Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15

byrneg28

Gringo180 wrote: »

Im heading in 2 weeks with the missis to the Villa game, it was 108 sterling for our tickets, flights cost 145 for us and hotel 160. Thats 2 nights btw. Really looking forward to heading over.

And not just for the football. Eh, eh , know what I'm saying??

Gringo180

byrneg28 wrote: »

And not just for the football. Eh, eh , know what I'm saying??

Oh you better believe it, definitely a spot of shopping too :pac:

Quazzie

Funny how some people who are defending a striker with a 1 in 19 record for us are the same ones who wanted a striker with a 1 in 4 record for us gone.

Alfred Borden

Quazzie wrote: »

Funny how some people who are defending a striker with a 1 in 19 record for us are the same ones who wanted a striker with a 1 in 4 record for us gone.

One was free with little first team experience. The other cost 16 million and has already failed at a big club. Im not one of those though, I like Welbeck, just very frustrating.

Quazzie

Raf32 wrote: »

One was free with little first team experience. The other cost 16 million and has already failed at a big club. Im not one of those though, I like Welbeck, just very frustrating.

I was referring to Podolski.

Alfred Borden

Quazzie wrote: »

I was referring to Podolski.

Apologies, my mistake.

Quazzie

Raf32 wrote: »

Apologies, my mistake.

I probably should've made it clearer.

yipeeeee

Still feels strange sometimes when I realise welbeck plays for us.

Gringo180

Strange signing Podolski was. He was never going to fit into our system, too slow to be a winger, fine striker but needs another man up front with him.

Ol' Donie

efb wrote: »

I think Özil has done very well

He has. And I'm starting to get fed up with people bitching about him.

Gonna hound one of of our best players out of the club.

And then bitch that Wenger let him go.

Ozil and Alexis are gonna click over the next few games, and we'll batter nearly everybody.

extra gravy

Ol' Donie wrote: »

He has. And I'm starting to get fed up with people bitching about him.

Gonna hound one of of our best players out of the club.

And then bitch that Wenger let him go.

Ozil and Alexis are gonna click over the next few games, and we'll batter nearly everybody.

I think most knowledgable Arsenal fans appreciate Ozil and know that he's not the failure he's been portrayed to be by the media and fans of other teams. Di Maria was absolute dirt for United on Sunday and nothing was said about it but if Ozil put in a performance that bad he would be hung out to dry by the so called critics.

Reid out of west ham game with an 'ankle injury'

kronsington

Haven't been looking at this thread much recently or obsessing over papers, transfer rumours and here in canada I don't have or want sky sports news (thank god) but it's looking like another frustrating transfer window for us. We have such a peculiar and weird transfer policy... Hopefully we get some reinforcements that aren't just a 17 year old novice who will add nothing to our first team squad or an injured swede

niallo27

extra gravy wrote: »

I think most knowledgable Arsenal fans appreciate Ozil and know that he's not the failure he's been portrayed to be by the media and fans of other teams. Di Maria was absolute dirt for United on Sunday and nothing was said about it but if Ozil put in a performance that bad he would be hung out to dry by the so called critics.

He was one of Wenger's first major money signings since the stadium build. He was always going to be under the spotlight.

kronsington

Really, really, hope Ozil steps up now.. NOW is the time for him.. The spotlight is no longer on him solely in terms of world class players so we have Sanchez doing the business.. It'd be great to just even see him, Walcott and Alexis on the pitch together. So many people think in black and white terms. Of course Ozil has not delivered as much as we all want but he hasn't been a resounding failure like some like to portray. Step it now mesut!

Jaafa

Reid if he comes will do the job until summer, hopefully we get Merts replacement then.

tayto lover

Jaafa wrote: »

Reid if he comes will do the job until summer, hopefully we get Merts replacement then.

That does not make sense.
Why or when did Wenger ever buy a stop-gap player?
Whoever he buys will be a proper Cb and not a gap filler.
Wenger is long enough in the game to get this right.
I don't think Reed is the player for us. We can do much better and i'd say Wenger knows it.

shano_88

Id be dissapointed with Reid. Not good enough from what Ive seen.


