Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017 *Warnings see OP-updated 09/05/17*

Quazzie

Mr.H wrote: »

I think the issue is that when arsenal fans celebrated a top 4 finish it was when they should have been pushing on for a title challenge. Finishing top 4 was not an achievement when they were a top 4 side.

Can you point out one example of this please.

Mr.H

Quazzie wrote:

Can you point out one example of this please.

Ah come on now I am not here trying to throw petty digs.

We all know examples of what I am referring to. Pipping spurs to 4th. Calling 4th more important than winning a trophy.

I am not saying you celebrated rather than the misconception that it was seen as an achievement.

Quazzie

Mr.H wrote: »

Calling 4th more important than winning a trophy.

4th was/is more important than winning some trophies. League Cup being a perfect example. The FA cup has some history to it, so still retains some importance, but any side in the EPL would gladly give up a League cup win for a 4th spot finish due to the ECL qualification that comes with it.

Mickeroo

4th was only "celebrated" (using the term loosely) when it nearly didn't happen from what I remember, which seems pretty normal to me. Kind of telling how everyone just thinks "Meh" about missing out at this point though.

AdamD

Love when people don't understand context in any way shape or form

greendom

Mr.H wrote: »

I think the issue is that when arsenal fans celebrated a top 4 finish it was when they should have been pushing on for a title challenge. Finishing top 4 was not an achievement when they were a top 4 side.

Liverpool have not been a real top 4 side as of late. They have been competing for top 4 but that's all. Finishing top 4 is an achievement for Liverpool.

Arsenal need change and have done so for a long time now. I'm not trying to kick while ye are down. I truly sympathise and remember Rafa's Liverpool team who were the biggest coefficient side in Europe to falling away into the wilderness of only hoping to finish in the top 4.

It's bigger than wenger though. If wenger goes and the board stay nothing will change. If the board goes and wenger stays again nothing will change. Arsenal need major surgery right now before teams like spurs and liverpool push on. With Chelsea and city already ahead of us all in reality and united trying to buy every player in the world in vein.

It was an achievement when the club was under the yoke of the huge stadium debt.

I don't think it was ever claimed that it was better than winning a trophy. Wenger may once have said that it was like winning a trophy. But people say things. For example Mourinho claims that Wednesday night is the biggest night ever in United's history!

Mr.H

Jesus if only yer team was this defensive ye would have gotten 4th haha I jest

Seriously I'm not here to mock. I acknowledged that it was a perception that 4th was celebrated much Luke the perception that Liverpool fans are the only ones who live in the past. Oh 80s how I miss you.

In my post I was trying to Gage opinions on whether you guys would be happy with either wenger or the board to change or if you think everything and everyone must change?

Quazzie

Mr.H wrote: »

Jesus if only yer team was this defensive ye would have gotten 4th haha I jest

Seriously I'm not here to mock. I acknowledged that it was a perception that 4th was celebrated much Luke the perception that Liverpool fans are the only ones who live in the past. Oh 80s how I miss you.

In my post I was trying to Gage opinions on whether you guys would be happy with either wenger or the board to change or if you think everything and everyone must change?

Wenger first. A good manager would've won us the league last year, so while the board is the problem, Wenger is the bigger stumbling block for progression on the field

Mr.H

Quazzie wrote:

Wenger first. A good manager would've won us the league last year, so while the board is the problem, Wenger is the bigger stumbling block for progression on the field

We would replace him though. I would fear that would go for the cheap option of looking at a young up and coming manager. But going after someone Simeone (sp) could be a great move.

Also would you care if they were a defensive manager or would you like a manager who's style reflects the great wenger sides.

I have to say I loved the invincibles side. Obvious thing to say but it wasn't as beautiful as the sides with febregas as captain. It was just solid at the back with a lot of tough men protecting clean sheets. All the style came from the wide flanks and of course one of the best attacks in the premiership.

I guess all I'm asking is would you pike to see wenger football played or would you give any strategy a chance ala Jose at united

tayto lover

Ramsey scored and Roger Moore died !!

tayto lover

tayto lover wrote: »

Ramsey scored and Roger Moore died !!

They don't call him Rambo for nothing

5star02707

Koscielny to serve 3 match suspension after his appeal has been rejected ohhhh!

Potential Underachiever

5star02707 wrote: »

Koscielny to serve 3 match suspension after his appeal has been rejected ohhhh!

