Arsène Wenger has put a selection of fringe youngsters on stand by ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United, as the Frenchman’s selection headache continues, Young Guns understands.
The Gunners will give fitness tests to Thomas Vermaelen, Johan Djourou and Bacary Sagna this morning, with the latter complaining of illness on Saturday. Ignasi Miquel and the fit again Armand Traoré are both ready to step in if they all fail.
Elsewhere, the suspensions to Alexandre Song and Emmanuel Frimpong mean Francis Coquelin is in line to start at Old Trafford. He only returned from international duty with France Under-20’s on Thursday, but trained with the first-team on Friday, and is thought to be preferred to Henri Lansbury.
Like Coquelin, fellow countryman Gilles Sunu also returned on Thursday, and should be named on the bench, due to injuries to Ryo Miyaichi and Benik Afobe. Both of whom have been ruled out for around 10 days.
Joining Lansbury, Miquel, Traoré, Coquelin and Sunu in travelling to Manchester, is Dutchman Oğuzhan Özyakup, who has been promised further first-team involvement after signing a new contract this summer.
You can follow the progress of the youngsters involved on our Twitter feed.
plus we can still get him in january if bolton dont try to flog him off in the next 24 hours.
i think arsene abandoned the deal after their twitter antics
FFs! we dont sign anyone you moan we sign some players you still f**king moan.
if cahill is all that how come man utd ignored him for phil jones? liverpool ignored him for sebastian coates. maybe something managers know that we dont.
breaking news btw! tottenham offers cash plus players for gary cahill, i know thats where he was going to end up if we dont buy him.
I think a lot of people are commenting on players they have not watched a lot of. I am not saying any of these signing are sending me over the moon but to be honest once we lost 8 – 2 and I read all of the comments on twitter from big players, I thought it would be impossible to get a big name signing to come. Base case scenario to me would be the typical Wenger signings that come good or a player in France where Wenger would have to do a lot more then 1 loss to ruin his rep.
Most exciting player that I saw us linked with today, was Clint Dempsey. I think people are short changing him because he is American but he has more then proven himself in the league and his goal scoring record is as good as any for a midfielder. He also is very creative, takes players on, is great in the air and links up well plus takes good long shots and has a good free kick. He also performs well verse the big teams with a double verse chelsea, the great chip verse Juventus, the goal vs liverpool, etc. He is a player that would fit even better with a better team.
I can tell you our chief Europe scout Grimandi confirmed last week in Italy Arsenal interest of Rennes Yann M’Villa. Can we capture him? I would say 50-50 as no deal are sure in the volatile market, but if he comes in before the transfer window close our defensive department are all sorted out.
Mertesacker arrival to me might meant a change in formation in one side of the e wing role becoming more reserve. Anyway I leave out the talk here cause I know it divide Arsenal camp here but if you are interested to know more pls refer here: http://www.7amkickoff.com/2011/phil-gartside-twitter-blast-costs-bolton-10m-as-arsenal-look-up-mertesacker/
However Wenger must get to sort out the defensive drills pratice into competitions by sorting or getting new coaches involved as to me it is not all about buying to really solve the problems. Remember players dictate the system used and Wenger must learnt fast to accomodate the flexible tacticals changes to different opponents. My personal view not shooting anyone here.
Striker wise Park will be more than good enough addition and all dusted for the season ahead. The noises coming out on his S.Korea military or Police service(Begining 2013 or End 2013) makes me pause to think clearly Arsene is using this signing to usher in the next patch of youth strikers ahead (Joel Campbell, Benik Afobe). To me great pieces of business plan ahead. My personal opinion you may beg to differ. Of course there was a late replacement and a cheap buy but he was told to sell/loan before buying for financial reasons and of course his genuine care makes impatience fans flaming. Heck a cheap buy doesn’t equate a low quality palyer….I’ll remain neutral here.
BTW my main concern now is the departure of Fabregas clearly shows up in all matches without him, and got worse after Wilshere injury. Ramsey wasn’t ready to shore massively in the provider role so either to call up Wilshere or get another to provide competitions and add strength in depth. Wilshere can perform his task but already injury caught up with him and I would prefer to add creative midfielder spark….i HOPE and not pretend to know every intention the boss want but I really hope Wenger get one before the transfer close as Wilsher and Ramsey need some experienced head to guide and provide healthy competitions. Lansbury sale can perhaps go towards ensuring we buy in this area.
I think it is bold for people to assume that new defensive players will mean a better defensive record and at the same time, I think it is bold to think that we will change tactics. Weird thing to say but I believe this is the case.
In one way or the other Wenger must sort out this defense mess clear for all to see.
The 8-2 thrashing clearly shows our strength in depth. The injuries/ suspension took a toll on us and that match clearly woke Wenger up to buy some experienced players. He just needs to buy before the transfer window close to provide competitions and experienced to the team ( 1 Creative & 1 Defensive midfielder). IMO Frimpong/Jenkinson/AOC should be loan out for a season to learnt the mistakes ad competive matches before thrusting them to the BPL. Never uderestimate the importance. Is the ManU youth better than ours? I don’t believed but rather more mature head with the experienced gain during their loan. Wenger had to shoulder part of the blame.
youth players push to the front
Why would Frimpong leave? He already looks a beast and why would AOC leave? We have plenty of competitions where he will find time. It wasn’t about each of these guys as individuals. It was that there were so many of them in all at once combined with several back ups like Rosicky and Arshavin. By the way, we should have never sold Eboue and at this point, you are not going to find another top back up right back so there would be no point in letting Jenkinson go.
If only in terms of numbers, it does seem odd to have let Lansbury & Bartley – the latter who had a decent stint at CB & CM for an old firm club, both depart for a year. You could even to a lesser extent argue that some of those who will figure in an this season will be no better than Vela & JET – ie Sunday.
If Wilshere’s injury is as bad as feared, we look a little short.
Personally to me buying Cahill or Mertesacker or whoever does that change the facts Wenger must sort or change the personals in his coaching team on the defensive aspects. That seems to be the root of all defensive lapse of concern. Can only hope for the best
Wenger had a system that work but I am just suspecting his fellow coaches don’t have a glue how to really teach the team to defend in different situations that frustrated the most part.
I expect during this late transfer window Arsenal will to close any deals, it would go down to Marvin Martin AND M’Vila. The former the likest
This is getting a bit annoying. Pjanic joins Roma for only 10 million euros. He would have added some much needed creativity to the team. This would be a failure if all we brought in is the 2 defenders.
Seems clear Adam Johnson has the freedom to go, latest rumours are him to Stoke & Kaka – supposedly to Spurs. Can’t see either of those, but if they do, that’s a chance missed.
Absolutely agree on Pjanic, and apparently the outstanding Ricardo Montolivo (Fiorentina and Italian international) was available for just 7m Euros ffs!
We’re ending up with Benayoun/Arteta. Decent premier league players but nothing more.
Montolivo is not proven in the premier league but Arteta is and is exactly what we need right now. You don’t know what will happen in Jan or even in the summer again. If we get Montolivo that will mean the end of Marvin martin or someone else that is ever better and proven in big matches like in CL.
I feel something will happen in the next transfer window and Arshavin will be gone possible Rosicky and we will get another winger who is great. Aneke and Ozyacup will get the nod in CC lets see what they can do there… for me Aneke looks like a real fighter with great great great skills and vision. If he can turn on a great performance there he will get more chances and the best part is he can play alongside Jack or Ramsey or Arteta. With the attacking CM we got right now will mean there will be room for 2 attacking CM at the same time, always. Jack and Ramsey are a great pair but might now be able to play all the games we got. Remember there are 40+ games during a season.
Don’t you think its strange that no other top team got Montolivo? He refuses to extend so that might mean he already now where to go after the season. Probably stay in Italy. We don’t need another homesick player.
