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

TimeToShine

Said it at the start of the summer that I'd be raging if we lined out in our first PL game with Giroud as our striker. It seems Wenger heard.

kronsington

It's very unlikely, we all know that.. But not impossible.. Reckon there might be a surprise or two yet.. What happened to all the talk of Bender???

salmocab

Really don't think Wenger has a forward in his plans, I still reckon on 2 signings but don't think he will be spending big on a striker, although Im sure he has the cash and would if the right player was offered for a snip.

emergingstar

Expected team tomorrow

Scez
Debuchy. Chambers. Kos. Monreal
Flamini. Ramsey
Sanchez. Ozil. Ox
Giroud

gosplan

wandatowell wrote: »

Id have every one of those strikers over the Arsenal pair baring Drogba.


Same problem that we've had for the last 2+ years.

Team is now strong except our piss weak strikers.

This is a point that people in their rush to point out the negatives often overlook.

In terms of first choice midfield and defence, we're significantly better than Pool and Utd and we pretty much have parity with Chelsea and City (though we've done it on a fraction of the budget).

It's obvious we need a striker but there's no much that can be done. The DMF hunt is straightforward - Carvalho, Sami K, Schneiderlin etc.

But the CF thing is so specific - we need a world class CF that can operate alone or with Giroud and play with proper pace.

That's such a small group, and while we can all look back at players like Higuain and Suarez who we probably could have gotten if we threw more money at it, the reality is that we are where we are and there isn't really a solution out there.

There is literally no-one we can realistically sign.

.jacksparrow.

emergingstar wrote: »

Expected team tomorrow

Scez
Debuchy. Chambers. Kos. Monreal
Flamini. Ramsey
Sanchez. Ozil. Ox
Giroud

Like the look of that, but a little bit vulnerable on the wings but its pretty much the best we have.

Is ozil match fit?

greendom

wandatowell wrote: »

Id have every one of those strikers over the Arsenal pair baring Drogba.


Same problem that we've had for the last 2+ years.

Team is now strong except our piss weak strikers.

Giroud contributes more to games than Dzeko imo. Costa still unproven. And Ballotelli ? Do me a favour !

greendom

Ox has been our most dangerous player in our last 2 matches. Has to start tomorrow.

Marty McFly

greendom wrote: »

Giroud contributes more to games than Dzeko imo. Costa still unproven. And Ballotelli ? Do me a favour !

Dzeko is not even City's first choice CF yet is is debatable who is better Giroud or Dzeko.

Costa unproven? I didn't realise scoring a lot of goals in la Liga counts as unproven that along with his good start to his Chelsea career.

Balotelli I'd have in a heartbeat and still leaves Liverpool with Balotelli and Sturridge much better options than our own up front.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Marty McFly wrote: »

Dzeko is not even City's first choice CF yet is is debatable who is better Giroud or Dzeko.

Costa unproven? I didn't realise scoring a lot of goals in la Liga counts as unproven that along with his good start to his Chelsea career.

Balotelli I'd have in a heartbeat and still leaves Liverpool with Balotelli and Sturridge much better options than our own up front.

In fairness, last year was the first year Costa scored a lot of goals in la liga. Not saying Giroud is better though. Would have liked any of those strikers

gandalf

Jaysus the sooner the transfer window closes the better!!!! Too much noise in here at the moment and bugger all substance!

Marty McFly

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

In fairness, last year was the first year Costa scored a lot of goals in la liga. Not saying Giroud is better though. Would have liked any of those strikers

True but still that along with the bright start to his Chelsea career I don't think people can write him off as unproven.

Maybe if we could say we have Giroud/someone else we might say even possibly we rival the other top teams.

But if were being honest Giroud would be on the bench of all our rivals teams.

Ed Winchester

I know we're not going to sign him, despite all the rumours and bull****. But how much would it cost to take Cavani away from PSG? They paid nearly 60m for him. They'd want to recoup most of that wouldn't they?

Its hard to see him going anywhere.

salmocab

The Khedira rumors just won't go away, its back on again for an apparent 12 million which seems very cheap to me. This would be brilliant but not going to hold my breath just yet, again.

shano_88

Id be very suprised if anyone is signed before the Besiktas game.

Mickeroo

emergingstar wrote: »

Expected team tomorrow

Scez
Debuchy. Chambers. Kos. Monreal
Flamini. Ramsey
Sanchez. Ozil. Ox
Giroud

Would love to see that team but I've a feeling it will be Santi on the left again

Spanish Johnny

shano_88 wrote: »

Id be very suprised if anyone is signed before the Besiktas game.

Agreed. I'm not going stressing myself until next Friday. Waste of time until then.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Mickeroo wrote: »

Would love to see that team but I've a feeling it will be Santi on the left again

Yeah probably be the case unfortunately.

Would definitely love to see Ox tearing into Besiktas at home on Wednesday though.

