his type, someone like Sanchez or Higuain would be a much better choice in my opinion. Also why does there also seem to be talk of Wenger buying a CM? like seriously of all the positions we need cover for, CM is not one of them. So frustrating.

egghead.

Muirshin Durkin wrote: »

Didn't we rob him from under Lille's noses? i reckon it was revenge for not selling Hazzard to us, back fired though obviously.

Didn't we sign park way before hazard left?

keano_afc

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Do you guys actually welcome the Balotelli talk?? I mean i know he has moments of quality but i just think his personality is the opposite of what an Arsenal player should be, i like to think we have hard working, home grown/cheap honest players who simply play the game the way it was meant to be played, as a team. Balotelli, is not hard working, he will no doubt be expensive and he's far from honest, or a team player, i just don't think he would suit, also getting sent off and doing stupid **** all the time isn't going to help our chances of winning a major title.

To be fair tho, i don't think Wenger will sign him, definitively not his type, someone like Sanchez or Higuain would be a much better choice in my opinion. Also why does there also seem to be talk of Wenger buying a CM? like seriously of all the positions we need cover for, CM is not one of them. So frustrating.

It hasnt exactly brought us success though, so maybe someone like Balotelli is just what we need.

Muirshin Durkin

egghead. wrote: »

Didn't we sign park way before hazard left?

Was it not the same window? could be wrong but, regardless, disastrous signing.

egghead.

Muirshin Durkin wrote: »

Was it not the same window? could be wrong but, regardless, disastrous signing.

Nah he signed in 2011, hazard was 2012.

Soups123

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Do you guys actually welcome the Balotelli talk?? I mean i know he has moments of quality but i just think his personality is the opposite of what an Arsenal player should be, i like to think we have hard working, home grown/cheap honest players who simply play the game the way it was meant to be played, as a team. Balotelli, is not hard working, he will no doubt be expensive and he's far from honest, or a team player, i just don't think he would suit, also getting sent off and doing stupid **** all the time isn't going to help our chances of winning a major title.

To be fair tho, i don't think Wenger will sign him, definitively not his type, someone like Sanchez or Higuain would be a much better choice in my opinion. Also why does there also seem to be talk of Wenger buying a CM? like seriously of all the positions we need cover for, CM is not one of them. So frustrating.

This is all great if you want to play airyfairy football and not compete at the highest level. Wenger needs to sign winners. Petit/Veira/Keown/Bergkamp etc all had there moments of madness but we had a lot more trophies for it

TimeToShine

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Do you guys actually welcome the Balotelli talk?? I mean i know he has moments of quality but i just think his personality is the opposite of what an Arsenal player should be, i like to think we have hard working, home grown/cheap honest players who simply play the game the way it was meant to be played, as a team. Balotelli, is not hard working, he will no doubt be expensive and he's far from honest, or a team player, i just don't think he would suit, also getting sent off and doing stupid **** all the time isn't going to help our chances of winning a major title.

To be fair tho, i don't think Wenger will sign him, definitively not his type, someone like Sanchez or Higuain would be a much better choice in my opinion. Also why does there also seem to be talk of Wenger buying a CM? like seriously of all the positions we need cover for, CM is not one of them. So frustrating.

To put it bluntly I think he has sorted his life out.

He seems a lot more subdued. It's easy to forget he's only 23, at the height of his idiocy he was 20/21 and it's both reasonable and fair to say he has matured since then.

This year he made 30 appearances and got one red card. The year before, he made 13 without getting sent off. That's 2 years at Milan with one sending off. Of course we could do better in that regard but we need a bit of flair as well - I think Higuain is out for sure but Sanchez would be alright. Either I would gladly take.

Ken Shamrock

keano_afc wrote: »

It hasnt exactly brought us success though, so maybe someone like Balotelli is just what we need.

Well, it hasn't brought us success in the trophy cabinet, but we have one of the best reputations in the world, for playing FOOTBALL and we are always up there challenging. I for one would rather watch my team play fantastic football, grab a top four spot, beat a Barcelona or a Munich with far inferior players and with an unbelievably low spend aswell rather than have wenger go buy a team and win everything. But i do agree with your point, we need more up front, i just don't don't think Balloteli is the right one.

Soups123 wrote: »

This is all great if you want to play airyfairy football and not compete at the highest level. Wenger needs to sign winners. Petit/Veira/Keown/Bergkamp etc all had there moments of madness but we had a lot more trophies for it

I have no problem with tough mother f***ers infact i agree that we need them! it's something we have lacked for years, however their is a fine line between tough and idiotic, and i think Balloteli is the latter.

