Arsenal

[SantiSuk]

I was deeply humiliated (can't remember any team I've supported over 50 years doing it quite like that to me) but absence from this thread was down to TOT, not sulking .

Can't see Wenger going while the owner/board and him are such a tight knit unit in defence of their parsimonious strategy of recent years. The mistakes of last year (second division defenders in the B team, inexperienced goalkeeper, too much under-directed youth) came back to haunt Wenger big time.

I thought we could get back into the top 4 even this year with two good signings. Now it is apparent that our B team is not good enough to provide back-up to a top 4 challenging squad. Arsenal need 5 or 6 signings (at least 2 'names' plus some solid citizens) to put the likes of Rosicky, Arshavin and Koscielny out to grass once and for all. Many of us called for a good couple of handfuls of departures over the summer and what did we get going out of the door? Maybe Bendtner at last + the two best players and another top 10 player. It's not possible to do that kind of wholescale strengthening in 48 hours, even if Wenger would agree with that analysis. Ergo a fight for the bl**dy Europa League at best this year .

PS - Man U were splendid and if Young and Rooney stay fit, surrender hope all ye who wish to win the EPL. As the commentators said we were shambolic at the back, but we had only one defender that I would choose to see in a top 4 challenging Arsenal team (and only 3 that Wenger would choose to see, since he seems to think Cszesney and Koscielny are good enough), and even he, Djouro, is still not ready yet.

Thank goodness for two easier EPL games to recover some composure, hopefully. My real worry is that the likes of vanPersie and Walcott will have been completely demoralised by the B team's abject surrender behind them. The body language between them and Wenger at the end said it all.

PS - we will still end above Spurs - not that I get much comfort from that - petty local rivalries have never floated my boat since I gave up being a true local-living home and away supporter in my teens.

[MrRed]

If its any consolation i don't think many teams would have stopped four of the goals whoever they had on the pitch,and in patches the attack and midfield did play some good stuff(look at your shots on goal stats)just a shame they totally forgot how to defend.

I am sure Arsenal will finish above Spurs now they are really going down the pan,a bit like West Ham last season....Singher will be back soon no doubt to enjoy the demise with you.

[StevieH]

If its any consolation i don't think many teams would have stopped four of the goals whoever they had on the pitch,and in patches the attack and midfield did play some good stuff(look at your shots on goal stats)just a shame they totally forgot how to defend.

interested to hear which 4 you mean actually. 'cos if it's rooney's freekicks and young's two i'd be well critical of arsenal's keeper. didn't seem to move his feet at all and was really slow anticipating.

[tw25rw]

I am sure Arsenal will finish above Spurs now they are really going down the pan,a bit like West Ham last season....Singher will be back soon no doubt to enjoy the demise with you.

Finger's crossed, but I doubt it. Even if Redknapp quits/goes to prison.

[StevieH]

here's a good one for gooners, lady nina bracewell-smith, who made 116m GBP selling her arsenal shares, comments that it's good arsenal are now spending money on players by getting andre santos and going after mertesacker. what a charmer.

[Abrak]

In my view the question is how many points did Arsenal lose against the bottom six clubs last year? The answer is 2. Now given an even decent discrepancy on your current team and those results how many points do you think you will lose this year against the bottom 6?

Whatever figure you come up with I will bet it isnt as high as the 21 points that Liverpool dropped against the bottom 6 (actually Spurs are only marginally better.)

My view being that it isnt just about how you play against the top 6, or glamor games, what should be really worrying you and Wenger is that you dont look like the sort of team that can beat the crap players.

[MrRed]

If its any consolation i don't think many teams would have stopped four of the goals whoever they had on the pitch,and in patches the attack and midfield did play some good stuff(look at your shots on goal stats)just a shame they totally forgot how to defend.

interested to hear which 4 you mean actually. 'cos if it's rooney's freekicks and young's two i'd be well critical of arsenal's keeper. didn't seem to move his feet at all and was really slow anticipating.

Obviously the last line of defence is the goalie but Rooney's free-kicks where top class the first he was unsighted by the wall and the second was opposite to where he thought it was going so he had no chance.

Young's goals where fantastic and both placed curling shots into the corner(with pace) very difficult to save for any goalie,and of course a penalty.Rooneys best effort has not even been talked about! now that was really amazing .....the one that hit the post not the 70 yarder

[alfieconn]

In my view the question is how many points did Arsenal lose against the bottom six clubs last year? The answer is 2. Now given an even decent discrepancy on your current team and those results how many points do you think you will lose this year against the bottom 6?

Whatever figure you come up with I will bet it isnt as high as the 21 points that Liverpool dropped against the bottom 6 (actually Spurs are only marginally better.)

