Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2016

Looper007

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Wenger has a problem buying..... It's a hang up, an issue IMO, but he just cannot do it. Until we get past that we are going to struggle with a lack of talent. The only way past that is for him to go.

And that's been Wenger's kryptonite for years now, it's become more of a issue it's become the thing that's dragging us down to mid table level. Even if he stays another year and with the criticism that will be coming his way with not stepping down (plenty of it), he might go out and buy but even then it be for average talent for bargain deal , youth players who won't come good for years if at all and one big buy to cover the glaring gaps Wenger won't buy in our squad. Wenger's wants to prove you don't win titles with spending big, his mindset will never move from that and until he's gone we be fighting to keep top 4.

Looper007

Looper007 wrote: »

And that's been Wenger's kryptonite for years now, it's become more of a issue it's become the thing that's dragging us down to mid table level. Even if he stays another year and with the criticism that will be coming his way with not stepping down (plenty of it), he might go out and buy but even then it be for average talent for bargain deal , youth players who won't come good for years if at all and one big buy to cover the glaring gaps Wenger won't buy in our squad. Wenger's wants to prove you don't win titles with spending big, his mindset will never move from that and until he's gone we be fighting to keep top 4.

Stopped reading after mid table level.

wandatowell

Cheers Utd, not a bad way to finish the weekends football

kevinroche3333

Where is Pochettino in yer next manager lists?
Got the most out of Southampton and getting the most out of Spurs, and as much as they are the enemy they play a style of football perfectly suited to the Premiership and players like Lamela, who was really looking like he wasnt going to settle before his arrival, has fitted in and collecting yellow cards for working hard and getting stuck in as well as contributing going forward.
They made us look second best for most of Saturdays match, and without hindsight a draw was a good result due to knowing they would be resilient on the day than flaky like years gone by.
Im a huge Wenger fan but i see change as a positive and if Pochettino took over i would see him get the most out of current squad, and that squad should be top of the pile this year at the moment.

greendom

kevinroche3333 wrote: »

Where is Pochettino in yer next manager lists?
Got the most out of Southampton and getting the most out of Spurs, and as much as they are the enemy they play a style of football perfectly suited to the Premiership and players like Lamela, who was really looking like he wasnt going to settle before his arrival, has fitted in and collecting yellow cards for working hard and getting stuck in as well as contributing going forward.
They made us look second best for most of Saturdays match, and without hindsight a draw was a good result due to knowing they would be resilient on the day than flaky like years gone by.
Im a huge Wenger fan but i see change as a positive and if Pochettino took over i would see him get the most out of current squad, and that squad should be top of the pile this year at the moment.

I agree with much of you said but once we weathered their early largely ineffectual storm on Sunday and scored ourselves we were well on top until Coquelin's rash tackle.

He wouldn't a bad shout to replace Wenger but it probably won't happen

Arghus

Still find myself thinking of that Ramsey chance at the death...

kevinroche3333

greendom wrote: »

I agree with much of you said but once we weathered their early largely ineffectual storm on Sunday and scored ourselves we were well on top until Coquelin's rash tackle.

He wouldn't a bad shout to replace Wenger but it probably won't happen

I'm not that interested in judging on one game though. Spurs on a whole have undoubtedly improved, this season they have been very competitive and getting the most out of their players. That's all fans can really hope for and I don't feel that at Arsenal.
I'd rather judge a team on the whole rather than just at their best. Arsenal at their best would be top of this league for sure. It is motivation and organisation more than ability and Pochettino has done that at more than one club now and at more than one club in this league.
Bringing in those who have never managed in the Premiership is an underestimated risk. The premier league is different from Spain Germany etc and I cringe a bit sometimes at managers from those leagues being named because they are half decent and half available.

Mr Blobby

kevinroche3333 wrote: »

Where is Pochettino in yer next manager lists?
Got the most out of Southampton and getting the most out of Spurs, and as much as they are the enemy they play a style of football perfectly suited to the Premiership and players like Lamela, who was really looking like he wasnt going to settle before his arrival, has fitted in and collecting yellow cards for working hard and getting stuck in as well as contributing going forward.
They made us look second best for most of Saturdays match, and without hindsight a draw was a good result due to knowing they would be resilient on the day than flaky like years gone by.
Im a huge Wenger fan but i see change as a positive and if Pochettino took over i would see him get the most out of current squad, and that squad should be top of the pile this year at the moment.

