Arsenal have finally reached an agreement with Deportivo Saprissa to wrap up the protracted transfer of Joel Campbell. The Costa Rican striker is due in London on Sunday to tie up the formalities.
Campbell was first subject of Arsenal interest two weeks ago, when executive Richard Law travelled to South America to tie up a deal. However, despite initially brokering an agreement, Law left the negotiating table after the player failed to show for his medical.
Yet following the completion of the Under-20 World Cup, the Gunners returned and have agreed on a long-term contract. A fee of around £930,000 will change hands, leading to over £1 million should variable bonuses be reached.
Campbell will hold a press conference in Costa Rica this evening.
this is really nice. now lets get a defender and a one midfielder and we will be fine
yeh thats just great !!! There goes Afobe’s chance to shine. He’ll be following JET out the door next :(
Does he get to play direct or is there some kind of work permit needed for him?
Exciting signing. Hope the paperwork goes through without a hitch. Wenger really snapping up the young talent this past week.
Replacement for Vela no doubt.
more like for bendtner i suspect
J. Why do you always write more to follow on the end of your posts – you rarely actually add anything
that means that a larger article will shortly follow… jamie always wrights a larger post, look at the chamberlain article…
Good news whats the situation with a work permit, can he even play this season in England???
Really hope the Dann rumours are true for the 1st team add Barton and Charlton Cole to that and we can challenge go 4-4-2 with V persie playing of a proper aggressive target man.
well i certainly hope that he will get a permit… he played most international matches this year…
Barton? You honestly believe Wenger will allow that pile of excrement to infest the Arsenal locker-room?
Carlton Cole??? I could do a better job!
Carlton Cole has dived for at least 2 penalties over the last 3 years. He should be a hated figure at this club. Terribly inconsistent anyway, why would any decent PL club want him?
I hope he secures a work permit because this nonsense of getting them young and sending them to foreign leagues on loan completely puts me off. They would rather stay in their home clubs on loan until they make it to arsenal,
The foreign loan thing is only about getting a visa. I don’t know about Galindo and his situation on the Bolivian national team, but all the other players that were optioned to a continental country (Spain leading the way, especially for the Latin Americans) goes to Arsenal as soon as they possibly can.
Nordveit is an exception, and became clear at the end of his Arsenal career (if we can call it that way) that Wenger doesn’t rate him very highly. Based on that, I would be surprised if Vela comes back and makes a remarkable spell at Arsenal after spend one more time in Spain.
Pretty special talent..good news for the future but we do still need a few players who can play now!
Great signing, now appease the moaners and get a defender Arsene
yeaayyyy another youngster
yeaayyyy another moaner…
Exactly, sick and tired of everyone moaning about buying young players! Everyone was young once, better to have someone to build in your mould, than have to get them to fit into your system
LaLaLaLa Joels A Gooner!
:)
Also love how you got this out 2 minutes before the official Arsenal website! Very nice, keep it up
PROF.Arsene! Mr.catch dem young.gud news anyway!
hope he gets a work permit, definately a great bit of business.
Doubt mata will come now as miyaichi’s got his permit, just hope we get a central defender and a holding midfielder now and we’re set.
Good business i say bigups to u JAIME keep us posted IN ARSENAL WE BEALIVE
Remaining a defender+fab replacem.
Two things:
The fact he’s already shown disrespect by not showing up to his medical and also his father trying to broker deals tells me he’s really not too interested in playing for us and if he turns put to be a decent player and barca or Madrid come sniffing he’ll leave us, guaranteed.
Also, the fact he’s still coming to us without having to change our offer after his dad tried selling him to other clubs pretty much says we were the only ones interested. Which begs the question, why?
I hope I’m wrong but I don’t see this kid being much of an asset to us.
“I hope I’m wrong but I don’t see this kid being much of an asset to us.”
If he turns to a decent player as you say, he`ll be going nowhere without at least 10x the price we got him for. This is an asset :)
On the other hand, if we start kicking butt in england and europe, as is due, in the near future, there`s no reason for anybody to leave the club. That`s the plan :)
Love this space on the world wide web! great arsenal website.
Amazing news, should be a good signing. Raw talent.
are we likely to get Special Talent visa for him this season jaime?
Good work getting in 3 talents as Jenkinsson, Alwx O-C and Campbell.
But now we need a BIG central defender and replacements for Fab and Nas! Wish we sold them earlier if they anyway wanted to leave.. Now we will struggle to find good replacements and get them in the team fast enough…
are we’re sure this time?? lol
Barton seems to hate blacks and French. Why would Arsenal want him? To put out lit cigars in Campbell’s eye?
“blacks” ….wow what century do we live in?!
Apparently Jadson is coming after the Cesc deal goes through.
Exciting young talent .From what ive seen looks like a cross between Wrighty and Henry.If hes as good as he seems then we could be looking at a super talent.Hopefully no probs with a permit and a quick adaptation to the Prem.
“From what ive seen looks like a cross between Wrighty and Henry” – stoke gunner.
so youve seen 2 youtube videos and you have come up with that, wow not to much pressure then….
Rednap ?
