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

farna_boy

Does anyone else find it strange that no one wants to pass to Giroud, especially since he is near his 100 goals for the club record? Twice in the lat few minutes, Ox had the opportunity to square it for him for an easy tap in but decided to blast it himself instead. And it was the same through the rest of the game.

I mean maybe it's just me but if I thought my team mater was near a record I would be pinging balls to him at every opportunity especially if nothing else was on. Instead it seemed we were happy to pass it back to Cech instead of chancing a ball forward.

I guess last night was our last chance to try something new before our next 4 fixtures: City (FA Cup), Leicester, Tottenham, United. .

I don't even know what positives can be taken from the game. Sanchez and Özil were​ poor, apart from their goals. Same applies to Ramsey, except for his hand in the goal. I'd like to see stats on distance covered, though....He did seem to seriously run himself into the ground.

I suppose it was good to see Kos back, and Holding looked solid once again.

greendom

Basil3 wrote: »

I guess last night was our last chance to try something new before our next 4 fixtures: City (FA Cup), Leicester, Tottenham, United. .

I don't even know what positives can be taken from the game. Sanchez and Özil were​ poor, apart from their goals. Same applies to Ramsey, except for his hand in the goal. I'd like to see stats on distance covered, though....He did seem to seriously run himself into the ground.

I suppose it was good to see Kos back, and Holding looked solid once again.

I thought the defensive side of Ozil's game was good last night. He made a fair few tackles, harried players with the ball and tracked back. Add to that the clinical finish and it was a good performance.

beer enigma

Sky News' Sophie Ridge showing a rare turn of humour on the imminent Downing Street statement

tayto lover

We seriously need to do something about our defence in the summer.
Boro had 3 great opportunities to score last night and they have the worse record in the league.
Spurs, City and United wouldn't have spurned those chances.

domrush

Probably an unpopular opinion but I think we concede so many due to our Full backs playing so high up the pitch and being forced to leg it back. Mustafi has been crucified in here recently but in my opinion he's constantly being dragged out of position by Monreal and Bellerin , who are having absolutely awful seasons. He is extremely quick to go for a sliding tackle which is a major fault though, say what you want about Mert he read the game well and was only really let down by his pace.

Bellerin seems to get bullied off the ball easily enough and Monreal commits some incredibly stupid fouls, must have given away three penalties this season and he got away with a couple of very dodgey tackles and handballs as well.

Don't think we'd be in this position if we still had Sagna tbh, he's been nothing but solid and consistent every time I've seen him with City .

The Red Lad

I really hope Ox is kept he loves Arsenal and under the right management he could do a lot ,nothing changed however Wenger still needs to see the door. Looks like no matter what Sanchez will be leaving sad but once we cash in and he's not sold within England il take that no point talking about a replacement because he's irreplaceable imo only players you could put in his bracket is greizman,dybala,aguero and suarez and we'd be in dreamland thinking we could get that type of player maybe dembele and either lukaku/morata would soften the blow a little

liam7831

The Red Lad wrote: »

I really hope Ox is kept he loves Arsenal and under the right management he could do a lot ,nothing changed however Wenger still needs to see the door. Looks like no matter what Sanchez will be leaving sad but once we cash in and he's not sold within England il take that no point talking about a replacement because he's irreplaceable imo only players you could put in his bracket is greizman,dybala,aguero and suarez and we'd be in dreamland thinking we could get that type of player maybe dembele and either lukaku/morata would soften the blow a little

He blanked the boss when he was taken off yesterday, turning into a bit of a Diva

FixitFelix

liam7831 wrote: »

He blanked the boss when he was taken off yesterday, turning into a bit of a Diva

He ran around yesterday but let's be honest he didn't do anything brilliant, he spent most of the 1st half slipping on his arse, my gut feeling is he's gone

AdamD

I thought the Ox had a great game, but ultimately for all of his runs and threat he had no hand in the goals. Sanchez was muck and heavily involved in both. I'd keep him but his lack of end product means his far from indispensable. Missed 2 1v1s to finish the game after brilliant runs to get into the positions.

Alfred Borden

Broken leg for Jack.

domrush

Ah jesus. Worse than Diaby at this stage. Such potential but this season was make or break for him IMO. Sickened to be honest I would have loved to see him and Xhaka play together.

pudzey101

Are Jacks legs made of wheetabix ? Have to feel for the guy though , anytime i (rarely) got to see him play he was promsing .

Arghus

Jack has fierce bad luck.

sonic85

I'd say in fairness he had no future at the club anyway. I think the fact he was sent out on loan to Bournemouth for this season said it all. It would be different if he was 18 or 19 but at 24 and a fully established member of the senior squad he shouldn't be going on loan anywhere if the club had confidence in him. He just never hit the heights he should have. Flashes of brilliance but not enough.

