OK… let the off-season games begin!
Now, if we had held on and won the CUP… I’d have been able to laugh, smile and enjoy the parade, video, and all that goes along with it… for at least a week!
But we lost. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I’m already thinking of who we need, what we need and what will happen with this team for next season.
Yes… 24 hours later, its already begun!
OK… first question.
Do you make moves BEFORE the World Cup? or AFTER? Good showings will raise the prices of players… but if you sign someone, and they get injured? Tough call.
Who do we bring in… Who departs… Whats the masterplan.
I would TARGET a few players that I’d like to see arrive at Ashburton Grove. (seems odd not saying “arrive at Highbury”).
SWP
If there is any chance for us to acquire SWP, we should do what we can to bring him here… where he should have come in the first place. Would Chelsea sell him to us? That is a different story/question all together. Would we swap Ashley
Cole for him, or not?
ROSICKY
We were rumored to be interested / and vice-versa… I think he’d fit well here. I’ve seen enough of him to believe he’s a damned good player.
I’d like to see him on one side with SWP on the other… just one man’s opinion.
YAYA
We’ve been rumored to be interested.
He IS interested in playing for us. And so many other teams like this kid too. Makes too much sense not to happen. So it probably won’t!
ASH? what to do with him… are Clichy and Flamini good enough for us to use him as bait? Does he want to be here? Do we want him here? I think he’s one of the best at his position. Tough call… but if the price were right, perhaps he goes.
PIRES, REYES, & FREDDIE… are all players that I could see possibly departing. If we are going to shuffle the deck, perhaps they should depart and make way for new faces.
Pires on the downside… though still contributes.
Freddie on the downside… though you still get great effort
Reyes has never reached his potential… a dissapointment at his $ price… but good effort.
I think we still could use the BAPTISTA, DIARRA type player in the middle of the pitch… is Diaby that player? He is seriously injured… you just never know long term.
We need that type to rotate in with Cesc & Gilberto… the style can adapt with the inclusion or exclusion of them. Song and Diaby, to me… aren’t ready for the prime time.
On defense we seem to have many talented young players, so we’ll have what we all want / DEPTH.
Gilbert, Lauren, Eboue
Sol (played awfully WELL in the CL Final), Senderos, Kolo and Djourou
Ash, Flamini & Clichy
THATS GOOD DEPTH. THATS GOOD TALENT. Is there enough playing time for all of them?
Nice problem to have.
HENRY, RVP, ADEBEYOR, ALIADIARE
Is that enough? Should we be targeting a star like Torres? Something tells me we will bring in a striker. I’d like to see Aliadiare get a fair shake, he deserves it… but there are kids pushing thru in reserves as well.
One thing is for sure…
The OTHER BIG TEAMS are not going to be standing still.
UNITED will bring in midfielders to strengthen their core. They aren’t too far away from being back.
CHELSEA. What can you say… if they get Ballack and Schevy… they are even better than before.
LIVERPOOL. Any doubt they will bring in players to improve? Will they pick the RIGHT ones is the question.
TOTTS. Those bumbling Totts are NO MORE my friends. They are getting close to us. Believe it. They believe it. They have already begun to bring in players to improve. Berbatov is pretty damned good, and they are rumored to be after SWP and Carlton Cole of Chelsea. They aren’t that far behind us. Were it not for some bad lasagna! Who knows.
Silly Season. Underway!
Its both fun, and ridiculous!
Its painful to read all the crazy made up rumors… and its interesting to think of all the amazing possibilities, as we all try and build our DREAM Arsenal team in the off-season!
Oh Joy!
Let the off season silly season begin!
Run Amok my friends.
66 Responses to “Summer Silly Season… BEGIN!”
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May 21st, 2006 at 7:47 am
Stag, your favourite topic again!!
I don’t know who we should bring in, but I think he should fall into the following categories, whoever he is:
1. Instead of spreading the fund around and getting ourselves a few players not much better than the current bunch, let’s put all the eggs into one basket - getting a truely BIG player.
By that, I mean someone who could carry the team (in case Titi gets injuried). Someone who has the ability to turn the game with a moment’s magic or inspiration like Bergkamp/ Vieira did at their peak.
2. A TEAM player. Someone who likes to pass, and able to pass the ball well. Because quite simple - Henry does not enjoy playing with players who don’t pass the ball.
3. Someone who’s HUNGER for success. Chelsea can have their Ballack or Schevy, we want someone who cares more about a VICTORY than his pay check.
Btw, to response your SWP issue. There is NO WAY we should swap A.Cole for SWP. A.Cole is world class, and has been consistently doing the job for us OVER THE YEARS.
SWP so far has had only one outstanding season before decided going to Stamford Bridge digging gold. The way things going, I have a feeling even he left Chelsea, he may not be able to edge out A.Lennon as England’s future right winger. That is how things go in football, if you decide to stand still, other players would get past you.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:00 am
Also, the funny thing about SWP is - normally when a player decides to move to a bigger club, they’d take into consideration the fact that it would increase their chances playing for their countries. Most of the cases are like that.
Few players i can recall would have a situation go the other way around. Along with Wayne Bridge, Glenn Johnson, Scott Parker, SWP has dropped out of the England squad since the move to Chelsea.
I bet when SWP decided to sign for Chelsea, he would never dreamed of the prospect of missing the World Cup wouldn’t he? But well, but at least he’s now a much richer young man now, so i guess he can’t complain can he?!
May 21st, 2006 at 8:03 am
Before that:
Arsene Wenger has lambasted Arsenal right back, Emmanuel Eboue for his theatrics that led to Arsenal’s opener in the Champions League Final.
Wenger is well known for keeping critisism of his players behind closed doors, but on this occassion, he feels it vital to speak out about the situation.
Wenger raged,
‘It is clear there was no foul. I condemn and regret the attitude of Eboue. I have always risen up against cheating. Eboue cheated by simulating the foul. I detest simulation.’
————————-
I am absolutely delighted that Wenger has come out and slated Eboue, just like I did after the game - except he waited a little longer.