No surprise really, I read on here that it was a standard yellow and never a red or words to that effect, that was before I saw the incident, but jeez it was a red all day long, ridiculously wreckless challenge.

Skylinehead

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

No surprise really, I read on here that it was a standard yellow and never a red or words to that effect, that was before I saw the incident, but jeez it was a red all day long, ridiculously wreckless challenge.

That was me

Yeah it was a red in retrospect.

The Red Lad

Supposedly we're signing a nigerian wonderkid thats the last thing we need another unproven unknown youtube player top scorer in the belgian league but sure wasnt Chamakh top scorer in France when we bought him ? Think this proves Wenger is staying regardless of result of FA cup. I see Monaco after signing Tieliemens top player we really missed out here.

AdamD

So you're giving out about signing a young player from the Belgian league and in the exact same post annoyed that we aren't signing a young player from the Belgian league?

The Red Lad

AdamD wrote: »

So you're giving out about signing a young player from the Belgian league and in the exact same post annoyed that we aren't signing a young player from the Belgian league?

Think for most people here would be alot more aware of tielemans than the later hes one of the most sought after youngsters in europe by alot of big clubs and is capped at international level for Belgium a team not short of midfield talent as opposed to a nigerian lad nobody has ever heard of ? Yes yes i am ....

jonneymendoza

Sanchez off to Bayern Munich?

wonga77

If you are to believe the rumours then Munich want him but Arsenal are offering far more money.
All only twitter rambling though

Irish Gunner

Don't forget we still have the FA cup to look forward to and if you want to watch it with Arsenal fans we are showing this in the Mercantile this Sat.
All Arsenal fans welcome
If its anything like the previous FA Cup finals it will be wedged so get there early
Its the only place to be for a Gooner, well in Dublin
COYG

Quazzie

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Don't forget we still have the FA cup to look forward to and if you want to watch it with Arsenal fans we are showing this in the Mercantile this Sat.
All Arsenal fans welcome
If its anything like the previous FA Cup finals it will be wedged so get there early
Its the only place to be for a Gooner, well in Dublin
COYG

I was raging with myself that I didn't go up for the FA cup final the last time after seeing the pictures on facebook. I'm not expecting as positive a result this time tho, so I probably won't bother this time either.

Mickeroo

The Red Lad wrote: »

Supposedly we're signing a nigerian wonderkid thats the last thing we need another unproven unknown youtube player top scorer in the belgian league but sure wasnt Chamakh top scorer in France when we bought him ? Think this proves Wenger is staying regardless of result of FA cup. I see Monaco after signing Tieliemens top player we really missed out here.

beer enigma

I was very very lucky to be chatting to Liam Brady on Monday evening. He classes himself as a good friend of Wenger & from what he was saying there's a right old ding dong going on at board level in the club.

A 'complete split' between board members on the direction of the club was how he put it. I asked him if he thought Wenger would stay and he said that whilst Wenger wants to stay, because of the power struggle on the board, he (Wenger) doesn't know if the club will renew his contract and that its still very much up in the air. If one side wins, Wenger stays, if the other side wins, he'll go. Like ourselves, he said the delayed announcement was a disaster and has had a really unsettling affect on the club and its players and probably cost us a champions league place.

It was a moment of a lifetime - what a guy

Oh ok....if you insist )

Arne_Saknussem

beer enigma wrote: »

I was very very lucky to be chatting to Liam Brady on Monday evening. He classes himself as a good friend of Wenger & from what he was saying there's a right old ding dong going on at board level in the club.

A 'complete split' between board members on the direction of the club was how he put it. I asked him if he thought Wenger would stay and he said that whilst Wenger wants to stay, because of the power struggle on the board, he (Wenger) doesn't know if the club will renew his contract and that its still very much up in the air. If one side wins, Wenger stays, if the other side wins, he'll go. Like ourselves, he said the delayed announcement was a disaster and has had a really unsettling affect on the club and its players and probably cost us a champions league place.

It was a moment of a lifetime - what a guy

Oh ok....if you insist )

Nice one, cheers for the info. Even if Liam is looking slightly worried there

greendom

Great pic and interesting info - cheers!

beer enigma

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

Nice one, cheers for the info. Even if Liam is looking slightly worried there

The selfie was actually his idea, I didn't have the nerve to ask mind you I gave him my portable phone charger to keep as his smashed up iPhone 5 was out of battery. It was the least i could do.

