I’ve read an awful lot of comments recently implying that Freddie is ‘past his best’ and little better than cover for Hleb, Reyes, Rosicky and Ribery!
I’ve read that his pace has gone - that’ll be same the same pace that took him past Oleguer time and again.
I’ve read that he needs Bergkamp otherwise he’s not half the player - I don’t remember Bergkamp playing in the Bernabeu when Freddie’s runs caused havoc.
I’ve read that he’s too old - he’s 29 ffs and, when fit, is there anybody who runs more for the team? Yes, when fit, because Freddie has had a lot of injuries in the last couple of years, though he somehow still managed to play 33 games for Arsenal last season, 38 games the season before.
Ok, so Freddie did not score as many goals as usually does, but is that his fault or was he playing in the worst Arsenal EPL team since Wenger arrived?
In short, Freddie Ljungberg is nowhere near past it, he was brilliant for the team at times last season and there’s no reason he can’t be again in the new season.
70 Responses to “Freddie Ljungberg - he’s not finished yet”
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June 7th, 2006 at 7:07 am
It’s all well and good saying when he’s fit, but the guy is never fit. After that fantastic performance against Barcelona in the final he was laid up for about three weeks barely able to move. Already in training his migraine issues have appeared and he cannot eat with the rest of team.
Without injuries he is fantastic player, but he always is injured so it is a moot point. Can we base Arsenal’s success partly on a player who cannot play three games in a row?
June 7th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Some points to consider with regard to Freddie
- Will he recover FULLY from his injury? If not, we can’t expect him to reproduce his Barca heroics consistently.
- He scored just one league goal all season. Yes, Arsenal had a bad season. But Pires, who must have played as much or less than Ljunberg, scored a lot more.
- I don’t think pace was ever his asset. He wasn’t fast, but the timing of his runs was great. In the new bigger stadium, pace will matter a lot on the wings.
Considering the above, it’s about right that Ljunberg still features in Wenger’s plans but may not be first choice anymore.
June 7th, 2006 at 7:39 am
It is widely know around the club that the accleration Freddie had over 15 yards was the best in the club.
That may go a bit.
Yes he has had injuries but this is common with players of his type.
He has taken a lot of kicks and falls in his time and it is wear and tear.
It will be interesting in the World Cup to see how he does and how many minutes he plays for Sweden.
In the past he has been their main man.
June 7th, 2006 at 8:33 am
the point is, he’s not always injured. He’s suffered the last two seasons, but still managed to play in 65% of our total games and injuries do heal.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:03 am
I personally have always loved and besides Bergkamp has been my favorite player at the club. I still think he brings a lot to the table and can produce a lot of good football for us. Don’t write him off yet I agree 100% with this article.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:07 am
By the way Stag you’ll love this…Someone in the football365.com mailbox mentioned a couple of players who were at the top of the assists charts in the EPL this season. Drogba led the lague…and in third place in the whole league is none other than Jose Reyes. Now if he just adds some more goals to this he can be quite the player in the near future.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Freddie brings a lot more to the table than just scoring.
Arsenal’s game is about PASS & MOVE. If nobody runs, there is no one u can pass to. One thing Freddie and Pires shared - they were two clever runners in the team, not just by running into scoring position, but also opened up space for their teammates.
We know Henry will never going to run much (unless he has the ball on his feet), Reyes has been very dumb on his running (rarely moved himself into a clever position), van Persie, Adebayor the likes are still yet up to the same par like Freddie.
Sometimes when we judge a player, it’s not just about scoring or assist, there are plenty more in a player’s game than just putting their names into the stats book. They may be less eye-catching, yet they are equally significant.
Freddie may not be able to produce a great performance game after game, but u can rest and sure he will always TRY. His effort and heart will inspire his teammates than someone who just stand around ball-watching. We shall never underestimate this quality.
June 7th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Completely agree it seems as though he is a huge inspiration to the team and the team follow’s his example. He never showed any quit during any part of the season and has been the perfect example of what a professional should be. I still think he deserves to start on the wing with Reyes, Rosicky, Gilberto, Cesc, and Van Persie fighting it out for the final 4 spots in midfield/forward. Unless we want to go 3 in the back which I have always been a huge fan of.
June 7th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
and he looks marvellous in his underwear :)~
I’m sure he’s scoring with the ladies but his goal count is way off. Arsenal needs someone to pick up on their goal count with Pires gone.
