I read something from DannyT about Michael Owen to Arsenal. I agree it’s not likely Wenger, or in fact, any manager from the “big 4″ would go for such an injury-phroned player. But apparently Owen got a get-out clause in his contract which allows him to leave for 8 millions (why would Newcastle accepted a clause like this at the first place, having paid 17 millions for him?)…
Anyway, I said before, it’s crazy for any club to pay 17 millions for a player, to the most, would give you half a season of games each year. But if it’s 8 million pounds, I think it worths the risk.
If anything, just to keep Henry happy. I don’t like the fact today with the ever-growing “player power”, the club and manager have to bent over and do their upmost to keep their star players “HAPPY”. Or risk losing them. What the hell a CONTRACT means then?
Anyway, I guess that’s the way it is with today’s football world, so we just have to get on with it.
Owen was very over-rated in his early years, as it has always been the case with the so-called “Wonder Kids” of England. But to be fair with Owen, he’s a QAULITY striker. A “natural goal scorer” the media like to call it. He’s not a great dribbler, not a great passer, he steps onto the pitch every game just wants to score goals. And more often than not, he gets the job done. That’s good enough for me.
The way we like to play the counter-attack game, it would suit Owen well. He has lost a yard or two of pace in recent years, but he’s still quick enough.
The fact that should he join us, he would find many of his teammates just more than happy to pass on a goal scoring opportunity to him (notably Hleb), it would suit his game perfectly - you give me the ball, I am going to finish it.
Most significantly though, Owen is a BIG GAME player. He has a track record of rising to the big occassions. And this is a guy he does not panic in front of goal, unlike some of our attacking players tend to be sometimes.
And this is a player still has a lot to prove. When he looks around his England teammates, most of them own at least a Champions League medal or Premiership medal. As one of the “main man” of England, he has yet to win ANY of them. Come to think of it, he’s probably the ONLY player in the England starting XI who has yet to win a major competition medal.
You always want to sign someone who’s HUNGER for success.
As I said towards the second half of last season, giving the FACT we had created more chances than ANY other Premiership side (even without Henry and van Persie), all we need right now is a GOALSCORER. The likes of Eto’o surely has a much bigger REPUTATION (thus the price tag), but what he has actually DONE the past season?
Owen has an injury-record all over his career, but he has also had a proven goal-scoring record whenever he’s healthy. Any club who signs him would always be taking a gamble, but should he available at 8-9 million pounds, I think it’s a risk we can afford to take.
66 Responses to “Owen to Arsenal”
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June 18th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
If the price is right, I’ll take a chance on a guy that is only 27 and has already scored 125 goals playing on English sides.
I completely disagree with your call of him being overrated. No, he doesn’t have a lot of flash, but Arsenal have flash and aren’t scoring enough goals. If he can stay healthy I’d definitely like to have him. Like you said, he’s a big game player.
I doubt that he ever puts on an Arsenal shirt though. Wenger isn’t much of a risk taker.
June 18th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
He cost to much money its not going to happen, but it would help Arsenal’s image to add a quality english player. And if he stays fit Arsenals game would suit his playing stile with the counter attacks they pull off and passing the ball three times in the box before some one attempts a shot
June 18th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Andez, I agree with you completely. Probabaly the dumbest thing Wenger’s ever said when talking about Owen two years ago is that Arsenal already have a 25 goal-a-year striker. Well, Arsene, what’s better than having one 25 goal a year striker? Duh, I’ll give you a hint, it’s more than one 25 goal a year strikers. Simply pick a number, Arsene.
Owen’s movement would support and complement Arsenal’s style of play. It’s his strongest point and at 8 million quid, it’s worth a shot.
Now I’ve heard Martins name mentioned too and personally I don’t see how Newcastle managed to get such a fantastic player. He could do everything that Owen can and more. He’s also faster and quicker, and younger than Owen and in this system he can be a 25 goal a year striker. Martins for 8 mil, that’s what’s up. Hell, Martins for 12 million, that can be what’s up too.
The best team in EPL history is also the only team in EPL history that’s had two 25 goal a year strikers. That team is Man United in ‘99
June 18th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
If Owen is moving to one of the big four clubs, it will invariably be ManUre. Wenger will not spend that type of money on an injury prone player. The last time he bought an ‘old’ experienced striker was many years ago with Suker. Benitez will probably go for another continental striker. ManUre needs a forward to replace van Nistelrooy and Soljkaer; and Ferguson has a habit of buying British for the core of his team.