I don’t know about you lot, but irrespective of what other clubs do or don’t do I do not want divers like this at Arsenal, If he doesn’t sort it out he can leave for all I care, I don’t give a sh*t how good a player he is.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:58 am
The thing is Danny, if whoever ever dives or cheats u want them to be out of the club… I fear that we may not have enough players to fill the starting XI in the future! Teams like Chelsea, Villreal, Barcelona may end up playing kids, i mean real kids, 8 or 9 years old!
Get on with it man. How u r going to stop that? As Henry said after the Barcelona match - that he may consider try diving in the future ‘cos many of the fouls by Barca players were unpunished.
Of cos he may not be serious, but u can see the message he’s trying to send - sometimes the referees today give the players no option. If a player is fouled yet he does not fall to the ground, the referee may just let the game play on, and let the offenders come out with no punishment.
I’m not encouraging diving here, but i think instead of condemning one party, we should look at the whole picture.
I don’t think the referee is always at fault neither, ‘cos it’s difficult for them to spot everything. It’s just the SYSTEM.
In terms of refereeing, I think there is NO OTHER SPORTS has such a poor refereeing system like football. Football today is so quick, and u got only one referee and two linesman for the game, and those are the 40 yr old middle age men they would have a hard time catch up with pacy strikers like Henry. I lost count how many Henry’s onside run was ruled offside because the linesmen were in the wrong position.
And u got no TV review technology. And FIFA’s attitude is still there is nothing wrong, because they want TALKING POINTS (of the arguable decisions). With an attitude like this, how u expect the players don’t take advantage of it?
May 21st, 2006 at 9:47 am
If a player makes legitimate contact and you go do down, fair enough. Eboue wasn’t even touched and went diving through the air.
This is not a natural occurrence at Arsenal, people say Reyes dives a lot, but there is always contact - maybe sometimes he could ride the tackle, but maybe sometimes it’s easier to get the free kick that he still deserves. He doesn’t fly through the air when no-one’s touched him.
This isn’t the first time Eboue has been play acting, he has done it previous matches - I have been watching him. If he continues to do it then I don’t want him at the club - it makes me sick, and I’m sure Wenger is equally annoyed otherwise he would not have criticised the player in the press like he has done. This is practically under of from Wenger, which shows how annoyed he was by Eboue’s beahviour.
Perhaps Wenger thinks like I do on the subject, he watched the VT and thought that had we won 1-0 everyone would say it’s because of Eboue’s dive and that we’d won the European Cup by cheating.
Wenger is a man of high principle and I’m very pleased he has said what no manager in the rest of Europe would ever say. He shows real class.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:50 am
SWP - it seems that the reason he’s not been playing at Chelsea is because he fails to do what Mourhino asks him to. At Man City he was the main man, the person his teammates were all looking to pass to and it’s a true test of a player to see how they perform with less of the ball than they’re used to. Personally, I don’t think we should bother.
ROSICKY - he’s primarily a centre mid at Dortmund and for the Czech national side and is more or less a Cesc style player, so not sure why we’d want him to play on the left or the right.
Given that if the rumour of Henry’s contract are true, we’d still have Pires along with Ljungberg, Hleb (who made huge strides towards the end of the season - world class if you ask me) and Reyes (even Smith back from loan) playing for the 2 wide spots we may not require a wide player. I see the idea of selling Reyes - I’m not sure he can ever fulfil his potential with Henry at the club, but he’s decent (15-20 assists) and we would get good money for him after his CL perfomances - I doubt we’ve paid more than ?12m of the the total ?17m deal as we’ve not been too succesful since he signed, so we certainly haven’t overpaid.
YAYA - we do need a CM option who will relish the physical battle of Bolton/Blackburn away, but the games I’ve seen Yaya play (for the Ivory Coast) he’s been overshadowed by Zokora and not looked that class above the rest of the players on the pitch. It’d be nice if we could sign Baptista, but after stinking the bernabeu out for 6 months he suddenly came into his game over the last 6 weeks and was their best player by far, scoring 7 in the last 8 games I think. Alou Diarra rather than Mahmadou Diarra may be a decent option, he knows a bit about the EPL and can play CM or CB (as can Maduro of Ajax)
Up front, Henry, Adebayor, RVP, Walcott, ALiadiere not to mention Lupoli and Bendtner - someone has to go, 2 probably have to go if we bring another forward in.
Ash - it seems the club is doing all they can to make him stay and although Clichy and Flamini are able deputies, we shouldn’t be selling any players who are the best in the world in their position
I still say Isaacsson, the swedish goalkeeper would be a good signing, we do need a physical player in CM for the demands of the EPL and if Pires goes we need another option for L/RM. Difficult job for Arsene to bring in players of the quality required without hampering the development of any of his treasured young talents, so I won’t be holding my breath waiting for us to sign some world star.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:53 am
You right my friend; the silly season has just begun with all sort of names put forward. It was a long trip back from Paris but it was also an eventful and sometimes crapy season.
All I’m hoping for next season is Mr. Wenger spend more time worrying about Arsenal instead of others. He spent most part of last season worrying about what other clubs are doing. We should ban the word Chelsea on this site because it makes us look very silly, childish and sour grapes. There are 18 other clubs in the league and I’m sad to say some Arsenal fans are killing the good name of Arsenal by bi$tching and moaning all the time about referees and other clubs esp. Chelsea. Let us all grow up and move forward.
As for next season there will be lots of things to play. Liverpool will be the team to watch. They are good and getting better. They can catch Chelsea but don’t United out if they can sort out their midfield.
As for the Arsenal we need to get our tactics right to start with. We have lots of good players but lacking the experience. Every footballer have talent in some way but not all footballers have the experience when things are not going well. We have some good defenders at times but relied on Henry so much and when he is not playing well no one else stands up.
Not going to put names forward but we need 2 good experience midfielders or this time next year we will be saying the same things again.