June 7th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Freddie has long been a favorite of mine, with his endless running, fearlessness and knack for scoring big goals. But with his mounting injury problems I think it will be hard for Wenger to continue to depend on him as a steady starter. I think that he will probably get fewer starts at time goes on, and I see him as a fantastic super-sub. His full bore runs at defenders with tiring legs would be really great to watch.
June 7th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Just watched France - China friendly match. Djibril Cisse broke again the same leg that he broke two seasons ago. Maybe his career could be over.
Now for the game. France won 3:1, only because Franck Ribery came on. The game was 1:1 when Ribery came on for Vieira(who looked like he has past his best). France come up 2:1 from on own goal by the Chinese player after the cross from Ribery, and Henry scored the third after Ribery played one-two with Henry, but the Chinese GK cleared the ball in time, but unluckly the ball came to Thierry who scored in the empty net. Ribery had a chance to score minutes after he came on.
So the man of the match was Franck Ribery, despite that he played around 20 minutes.
From what I have seen from him, I think that he is a MUST signing from Wenger. He can easily change the tempo of the game and would be very usefull in our squad.
June 7th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
Well, Freddie might not be finished but Patrick Vieira certainly looks it. As Sheed said, the difference when Ribery came on was dramatic. Arsenal should woo him big time even if it means releasing one of the attacking midfielders such as Reyes or Reyes, or…..Reyes.
Vieira plays tucked in on the right of a diamond midfield for France and frankly sucks. It’s like he’s playing with prosthetic limbs or something; he’s so uninspiring and looks as bored as hell. Not in a million years should we bring him back to Arsenal.
June 7th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
Oh God.. I bet you have being watching G
June 7th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
It’s very funny at times to read some of these posts and comments about Freddie. If not Freddie, it will be Sol, Bergkamp, Gilberto or Lauren. Blame the system not the players. Some players give their all but the ones around them and the system is not helping them.
For years Freddie has been one of our best players on the field and I find it hard to understand what some people mean by he has pass it or finished. When on the field he is better than Reyes and very determined, hard-working and plays his heart out.
Anyway Stag - Did you watch your best friend against China today? I’m talking about the one and only P. Vieira. Damn he can’t even tackle anymore. He might have some issues but bowy, my man can’t even play football. He has lost it.
Pls don’t talk about Ribery. He might be good but he really reminds me of Anelka or the modern day Cantona.
June 7th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
I don’t want to upset Stag
but Vieira was really bad. He was the best player in his role less than 3 yrs ago.
I don’t like Reyes but don’t think Ribery is the answer. Lots of rubbish or baggage and he won’t last in the EPL.
June 7th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Admittedly Ribery hasn’t shown he can do it for the full ninety minutes yet so everyone may be jumping the gun a bit there. But he does seem to have a chemistry with Thierry and that’s something that can’t be ignored easily.
Stag will never believe anything bad about Vieira. It’s all a conspiracy. We can’t actually be telling it how we see it, there must be an agenda somewhere, blah blah blah ;^)
Surely Henry must notice how crap he’s got and realise Wenger was right to sell him?
June 7th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
What I love about Freddie is his commitment. He fights on in pain and puts his body on the line for the Gunners.
But I agree that he should be dropped for at least half a season.
Why? Because he needs rest. He needs plenty of it. Having blood drained out of your leg after each match is nasty **AYE CARUMBA**(censored) and it clearly shows he isn’t fit.
Give the man a good rest. He’ll come back stronger. Even TH14 needed the inevitable long break whilst missing our FA Cup win over Manure.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Oh yes folks…
Vieira didn’t play well in a f’n FRIENDLY against China, therefore his career is OVER!
And… that amazing superstar Frank Ribery played 20 whole minutes of football, and we’ve anointed him Saint Frank… a must have for the Arsenal!
OK… we’ll see in the REAL games of the World Cup. By the way, just in case you didn’t know… these friendlies before the tournament starts?? They mean F**K ALL!
They are irrelevant!
They are “friendlies”.
So why would Vieira go out there and go all out in a match that is meaningless. Probably watched Cisse break his freakin’ leg and said…. why am I out here again?
So please…
the death of Patrick Vieira (and the parade for Ribery) has been greatly exaggerated.