He'd be fairly high on my wanted list.

keano_afc

Arghus wrote: »

Still find myself thinking of that Ramsey chance at the death...

Took too long on it. Super tackle in fairness.

tayto lover

keano_afc wrote: »

Took too long on it. Super tackle in fairness.

Yep and should have got his body between the player and the ball.

Ciaran_B

Arghus wrote: »

Still find myself thinking of that Ramsey chance at the death...

Ramsey from two season back would have buried that. I was screaming at him to shoot.

Quazzie

kevinroche3333 wrote: »

I'm not that interested in judging on one game though. Spurs on a whole have undoubtedly improved, this season they have been very competitive and getting the most out of their players. That's all fans can really hope for and I don't feel that at Arsenal.
I'd rather judge a team on the whole rather than just at their best. Arsenal at their best would be top of this league for sure. It is motivation and organisation more than ability and Pochettino has done that at more than one club now and at more than one club in this league.
Bringing in those who have never managed in the Premiership is an underestimated risk. The premier league is different from Spain Germany etc and I cringe a bit sometimes at managers from those leagues being named because they are half decent and half available.

Pochetino has done very well at Southampton, and despite a tepid start has done very well at Spurs. It remains to be seen where his level is though. Does he have it to make it as a league winning manager? Does he have what it takes to make a team consistent? If he won the league, how would he handle the pressure that comes with playing the season as Champions? Can he handle big egos at the club?
There are undoubtedly risks involved in bringing in managers from abroad but there are just as many risks involved in bringing a "proven" manager from within the league. Just look at United and Moyes as a reference.

omega man

Arghus wrote: »

Still find myself thinking of that Ramsey chance at the death...

We've missed far worse all season and threw away points at way easier fixtures. That's what keeps me awake!

MonsterCookie

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/fixtures

So if we do manage to beat Hull tomorrow, do we really have 2 matches within 24 hours of each other as the fixture list suggests or will the cup match move?

Home to West Brom in the BPL at 17.30 Saturday
Home to Watford in the FS Cup at 13.30 Sunday

wonga77

Why do people think Viera would be a good appointment as manager? Has he done something at club level that im not aware of?

MonsterCookie

Arghus wrote: »

Still find myself thinking of that Ramsey chance at the death...

Yeah, I know. But to be fair, he scored a cracker that he shouldn't probably have scored.

Awesomeness

MonsterCookie wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/fixtures

So if we do manage to beat Hull tomorrow, do we really have 2 matches within 24 hours of each other as the fixture list suggests or will the cup match move?

Home to West Brom in the BPL at 17.30 Saturday
Home to Watford in the FS Cup at 13.30 Sunday

The league game will be moved

ronjo

MonsterCookie wrote: »

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/fixtures

So if we do manage to beat Hull tomorrow, do we really have 2 matches within 24 hours of each other as the fixture list suggests or will the cup match move?

Home to West Brom in the BPL at 17.30 Saturday
Home to Watford in the FS Cup at 13.30 Sunday

Yep we have to play both. FA are trying to make sure we dont win 3 in a row

ronjo

wonga77 wrote: »

Why do people think Viera would be a good appointment as manager? Has he done something at club level that im not aware of?

He has a 100% success rate as manager !

Only one game mind you...

jester77

Finally calmed down from Coq losing the plot. There must have been something in the air this weekend as he wasn't the only one to lose the plot. Gives a bit of breathing room to Utd. He probably cost us 3 points, we were looking solid enough in the 2nd half until the sending off.

8 points off Leicester now, hard to see us making up the difference with the way we are playing. Leicester are grinding out results, hard to see them dropping more than 10-12 points. We would need to win nearly every game now to be in contention.

Jaafa

Not to reignite hope or anything but just for discussion's sake, leicester's last few fixtures are West Ham (H), Swansea (H), ManU (A), Everton (H) and Chelsea (A). There's a fair points they could drop there. Now if only we could find some form...

Ol' Donie

Jaafa wrote: »

Not to reignite hope or anything but just for discussion's sake, leicester's last few fixtures are West Ham (H), Swansea (H), ManU (A), Everton (H) and Chelsea (A). There's a fair points they could drop there. Now if only we could find some form...

I looked at our remaining fixtures earlier.

I know, I know...

But we should win most of them. If we found some form, the games against West Ham & City could be tough, but the rest...if we found some form...