Cesc is good players but the hype is killing this kid. Wednesday was a typical example. PV might have past it but is laughable when people talk about Cesc is a better player the Vieira. The same folks who said Senderos is better than Sol.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:02 am
luckily for us all you won’t be the one to decide on eboue’s future at the arsenal … just as you werent when pires and vieira have dived - without contact - several times before. and yes, reyes still dives without contact and he does roll around on the grass several times (the madrid game is just one example)
eboue has the ability, and the system here at arsenal should be able to tame his wild ways and educate him further along. hopefully he can be our own right wing cole or cafu at the grove. no way should we ever consider letting him go.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:08 am
To amplify on Andez’s comment, I think that by pointing to the players he mentioned as well as several others such as Julio Baptista (and arguably Edu), Arsenal may well have the edge on teams such as Chelsea and Real Madrid in terms of attracting emerging talent, i.e., players who are on the cusp of stardom or have just emerged as stars. After all, Baptista went to Real Madrid because it was a bigger team where he had a better chance of making the Brazilian team. Similarly, SWP and Scott Parker went to Chelsea because they purportedly craved the competition and thought they’d be up to the task. If I were Wenger, I’d make the point to players of that caliber that unlike Chelsea and Real Madrid, he nurtures his emerging stars so that, from his current team, Gilberto remains on Brazil’s roster for the World Cup with neither Baptista or Edu anywhere to be seen, Eboue and Toure are on the Ivory Coast’s roster, Reyes and Fabregas are on Spain’s roster, Robin van Persie is on the Dutch roster, Senderos and Djourou are on the Swiss roster, Lehman has become Germany’s number 1 keeper, etc. This point however cannot be overstressed at least with English players because there is an argument that easily can be made that Wenger does not nurture young English players as well as he does foreigners, nevertheless helping realize national team ambition is an area about which players care, perhaps not as much as money but certainly close behind and one which Wenger has no equal.
On the issue of trading Ashley Cole for SWP, I’m with Andez. If Ashley Cole can be convinced to stay, there is no way swapping him for SWP makes sense. SWP has been on the bench on Chelsea for a reason; he was the main man at Manchester City and there is a school of thought, not to be lightly dismissed, that his skills are particularly difficult to integrate into a complex team game and that he personally does not respond well to detailed coaching. If SWP can be gotten on the cheap, that’s fine but, again, Wenger looks like a genius for not overpaying for him as Chelsea did.
All of the foregoing leads to one real difference between Chelsea and Arsenal (and probably everyone else), Chelsea can routinely make 20 million pound player evaluation mistakes and it just does not matter. Although I would say, the noise coming out of Stamford Bridge about divesting of players and luring the biggest name players in the sport to the team does smack of panic. There’s no reason to believe that Ballack and Lampard will play any better together than Gerrard and Lampard do for England. Similarly, who’s to say that Shevchenko will fit in with the structure at Chelsea demanded by Mourinho; for example, how’s Shevchenko going to feel about being a lone striker (like Drogba) if Mourinho insists on it. So, I’d say in a variety of definable respects, Arsenal is the better run team and certainly the more appealing team.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:10 am
Thats far too many players stag..AW wouldn’t possibly want to buy even half oif them . Quality players no doubt but most of them too expensive.Heres what I think is going to happen:-
=====AW will buy 1 striker and one AMF … ====
Rumour has it he’s looking at Andy Johnson very seriously and ANR published an article saying he was looking at Craig Bellamy as well..hmmm that would be fun…and Bellamy fits in with AW’s buys…fast (very very fast) , great passer , work ethic , occky and a trouble maker
..
AMf –> Rosicky might be the guy but have a feeling we’d have too many AMF’s then with Hleb , Cesc and Rosicky…still the squad needs depth so I’ll back AW…
He’s already said he’s not gonna buy any more defenders at all…makes sense coz we’ve got more than ample backup..in most areas
About Eboue I’m absolutely with the guys here who want him out if he doesn’t mend his ways…there are things called ethics guys…football is also a way of living for these guys…just think….would you be bale to step on someone else who deserved a promotion at work and get it yourself by underhand means when he deserved it more??…its the same here as well…footballing talent is one thing and I’d love to see Eboue mend his ways…but if not..then I wont slate AW too much for throwing him out…
May 21st, 2006 at 10:11 am
Perhaps Wenger thinks like I do on the subject, he watched the VT and thought that had we won 1-0 everyone would say it’s because of Eboue’s dive and that we’d won the European Cup by cheating.
Wenger is a man of high principle and I’m very pleased he has said what no manager in the rest of Europe would ever say. He shows real class.
I don’t know whether Wenger really said what is reported in the Sunday People but you pushing it a bit with the comments above. As it was reported on sky sports it is hard to believe this coming from a man who always says he did not see it.
Apart from that I’m with you about these divers and cheats. I don’t like them whether they played for Arsenal or not. That is why I was happy with what the Chelsea fans did when dogface was diving all over the place. Sometimes Lemon and Reyes drives me mad watching them.
I blame players diving and cheats on some few managers. It has become a disease whereby teams wants to cheat to win games.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:14 am
With you on that one…we should try and curb his tnedencies rather than give up on him and I’m sure AW will do that…but the thing is “old habits die hard”….hope nad trust the professor
May 21st, 2006 at 10:23 am
a good article……
i dont’ think we’ll buy anybody on the flanks….we’re well covered there.
eboue, lauren, gilbert, hoyte, flamini, clichy, cole, hleb, ljunberg, pires, reyes and even walcott.
thats 12 players for 4 positions…..even if pires and cole leave….which is looking increasingly less likely…we’re still quite covered.
down the middle, the SPINE is where we need to re-enforce. that is how championships are won - a strong spine.
goalie: we need a new second choice keeper. i think almunia is worth third choice at best…and this opinion is not just because of wednesday.
center defence: looks settled - since campbell is looking more likely to remain next season.
sol, kolo, sendy, djorou, cygan (?), connolly.
that is settled then.
center forward: well, i think wenger might buy here. a 4th striker will be nice…or he might promote, walcott, bendter or lupoli.
center mid: this where we seriously have to get things right. if we start with gilberto, cesc, flamini next season, then the title will be gone again by october.
diaby is out till 2007, and flamini despite his efforts is still not a decent CM neither has he even gained playing experience there in the last 6 months.
i think we need a MASSIVE buy here….even if thats the only buy we make. no more skinny kids in this area.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:00 am
What the world needs to do is get over the fixation on “traditional” laws of the game & put a ref in each half of the pitch, that way there aren’t the cases of a ref trailing the play by 40 yards or so sometimes.
