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

Fuzzy_Dunlop

I used to really like when Cesc played the deeper midfield role. Can't see him going back to that though.

Where's all this talk coming from btw?

Mr Blobby

Raf32 wrote: »

Could cesc play Artetas role? sit and pass out from the back. Rambo beside him doing box to box. to be honest we have the best #10 in the world and dont want to push him out of position even for cesc.

We'd be destroyed whenever the match got physical.
I think playing Ozil wide would be fine. Just let him and Fabregas drift around similar to how Iniesta and Fabregas play at Barcelona.

Ardennes1944

I would love if he came even if it would make midfield selection even harder. Was at a Barca game couple weeks ago and it was sad to see him on the subs bench, especially talking to Song :pac:

Mr Blobby

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

I used to really like when Cesc played the deeper midfield role. Can't see him going back to that though.

Where's all this talk coming from btw?

Wenger said in the post match that he's interested in Cesc.

Mickeroo

Mr Blobby wrote: »

Wenger said in the post match that he's interested in Cesc.

Really?! :eek:

AdamD

We're not signing Cesc.

bad2dabone

Mr Blobby wrote: »

Wenger said in the post match that he's interested in Cesc.

Cesc in the deep midfield role picking out passes, he's one of the best in the world at that. We'd definitely need a striker who can run though. Also if we got him it would mean man Utd had not got him. Because if he ended up at United my little heart would break.

Gringo180

Mr Blobby wrote: »

Wenger said in the post match that he's interested in Cesc.

WoollyRedHat

Hmmm, he did allude to us being interested in someone that you be surprised to learn is available. I thought at first about somebody like Gotze, who it had been said was unhappy being on the bench so much, but Fabregas would make more sense.

bad2dabone

AdamD wrote: »

We're not signing Cesc.

We're not not signing Cesc. :-)

Mr Blobby

Mickeroo wrote: »

Really?! :eek:

bad2dabone wrote: »

Cesc in the deep midfield role picking out passes, he's one of the best in the world at that. We'd definitely need a striker who can run though. Also if we got him it would mean man Utd had not got him. Because if he ended up at United my little heart would break.

Gringo180 wrote: »

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Hmmm, he did allude to us being interested in someone that you be surprised to learn is available. I thought at first about somebody like Gotze, who it had been said was unhappy being on the bench so much, but Fabregas would make more sense.

I keep forgetting that sarcasm is hard to detect over the internet... :pac:

emergingstar

He is a scape goat at Barca

Nearly wanted out last season

Hates been away from his girlfriend and child

We have a buy back Clause wenger said last season if anyone made an offer we would seriously consider it, also said he thinks cesc would give one more year

Barca are been reported to be willing to listen offers

Makes sense to me

Y2KBOS86

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

I used to really like when Cesc played the deeper midfield role. Can't see him going back to that though.

Where's all this talk coming from btw?

He's being booed at every game, Wenger says he has a surprise for us and Cesc's girlfriend lives in London with his child.

I'm of mixed opinion over Cesc, think he can be a big player for us, but I don't think he has the legs and energy he had as a young kid anymore

I don't think he will ever reach the heights of his early days again, I think he will come back to the league and struggle for a while to reach the standard he set before of being the best midfielder in the league.

It would be kind of sad if he came back and struggled, not looking head and shoulders above every other midfielder in the league.

It would be going the wrong direction as well, we need pace and energy, Cesc has neither.

Ramsey has plenty of power and would be more even more awesome with young strong legs next to him.

Y2KBOS86

Mr Blobby wrote: »

We'd be destroyed whenever the match got physical.
I think playing Ozil wide would be fine. Just let him and Fabregas drift around similar to how Iniesta and Fabregas play at Barcelona.

We would have to red rid of Cazorla.

Cesc + Ramsey would never work against the top 4 or anyone decent.

Cesc these days is playing like Ozil without the pace.

wawaman

If we got bender, cesc and remy in the summer would that be enough to turn us into serious challengers. I have left out a replacement for bac as I'm hoping he will stay, his missus seems to like the place anyway!!

wandatowell

emergingstar wrote: »

Remy

Maybe?