My son Liam was named after him and fortunately I had this photo on my phone.....he was fairly impressed



He was heading to London for a press conference for the upcoming Man U v Sampdoria match.

Irish Gunner

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

beer enigma wrote: »

I was very very lucky to be chatting to Liam Brady on Monday evening. He classes himself as a good friend of Wenger & from what he was saying there's a right old ding dong going on at board level in the club.

A 'complete split' between board members on the direction of the club was how he put it. I asked him if he thought Wenger would stay and he said that whilst Wenger wants to stay, because of the power struggle on the board, he (Wenger) doesn't know if the club will renew his contract and that its still very much up in the air. If one side wins, Wenger stays, if the other side wins, he'll go. Like ourselves, he said the delayed announcement was a disaster and has had a really unsettling affect on the club and its players and probably cost us a champions league place.

It was a moment of a lifetime - what a guy

Oh ok....if you insist )

Nice one, cheers for the info. Even if Liam is looking slightly worried there

Now if we can only get him into the Mercantile to do a Q&A

Irish Gunner

Quazzie wrote: »

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Don't forget we still have the FA cup to look forward to and if you want to watch it with Arsenal fans we are showing this in the Mercantile this Sat.
All Arsenal fans welcome
If its anything like the previous FA Cup finals it will be wedged so get there early
Its the only place to be for a Gooner, well in Dublin
COYG

I was raging with myself that I didn't go up for the FA cup final the last time after seeing the pictures on facebook. I'm not expecting as positive a result this time tho, so I probably won't bother this time either.

Win or lose at least you will be surrounded by your own fans so celebrate or console hopefully the former
Remember its only Ray Parlour

wandatowell

beer enigma wrote: »

Is that Vincent Brown in the background?

wandatowell

beer enigma wrote: »

I was very very lucky to be chatting to Liam Brady on Monday evening. He classes himself as a good friend of Wenger & from what he was saying there's a right old ding dong going on at board level in the club.

A 'complete split' between board members on the direction of the club was how he put it. I asked him if he thought Wenger would stay and he said that whilst Wenger wants to stay, because of the power struggle on the board, he (Wenger) doesn't know if the club will renew his contract and that its still very much up in the air. If one side wins, Wenger stays, if the other side wins, he'll go. Like ourselves, he said the delayed announcement was a disaster and has had a really unsettling affect on the club and its players and probably cost us a champions league place.

Any guesses who Liam was talking about folks? Josh Kronke vs Gazidis????

keano_afc

Quazzie wrote: »

I was raging with myself that I didn't go up for the FA cup final the last time after seeing the pictures on facebook. I'm not expecting as positive a result this time tho, so I probably won't bother this time either.

Ah dont let that stop you. I've been to the last 2 finals there and will probably be heading in on Saturday. Its a great place to watch a game.

Arne_Saknussem

wandatowell wrote: »

Any guesses who Liam was talking about folks? Josh Kronke vs Gazidis????

Gazidis i'd imagine. Stan's the 'buy the club, raise the prices' man, Ivan's the football-directing genius.

Quazzie

keano_afc wrote: »

Ah dont let that stop you. I've been to the last 2 finals there and will probably be heading in on Saturday. Its a great place to watch a game.

well there is also the fact I'd be traveling up from the midlands so many buses/trains would be needed to get home if I'm drunk

beer enigma

Couple of other interesting points he made;

He thinks Xhaka 'could' be the real deal but is struggling to settle into the club. He feels this next season will be the make or break of him, but said in many ways he's like a young Adams. Quite shy, he apparently doesn't get shown respect from a couple of the senior players and because of that when he tries to marshal the team, he's often ignored.

Also on Ozil, when I asked if he thought we'd lose Sanchez and Ozil, his reply was that Ozil wouldn't be a great loss, not a team player and blows hot and cold.

beer enigma

wandatowell wrote: »

Any guesses who Liam was talking about folks? Josh Kronke vs Gazidis????

Gazidis v Keswick - I got the feeling that Kronke is just letting them slug it out. Friar, who's a long time supporter of Wenger is backing Keswick, so its very much Gazidis out on a limb here.

tayto lover

I loved Brady as a footballer and but he's terribly loyal to managers. Just look at the way he backed Trappatoni right up to the end. I hope he's right about the Boardroom split as it might lead to us getting the club back.