Better beat Hull. That's all I'm saying.

keano_afc

Might be in the minority here but this season I couldnt give a shiny one about the FA Cup. Winning the league is all I care about.

batistuta9

Jaafa wrote: »

Not to reignite hope or anything but just for discussion's sake, leicester's last few fixtures are West Ham (H), Swansea (H), ManU (A), Everton (H) and Chelsea (A). There's a fair points they could drop there. Now if only we could find some form...

Another 17 points will win Leicester the league I reckon.

omega man

keano_afc wrote: »

Might be in the minority here but this season I couldnt give a shiny one about the FA Cup. Winning the league is all I care about.

Kind of agree. If City were to go on a run and win the title then winning the FA would be acceptable. However if Leicester or Spurs win then it would be of little to no consolation.

cson

Nothing to stop us going on a run either if we can be positive. That Barcelona game murdered us; had we played with the intensity we had in that match for Swansea/United/Spurs we'd have blown the 3 of them away.

Has Arteta been reported missing yet too?! He's literally vanished, not even listed as injured on the website.

Last thought; chunky rebuilding job on in the summer in terms of midfielders, we'll be losing Flamini, Arteta and Rosicky. Granted the latter two haven't played at all they are experienced heads who'd have had a big influence on the training pitch. Ospina will be gone too but I think Emi Martinez will fill that fine. Woj is gone. Debuchy will also be sold so I wonder if we'll see Jenkinson come back permanently as cover? Interesting times.

Bobby Baccala

cson wrote: »

Nothing to stop us going on a run either if we can be positive. That Barcelona game murdered us; had we played with the intensity we had in that match for Swansea/United/Spurs we'd have blown the 3 of them away.

Has Arteta been reported missing yet too?! He's literally vanished, not even listed as injured on the website.

Last thought; chunky rebuilding job on in the summer in terms of midfielders, we'll be losing Flamini, Arteta and Rosicky. Granted the latter two haven't played at all they are experienced heads who'd have had a big influence on the training pitch. Ospina will be gone too but I think Emi Martinez will fill that fine. Woj is gone. Debuchy will also be sold so I wonder if we'll see Jenkinson come back permanently as cover? Interesting times.

Ospina and Chesney won't both be leaving. It'll be one or the other.

Dirty Dingus McGee

An article from todays Irish Independent defending Wenger that I'm sure a lot of fans here will agree with.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/aidan-ohara-if-arsenal-win-the-league-ranieri-should-be-sacked-34516724.html

Aidan O'Hara: If Arsenal win the league, Ranieri should be sacked
Outside the box

This column's favourite 'Wenger Out-Rage' moment came a few seasons ago when an irate caller rang Today's FM's phone-in show, after Arsenal had lost against a team they probably shouldn't have, to demand that Arsene Wenger be sacked.

"And who do you think should replace him?" he was asked. "The dream team of Dennis Bergkamp and Martin Keown," was his response.

It's very difficult to argue with such an opinion simply because there is so much wrong with it that the brain becomes over-loaded trying to compute a response.

The current theory that Wenger should be sacked if Leicester win the Premier League isn't quite at the level of stupidity that thinks a legendary player and a pundit - who says absolutely nothing but in a very intense way - would make a managerial "dream team" for Arsenal, but it's pretty close.
If Leicester win the league, why stop at Wenger when it comes to sacking managers?

On that basis, Mauricio Pochettino must be under severe pressure given Tottenham's failure of the last week to put any pressure on Leicester when they had the chance to take control of the title race.
Superior

Going into last Wednesday's game against West Ham, Tottenham knew they could be three points clear at the top of the table and with a far superior goal difference by the time Leicester played again on Saturday evening.
At Upton Park, they were dreadful for 45 minutes and were lucky to be only 1-0 down before improving in the second half but still coming up short.
On Saturday, they led 2-1 at home with 15 minutes to go against their most bitter rivals with another chance to go top of the league in March for the first time since 1964 while playing against 10 men. The momentum was with them and they froze in a way that, if it had happened to Arsenal, would have caused an online meltdown. If Leicester win the league, Pochettino must go too.

Roberto Martinez has the league's second leading goalscorer and two of England's brightest prospects making up the spine of his team but his team are 22 points behind Leicester. Sack him.