Campbell doesn’t look it, but apparently his grandfather was an Irish priest (missionary ). Not sure if that is true because I don’t think priests are allowed to have children.
He does have an English name: Joel Nathaniel Campbell Samuels and he has featured for his national team at a young age recently, so I don’t think Arsenal would have signed him and announced him like this if they didn’t think that a work permit would be an issue.
Personally I don’t expect him to feature all that much for the first team this season.
The
Please people do not worry, these signings like Campbell, AOC, Miyaichi are basically because, JET, Deacon, Murphy, Watt have not cut the mustard.
Gervinho has replaced Nasri and he has seen enough of Mannone, Frimpong, Gibbs, Traore and Jenkinson to suggest they are good enough to replace Mannone, Eboue, Denilson and Clichy.
I am certain that he will get Lansbury to sign a new contract then “do a Bartley” with him ie. bring him back next season when Rosicky moves on like he will do with Bartley/Squillaci.
I also think there will be 3 more signings. A centre back, allowing Miquel to go on loan, A replacement for Cesc and another
and your sources are? sorry to crush your party but lansbury doesn’t cut it i would rather have coquelin who can also play rightback.
This kid has UNBELIEVABLEEEEE tekkers!
Welcome Joel. We are definitely adding more direct wide forwards to the team now. Nothing else to say on this other then best of luck to the lad.
Interesting few weeks we are going to have. If our big guns are to leave and Wenger has already said that we are in a good financial position so there would be no reason not to replace those to with true quality players. Got to go to work but more to come soon lol.
PS, I hope that Jadson stuff is a joke.
Delighted with this. Top talent and we’re only paying £1m. Excellent business.
Arsenal hardly announce deals on weekends. So, hopefully, we’ll hear more good news on Monday. This kid is going to be worldclass. He is very mature already and will continue to improve. Best of luck, Joel. Make Costa Rica proud.
Gooner_B_Good
Where did you hear he is mature?? Esteemed journalist Tim Vickery says he is a bit mental and he hasnt behaved in the most mature manner so far…
Tim Vickery is highly esteemed indeed. I’ve not read his piece on the lad yet. He may be referring to his off-field attitude. But, I was pointing to the fact that at 19, just this summer, he has been playing almost non-stop for CR snr natl team in the Copa Oro and the Copa America as well as the U-20 WC. The kid looks set to feature heavily for CR during their WC 2014 qualifying campaign. That must be a testament to his maturity on the pitch.
Remember Anelka? We won things with him because of his maturity on the pitch. We went on to sell him for a huge profit. If this lad does an Anelka, I for one would not mind. This is a bargain.
Also, if Ryo got a permit, I believe Joel stands an excellent chance to get one because of the reasons I’ve stated. What do you think, Dan?
Another youngster…., where are your ambitions Mr Wenger???, we only have one really good forward atm (Rvp ofc), chamakh is decent at his best and Bendtner hopefully will be sold soon. We need a second forward of high class as replacement for RVP when he gets injured (only a matter of time), and why no class act defender yet either?, Squillaci isn’t good enough to stay, we need Cahill or Jagielka, and now Eboué is soon leaving for Galatasaray leaving us with only one backup for Sagna/Gibbs ?!
And still Wenger had the nerve in today’s pressconference to say that we have a large squad !!, what is he thinking???, why does he refuse to strengthen this team so that we finally can win some titles??, why???, i seriously believe that we will miss out of any of the top 4 places this season.
The little I’ve seen of him is that he has a good first touch, pace, but seems to be more of a sprinter than a middle distance runner, in other words he seems to fade a bit as the match goes on.
I think Joel will be a long term solid professional footballer, but honestly Afobe is going to see this guy off.
I just dont think people understand how good Afobe is going to be: he has not only the tools but incredible work habits and attitude towards the profession. That is what makes the difference once you hit a given technical level and Afobe has it all in spades.
So for me Mr Campbell with all due respect is just an Aliadiaere.
fool! there are many positions in attack and arsene can pair them both upfront in a 4-4-2 system. why are you even comparing them, why do you call yourself sam you should be dumb.
you should be happy we are building a strong team A and team B unlike last season when team B was completely useless we couldn’t beat leyton and ipswich.
Question Sam….how many times have you actually watched full games of Campbell? How many times have you actually watched Afobe? You do know they are different types of players too right?
Wenger is clearly going to start out Afobe on the wide striker position for the next few years. Which is where Campbell is also going to be used. And in this role Afobe will be more effective in the Premiership.
Also Arsenal doesnt play 4-4-2 so you can forget about that. In fact no top team plays 4-4-2 and none will be playing 4-4-2 in the forseeable future.
Mr Campbell a decent player, but like I said Afobe is going to take off like a rocket, uch like Wilshere, and there will be little air for this guy to breathe – and at age 20 he simply wont get the chance when Afobe is doing the business.
