Arsenal

[bkkjames]

Toady - please tell me you are purposely spelling Arse's name WEGNER to wind him up.

[mrtoad]

Toady - please tell me you are purposely spelling Arse's name WEGNER to wind him up.

Of course.

[MiG16]

gee how did my thread suddenly get so much interest?

first things first - OFCOURSE he's great!! (Arsene). anyone that knows me should know I keep saying he IS what keeps the team together. despite losing many key players, young squad, injuries, less experience etc etc, yet the team still manages to do a decent job. (ok albeit with phases /games of not our 120% ecstatic performance )

ohh and R123, well much as I like having more Arsenal supporters on board, I do have to tell you that flaming comments like that are not appreciated on the forum, espeically not on the footie forum. you might not know him well, but mrtoadd is an alright guy (except for his taste in football team) and am sure didnt mean the comment in a nasty way

now...shall we get back to football?

ohhhh and ........

OI ReddyRUSSY!!!! shup ok! sheesh!

[redrus]

OI ReddyRUSSY!!!! shup ok! sheesh!

I consider myself rightly and Royally shupoksheeeshed.....!

redrus

[R123]

Hey MiG 16:

"ohh and R123, well much as I like having more Arsenal supporters on board, I do have to tell you that flaming comments like that are not appreciated on the forum, espeically not on the footie forum. you might not know him well, but mrtoadd is an alright guy (except for his taste in football team) and am sure didnt mean the comment in a nasty way "

Wait a moment I never intended my comments to be interpreted as what you call a "flame".

My team by the way is not Arsenal but I am an admirer.

I stated amongst other things (my opinion) re Wegner being the best etc and Mr toad tried to ridicule my legitmate posting with remarks such as 'ridiculous' and branding me as Wegners mother etc without him initially giving any rationale for his attack except for the aforesaid insults.

I therefore responded strongly with reasons.

As a moderator it is surely not fair you charactize his comments as not intended in a nasty way yet criticising my defence to what I could call a "flame" etc

Thank you.

[technocracy]

Anyway onto more pressing matters . . . are your lot going to roll around and cry like girls again this weekend when we play you?

[mrtoad]

Hey MiG 16:

"ohh and R123, well much as I like having more Arsenal supporters on board, I do have to tell you that flaming comments like that are not appreciated on the forum, espeically not on the footie forum. you might not know him well, but mrtoadd is an alright guy (except for his taste in football team) and am sure didnt mean the comment in a nasty way "

Wait a moment I never intended my comments to be interpreted as what you call a "flame".

My team by the way is not Arsenal but I am an admirer.

I stated amongst other things (my opinion) re Wegner being the best etc and Mr toad tried to ridicule my legitmate posting with remarks such as 'ridiculous' and branding me as Wegners mother etc without him initially giving any rationale for his attack except for the aforesaid insults.

I therefore responded strongly with reasons.

As a moderator it is surely not fair you charactize his comments as not intended in a nasty way yet criticising my defence to what I could call a "flame" etc

Thank you.

Stop whining, I made no personal comments towards you, other than to have a laugh at your initial comment about Wenger being the best manager by far. You decided then to start name throwing. I further replied to you in a polite way. If you think that was an "attack" then you really are pretty fragile.

[MiG16]

just cos!

[MiG16]

Fabregas not going any where

Cesc - It's been tough but I'm in right place

Cesc Fabregas admits that Arsenal’s four-year wait for a trophy has been “tough” but he still feels he is in the “right place at the right time” of his career.

The midfielder, currently with Spain at the Confederations Cup, swatted aside rumours linking him with a move to Real Madrid insisting that his side have said “loud and clear” he was not for sale.

The Club captain described himself as “calm” over his future, but remains desperate to win some silverware in North London.

“Of course it’s hard when you give your all and don’t win,” he told Marca, a Spanish newspaper, on Wednesday. “I've just spent four years at Arsenal without winning anything. That is tough.”

Despite his recent protestations to the contrary, Fabregas has been continually linked with a move to one of Spain’s big sides but the player is adamant he will not be going.

from Arsenal.com of course!

[bkkjames]

hard to argue with alot of this editorial...