Stoke spent millions in the last two seasons on the likes of Shaqiri and Bojan and might well finish in their highest ever Premier League position but they'll still be several places below a team who have Wes Morgan and the lynchpin of their defence. Mark Hughes must go.

On the "if Leicester win the league" logic, Slaven Bilic must also be feeling the heat even if West Ham are currently just a point outside the Champions League places with a team that are among the most entertaining to watch in the division. Last season, under Sam Allardyce, they finished six points ahead of Leicester but now trail them by 11 - if Wenger Pochettino, Martinez and Hughes are going, Bilic must be close too.

There is plenty of legitimate criticism around Wenger's Arsenal reign but even after showing enough spirit and quality to turn the tide against Tottenham, one prominent English journalist still "couldn't help but feel that Arsenal had blown it".

Perhaps one day Wenger will take apart the arguments one by one but he is on a four-game winless run so it isn't the time to come out swinging, which must be difficult given his consistent desire to apply logic to every situation.
As well as picking apart the 'Leicester winning the league' theory, the argument that Arsenal lack leaders of the past could be picked apart by a couple of examples of what happened when those leaders were there. Wenger is the common denominator to everything but when Arsenal had a leader like Dennis Bergkamp, he missed a penalty in an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United that would have ended their ambitions of a treble.
In the same game, leader Patrick Vieira passed the ball straight to Ryan Giggs, who ran past leader Lee Dixon, leader Tony Adams didn't even put in a tackle, leader David Seaman made himself small and Giggs smashed it past him.

In the same year, Arsenal and United produced a stunning run of results in the league but Arsenal blinked first when losing to Leeds in the second last game of the season and handed the initiative back to United - even with the presence of their now long-lamented leaders.

Two years later in cup final, the same players were involved when Arsenal battered Liverpool but couldn't deal with a long ball over the top as Michael Owen nipped in and won the cup.

These were all great players who, like Wenger, had more credit in the bank because of their previous successes but the notion that Arsenal didn't lose games, league titles and major trophies when their team was packed full of the leaders they are now constantly criticised for not having is nonsense.
If Wenger was really in the mood for cheap shots at the long line of club legends criticising him, he could point to Thierry Henry's inability to convert a one-on-one in the Champions League final against Barcelona when Henry next laments Wenger's current crop lacking a killer instinct.

Of course, after three defeats and a draw in their last four games, Wenger isn't in a position of strength but if Arsenal manage to time this particularly crisis well, they could still win the league for the first time in 12 years.
To do that, they will have to overhaul an eight-point deficit on Leicester with nine games remaining - if Arsenal win the league from there, maybe Claudio Ranieri should be sacked too.

Aidan O'Hara
Irish Independent Sport
07/03/2016

WoollyRedHat

Sorry but his logic is rather weak. Arsenal were best placed to take advantage of other teams failings and failed to Capitalise, now sitting 8 points from the summit. It doesn't matter if Leicester drop down a bit, their rise will still be seen as truly astronomical.

wonga77

That article is a crock of sh1t imo.
You cannot possibly compare Wenger to what Pochettino, Ranieri, Bilic or what anyone else has done in their time at their clubs.
People want Wenger out because his teams are making the same mistakes the last few years, obvious holes not being plugged, naive tactics, strange substitutions, over loyalty to players etc etc
Tottenham, Leicester, West Ham are having great seasons exceding their expectations. We are stuck in a time warp seeing the same mistakes and paterns, thats why people want change.
If thats a pro Wenger arguement then its a weak one

Dirty Dingus McGee

wonga77 wrote: »

That article is a crock of sh1t imo.
You cannot possibly compare Wenger to what Pochettino, Ranieri, Bilic or what anyone else has done in their time at their clubs.
People want Wenger out because his teams are making the same mistakes the last few years, obvious holes not being plugged, naive tactics, strange substitutions, over loyalty to players etc etc
Tottenham, Leicester, West Ham are having great seasons exceding their expectations. We are stuck in a time warp seeing the same mistakes and paterns, thats why people want change.
If thats a pro Wenger arguement then its a weak one

I thought it was complete and utter bull as well.The kind of sh1te written for the sake of being different rather than having any substance to it.

keano_afc

That article is horse hockey. Kind of shyte I'd expect to read from Robbie Savage or Harry Redknapp.

greendom

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Sorry but his logic is rather weak. Arsenal were best placed to take advantage of other teams failings and failed to Capitalise, now sitting 8 points from the summit. It doesn't matter if Leicester drop down a bit, their rise will still be seen as truly astronomical.