The current champions play 4-4-2 lol. What are you smoking mate?
why is it so hard to understand that campbell delayed signing for us because arsenal wasn’t going to allow him to play for the under-20. he had to wait till the competition is over to officially sign for us. despite interest from other teams who offered more money he still chose us. arsenal fans please relax and welcome him without any negative thoughts.
btw, he’ll qualify to play in england as a full international or by claiming his irish ancestries. unless arsene feels doesnt need him now and send him out on loan. same goes for galindo who already played for bolivia. he’s sent on loan as he’s not ready for first team and we had many work permit application this summer.he did not earn more caps due to injuries he would have been selected he was fit and by next summer he will earn more caps and ready for arsenal first team then we will apply for his work permit.
i dont know why people are complaining. all these collection of top youngsters will help the first team in carling cup etc… and we dont have to replay small teams like last season.
just imagine how a line up of ryo, afobe, campbell and chamberlain will be.
then first team will have enough rest and keep up in all competitions
What gives me hope about this kid is the fact that he`s not english xD
So you’ve no hope for Chamberlain or Jenkinson then? What a welcoming bunch of fans we can be.
Yet had you said ‘French’ there would have been outrage, marks down and questions about why their nationality matters.
I despair for modern day supporters sometimes.
I must admit, these are my favorite signings. Arsenal give young players hope that no matter where you play at or what country you play for, if you work hard and have talent, you will be seen. I still love the Wilson Palacios story (aside from the tragic death of his brother) which has now lead to other Honduran players getting a shot in europe. As long as the players we sign have true potential then I am happy.
Now for everyone that is freaking out over the Fabregas and Nasri thing. Lets let the summer end and see where we are at. If both are sold (especially Fabregas at a bargain) and we don’t bring in top talent with that money then fair enough but that has not happened yet.
Hope for the best and welcome to Arsenal Mr. Campbell. I am one of those who at times have started to doubt Arsene and at times I have cursed him. Thankfully blogs like this exist as I am able to find some positive supporters who make me appreciate Arsene for what he is. Now I know this is a youth blog but wouldnt it be great if Arsene signed Subotic or Hummels or both in a dreamworld, they are both 23 and form one of the best cb partnerships in all football. Come on you gunnnnerrrrrs!!!!
Why do people bother coming on here to moan about young players being signed? It’s called Young Guns Blog for a reason. Sheesh!
this is a blog for young arsenal players..if you gonna moan about who wenger bought or didn’t buy this is not the place. people got to stop whining and get behind the team..if you can’t love the club for what it is .follow adebawhore and cashley cole and find urself a new cl
we should sign sneijder for cesc, swap nasri for tevez and pay the remaining fee, sign cahill, and thats it i believe ramsey will step up and rosicky has played well in the pre-season
So, sign Sneijder whos stumbling block with Manchester United was apparently his wage demands despite them not having as rigid a wage structure, bring in Tevez after convincing him to ignore the reason he wants to leave manchester and inevitably have to halve his wages and then spend another £18ish million on a centre back who hasn’t really been tested at the highest level? Good plan.
Like everyone here I want to see signings made that improve the team, but this isn’t football manager. Lets keep the talk sensible eh?
I forgot to add – Campbell looks good at taking free kicks and at whipping in corner kicks.
Realy good news, i hope this signals the end chamak.
Looks good in the highlights. I watched him play vs Ecuador a few days earlier and he was looking ok. His finishing looks damn class and his link up play looks a lot better than Vela. I will say Afobe is on par with this guy but Cambell got a better finishing and looks a little more dangerous. But in 1 years time we don’t really know what will happen. If Afobe keeps improving in this rapid speed he will end up world class in 2-3 years time and he will be 22 or so by then. That is impressing. I hope we keep Afobe in the team and get Cambell a work permit to stay at Arsenal.
Campbell is already a full international. He played at this year CONCACAF Gold Cup and at the Copa America. He just happened to be selected also for the U20 World Cup but that does not make him a youth team player. The same way Jack Wilshere was selected for the U21 Euro and he is in the first team.
No need to apply for special talent visa, a normal visa application should suffice.
Last year Manchester United got Chicharito and see how he light up the EPL. Joel Campbell has the potential to do the same. People should stop complaining because we recruit young players. If you are good enough then you are old enough.
As usual too many media sheep wearing plastic red and white.
he looks a good player especially after watching him in the copa america he looks like a player we have been missing with a sharp eye for goal and a presence around the penalty area hope this signing will not interfere with the development of benik afobe who could be world class in a couple years time and h needs to secure a loan move to a premier league or even a championship club who play attacking football to integrate himself with the way how arsenal play
I am sure Joel Campbell is the Super quality wenger was talking about….but we need to add more super-duper quality players like scott dann, joey barton and Jadson while letting go of our under-performers such as fabregas and nasri….only then will we win the league and champions league. Wenger you are on the right track, i totally trust you…just keep saying wonderful things like ” we dont need a CB because Vermaelen is like a new signing/song is a CB/ what will we do with 5 CBs”. Whenever you say something like this i feel really proud that i am a fan of a really financially prudent club and not of some club like Man united who believe in winning trophies. Please continue to cut the wage bill and continue to rise ticket prices..its our responsibility make Stan Kroenke and the board as rich as possible.
P.S. All you moaners should respect the fact that due to wenger we have never been relegated, so stop cursing him and be grateful, suckers!!!
Moaner.