My view being that it isnt just about how you play against the top 6, or glamor games, what should be really worrying you and Wenger is that you dont look like the sort of team that can beat the crap players.

What are you on about so what if it isn't as high as 21 points , who has said about playing well against the top 6

why do you come other teams threads talking <deleted>, the arse have played only 3 games and the last game they played they had 7 first teamers out, how games do you think you would win if you took 7 players out ?

I'm sure some of the other liverpool posters must cringe when they see some of the crap you come out with, like iv'e said before stick to your stats because you know sweet fa about the other side of football

[Abrak]

In my view the question is how many points did Arsenal lose against the bottom six clubs last year? The answer is 2. Now given an even decent discrepancy on your current team and those results how many points do you think you will lose this year against the bottom 6?

Whatever figure you come up with I will bet it isnt as high as the 21 points that Liverpool dropped against the bottom 6 (actually Spurs are only marginally better.)

My view being that it isnt just about how you play against the top 6, or glamor games, what should be really worrying you and Wenger is that you dont look like the sort of team that can beat the crap players.

What are you on about so what if it isn't as high as 21 points , who has said about playing well against the top 6

why do you come other teams threads talking <deleted>, the arse have played only 3 games and the last game they played they had 7 first teamers out, how games do you think you would win if you took 7 players out ?

I'm sure some of the other liverpool posters must cringe when they see some of the crap you come out with, like iv'e said before stick to your stats because you know sweet fa about the other side of football

Alifie i am sure you might have something very intelligle to say but you should at least put in plain english. Obviously the problem I have is that as I cant understand your ghetto slang I cant really assume that you really understood what my post was about in the first place.. Have you thought about taking up tennis or cooking as a hobby?

[JacknDanny]

Alifie i am sure you might have something very intelligle to say but you should at least put in plain english.

:lol: 'Alifie', 'intelligle' . You do provide great entertainment, Abrak.

You are Liverpools answer to 'adder' off our forum, you both talk sh!te, but at least I could understand the sh!te 'adder' spouted

[Abrak]

Alifie i am sure you might have something very intelligle to say but you should at least put in plain english.

:lol: 'Alifie', 'intelligle' . You do provide great entertainment, Abrak.

You are Liverpools answer to 'adder' off our forum, you both talk sh!te, but at least I could understand the sh!te 'adder' spouted

Well that is impressive. I could never really understand a word he said.

I will try and help and keep my posts to words with no more than two syllables - that should help. I would also suggest that just because you cannot understand a post you shouldnt give up. Maybe you just ask for a little help. Dont be embarrassed, my maid cant read.

[MrRed]

he didn't see that you purposely left the B for bitter out.

Funny how he understands the <deleted> a City BAG would write whats the stats about that?

[JacknDanny]

Alifie i am sure you might have something very intelligle to say but you should at least put in plain english.

:lol: 'Alifie', 'intelligle' . You do provide great entertainment, Abrak.

You are Liverpools answer to 'adder' off our forum, you both talk sh!te, but at least I could understand the sh!te 'adder' spouted

Well that is impressive. I could never really understand a word he said.

I will try and help and keep my posts to words with no more than two syllables - that should help. I would also suggest that just because you cannot understand a post you shouldnt give up. Maybe you just ask for a little help. Dont be embarrassed, my maid cant read.

Just do a spell check first, or keep to words that can be found in a dictionary... that will do As for understanding your posts, dont worry, I have normally nodded off before the end of the first line

Keep up the good work. :sleepy:

[alfieconn]

Alifie i am sure you might have something very intelligle to say but you should at least put in plain english.

:lol: 'Alifie', 'intelligle' . You do provide great entertainment, Abrak.

You are Liverpools answer to 'adder' off our forum, you both talk sh!te, but at least I could understand the sh!te 'adder' spouted

Well that is impressive. I could never really understand a word he said.

I will try and help and keep my posts to words with no more than two syllables - that should help. I would also suggest that just because you cannot understand a post you shouldnt give up. Maybe you just ask for a little help. Dont be embarrassed, my maid cant read.

Just do a spell check first, or keep to words that can be found in a dictionary... that will do As for understanding your posts, dont worry, I have normally nodded off before the end of the first line

Keep up the good work. :sleepy:

To be fair, Abrak certainly knows what he's talking about, the only problem is that nobody else does

[uptheos]

I don't think Arsenal should offer free tickets to those fans that travelled to Manchester, it's ridiculous!

They should offer free tickets + all travel reimbursement. After all Arsenal never showed up, why should the fans be out of pocket because they did?

I see Wenger has reportedly enquired about Everton's Arteta and Fellaini........wow, how desperate can a guy get!