Talk to me in July, after the tournament.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
I have akways been a big fan of FL. I was cleaning and ran across my tape of the 2001 FA CUP final ,Arsenal- Southampton. FL had a good game. I almost had forgotten how good he could be. Only seem to see flashes of that now.
He seems to pick up nagging injuries that just won’t go away. For a time I read that they were draining blood from his foot/ankle after every game. I think he did lead Sweden with the most goals in qualifying.
A few years ago when PV was about to leave, FL would have been my pick for Arsenal captain. I miss the red hair.
June 7th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
Freddie?s attacking value to the team is making well timed angled runs on perceptive through balls. I think he thrived (like others) on Bergkamp?s service. IMO his below-par (not below effort) performance over the course of last season was a combination of (a) a team that lost its shape, (b) injury and (c) Bergkamp?s diminished appearances.
With Hleb forming excellent partnerships on the right and Rosicky/Reyes likely to get the left-sided midfield role his game-time may be increasingly determined by the injury and form of others.
June 7th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
I wonder what will happen to Reyes? Henry is staying so Reyes must fashion a role in the team to compliment the Great One. If he doesn?t his level of frustration will grow, his game will deteriorate, the knives will sharpen (more), and he will depart. When you stop and think about it, how many truly attacking players have thrived at Arsenal with Henry? Hmmmm?..I can name a few who never seemed to quite live up to their reputations, and never became first-choice ? Wiltord, Kanu, and Jeffers come to mind.
Those who did succeed adopted a supporting role to Henry ? Bergkamp, Pires and Ljungberg. My gut impression is that Reyes style naturally competes with rather than compliments Henry?s and hence the future at Arsenal does not look that rosy for him. I honestly hope I am proved wrong?.cause I see a lot to like about Reyes.
June 7th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
Just his commercial ads Love_G, just the billboards.
June 7th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
Freddy has lost his touch in front of goal….he’s past his best…time to return to Sweden.
June 8th, 2006 at 3:57 am
If nothing else Real Madrid seem to love him, so we could have an easy sale. Of course that would mean losing the 5 goals and 18 assists of a poor season for Reyes. Maybe with Thierry’s mate Pires gone, he’ll feel more confident that he can make the LW role his own. For all that Reyes was not great last season, there aren’t too many better left sided players in world football.
Ribery has only been good for half a season at Marseilles having had problems in Turkey.
Vicente is more injury prone than Freddie!
Giggs is 45 years old and like Nedved in decline.
Downing is not good enough.
Duff had a worse season then Reyes and while Robben is good, I think he provides many of the same frustrations as Jose.
Leaving out the obvious Ronaldihno, I can’t really think of anyone else (I’m sure there must be others)
June 8th, 2006 at 4:01 am
curiously I think there’d be more than Swedish teams looking at him. He’s had one poor season for scoring goals…if we went along those lines, Bergkamp would have left 4 years ago.
June 8th, 2006 at 5:47 am
Reyes can add to his goal tally by copying Pires. Everytime Henry comes to the left, don’t get frustrated that he is invading your territory. Just get into his, i.e., the penalty area. Henry will pass to you and you will score. Like the third goal at ManCity.
June 8th, 2006 at 7:52 am
Reyes has a good chance of taking the LW for his own. He needs to start working with Henry and complement him. Of course, JAR needs his shooting boots to be on more often.
But.
Rosicky has been arrowed by Wenger to take over Pires and probably the No. 7 shirt. If that happens, Rosicky is no.1 choice for that position and Reyes can wait till Wenger plays a 4-5-1 (which he doesn’t in the EPL) or when a striker is injured.
Just an observation. Our No. 9 shirt seems to be cursed. Jeffers got it and disapeared and now Reyes..
June 8th, 2006 at 7:59 am
I agree with Stag here, we can’t judge a player in a few games, particular the friendlies.
Take Ronaldo as an example, lot of ppl thought he was finished 4 years ago with all his injury problems. The next thing u know, he went on to score 8 goals and win the World Cup.
