Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Notes in OP 24/08

Looper007

Mr Blobby wrote: »

So looks like Manolas is on for 11M.

Good Solid signing that. Are you 100% on your sources Mr Blobby

Looper007

bad2dabone wrote: »

In fairness to Burnley they try to play.

We'll destroy them

Good going forward but hopeless at the back. to be honest, they can't spend any money and most of their players are PL debutants.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Mr Blobby wrote: »

So looks like Manolas is on for 11M.

Source?

Drexel

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Going to be weird when chelsea come to the emirates

Do ya think he'll be booed?

I do

MaxPower89

jonny666 wrote: »

Do ya think he'll be booed?

I do

Of course he will!

Just the way it goes these days.

greendom

criminal....

greendom

criminal....

Alfred Borden

greendom wrote: »

criminal....

Giroud wouldnt get into any of City, Chelsea, United or Liverpool's starting 11s. Fair point?

wawaman

Raf32 wrote: »

Giroud wouldnt get into any of City, Chelsea, United or Liverpool's starting 11s. Fair point?

I'd say utd and Liverpool would happily have him at the minute

TimeToShine

Raf32 wrote: »

Giroud wouldnt get into any of City, Chelsea, United or Liverpool's starting 11s. Fair point?

TBH if he at least started Giroud I'd be a bit happier. Going with Sanogo even as a back-up is a complete joke. Chelsea have thrown aside about 5 strikers who are better than him in the past few years.

Ramsey got us out of jail the last time but we can't keep relying on midfielders to score our goals.

greendom

Raf32 wrote: »

Giroud wouldnt get into any of City, Chelsea, United or Liverpool's starting 11s. Fair point?

It's fairer than calling it criminal to having him in our team but I'd still take issue with it

He scored as many as Rooney last season and was superior to anyone Chelsea played up front last season. Costa is looking like a good purchase but its early days and even so Giroud is better than Drogba and Torres. I'd rather Giroud than Dzeko or Lambert so not particularly fair no.

Alfred Borden

greendom wrote: »

It's fairer than calling it criminal to having him in our team but I'd still take issue with it

He scored as many as Rooney last season and was superior to anyone Chelsea played up front last season. Costa is looking like a good purchase but is early days and Giroud is better than Drogba and Torres. I'd rather Giroud than Dzeko or Lambert so not particularly fair no.

Rooney played a lot less minutes and was in a terrible united team. Wouldnt even compare them. Costa is a far more accomplished player than Giroud and will hit 30 in all comps imo. Id much rather have Dzeko but i rate him extremely highly ( above Lewy, which many wont agree on). He is better tha Lambert but thats their second choice striker, hardly a level to aspire to?

extra gravy

Ibra out for 4-6 weeks...we can forget about Cavani, not that we were ever in for him anyway I'm sure.

greendom

Raf32 wrote: »

Rooney played a lot less minutes and was in a terrible united team. Wouldnt even compare them. Costa is a far more accomplished player than Giroud and will hit 30 in all comps imo. Id much rather have Dzeko but i rate him extremely highly ( above Lewy, which many wont agree on). He is better tha Lambert but thats their second choice striker, hardly a level to aspire to?

Giroud had to cope last season without any pace in the team . This was seen as a legitimate excuse for Ozil but not for Giroud.

Listen I'm not saying he's the greatest striker ever or that we couldn't find someone better as that is clearly not the case but calling his inclusion in the team criminal was a bit beyond the pale for me.

Alfred Borden

greendom wrote: »

Giroud had to cope last season without any pace in the team . This was seen as a legitimate excuse for Ozil but not for Giroud.

Listen I'm not saying he's the greatest striker ever or that we couldn't find someone better as that is clearly not the case but calling his inclusion in the team criminal was a bit beyond the pale for me.

Agreed criminal was way too harsh of wording. But i do think we can significantly improve on him and Arteta and failure to at least improve on one of them would have to be seen as a massive failure.

gosplan

This is going to happen every time Fabregas has a half decent game, isn't it?

HazDanz

Raf32 wrote: »

Agreed criminal was way too harsh of wording. But i do think we can significantly improve on him and Arteta and failure to at least improve on one of them would have to be seen as a massive failure.

That's a bit harsh. I think transfer wise we have done well this window.

If we get a CB in and that's us done it will be a very good transfer window. Get a quality DM or Striker in too and it's an excellent transfer window.

Alfred Borden

HazDanz wrote: »

That's a bit harsh. I think transfer wise we have done well this window.

If we get a CB in and that's us done it will be a very good transfer window. Get a quality DM or Striker in too and it's an excellent transfer window.

Priority was DM and Striker though and to end up with none of them would be terrible. Sanchez would be a massive plus but couldnt say it was a good window. Lets hope we get Manalos and one of a DM or striker.

emergingstar

Only in here could cesc playing well for Chelsea turn into a giroud is shît debate

Alfred Borden

emergingstar wrote: »

Only in here could cesc playing well for Chelsea turn into a giroud is shît debate

Chelsea strengthened in areas they were weak, surely its not too much to ask for us to strengthen in one of the two areas? :pac:

Mickeroo

Raf32 wrote: »

Priority was DM and Striker though and to end up with none of them would be terrible. Sanchez would be a massive plus but couldnt say it was a good window. Lets hope we get Manalos and one of a DM or striker.