I like Jack and I'd rather see him be a regular starter somewhere else than a bit part player here.

Hope he comes back strong from this though. He'll be a good player for somebody in the PL.

wandatowell

If Wenger does stay you just know that Jack will be getting a new deal.

tayto lover

wandatowell wrote: »

If Wenger does stay you just know that Jack will be getting a new deal.

If Wenger gets a new deal then the club are going backwards. He does not deserve one.
A new deal would just prove that the Board and the Club have absolutely no ambition except to make money for Kronke.

My own feeling on the matter, and hopefully i'm wrong, is that he will get a new deal and cement the mediocrity.

I'm very sorry for Jack as I felt that there were far more players who deserved to be sent out to other clubs ahead of him BUT he's now finished at Arsenal.

Royale with Cheese

John Cross has written an article for the mirror saying he's staying and signing that 2 year deal but it won't be announced until the end of the season. He generally acts as a press officer for leaked news out of the club so I think this is the announcement. Yay.

wonga77

I think deep down we all know a new contract is going to be signed. I had hoped he would see sense and realise that the discontent is down to him but it would appear not

Quazzie

I honestly don't think I can put myself through another year of supporting Arsene FC. It's also getting pretty hard to convince my son to support them either

tayto lover

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

John Cross has written an article for the mirror saying he's staying and signing that 2 year deal but it won't be announced until the end of the season. He generally acts as a press officer for leaked news out of the club so I think this is the announcement. Yay.

It just goes to show the brazen nature of the man and the blind faith or dis-interest of the Board if he does stay. He thinks he is bigger than the club.
I suspect there will be a flurry of mediocre signings in an effort to sway the fans but it will then all fall apart as the new season progresses yet again.

Our great club is fecked.

Royale with Cheese

I think the best you can hope for is that he steadies the ship and gets the club back in the top 4 so his eventual successor is in a stronger position to take over. Then again if he managed to do that you wouldn't put it past him signing another extension.

I was of the opinion that he deserves great respect for what he achieved, his time may be up but I couldn't stand by any of the vitriol directed his way by any fans considering what he put into the club. If he refuses to leave though my sympathy for him on that front will soon dry up.

Royale with Cheese

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I think the best you can hope for is that he steadies the ship and gets the club back in the top 4 so his eventual successor is in a stronger position to take over. Then again if he managed to do that you wouldn't put it past him signing another extension.

I was of the opinion that he deserves great respect for what he achieved, his time may be up but I couldn't stand by any of the vitriol directed his way by any fans considering what he put into the club. If he refuses to leave though my sympathy for him on that front will soon dry up.

Jesus, the best we can hope for in the next 2 years is that one of the 10 richest clubs in the world can be steadied to reach top 4. Be as well with Hodgson :P

emmetlego

Quazzie wrote: »

I honestly don't think I can put myself through another year of supporting Arsene FC. It's also getting pretty hard to convince my son to support them either

My eldest lad's friends all follow Liverpool and he follows Arsenal, he's being swayed to Liverpool, and I can't think of any logical reason (for a pre-teen) to convince him otherwise. That hurts me!

emmetlego

Edit: double post!

Dolph Starbeam

emmetlego wrote: »

My eldest lad's friends all follow Liverpool and he follows Arsenal, he's being swayed to Liverpool, and I can't think of any logical reason (for a pre-teen) to convince him otherwise. That hurts me!

Being swayed to Liverpool is a bit bizarre, why support another team who underachieves and hasn't won a big trophy in a number of years? You can't just hop off when things are going badly.

Royale with Cheese

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

John Cross has written an article for the mirror saying he's staying and signing that 2 year deal but it won't be announced until the end of the season. He generally acts as a press officer for leaked news out of the club so I think this is the announcement. Yay.

I thought John Cross had been on the outer with the club for quite some time.

Royale with Cheese

Basil3 wrote: »

I thought John Cross had been on the outer with the club for quite some time.

Hopefully

KaiserGunner

If Wenger was able to keep his head up and not resign/sacked after being smashed 10-2 on aggregate a month ago, then he can survive anything. Any other manager in world football would have lost his job after that farce. The fact that he is signing a new two year deal speaks volumes about the mess the club is in.
Even Leicester City managed to not get embarrassed in the champions league on their maiden/only season in the competition. If we had have played Atletico they would have won the tie after the first leg and comfortably got through.