TimeToShine wrote: »

To put it bluntly I think he has sorted his life out.

He seems a lot more subdued. It's easy to forget he's only 23, at the height of his idiocy he was 20/21 and it's both reasonable and fair to say he has matured since then.

This year he made 30 appearances and got one red card. The year before, he made 13 without getting sent off. That's 2 years at Milan with one sending off. Of course we could do better in that regard but we need a bit of flair as well - I think Higuain is out for sure but Sanchez would be alright. Either I would gladly take.

Yeah it would seem he has come a long way from his city days, but the serie a and the pl are very different, i just think he's a ticking time bomb, his fuse is too short and i personally would not like him at Arsenal, however if he comes and proves me wrong i wouldn't exactly be upset!!

Awesomeness

Being linked with Lavezzi now today. Another name for the list

Looper007

TimeToShine wrote: »

Everton (A), City(H), Spurs(H) and Chelsea(A) in the first 7 games is a very tough run IMO.

At home we can take City and Spurs. It's the Away games to Everton and Chelsea that worry me.

TimeToShine

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

I for one would rather watch my team play fantastic football, grab a top four spot, beat a Barcelona or a Munich with far inferior players and with an unbelievably low spend aswell rather than have wenger go buy a team and win everything.

I don't mean this in a condescending way but this is the kind of attitude that most of the regulars here are pretty much tired of. We seem to always settle for mediocrity as long as it pays the bills. We should be (and could have been/would be if we had kept all of our star players) competing with the likes of Bayern and Barcelona, not be seen as underdogs with far inferior players trying desperately to turn them over. We're the 5th richest club in the world, and we should act like it. What we certainly are not is mid-table fodder hoping to "cause an upset" against the big boys. Broadly speaking we have everything we need to compete with those teams at the moment except for a top class striker, and maybe a DM and right back. We shouldn't be settling for 4th year in year out, that isn't ambitious for a club like this, just stagnation.

Topbike77

Awesomeness wrote: »

Being linked with Lavezzi now today. Another name for the list

I wouldn't really be too happy if we signed him, yes of course he's a good player but he's 29. We need to get a forward who is 26 max and will serve us for a good few years.

Ken Shamrock

TimeToShine wrote: »

I don't mean this in a condescending way but this is the kind of attitude that most of the regulars here are pretty much tired of. We seem to always settle for mediocrity as long as it pays the bills. We should be (and could have been if we had kept all of our star players) competing with the likes of Bayern and Barcelona, not be seen as underdogs with far inferior players trying desperately to turn them over. We're the 5th richest club in the world, and we should act like it. What we certainly are not is mid-table fodder hoping to "cause an upset" against the big boys. Broadly speaking we have everything we need to compete with those teams at the moment except for a top class striker, and maybe a DM and right back. We shouldn't be settling for 4th year in year out, that isn't ambitious for a club like this, just stagnation.

No I completely understand, and i would have been much like the regulars on here for the past few years, however i gave up on Wenger, and i gave up on being a top team, so i'm happy to watch Arsenal play good football and i'm excited when we play big teams without worrying too much about the cost of losing.

Wenger has had so many chances to sign massive players and he has signed some of the worst "top flight" players i've ever seen, he makes scandalous calls with his starting 11 and he always has some pussy excuse when we lose, his time is up. I have nothing but respect and admiration for him being that i was such a huge fan through 98-06 but i can't defend him anymore. Until Wenger goes i will settle for 4th because i know it's too unrealistic to expect any better with him in charge.

TimeToShine

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

No I completely understand, and i would have been much like the regulars on here for the past few years, however i gave up on Wenger, and i gave up on being a top team, so i'm happy to watch Arsenal play good football and i'm excited when we play big teams without worrying too much about the cost of losing.

Wenger has had so many chances to sign massive players and he has signed some of the worst "top flight" players i've ever seen, he makes scandalous calls with his starting 11 and he always has some pussy excuse when we lose, his time is up. I have nothing but respect and admiration for him being that i was such a huge fan through 98-06 but i can't defend him anymore. Until Wenger goes i will settle for 4th because i know it's too unrealistic to expect any better with him in charge.

I see where you're coming from but with this attitude in mind would you not be all for Wenger taking a few chances in the transfer market? I'd certainly rather 25m be thrown at Balotelli and have him flop than that money be kept "safe" so it can line the boards pockets. If it works out great, if not Wenger is out on his ass, win win surely? For me personally, I would have agreed with you up until last summer. In fairness to him he did come through with Ozil so I'm hoping for more of the same. The January window was a right cock up alright but if he makes amends now he deserves another shot.