And about benayoun… well we are stuck with Arshavin in the team right now and I feel Benayoun is a damn better player with much better team work so I will say that is also an improvement but still make rooms for a great signing next season or in Jan.
Both are indeed not my first choice but nevertheless improvements of the team. For sure we will get better player seeing one is only on loan and the other one already 29+
Shane the point I made was not in the current Arsenal mess….Wenger should have anticipated Fabregas/ Nasri saga and not left till so late for transfer bidding. What I meant was to send the youth o EPL loans and come back ready for first team actions…..However right now it was in real mess that they are thrown in the foray without many experienced heads to guide them in high pressure matches. Wenger and the board is to be blame
I don’t disagree that we should have been more prepared for when Nasri and Fabregas left but that has nothing to do with claiming that our young guys should go on loan. 3 games in and we could not have expected to be without Vermaelen, Sagna, Song, Frimpong, Gervinho, Wilshere and Gibbs all out at the exact same time.
@Jom
I really don’t think you’ve seen the guy play have you? Montolivo is top, top drawer. Don’t try and make out that he hasn’t moved because he isn’t wanted or isn’t good enough. He’s been attracting the interest of all the big clubs in Italy.
And on the point about having premier league experience, people only seem to use that argument when it suits them. When it was Cahill vs Mertesacker the fact that Cahill has good premier league experience and Mertesacker has none wasn’t an issue.
Arteta is a talented player but he’s a peripheral figure, often just on the fringes of games and not grabbing them by the scruff of the neck. He’s injured a hell of a lot too. Barely played the season before last and he’s only made 30 league appearances once in his entire career (I know, I know he’ll fit in well at Arsenal etc). Benayoun’s a decent player as well. There’s nothing wrong with these two players but you can’t believe they’re adequate replacements for Cesc/Nasri.
I don’t think any or our signings should be starters for a top four team. Maybe Gervinho but even he seems a bit hit and miss. They’re all just good squad players. Which is fine, we definitely need to improve the squad, but we’re still 2 or 3 top players away from having a proper side.
and that was exacly my point too. He might wants to stay in Italy and did I mention the homesickness? Ohh yeah I did.
Cahill is experience in PL but have no experience in CL and is NOT as good as Mersesacker. If you think something else than you have no clue at all. Mersesacker is has CL and came in semifinale in both 06 and 2010!! We got a world class defender but you want Cahill????? Yeah good call there. I want to see how you can defend this… will be very very interesting.
And about Arteta not making a whole season.. well if you think 29 games a season is a whole season then he did a couple of them in evereton…… I don’t know if you can count but he did at least 5 season with everton were he played more than 30 times for Everton.
An honest person would admit that this is all less then inspiring. I mean we literally bought the exact positions I said we needed to a tee. The think is that it clearly looked a rush job and that is there for all to see. I mean, Mertsacker was clearly not the first choice. Arteta while I would have loved this signing 2 or 3 years ago when he was in his prime, who knows which Arteta we are getting. Andre Santos is another one who is a little to late but surely is and upgrade on Traore so who can complain. Did any of us really believe we would sign Baines? The Yossi I feel is a great addition depending on what he is used for. He will definitely help unlock some of the weaker teams and in the carling cup.
All in all, we at least signed the positions we needed but it is to be determined if they are the right players or not. There is no way that an Arsenal fan can be happy with getting 60 million for our 2 best players and then replacing them with a 10 million pound Arteta towards the end of his career and a loan signing amongst other things. Look, we are to the point where we constantly bring in 25 million for players so it is not a bad thing to fork out 20 million on a couple players. All this talk about if we find quality that will help our team then we will do it. There are a lot of players that would help our team. I mean you don’t think Falcao a 25 goal a season scorer would help? I mean there is nothing wrong with once in a while adding an expensive class player to the team when we are bringing in so much money. Anyways, we will see how it goes and all we can do is hope for the best.
The best thing I saw from the day was Jack Wilshere’s positivity and passion on everything. He is the guy that we need to give the 8 year contract to.
@ Jom,
Good stuff boyo….. this is the problem with the way this team is being run, you make some panic signings that may hurt us if they dont turn up (almost 30 mil) and two of them have injury worries (arteta and benayoun) and add them to a squad of the living wounded (which i think arsenal needs to look into its becoming something else). and at best they are squad players…. and are at the tail end of their best…. Mertesacker (28), Arteta (29) and Santos (28), i mean i guarantee that 3 pretty good players could have been purchased with that money… I mean we didnt sign elia because of 1 mil extra.
yes they are squad player dude!
our first choice midfield this season won’t be that bad( wilshere, song and frimpong). we just need extra men in the midfield for cover.
btw, mertersacker is 26 not 28. arteta taking from rosicky makes sense and a benayoun instead of arshavin also makes sense.
its just a shame these 2 clowns aren’t sold yet.
SORRY THAT WAS @ ADAM…… Good stuff and straight to the point.^^^^^ My comment was directed at your piece.
replacement for cesc is jack wilshere, why people expect arsenal to spend 25 millions on someone to be convinced.jack wilshere has the skill and intelligent to be our number 10. arteta and benayoun are just good addition to the squad although they were not first targets.they are bought because of their premiership experienced.
i am sure there will be more signing this january. gary cahill turned down tottenham late bid thats probably he’s hoping to join at the next window.
yes i wished we bought big names like hazard but he didnt happen now lets move on, maybe next season we will start smelling the likes of aneke will step to taste first team under the leadership of arteta.
The last minute addition is clearly a miscalculation of Wenger faults for this transfer, but lets us all unite and support Arsenal no matter what.
Here is a few point to clarify here….
source tells me that Mikel Arteta was at London Colney as early as 6.30pm. After some haggling over wages – it seems Arteta may have taken a pay-cut to secure his four year deal – his signing was secured, right on the deadline.
Here is a few point what Wenger wanted to achieved this transfer window but miss out:
1)Yann M’Villa a bid was sent but Rennes wanted Euro 40 million so the deal was cool off.
2)Eden Hazard we had some kind of first refusal; however Lillie never wanted to sell now or Hazard force a transfer request but we can assume a deal be done in the near future. We seen this all along.
3) Creative side I believed he did his best to add thou it was his fault to come so late inside the trasfer period.
4) Mertsacker was clearly not the first choice, that I agreed but he is not as bad as you guys make him out. Bremen play high line with a full back in a more reserved role so very much to see how fast he adapt to the rough and fast BPL.
Almunia and Squliichi are enquired during this transfer window by clubs,so we can expect Wenger giving them some time to find and sort out their clubs this January or next season. Both are possibly looking to play reserve games as many believed….Wage draining I supposed to keep them for now.
IMO if some French/German players are to be brought in next season, we can expect to see even more departures like Arshavin, Rosicky.
Park is going off 2 years later for S.Korea military service so I do expect Arsenal to buy replacement or promote internally.
Lastly, any possibly of Diaby staying or leaving, I wouldn’t know?
@Jom
Ah yes the homesickness. A point you’ve just pulled completely out of your arse. You’ve just thought “maybe” he gets homesick and then kinda ran with it.
And Cahill is absolutely the better option than Mertesacker. He’s been a consistently excellent performer in the Premier League for a good while now. Mertesacker is not as bad as made I made out before, he has got 75 caps for Germany afterall (although he’s not had to face a whole lot of competition as shown by very average centre backs like Westermann racking up the caps) but he is coming off the back of a truly awful season in the Bundesliga and I worry about his lack of pace and his tendency to lose concentration.
Cahill was clearly the preferred choice for Wenger. The only reason we’ve signed Mertesacker is because he was cheaper. Which I just can’t understand, the money is clearly there so why are we still penny pinching.