Jenkinson whipped in a peno in the shootout tonight.

brianregan09

Wenger has bought loads of stop gaps....Silvestre, Squillachi to name a few, Andre Santos

byrneg28

brianregan09 wrote: »

Wenger has bought loads of stop gaps....Silvestre, Squillachi to name a few, Andre Santos

Pascal f***in cygan

Marcus Antonius

brianregan09 wrote: »

Wenger has bought loads of stop gaps....Silvestre, Squillachi to name a few, Andre Santos

Agree with Silvestre. Squilachi was a total flop (well they all were) but he was rated at the time (he was playing for a good team in La Liga) and Santos was part of the panic buy on the back of the 8-2 demolishing we had.

I hope he goes out and buys a tried and tested defender (Reid would be OK but we could/should do better) who can slot into the starting line up but I'm not holding my breath. It's only mid-transfer window though.

emmetlego

When you think back to the last transfer window and all the posturing over Falcao to United, what he's cost them to bring on loan etc... He hasn't exactly set the world alight... We're paying Danny a fraction of what he's costing United, and he's got double his goals if I'm not mistaken...

I remember a whole host of toys being flung from prams over not going for Falcao and then Balotelli... Looks like Wenger knows a thing or two when it comes to transfers!!! On the subject of which, not many rumours doing the rounds about our potential signings... Very oddly quiet! Apart from the young DM, it's eerily quiet!!'

keano_afc

emmetlego wrote: »

When you think back to the last transfer window and all the posturing over Falcao to United, what he's cost them to bring on loan etc... He hasn't exactly set the world alight... We're paying Danny a fraction of what he's costing United, and he's got double his goals if I'm not mistaken...

I remember a whole host of toys being flung from prams over not going for Falcao and then Balotelli... Looks like Wenger knows a thing or two when it comes to transfers!!! On the subject of which, not many rumours doing the rounds about our potential signings... Very oddly quiet! Apart from the young DM, it's eerily quiet!!'

I suppose over the years he's certainly done more right than wrong. Hard to forget the mishaps though, relying on Almunia for too long so Ches could come through, not paying the extra for Xabi Alonso and letting Gilberto, Diarra and Flamini leave at the same time without replacing them. I dont think anyone here is of the opinion that Wenger is a compete arse when it comes to transfers, but he's certainly not the force he once was.

Ken Shamrock

Yes Wenger knew that Welbeck would out perform Falcao this year... Thus making Wenger a Transfer Maestro.

GavRedKing

You've also got to take into account that Falcao has only played about 600mins for Utd and managed 3 league goals, not great by any standards but in that time hes only started 2 league games. Either hes not fully recovered and may never reach those levels again or LVG isnt using him correctly.

One thing that would put me off him though is the injury hes trying to come back from is a huge one and it would be a huge risk to pay that money for any CF let alone one carrying such a big risk.

greendom

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Yes Wenger knew that Welbeck would out perform Falcao this year... Thus making Wenger a Transfer Maestro.

He's better than some give him credit for anyway.

Ken Shamrock

greendom wrote: »

He's better than some give him credit for anyway.

He buys some gems no doubt. But overall I think he's rather poor, in the last 5 years anyway.

Drexel

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

He buys some gems no doubt. But overall I think he's rather poor, in the last 5 years anyway.

Whos been better? Every club has transfers that dont work out. Look at the business Liverpool and Spurs have done in recent times. Without Wenger I suspect we would have similar records

Muirshin Durkin

jonny666 wrote: »

Whos been better? Every club has transfers that dont work out. Look at the business Liverpool and Spurs have done in recent times. Without Wenger I suspect we would have similar records

And we don't know what budget hes been under.

Ken Shamrock

jonny666 wrote: »

Whos been better? Every club has transfers that dont work out. Look at the business Liverpool and Spurs have done in recent times. Without Wenger I suspect we would have similar records

I'm not talking about transfers that don't work out, I'm talking about lack of transfers in the positions that matter most. Pure and utter neglect, I swear everyone's back licking Wenger's arse again...

He buys so few players and for the most part they are all average, then you have the poor ones and every now and then you have a gem, but even at that he still neglects vital positions, DM,CB even GK could be argued in the last few years.