English Angle: No Felipe Melo, No Ambition & No Chance Of Arsene Wenger Making Arsenal Great Again

The Gunners have lost yet another potentially perfect signing, as Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad wonders whether Wenger's philosophy is enough anymore...

8 Jul 2009 15:24:09

In an age in which football - like every other sport - is having its course dictated by commercial business, you can only admire a man of pure intentions and principles.

Arsene Wenger has made it abundantly clear he is against big business 'corrupting' football, and is more concerned with maintaining a stable, recession-proof economic policy. Playing it safe. Slow and steady wins the race.

The only problem is, you only tell the Tortoise and the Hare story to children, Aesop has been dead for over 2000 years and the only race slow and steady wins is one to a Europa League place - at best.

Zinedine Zidane didn't become the greatest footballer of modern times by being particularly industrious or hard-working, Axel Foley wasn't the best detective on Beverly Hills Cop because he followed the letter of the law and Bill Gates didn't become the wealthiest man on the planet by building the Microsoft dynasty on a shoestring budget.

Fans just want their team to win, maybe not at all costs, but Arsene Wenger seems to think he can do it at next to no cost whatsoever and he can't.. The uncensored, insensitive reality of the football world is that is that €10 million is nothing. And so is Thomas Vermaelen.

Wenger assured fans at the Emirates - as the season reached its predictable, trophyless end - that experience would be signed in key positions this summer. At 23, Vermaelen has just over 20 caps for the Belgian national side and has come through the worst Ajax team for the last three to four decades.

Arsene has an eye for talent better than most, and there is nothing to say that Vermaelen, who has had ringing endorsements from the likes of Jaap Stam, couldn't develop into a class player. But there's that word again: development.

The fans, above all else, have become restless with the club's status as surrogates for French, African and French-African talents who either don't quite make the top grade, or do so and promptly head to a club where they have something of an assurance that they can line up alongside more players of proven quality and compete for major silverware.

Principles, after all, are relative - with many heavily criticising Wenger's policy of poaching many of 'his' best youth talents - while success is indisputably universal. The lack of balance in Wenger's philosophy and inability to adapt to compete in the age of Abramovich is disconcerting; but he is a man of such intelligence, you would be naive to suggest he doesn't realise the shortcomings of his transfer strategy.

And that is why there is growing belief that the pennysaver signings are nothing more than a fail-safe, to hide behind the guise of financial responsibility and youth development as an excuse for any potential failure, while snatching the likes of Gareth Barry or Xabi Alonso would put the onus squarely on the manager to deliver success.

Believe what you will, but don't believe it's unfair, don't believe there is no money and don't believe that Arsenal's decline from magical to a little mediocre is anyone's fault but the club's.

Having already given up on the likes of Gokhan Inler off the back of his impressive Euro 2008 showing, Wenger was presented with a chance to snap up Felipe Melo from Fiorentina. Fresh from Spanish outfit Almeria, in his debut Serie A season, the Brazilian was quite possibly the best midfielder in the league, a driving force behind the club qualifying for the Champions League for successive years for the first time in its history and now a regular with the Brazil national side, one of their star performers en route to Confederations Cup glory last month.

Arsenal reportedly put up just €14m for the combative Brazilian and were laughed off. Juventus are now on the verge of signing him for a fee in the region of €20-25m. Steep, yes, but such is the price of a player just one year into his contract and in such red-hot form. Bear in mind, this is not even a Juve under Luciano Moggi and coached by Fabio Capello or Marcello Lippi. This is a Juve ravaged by the Calciopoli scandal and putting money they don't even have into players they know they absolutely require.

Take Arsenal's €14m offer, take the €10m spent on Vermaelen, and tell me what you have. You have more than enough money to buy the perfect partner for Cesc Fabregas, which would immeasurably help him improve on his ponderous and unimpressive last season at the Emirates and flourish as the world class talent that he is before inevitably jetting back to Barcelona. It would restore Arsenal's strength in central midfield; the hub of any great football side, as demonstrated by Andres Iniesta and Xavi, Andrea Pirlo and Rino Gattuso or even Paul Scholes and Roy Keane.