And not sure what you’re talking about with Arteta. If you look at the stats he’s only played 30 league games in a season ONCE in his entire career. That is pretty poor.
Homesickness… I pull that off? Man… if he is hunted by the top clubs in Italy and not a fucking team sign him for that price means only one fucking thing for me and that is he wants to stay in Italy and earn some big big cash. You have nothing to prove either so saying I am wrong is completely wrong. If you think logically you will realize I got more tight than you are.
Wenger bidded for Marvin Martin as our play maker. He bidded for Goetze too for much much more. Exactly how many italiens do you see in PL and is doing well??? Oh.. yeah not so many right? What are the chances that he actually wants to come here when Milan, Juventus, Inter is hunting him with big big money offer? Probably more than us. AND they are playing in his homeland where he lives. Do the math.
I am pretty sure Mersesacker was not a choice we got only for the money.. I get tire of the shit when we obviously got an provn international with a proven record. I have seen him play and I instantly thought this is one for Arsenal he was only 24 by then and was playing euro. He is a damn good defender.
And about Arteta..he did more than 30 a season if you’re not only talking about the league but if the league.. well 26 games and so aren’t much but he is a great squad player. He is not gonna play 30+ games a season for us any way. Wilshere and Ramsey are the preferred one but he is a great addition none the less. And again we are for sure after a great CM next summer or in Jan. This time we didn’t got the one we wanted but he is a great player anyway. A hell lot better than Rosicky.
Mertesacker has faced fast attackers before but I would expect TV5 would pick up the smaller quicker players. He would offer qualites that currently we lack. Don’t forget we still have Koscienly so Wenger has options. Yes we have signed older players but isn’t that what the masses have been begging for ? They don’t need to play 40+ games a year as we now have depth. Wenger get his wish list granted but I believe he tried, I may be gullible why I have no reason to think otherwise. Let’s hope the fans get back behind the boys
They’re all decent signings and of course I hope they do great for us. Mertesacker has got some good qualities for sure, his height and aerial ability will be great for us, but there’s still question marks there for me- he had a really woeful season last year. Whereas Cahill could’ve come in straight away, needed no time to settle and him and Vermaelen would have been one of the best centre back pairings in the league imo.
Nothing particularly wrong with any of these signings and they’ve got excellent experience but we’re still two or three top players away from being a proper side. We might just have done enough to scrap 4th again this year.
Hey im not calling for us to go out there and throw away money like liverpool did. I am asking for us to take smart sensible actions when the time called for it. We had from the start of the transfer market to take our pick and still pull in players for reasonable prices. The thing is im sure that the board thought our squad before the signings would compete …. Elia, sebastian coates (who in my opinion was a very very good by for liverpool but time will tell) where all available… Marving martin, bryan ruiz are all quality players that fit the mold of young and experienced. Throw in M’vila (i’ve heard good things but i havent really followed him). No one even threw their hats in the ring for these players we picked, why? its not because these were gems we found hidden in belgium or somewhere in france. These are players that would just add depth not the “difference makers we seek”. I would end by saying i am at least happy an attempt was made to salvage the season… now with the experience and back bone added maybe we can continue to bleed in these young ones. but not just throw them they out to get cooked.
i don’t know why some fake fans are still complaining about who should have been bought, the market is now closed, imo i feel we’ve got good mix of youth and experience and if wenger can blend them all to play as a team we are in for a good time. let us all get behind our team and lets see how we go from there. kudos to wenger at least its better late than never
Fake fans… get off your high horse. I think we’re well within our rights to have expected at least one top drawer player to come in having seen two world class ones go out the door. They’re all decent additions though with very good experience and of course we are all gonna be right behind them.
@Jom
-Again you’re just guessing that he gets homesick…? Really bizarre point to make.
– “if he is hunted by the top clubs in Italy and not a fucking team sign him for that price means only one fucking thing for me and that is he wants to stay in Italy and earn some big big cash.” I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here.
-“Exactly how many italiens do you see in PL and is doing well??? Oh.. yeah not so many right?” Huh? Nationality is irrelevant if the player is good enough.
-Maybe Milan etc would offer more money than us but he’s not actually signed for anyone this window (much to ever serie a followers surprise) which suggest that we could have signed him. Especially when Fiorentina’s president said they’d only sell to a club a broad.
– We went for Cahill 1st, Mertesacker was a backup option because we cheaped out and didn’t want to pay the full price. I’ve already said why Cahill is a better fit so I’m not gonna go over that again.
– Arteta is a good addition to the squad and is better than Rosicky. No-one is even arguing this point.
Lots of typing errors in that post. Bleh.
you are missing my points and i will not say anything more cus its useless.
Maybe we did go for That dude I don’t know. But for sure I think we got a hell lot of better option than that guy. Sometimes the money isn’t the issue its the players attitude.
Jamie I need some info on Lansbury.
With all the talk of him not returning I read on the Arsenal website that he signed a new long term contract in January 2010.
Does this mean it was only a 2 year contract?
Missing your points lmao. I went through every single point you made, I even bullet pointed them for you.
Arteta a hell of a lot better option than Montolivo? You’ve just shown you only watch the premier league and don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
yes you pointed at me but you still don’t understand what I mean and you just prove you don’t understand me. Very very simple and its clear as hell but still you are blocked.
And did I say Arteta was the one who was better?????? I didn’t I meant we can buy someone who is a lot better than that Italian guy. very very simple to understand but yet again you don’t.
So this is the last reply from me ever since you just don’t understand people you say they are completely wrong. I have watched serie a a many times many many times. they are shit. My opinion. my opinion.
people need to realise that it took arsene too long to sign arteta and benayoun because all our primary targets refused to sign for us. i know eden hazard is the darling of most arsenal fans but its time we move on without him. we want players who wants to play for us like park chu young, as soon as he heard arsenal he came running to sign for us, mertersacker is an arsenal fan. not someone who dumps us when we are down. anyway, both hazard and m’vila were going to cost a fortune. hopefully arsene can spend that money on other players in january.
personally i prefer marouane fellaini to hazard because he can break play and his aerial power will be useful. yes my january shopping list should be marouane fellaini, gary cahill and a striker to replace chamakh.
off topic!
take a look at carl jenkinson
he was caught out of position many times. outclassed,outplayed but the boy still fighting to the end. now thats a future arsenal player, not like traore who came to f**k us up as he knew it was his last game.
You say he was comprehensively out classed, was caught out of position a lot and several times which required Theo to make runs back to cover for his horrendous mistakes and you claim he’s the type of player Arsenal need?
That’s ridiculous. I’ve never understood the “he was really crap but he kept trying” type of praise. A player trying should be a minimum requirement, not something we put up on a pedestal.
The fact of the matter is that Jenkinson was absolutely atrocious against united, he didn’t track runners, was woeful positionally, stood off players way too much and lets not forget the fact that he got sent off for twice making the same mistake. I won’t judge the lad based on one performance however, but if you’d rather see that week in week out as opposed to Eboue or someone else who doesn’t “battle” then I’m frankly incredibly concerned.
Also, Traore played better than Jenkinson in that game. Watch the game again.
mouthy smart – I understand your comment about effort should be a minium requirement but far too often it isn’t. There were players who’s head dropped at Manyoo and it showed. I can accept a player not being good enough because that’s not his fault but when a player is uninterested then he is accountable. I always felt that with Eboue, he was a right back not a winger but he didn’t complain and done the best he could. If that’s not good enough then it’s Wenger that answers the questions. That’s not a anti Wenger comment by the way
Jules – Jenkinson was one of the players with the lowest work rate in that game. He was rarely getting forward to support and when he did it was far too slow but he was managing to also not get back and cover. Players were also running off him for fun and he was taking far too long to close payers down, this meant they had yards of space to do whatever they wanted. None of those are issues with ability, just effort. Like I say, I’m not sure if it was laziness or if he was simply tired but I’m inclined to believe the latter.