I like former Houston Rocket coach Rudy T’s famous quot - DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE HEART OF A CHAMPION. To me at least, Patrick Vieira is a PROVEN champion. Perhaps he has past his best now, yet as I always believe - a 10% Vieira of his former self would still be better than 90% of today’s central midfielders in the world.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:03 am
Great point Kiwi. The only attacking players who could be effective playing alongside Henry are those UNSELFISH TEAM players, players such as Bergkamp and Pires. You know how much Henry loved to play alongside them. Unfortunately they are all gone now.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:49 am
Arsenal.com reports that Arsenal (joint with Chelsea) lead the list of clubs being represented at the World Cup. It’s quite an achievement helped by late calls to Fab and Theo.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:10 am
The leg Cisse broke was a different one to the one he did two years ago against Blackburn.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:15 am
if he is half the player Cantona was or Anelka was at the start of his career, bring the man to Arsenal.
They were Prem greats, even if Anelka only played for AFC for 18 months his impact was felt for years to come.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:52 am
LOL !
you are almost like “ballack4arsenal”….who we unfortunately dont see around here anymore!
take out your tinted glasses and see that vieira is PAST IT. he was the best in this prime but now is just going downhill.
his lackluster performances have been going on for some months now and not just in the last friendlies. (i watch a lot of Juve and serie a games)
Also have you actually watched Ribery play? When you do….then comment. I have watched him play at least 15 times for Marseille and i can tell you that he is worth the hype every penny. Right now i think he is exactly where Pires was when we got him in 2000. Nobody his saying he is god…..but he is someone we should definitely try or look to get.
While I can understand this if it was from someone else….it comes from you who continually hypes up Yaya….even though you dont watch him play week in, week out. And where has he allegedly proven himself? In greece….which is probably less competitive than some african and southamerican leagues. So basically you hype up Yaya to the high heavens…while discounting Ribery who plays really well in a far superiour league……inconsistent hey. Worst part is that you probably dont watch either of them regularly!
June 8th, 2006 at 9:58 am
nobody his judging vieira on a friendly…we are just finally seeing having it confirmed for us that he is past it.
he has been playing piss-poorly for the past couple of months now.
ronaldo comparisons have nothing to do with this. ronaldo was probably the best player in the world…….then he got the injury nightmares…..then the injuries cleared just in time for 2002 WC.
this scenario is in no way similar to vieira?s case in anyway.
June 8th, 2006 at 10:02 am
that said, i wont mind if we could get vieira back for say 5 million bucks…he could serve as an old head in a young team. the way bergkamp did in the last couple of seasons.
besides, wenger MADE him 10 years ago….maybe he can remodel him and lift him back up….maybe.
June 8th, 2006 at 10:26 am
Fred…
I watched many Juve matches this year…
he was pretty damned good.
Friendlies mean SHITE.
Frank Ribery has done f*** all in his career… Vieira has won the World Cup, European Cup, and every EPL trophy possible…
Vieira will be starting and playing for France in every match… maybe Ribery will come on late?
So please, as I said…
TALK TO ME AFTER THE WORLD CUP… when the matches have been played, and we see what Ribery has done, if he plays much at all.
Maybe he’ll be fantastic. If so… I can watch and comment. I already know what Vieira has done and can do…
When we are talking SILLY SEASON rumors… virtually every player we discuss is based on watching a few matches. You don’t SCOUT the players. You can watch half their matches, and not see much of a player, as they are not being followed ALL MATCH on the TV screen. So please, save the lecture. Its all conjecture in the silly season. I’ve seen Yaya a few times, and liked what I have seen. I’ll see him in the World Cup too.
So stick Frank Ribery… he can’t hold Vieira’s jock strap! He can only dream of reaching the heights Patrick Vieira has already reached.
If Ribery plays fanastic in the World Cup… he’ll be priced so high that we’ll never get him anyway.
How long have you been scouting talent anyway?
You have no idea if and how many matches I watch, and what matches I watch… so save it.
Silly season is based on fun and conjecture.
We all have players we’d LIKE to see play for our team… the Arsenal. If you want differernt players than I do… great.
But I’m not going to allow folks to beat up and rip Vieira or Henry or others who’ve done more in their career than most ever will. Its simple.
June 8th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Yes, i read that too. I first thought that it’s the same leg, because that was more logical, but now I read that it’s the other leg.
Poor Cisse, maybe his career is over, I don’t think that he will play football with two broken legs.
Hope he will be fine, he was one of my favourite players at his time at Auxerre, he was scoring so easy, I just thought at that time that he will be a better player than Henry.