Evidently most teams do better business than Arsene hence why we've never won the CL and the last time we won the league was 2004. Hence why we struggle for form every year and constantly play players out of position game after game, year after year.

We are ALWAYS left short and ALWAYS lack quality throughout the team.

byrneg28

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

He buys some gems no doubt. But overall I think he's rather poor, in the last 5 years anyway.

Transfers In, last 5 years...

Mathieu Debuchy (good buy)
Alexis Sánchez (excellent buy)
David Ospina (good value)
Calum Chambers (potential buy)
Danny Welbeck (good value )
Yaya Sanogo (hasn't proved much)
Mathieu Flamini (stop-gap, good for free)
Mesut Ozil (great buy, but not justifying price-tag for moment)
Lukas Podolski (good buy, got us goals)
Olivier Giroud (excellent buy in terms of value and quality)
Santi Cazorla (excellent buy)
Nacho Monreal (good buy, 2nd choice)
Carl Jenkinson (think this guy has the potential to be great)
Gervinho (good buy but flop)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (potential, starting to live up to it)
Joel Campbell (only 950,000 pounds, looks decent for pricetag)
Park Chu-Young (flop)
André Santos (flop)
Mikel Arteta (ageing now..but was good for the time)
Per Mertesacker (up and down signing)
Thomas Eisfeld (did nothing)
Marouane Chamakh (flop)
Kyle Ebecillo (who?)
Laurent Koscielny (the best signing Wenger has made 10 million pounds - bargain imo)
Sebastien Squillaci (flop)
Ryo Miyaichi (convinced he's a flop)

I mean there's a few flops (but there always has been), but the majority are great buys in my opinion Sanchez for starts, Koscielny and Giroud (bargains at 10m and 12m respectively), a few players in there who were good buys but didn't live up to potential Gervinho most notably.

EDIT:

Just read your above post, yes I agree he doesn't buy in correct positions, I think he's great in the market but not for the overall well-being of his squad.

Ken Shamrock

You can also look at that list in another way:

GK:
Ospina...Avg

RB:
Jenk...Avg
Cham...Avg
deb...Good

CB:
Mert...Avg
Kosc...Great
Squillaci...Dirt

LB:
Monreal...Avg
Santos...Dirt

CDM:
Flam...Avg
Arteta...Good

CAM:
Ozil...Good
Caz...Good

Wingers:
Sanchez...Great
Podolski...Avg
Gervinho...Dirt
Chambo...Good
Ryo...Dirt

Strikers:
Welbeck...Avg
Sanogo...Dirt
Giroud...Good
Chamakh...Dirt
Park...Dirt
Campbell...Avg

Strikers and Wingers galore, most of them sh1te or average. DM position just stop gapped. CB neglected over 5 years, without Kosc we'd prob be finishing 8th. Even If Wenger bought 10 Great strikers and Wingers It's still bad business over a 5 year period when you look at the back and Middle of the park, and that's been reflected in our results.

Anyone else still not sold on Welbeck? 4 in 15 starts and a hat-trick in 4 starts in the CL.

Ken Shamrock

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone else still not sold on Welbeck? 4 in 15 starts and a hat-trick in 4 starts in the CL.

Been Dirt IMO. I expected as much tho.

Ken Shamrock

Benik Afobe sold to Wolves...http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150114/afobe-joins-wolverhampton-wanderers

Why build up these "Great youngsters" just to pawn them off when they begin to shine

9bred4

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Been Dirt IMO. I expected as much tho.

Lads, remember what Ramsey was like up until the leg break, players take time!! I'm still waiting it out for him to settle in, but I reckon he'll come good soon.

Ken Shamrock

9bred4 wrote: »

Lads, remember what Ramsey was like up until the leg break, players take time!! I'm still waiting it out for him to settle in, but I reckon he'll come good soon.

Here's hoping

greendom

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone else still not sold on Welbeck? 4 in 15 starts and a hat-trick in 4 starts in the CL.

Giroud suits our style much better

greendom

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Benik Afobe sold to Wolves...http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150114/afobe-joins-wolverhampton-wanderers

Why build up these "Great youngsters" just to pawn them off when they begin to shine

not good enough for a top 4 club?