June 18th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I doubt Owen will come to Arsenal’s side, though I’m sure he wouldnt’ balk at the chance to play with any of the big 4. As far as Arsenal is concerned, as long as Henry wears the uniform, he is the cheif striker. I can’t see the two of them getting along so well as to produce 40+ goals between them I say if Henry heads to Spain, Wenger makes a hard push for him.
On another note, its true Owen has been injury prone in the past, however none of those injuries were treated by Dr. James Andrews, who operated on Owen’s knee after the last world cup. Andrews’ patients have a great record of recovering to their previous atheletic form within a year and a half to two years after his surgery, and include countless athletes from the NFL (a league that experiences much worse knee related injuries that professional footbal), NBA, MLB, and any other professional league you can think of. With that, and a little luck, Owen should have a healthy career from here on out. I like the idea of having Owen and Van Persie as the strikers in a 4-4-2. Their games are similar, their similar in age, and if paired up, could be a great striker combination.
June 18th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
I think Wenger did gamble on injuried players before - Kanu and Overmars.
When Overmars joined for 7 mil, he was out for an entire year with a leg injury. The fact that Arsenal was able to get him also had much to do with his injury, other clubs dared not to make a move, even back then when Overmars was already a household name.
Kanu was even a bigger gamble. Before he joined, he didn’t really play football for almost two years with a heart problem, at one stage, it theaten to end his career prematurely.
June 18th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
After Franny “glass ankles” Jeffers, I think a risk on Michael “bendy knee” Owen may not be the best bet. I would go for Babel, young, strong and will join up with his pal, RvP.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
DC Gooner, I thought Dr. Steadman did Owen’s surgery. That’s where all the big named athletes that can afford it go. They go to Colorado for Dr. Richard Steadman. He’s the foremost authority for world class athletes world-wide. Shearer, Ronald, even Ji Sun Park from Man Utd. just went to this guy. As far as recovery time, it truly depends on the injury and the individual’s healing properties. The doctor has little to do with that and can only fix what’s broken.
Also, Owen is much closer to Henry’s age than van Persie. Owen, I believe is still 27 while Henry is 29. RvP is only 23.
As far as Babel, I don’t think he’s good enough. He doesn’t really score that many goals and he, like Baptista, likes to have time on the ball. Babel as a striker is not the right answer. Maybe in Spain or Italy but not England. I could be wrong or Wenger could change all that but it’s what I see in him.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Have a look at the UEFA requirements for next season. Out of the 25 players on the A list, six must be club or locally based, leaving space for nineteen others. To be locally based, you must have spent three years between the ages of 15 and 21 registered at your club - because it includes the start of the season you turn 15 until the end of the season you turn 21, it is effectively three out of seven years. How does this leave the Arsenal squad as it stands now with Fabianski signed and no departures?
First, look at the B list. Any player that qualifies for the B list doesn’t have to feature on the A list. To qualify for the B list, you must be born after 1 January 1986 and spent two years registered with the club. By my reckoning, this includes Fabregas, Song, Djourou, Connolly, Gilbert, Bendtner and Mannone. I am assuming that being on loan means you still count as being registered with your main club. Some of these will turn 21 this season and become locally qualified players for the season 2008/09.
Second, look at the A list where we have a 19/6 split to fill and consider the 19. The nineteen are Lehmann, Diaby, Toure, Rosicky, Gallas, Van Persie, Hleb, Henry, Denilson, Gilberto, Almunia, Adebayor, Eboue, Walcott, Traore, Fabianski, Ljungberg, Baptista/Reyes (one player), Flamini. Exactly nineteen players. You may ask why Traore, Walcott, Denilson and to a lesser extent Diaby are on this list. They have not done the two years to qualify for List B or the three years to qualify for List A locally based. In the future they will but in the future, the requirement will go up to eight, so possibly no real gain there.
Thirdly, lets look at the locally based players, of which we are supposed to have six. All we have are Senderos, Clichy, Hoyte, Aliadiere and Garry.
Now what does all this mean. Well, we have a full roster of 19 players for List A. OK we are supposed to be selling Reyes, Ljungberg and Flamini. That will free up three places. That Norweigan kid takes one, does he? Two more? Reduces Wenger’s flexibility and means we may yet see a high profile departure if he wants to sign more foreign players.
More importantly, look at the locally based players. A deal for Aliadiere is in place apparently, Ryan Garry will probably get a free transfer leaving us with only three out of six locally based player slots filled. The likes of Curtis Davies and Owen could fill those spots.
The point is that the UEFA requirements make it possible that Wenger will sign a locally qualified player. Owen, like him or not, injury-prone or not fits the bill.
At the same time, sell Reyes and Flamini and we can find room for Etoo and Babel!!