June 8th, 2006 at 11:29 am
Hey stag133, if Vieira has won the World Cup, European Cup, and every EPL trophy possible that doesn’t mean that he will play football on a high level when he will be 47 years old. It’s a fact that he is getting older, he has lost his pace and like it or not he is not the old Patrick we used to see every week in an Arsenal shirt.
And that Vieira will start in every game at the World Cup, I don’t think so. If he is playing like he is at the moment, I can see Domenech easily replace him with Ribery, besides Vieira strongest position is CM, not right sided midfielder, witch he is playing for France. If he starts all the games it will be because of his reputation, but if you judge on the performances for both country and club I think Ribery deserves to start the games.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Why?
Whats Ribery ever accomplished?
Why would a star player go all out a week before the World Cup in a meaningless friendly?
Please do tell me.
Ribery is not coming to Arsenal… if he has a good World Cup, he will be priced out of our range.
and for Fred…
Yaya IS coming to Arsenal… you all can watch and see… he will be here after the World Cup. We will pay more for him, because he’s going to have a good Cup… and so will Ivory Coast.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
lol….yes, ribery can’t hold vieira’s jock strap…….but lets use this further….vieira cant hold maradonas or beckenbauers jockstraps either….we could go further with this if u like.
one player here is old and has the best part of his career behind him….the other other is young and has his career in front of him. so lets list what they have won in the PAST…lets forget about the present and the future. a player is great now because he has won many titles years before. if your logic is sensible do you know how many 50 year olds will still be playing right now.
was Vieira one of the best CMs ever? YES! but right now? face it. VIEIRA IS PAST IT !!! just like keane.
also: thanks for dodging the yaya part of the argument!
i am still a hundred percent sure you have NOT watched ribery at all ! LOL! you just have a blind allegiance to vieira.
who is talking about Henry? their circumstances are different right now. he is the best striker in the world. (present tense). in five years time when he is past it…the world will see it and say he is past it. we will then celebrate his career and have all the good memories he has given us……not defending him blindly and listing all his trophies when a young gun steps on the front burner.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
stop asking what has a player accomplished (past tense) because it matters zilch. talk present tense please.
cesc hadnt achieved anything yet he showed up vieira….kanu had not achieved anything yet he showed up veterans baresi and maldini in 1994 and there are COUNTLESS other scenarios that play out exactly like this.
rooney has won one league cup in his entire career. but if you would rather have him or Raul,DelPiero,Ronaldo,Bergkamp,Rivaldo,Zidane,Figo,etc in your team and your life depended on a result who would you choose?
time moves on. great players are born, they then grow old and decline bit by bit then they retire and enter the hal of fame.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
You know what stag133, you are making me laugh.
You are talking sh*t. First you say if Ribery has a good World Cup, his price will grow up and he will be to expensive for us, and then you are saying that Yaya will have a good Cup and we are still going to sign him. Don’t forget that Olympiakos already rejected our 13 mil. euros bid in January, so if he has a good World Cup I expect his price to sky rocket too.
So we will need to pay maybe 20 mil. euros. For who? For Yaya TOURE.
As I said, you are talking sh*t, you want Yaya to come only because he is Kolo’s brother, we don’t need another CM, we have Rosicky, Fab, Diaby(when he comes back), Hleb can play there, Larsson, Song…
If you tell me that he can play DM, you are wrong again. I guaranteed(guaransheed, like Sheed from Detroit :)) you have watched Yaya play only on the African Nations Cup, and he played as a CM. Defensive midfielder was Zokora so I don’t see any reason why we should sign Yaya, we should sign Zokora instead, because we are a little short in DM.
So Yaya is NOT coming to Arsenal… you can keep dreaming about that…
June 8th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
All right folks. How about a compromise? Lets hope Wenger brings in BOTH Vieira and Ribery. Now let would be a massive statement of intention - won’t u say?!
June 8th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
You forgot Yaya, stag133 will kill you for that
June 8th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
No.7 and No.10 are now available. I hope Reyes will change his number, I think Rosicky will wear No.10 shirt so Reyes can take No.7.
And No.9………. I hope it’s Fernando Torres.