Edited August 31, 2011 by uptheos

[katana]

From what I've seen, I've liked abrak's posts. Reasoned and well thought out.

[SantiSuk]

Save your intemperate language for your own threads, you gobshites

[smokie36]

Save your intemperate language for your own threads, you gobshites

In a way I've taken your advice Santi. Instead of tuning in to the Sky countdown tonight I'm reading Twitter feeds from your library bookworms....never heard so much bleating and whinging in all my life....

"Up the offer for Arteta! Up Up!"......

Yossi Benayoun....haha...Chelski offered him to us for free ya mugs!

[uptheos]

I can't believe Wenger has 65 million to spend and the best he could do is pay Everton double what Arteta is worth (actualli IMO he's really worth less) and Benayoun on loan. Not the most inspiring replacements for Fabregas and Nasri.

[SantiSuk]

I can't believe Wenger has 65 million to spend and the best he could do is pay Everton double what Arteta is worth (actually IMO he's really worth less) and Benayoun on loan. Not the most inspiring replacements for Fabregas and Nasri.

Absolutely. Totally underwhelmed. Apart from Mertesacker, Gervinho and possibly Santos this has been a real ragbag of signings this Summer. Some potential for the future in Wade-Chamberlain and the fast Jap, but we needed far more proven talent than we have ended up with. I thought we needed a couple of serious hitters and three solid citizens in the final 48 hours. In my book Mertesacker qualifies as a serious hitter and Arteta as a solid citizen (but £10m shows how desperate we were - Moyes must be laughing - he can buy someone top class in the January window now). Santos is one or the other and I know nothing of the Korean. Benayoun? Wenger throws a final insult into the faces of Arsenal fans - Liverpool and Chelsea reject. Another Rosicky. Wenger - you lost it big time here.

Reading between the lines Hazard is the one that got away and results in Arsenal still hanging on to half (don't have the full numbers yet) of the Fab/Naz pot. Perhaps Arsenal should halve the price of matchday tickets for the season to encourage people to pay to watch this team struggle to get into the top 6.

God alone knows who is supposed to score goals for us when vanPersie gets his next long injury layoff.

Arsenal's website is down - probably being 'bombed' by disappointed Arsenal fans

[StevieH]

Reading between the lines Hazard is the one that got away and results in Arsenal still hanging on to half (don't have the full numbers yet) of the Fab/Naz pot. Perhaps Arsenal should halve the price of matchday tickets for the season to encourage people to pay to watch this team struggle to get into the top 6.

you're not getting hazard any time soon on account of pissing lille off hugely with the park chu-young gazump. bad move that.

[SantiSuk]

Reading between the lines Hazard is the one that got away and results in Arsenal still hanging on to half (don't have the full numbers yet) of the Fab/Naz pot. Perhaps Arsenal should halve the price of matchday tickets for the season to encourage people to pay to watch this team struggle to get into the top 6.

you're not getting hazard any time soon on account of pissing lille off hugely with the park chu-young gazump. bad move that.

Yeah but who knows which was the chicken and which was the egg. Just as likely that Wenger got frustrated with their intransigence over Hazard (bit like Chelsea/Spurs/Modric) and had to cut and run for Park.

[StevieH]

Reading between the lines Hazard is the one that got away and results in Arsenal still hanging on to half (don't have the full numbers yet) of the Fab/Naz pot. Perhaps Arsenal should halve the price of matchday tickets for the season to encourage people to pay to watch this team struggle to get into the top 6.

you're not getting hazard any time soon on account of pissing lille off hugely with the park chu-young gazump. bad move that.

Yeah but who knows which was the chicken and which was the egg. Just as likely that Wenger got frustrated with their intransigence over Hazard (bit like Chelsea/Spurs/Modric) and had to cut and run for Park.

in fairness why should lille sell hazard just because arsenal come knocking? the player was content to stay there and play champions league football for the team he just won the league with. plus arsenal, to players throughout europe, don't really look like a club on the up right now.

[SantiSuk]

TRANSFERS SUMMARY

Actually it looks like Arsenal are a net recipient of only about £8m over the course of Summer. Here's my summary of the ins and outs. Fees are give or take a bit no doubt, as press reports vary:

First 11 team squad out:

Fabregas to Barcelona (£34m)

Nasri to Manchester City (£20m)

Clichy to Manchester City (£7m)

Koscielny (to bench!)