At least the team have an opportunity to gain some pride in big games with Man City, Spurs and Man Utd. Something to look forward to at least.

tayto lover

KaiserGunner wrote: »

If Wenger was able to keep his head up and not resign/sacked after being smashed 10-2 on aggregate a month ago, then he can survive anything. Any other manager in world football would have lost his job after that farce. The fact that he is signing a new two year deal speaks volumes about the mess the club is in.
Even Leicester City managed to not get embarrassed in the champions league on their maiden/only season in the competition. If we had have played Atletico they would have won the tie after the first leg and comfortably got through.

At least the team have an opportunity to gain some pride in big games with Man City, Spurs and Man Utd. Something to look forward to at least.

Many a supporter will probably be dreading these.

Mickeroo

Dolph Starbeam wrote: »

Being swayed to Liverpool is a bit bizarre, why support another team who underachieves and hasn't won a big trophy in a number of years? You can't just hop off when things are going badly.

You can when you're a kid and want to support the same team as your mates. When you're an adult you have to make stuff about being more interested in rugby these days or something :pac:

Defensive masterclass from Juve and they attacked a fair share.

Why can't we have nice things?

:pac:

domrush

I would kill to have Leonardo Jardim be managing us

greendom

domrush wrote: »

I would kill to have  Leonardo Jardim be managing us

Especially if he brings half his team with him!

pudzey101

Id go for allegri or simeone before jardim , woudnt mind monaco's Mbappe though

domrush

pudzey101 wrote: »

Id go for allegri or simeone before jardim , woudnt mind monaco's Mbappe though

I wouldn't to be honest. If you watch Athletico regularly they're not exactly a joy to watch. Juventus are utterly dominant in that league partially down to finances so hard to judge Allegri off that.

Success seems to follow Jardim wherever he goes. Plays extremely attacking football but has the ability to defend (90 goals scored, 27 against) . Think they've the most goals scored in any of Europes top divisions this year. Good spotter of talent (particularly youths) , knows how to motivate a team and get the best of them. He's got Falcao firing again where Mourinho and Van Gaal failed.

Ol' Donie

Something weird happened in the Barca-Juve game.

Every time Barca had a corner, one of the Juve players jumped up in the air and - get this - used his HEAD to clear the ball.

They did it loads of times, it must have been on purpose.

I didn't know you could do that. Never seen it before.

ronjo

domrush wrote: »

I wouldn't to be honest. If you watch Athletico regularly they're not exactly a joy to watch. Juventus are utterly dominant in that league partially down to finances so hard to judge Allegri off that.

Success seems to follow Jardim wherever he goes. Plays extremely attacking football but has the ability to defend (90 goals scored, 27 against) . Think they've the most goals scored in any of Europes top divisions this year. Good spotter of talent (particularly youths) , knows how to motivate a team and get the best of them. He's got Falcao firing again where Mourinho and Van Gaal failed.

I would prefer Simeone. I want us to turn into nasty b*stards again that everyone hates.

domrush

domrush wrote: »

I wouldn't to be honest. If you watch Athletico regularly they're not exactly a joy to watch. Juventus are utterly dominant in that league partially down to finances so hard to judge Allegri off that.

Success seems to follow Jardim wherever he goes. Plays extremely attacking football but has the ability to defend (90 goals scored, 27 against) . Think they've the most goals scored in any of Europes top divisions this year. Good spotter of talent (particularly youths) , knows how to motivate a team and get the best of them. He's got Falcao firing again where Mourinho and Van Gaal failed.

Falcao misses an absurb amount of simple chances per game though.

emmetlego

We can all have our wish list, the sad fact is that Wenger is staying 2 more years. I'll be shocked if he's not.

Farcical club we support

Colonialboy

What an epic 8 days of football , the CL quarter finals have been a joy to watch.
Gladitorial combat among the great teams of Europe with the great players of our generation facing off against each other. Great players at various stages of their career putting in huge performances. Some are starting on their career, some at the mid point and some coming to the end of stellar careers but all off them had one thing in common this last 8 days.
They gave their all, gave their all in skill, gave their all in effort, gave their all for their fans, for their club, for the tradition and history of their club, gave their all for the competition that they were fortunate to be taking part in.
 