Kyle Bartley’s just gone off injured in Rangers game after 30 minutes. He’s got a knee problem or something…
all true arsenal fans shud booooo this fool and that oxelaide and jekinson as well to show venga we only want experienced players from now on. no deals under 20m pounds. stop wastin our time so u can take commision venga! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
i hope this signing doesnt push afobe further down the pecking order.carling cup team should be a very interesting team this year.
fabianski
jenkinson
miquel
djourou /squillaci
traore
chamberlain
frimpong
lansbury/rosicky
miyaichi
afobe
campbell
that looks a very promising team with 2 strikers who look like they can put the ball in the net.
What does arsenal board thinks, that we are stupid or something? They never publish any news about transfer that isn’t done and dusted, but now they do just to soften the anger among the fans becouse of departure of cesc and nasri!
So what do you want us to do? keep Cesc? he wants away and Arsenal is a much bigger team than TWO players.
Fucking Bull shit. Gervinho gets assaulted and he gets a red card. Ridiculous
Oh so depressingly familiar..
@Jom: Not to keep cesc but to sign decent replecament (Kaka would be ideal, he is not in Mou’s plans) and then let them go. EPL has started in case you didn’t notice.
I love some of the suggestions we hear on here. Kaka….really?
Anyways, it is clear that yes, if we get big money for our mega stars then we will have to bring in a couple quality players. We controlled the game but there was nothing special out there which is what makes the difference between a win and a draw. If both players go then that opens up a couple 100k a week wages (Nasri was offered around that) and a good amount of money to bring in quality. That means guys like Hulk, Falcao, Kagawa, Gotze should be options as well as other. Just from a realistic stand point it would be impossible to compete with the top teams without that special something.
On Gervinho, I thought it was funny how he beat his man several times but now as an Arsenal player, he would not shoot. I think it rubs off on players lol. Gervinho definitely has quality though and is a good signing.
On Gibbs….holy shit, that guy is going to kill us. Love his talent but man that dude has no positional sense. He just bombs forward no matter what and often ends up in random positions. Talented player but someone needs to talk to him.
On the moaning about our defense, the core of our back is solid. I have plenty of confidents in Szczesny, Koscielny, Vermaelen and Song. They made it look easy today.
On Ramsey, He just isn’t there yet. He doesn’t have that spark about him that he use to have which is why I felt that 1 more year with Fabregas and Ramsey gets a full year to get back in the swing of things and we would be fine. It is a shame we were not in the Sahin or Charlie Adams race but maybe a guy like Marvin Martins or Freddy Guarin would add some quality in there.
Overall, we are in exceptional circumstances and we will just have to wait and see how the transfer window ends before passing any real judgement but it is fair to say that the team we watched today will not cut it. I have faith but am realistic at the same time.
What a logic replacement. Kaka. Wow 40 mil gone in a second. He has also been injury prone lately in La liga… so PL will not be easier. Then 40 mill is on the treatment table for a few months.. wow. Who said we will not replace fabregas and nasri? of course we will try to but don’t come up with stupid names like drogba and ronaldo and kaka.
I hope everyone who was saying we should sign that walking pile of shit Barton is really proud of themselves right now. Sell outs.
@shane: kaka is unrealistic but falcao and hulk are not? I am just pointing that nobody is talking about replacing cesc (do you really think that jadson could replace him?) TOP QUALITY CAN ONLY BE REPLACED BY TOP+ QUALITY!!!
Did is I say anything about “Unrealistic”? I am saying Kaka past his prime coming to play in the hardest league not to mention on big wages is a joke.
Also I have already spoke my piece on that Jadson thing. I hope the Jadson deal is a joke.
My point is if we have 60 million pounds and a couple 100k a week wage spots open then we need to aim to fill the void. We have never sold our true world class players in their prime like this before and it is pretty apparent from all concerned that we are going to have to use that money to replace them. In my opinion we need to sign players that are in or just getting into their prime or top players that are on the rise. Not players that are past their prime.
I don’t think that Goetze is a realistic target anymore. He might be a realistic target in the future for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man United or City, but not us I’m afraid. He’d cost around 30 million at least judging form his current form and status at his club. Just look at how well Dortmund could actually do this year!!! They will be expected to progress form the group stages of the champions league and they have a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge fan base along with some new found cash!!! They don’t need to sell and would be absolutely crazy to!!! He’s the best player in Germany, or there abouts and I don’t think we will be able to get him. I have been impressed with Marvin Martin every time I have seen him play. I’ve only seen him a handful of times though. He has that killer instinct for the final pass in the final third of the pitch. I’m not sure about Jadson though…less of a killer instinct than Martin I feel. But that’s just me.
Mate, there is no way to know what is a realistic target and what is not. We have no way of knowing any of that. All I am saying is that these types of talents are the players that we need to be after. We have a bunch of “good players” which just need those special players around them to make the difference. No body can deny that. I mean how many shots on goal did we have today?…..1? If our 2 big players go then that money should be their to put back into the team.
Hank Marvin? Surely too old now ??