June 8th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
I wish I could comment on Vieira and Ribery but unfortunately I have not seen any of the friendlies and have almost missed plenty of Serie A games. In fact, I have yet to see Ribery play (yeah I have been living under some rock for the last little bit it seems
I remember 4 years ago there was a player who was supposed to be the new Zidane, Eric Carriere. People said he should have been taken to the world cup, he would have helped fill in for Zidane, etc. Well Eric has disappeared completely. It is a strange thing what happens to some players who have so much promise but just vanish. 4 years ago, I thought Cisse was amazing. He showed so much energy when he came on in the dying moment’s of France’s WC games but poor guy has had such bad luck with injuries recently.
And I still can’t help but think what if Anelka had never left Arsenal? Would Henry have come in? Could the two of them have worked well together? The pace would have been amazing, but maybe Anelka would have been focussed?
I should address the original topic of this posting though. Freddie is amazing. I critized him this year, but the guy showed heart and he ran himself into the ground. I hope he shows the same ability next year, and the goals will come. And this was the first Arsenal guy who made it to non-soccer magazines in North America. I remember driving through a small canadian town (population less than 10,000) and there was Freddie on the front page of some magazine at the gas station and inside he talked about Arsenal, etc.
Funny how we sometimes remember little things about these games.
June 8th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
One other thing bothers me. I just watched the squad numbers of Arsenal players and I saw that numbers 4,5 and 6 are available. Maybe Wenger is planing more midfield signings this summer, otherwise why would Diaby(tipical midfielder) wear No.2. Maybe Wenger gave No.2 to Diaby because he was planing more established players to come this summer. Who knows? If we are signing another midfielder I hope it’s Mascherano, Diarra or Zokora, because I don’t know anyone else who can improve our team.
June 8th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Yaya has a big time connection to the Arsenal… his brother Kolo. He wants to be at Arsenal. Its pretty damned simple.
See my article a few weeks back. I said Rosicky, Yaya and Davies.
Folks said noooooooooo way.
2 days later Rosicky signed.
We ALL have moles… someone who claims to know someone who knows someone who works scouting at Arsenal, and is “in the know”.
Well… I have a mole… told me Rosicky was coming. BOOM. happened…
Told me we want Yaya… now its been said we already went after him in January… and we are still after him. He’s coming…
Davies IN… if and when Sol goes to Turkey.
Makes too much sense. You don’t have to like it… but thats the way I see it.
We’ll see what Ribery has in the World Cup, IF he can get some time on the pitch. Hate to tell you this, but Vieira is starting for France.
Sheed from Detroit… yes, watching on TV with his “boys”… after Shaq Wade and ‘Toine kicked their asses…
June 8th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Vieira is how old?
Do you even know?
Ribery has a hell of a lot to prove to even get into the same league as Vieira.
Its not a blind allegiance its one based on his carrying us to titles and helping the club get to levels that were previously thought not possible for us…
You can disrespect an Arsenal legend, but I’ll defend him every day of the week.
June 8th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
yaya is coming…
you don’t have to like it… but its gonna happen!
June 8th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
This is exactly my argument with Pires. The man is over the hill and I have been so unimpressed with him this year. Having said that, I don’t want to comment on Vieira becuase I haven’t watched Juve much at all this year except for a couple of games. I do know he was fantastic for us the season before this one and players don’t tend to drop their play drastically in one year. I wouldn’t mind taking him back for a year or 2 but I don’t think he would start. Wenger clearly has established that he wants his young players to be the future of the team, and Vieira would halt Cesc’s progress a lot.
June 8th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Mark my words-if Reyes stays next year he will be a force. If he turns out to be a donkey then I would expect nothing less than for this whole board to throw this statement in my face. I have confidence in him though.
By the way did anyone see the football365.com mailbox to the editor yesterday? There was a fellow there from the U.S. claiming to be an Arsenal supporter and was wondering if he’s on this site. Congrats on getting in the famous mailbox.
June 8th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Bergy was a leader and gave confidence/experience to the squad. He was not a dynamic threat for the past two years though!
June 8th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Hey, I was kiding with that GUARANSHEED… Rasheed Wallace is my favourite basketball player, that’s why my nickname is ‘Sheed’.
I agree on Davies, if Campbell leaves, Davies will come, that’s my thought too. And I hope that Sol will leave us this summer, so we can sign Davies now, because we might be left with an empty hands if we wait for that for another season. Maybe Davies will sign for another club this summer. Portsmouth, Spurs and other clubs are interested in him and I think we have to react quickly.