I will be seriously pissed if we're starting with Remy or Giroud in August. **** that. We need a big name striker to get the fans riled up. I am 100% sure that if Balotelli gets the attention he wants from the fans he'll be as loyal as a dog to his bone. Obviously that's debatable but it's just what I think.

keano_afc

keano_afc wrote: »

Balotelli to score the winner at Old Trafford in the penultimate game to win us the league. 1-1 going in to injury time, Greizmann gets clear down the left, sends in a cross which is headed back by Draxler for Balo to score. He rips off his skin tight Puma jersey to reveal a t-shirt with "yes me again" written on it. RvP is seen off camera mouthing "I want to go back".

I'm off for a lie down.

What i want to know is, who is tall enough to jump over Balotelli when he gets the winner akin to what Kanu done to Wiltord all those years ago?

Giroud?

ronjo

TimeToShine wrote: »

I see where you're coming from but with this attitude in mind would you not be all for Wenger taking a few chances in the transfer market? I'd certainly rather 25m be thrown at Balotelli and have him flop than that money be kept "safe" so it can line the boards pockets. If it works out great, if not Wenger is out on his ass, win win surely? For me personally, I would have agreed with you up until last summer. In fairness to him he did come through with Ozil so I'm hoping for more of the same. The January window was a right cock up alright but if he makes amends now he deserves another shot.

I will be seriously pissed if we're starting with Remy or Giroud in August. **** that. We need a big name striker to get the fans riled up. I am 100% sure that if Balotelli gets the attention he wants from the fans he'll be as loyal as a dog to his bone. Obviously that's debatable but it's just what I think.

I dont. I think the posts are all over the place.

ronjo

Deleted User wrote: »

What i want to know is, who is tall enough to jump over Balotelli when he gets the winner akin to what Kanu done to Wiltord all those years ago?

Giroud?

BFG of course

ronjo

ronjo wrote: »

BFG of course

And the sheer delight on the face of Tim the Gooner Sherwood in the stand

Ken Shamrock

TimeToShine wrote: »

I see where you're coming from but with this attitude in mind would you not be all for Wenger taking a few chances in the transfer market? I'd certainly rather 25m be thrown at Balotelli and have him flop than that money be kept "safe" so it can line the boards pockets. If it works out great, if not Wenger is out on his ass, win win surely? For me personally, I would have agreed with you up until last summer. In fairness to him he did come through with Ozil so I'm hoping for more of the same. The January window was a right cock up alright but if he makes amends now he deserves another shot.

I will be seriously pissed if we're starting with Remy or Giroud in August. **** that. We need a big name striker to get the fans riled up. I am 100% sure that if Balotelli gets the attention he wants from the fans he'll be as loyal as a dog to his bone. Obviously that's debatable but it's just what I think.

I'm all for Wenger taking chances in the transfer market i just don't believe that he will. "rather 25m be thrown at Balotelli " Yes i rather 25 mill on Balloteli then be kept safe but i also rather 25mill be thrown at a dozen other strikers instead. Like you said we should be one of the top clubs in the world, all we need is a top striker, but why has Wenger denied us of this for so long? Yes Van Persie was word class, WHEN he was fit, but were overdue a world class striker and i just don't think Balloteli is enough, i hope i'm wrong!

keano_afc

Deleted User wrote: »

What i want to know is, who is tall enough to jump over Balotelli when he gets the winner akin to what Kanu done to Wiltord all those years ago?

Giroud?

I'd be happy enough with Balotelli, unlikely to lose money selling him on if he wasn't happy or settling. We haven't had that kind of player in a while.

Mickeroo

Deleted User wrote: »

I'd be happy enough with Balotelli, unlikely to lose money selling him on if he wasn't happy or settling. We haven't had that kind of player in a while.

Yea there's a god chance he'll get better too imo. Plus I kind of like the cockiness/arrogance of him.

gandalf

Mickeroo wrote: »

Yea there's a god chance he'll get better too imo. Plus I kind of like the cockiness/arrogance of him.

Yep you need that in a forward along with the skill obviously. Unfortunately NickyB had only one of those attributes

Drexel

Balotelli would be great for us I think. Hes not as much of an idiot as he was and he certainly has the talent. He ticks all the boxes really tbh. Only question mark is his attitude and id trust Wenger to make that decision

OneEightSeven

jonny666 wrote: »

Balotelli would be great for us I think. Hes not as much of an idiot as he was and he certainly has the talent. He ticks all the boxes really tbh. Only question mark is his attitude and id trust Wenger to make that decision

Not to mention his incredible feat of scoring 26 consecutive penalties. I cringe when I see Ozil taking one because it reminded me of the home game against Bayern, where we dominated them for the first 10 - 15 minutes.

gosplan

Apart from him being the other type of forward to the one we need.