We're not in for any strikers, pretty sure we'll see Sanchez up top at some stage or possibly Theo.

emergingstar

Mickeroo wrote: »

We're not in for any strikers, pretty sure we'll see Sanchez up top at some stage or possibly Theo.

This

With ox and theo on the wings

Alfred Borden

Mickeroo wrote: »

We're not in for any strikers, pretty sure we'll see Sanchez up top at some stage or possibly Theo.

Hopefully one of them works out up top and we will be sorted up there. Would just be a shame to leave ourselves short (DM) when we are so close.

Alfred Borden

emergingstar wrote: »

This

With ox and theo on the wings

I want that too, perfect front three, but dunno would wenger do it?

greendom

Raf32 wrote: »

Priority was DM and Striker though and to end up with none of them would be terrible. Sanchez would be a massive plus but couldnt say it was a good window. Lets hope we get Manalos and one of a DM or striker.

I'm going to take exception to the general belief that Arteta is not good enough. He was a mainstay in the team that conceded the fewest amount if goals at home last season. Our defence was good away in the main apart from those 3/4 matches that we all know about. Was it really exclusively Arteta's fault that those games were lost so heavily ? It felt to me that the team collectively were to blame and its unfair to single him out.

Mickeroo

Raf32 wrote: »

Hopefully one of them works out up top and we will be sorted up there. Would just be a shame to leave ourselves short (DM) when we are so close.

Yeah twitter seems to think we have CB sorted with manolas so hopefully the next 2 weeks will bring us a DM. I have a feeling interest in Khedira could be revived on the last day.

Alfred Borden

Mickeroo wrote: »

Yeah twitter seems to think we have CB sorted with manolas so hopefully the next 2 weeks will bring us a DM. I have a feeling interest in Khedira could be revived on the last day.

Khedira and Manolas and ill be happy. With Alexis up top, its a squad capable of winning the title.

Alfred Borden

greendom wrote: »

I'm going to take exception to the general belief that Arteta is not good enough. He was a mainstay in the team that conceded the fewest amount if goals at home last season. Our defence was good away in the main apart from those 3/4 matches that we all know about. Was it really exclusively Arteta's fault that those games were lost so heavily ? It felt to me that the team collectively were to blame and its unfair to single him out.

I love Arteta but he does seem to struggle in the bigger away games and in Europe. Great against most teams and would have a big part to play in the squad. I dont blame him solely for the big defeats, Wengers tactics, the players naivety, no pace to push opposing teams back, slowness of Arteta and Mert were all the reasons imo. With Debuchy being far more attacking minded than Sagna, im worried Mert will get exposed, so we need a DM or CM who can cover a lot of ground.

extra gravy

The bottom line at this stage is that we desperately need someone like Matic who has power and presence. Unfortunately, Arteta has neither and the big teams just walk all over him. I can see us getting hammered again in the big games. Signing Sanchez is all well and good but it won't stop us getting overran in midfield. We're still a lightweight team compared to City and Chelsea and until we deal with that glaring issue, we won't be winning the major trophies.

Godge

Raf32 wrote: »

Priority was DM and Striker though and to end up with none of them would be terrible. Sanchez would be a massive plus but couldnt say it was a good window. Lets hope we get Manalos and one of a DM or striker.

Priority one was to replace the departing Sagna, Vermaelen and Fabianski. This has been done with Debuchy, Chambers and Ospina.

Priority two was identified by Wenger as the lack of goals compared to the top two. This can be done in several ways - better goal scorers, better goal creators. This was done through Sanchez and Campbell.

Priority three was to upgrade DM position. Still time.

extra gravy

A quick comparison:

Matic: 6' 4", 13 st
Yaya: 6' 3", 14 st
Khedira: 6' 2", 13 st
Carvalho: 6' 1", 12 st

Arteta: 5' 10", 10 st

Of course it doesn't boil down to physique alone but all those players are arguably also technically better than Arteta. There's still time but I'm losing hope...

Fuzzy_Dunlop

I have a feeling a midfielder will be signed suddenly at or near deadline day in a similar way to Ozil last season (but obviously not as high profile). We have options and one of them is bound to become more viable.

Manolas does seem to be the CB we're most likely to sign. He sounds promising, similar type of defender to Kos is what I have read.

Soups123

We'd have all agreed in May that as well as replacing what we lost we needed to improve in two positions DM and CF.

Raf is right in that regard, I get some want to take the glass is half full approach but if we don't atleast get a good DM option in I would see it as glass 3qtr full

Quazzie

Soups123 wrote: »

We'd have all agreed in May that as well as replacing what we lost we needed to improve in two positions DM and CF.