June 18th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I stand corrected joshuad. Dr. Steadman did Owens knee surgery and many others famous footballers. Including: Craig Bellamy, Patrik Berger, Jimmy Bullard, Park Ji-Sung, John Kennedy, Henrik Larsson, Martin Laursen, Joleon Lescott, Lothar Matthäus, Ian Durrant, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen, Alessandro Del Piero, Ronaldo, Alan Shearer, James Vaughan, Jamie Redknapp, Roy Keane, Lee Wilkie, Owain Tudur-Jones.
Dr. James Andrews is an orthopaedic surgeon, and also repairs major shoulder, wrist and knee injuries, but mostly on American athletes.
June 18th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Joshuad, are you sure that Martins is younger than Owen? Babayaro said that he and Martins trained together as kids and Babayaro is 28 I think :))))))))
June 18th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
And how come Owen is a big game player, when he has not won one major trophy?
June 18th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
He has scored some big goals for England though and generally can be counted on against the top teams. I think he’s a great player but his injury record is horrendous. I’m not sure he would suit Arsenal at the Emirates though - he’s at his best getting behind defenders not when 10 men are behind the ball - you need the likes of Henry at the Emirates, a goal out of nothing. But Owen’s a very intelligent player and a natural goalscorer, when he’s fit.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I think Owen would be a good player for the Arsenal. I have said so previously and recently. But I doubt Wenger would ever do it. I’d love to see him go for a name player like Owen.
It would be a departure from what Arsene does, but it would be welcome, because in the last few years, we’ve won zip. Change / or / adapt or be passed over.
I even read a link of Anelka coming back. I’d take either because they are both proven goalscorers.
If you told me Owen, Anelka, or Trezeguet… I’d take a chance on any of the 3, but its just not a typical Wenger move. Maybe he’ll surprise us all.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Sheed… first of all, individual players don’t win trophies, TEAMS win trophies.
Secondly, in big games Owen HAS had goals in games that mattered. He scored in Euro 2000 & 2004 (scoring a goal and on his penalty kick during the quarterfinals loss to Portugal in ‘04) and scored twice in the round of 16 in the 2002 World Cup — including the ONLY goal in the quarterfinal loss to Brazil.
Thirdly, Liverpool won the FA Cup in 2001 with TWO GOALS AGAINST ARSENAL IN THE FINAL MINUTES TO WIN IT!!
…but, I don’t suppose the FA Cup is a major trophy… even though any of us would have been happy to have had the Gunners win even that this past season.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
…and in case you didn’t figure it out, Sheed (since in a moment of outrage I forgot to type that part) the point I was making was that Owen scored both of those goals to win it.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Hey, I remember that game like it was yesterday and yes, he was the man that day, but still he has achieved nothing. Yes it’s a team game, but Liverpool won the CL the first year after his departure and with him they were just an average team.
I don’t say that he is not a quality player, but there are better players out there who I think can improve our team. Klose for example is available coz his contract runs out next year and I think he is much better option than Owen.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Anelka rumor picking up steam.
Song and Gilbert going to Bolton with cash for Super Nic.
Yes… just a dream, but I would welcome Wenger’s “dream pairing”… even if it is a few too many years later than he wanted it.
Henry, RVP, Anelka, Adebayor and Bendtner would be a pretty formidable strike force.
Yes, I’m dreaming… but its my dream, so let me enjoy the thought while I can!
June 18th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
“The Sun” says that Wenger is No.1 target to replace Frank Rijkaard at Barca. Just a speculation, but who knows, maybe his meeting in Paris with the Barca director was about him, not about Henry. Or maybe about both of them.
June 18th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Hi, I’m new on here. I’m looking to ask about Arsenal fixture tickets and was directed here. What’s the next step on here? I know that the guy to contact is on holiday. Other than that, any info. would be appreciated.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:16 am
No Sheed, Wenger WILL STAY. At least for next year.
When Arsenal first hired him (when he was still a relatively nobody), he had the nerve to ask a big club like Arsenal to wait (until after the season started) till J-League closed in October then joining the team, just so he could fulfill his contract with that J-League club he was managing at that time.
Pretty much tell us what this man is really about. When he signed a CONTRACT, he honor it. A contract may mean nothing to many ppl in the football world today, but I’d like to think Arsene Wenger is an exception.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:14 am
Sorry Stag, but Wenger expressly stated when he finally sold Anelka that it was the most frustrating ordeal he’d ever endured and Nicolas Anelka would never play for Arsenal again.
Now why do you think Wenger said the words “never again”?
June 19th, 2007 at 6:34 am
Josh, because its FOOTBALL, anything can happen, and usually does.