Should we be setting out sights higher than Remy?

Mr Blobby

wandatowell wrote: »

Should we be setting out sights higher than Remy?

There isn't really anyone out there of world class quality par Balotelli.
I'd prefer Drmic over Remy though.

emergingstar

wandatowell wrote: »

Should we be setting out sights higher than Remy?

We should be just can't think of anyone we can get

Jaafa

Raf32 wrote: »

Arsene Wenger: "We have two players coming to the end of their contract. Sagna and Fabianski. In my opinion, they will stay." (RMC) #AFC If we do thats fantastic business and wont do much better business all summer.

He didn't say that, the quote is "We have two players at the end of their contracts - Sagna and Fabianski. If it's down to me, they both stay."

http://www.independent.ie/sport/arsene-wenger-confirms-that-he-will-be-at-arsenal-next-season-30243164.html

gnfnrhead

Not sure why people think we'd have to sell someone for Fabregas to be possible. This season showed everyone will easily get enough game time.

gosplan

Will try not to get my hopes up on Fabregas buy FFS, my first daughter's middle name is Francis after him.

Then he left.

Without the nostalgia and emotion though, it makes a lot of sense.

Rosicky is 33, Arteta 32, Flamini 30 and Santi 29. Diaby's out the door I assume.

Get Fabregas and a DMF and our midfield is good for the next 6-7 years.

The only proviso is that this would be an additional signing. We need serious quality/pace up front and out wide.

EuropeanSon

A set of midfield options like Bender, Ozil, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Wilshere, Fabregas, Cazorla and Flamini for a few years would really be amazing.

Add to that Walcott, Gnabry, and another pacy option (Drmic?), and a pair of good strikers (eg. Balotelli & Giroud) and we'd have an excellent, excellent squad.

bad2dabone

Fab 30m
Bender 23m
Balotelli 25m
Drmic 5m

Chances of it happening 1/1,000,000

But strangely enough we could afford to do it.

cathalio11

United are preparing to give Barca and Cesc so much more than Arsenal will. i.e. United will overpay for him and we won't and it could be catastrophic in the future, or it could just mean nought.

AdamD

cathalio11 wrote: »

United are preparing to give Barca and Cesc so much more than Arsenal will. i.e. United will overpay for him and we won't and it could be catastrophic in the future, or it could just mean nought.

We're not signing Cesc. But for the sake of being a pedant I must point out that we have an option on him and no matter what United offer, Barca must accept 35m from us.

Y2KBOS86

gosplan wrote: »

Get Fabregas and a DMF and our midfield is good for the next 6-7 years.

If Arsene gets a DMF and Cesc it would be a great move, knowing Arsene he will play Cesc as DMF, that would be my worry.

Like one or two have said, Cesc, DM and two pacy strikers and we are potent.

Major advantage of Cesc is his vision and passing can turn defense into attack within seconds, he will speed up our attack tenfold and get ous back playing on the break if we add pace upfront.

No one does defense to attack better than Cesc, the way we play requires someone that can effectively cut out counterattacks so we can immediately recycle the attack.

Ozil and Cesc are the best in the world at recycling, but who is going to cut out the counterattacks?

Bender is similar to Ramsey.

Any Gilberto's with pace around?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46KcWIRZGg0

cathalio11

AdamD wrote: »

Agree with all of this bar Willian, not sure about him at all. 30m attacking midfielder more known for his defensive work. Strikes me as a faster version of James Milner with a more exotic name.

Yeah, that's a fair enough opinion but he was struck me as excellent throughout the season and part of it was because I expected him to be another 20+ million average impulse buy, but himself and Fernandinho have proved to be quite useful in my opinion. He's the one expensive player that Spurs should have actually signed because the rest have had below par seasons.

extra gravy

Y2KBOS86 wrote: »

It would be going the wrong direction as well, we need pace and energy, Cesc has neither.