I think Chelsea, having just won the league, City and United, having spent countless millions were all better placed than Arsenal.

I thought it was quite clever article poking a bit of fun.

Kirby

greendom wrote: »

I think Chelsea, having just won the league, City and United, having spent countless millions were all better placed than Arsenal.

I thought it was quite clever article poking a bit of fun.

Chelsea didn't really buy much last summer. Mourinho apparently had targets and the club wouldn't pony up for them.

greendom

Kirby wrote: »

Chelsea didn't really buy much last summer. Mourinho apparently had targets and the club wouldn't pony up for them.

Yes agreed but Chelsea were in a strong position as they had just won the league

Kirby

cson wrote: »

Woj is gone.

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

Ospina and Chesney won't both be leaving. It'll be one or the other.

Chesney will be staying. He has homegrown status, Ospina does not. There is a reason he was loaned out and wasn't sold.

Dirty Dingus McGee

greendom wrote: »

I think Chelsea, having just won the league, City and United, having spent countless millions were all better placed than Arsenal.

I thought it was quite clever article poking a bit of fun.

If those teams all performed well, but they haven't and their managers are paying for it.

City are replacing their manager
Mourinho was sacked.
Van Gaal is under constant pressure and more than likely won't be there next season.

It was all set up for Arsenal this season and if they don't win it it's massive lost opportunity blown and there really are no excuses for failure for a club the size of Arsenal this season.

greendom

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

If those teams all performed well, but they haven't and their managers are paying for it.

City are replacing their manager
Mourinho was sacked.
Van Gaal is under constant pressure and more than likely won't be there next season.

It was all set up for Arsenal this season and if they don't win it it's massive lost opportunity blown and there really are no excuses for failure for a club the size of Arsenal this season.

Mourinho managed to send one of the best equipped sides in the league into a complete nose divecwhich was only corrected by his departure.

Van Gaal spent the guts of 250 million on mediocrity.

I think Pochettino has been a little unlucky but City have taken the plunge on Guardiola. Be interesting to see how that works out.

Yes Arsenal should have performed better and serious questions will need to be asked if we miss out this year. Still I did enjoy reading that article

jonneymendoza

Is the game on at 7pm for real? why so early? usually its a 7:45 or 8pm kickoff for a mid week game

L'prof

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Is the game on at 7pm for real? why so early? usually its a 7:45 or 8pm kickoff for a mid week game

Yeah, 7pm on BT. No idea why.

mansize

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Is the game on at 7pm for real? why so early? usually its a 7:45 or 8pm kickoff for a mid week game

UEFA, they wanted it at 5.45, but settled for 7.

The FA got special dispensation to allow the match to go ahead on a champions league night

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/25/arsenal-hull-fa-cup-replay-8-march

jonneymendoza

Great so I will miss 1st half as i wont be back home till around half 7 at the earliest.

L'prof

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Great so I will miss 1st half as i wont be back home till around half 7 at the earliest.

Probably no harm, is it?

jonneymendoza

L'prof wrote: »

Probably no harm, is it?

lol true

Bobby Baccala

I'd like to see a lot of changes from Wenger tonight. The cup should not be our priority. I reckon we'll line up like this.

Ospina
Chambers Gab Mert Gibbs
Elneny Coq
Campbell iwobi Walcott
Giroud

Skylinehead

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

I'd like to see a lot of changes from Wenger tonight. The cup should not be our priority. I reckon we'll line up like this.

Ospina
Chambers Gab Mert Gibbs
Elneny Coq
Campbell iwobi Walcott
Giroud

Coquelin is suspended.

DeclanRe

P4DDY2K11 wrote: »

I'd like to see a lot of changes from Wenger tonight. The cup should not be our priority. I reckon we'll line up like this.

Ospina
Chambers Gab Mert Gibbs
Elneny Coq
Campbell iwobi Walcott
Giroud

Flamini is for Coq
And I'd put Sanchez in also

tayto lover

The Cup is no substitute for the League so I don't really care what team he sends out. The League is where it's at.
We will probably get a very strong team anyway as Wenger might think another Cup win will keep the fans off his back. It won't. though.

5star02707

saw arteta on training pics too he could be on the bench tonight? If we somehow win tonight it'll be another FA Cup game on the weekends.

gosplan

I'd absolutely play Sanchez and Elneny.