It’s worked for hockey cracking down on obstruction & hooking away from the play, I think it’d help soccer/football on missing some of those foul calls.
And the other thing is- if you want to eliminate diving or simulation, crack down & card it WHOMEVER it is, like FIFA said they would start doing. Even if it is Rivaldo in a World Cup. Cuahtehmoc Blanco of Mexico’s career may be over if they start carding for feigning injury & diving!
May 21st, 2006 at 11:14 am
I saw you listed Conolly as an option in central defense, have you seen him play? I’ve been curious about him since he started practically all year long for the reserves as an 18 yr. old & was curious to how good he really was, b/c it’s hard to tell from just reserve highlights.
Also for a wide spot what about that kid Stokes? He was lighting up the scoreboard the previous season as an attacking midfielder I believe but I think this year they moved him out wide. Again, haven’t seen much of him other than reserve highlights but he had several moves as 16 yr. old in the reserves that most players at his age didn’t have.
But to your main premise, i agree with you, I think it’s central midfield where we need to buy some real depth or even an out & out replacement for Gilberto & let Gilberto be the depth. I know we recently signed Song long term but he’s one of the few signings that Wenger has made that’s puzzled me- I have yet to see what Wenger likes so much about him outside of a few moments in a game or two. Song must really do well in practice is the only thing I can figure but as my old high school football (American) coach used to say, “I’ve seen a lot of All-Americans in practice, what matters is what you do in a real game.”
May 21st, 2006 at 11:30 am
First of all Rosicky can’t play on the wings. He is Fabregas type of player but scores more goals. If we get SWP I think that on the flanks should play Wrighty on the right and Hleb on the left. He can link up well with Ashley just like he did with Eboue. Besides that Hleb is good with his left foot too.
But this are my wishes:
GK - Lehmann will be different player next year. I think he was great this season because of the World Cup. We should sign another keeper, but not for 2nd choice, we should sign someone who can compete for the No.1 shirt.
Maybe Isaksson, but how about Buffon. If Juve are punished and go to Seria B I think their players will be available for transfer and we should go for the best keeper in the world.
Defense - I think that we are well covered there but I still think that we should sign another CB. My tip is Curtis Davies from WBA.
Midfield - If Pires leaves we will need another left winger. We should go for someone like Vicente, Downing, N’Zogbia, Malouda. Or we should go for SWP or Joaquin and play them on the right with Hleb and Reyes on the left.
Also we need another CM. As I said yesterday, Mascherano is my first choice, but we should go also for Mahamadu Diarra(not Alou), Baptista, Raul Garcia from Osasuna or Danielle de Rossi from Roma.
Striker - There is only one name: FERNANDO TORRES. We should sign him now before he goes to a big club like Barca, Milan, Chelsea, Man Utd., Real Madrid. And when Walcott is ready to replace Henry imagine pairing him with ‘El Nino’. It would be perfect.
May 21st, 2006 at 11:53 am
WE SHOULD GO FOR QUALITY INSTEAD OF QUANTITY.
This team has a lot of talented youngsters. But it lacks big players who can carry the side when things are not going well (like when it was 1-1 in the CL final).
Two players are absolutely needed.
1. Central Midfielder - Gilberto, Cesc and Flamini are not enough. Diaby is surely out for most of next season. Song is not an option. We need a player who can handle the pressure.
2. Central Defender - Campbell is prone to injuries and problems of the mind. Senderos is too slow. Djourou is raw and inexperienced. We need a proper defender to partner and take the load of Toure. But I think that Campbell will have to leave for someone to come in. If that’s the case, so be it.
By the way, ANR reports the Campbell is on his way to Fenerbache and we are signing Davies from WBA.
If we get these two players, I’ll be satisfied. We are covered in other places
GK - Lehmann, Almunia, Poom
FB - Cole, Clichy, Lauren, Eboue, Hoyte?
WM - Ljunberg, Hleb, Reyes, Walcott
FW - Henry, RvP, Ade, Aliadiere/Lupoli/Bendtner?
I wouldn’t mind signing another winger because Reyes is inconsistent and Ljunberg is on the down.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Did we really sign Song? I saw the rumour, but haven’t seen anything concrete from the club. Like you say, it would be puzzling move if we have.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:19 pm
you may be right on the lehmann call, but AW won’t buy another no.1 keeper for next season….lehmann has already signed up….so any new signings will have to be someone who will contest with him…..not one who will definitely take his place, like buffon
two, we can’t buy anybody (like c. davies) if we don’t sell campbell, becos if he comes he will be 4th choice and he won’t be too happy about that (just like upson) and ofcourse defenders don’t get that much playing time due to low substitution rates.
i believe we should get him if we want to replace cambell.
lastly, torres is waaaaay too overated! i’ve watched him several times and he is not better than reyes…..even the soccernet guy (that covers the spanish league) thinks this.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:24 pm
i’ve seen him only on highlights as well, i only put him because he is the most senior reserve after djorou and AW seems to rate him.
stokes is promising as well.
i hope to heaven we dont’ sign Song…he will just be another cygan for us. we can do so much better.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Danny…
Have you seen him diving all over the place previously? NO.
He went down with a dive in the BIG match… OK.
Enough. He’s not a diver. Hell, Pires and Reyes dive far far far more than Eboue ever has. So lay off the kid.
If he doesn’t sort it out? Get real will you… sort what out? He went down to easy for you. So he should leave the club.
Wenger should leave it behind closed doors. He wouldn’t have given the trophy back if we won the match, thats for damned sure.
May 21st, 2006 at 12:37 pm
u forget gilbert!
also i think pires will stay. so you can add him to WM.
as u said quality not quantity. we need just ONE or TWO really massive players that will propel us….