First 11 team squad in:

Gervinho ex Lille (£11m)

Arteta ex Everton (£10m)

Mertesacker ex Weder-Bremen (£8m)

Santos ex Fernebache (£6m)

Bench squad out:

Eboue to Galatasary (£3m)

Emmanuel-Thomas to Ipswich (£1m)

Traore to QPR (say £1m)

Bendtner, Denilson, Vela and Lansbury loaned to Sunderland, Sao Paolo, Real Sociedad and West Ham

Bench squad in:

Oxlade-Chamberlain ex Southampton (£12m)

Park Chou-Young ex Monaco (£10m)

Jenkinson ex Charlton (£1m)

Benayoun loaned from Chelsea

Campbell ex Saprissa, Costa Rica (but loaned to Lorient)

Miyaichi ex Japan (joins January-12)

My best guess first team 11 lines up as follows (when fit and not suspended!):

Szczesny

Sagna/Vermaelen/Mertesacker/Santos

Song

Arteta/Willshere/Gervinho

Walcott/VanPersie

Rotation squad (best of the bench)

Fabianski (dubious cover)

Djouro/Gibbs/Koscielney/Frimpong/Jenkinson (ok cover)

Diaby/Rosicky/Ramsey/Benayoun/Park Chou-Young (good cover)

Arshavin/Chamrak/Oxlade-Chamberlain (dubious cover)

Others

Almunia/Squillaci/Mannone/Eastmond

Miyaichi (rotation when he arrives in Jan)

We might have some concerns about the buying skills. Selling skills beyond the easy deals of Fab/Naz/Clichy were appalling. We ended up having to loan out, not sell, Bendtner, Denilson and Vela and we are still stuck with Almunia and Squillaci, the latter being Arsene's worst spend in my memory! Arshavin and Chamrak are lucky to stay around but have the skills to recover their positions.

I could see the above squad making a fight of it with Liverpool for 4th spot, but it will be a long haul! More likely 5th or 6th in my view. Should qualify through the CL league stage and potentially win a minor cup (FA or Milk). We seem to have a lot of good, but non-Galacticos, midfield players and the back looks more solid on paper if we don't have too many injuries.

[SantiSuk]

Yeah but who knows which was the chicken and which was the egg. Just as likely that Wenger got frustrated with their intransigence over Hazard (bit like Chelsea/Spurs/Modric) and had to cut and run for Park.

in fairness why should lille sell hazard just because arsenal come knocking? the player was content to stay there and play champions league football for the team he just won the league with. plus arsenal, to players throughout europe, don't really look like a club on the up right now.

Stevie, your new-found interest in the Arsenal thread reflects a (correct in my view) recognition that it's you or us in the dogfight for 4th spot this year? I would have put Chelsea in that position too before they bought Mata.

Injuries will as always be crucial to the outcome.

[StevieH]

Yeah but who knows which was the chicken and which was the egg. Just as likely that Wenger got frustrated with their intransigence over Hazard (bit like Chelsea/Spurs/Modric) and had to cut and run for Park.

in fairness why should lille sell hazard just because arsenal come knocking? the player was content to stay there and play champions league football for the team he just won the league with. plus arsenal, to players throughout europe, don't really look like a club on the up right now.

Stevie, your new-found interest in the Arsenal thread reflects a (correct in my view) recognition that it's you or us in the dogfight for 4th spot this year? I would have put Chelsea in that position too before they bought Mata.

Injuries will as always be crucial to the outcome.

not really mate, more a morbid curiosity in the wenger situation. there's echoes of the rafa benitez thing for me, a man who has done great things for a club but whose time is probably up and he can't or won't recognise it.

i think we're more likely to be in a fight for third with chelsea than we are with arsenal for fourth FWIW.

[uptheos]

Wenger Missed This

Arsenal failed in their attempts to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Gotze for £35m on transfer deadline day, according to reports in Germany.

German newspaper Bild revealed that Arsene Wenger was determined to land the signature of the teenage superstar.

Gotze has been earning rave reviews in the Bundesliga and is rated one of the best young talents in Europe after he helped his side win the title last season.

The Arsenal manager was looking to bolster his midfield following the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and was hoping Gotze would be the ideal replacement.

But Borussia Dortmund are reported to have turned down the offer from Arsenal as they were not prepared to weaken their side.

AND SETTLED FOR THIS

Wenger switched his attentions to Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun and was fortunate to clinch their signatures on the eve of the transfer deadline.

Fortunate??

Just about say's it all.!

Edited September 2, 2011 by uptheos

[smokie36]

Hahaha its like R_teta even rated a mention on here last week....

(r n b style)

[SantiSuk]

Hahaha its like R_teta even rated a mention on here last week....

(r n b style)

(chang style, more like)

[uptheos]

Apparently Wenger originally asked Moyes if they had someone with flair available and was offered...............something got lost in translation.

Edited September 3, 2011 by uptheos