Chellini and Bonnucci holding Barca scoreless for 180 minutes , what a masterclass in defending, pure mano v mano, putting their bodies on the line whilst still showing discipline, doing the basics , showing understanding of what they were trying to do, and having confidence in the tactic their manager had asked of them.
Ronaldo the tie is dead and buried, he has his hat trick, his number is raised on the substitution board and he waves his finger at the side line and says NO.. Im not coming off find someone else , this is the moments I live for, the battle in the arena, I don’t want to be protected for the next match, I want to live out this moment in full cos I understand what this means and this is why I play this beautiful game.
Barca on the attack, the ball is crossed, the penalty area is crowded and Mandzukic gives a cushioned header back to his goalie, the audacity of it and then who does Buffon deliver the ball too on the subsequent  kick out, Mandzukic who has pegged it 60 meters up the field to go on the attack.
The embrace of Simeone and Vardy , the respect of Simeone taking the time to recognize Leicester and Vardys achievement in getting this far, in making it a tie and also in winning the PL the previous year. Sheer class from a man who will try to destroy you in a match but understands he only wants to destroy you because he respects the game .
Mbappe setting the CL alight, showing the flair of an 18 year old who like any 18 year old does not know what are the limitations , he only knows this is how he wants to play football.
The embrace of Ronaldo and Robben, two men who have fought, and I mean fought on he pitch for their teams, recognisign they may not cross paths again, and shared many nights like this sometimes on the winning and sometimes on the losing but oh what a joy it has been, what a joy it must have been to have played with and against other men who truly gave their all and now times passes on, but no one can take these nights away.
Can you truly see the great managers , the great tacticians , the great players reflecting on their careers in European football and truly thinking of Arsenal or any Arsenal player or team performance or Wenger and saying yes that was some night of battle and football at its peak on both sides.
And what about the Arsenal players , fans and the club itself, all probably wishing for performances like this, all wishing to have that memory and to have the guidance to get over that hurdle , but ultimately the captain of that ship has never altered course.  Some of those Arsenal players undoubtedly had it in them to be part of a team that performed like one of these great teams, but they will never know what its like to truly fight at the top table. They were never part of a collective ,(teammates, manager, tactics) that could deliver them to the footballing promised land.
 
This is why I hate Arsene Wenger and what he has done to Arsenal. He has never delivered this to Arsenal.
No player, no team performance, no tactical masterclass. And beating Dinamo Trotsky on Wed in November is not the epic European night Im talking about. We have had so many oppurtunities , so many times in the knockout phase and 90% of its a painful memory.
No one in the top clubs truly respects us as sitting at the top table. Yes the recognize his achievements but its all just what could have been when it comes to the top tier.
 
So we have him for another 2 years.. its nothing less than a footballing travesty.

tayto lover

Excellent post Colonialboy.
I really enjoyed that match last night. Brilliant defending and the way Juventus was set up was a joy to watch especially for someone who played as a defender.
Our "tactical genius" looks like he's staying alright.
I watched him on SS this morning and i've now come to the conclusion that he's afraid to say he's staying in case of the backlash from fans when we lose to City, United and probably Spurs. He has a brazen cheek.

wandatowell

Colonialboy wrote: »

What an epic 8 days of football

Great read.

kellso81

Colonialboy wrote: »

This is why I hate Arsene Wenger and what he has done to Arsenal. He has never delivered this to Arsenal.

I get we all want Wenger to leave but there's no point in revisionism of his era. You must have a very short memory if you forget beating real madrid in the bernabeu, beating Juventus a couple of times, beating bayern Munich, and hammering inter milan in the san siro. Bit rich saying he's never delivered big nights because it just isn't true

tayto lover

kellso81 wrote: »

I get we all want Wenger to leave but there's no point in revisionism of his era. You must have a very short memory if you forget beating real madrid in the bernabeu, beating Juventus a couple of times, beating bayern Munich, and hammering inter milan in the san siro. Bit rich saying he's never delivered big nights because it just isn't true

He did include this piece -

"so many times in the knockout phase and 90% of its a painful memory"

greendom

John Terry!! Not sure it would ever seem right to see him in an Arsenal shirt!

greendom

greendom wrote: »

John Terry!! Not sure it would ever seem right to see him in an Arsenal shirt!

Our lads are such wimps they'd probably let him ride their wives and make him a cup of tea while he's doing so :pac:

FixitFelix

So the talk today is that barca are willing to accept our bid of 25m for Arda turan? Spent a lot of time on the bench but no doubt he has qualities we lack, pushing on in years but I liked him before he went to barca. Could all be ****e talk but wouldn't mind him at arsenal

FixitFelix

FixitFelix wrote: »

So the talk today is that barca are willing to accept our bid of 25m for Arda turan? Spent a lot of time on the bench but no doubt he has qualities we lack, pushing on in years but I liked him before he went to barca. Could all be ****e talk but wouldn't mind him at arsenal

it would be some culture shock for Turan to go from a dressing room full of winners at Barca (Since 2015) and Atletico Madrid (2011-15) to a dressing room where seemingly ambition, guts and drive goes to die.

pudzey101

Whats the news with Sead Kolasinac from schalke ? Seen hes highlights from last nights game , bagged 2 assists . More than Monreal got all season .