Paj

Spanish Johnny wrote: »

Agreed. I'm not going stressing myself until next Friday. Waste of time until then.

that's the truth - AW won't move until after Besiktas.

Let's hope we qualify.

shano_88

Mickeroo wrote: »

Would love to see that team but I've a feeling it will be Santi on the left again

I actually think Santi might not play. Played 90 minutes on Tuesday and most of the game Saturday. I can see it being Ox or Wilshere. Hopefully Ox.

omega man

gosplan wrote: »

This is a point that people in their rush to point out the negatives often overlook.

In terms of first choice midfield and defence, we're significantly better than Pool and Utd and we pretty much have parity with Chelsea and City (though we've done it on a fraction of the budget).

It's obvious we need a striker but there's no much that can be done. The DMF hunt is straightforward - Carvalho, Sami K, Schneiderlin etc.

But the CF thing is so specific - we need a world class CF that can operate alone or with Giroud and play with proper pace.

That's such a small group, and while we can all look back at players like Higuain and Suarez who we probably could have gotten if we threw more money at it, the reality is that we are where we are and there isn't really a solution out there.

There is literally no-one we can realistically sign.

Bar Sanchez we had the same midfield last year and that didn't work out great in top 4 games last season. Our creative midfielders (which is pretty much all of them) are crying out for a CF who will make runs and find the space. Giroud won't or can't do that. I've said it a number of times that we don't need a world class CF but just a decent one that'll push Giroud all the way. Surely to Christ there's one out there!!

farna_boy

omega man wrote: »

Bar Sanchez we had the same midfield last year and that didn't work out great in top 4 games last season. Our creative midfielders (which is pretty much all of them) are crying out for a CF who will make runs and find the space. Giroud won't or can't do that. I've said it a number of times that we don't need a world class CF but just a decent one that'll push Giroud all the way. Surely to Christ there's one out there!!

Why do people think that is the way a CF has to play? Giroud is not that type of player and yet two years in people still expect him to turn into Henry over night. It would be the same as signing Berbatov and then complaining he doesn't make enough runs behind the defense. Henry and Berbatov are both very effective strikers but have completely different styles. Giroud has a different style again and if our midfielders can adapt to his style and stop trying to treat him like an Henry type forward, he could be far more effective for us.

ronjo

Spanish Johnny wrote: »

Agreed. I'm not going stressing myself until next Friday. Waste of time until then.

Course you will Johnny..... We all will.

Just accept it

Alfred Borden

farna_boy wrote: »

Why do people think that is the way a CF has to play? Giroud is not that type of player and yet two years in people still expect him to turn into Henry over night. It would be the same as signing Berbatov and then complaining he doesn't make enough runs behind the defense. Henry and Berbatov are both very effective strikers but have completely different styles. Giroud has a different style again and if our midfielders can adapt to his style and stop trying to treat him like an Henry type forward, he could be far more effective for us.

But why should we compromise the skills of our midfielders by playing to his strengths and not theirs? No offence to Giroud but they are a few levels above him. Why sign Mezut Ozil and not play to his strengths? His strengths would offer us a lot more than Girouds.

wadacrack

Joel Campbell., Alexis Sanchex Theo Walcott three pacey options who could all play as a striker

Quazzie

wadacrack wrote: »

Joel Campbell., Alexis Sanchex Theo Walcott three pacey options who could all play as a striker

The problem isn't lack of depth, it's Wenger won't play that game.

farna_boy

Raf32 wrote: »

But why should we compromise the skills of our midfielders by playing to his strengths and not theirs? No offence to Giroud but they are a few levels above him. Why sign Mezut Ozil and not play to his strengths? His strengths would offer us a lot more than Girouds.

Well then you can't complain that he isn't scoring enough goals!

Gringo180

omega man wrote: »

Bar Sanchez we had the same midfield last year and that didn't work out great in top 4 games last season. Our creative midfielders (which is pretty much all of them) are crying out for a CF who will make runs and find the space. Giroud won't or can't do that. I've said it a number of times that we don't need a world class CF but just a decent one that'll push Giroud all the way. Surely to Christ there's one out there!!

Exactly the reason we should of been in for the likes of Remy or even Ba. Christ even a sneaky bid for Javier Hernandez, I think he would be great with us, makes very clever runs in the box.

DenMan

West Brom have just signed Samaras. They now have four strikers who all have different sides to their game. If they can do it then so can we!

Alfred Borden

linked to Welbeck......

Ed Winchester

Three names in the posts above that would have no place in our squad. Samaras, Hernandez and the worst of them all Welbeck. All useless.

Gringo180

Ed Winchester wrote: »

Three names in the posts above that would have no place in our squad. Samaras, Hernandez and the worst of them all Welbeck. All useless.

Hernandez isnt useless lets be honest now.

Gringo180

Ed Winchester wrote: »

Three names in the posts above that would have no place in our squad. Samaras, Hernandez and the worst of them all Welbeck. All useless.

Hernandez isnt useless lets be honest now.