AW should stop looking at the winger-cum-striker type (ie. reyes, torres, RvP, etc)…….those types dont win you championships……they are the fancy addtions, in the sun or on good days they thrill you but on the raw nights when **AYE CARUMBA**(censored) hits the fan, they chicken out…..we need WARRIORS down the middle !!
May 21st, 2006 at 12:40 pm
I don’t think for a SECOND Wenger will buy the players that I mentioned!
He never buys name players anyway.
My list is simply players I WOULD LIKE to see in an Arsenal kit. Just one man’s opinion.
I was attempting to get the silly season underway here at Arsenal America, because the loss in the final got me hungering for next year already, and I think we DO need to IMPROVE the team.
By the way… Eboue is NOT a chronic diver. I don’t remember him going down to easily or diving AT ALL. There are other players on our OWN TEAM that dive far more often than he ever has. So the talk of him “mending his ways” is…. in my eyes, utterly ridiculous. What the hell has he done thats so different than ANY other team in the world. So it was in the big match. So what.
Wenger is not sending him ANYWHERE.
May 21st, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Let’s throw Beckham out there for the fun of it.
May 21st, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Did you read Jose’s comments after the CL loss? He says some pleasantries like he wanted Arsenal to win, and that Wenger deserves to win. He then says that if Theo had picked Chelsea over Arsenal, he would have already had Premiership experience since he would have played him in the last two games of the season. Jose always has to get a jab in somehow
May 21st, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Torres is not winger-cum striker type of player. He is pure striker that Arsenal lack at the moment. He is great finisher and with him in the side we will score a lot more than this season.
May 21st, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Sure he dived in a big match…sure he dived just like all the players in the world od…sure he doesnt dive as much as Reyes does..sure he might learn not to dive…or may keep diving…thats not the point…
Im talking baout diving “as is”….is diving correct?…would u have been able to kepp your hand on your conscience and say you were 100% happy if we had won 1-0?…if the answer is yes…then I retarct what I’m saying because you’re talking business then …you’re talking “winning at all costs” then…and while you maybe right..in a business sense….in an ethical sense…though I wopuld have celebrated the win and jumped around here in Inida at 3:300 in the night like a 5 yr old kid…a tiny part of me would have gnawed at me saying…”How nice it would have been if he hadnt dived and we’d won!!”…
Unrealistic perhaps but there is something called honesty…and hey I’m not hitting on EBoue here..I love what the guy has brought to AFC..and dont htink AW will think of selling him…I mjsut discussign “DIVING”
May 21st, 2006 at 2:39 pm
sorry 4 all the ridiculous typos…Ill start using a spell checker next time round
May 21st, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Well, maybe I’m wrong about Song (hope so!) but I thought I had heard he was signed to a 3 yr. deal. If we do sign him, I hope he mainly plays in the reserves!
May 21st, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Why do you think that Davies would be 4th choice, the boy is more talented than Senderos. Have you watched our last game against WBA, Davies actually put Henry in his pocket, and I don’t think that Senderos is able to do that.
And on Torres, you are saying you have watched him several times and you think he is overrated. Well I have watched him many times and I can tell you that he is something special, is only 22 and is far better than Adebayor and RvP.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:03 pm
This was on eurosport.com
“Arsenal defender Sol Campbell will move to Turkish club Fenerbah?e in a move worth 12M?. The 31 year-old defender has seen his season plagued with injury and lost his place to promising youngster Philippe Senderos. Campbell is expected to sign his contract tomorrow at the latest.
Full story to follow.”
If we can get 12M? for Campbell, sell him right away, then sign Davies for around 7M?. That’s a very good bussiness.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:12 pm
And this is on ANR
“Arsenal and England centreback Sol Campbell has been sold to Fenerbahce for 12 million euros.
GREAT BUSINESS !
That makes the arrival of ace WBA defender Curtis Davies, valued at ?6 million, quite likely
Davies was the best player on the field when Arsenal played West Brom recently.
Let’s hope Sol is happy over there.
Good luck, Sol, and enjoy your last World Cup”
May 21st, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Torres: Ok, lets put it down to a difference in opinion. I dont rate him. You do. We’ll see more of him at the world cup.
Davies: There’s no way AW will buy him and put him over Sendy, Sendy has been in the team for quite a while now…and AW rates him. Note that he started over Campbell in the Fa cup final last year. And he would definitely have started in the CL final if he hadn’t got injured and missed the last few PL matches. If we get Gallas or Nesta or Thuram or some other veteran they will get ahead of Senderos….but no way a kid from West brom will come in and take his place. I don’t like Sendy that much, i’m just being realistic.
and lets just say he is 3rd choice…that is very few games still……..will he like that…..most english players have big egos even ones like upson.
oh well, this summer will definitely be interesting….
May 21st, 2006 at 3:27 pm
i just checked Davies’ height and he is actually 6′2 … same with campbell, so he is not as short as i thought !
in this case, he will make a great addition!…
and the last time i checked the WBA boss quoted 3 million bucks not 6 million……so this should make perfect sense.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:49 pm
If Campbell stays then Myles Palmer will be made to look a bigger tit than he already is. Why does he feel the need to ruin his insightfulness with total nonsense such as that?
May 21st, 2006 at 3:57 pm
We need about three or four top quality players and that’s without taking into consideration possible departures.
Apart from Hleb all of our wingers are unreliable and tepid for the most part. Reyes, Pires, Ljungberg are all much of a muchness. Almost the same person. Good when conditions are right but non-existant when not.
I want a central defender, two top class wingers, two top class central midfielders, and a top class striker. Okay, that six players. It needs to be done however otherwise we’re gonna be playing at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford, be scoreless after sixty minutes and think to ourselves “something’s not right”.
This Arsenal side can really go either way. Once again Wenger has said he will buy “one or two quality players”. I just wanna throttle him when he says that. Four or five Arsene, not one or two.
Jeremie Aliadiere? Don’t make me laugh.