To be honest, I think his energy and enthusiasm has been drained out of him at Barca. He looks miserable any time I see him play now, just a shadow of how he used to be. The Barca fans begged for him to return to his true "home" and now they treat him like ****. Sometimes your real home isn't where you're born and grow up, it's where you're loved and appreciated. I think a return to us could rejuvenate him and give him back his energy and love for the game. Being close to his partner and child and working under his father figure Arsene again could spark him back to life at an age when he's just entering his prime. We would all agree that the manner in which he left wasn't very dignified but I'd definitely give him a second chance and welcome him back.

Alfred Borden

makes me sick thinking how good he can be

extra gravy

Just spotted this extended interview with Arsene. Worth the watch. Says at the end that he has "suffered a lot" for the club but that it has also brought him a lot of joy. Really want this FA Cup not just for us fans but for him too.

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9296685/arsene-wenger-extended-interview

Jaafa

A part that was excluded even from the extended interview.

https://vine.co/v/MrLUAeHi3DV

dvemail

Shows how well we have been defensively this season. Hope he can pick up that award.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140505/szczesny-i-d-love-to-win-golden-glove

Jaafa

Jaafa wrote: »

A part that was excluded even from the extended interview.

https://vine.co/v/MrLUAeHi3DV

Found it actually its at the end of this version of the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLh5P3EONEE

dvemail

Don't know how reliable but....

Francois Piraux ‏@F8Piraux 1h
EXCLUSIVE : Toulouse defender Serge Aurier will sign to Arsenal this summer. #AFC #TFC #Aurier

wonga77

Ive had my doubts before and I know we should be maybe aiming higher than Remy but i think he would be a good fit for us. Also its hard to think of too many other players available. Throwing 40-50 million at a big name striker doesnt automatically mean it will be a success.
Remy is a good finisher, appears to have a good attitude playing and has lots of experiance in the epl. He is exactly what we need and would compliment Girouds hold up play, also it would make more sense than trying to convert another player into a goalscorer as has been mentioned

Mickeroo

If we go for Remy then we would definitely want to be signing Drmic too imo. Between those 2 and Giroud we would be solid enough up front next season I think. Sanogo could be sent out on loan then.

Also I don't know if this quote from Wenger is true or not but I laughed:

"I have just been informed Loic Remy was here. I honestly did not know," Wenger said. "I hope he paid for his ticket."

greendom

Mickeroo wrote: »

If we go for Remy then we would definitely want to be signing Drmic too imo. Between those 2 and Giroud we would be solid enough up front next season I think. Sanogo could be sent out on loan then.

Also I don't know if this quote from Wenger is true or not but I laughed:

Apparently he was a guest of Bacary Sagna ??

Gringo180

Remy would be a fantastic signing for us, better than Ballotelli or Costa in my opinion because the attributes he possesses will suit the way we play. If he does sign I will be having a nice bet on him finishing top goal scorer.

greendom

Gringo180 wrote: »

Remy would be a fantastic signing for us, better than Ballotelli or Costa in my opinion because the attributes he possesses will suit the way we play. If he does sign I will be having a nice bet on him finishing top goal scorer.

With Remy and Walcott playing together and supplied by Ozil we could destroy teams with their pace

Mickeroo

^^Don't think Remy is better or even on the same level as either of those players tbh. That's not to say he couldn't be though.

Talk that we're interested in Alex McCarthy from Reading as our new back up goalie in a few places. Think there was rumours about him in January too.

greendom

Mickeroo wrote: »

^^Don't think Remy is better or even on the same level as either of those players tbh. That's not to say he couldn't be though.

Talk that we're interested in Alex McCarthy from Reading as our new back up goalie in a few places. Think there was rumours about him in January too.

I don't disagree with that, but the team has been so lacking in pace at times this season, that it will be great to have another option that can provide some.

Gringo180

Just looking at Remy's stats, he has scored 14 times in 26 premier league starts and chipped in with 3 assists. Thats a great return for a mid table team, I think he could be gettable for around the 10 million mark. What a shrewd signing it would be.

Mr.Micro

greendom wrote: »

I don't disagree with that, but the team has been so lacking in pace at times this season, that it will be great to have another option that can provide some.