Ed Winchester

Gringo180 wrote: »

Hernandez isnt useless lets be honest now.

He caught the eye in his first season, but has done squat since. There's a reason why he never plays for a struggling united team. Maybe i'm wrong, he's just a signing that wouldn't interest me at all.

Kerry Gooner

farna_boy wrote: »

Why do people think that is the way a CF has to play? Giroud is not that type of player and yet two years in people still expect him to turn into Henry over night. It would be the same as signing Berbatov and then complaining he doesn't make enough runs behind the defense. Henry and Berbatov are both very effective strikers but have completely different styles. Giroud has a different style again and if our midfielders can adapt to his style and stop trying to treat him like an Henry type forward, he could be far more effective for us.

Irrespective of whether you play with an Henry or Berbatov/Giroud type striker, the important thing is to play to their strengths. A quick striker requires good,early passers in the team while a more static type would require better movement and pace around him.
After almost ten years of selling our best player each year, it will take more than two (Ozil,Sanchez) marquee signings to bridge the gap.
The problem we face recently is that the overall team balance is not quite right, defensively vunerable and offensively threatening.
When spine of team is improved and balance between ball winners,passers and runners is rectified then we should be able to challenge with the elite.

Skylinehead

Hernandez isn't consistent enough or anywhere near good on the ball enough to play for us.

Gringo180

Ed Winchester wrote: »

He caught the eye in his first season, but has done squat since. There's a reason why he never plays for a struggling united team. Maybe i'm wrong, he's just a signing that wouldn't interest me at all.

Hard to get into the side with 2 world class strikers ahead of you, I am not saying he would be a world beater but he sure as hell would be a lot better to have playing than Sanogo or even Giroud for that matter. He will score goals and would be more of a threat in the box than what we have.

DenMan

Skylinehead wrote: »

Hernandez isn't consistent enough or anywhere near good on the ball enough to play for us.

I believe as a club we really need to address just who is good enough to play for Arsenal FC and what the clubs real ambitions are!

gandalf

From the highs of being linked with Cavani to the lows of being linked with Wellbeck. Just proves what a steaming pile of bollix all these rumours are!!

Kerry Gooner

DenMan wrote: »

I believe as a club we really need to address just who is good enough to play for Arsenal FC and what the clubs real ambitions are!

Clubs ambitions = Supporters ambitions ?

The tenth commandment of football supporters:

"Thou shall not covet thy rivals player as they are well sh*t and your team is greater than the sum of its parts."

king Henry 14

Look lads on deadline day last year Wenger tried to get Ba in on a season long loan. Therefore he knew we were short in the striker department. Since then we've had the January window and most of the summer window. There has been no striker bought in that twelve months which means either Wenger wants to stick with Giroud or he can't find (won't pay for) an upgrade. I just don't think there is any excuse for not adding to an area of the pitch that is so vital to winning games. We can buy midfielders till there coming out of our ears (and we do) but goals win games and without 2/3 quality strikers we won't win the league. It will be criminal not to get someone in before deadline day for the second year running.

Mr.Micro

Maybe it's just me, but we are near the end of the transfer window again and we, IMO are still lacking. It is so frustrating, to see other teams like City, Chelsea etc, all done and sorted. We need that one, or two players, who are going to be incisive and direct, as in that cutting edge. Dare I say it, a Fabregas or Zidane type player.

Muirshin Durkin

Are the Germans back for the Everton game?

HazDanz

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Maybe it's just me, but we are near the end of the transfer window again and we, IMO are still lacking. It is so frustrating, to see other teams like City, Chelsea etc, all done and sorted. We need that one, or two players, who are going to be incisive and direct, as in that cutting edge. Dare I say it, a Fabregas or Zidane type player.

Ozil. You won't get better in Europe.

Marty McFly

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Maybe it's just me, but we are near the end of the transfer window again and we, IMO are still lacking. It is so frustrating, to see other teams like City, Chelsea etc, all done and sorted. We need that one, or two players, who are going to be incisive and direct, as in that cutting edge. Dare I say it, a Fabregas or Zidane type player.

Huh we have Ozil??

HazDanz

Muirshin Durkin wrote: »

Are the Germans back for the Everton game?

I think Ozil will be playing. Need him back ASAP. Chambers is filling in nicely for Mert so might leave him off for another while.

Mr.Micro

Skylinehead wrote: »

Hernandez isn't consistent enough or anywhere near good on the ball enough to play for us.

I would not turn Hernandez down if the price was right.

Mr.Micro

Marty McFly wrote: »

Huh we have Ozil??

Still had to prove it IMO. Would be no harm to have a back up to him as well.

Ed Winchester

Gringo180 wrote: »

Hard to get into the side with 2 world class strikers ahead of you, I am not saying he would be a world beater but he sure as hell would be a lot better to have playing than Sanogo or even Giroud for that matter. He will score goals and would be more of a threat in the box than what we have.

Hernandez is not better than Giroud. Not by a long way. I disagree there completely.