Shinji Kagawa is the man we should be signing. He’s come from nowhere and he’s a bloody world beater. Him, Mata, and Cahill and we are looking pretty good imo. Sounds unrealistic but the money is there. Ideally we’d sign a centre forward as when Robin’s out we’re completely toothless up front (Chamkah, oh dear) but it’s not gonna happen. I’d have signed a left back and a defensive mid too.
For about a combined £20m we could’ve signed Jose Enrique, Arturo Vidal and Cristian Zapata. That’s unbelievable value and our squad would have been improved no end with any or all of these players. Arturo Vidal in particular. The guy is absolutely superb and went for 10 million Euros ffs. He’s comfortably better than Song in the holding role.
I disagree with the Vidal being comfortably better then Song but yes, I agree with him being a great option that we didn’t get or go for. Vidal would have added quality and versatility which with our injury record, would have been great. That is 2 late tho. It is like still talking about why we waited so late to offer Nasri a new contract or why we are letting Barcelona bully us into selling the best center midfielder in the world for cheap. I have just come to accept those things and am looking at what we could do now with the money.
60£ for nasri and cesc you say? My scout network lacks a bit of width, but i`d buy Miralem Pjanic, 5 refs, and maybe Mertesacker. :)
Shane did I say that we didn’t need one or two special players??? No I didn’t. i just sadi that Goetze isn’t a realistic target anymore unless he actually WANTS to come here!!! We deffinately needed Wilshere today as he could have at least helped us keep posession a bit better. He’ll learn to be more of a special and decisive player in time. Look how Xavi started!!! Everyone thought that he was shit and only ever passed the ball sideways and backwards. BUT over time he has learned to be more incisive and has racked up a few assits along the way. To be honest, I think Wilshere can be MUCH better than Xavi, but I’m just saying give him a year or two and there’s one special player right there!!! I think we truly only need one more midfielder to replace Cesc and hopefully they will be ready to step forward RIGHT NOW, unlike Wilshere who is a year or so away. So I agree with you on that one. Wilshere would have helped today though, because at times we lacked composure, and he has that in spades!!! Rosicky didn’t do badly and neither did Ramsey, but like you said, they lacked ideas at times and gave the ball away too much. Another body in midfield in the mould of Wilshere, at the very least, would have given them one more outlet to pass to, if nothing else.
Mate I was responding to your Gotze comment. All I said was that how do you know what is unrealistic or not. It is not like Gotze is at a Real Madrid or is Lionel Messi already. Like I was saying mate, Gotze might be or might not be realistic but my only point was about replacing our special talents that are leaving with other special talents.
Yes, Wilshere is a very good player but he is not going to win things by himself. You don’t take away 2 of our 3 best attackers and then get better without replacing them. That is a little silly to think. I personally don’t even think it has to be a like for like replacement for Nasri or Fabregas. Just quality additions that vastly improve us. Like I said, if we spent a chunk of that money and landed Hulk, I would have plenty of faith. There are several players out there that would help us and we clearly will have the money to try for some good signings.
Maybe Wenger has no confidence in spending big money .His best purchases seem to be the lesser known players that he turned into huge stars-Anelka,Henry,Viera,Fab etc.When you look at Wiltord,Jeffers,Reyes,even Arshavin ,they havn’t been great successes.I hope he makes the right decision in reinvesting the Cesc Nasri funds ,pulls of at least one real coup signing a genuine massive talent.No one can doubt his ability at spotting future stars but lets hope he shuts up the media and surprises everybody before the transfer window shuts.I really hope he can quieten the moaners and see the light before it all implodes .
Not sure why this comment received so many thumbs down. I think there is real element of truth to it. As a club under AW when have we made big name, marquee signings? Alot of players became world class but were not when they joined. I don’t expect that to change.
Wiltord won us the league m8 i dont care if he cost 10 million lol
Yeah I don’t think we have to even bring in 2 midielders though. I think, everyone being close to fit, we only need one. I mean we have plenty of midfielders. Diaby is injured, Miyaichi is still working on his eligibility I think, and Lansbury could fill in if needed. We also have Oxlade Chamberlain who is a midfielder as well. Some of those guys are going to get a shot!!! I don’t think that’s a bad thing either!!! So in reality we only really need one midfield signing so far as attacking options are concerned. At least that’s how I see it. By the way I thought the defense was very good today and I’m very excited to see how Koscielny does this year!!! I will admit I was a little incertain about him at times last season, but he put in some solid performances last year too, and if he can build on that, then I have full confidence in him!!! Of course he AND Vermaelen will make errors, but who cares??? They can’t be perfect. I just hope they can stay fit. You were right that we only need a back-up signing and not a first or second choice centre back. I didn’t argue with you on that one. I mean we even have Song to help out there as well. I’m excited because defensively, I think that we might be better this year!!! I actually thought Gibbs wasn’t too bad. I disagree that he had a bad match. His positioning I thought was actually quite good in some instances. He made a couple of key interceptions, and he’ll learn when to go and when to back off I think. It will come. He made some very tidy defensive plays out there today, and I think he’ll improve. There has to be some way for him to analyze his performance and see where he goes wrong and what he does correctly. All he has to do is watch the tape and he’ll get better!!!