May 21st, 2006 at 4:10 pm
I read in one paper that Arsenal might make a swap with Chelsea with Ashley Cole going there for SWP. I personally think it would be a good move as it was shown we really don’t need Cole back there anymore.
May 21st, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Why don’t you ever read what anyone writes?
I said IF he continues to dive then I’d prefer it if he left the club.
Doubtless after Wenger’s comments this week Eboue will sort his act out and that will be that.
May 21st, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Read my post again would you? I said IF he doesn’t sort his act out I would prefer he left. Nowhere did I suggest otherwise.
May 21st, 2006 at 5:31 pm
If the reports about Campbell leaving are true then we need one world class centre-back to replace him. To pin next season’s domestic and European success on Senderos and Djourou is completely ridiculous I’m sure you’ll agree. The thought og that buffoon Cygan ever pulling on an Arsenal shirt again is truly horrific?
May 21st, 2006 at 6:14 pm
I think the Campbell story is total rubbish.
May 21st, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Lots of good points made here and I thought I’d get my say in. I deffinitely agree with the consensus here that we need a steel-like central midfielder. We simply don’t have enough depth at that position with flamini not looking that part, though he is a solid utility player, and Diaby with such a serious injury. I don’t know who, I know Yaya seems to be the popular choice and I don’t know enough about him but if he fits the mold and has the right attitude sounds good to me. I also think a good quality central defender is needed. Campbell is getting older and his consistency and athleticism are still big question marks. Cygan pisses me off and is simply not arsenal quality. Senderos and Toure and solid and Djourou is talented though too young and raw to be called upon heavily. Curtis Davies name has been mentioned a lot and though I haven’t seem him play he sounds like a solid talent with the right kind of attitude. He’s in the championship now too so we should be able to get him for a good deal. I think a side midfielder is need as well. Hleb looks to have it working on the right and Ljungberg, getting slow and old but still working hard, is a solid backup/alternate there I feel. On the left however Pires is either gone or way past his prime and not contributing on the level that we need from that position if we want to make serious domestic and european challenges next year. Reyes has talent obviously but just doesn’t produce and to be honest I’ve lost faith he will turn into the player we’d hoped so that leaves us with two very iffy players at that position so I feel a good left sided player would be good buy. As far as a striker goes its hard to say how I feel. Adebayor shows promise and is a differnent kind of striker for us. Van Persie looked the deal earlier this year but got hurt and didn’t come back the same so I’m not sure what we can expect from him. Walcott will be elite someday I feel its just a matter of time. Will be he world class like Rooney by the time he is 18 or will it take longer. Lupoli and Bendtner are two great young talents but they are young and they are not ready to be consistent first team performers for us I feel. I think Torres or another elite striker wouldn’t hurt but I feel like the central defense and midfield issues are more pressing. Whatever happens it will certainly be interesting.
May 21st, 2006 at 7:36 pm
I could’ve sworn that I saw on News Now a couple of weeks ago that Song had signed a permanent deal.
Go figure, now I con’t find anything about it.
I think AW is looking to try and sculpt Song into a DM role with Diaby possibly working as either an AM or a DM. AW has had some success with this sort of thing before, but it’s hard for me to see it with Song, especially with other young players (like Larsson) in the reserves who look to deserve a shot above Song.
I’ll say it again that I think AW will use Lauren as cover for Gilberto while bringing Diaby and Song along.
May 21st, 2006 at 7:39 pm
Latest rumours are:
- Sol has signed for Fenerbahce
- Ash is staying
- Either Torres or (wait for it) Eto’o is coming
I fully expect a big name striker to join - I think that is the commitment the club has given to TH. I don’t know much about Torres but I would *love* to see Eto’o at the Arse.
May 21st, 2006 at 7:52 pm
No, I don’t want Eto’o to come at Arsenal. He is very selfish player and the only thing that interest is Samuel Eto’o to be the scorer. He is not a team player at all. And at Arsenal the game is played with a lot of passing until you find the best man to finish the move, and Eto’o often tries to shoot instead of passing the ball to the player who is in better position. I would prefer Torres.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:09 pm
you are terribly wrong on Eto’o - i have watched Barca games a lot in the last 2 years and he is one of their assist leaders! yes, check the stats.
The 3 best strikers in the world are Henry, Shevshenko and Eto. I have no problem at all with having two of them at Arsenal!
Eto is a guarranted 25 goals a season guy, same with Henry. RvP, Ade, Pires, Hleb, Reyes, Ljunberg can combine for another 20.
That is 70 goals. That can win us the league.
Torres is just another Reyes (at best). Will he enjoy the physical nature of the league? Or will he fade as the winter approaches? If he is that good, why arent the top clubs in Spain going to war over him?? Why isn’t Chelsea or Man U or Liverpool going for him? Why are we competing with the likes of Tottenham for him?
Besides, if by chance he has a good season with us, we’ll start hearing him say how he would love to go back to spain to play for Barca or Madrid.
We don’t need another Spaniad’s baggage.
I say lets go for Eto’o or Shevshenko…they are the best and they guarrantee us GOALS (not flashy runs or potential but real goals)…..and goals win us championships.
Its all up the AW! A nice summer ahead.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:15 pm
You are spot on 14Henry!
The 3 best strikers in the world are Henry, Shevshenko and Eto. I have no problem at all with having two of them at Arsenal!
Eto is a guarranted 25 goals a season guy (and a considerable number of assists too), same with Henry! RvP, Ade, Pires, Hleb, Reyes, Ljunberg can combine for another 25 or 30.
That is 80 goals. That can win us the league!
Torres is just another Reyes (at best). Will he enjoy the physical nature of the league? Or will he fade as the winter approaches? If he is that good, why arent the top clubs in Spain going to war over him?? Why isn’t Chelsea or Man U or Liverpool going for him? Why are we competing with the likes of tottenham for him?
Besides, if by chance he has a good season with us, we’ll start hearing him say how he would love to go back to spain to play for Barca or Madrid.
We don’t need another Spaniad’s baggage.
I say lets go for Eto’o or Shevshenko…they are the best and they guarrantee us GOALS (not flashy runs or potential but real goals)…..and goals win us championships.