Invariably, Arsene will now revert to type. His initial target, the Vermaelen-like Stephane Sessegnon of Paris-Saint Germain, has just renewed with the French capital club, but instead sights are now set on Blaise Matuidi at Saint-Etienne. While it can be condescending to constantly assume it takes a name to make a player, Arsenal's recent track record suggests enough no-names will inevitably lead to a no-team.

For a man who coaches his players with such passion and belief to take risks and go out to win, it is nothing short of a shame for football that he cannot take that same mentality into the boardroom. There is a reason Real Madrid head-hunted the Frenchman this summer. It wasn't the first time and may not even be the last, as he is a man universally recognised as embracing a special brand of football and nurturing of top talent.

But just as Barcelona won't produce a Fabregas, Iniesta, Messi and Pique as part of one generation every time, nor can Arsene realistically expect to snatch them up from other clubs, let alone produce four or five more Jack Wilsheres. Not Kieran Gibbs' or even Jay Simpsons, but Jack Wilsheres. There is a difference - let's stop acting like we don't know it.

The likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira - astonishingly rejected by Serie A during its golden age - would not come cheaply in today's equivalent market and, perhaps Vieira excluded, they weren't exactly cheap then, either.

The 59-year-old may yet surprise us all and sign a player of immense experience in Mahamadou Diarra - a French-speaking African, just as he likes them - and having just turned 28, won four Ligue 1 titles with Lyon and two Primera Divisions with Real Madrid, will most likely be available for a fee in the region of €15m as Madrid clear-out as part of the Galacticos revolution. But if it's a straight shootout between he and 22-year-old, €7-10m Matuidi - where would you place your bet?

Signing two good players instead of one great talent will never beget success at the highest level. Rafa Benitez makes a better fist of it by playing a much less attractive brand of football and having spent big on the right players a couple of times - two options Wenger seems unwilling to consider.

Competing with Man City in the long-term is perhaps an unreasonable expectation, but at this rate - having already been callously removed from a big four now referred to as a 'big three' by many - they will be fighting all the way for their fourth place once again this coming season, out of depth to compete for either of the two top honours of the season.

It has never been as simple as spending and winning, but Wenger's overcomplicating of every movement in the transfer market is tarnishing his legacy in north London, even when taking into account how he took them from relative mediocrity to where they have since been and still are now.

The last straw could end up being anything from failure to qualify for the Champions League, finally finishing below Spurs in a league season or even Wenger leaving for the likes of Madrid - but what is at this point a guarantee for the chief proprietor of beautiful football is that, at this rate, it will be very, very ugly.

Sulmaan Ahmad, Goal.com

[StevieH]

wenger's a busted flush. they'll finish fifth this season and fabregas will be off to madrid next summer.

[EastSaxCol]

wenger's a busted flush. they'll finish fifth this season and fabregas will be off to madrid next summer.

... or Barca. But for sure if they don't win anything next season there will be a mass exit of existing players. Which would be a shame really as Arsenal are the team out of the 'big four' that I have most respect for.

[StevieH]

wenger's a busted flush. they'll finish fifth this season and fabregas will be off to madrid next summer.

... or Barca. But for sure if they don't win anything next season there will be a mass exit of existing players. Which would be a shame really as Arsenal are the team out of the 'big four' that I have most respect for.

why? because they play pretty 5-a-side football but don't win anything?

[EastSaxCol]

wenger's a busted flush. they'll finish fifth this season and fabregas will be off to madrid next summer.

... or Barca. But for sure if they don't win anything next season there will be a mass exit of existing players. Which would be a shame really as Arsenal are the team out of the 'big four' that I have most respect for.

why? because they play pretty 5-a-side football but don't win anything?

That's not exactly right. But yes, because they can play the most attractive football in the Premiership.

[bkkjames]

wenger's a busted flush. they'll finish fifth this season and fabregas will be off to madrid next summer.

... or Barca. But for sure if they don't win anything next season there will be a mass exit of existing players. Which would be a shame really as Arsenal are the team out of the 'big four' that I have most respect for.

why? because they play pretty 5-a-side football but don't win anything?