Whilst I agree with you that a player who is of poor quality shouldn’t be criticised if they work hard for the team, Jenkinson was poor as well as not working hard enough. However despite that he was being praised and touted as a future Arsenal player. You can see how that confused me.
another good thing about these new signings is all of them are goalscorers including defenders.
and 3 of them are deadball specialists.whether it was a calculated move by wenger of just luck it remains to be seen.
i am not sure where we will end up but i am really certain above tottenham, even during our darkest moment we still above the scums. smile, we are arsenal!
dude please! i praised jenkinson because he was playing a game above his level. yes he was sent off for making the same mistake twice because he’s immature.
yes in few years time he will get better and we need that kinda player and traore’s been around for longtime.
anyway, your little prince hazard left arsene stranded in france without signing. the arsene i know will now ignore him forever. even news coming up that he’ll sign in january is just rubbish.
we don’t need him, that would have been real panic buy if we spent 30 millions on him alone. arteta as short term playmaker till wilshere is ready makes more sense. he has premiership experience.
But you’re praising a player who was one of the weakest links in the team that day. You’re also praising him for “battling” and “fighting” when what I actually saw was either a tired or lazy performance. He was caught out of position so spectacularly because he wasn’t sprinting to recover and just gave up on runners too easily.
You claim Traore has been around for a long time, he’s 21. Only a couple of years older than Jenkinson and as I said, Traore wasn’t an embarrassment. Jenkinson was playing above his level, I grant you that, but that’s why we don’t need more players like that. I don’t want to regularly see Arsenal get outclassed but go down fighting, that’s what Bolton used to do.
I also have never mentioned Hazard on this site, so where that came from I have no idea.
“And did I say Arteta was the one who was better??????”
Yes, yes you did:
“But for sure I think we got a hell lot of better option than that guy.”
You’re a fool. Serie A is not shit, what a ridiculous thing to say. There’s a hell of lot of talent there which you’d know if you actually watched it.
Riccardo Montolivo is a done deal for Milan. Now I rest my case.
Also I already explained what I meant but yet again you prove how wrong you can have. ohh well this is defiently my last post to you ever in my life. People like you make me never wanna come back to youngguns comments.
Of Rosicky plays at his best, and Arteta plays at his best, I’ll take Rosicky and I’ll win every time. Rosicky changed the match against Udinese when he came on and he wasn’t the worst player against United I don’t recall. Rosicky has more pace, is a quicker thinker and is way more inventive than Arteta. This year Mikel has played like shit. And most of last year as well. He’s nothing more than a sideways passer and that’s it. He can keep the ball well for us though and that will be his biggest contribution!!! But if you are looking for him to play passes like Cesc did, he doesn’t. He DID but he hasn’t played like that for a while. He used to be REEAAAALLLLLY good!!! A talisman for Everton, but recently he hasn’t put forth much effort. IF that changes then he’ll be a very good buy. But when Rosicky is at his best, he’s still better than Arteta. People forget just how good Rosicky was when he was in the Bundesliga and playing for Sparta Praga as well!!! If it weren’t for injuries, we would have had a world class winning midfielder to sing about and praise for a good 4 or 5 seasons. At his best he is better than Arteta by a mile. Don’t get me wrong, I think Arteta is or was a very good player, but I know, at each one’s best, who I would rather have. ROSICKY
You are out of you mind Milo. Arteta is a much better player then Rosicky in every way.
No one forgets what Rosicky was in his prime but none of that matters now. Rosicky has played in the perfect set up for center midfielder and he has done nothing. He creates almost nothing and he provides no defensive help. Yes he can go on a couple runs or link up ok but that is not really adding anything and definitely leaves us vulnerable.
Arteta on the other hand has qualities to actually make a difference plus maybe you forgot but he use to be a holding mid so he can help defensively. He also has a great free kick, better shot and better final pass. I am just waiting to see if he will still have his prime legs left or not.
You are spot on Shane. Arteta will be a great asset for the team. He is the balance player we need. Rosicky is doing too much of the fancy stuff. just play it simple and fast enough. He is holding on the ball and trying to to do flicks all over the pitch when instead he should play it simple to Ramsey and take new position. Running far too much with the ball too. That is down to vision. He doesn’t have the CM vision right now. Wilshere and Ramsey can do those long balls with great accuracy and also do the right pass very very often. Rosicky can’t. He is holding on and running with the ball too much. Arteta will do the simple stuff and the hard stuff with great success too. He is a fighter too. who knows how to defend when require. For sure he will organise the defence quite a lot. Great leader on the pitch.
Montolivo has not signed for Milan. What are you talking about?
leroy fer signed fc twente for 5 millions euro.
while we were struggling to convince a french team to take our 22 millions for the same type of player.
leroy fer is actually better box to box and score goals.
well i guess arsene didnt rate him.
david santon to newcastle my heart broke when i read it.
still our scouts are better than tottenham’s if they ever had any.
eljero elia also claimed arsenal contacted him but they took too long. he didn’t want to play in germany anymore so he had to sign for juve.
@ Shane, no you are out of your mind!!! Arteta USED to do those things!!! Now all he does is pass the ball sideways and backwards. Rosicky is a much more forward thinking player than Arteta ever was!!! I don’t really think he’s the signing that everyone is making him out to be. In fact I think Benayoun will be of more value than Arteta and I’m not saying this because I’m Jewish. I question wether Arteta actually tried his best for Everton since we first made our interest known last year and that shows a lack of character in my eyes. You usually are correct with your assesment of players so I’ll probably end up being wrong, but I have my reservations regarding Mikel Arteta and what he can bring to us. IF he plays like he did with Rangers and PSG and the beginning of his career at Everton, then yes we have a real player, but I have my doubts as to how well he will actually play. Rosicky won us that match against Udinese. We weren’t doing shit until he entered the fray. I know he tends to try to do too much, but that match we could all see that he played it simple, yet intelligently. I still think he’s a better player than what Arteta has displayed over the past season or so.
Dude, Arteta did not have the greatest year ever last year and the year before he was injured (still had 6 goals in 11 games) so it is hard to tell if he is past it or just simply had a bad season. Quality wise though Arteta is far better then Rosicky but time will tell whether he is still at his peak or if he is fading.
On the udinese game, no it was Gervinho who changed the game and once we got the goal that killed off Udinese. It was not Rosicky. On Rosicky, what do he do anymore in your eyes mate? He can’t shoot anymore. He doesn’t defend or position himself defensively at all. He creates almost nothing. What does he add at all. Rosicky has not been very good for years now. Then go back to that 4-4 draw verse Newcastle and watch Rosicky single handedly throw away that game. Rosicky is good for the carling cup….no more at this point.
For Davi….. Do you still not think Bendtner is a douche bag LMAO
these players we purchased might turn out to be good but i have my reservation on some of them. I really think arteta is going to be inspirational… i hope he stays healthy. People forget that he started as a DM at barca…. before he was sent out on loan and continued in that position for a while… I think he would help add some steel in the midfield by returning to win the ball back and as rightly pointed that alone would make him an upgrade from rosicky amongst other things.
can someone tell me about Chuks Aneke, and Ozyakup, and the type of players they are, and will they be making apperances in the first team this year?
Cahill starting for England tonight. I advise all those who said he isn’t good enough etc to watch the game.
I don’t see how a game verse Bulgaria says anything about whether Cahill is good or not and besides all most of us said was that he was not worth 17 million pounds….not that he was not good.