Raf is right in that regard, I get some want to take the glass is half full approach but if we don't atleast get a good DM option in I would see it as glass 3qtr full

So you think a DM makes us worse?

omega man

extra gravy wrote: »

A quick comparison:

Matic: 6' 4", 13 st
Yaya: 6' 3", 14 st
Khedira: 6' 2", 13 st
Carvalho: 6' 1", 12 st

Arteta: 5' 10", 10 st

Of course it doesn't boil down to physique alone but all those players are arguably also technically better than Arteta. There's still time but I'm losing hope...

Khedira isn't a DM in any shape or form. Either is Arteta by any stretch of the imagination.

I would like to see chambers fill the role this season assuming we don't buy a ready made proven DM. We'll need a proper DM for the big away games at city, Chelsea and pool etc otherwise there'll be little change to last seasons results.....

Soups123

Quazzie wrote: »

So you think a DM makes us worse?

3 qtrs is more than a half full glass?

I think a CF and DM makes us definite title challenges, that's the full glass!

I think a DM and a great season by Giroud/Sanchez would do the job too obviously

shano_88

No way is Arteta 10 stone!

Fuzzy_Dunlop

omega man wrote: »

Khedira isn't a DM in any shape or form. Either is Arteta by any stretch of the imagination.

I would like to see chambers fill the role this season assuming we don't buy a ready made proven DM. We'll need a proper DM for the big away games at city, Chelsea and pool etc otherwise there'll be little change to last seasons results.....

If you think one player/position is the reason for them results you're very mistaken.

Khedira isn't a dm in the makelele style of things but he does have defensive attributes that could be utilised as the more defensive player in a system with 2 box to box midfielders. He's certainly more defensive than yaya

UnknownSpecies

shano_88 wrote: »

No way is Arteta 10 stone!

I would have guessed 11-11.5 myself.

extra gravy

shano_88 wrote: »

No way is Arteta 10 stone!

That's what it says on Soccerbase and premierleague.com but he may have put on more since he bulked up a bit during the summer.

the untitled user

Godge wrote: »

Priority two was identified by Wenger as the lack of goals compared to the top two pace. This can be done in several ways - better goal scorers, better goal creators. This was done through Sanchez and Campbell.

Pace was the main thing, with Walcott and Ramsey out together last season we had no one making any quick runs into the opposition box. Sanchez and Campbell have the potential to make a big difference to the team's overall effectiveness against compact defenses. For example, a little diagonal darting run to drag a defender could be what lets Arteta/Cazorla shoot from deep.

Overall, this Arsenal squad has plenty of goals in the side, it's just disproportionately skewed towards the midfield much more so than other years. Along with Ramsey, all of Cazorla, Arteta & Ozil have all hit double digits before in their careers. And there's still Pod, Walcott and now Sanchez doing the same from the wings.

Now that I think on it, Arsenal have potentially 8 players who could hit double digits this season, and another 6-10 to come from our CB pairing. That's as even a spread as I ever remember coming across before...

http://www.independent.ie/sport/puma-score-embarrassing-own-goal-with-disastrous-marketing-campaign-30517016.html



/Giroud Debate :pac:

gosplan

What is this overrun bull****?

Are people really saying that being 4-0 down inside 20 mins at Liverpool and Chelsea was Arteta's fault?

Two years ago we couldn't win a game without him in the team.

Whoever takes over from Arteta has to first worry about being able to do the huge amount he does rather than the small amount he doesn't.

Marty McFly

Log on see a shiit load of pages get excited see it's just a ****load of whinging basically about s player who left us years ago who arguably wouldn't even make Our starting eleven but sure we can pigeon hole him in DM.

FFS.

I can see this being a season long pattern by some.

Worry about the players who wear the Jersey not those that have or could have worn it.

gosplan

Marty McFly wrote: »

Log on see a shiit load of pages get excited see it's just a ****load of whinging basically about s player who left us years ago who arguably wouldn't even make Our starting eleven but sure we can pigeon hole him in DM.

FFS.

I can see this being a season long pattern by some.

Worry about the players who wear the Jersey not those that have or could have worn it.

Spot the guy up at 4 changing nappies!

ronjo

Marty McFly wrote: »

Log on see a shiit load of pages get excited see it's just a ****load of whinging basically about s player who left us years ago who arguably wouldn't even make Our starting eleven but sure we can pigeon hole him in DM.

FFS.

I can see this being a season long pattern by some.

Worry about the players who wear the Jersey not those that have or could have worn it.

Did the exact same myself.
Saw there was a sh*t load of pages since I last logged in so purposely avoided any other internet pages till I read all.

What a gobsh*te I am :D

Frisbee

The website seems to say that the game is only on Arsenal Player tonight. Correct?

batistuta9

Frisbee wrote: »

The website seems to say that the game is only on Arsenal Player tonight. Correct?

no, it's on ITV or TV3 (if you're unfortunate enough :pac:)

second leg RTE + sky

Frisbee

Awesome, herself is out from 8 onwards so this one is a freebie

Quazzie

I think I'm gonna try the plan someone suggested earlier on and let the young fella stay up late tonight to watch the match.

Here's hoping it works