That's not exactly right. But yes, because they can play the most attractive football in the Premiership.

I agree, they are the best looking footballing side to finish 4th.

[mrbojangles]

I don't like to see this happen to any player. From sky sports:-

Nasri suffers broken leg

Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri has suffered a broken leg during the club's pre-season training camp in Austria.

The France international is facing between two and three months on the sidelines after fracturing his right fibula on Tuesday morning.

Nasri will miss the opening weeks of the Premier League season and will be hoping to return to action at some stage in October.

The 22-year-old suffered the injury during a training match at Arsenal's summer camp in Bad Waltersdorf and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital.

A statement on the club's official website confirmed: "Samir Nasri has sustained a fractured fibula during this morning's training session at the club's pre-season training camp in Austria.

"The midfielder will be out of action for two to three months."

The news will come as a major setback to Gunners boss Arsene Wenger as he looks to end the club's four-year trophy drought.

On top of missing several weeks of club action, Nasri has been ruled out of France's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Faroe Islands, Romania and Serbia.

[MiG16]

Wenger - If I spend, I'll do it the right way

By Richard Clarke

Arsène Wenger knows he must spend his money “in the right way” if he decides to strengthen his squad before the transfer window closes.

The Arsenal manager has funds available and the sale of two major players would suggest he needs to go into the market. However the Frenchman is not so sure. After the 1-0 win at Hannover he cautioned against knee-jerk reactions and revealed he was not close to bringing in a new name.

“I feel we are strong enough but if we can add then we will do it,” he said. “In England people think that all the problems can be sorted out by buying players.

“I believe the biggest target is to work hard in training, improve what we can improve and have confidence in the players that we have. “If we need to add then we will. We have money available so for us it is now [important] to spend it in the right way when we do it or if we do it.

“But unfortunately I cannot tell you that we are close to signing anyone at the moment.”

The official confirmation of any new addition will appear first on Arsenal.com.

from Arsenal.com

[EastSaxCol]

“I believe the biggest target is to work hard in training, improve what we can improve and have confidence in the players that we have. “If we need to add then we will. We have money available so for us it is now [important] to spend it in the right way when we do it or if we do it.

“But unfortunately I cannot tell you that we are close to signing anyone at the moment.”

I've said it before, so I'll say it again. No one is going to bid for their players until Manchester City have finished their wheelings and dealings -- no one can afford to compete with them. But just watch in the week that season starts , there will be a frenzy of signings by other clubs.

I hope that Arsenal hold on to the 4th place, at least.

[Michaell]

---------- Van Persie -- Arshavin -----------

-- Nasri -- Diaby -- Fabregas -- Rosicky --

- Clichy -- Vermaelen -- Gallas -- Sagna -

----------------- Almunia --------------------

I hope they gonna play like this !!

ARSENAL #1 !!

[bkkjames]

---------- Van Persie -- Arshavin -----------

-- Nasri -- Diaby -- Fabregas -- Rosicky --

- Clichy -- Vermaelen -- Gallas -- Sagna -

----------------- Almunia --------------------

I hope they gonna play like this !!

ARSENAL #1 !!

Nasri not hurt, what about Rosicky?

[grandslam]

---------- Van Persie -- Arshavin -----------

-- Nasri -- Diaby -- Fabregas -- Rosicky --

- Clichy -- Vermaelen -- Gallas -- Sagna -

----------------- Almunia --------------------

I hope they gonna play like this !!

ARSENAL #1 !!

Nasri not hurt, what about Rosicky?

Just sounds like names to me. But make sure and bring your hair gel, earrings and skin care products when you come to the east end of glasgow sweethearts, just dont bring your car... unless you want to see it again that is. Have a nice evening ladies x

[Jockstar]

Fabregas not going any where

Cesc - It's been tough but I'm in right place

Cesc Fabregas admits that Arsenal’s four-year wait for a trophy has been “tough” but he still feels he is in the “right place at the right time” of his career.

The midfielder, currently with Spain at the Confederations Cup, swatted aside rumours linking him with a move to Real Madrid insisting that his side have said “loud and clear” he was not for sale.

The Club captain described himself as “calm” over his future, but remains desperate to win some silverware in North London.