Arne_Saknussem

https://twitter.com/Sport_Witness/status/867375885753692165

beer enigma

tayto lover wrote: »

I loved Brady as a footballer and but he's terribly loyal to managers. Just look at the way he backed Trappatoni right up to the end. I hope he's right about the Boardroom split as it might lead to us getting the club back.

He still speaks with all the passion - interesting when I said my son was named after him he opened his passport and said " not many people know I'm actually William Liam Brady - my parents wanted both the English and Irish version in my name "

farna_boy

tayto lover wrote: »

I loved Brady as a footballer and but he's terribly loyal to managers. Just look at the way he backed Trappatoni right up to the end. I hope he's right about the Boardroom split as it might lead to us getting the club back.

I don't know about the Trap thing really. It's just when you have that muppet Dunphy talking so much **** next to you, you are eventually going to snap.

I thought Brady did criticise Trap for a while and tried to stay out of it but I think in the end he was just trying to counter-act Dunphy's BS so much that he sounded like a Trap fanboy.

gandalf

Thanks for the info beer enigma, I'm glad to hear there at least is some noise and conflict at board level because the prolonged silence from them has been extremely frustrating.

Ardennes1944

Buy that fella Sanchez the CB for Ajax sure

omega man

Even 6th placed Utd have qualified for the CL. Sigh

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

omega man wrote: »

Even 6th placed Utd have qualified for the CL. Sigh

It's a bit sickening considering we were actually better than them this year.

tayto lover

Hunky Monster wrote: »

It's a bit sickening considering we were actually better than them this year.

Mourinho played it cute. He went for this rather than the league to get into the CL.
I don't think we were better than them at all. Much of a muchness.

omega man

Hope we take this competition seriously next year. With the addition of CL qualification it's a really decent trophy now.

FixitFelix

tayto lover wrote: »

Mourinho played it cute. He went for this rather than the league to get into the CL.
I don't think we were better than them at all. Much of a muchness.

He didn't go for Europa instead of the league place, they weren't good enough to compete in the league lets call it what it is.

Neither were Arsenal might I add

tayto lover

FixitFelix wrote: »

He didn't go for Europa instead of the league place, they weren't good enough to compete in the league lets call it what it is.

Neither were Arsenal might I add

I meant Top 4 not the title. I feel they were good enough for that but chose the easier route.

Hunky Monster

Hunky Monster wrote: »

It's a bit sickening considering we were actually better than them this year.

Not by much. If United and Jose can meld their puke then they'll be a force to be reckoned with. I can't remember the last time we could play pukeball and carry a number of players and actually get somewhere. Sigh.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Not by much. If United and Jose can meld their puke then they'll be a force to be reckoned with. I can't remember the last time we could play pukeball and carry a number of players and actually get somewhere. Sigh.

I can remember sheer luck getting us over the line in the 2005 FA cup final but strangely that was a fairly good Arsenal team

Jose will never throw off the shackles. Id say if he has ever watched GAA he'd love watching the Ulster football championship somehow

I must say an impressive performance from them tonight although Ajax were raw enough. They reminded me of Arsenal during the early days of project youth. When they were good they were very good but when they were bad they were toothless.

I have to congratulate Man United though. They had two eyes on this game since making the final and kept their eyes on the prize. They got their reward tonight. To those who regularly read my posts, Its no secret i utterly despise Jose and i do think eventually his arrogance will cause the wheels to come off just as it did everywhere he has gone but there is no doubting that if he rates a defender, then chances are he's a top class defender.

tayto lover

tayto lover wrote: »

I meant Top 4 not the title. I feel they were good enough for that but chose the easier route.

It seemed clear that United have had two eyes on this game tonight with a long time. That said i think they have been fairly mediocre by the high standards they set. It seems that if they win a park sack race it suddenly becomes the greatest trophy ever achieved. Is it a stepping stone and should a club of that stature who spend 90m on one player be really requiring these stepping stones?

Should Arsenal go for this trophy next season? yeah I think so. While id be happy to win it similar to if we were in the league cup final, i dont think id be using it as a stick to beat other fans with tbh. That said, Wenger will undoubtedly have other ideas and end up empty handed and we'll be back to square one this time next year