Muirshin Durkin

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Benik Afobe sold to Wolves...http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150114/afobe-joins-wolverhampton-wanderers

Why build up these "Great youngsters" just to pawn them off when they begin to shine

Would he make it in our squad?

Nemeses2050

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

You can also look at that list in another way:

GK:
Ospina...Avg

RB:
Jenk...Avg
Cham...Avg
deb...Good

CB:
Mert...Avg
Kosc...Great
Squillaci...Dirt

LB:
Monreal...Avg
Santos...Dirt

CDM:
Flam...Avg
Arteta...Good

CAM:
Ozil...Good
Caz...Good

Wingers:
Sanchez...Great
Podolski...Avg
Gervinho...Dirt
Chambo...Good
Ryo...Dirt

Strikers:
Welbeck...Avg
Sanogo...Dirt
Giroud...Good
Chamakh...Dirt
Park...Dirt
Campbell...Avg

Strikers and Wingers galore, most of them sh1te or average. DM position just stop gapped. CB neglected over 5 years, without Kosc we'd prob be finishing 8th. Even If Wenger bought 10 Great strikers and Wingers It's still bad business over a 5 year period when you look at the back and Middle of the park, and that's been reflected in our results.

A good few of them are free/basement bargain signings and they're free/dirt cheap for a reason. When you buy them you're taking a chance, and with Little/No Money Wenger did great.

Ken Shamrock

greendom wrote: »

not good enough for a top 4 club?

Muirshin Durkin wrote: »

Would he make it in our squad?

Well we wouldn't know, Sanogo has been given more of a chance than Afobe when Afobe has proved that he is at the very least a decent Striker. 19 Goals in 30 games for MK Dons and a fantastic youth record.

My point is he's been sold without getting a chance, so why do we train them up to sell arguably our best prospect and keep the guys and PLAY the guys that are clearly below par.

9bred4

Nemeses2050 wrote: »

A good few of them are free/basement bargain signings and they're free/dirt cheap for a reason. When you buy them you're taking a chance, and with Little/No Money Wenger did great.

Still gotta pay wages

Ken Shamrock

Nemeses2050 wrote: »

A good few of them are free/basement bargain signings and they're free/dirt cheap for a reason. When you buy them you're taking a chance, and with Little/No Money Wenger did great.

:rolleyes:

Nemeses2050

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Benik Afobe sold to Wolves...http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150114/afobe-joins-wolverhampton-wanderers

Why build up these "Great youngsters" just to pawn them off when they begin to shine

mate you're contradicting yourself...On one hand you don't wanna give chance to Welbeck and then on other you're criticizing for selling Afobe, would you wait for a couple of years (it could be longer) for him to shine...

Nemeses2050

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

:rolleyes:

It's universal truth...

Ken Shamrock

Nemeses2050 wrote: »

mate you're contradicting yourself...On one hand you don't wanna give chance to Welbeck and then on other you're criticizing for selling Afobe, would you wait for a couple of years (it could be longer) for him to shine...

When did I say don't give Welbeck a chance? I'm not contradicting myself your making sh1t up... there's a difference.

I said I think Welbeck has been sh1t, someone said he will come good, I said I hope so. I didn't say don't play him he doesn't deserve a chance? Lol

And Afobe has already shined.

Ken Shamrock

Nemeses2050 wrote: »

It's universal truth...

Yes Arsenal are a poor club

greendom

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

Well we wouldn't know, Sanogo has been given more of a chance than Afobe when Afobe has proved that he is at the very least a decent Striker. 19 Goals in 30 games for MK Dons and a fantastic youth record.

My point is he's been sold without getting a chance, so why do we train them up to sell arguably our best prospect and keep the guys and PLAY the guys that are clearly below par.

both are pretty unproven at the top level. A manager has to make a judgement on players and decide who has a future with the club and who doesn't. Clearly he feels Sanogo has more of a chance of making it than Afobe.

Nemeses2050

9bred4 wrote: »

Still gotta pay wages

Yeah but they won't be commanding close to 100K or heck even more...