As for Yaya, I don’t know man, Olympiakos already rejected our bid(13 mil.), and we signed Diaby, so I can’t see that happening.
June 8th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
Sheed, it’s an interesting issue u brought up! Yeah it amazes me these days a few number players chose. For instance, Zidane’s number 5! Gone was the old days u could virtually know their positions just by having a look the numbers on their back, even if u knew nothing about the player himself!
I think the reason no one has chosen the number 4 and 6 so far at Arsenal is a mark of the respect to two of our true lengend Patrick Vieira and Tony Adams. Also, I believe the young players do not want to draw unnecessary comparison to Paddy and Tony, say, if Senderos picks up the number 6 or Diaby grab the number 4. It’s a hugh shoe to fill indeed!
June 8th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
surely u have a weird argument style….
u refuse to actually read what i am writing and continue repeating yourself without tackling any of the argument points! geez!!
nobody on this site is disrespecting vieira! name one person on this site who does this. so stop this childish argument about defending an arsenal legend ….nobody ever attacked him. he WAS the best CM in the EPL for a number of years and won us trophies. now he is PAST it….just the same way maldini and zidane are PAST it……they were great……but time moves on and new people come in.
argue and prove that he is still the player NOW (present tense) and stop talking about the trophies he won for us….nobody his disputing this. we are talking about his present state and play. Bergkamp, Wright, Adams etc also won trophies for us….but time moves on…they are old now! live with it.
thinking about it you are remarkably similar to ballack4arsenal…..u just need a bit of silly swearing and the similarities will be glaring!
June 8th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
That should mean that nobody will take both No.7 and No.10, because I can’t name a player that can fill the shoes of Pires and Bergkamp
No man, Senderos has started his Arsenal career as a very young boy, 17 years old I think, so he get that No.20 and I can’t see why he would change it. It’s the same with Kolo and his No.28
But I really don’t know why Diaby has taken that No.2. I have seen him play for France U-19 and he was wearing No.4, so I expected that he will ask that number when he signed for Arsenal, but he got No.2, a right back number, witch should be given to Eboue.
June 8th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
I went through the Arsenal first-team squad area by area and was pleasantly surprised.
I?m seeing what Wenger is seeing about the squad looking pretty good. Undoubtedly some positions could be stronger, it is young, but overall there is strength about the squad that is pleasing.
I?m also coming to agree with others that it is unlikely that Wenger will add to the squad unless (a) someone leaves or (b) a deal can be struck with someone Wenger really likes. This is particularly the case this off-season when prices tend to inflate due to the World Cup shop window effect.
Who might leave?.well both Campbell and Cole still look possibilities. Neither seems enamored with Arsenal. Campbell looks a little miffed at not being first-choice. And Cole is a victim of his own choices and introspection.
If Campbell goes I HOPE Wenger brings in a replacement of substance. If Cole goes it may be more about numbers?..Wenger might well decide that Clichy deserves a shot at the role but that he needs a back-up player.
But hey?.this is defence so we would be wise to temper our expectations.
Players at World Cup = 16, not including Lauren and Hleb.
Not bad Mr Wenger, not bad at all.
June 8th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Thinking about our squad for next season and the calls by some for a large influx of new players into the team….i think now, this might be rather impractical.
first lets compare and contrast with the other top teams. i will just assume that chelsea have perfect squad depth, they have too much money and no club can bother competing with them on the squad depth scale. And everybody below tottenham (tottenham included :-)) is not a top club so we really cant be looking at them for comparisons.
meaning we are in the same league with liverpool and man u.
man u:
D:sylvestre, neville, brown, ferdinand, vidic, evra, heinze.
M: scholes, giggs, ronaldo, o’shea, richardson, park, fletcher
A: rooney, saha, smith, rossi
liverpool:
D: caragher, hyppia, riise, finnan, krompkamp, agger, traore.