Dapics

I can't understand why Wenger didn't sign Fabregas and just sell Cazorla.

Fabregas would have been an upgrade on Cazorla as he is younger and has better stats over the past three seasons.

I know people are saying there was no point in signing Fabregas because we already had enough AMC's but what would have been wrong with selling one player to make room for another???

Whereas once we were in a situation where we were more or less forced to sell players, now we have the luxury of choosing to sell players and as much as I love Cazorla, selling him in order to get Fabregas would have been ideal and makes much more sense.

Either way, that's in the past.
As for Balotelli, well I can see what he would bring to us, but surely he isn't what we need in terms of striking attributes?

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Dapics wrote: »

Either way, that's in the past.
As for Balotelli, well I can see what he would bring to us, but surely he isn't what we need in terms of striking attributes?

You don't think we need a striker that's quick and skilful and can score from individual moments of magic?

gosplan

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

You don't think we need a striker that's quick and skilful and can score from individual moments of magic?

How exactly am I supposed to answer that question?

The total benefit to the team will be the difference between how much Balotelli outperforms Giroud.

We still have no one with real pace, that can run at defenders and that can play off a big front man.

Our formation is 4-2-3-1 with Balotelli or Giroud up front and there's no possible variation.

Add to all this the fact that he's only ever looked good in Italy or playing for Italy.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

gosplan wrote: »

How exactly am I supposed to answer that question?

The total benefit to the team will be the difference between how much Balotelli outperforms Giroud.

We still have no one with real pace, that can run at defenders and that can play off a big front man.

Our formation is 4-2-3-1 with Balotelli or Giroud up front and there's no possible variation.

Add to all this the fact that he's only ever looked good in Italy or playing for Italy.

I didn't ask you the question

It was in reference to him not being the right style of striker, whereas I think he is.

[edit] Whether or not he'd be a significant improvement for us is a different question

batistuta9

Throw Sanogo on, 442, be grand like (worked before) :pac:

Everyone crying\turning their noses up a remy, there's your pace there + walcott, ox. Ramsey breaking into the box.
Plus isn't that what people think will help özil more too?
They'll be few better value players transferred between English clubs than remy

And balotelli isn't that slow, who is compared to olly g

Mickeroo

He looked good for Man City too imo. Was always dangerous when he played, just his attitude that made him look bad.

AdamD

Balotelli's quick. Had no issues playing on the wing in his earlier days

gnfnrhead

Balotelli isn't as quick as Theo, but not many are. He isn't a slouch though.

bad2dabone

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd be happy enough with Balotelli, unlikely to lose money selling him on if he wasn't happy or settling. We haven't had that kind of player in a while.

If button's happy, then I'm happy!

Mr Blobby

bad2dabone wrote: »

If button's happy, then I'm happy!

Buttons never happy.. He's just mildly content :pac:

gosplan

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

I didn't ask you the question

It was in reference to him not being the right style of striker, whereas I think he is.

[edit] Whether or not he'd be a significant improvement for us is a different question

Sorry, it was in reference to the 'you don't think ...' question.

Of course we need skilful players. Maybe it was just a rhetorical question and I didn't pick it up.

My main point though is if we're in the market for a striker should we be looking to spend 30 million just to replace Giroud?

It doesn't matter what we think though. Wenger has said he's looking for the striker that can play 'with or without Giroud'.

That's not Balotelli, it's not Benzema, despite the fact that both of these may have been an improvement.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

gosplan wrote: »

Sorry, it was in reference to the 'you don't think ...' question.

Of course we need skilful players. Maybe it was just a rhetorical question and I didn't pick it up.

My main point though is if we're in the market for a striker should we be looking to spend 30 million just to replace Giroud?

It doesn't matter what we think though. Wenger has said he's looking for the striker that can play 'with or without Giroud'.

That's not Balotelli, it's not Benzema, despite the fact that both of these may have been an improvement.

Well I'm not sure who you'd be looking to sign that can play with Giroud. In any case, I doubt we'll be changing formation to accommodate two up top all that often.

I wouldn't read too much into what Arsene said either, he's hardly going to say 'I want a striker to replace Giroud'. And besides, Benzema has already played in the same team with Giroud before.

fulmer1984

Would anyone take Gary Medel as a CDM?