We have been down this road of leaving space for young talent yet most turn out to not make it here. The creme of the crop will rise here and we have plenty of games and injuries for them to get there shots. Look at how many games Rosicky and Squilacci have gotten in recent times so don’t worry about that. I am just going to wait and see what happens and as long as quality is added with that money then I will be happy.
The funny thing would be that if we blew 18 million on Jagielka, I don’t even think he will be a starter. I would choose Koscielny and Vermaelen over him.
On Gibbs, I thought he was good on the ball and was good when back in defense but the issue was his positioning. Watch it again and focus on Gibbs. He was all over the pitch.
OH I know, Gibbs turned up in the inside right position a few times…not sure what was up with that, but as long as he can recover, then hey who am I to say where he should be playing??? I’m not worried about the young guys getting shots, I just don’t think we need to overkill and spend money on 2 offensive midfielders. One is fine. If we get two to replae Cesc and Nasri, then great!!! But I’m not gonna panic if we only buy one!!!
Arsene knows best. Gibbs is better than Traore. He trains them daily and knows who is the better LB.
Give Gibbs time to settle in and with TV around he’ll play great for us.maturks
You know what I just realized we should have had a penalty kick when Barton grabbed Gervinho. The game was still going on and that was a clear foul.
Yes I know I thought of that before. I also don’t think Gervinho dived. He shouldn’t have started to roll around like he did but I think he was tripped. There was contact anyways and there was a tangle of feet. The referee, Peter Walton, who is one of the better referees, in my opinion got it all wrong. If he felt it was a dive then he should have given Gervinho a yellow to go along with his straight red. He would have had to to distinguish between what he was giving for the foul or non foul and what he was giving Gervinho for the slap to Barton’s face. He didn’t give a yellow to Gervinho for diving, which he should have done if there was a dive. So he must have felt there was some contact there. I don’t know I can only speculate as to what he actually saw. I don’t dispute the fact that Gervinho had to go off, as he raised his hand, but what Barton did was just as bad and worse. As a former referee myself I can say that IF I saw waht Barton did on the pitch I would have snet him off!!! Small consolation I know…:S
As always Arsenal will be punish harder. So damn stupid. Everyone knew that barton started the thing too.
Gary Neville’s article about Arsenal & A.W. He’s spot on, I recommend everybody reads it. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2025700/Gary-Neville-Arsenal-fans-shouldnt-criticise-Arsene-Wenger.html
i h8 gary nev but u gotta admit he loved his club. he is right about arsenal,but he is only saying this to get some fans himself because he is a sky commentator lmao
All us true smart fans know this already. However stupid people don’t get it and would not take the time to read that. The just read headlines on stupid goal.com and listen to the media. Like I have said, the attitude around the club should have been all positive but the negativity is finally tearing down the current group. Lets just hope that morons don’t push Wenger out and he can get on with a new generation.
Lucescu confirmed that Arsenal is interested in Jadson. Damn, Cesc replaced with guy who played in Ukraine, SO EXCITING!!!
topnik: who is also a guy capped for Brazil.
That doesn’t mean a sh.t. Brazil gives chance to a lot of players to wear their shirt but there is only eleven that can play regulary for the first team and last time I checked Jadson wasn’t one of them. Why oh why for only one time we can’t buy proven player insted of one with big potentional that leaves us for big pay rise after one good season. I would rather see Lansbury prove his worth in red and white than have this so called big name signing.
I’d love to see Per Mertesacker come in. I’m starting to get a bit worried about the lack of creativity shown throughout the preseason and in the Toon game. Players like Cesc and Nasri don’t come along too often and they’ll be very hard to replace. I’d be happy with 4th this season to be honest but it would be very nice to pick up a cup, any cup. I still think that this team will be great though and when the fair play rules come into play it’ll even the field a bit for us in terms of the players we can buy. This will only be a frustrating season if our ambitions are unrealistic, which is apparently the case for many a “Gooner”.
Arturo Vidal is absolutely, without doubt better than Song in the holding role. I like Song, I think he’s a very good player; he’s a decent tackler, he’s strong and he’s superb on the ball. He has one major weakness though, his serious lack of mobility. He’s too slow basically. He can be bypassed easily against the good sides with quick passing and he’s made to look cumbersome and clumsy, really.
Vidal is quick and seriously sharp, and he’s got an absolutely tremendous engine. He’s super-tenacious, tough tackling and extremely brave. And that’s just the defensive side of his game. He’s got fantastic quality on the ball and he’s technically excellent. He’s so versatile as well. He can play the holding role but he also has the quality to play a more advanced role. He’s also a bloody good full back on either side and he’s played centre back before, though I’ve personally never seen him play there.
Of course it’s in the past etc etc but we’ve seriously missed a trick there. 10 million euros for fucks sake. Peanuts.