Besides we already have our very own “Torres” here. His name is WALCOTT !
The speculations this summer will be awesome!
May 21st, 2006 at 8:17 pm
We do not have a hope in hell of signing Etoo. In our, and my, dreams, will Etoo be heading to the Emirates. He will probably stay at Barca until Ronaldinho leaves. I’m amazed how blase’ some people are about Etoo signing. The guy is nearly equal to Henry.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:26 pm
“That is how things go in football, if you decide to stand still, other players would get past you. “
I spend great deals of my life in New York and in terms of any competitive career this is the law. Crawl up or be crawled over.
I’ve always been confused by all this with notions of “it’s lonely at the top” being the paramount. Why would anyway aspire to be lonely. If money can’t buy you happiness, just help you spread misery to keep you company, then why seek to attain it.
I did a large painting about it once called “Sisyphus’ Descendants” here’s the link < <
http://www.gerardpas.com/lrahm/gallery/sisyp.html >>
That’s the beauty of sport, you win or you loose. It’s like pure math it’s right or it’s wrong and it keeps things simple.
I think SWP made a big mistake going to the Chel$ki-ites. He was blindsided by bad advice because he didn’t really get to play. I’d like to see him play some more as he was great for Man City. That’s the one draw back of big money though it can blind you with it’s glitter.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:36 pm
How can you say that the top clubs are not interesting in him. Barca are interested, Real Madrid too, but Atletico will not sell their best player at their rival, Milan are interested, Chelsea are interested, Manchester are interested as they want to sign him as a replacement for van Nistelrooy. They are all interested in signing Torres, and I don’t know from where is your idea that they are not interested. And as for Shevchenko, he is 29 and I think that he can play at his best for another 2 years. Torres is 22 and can play for another 10 years and we can get him for the same money as Sheva, maybe even cheaper. Besides, if Shevchenko is going to leave Milan he will go to Chelsea. He is a good friend with Abramovich and we can’t compete with Chelsea when it comes to money.
Also Torres is averaging around 15 goals per season at an average club like Atletico, and if he moves to a bigger club he will score more goals just like Eto’o when he joined Barca. At Mallorca he didn’t score 25 per season, he start scoring 20+ when he sign for Barca. Look at David Villa from Valencia, if I’m not wrong last season at Zaragoza he scored around 15-18 and with his move to Valencia this year he battled with Eto’o for the Best Scorer in La Liga.
So I want to say that if we sign Torres he will score 20+ easily.
May 21st, 2006 at 8:58 pm
The only problem with SWP is that we haven?t been able to see him play since Man City -> poor boy keep good company with those cHELL-ski-ites though. I feel sorry for him but that is no reason to see him on the team. I wouldn?t trade Cole for him ? I still hate the whole tapping up affair. Don?t get me wrong I think that SWP has a gift but it is not proven (lol) and Cole?s is.
As for the Campbell story, I wouldn?t want to be as stern with him as DannyT is with Eboue. I?ve always liked him until that dark Westham day when my trust in him wavered. I have forgiven him as a fan, so I?m sorry to see him go if he does. Buy Sol, whoops a little slip, Bye Sol.
Craig Bellamy, that lad, while talented, has about as much chemistry as the local Meth lab down the street. He?d never fit in with the team not for lack of talent but for the sheer dynamics of teammates. I wonder if he doesn?t think the sun and moonrise out of his arse but that?s no reason to be a gunner.
I?m all for throwing Beckham out there, way the phcuck out there, and I?d rather have Juninho. Let?s say he did come, what could he add at his age except for gross return on merchandise sales. We have a new stadium.
We need another striker to pick up the stuff TH14 doesn?t get and I?m not speaking of garbage goals like a VanNistelrooy striker.
Let?s see at the World Cup how Theo does.
We all know it?s the Netherlands against Brazil in the final anyway. I?m just sorry Bergy is not going to be there to enjoy it.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:10 pm
I just saw the statistics in La Liga
Samuel Eto’o - 26 goals, 5 assists
Fernando Torres - 13 goals, 3 assists
But Barca have scored 80 goals, while Atletico have scored 45. So that was my point, if Torres plays for an attacking team like Barca you can easily double his goals and assits, and because Arsene Wenger plays attacking football I think that Torres would be a great addition to our striking force.
May 21st, 2006 at 9:50 pm
I forgot to mention Eto’o contribution in the three years at Mallorca before he joined Barca.
2001/02 - 6 goals
2002/03 - 14 goals
2003/04 - 17 goals
and here are Torres’s stats
2002/03 - 13 goals
2003/04 - 19 goals
2004/05 - 16 goals
2005/06 - 13 goals
Torres is now 22 and Eto’o was 23 when he signed for Barca. So look at the stats and tell me who is better player at the age of 22. I will tell you… Fernando Torres!!!
May 21st, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Does anybody know what happened with that kid Fran Merida from Barca? He was supposed to sign for Arsenal but I haven’t read anything about that.
May 21st, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Oh, and my well-connected friend in London tells me we’re about to announce the signing of Curtis Davies from West Brom.
Anybody know anything about this guy?
May 21st, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Its simple for me basically. With all the money arsenal claim to have in their war chest, I suggest Wenger buys Torres, Joaquin, Curtis Davies and Mascherano. Simple. I think Mascherano would cost us less then 5 mil, while torres would cost us easily around 17 mil, Curtis on the other hand would cost us less then 8 mil and joaquin roughly around 12 mil. So altogether that would roughly be around 42 mil. We can sell Campbell which could fetch us around 5 mil, Cygan around 2 mil. Only if Pires leave then we should go for Joaquin if he doesnt then that would save us 17 mil. I really really hope AW buys Torres and a DM hopefully Mascherano or Yaya Toure…. Common AW lets spend the $$$ we have gained!!!