“Of course it’s hard when you give your all and don’t win,” he told Marca, a Spanish newspaper, on Wednesday. “I've just spent four years at Arsenal without winning anything. That is tough.”

Despite his recent protestations to the contrary, Fabregas has been continually linked with a move to one of Spain’s big sides but the player is adamant he will not be going.

from Arsenal.com of course!

Barcelona won't break the bank for Fabregas

Soccernet Staff

August 10, 2009

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Barcelona could yet launch a bid to bring Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp.

ShaunBotterill/GettyImages

Cesc Fabregas: Gunners hope to hold on

The club's sporting director Txiki Begiristain admitted the midfielder is still on their radar but he says the Catalan giants won't break the bank in order to sign him.

Fabregas came up through Barca's academy before joining Arsenal for a paltry £500,000 in 2003 and Begiristain says the 22-year-old is one of the few players in world football who could improve Pep Guardiola's treble-winning side.

"It depends on how much we want to spend,'' he said in Marca. "If we spend a lot of money, it is possible (to bid for Fabregas). We do not know how much it will be yet. We have not asked Arsenal.

"If the amount is too high, we will not try.''

Barca fans have watched their greatest rivals Real Madrid go on a massive summer spending spree, signing Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso this summer at an estimated cost of around £220m.

Guardiola recently said the inflated market is a bad place in which to do business this summer and Begiristain confirmed Barca wouldn't just spend money for the sake of it.

"We find it difficult to improve what we have and that is the reality,'' he said. "Improving a team that has won a treble is difficult, and trying to improve dramatically can get you into trouble.

"Any new player must be compatible with the plans of the coach. Here the views of Pep Guardiola are critical.''

One possible target for Barca is Shakhtar Donetsk's Dmytro Chygrynskiy, and Begiristain did not deny he was on the club's radar.

"I don't want to dismiss any of the players we like and will help us improve,'' he said. "There are several options.''

[merck]

---------- Van Persie -- Arshavin -----------

-- Nasri -- Diaby -- Fabregas -- Rosicky --

- Clichy -- Vermaelen -- Gallas -- Sagna -

----------------- Almunia --------------------

I hope they gonna play like this !!

ARSENAL #1 !!

Nasri not hurt, what about Rosicky?

Just sounds like names to me. But make sure and bring your hair gel, earrings and skin care products when you come to the east end of glasgow sweethearts, just dont bring your car... unless you want to see it again that is. Have a nice evening ladies x

Why, do you have a car parking and valeting service or something? (presumably you meant 'unless you don't want to see it again...', but the McEwan's lager got in the way).

[MiG16]

so

the season started in style for us

leading Everton 3 nil at half time. and by 89th minute the score had gone to Everton nil, Arsenal 6

but looks like I wrote this too soon. just as Im typing Saha scored a goal. so its now Everton 1: 6 Arsenal.

still not a bad opening game at all is it

[Mossfinn]

Saw the second half, minus the last 10,

Arsenal looked very good on the break, that is a helluva result away to Everton

[MiG16]

sure is sure is

have to admit though...... we of course played very well, but their defense was also terrible!

on the other hand, we shouldnt have let that last one get past our goal

[mrbojangles]

Nice performance Arsenal. And the way Moyes has been moaning on, it was nice to see the smarmy git sulking

we shouldnt have let that last one get past our goal

Yes you should. It gave me an extra point in the predictions comp

[StevieH]

taking nothing away from arsenal, that's the worst i've seen everton play in years.

[dave111223]

Nice performance Arsenal. And the way Moyes has been moaning on, it was nice to see the smarmy git sulking

With Moyes going on about "I'm the only one who makes decisions at Everton" i guess he's got no one to blame then

I have to admit i had written off Arsenal, thinking they'd struggle to get 4th place, but to get this kind of result at Everton is pretty impressive. But they did look unbeatable at the beginning of last season too...

[mrbojangles]

Nice performance Arsenal. And the way Moyes has been moaning on, it was nice to see the smarmy git sulking

With Moyes going on about "I'm the only one who makes decisions at Everton" i guess he's got no one to blame then

Absolutely