Shenley v Hale End
As a watcher of youth football the academy is a sham
There is a foreign bias to selection, awarding pro contracts first team games. If Monteiro was a Hale end player would he get a pro ? If Bartley was as poor as Miguel would he have got a sniff of the 1st team. Only a blind man would say Miguel is a decent centre half.- his performance v Liverpool was shocking and his lack of speed is criminal. His own goal was the result of using the wrong foot and panicking under pressure.Its guaranteed he will be given several more 1st team chances this season when local based player would be sent on loan and sold next May.
Bunjaku and Rees may not be world beaters but are good enough to earn a pro contract.
in the under 18s the Brits largely are getting moved aside for the foriegn guys to get reserve team games Montiero Embecilio Gnabry. Are these guys as good as or better than the Hale end players ?. Lansbury has been on 3 loans with good success but Coquelin after 1 week back and 1 loan gets the start against Man utd, why ? No wonder Lansbury was laughing when he came on at 7-2 at right back… thanks boss. Lansbury will be sold in May 2102.The famed academy is a sham. Parents of boys from u9-16 should think twice about joining and keeping their boys at Hale end.
Before you mention Wilshire he was due to return to Bolton on loan last year when injuries forced Wenger to play him. He was never supported and pushed on the basis of his own performaces.
Similiar to Ashley Cole who was never expected to play 1st team but took his chance when Silvinho didnt have a EU passport.
As for Gibbs and Frimpong they are or will be fring players as a result this weeks purchases.
Until there are changes at coaching/selection changes at Shenley there will be more 8-2 v man utd and 10-1 v villa (reserves) Wenger and his lieutenants should go. This post will not be popular but the truth never is.8-2 8-2 8-2 – wenger is class please stay. in arsene trust.
Nope, this time you are wrong Shane. Yes Gervinho took on and beat his marker for Van Persie’s goal against Udinese, but really it was ROdiscky who had the best match. He allowed us to keep posession and he was a very calming influence. If Wenger could get him to play like that all the time then he’d be fine. Wenger even said that he changed the tyde of the match against Udinese. IF he could play like that every match then he’d be a force. It’s not like he did anything spectacular in that match either. He just played it simple BUT incisively. No he doesn’t have the legs anymore to get in to the box, but he did provide an assist for Walcott’s strike against United, even though it was fortunate and he wasn’t terrible against them. Arteta hasn’t contributed much of anything for Everton defensively or offensively the past year or so. I’m telling you, all he does is pass the ball sideways and backwards now. We could have had Denilson do that. Arteta has lost it just as much as Rosicky has. I can’t stand people who slag off the players we have currently, who have made a contribution to the club in the past, however big that may be, and then put new players on a pedistal just because they are new. I’m telling you right now, Benayoun is by FAR the better signing!!! I’ll eat my words if I’m wrong you all know that!!! I’ll be the first one to admit it. Bottom line is, right now Arteta is past it. Just as much as Rosicky is past it.
No mate you are misunderstanding me. It was the goal that changed the game and made it calm. Udinese needed 2 goals after that and they lost all hope. You are giving credit to a person when it was the situation that made it easy.
I lost all faith in Rosicky after he cost us that Newcastle game. It wasn’t just by bad play either. It looked like he intentionally sabotaged that game. Also regardless, I am stating fact about him, not saying he is the shittiest player ever or anything. And on Arteta, if you read what I said, I never put him on a pedestal. I said time will tell whether he is a good signing or not. Read it again please.
We will have to agree to disagree on this mate.
Cahill starts and is excellent (no surprise), Mertesacker dropped for Germany and will struggle to get back in with the excellent young duo of Howedes and Hummels. Nuff said?
It’s not about one game, as you can tell by my opinion never changing. It’s always been the same; that Cahill is a top class centre back, one of the best in the Premier league, would’ve for made for one of the very best partnerships in the league with Vermaelen and was the best option this summer. Tonight’s not conclusive proof, it’s just more evidence.
On the price, by all accounts it sounds like about £14/15m would have done the trick. You get what you pay for. Sometimes you have to pay over the odds for quality that will massively improve your side, especially when the talent happens to be English. Look at United and Ashley Young. £18m is a ridiculous price for someone in the last year of their contract (especially when you consider world class players like Ozil and Sahin joined Madrid for far, far less in the same circumstances) but United were willing to pay over the odds because they knew in the end it’d be worth it and he’d improve their team.
For one, I don’t get your comparison between the 2 countries. They are competing with different players and playing in different systems under different coaches. Also, you are making it sound easy to sign him which apparently it was not seeing as Tottenham also failed to sign him and we know they are willing to over pay plus no other team signed him and he should be at his most prized state seeing as he only has a year left on his contract so that should tell you something. Like I said, I am not saying he is not good. I am just saying he was extremely over priced. I am also not saying the Mertsacker is bad or good. I am going to wait and see on him. Personally I prefer Koscielny and Vermaelen as starters.
No, more like your favourite player Diaby sabotaged that match against Newcastle. I certainly don’t remember thinking to myself that Rosicky had purposefully played badly in that match. No player plays badly on purpose. Not Rosicky, not Diaby, no one. He doesn’t do much defensively, Rosicky that is, but neither does Arteta. I don’t think you understand what I am trying to say. I’m saying that in their own way they are both past it. Just as much as each other. I think Rosicky will play well again this season. Even if it is just the Carling Cup. The match I remember Rosicky playing really badly in was the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City. That is the match that made me most disappointed with him. NOT the newcastle match. I don’t like Arteta personally and here is why…he didn’t try his best for Everton when they needed him the most. He just gave up and jumped ship to us. Even if he does play really well for us, I won’t like him because of this. All he did was pass the ball sideways and backwards the last year and a bit he was with Everton. He took the easy way out, when he could have done differently. He could have come to us on the back of some truly magnificent performances, but instead he half-assed it with Everton and then came to us. Not the type of person I would want to cheer for and hopefully when Wilshere comes back, he will be behind him and Ramsey, so he won’t start every match for us. Don’t like him, probably never will, no matter how well he plays for us.
My favorite player Diaby? And Diaby reacted to almost having his leg broken by that ass whole Barton. Most of us would have been upset. Go back and watch the game or atleast the goal incidents. You will see what I am talking about with Rosicky.
Well I guess some players don’t play to their maximum which is what I am trying to say here. Diaby isn’t one of them and neither is Rosicky. Arteta though blatently DID. He certianly didn’t seem to be trying for Everton the past year or so. Like I said, I hate players who do this.
Oh whatever, I’ll cheer Arteta on like I would any other Arsenal player, it’s just that I haven’t been impressed with his behaviour and play this past year or so.
@Shane
I mentioned Cahill/Mertesacker and England/Germany because people always bring up Mertesacker’s large number of caps compared to Cahill’s few to must mean that he’s amazing. When the fact is he’s been poor for two years now and say if he was English, he wouldn’t have anywhere near as many caps. And Cahill would have a lot more if he was German.
If we meet Bolton’s valuation, then yeah it is pretty much as simple as that. The guy wants to come to us so I don’t think personal terms would be too hard to agree on. Spurs didn’t get a deal done because it was so late in the day when they actually went in for him.
You’ve said that before about Koscielny being better than Cahill and it’s just not true- and I like Kos a lot. It’s telling that it’s only Arsenal fans that would say Kos is better than Cahill, with their natural bias. If you can find me one non-Arsenal fan that thinks Koscielny is better than Cahill… I’ll eat my hat.
You’ve gotta be honest with yourself here as it’s the easiest thing in the world for you to say “Oh, there you go, my friend Bill is a Chelsea fan and he says Koscielny is way better!!!”