I seriously disagree but we all how our opinions. Song a decent tackler? If you watch him, I don’t think you will find a better open field tackler in the world and as for mobility…..when is the last time you watched Arsenal? If you said that 2 years ago, I would have agreed but he vastly improved his mobility last year and Wenger has even pointed that out. Anyways, like I said, I agree that Vidal is a quality player and I would have loved him to sign but that ship has sailed.
jadson is not cesc replacement, anyway thats how the media call it. you cannot replace cesc and jadson has his own style of play. as he can also play in the wing, lets just say he’s the cheaper version of mata with much better freekicks.
i wouldnt mind if we sign him
No he is far more Fabregas then Mata. I am not a huge fan of Jadson from what I have seen of him to be honest but I am occasionally wrong.
Pazma:
There’s a reason why Cahill is £17m and Mertesacker is 6. Mertesacker is shite. Yes he’s tall and thus good in the air but he’s slow as hell and has the turning circle of a tank (both of which would be tragic with our high line). Plus he’s extraordinarily prone to errors. I’ve seen him make heaps and heaps for Bremen.
No, the reason is because Mertsacker is in the last year of his contract and he is not english. German international verses Aston Villa reject. Just shows you the over hyping of english players.
lol you know your stuff lol!!!! the whole german team (who is mile better than england and i have been nice )is build around him and hummel in cb while cahill is back up cb for england.he would be english he would cost twice even with only one year contract left.
metersacker is twice the cb that cahill.he is as fast as cahill.
You know what I just realized we should have had a penalty kick when Barton grabbed Gervinho. The game was still going on and that was a clear foul.
Shane your comment was spot on but the mass media would clearly bypass, and as usual lots of penalties wave away after this kind of incidents. Barton follow through tackles and clipping of back heel was always intentional to cause maximum damage and resulting in serious injuries. Clearly Song was piss off in taken his own actions, Yes he should not act foolish but the referees had never highlighted or punished those tackles in the English games…..
I seen the Newscastle game, our back 5 Song included was good except I agreed with Shane Gibbs can be naive in his positioning. That was why I concern we need to buy an experienced LB to take up this role….Frankly I doubt and be surprised if Arsene do a U-turn on this area. The zonal defending introduce this season frankly will depend on the gelling of the back 5 and the front 5 in an cohesive unit. Cahill is overated and the hype up by the media can make the hear say became real for unwise fans. What we need is someone better than Squallichi as No. 4 for backup.
Oh Ramsey was pretty poor in his pre-season and based on last night match. He still needs 1-2 years to perhaps fit into the “Fabregas role”. Me think Wilshere is really miss in the link-up play as well the final third. The speculation of Fabregas replacement looks to hold true what Wenger fear most. Rosicky flater off after 60 mins mark. Arshavin – everyone knew he last for half-time and his input drop as the match goes longer for him.
We use wingers as wide proaches as clear as Wenger needs injection of pace in the final third. Gervinho is the type who needs to find consistency over his stay in Arenal shirt, as you can see his final last third pass, and miss shot can frustrate you. But neverthless he makes us more dangerous when he was on the field. We need more players like Wilshere in the CAM to create opportunties for the wide proaches, and false 9 strikers. We need this urgently otherwise the squad is thin in this area.
I will always defend Gibbs because I saw Cole, Clichy and all of them when they began as LB for us. I can tell you in certainty that Gibbs is better than when they got their break in that position. Very true.
Shane
Gibbs needs the support of all of us to be successful.
Arsenal
Talking about Gibbs positioning; today I saw Cole playing almost as right wing for the Chavs in their game against Stoke. Don’t you worry.
As I said mate, all I am stating is fact. I am in no way writing Gibbs off as a player and I think he is very good at a lot of things. I am just pointing out that he definitely needs to improve on this area and that was there for all to see.
Frankly the reason why I says this….Ramsey are not consistent enough. Rosicky are the same and right away we see the urgent need to buy 1-2 CAM
@ maturks – Me thinks Gibbs is a gamble especially in the big game as he tend to expose a big gap due to his positioning. Unless of course he improve beyond doubt but then IMO it is still a huge gamble. Yes the Arsenal supporters surely can be the 12 man but can you really expect the fans roaring him on after any unfortunate defending lapses for his mistakes… Time will time.
Shane, Vidal is comfortably better than Song, without question imo, we’ll agree to disagree on that one. RE: Mertesacker; he’s fucking shit mate. If we sign him prepare to see bucket loads of blunders, I’m telling you now.
I don’t understand people who say Cahill is not good enough for us. Have you seen him play? The guys is an excellent, excellent defender and an absolute perfect fit for us. He’s big, strong, quick across the ground, great in the air, committed, tackles hard and well and he’s good on the ball too. He’s a great age too and he’s got good premier league experience. I honestly can’t see a better option. Is he worth £17m with one year left on his contract? Of course not, it’s the ridiculous over priced Britsh player syndrome again, but sometimes you have to pay over the odds for quality.
In the interim period between Rio and Terry going and Smalling and Jones becoming 1st choice, Cahill will be 1st choice centre half for England- I’m absolutely sure of it. And if we do sign him I’m convinced he will prove worth the money in the end. It’s much more likely that we’ll bargain bin shop (as always) though and sign a Scott Dann or someone.