M: gerrard, hamman, sissoko, alonso, garcia, kewell, zenden
A: crouch, cisse, fowler.
now, without looking at extraneous circumstances like team spirit and just comparing the players man to man, ability wise….we more than compare favorably with these two teams. infact without injuries we even have a better squad depth than these two.
meaning we certainly dont need wholesale….but just one or two…..and even at that…some might want to leave because they will be unsure of their place.
for example if we buy another midfielder surely reyes will be disheartened about his chances. if we get another striker surely RvP will be gutted. same for ppl like flamini and senderos.
thinking about it i now understand why AW doesnt just go out and buy, buy, buy.
what i think we should look at is if we can improve our starting 11…can we get someone better and younger in place of Sol?….how about gilberto? etc. we can’t really afford to buy too many players to stuff on the bench.
hleb was complaining bitterly earlier last season, when he didnt see enough action….and we have RvP, Reyes, Senderos, Clichy on the restless list….soon Djorou, Gilbert, Flamini will be joining them. we arent chelsea, we cant pay them to just shut up and sit
so you see, without injuries, we don’t really have depth problems. we just need to strengthen the first 11 (ie. replace underperforming first-teamers) and maybe add one really quality player to the mix.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I like our depth when you put it that way. I like Liverpool’s defense more but I like our midfield and attack more than both Man U and Liverpool. I also like our defense better than Man U’s as Rio and Neville are overrated. Our top 11 might not match up with Man U’s but I think it’s almost comparable. All I would want at this point is another defender since Campbell seems to be on his way out and possibly a holding midfielder in case Gilberto goes down. I expect RVP to be a good strike partner next to Henry next year and I see no reason why we won’t be able to score plenty of goals as a team.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Nice way of comparing the top squads (ex Chelsea) Fred.
Shibby I too would like to see backup to Gilberto….but alas I can’t see it now. We have Gilberto, Fab, Flamini, Song, Diaby and Lauren could also play a central role too.
So it’s unlikely Wenger will add to that group.
Fingers crossed re a quality replacement for Campbell (if he goes).
June 8th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
I have always loved Freddie. Yes he is unlucky when it comes to injuries and being out of play a lot but when he is fit is a big part of the team. His runs and sneakyness have helped set up plays. He isn’t a top scorer but thats no reason to say he isn’t a good player or past his prime because he isn’t. I’d love to see him stay with us forever, i believe he is a great asset to the team and i feel the team feels the same way.
We love you Freddie, cos you’ve got red hair
We love you Freddie, cos you’re everywhere.
We love you Freddie, cos you’re Arsenal through and through.
ok he doesn’t have red hair anymore, or really any hair for that matter but still.
June 9th, 2006 at 12:54 am
I’ve never seen Song play to be honest so I don’t know what he brings to the table. I have no trust in Flamini. I do like Diaby but how long will he be out for? If he’s healthy he’s perfect backup. I think we should concentrate on getting a defender just in case Campbell and Cole decide to leave.
June 9th, 2006 at 5:15 am
ljungberg IS a leader and gives confidence/experience to the squad. He had one less than great season, but is still a dynamic threat.
June 9th, 2006 at 6:33 am
5 & 6 are defender shirt numbers, for CB’s.
You could argue we are looking at filling that role.
If Cygan and Campbell both leave we sould buy one new player.
Midfielders to buy, Toure or Barton.
June 9th, 2006 at 6:47 am
5 maybe is a defender number but 6 is nothing else but midfielder number.
June 9th, 2006 at 10:01 am
I actually don’t think Paddy is coming back, because I think Yaya is coming IN…
we’d have too many midfielders then!
of course… unless we sell Cesc & Reyes for 30 Million to Real Madrid…
then its all wide open!
June 9th, 2006 at 11:11 am
if i had to choose, i’ll rather we got back vieira (strictly as a backup)…or nobody….than get in yaya for 15 million.
reyes can be sold….but no way in hell AW is going to sell Cesc…no way !!!
June 9th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Lets hope u are right about Reyes bcos he has not delivered the goods consistently for the past 2.5 seasons. If Real Madrid comes in with a very good offer after the WC, I think Arsenal shud offload him.
June 9th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
Problem is Wenger does not rotate the squad sufficiently. A team like Arsenal is expected to compete in major tournaments which can amount to about 60+ games per season. When there is insufficient rotation, players become tired and get injured more easily. And for players who sit on the bench for too long without regular football, they find it hard to perform when brought into the game. A system of practical and sensible squad rotation will minimise those issues I mentioned. If players complain bcos they are rotated, it is Wenger’s job to set those players straight as the good of the team outweighs that of the individual. Plus Wenger is paid the big bucks to manage his players.