Get out of here with that Bias crap. Anyone that knows how I talk on here knows that I don’t bring that BS into it. I think Koscielny is better then Cahill as a player. I think Hummels is better then Koscielny. Find the bias in that. On Cahill would have started more games if he was german. Please, where is the logic in that. Another person over rating English players. And by the way, Tottenham were talking about Cahill early on in the day. Bolton just wanted way to much. Pretty simple. As I have said before, you are entitled to your opinion on Cahill but I think it was pretty evident that he was over priced. The same hype job happened with Scott Dann and Roger Johnson. Where did they end up at? lol.
I agree with you about Koscielny and Vermaelen being the starters. I’m more than happy with them as the starting pair. I don’t know how much Cahill would be an improvement on that, and I guess we won’t find out!!! I’m not crying or anything like that!!! Why worry about a player we aren’t going to get and probably don’t even need. Koscielny, Vermaelen and Mertesacker should be alright. I’ll be surprised if it’s not. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry surprised. I just hope that Wenger tells Per to stay back and worry about defending instead of holding a high line and worry about attacking. He should kind of be our sweeper. All I’ll say about Arteta is that I wasn’t impressed with his play or behaviour the past year or so. Diaby was right to have gone after Barton…I forgot about that bad tackle by Barton. He could have just waited to tackle him bach just as badly, but who really cares…it’s spilt milk that’s expired a looooooooooooooooong time ago. Arteta on the other hand is fresh milk that made someone sick to their stomach (Everton fans) and will have some work to do to get others to drink him, or admit that he is a good addition to the squad. Bad analogy I know but that’s all I had.
@ Adam, a partnership isn’t about just one player. It’s about TWO. Koscielny compliments Vermaelen better than Cahill would. Cahill is a Vermaelen light. Vermaelen attacks better than Koscielny, but Koscielny stays back a bit more than Cahill would. Cahill would probably just bomb forward like he does for Bolton. What would happen if he bombed forward for us while Vermaelen was up there already?? Koscielny is happy being less flashy than Vermaelen and he isn’t THAT much worse than Thomas. You need a bit of contrast back there so that they can cover for each other’s defficiencies. Does that make a bit of sense or no??? We have seen how well the Vermaelen Koscielny partnership works…why mess that up??? And spend 17 million pounds to mess that up??? Go cry in to your Captain Crunch over us not getting Cahill. I’ll be watching Koscielny or Per breaking up opposition attacks with Vermaelen instead.
What? I don’t really know where to start. You’re description of Cahill is wild and just bizarre really. You make it sound like he’s some wannabe centre forward who will just “bomb forward” at any moment willy nilly. Cahill is actually a very composed centre back, he just happens to be very good on the ball too so if need be he can step forward and bring the ball out but equally he can also keep it simple, just go about his defensive business and he’s not afraid to put the ball into row z if it’s necessary.
Cahill would compliment Vermaelen just fine, he’s just a bloody good centre back it’s as simple as that. He’s got that height, strength, aggression and bravery that we need. He’s absolutely better than Koscielny. He can do everything Kos can do and more. The only area Kos is better is probably making interceptions, Cahill is better in every other aspect. Like I said if you can get one non-Arsenal fan to agree with you I’ll apologise and say you were right along. And on the basis of the last two season he’s absolutely better than Mertesacker too.
Cahill was THE best centre back with Premier league experience that was available this summer and we’ve really missed a trick by failing to sign him. If you can’t see it now you will soon enough I’m sure, when he’s first choice for England and playing for Chelsea or City next season. We all hope Mertesacker can get some form back but it won’t be easy; he’s not exactly coming into a settled, composed, reliable back line.
Nice write up and it isn’t all gloomy and over yet. If this doesn’t work out now, there definitely IS the January transfer window. Just hoping things haven’t gone worse beyond repair by then. Pls Do follow me on twitter ( @iamyesboss ) so we talk some more Gooner stuff. Before matches, during and after. Nice job Jamie.
Hey like I said with Arteta, if Mertesacker and Koscielny play like shit for us then I’ll be the first to admit I’m wrong. I just don’t see the need to spend 17 million pounds on someone who would disrupt what is already a very promising partnership in Koscielny and Vermaelen. I didn’t say Koscielny was better than Cahill, just that he may be better suited to play with Vermaelen is all. IF he REALLY WANTS TO SIGN WITH US, LIKE YOU MAKE OUT, THEN HE WILL WAIT UNTIL JANUARY OR NEXT SUMMER TO SIGN WITH US AND NOT GO TO CHELSEA OR CITY FOR THE MONEY AND EASIER ACCESS TO TROPHIES. If his dream isn’t to play for Arsenal, then he will jump at the chance to sign for City or Chelsea, and that is fine. You and him will just have to wait in the meantime. That’s all.
per mertersacker being dropped by germany doesnt mean that cahill is better. it only means that he missed a couple of days training trying to seal his move to arsenal.
yes he could have hard time adjusting to the premiership together with santos so expect few error prone games and i am glad we have 5 games which we could easily get maximum points before we play chelsea.
Any luck finding one non-Arsenal fan to agree with you that Koscielny is better than Cahill Shane? Thought not.
Do I need other peoples approval? Just because other people think differently does not mean I am not right. I picked Netherlands vs Spain in the finals and Ghana and Germany to make it to the semi finals before the world cup and most people would have disagreed with that. I said Brazil was over rated and would get knocked out early (for them) and almost everyone disagreed with that. Being in the majority does not make you right. Learn that mate.
Oh come on Adam, for how long are you going to bitch about us not getting Cahill?? IF you are such a big fan of his, why don’t you become a Bolton fan?? Or switch allegiance to whatever club he joins in the next window??
Yes, yes very clever. I like a player so why don’t I support that team. Genius. Why isn’t everyone on the planet a Barca fan then, we must all like Messi.
The point is mate, Cahill was absolutely the best option this year and we’ve really missed a trick by not signing him. Just like we really missed a trick not going after Vidal, Enrique, Montolivo, Zarate etc etc. If you can’t see it now you will eventually, I’m sure.
Btw, noone has ever said that Cahill was not over-priced. The fact is sometimes you have to pay over the odds for quality that’ll massively improve your team. See United and Ashley Young.
I HATE Messi by the way…cheating little fairy along with so many other La Liga players. Just keep your mouth shut and watch. We all had our say in the signings and now all we can do is sit back and watch. I bitched about Arteta, more for his attitude than talent, you’ve bitched about Mertesacker and us not signing Cahill, so now lets sit back and watch and see if we’re right or wrong. I personally hope we are both gravely mistaken. We have a few matches before we play Chelsea and I for one think we can beat them!!! Even without the signings we made!!! IF Sagna Gervinho, Koscielny, Song, Frimpong and Wilshere come back soon we will win!!!
How can you hate Messi o_0. Seriously wtf. You’re missing out on THE most sensational and exciting player in world football and one of the greatest to ever play the game. No idea where you’ve got “cheating little fairy” from. There’s plenty of players you could accuse of that at Barcelona but Messi’s not one of them. Cheating little fairy would apply to someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, him and Messi couldn’t be more different. Messi gets absolute lumps kicked out of him every single game without fail but he just gets up and gets on with it, and rips that team to shreds. He’s also the most humble and hardworking “star” in football.
Jack Wilshere out for 2-3 months, confirmed by himself on twitter…
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Oh he’s a great, great player no doubt!!! BUT I’ve seen him dive many a time and roll around like he’s been shot. He cheats just like a lot of the other Barca players do. That was something I couldn’t stand about Cesc and Nasri. Both were cheats and divers, as well as bitchers and complainers to the referees. Great players all of them, but very annoying if you ask me. It’s just my opinion and it isn’t gospel or anything. All you have to do is watch closely and you’ll see what I mean. Messi doesn’t do it all the time but he’s done it enough to earn himself a bit of disdain from fans like me.
Good players will always get kicked a lot, it’s part of how lower quality player attempt to stay in touching distance of them. Keep in mind there’s a difference between being fouled and going down despite being able to stay on your feet and diving.