Why do you keep stating the same thing over and over again when I already said ok we disagree and everyone has an opinion on who they like not to mention I said Vidal is a good player. On Cahill, I never said he was a bad player. I personally prefer Koscielny and Vermaelen over Cahill. I think Koscielny is an amazing talent but now days 1 mistake and people call you shit yet they ignore all the positives at a club like Arsenal. Unless we are going to sign Matt Hummels who is already ready one of the top 3 or 4 center backs in the world then I think 17 million would be better used elsewhere. I have stated my points on Djurou and my opinion on the Vermaelen and Koscielny partnership so I feel we only needed to improve the depth which could have been done by just keeping Bartley. I have complete faith in our first 3 centerbacks, keeper and our starting defensive mid Song. I have far less faith in the creativity of our attackers (should Nasri and Fabregas leave). I have less faith in our depth or starting option at left back and our depth at defensive mid not to mention Chamahk being our back up striker. We had only 2 shots on goal verse Newcastle.
That LeGrove guy on twitter is always full of shit for Wenger. I really don’t understand his motives….not a true gooner
I agree with Shane on this one…Koscielny is more than good enough to be Vermaelen’s partner and he actually played better than him against Newcastle!!! Vermaelen had a very good match as well though and I’m not trying to knock him here. They both should be first choice. Anyone we sign at the back will be to supplement them. NOT to replace them. Cahill is a very good defender, but he’s not better than Vermaelen or Koscielny. He scores a few goals, BUT so does Vermaelen and that is bonus anyways. So just because he scored a wonder goal versus QPR doesn’t mean he has increased his value in my eyes. !7 million is too much. It’s better spent elsewhere. As for Gibbs, I’m am 100% behind him and I feel he can be a great player. He’ll improve I”m sure of it. I disagree here with Shane. I still feel he will be a top international left-back and he is ready to strp in right now.
You disagree with me? I like Gibbs and you agreed on the part about his positioning. That was my only comment on him which was true in the recent game. Skill wise, yes he is quality.
Going back to campbell any update since friday?
looks like clearout week will start in earnest tomorrow. Monday fabregas. tuesday bendtner. wednesday eboue. thursday almunia. friday nasri. if only squillaci can go on saturday!
like most people i want a cb. i think we should spend whatever we get for eboue almunia squillaci bendtner and almunia on one or 2 defenders. then focus all the cesc and nasri cash on the rest of the team.
In my opinion I thought defensively we were brilliant,the one bad part though is that wenger may use that to back up his claims that we don’t need defensive reinforcements..to be fair though the way we play there ain’t many players in the world that could improve our defence,it’s either adapt our game to protect the back 4 more often or carry on with our pinning the opposition back andhoping we can quickly block any counter attacks.So really we could do with any half decent centre half just to get in squillacis way of ever appearing for us again and then buy ourselves a top notch centre midfielder with energy to burn,someone a bit like flamini..we also desperately need to replace fabregas because if we don’t we’ll lose that element of surprise he offers through first time through balls and a supreme vision,Ramsey doesn’t play enough on instinct to take over just yet,it was very noticeable when van persie would make his move and the chance would be gone due to Ramsey holding onto the ball too long,we need a player that can build up a strong understanding with van persie to be successful otherwise drop him into the hole and sign a star striker as chamakh has looked pretty terrible for 6 months now,shame van der vaart went to spurs because we’d make him a world beater!Maybe we could nick affelay off Barcelona now?Oh and just to add my 2 pennies worth although I thought we should’ve signed a new left back I reckon Gibbs looked the part yesterday,let’s just hope he can stay fit..how goods this starvin martin at sochaux we’re being linked with?Finally I agree with mertesacker comments,he’d look shit in our team,I’d rather re sign sol Campbell..again!
Oh ok, I didn’t bother to read your whole comment again…hahahahaha. I really think his positioning will improve. There will be some times though where he will turn up in attack through the middle or on the right and we’ll actually be grateful for it if he can pull it off. Ashley Cole is great at it and I think Gibbs will be just as effective as him in the future!!! Marcelo has learned to hug the touchline more and stay on the left though and he can learn that then I’m sure Gibbs can too!!!
so according to some here metesarker is shit .i hear everything lol.the german team is build around him and hummel in cb position,one of the most exciting german team ever and one of the favorite for next world cup (realist favorite the usual shit like england can win it ).
while the injured prone is bullshit.he play around 30 match a season (38 match in bundesliga)in all his career.75 match at national level at only 26 injured prone lol
peopel are mixing him with metzelder the zombie cb who play for shalke i think now who is actually not very good
The German team built around Mertesacker, literally LOL. The guy is rubbish. I’m a huge fan of the Bundesliga (as you can tell from my love of Vidal, Kagawa, Gotze and Sahin and Ozil before they moved to Real Madrid) so I’ve seen a lot of Mertesacker and he’s a complete donkey. A Bremen fan I know reckons he was at fault for at least half of their goals conceded last season.
How he has 75 caps for Germany is a mystery. Much like how Emile Heskey got 60 odd caps for England. They obviously like Mertesacker’s height, aerial ability and decent strength, because as a defender he’s extremely average.
What a bizarre comment on Metzelder at the end. He’s been plagued by injuries but he’s ALWAYS been better than Mertesacker.