A player like Remy could make all the difference.

gosplan

wonga77 wrote: »

Ive had my doubts before and I know we should be maybe aiming higher than Remy but i think he would be a good fit for us. Also its hard to think of too many other players available. Throwing 40-50 million at a big name striker doesnt automatically mean it will be a success.
Remy is a good finisher, appears to have a good attitude playing and has lots of experiance in the epl. He is exactly what we need and would compliment Girouds hold up play, also it would make more sense than trying to convert another player into a goalscorer as has been mentioned

Random thoughts starting with the above:

I think we can't get one of those strikers. when you look at Rooney on 300K pw and Zlatan on 250 AFTER TAX!!, they're just out of our reach. There's only every like 6 or 7 or so in the world at any one time and when one comes up for grabs, someone with deeper pockets will grab them. I mean look at the demand for Falcao and Cavaini last year - they've been nothing too special and cost like 100 milllion between them.

But Henry, RVP etc didn't come as that level of striker. Wenger needs to find the next one of these and until they're developed, I think our world class midfield will have to carry strikers like Giroud and Sanogo.

I'd be really dissapointed if we signed a mid 20's 'OK' striker. We need someone to develop at the club into world class material. Maybe that's Draxler or Drimic or someone like that but it's not the Soldado, Osvaldo players that people were suggesting last season (even not given the struggles they've had this season). We do not need those players at the club, we need a young striker that Wenger sees huge potential in.




On the clean sheets: we get fcuk all credit for this in the face of the really bad away losses, which maybe we deserve. It is a massive massive thing to have fixed in the last couple of seasons though. We used to be getting turned over by poor teams when we were one or two ahead, this season, they're finding it hard to score


Which leads me to: our style. Our style is now about posession and working openings, interesting contrast to the invincibles, who were about counter attack. So what we've gained is the ability to play 'bus parked' lower teams very well, especially at home, but we've lost the savage away form of the invincibles (they went unbeaten away from home for two whole seasons). Surely to god there's a mix and for the tough away games we can get back to counter attacking? I think what we're missing in this regard is speed, Ozil, Ramsey give us speed of thought to launch the counter attack and play it cleanly but we need Walcott and someone else racing forward faster than anyone can cover. Also Vieira was a beast in the regard winning the ball way up the pitch skipping past one man and catching all the defenders facing the wrong way.

Wenger has shown he can coach both ways very well, i think the latter is just about personnel at this stage.



And overall why Wenger should stay is this. There has been nothing to show that he has lost the ability to unearth gems and train players to the top of the game. there has been a lot to show that we're going to stop selling them once they get there.

Gringo180

greendom wrote: »

With Remy and Walcott playing together and supplied by Ozil we could destroy teams with their pace

Add in another pacey winger to that and we would be evastating on the counter attack. I think this summer we will add the final few pieces to the jigsaw of a title winning team, usually we have always went 1 step forward and 2 steps back in terms of transfers, but with hopefully nobody leaving (with the exception of Fab and Sagna) we can really build a great squad that can challenge in the Champs Lge also.

Galvasean

Lads, I was away the weekend but only saw our team lineup now. Ramsey isn't injured is he?

Galvasean

Giroud 21 (16)
Ramsey 14 (9)
Podolski 12 (8)
Ozil 6 (4)
Cazorla 6 (4)
Walcott 6 (5)
Wilshere 5 (3)
Mertesacker 3 (2)
Rosicky 3 (2)
Arteta 3 (2)
Oxlade-Chamberlain 3 (2)
Flamini 2 (2)
Bendtner 2 (2)
Koscielny 1 (1)
Gnabry 1 (1)
Eisfeld 1 (0)
Sagna 1 (1)
Gibbs 1 (0)

greendom

Galvasean wrote: »

Lads, I was away the weekend but only saw our team lineup now. Ramsey isn't injured is he?

It was precautionary. I think I read that if 4th hadn't been secured before the game yesterday, Ramsey would have played.

greendom

I think Giroud has 16 league goals ?

wawaman

http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/catalan-press-arsenal-is-fabregas-priority-if-he-leaves-not-manch

Here's hoping!!