I can’t recall many (if any) occasions where Messi has dived, nor where he’s rolled around despite not being hurt. In fact the only time I’ve seen him roll around a lot was after he got taken out by Del Horno, he also recently stayed down in the super cup after being kicked in the ribs by Marcelo.
You also criticise Cesc and Nasri of the same thing which stinks of sour grapes. It’s not like they even dived that often really. If you can name me an attacking player that hasn’t taken a tumble to gain an advantage I’d be very shocked.
As for Cesc bitching to referees, he was the captain, it’s kind of part of his job description and he was nothing like a host of other players in the league.
I get it, you’re upset that Cesc and Nasri left, we all are, but there’s no need to take childish swipes at them for little to no reason.
Way to pick out 3 entertaining players hardly famed for their theatrics or other shenanigans and lambast them whilst ignoring far more serious offenders.
Oh I could name a few more players who irritate me if you’d like. I”m not sour that they left us at all. I was one of the few people who thought it might help us in the long run…if you don’t want to play for us, then don’t. Wilshere also whines and complains a lot and I don’t really like it. He’s a great player no doubt. I’m old school man. Get up and get on with it. That’s why I liked Bergkamp and Vieira so much. Yes Vieira got in to a lot of trouble, but he didn’t seem duplicitous at all and just went about his business. Bergkamp is testiment to how a flair or gifted player should behave while on the pitch. He was a big man yes, but he took his fair share of fouls and just went about his work with grace and dignity. I don’t expect our players to be angels, but I hate players who want to conn the referee and try to gain an advantage by cheating. This doesn’t have anything to do with the conversation that was going on before so I suggest you stop talking about how great Messi is and just start looking at the players we have an cheering them on. If you disagree, that players should try to conn the referee, then I have serious doubts regarding your character and I would hope that the majority of our fans are not like you. But like I said, it’s time to move on from the window and concentrate on the players we have and hope they can do the job that is required. It is a big task, but I think we will recover. Ramsey played a blinder for Wales this past match and I hope he really takes it to England on Tuesday!!! NOT that I want England to lose ( I’m Canadian so I don’t really care ) but I want to see him play well against top opposition and see if he can build up some true form and confidence!!! With Wilshere out for the next few months, it will be really important for him to get going. Especially with Arteta now on his tail. I hope Ramsey provails!!! I don’t mind Arteta’s play, but wouldn’tit be something if Ramsey got back to where he was from a couple of season’s ago and steps up to fill Wilshere’s boots while he’s out??? I think that would make a great story and would instill faith in Wenger’s philosophy again.
And don’t get me wrong here, I’m a massive fan of Wilshere!!! He’s probably the biggest reason we are strugging right now. That is his abscence I’m talking about oof course. He just moaned and whined to the referees a lot last year and I’m not the only one who thinks so. I’ve seen other people complain about it as well. He’ll learn though. He’s only 19. It’s just that if I were a player, I wouldn’t moan and comlpain to the referee all the time. And there are players out there, the majority of them I would wager who feel the same way and act the same way I would. I’m sorry but Cesc and Nasri and Messi as well as Cristiano Ronaldo, and Iniesta, and Busquets and Alves as well as a few others try to con the referee all the time. It’s uncalled for and unnecessary.
Wait, so because I said that Nasri, Cesc and Messi are hardly well known for diving/harassing officials and are far from the worst offenders I’m not only condoning but actively encouraging that sort of behaviour? You realise that makes no sense right?
I’m somewhat confused though, you give a torrent of abuse to these players but then praise the way Bergkamp and Viera went about business despite them both being known to have a mean streak and being sent off for a variety infractions, but I bet you’re the first person who is up in arms when a team like Stoke gets physical despite them being the very epitome of an “in your face, get up and carry on” team.
I find the hypocrisy in these last few posts hilarious. You hate that Cesc berated refs but you loved Vieras approach when he too spoke to refs as captain. Messi is a diving fairy despite taking more kicks in the modern game than any player I’ve seen and rarely complaining about it.
I support the players we have, but that doesn’t mean I won’t point out blatantly wrong comments that you make.
did milo call Messi a cheater?…lol
i remember bergkamp elbow in the face and getting sent off for it against west ham
Love how milos fighting a battle with everyone on here,funny stuff.I’m not convinced per mertesacker will do us any good,not because he’s a crap player or anything like that buy simply put will teams just turn up with their quickest striker and play through ball after through ball against our high line and new slow defender until they strike gold?I’m a bit worried,Scott Sinclair versus mertesacker on Saturday will give us some answers I guess.I don’t think overall that our new signings are that bad but I think that once again we’re taking a risk on players that have struggled injurywise in arteta and benayoun,if we can get a whole season out of them then I don’t think theyll let us down but I doubt anyone would stake money on them not picking up a 2-3month injury at some point.I actually think wengers hoping diaby will come back stronger and step into cescs position..not convinced myself but seems likely,Ramsey to me looks like a wilshere understudy and not a permanent starter unfortunately.On the rosicky thing he’s not good enough anymore,he’s an impact substitute at best(as you pointed out udinese away)one good performance doesn’t make him great and yes artetas miles ahead of him,I’d be suprised if rosickys here next season.Intrigued to see what parks like,hopefully at least better than next year and maybe in January we could offer a swap deal involving arseshaving and Honda who I think would be an ideal replacement
NO what I am saying is Ièd rather players be more upfront about their behaviour than they are. If you donèt like someone, tell them. If you want to punch them in the face then do it. Donèt try and con themin to thinking that you like them. Just as you shouldnèt con the referee in to thinking something was a foul when it wasnèt. I have absolutely no problem with the way clubs like Stoke play the game. They are actually quite unique in some ways. And they are pretty open and admit that this is the way they play. They don’t pretend to be anything they aren’t, which is what I hate about some players today. That is all I am saying. If you are tough, be tough. If you aren’t then just shut up and take it. As long as it is within the rules, I have no problem with it at all. I just hate it when players dive, or complain constantly when it isn’t called for. I have seen Messi do this. He isn’t the worst offender but he isn’t lilly white like soooooooo many people make him out to be. Nani, Dani Alves and Busquets are the 3 worst who I can think of off the top of my head. Like I said before I have no problem with players fighting or anything like that. That is just emotion and it doesn’t mean they are dirty. But constantly diving and complaining isn’t cool in my books. Ideally you wouldn’t want players to fight, but it happens sometimes and most of the time the players involved are face to face and know where eachother stand.
Jamie, you dead?
I think Ramsey can be more than an understudy to Jack Wilshere SuperRob. IF he plays like he did against Montenegro, against England, your midfield will have a bit of a battle to take care of. IF this is the start of him re-gaining form, he could deliver a season like Jack did last year. I’m not kidding, he can be that good and better. It doesn’t take a genious to figure that one out. He will learn to deliver the killer pass in time. I know he will. He’s got good enough technique to learn this facet of the game.
Yes I will admit my comment regarding Cesc berating referees verbally was a bit hypocritical. BUT he always moaned and complained and showed fake yellow cards to the referees in order for other players to get booked. Vieira never did that. Not to my recollection. That is what I meant when I said that I didn’t like him moaning to the referees all the time. Vieira would argue with officials too I know, but somehow it seemed different. He always seemed to have a point for his discontent with what was occuring on the pitch whereas Cesc sometimes really didn’t at all.
What are you talking about Milo? Messi is the most hacked player in the world and he never dives. Barcelona are filled with divers but Messi is the example for how the game should be played. He rides off tackles and stays up as best as he can and he never throws those Ronaldo tantrums when he is fouled.