May 21st, 2006 at 11:28 pm
off topic here:
this is an awesome post-match clip in which he bashes the ref and commends larsson on a job well done.
and i quote ” they try to kick me but i am not a woman, i will stay on my feet.”
http://home.skysports.com/broadband.asp?showclip=yes
enjoy…
May 21st, 2006 at 11:57 pm
Positions covered:
LB : Cole/Clichy
RB : Lauren/Eboue/Gilbert
RW : Hleb/Ljungberg/Walcott
LW : Reyes/?
FW : Henry/van Persie/Adebayor Lupoli/Bendtner
Postions we are short on:
CD : Toure/Senderos/Djourou
CM : Gilberto/Fabregas/Flamini
LW : Reyes/?
1. I am assuming when Dein says 1 or 2 are deciding to move on he is referring to Campbell and Pires.
2. In case Wenger is giving chances to more youngsters this season, I would like to see Bendtner get a chance ahead of Lupoli. Also it would be nice to send Lupoli on loan to the Championship to toughen up.
3. If Henry’s ambition has to be matched probably RvP and Adebayor might not be enough. Somehow, despite all the chances RvP has got, he still hasn’t been convincing. Reyes at least runs his legs off and shows enough heart for us to fell he will come good. Nothing of that sort though from RvP. Would be dissappointing if Wenger did let him leave. This would bring a striker signing into the limelight. There is one person I would like to see at Arsenal, considering he is chummy with Henry - Samuel Eto’o.
4. Curtis Davies seems to be the unanimous choice for the position of CD. It might relegate Senderos to backup, but if Davies is that good then I am happy with that.
5. We are a little thin on the left if Pires leaves. Of course, with Cole and Clichy fit, we could probably promote Clichy to LW when Reyes plays striker. But I would still like some backup for Reyes at LW, because I consider Cole and Clichy to be used primarily for LB.
6. Really sorry sight to see Diaby go out to an absolutely unecessary pathetic effort of a challenge. I am assuming he is out for the next season, considering how gruesome his injury sounds. Song hasn’t shown he has what it takes to play for Arsenal, but then if Wenger knows something I don’t then I trust Wenger. Anyhow, we need a hardman/playmaker/something at CM.
Mahamadou Diarra/Mathieu Bodmer/Rosicky are names that have been bandied about. One of them should be good.
7. Goalkeeper - I am not trying to criticise Jens here but does he have motivation to go on. He has been oicked as German no:1 for the World cup, which was his goal this season. What about the coming season? I still think he is great keeper, but we need to start lokking for his successor and not leave it late like we did in Seaman’s case. However, the scouting can happen now…the signing probably in the winter market….unless Yohann Pele/Andreas Isaakson/Carlo Cudicini/Gianluigi Buffon(because of Juve’s problems) are willing to sign right away.
So in a nutshell, we probably need the following:
1. Samuel Eto’o
2. Curtis Davies
3. Mahamadou Diarra
That will pretty much wipe out our transfer budget
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:51 am
I thikn Eto’o would be a good signing I just can’t see it happening. I feel that like some people have said, that if he does move it will be to Chelsea. That’s if he does move, and since Barca didn’t get Henry and are losing Larssen I don’t see them letting Eto’o leave the team.
Someone mentioned Fran Merida and I was under the impression that he did sign and that everything was formalised. Maybe he didn’t but if he did it doesn’t surprise me that we haven’t heard anything about it for a while. He is quite young and hasn’t accomplished anything yet, but most of all the media has been focused on our CL campaign and the fight for fourth so I feel he was just not on anyone’s mind regardless
I really feel like a left sided player would be good too. Somebody mentioned Mascherano, I’ve heard of him but don’t know anything. Is he a left-sided player? I don’t think we’ll buy at that position but I feel it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Sounds like Davies is a near-lock at this point. I haven’t heard anything negative about him and sounds like we can get him at a fair price, especially if Sol leaves all making for a nice bit of business.
I do think that either Torres or Eto’o would be a great signing and would contribute a lot to Arsenal. Either one would require breaking the bank and probably having a striker or two leave (van Persie?). It just remains to be seen how much faith wenger has in Adebayor and van Persie and if he doesn’t have much then will he make a record signing like he did with Reyes.
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:11 am
oh lets cool this argument……its going nowhere!
we have different opinions….lets leave it as that.
i prefer etoo at least 10 times more than torres….but thats my opinion…..you prefer torres. no problem with that.
AW decides……most likely we will see none of them here!
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:48 am
OK here is my view:
OUT:
Pires
Bergkamp
Campbell
Almunia
Aliadere
Cygan
IN
Curtis Davies
Yaya Toure
Joey Barton
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:48 am
How many goals has Torres scored in the last 3 seasons? From what I’ve seen he’s got talent, but he’s a showpony and renowned as a diver even in Spain, how would he cope with a truly physical league?
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:14 am
If we signed Fran Merida then why he is not on the list of players on the official website?
And for Mascherano, he is a defensive midfielder, 22, with much better passing abillity than Gilberto. Watch him at the World Cup and you will realize how good he is.
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:25 am
I totally agree with you choice. If we get these players we will fight for the Premiership next season. But, Wenger said one or two quality players will come in but if Campbell and Pires leave us that makes four. The only thing is that they will cost much more than your thoughts. Torres will cost above ?20M, Mascherano maybe ?15M(he is owned by MSI, and they are very rich and don’t want to sell him), Joaquin around ?15M and Davies ?5M. So that would be around ?55M and I don’t think that Wenger will spend that much. He didn’t spend that much in his ten years at the club :), so I don’t see how he will spend in one summer.
May 22nd, 2006 at 9:59 am
Joaquin is a right sided midfielder so no real need.
Mascherano is unproven.
Where will Torres play? Up front in a 4 5 1??
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Joaquin is right winger, that’s true, but as I said earlier we can move Hleb on the left wing(he has already played there this season) because he is good with his left foot and I think that he can form good partnership with Cole just like he did with Eboue.
Mascherano unproven?
He plays for Argentina for a couple of years and the fact that their manager left out Demichelis from Bayern to play Mascherano tells a lot.
As for Torres, in 4-5-1 no because Thierry is the man, but Wenger likes 4-4-2 more than 4-5-1 and I expect next season Arsenal to play 4-4-2.