Lansbury scored again for the under 21’s tonight (Chamberlain with 3 assists as well! Awesome). I don’t understand why this lad is not being given a proper chance. He’s a very good little player and he’s got a great attitude/mentality. I really can’t understand why he’s going back to the championship. If he has to go out on loan again surely Norwich would have taken him again in the Prem?
You claim Messi isn’t as innocent as everyone else claims but have you ever considered that the issue is on your side and not ours? Messi is repeatedly treated to physicality in an attempt to stifle him but he rarely complains or goes down needlessly. People praise him because despite being widely regarded as the best player in the world he doesn’t get in refs faces, doesn’t pout if hes fouled and generally goes about his business in a credible fashion.
If you won’t accept Messi, the closest thing I can think of to your ideal player is someone like James Milner, hardly an inspiring figure. Viera was terrible for berating the ref, he may not wave imaginary cards but he was still trying to sway their decisions. Keane was another who loved a fight, but he was always screaming at the ref.
I’m amused you think that players who aren’t tough should just “shut up and take it”. I mean, why appeal to the ref to do his job and enforce the rules when you can just get kicked from pillar to post? The last time I saw something like that happen it was at Old Trafford and Reyes was on the receiving end of the kicking and look what happened, I’m fairly certain you were hoping the ref would have done something in that situation. Or maybe you side with Neville on that point.
Whatever, you guys win. I still don’t like Messi because I have seen him dive and cheat before. My ideal for a player as I said before would be someone like Bergkamp. Not James Milner. I don’t claim to know as much or be as smart as some of you do so I cannot argue my point any further. In the future keep a good eye on Messi and see what he does. I bet you’ll be surprised at how much he gets away with. I remember what happened to Reyes…I don’t side with Gary Neville on that point. However I have seen so many players in football dive and complain that it sickens and embarasses me. I’m a fan and I shouldn’t be subjected to such shit. That’s the only word I can think of for it. It’s shit and I will always fight against it. What I am trying to say is that anyone who dives. Even once like Theo did should be frowned upon severely. I don’t care if they are our players or Man United’s players or anyone else’s. I don’t know how you can argue with that. The only players that we have that I haven’t seen dive are Vermaelen, Sagna, Koscielny, Ramsey, Rosicky, and maybe a few others I can’t remember. The rest have dived before and they lessen my estimation of them as people when they do such things. Diving is cheating. There are worse things to do on a football pitch, yes, but that doesn’t make it right. Like I said, I’d rather see someone punch someone else in the face than see a person dive and try and con the referee. Diving is something I’ll never accept as “just part of the game.” It shouldn’t happen as often as it does.
I must admit, this game vs Poland was the first time I have ever focused on Mertesacker and to be honest, it scared me. Germany played a high line and Mertesackers lack of pace and athleticism got him caught out a lot. I know it was only one game but considering our tactics, it was concerning. I am afraid the dumb media and fans pressured Wenger into buying a big center back and he just won’t fit.
I never even discussed Mertesacker with you or anyone for that matter. What the fuck are you talking about…
I hate to say I told you so but… wait… I love to say I told you so!
And on this: “Do I need other peoples approval? Just because other people think differently does not mean I am not right. I picked Netherlands vs Spain in the finals and Ghana and Germany to make it to the semi finals before the world cup and most people would have disagreed with that. I said Brazil was over rated and would get knocked out early (for them) and almost everyone disagreed with that. Being in the majority does not make you right. Learn that mate.”
The point you’re making is fair enough but when you’re completely on your own with it, you know you’re probably on to a loser.
Really mate? You know what, I am not even going to get in a petty argument with you. cheers
I didn’t get to see any matches yesterday at all because my computer didn’t want to work. Does anyone know how well our players really did??? I don’t want to read goal.com for info because I don’t always trust their ratings. I hope Wenger sees that Mertesacker can’t play a high line. If we can see it I’m sure Wenger can as well. The question is wether he will do anything about it and alter his tactics. It’s gonna be interesting now that Vermaelen is out. Adam, even if you are or were right, you come off looking like a total asshole to be honest. I did in my previous argument regarding Messi and his cheating, so I can commiserate with you on that. Look at it this way, I was wrong with my argument (according to everyone) and you are right, as of now, so at least you can hold your head up high concerning that. ASSHOLE.
You are the one resulting to petty insults and I’m the asshole? Strange. That “I told you so” post was clearly a little light-hearted jibe. I thought that was pretty obvious. Apologies if I’ve offended anyone, though I don’t think I have (except you, apparently).
Sorry Adam, you aren’t an asshole…just a little arrogant is all. Cheers. Like I said a while before, hopefully, for our sake, you are wrong about Mertesacker and he will prove to be a very good signing!!!
I’m not trying to have an argument with you Shane, more of a debate. You’re entitled to your opinion and if you think Koscielny is better than Cahill, that’s fine. I think it’s telling that it’s only Arsenal fans that’d agree with you though. I honestly think 100% of neutrals would say Cahill is better.
And as I said, I base my thoughts or opinions on what I think. I could not care if a billion people thought different. Debates becoming boring when the same things keep getting repeated.
Well I’ll tell you who Koscielny IS better than…Younes Kaboul!!!!:D hahahahaahah, how he starts for France ahead of Koscielny or a few others isn’t really apparent to me. Oh well.
I still think Koscielny can approach the same level as Cahill if he could play regularly for both club and country. I’m not saying he’d be better or anything. He already is very close if not there already. All he needs is a bit more strength and he’d be right up there with the best of them. I’m kind of hoping that Djourou recovers a bit of pace and keeps Mertesacker out of the starting 11. I don’t see Wenger tayloring his tactics to suit one defender unfortunately. If he can’t hold a high line we have no hope unless he has implicit directions from Wenger to stay back and not worry about the offside trap. Personally I have NEVER been a fan of the offside trap. You are putting too much reliance upon your opponents to screw up and be out of position or unaware offensively. Good teams and great teams will feast upon that like Barca eventually did, in the second leg, along with United and any other decent passing club. Dortmund will be licking their chops if we head out there with an offside trap in place. Swansea can pass the ball well enough to cause us some problems as well. I hope we scrap the offside trap personally. This is just my opinion. Never, ever been a fan of it!!!
What’s up with the silence? Nothing on here for over a week now…
ITS ALL ABOUT NASRI…now that he left us I personally was glad.
http://www.tomwfootball.com/2011/09/08/nasri-the-scapegoat-as-french-media-probe-frances-fissures/
interesting read
RIP youngguns
jamie is redesignin the site so itll take a while /=
P.S Look out for alban banjuku, anthony jeffrey and jordan wynter [how cud u not like the name ALBAN BANJUKU, its so much fun to say (: ]
I hve heard things about Jordan Wynter but tell me more….. Hes ment 2 be very good quote me if i’m wrong. I hve seen clips of Alban Banjuku i must say he reminds me of Kaka.
Jernade Meade is ment to be 5’3…. playing at leftback….however i have heard he is gd i need more info on him
Theæ comments about hoe Bergkamp took his lumps with “dignity” are an utter joke: Bergkamp was a touch-as-nails SOB who certainly extracted his own retribution in the pitch with sharp elbows.
But several other thing made the difference to now and then. The likes of Bergkamp Henry Pires were skillful but they were not midgets like today’s Gunners. In fact those boys ranged from 6 foot for Bergkamp to 6’2″ for Henry ie same height as Van Nistelroy but more explosive and stronger! Even a “flair” guy like Kanu was freaking 6’5″ and Edu 6’2″.
What’s NOT difference is that English refs are still subject to influence. However, back then Dein was not only Arsenal exec but also vice chair of the English FA. Need I say more? Stan can stay silent as he wants but he better pay Dein to come back. No way in hell Barton would have assaulted Gervinho and Gervinho would be the more punished plyer. Not in Deins time.
henry lansbury is a gooner .new contract ho yeaaaa