If he improves the team, who cares what who said and when they said it.
Wenger’s off to Barcelona with Henry & Cesc anyway.
100 Million pounds for all 3.
Then you are all happy because the club has made soooooooooo much money.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:05 am
The “great transfer” is Jeremie Aliadiere. Wippee.
June 19th, 2007 at 9:56 am
I think I’d taken over others for 2 reasons:
1- English
2- Media loves him
I like Babel, but I am not sure if he will succeed in Arsenal. Owen and Henry can fit together. I doubt Etou would come to Arsenal, he fits AC Milan more.
Looking at Arsenal we need to focus on enforcing the defense and true wing players. Treziques can be a good addition …
Henry will never leave !!! Same reason, he will not risk finishing his career with a failure. … recall Juventus exp.
He just wants more players around him.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Is Trézéguet even available?
June 19th, 2007 at 11:30 am
You can take 2 things to the bank:
1. Nicolas Anelka is not coming back to Arsenal
2. Michael Owen is not coming to Arsenal
June 19th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Yes. Trez is available on the relatively cheap!
Unfortunately, the Big TUESDAY news hasn’t exactly happened … yet.
I was sure it was Kaka coming to the Arsenal!
June 19th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Trezeguet, not the right answer. Wenger won’t sign a player just to keep Henry happy. Besides, he’s too old for Wenger to just pay straight cash for him. He’s not dynamic enough to play for Arsenal.
Owen, could be the right answer as he’s English and he’s a natural finisher. Truth be told, I really didn’t start liking Owen until he went to Real Madrid.
Babel, not the right answer. He’s simply not super class and doesn’t have anything about him that says he’ll ever be. He’s just the name of a young player at a big club.
Martins. could be the right answer. He’s got power, pace, technique, fitness, and can score from anywhere. He’s simply a pain in the arse to have to deal with for 90 minutes. Sheed, the first time I remember seeing him play was when I lived in Washington (’99-’03) and he was about 17. By the age 19, he’d become a starter and that was about the time Ronaldo went to Real Madrid. He is super-class. (He’s my preference.)
Anelka, could be the right answer. He was the right answer when he was here before but he pissed Wenger off something serious. Will Arsene sign him again? Time will tell.
If you’ve been watching the U-21 tournament you’ll know about a Dutch kid from Feyenoord named Drenthe or something like that. I saw him once during the past season and I thought he was hot. I confused him with Emanuelson of Ajax because I forgot who Drenthe played for and didn’t mention here. Well, when I saw him again last Sunday I realised my error and recognized his style of play immediately. This kid is quick, he can play left wing or left back, and he’s got two hammers for feet. Unfortunately, his stock is rising with every game. Watch him against Justin Hoyte later this week when Holland play England.
I also watched the Tulon U-21 and there’s a French CB who I can’t remember his name but this kid was so big and strong and looked like he ate all of the strikers who came at him. If anyone who watched the Toulon tourney, what’s that kids name?
June 19th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
(Assuming Henry stays) Do we even need a striker? I think we need a defender and a midfielder. 8 million on Owen would be a complete waste. A versatile defender and a midfielder (wide or central) are priorities 1 and 2. Also, it seems as if there is a great enough supply in these two positions in relation to the demand, to lower prices this summer.
It seems as after a few weeks of uncertainty, things are falling into place. Kroenke has met the board and the issued a positive (albeit a bit vague) statement about working together in the future. Aliadiere is gone, Reyes looks likely to go to Atletico and Nordveit is on board. Wenger has stated that he will have a new managing director in place in July and the sting of the departure of Dein seems to have come of Wenger a bit. If some money can be raised by selling Flamini and one other (please let it be Senderos) all the finances should be in place to add one or two immediate contributors. Seems that things are a bit more settled than they were two weeks ago. Although the cloud of the Henry situation still seemingly looms large. Hopefully, there is no fire where there is plenty of media smoke.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I’d say we need a striker, because only Henry has ever really scored with any consistency at the top level… and he is surely the only world class striker in the team… and our midfielders still don’t score goals, so is it all down to Henry scoring 35 again?
Thats not the way I want to go into next year.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Stag…if it were up to you and we’d bought Owen u’d probably say we want a top draw Center Back and should buy Fabio Cannavaro since he’s available after real bought Metzelder. IMO anyway. It doesn’t work like that — you should know by now.
The only time Wenger will buy if there is a gap - a void in a position where a kid is not yet ready. So where is that void - left wing? center back maybe? If Henry leaves — then a striker else no.
You are forgetting that kids dont remain kids all the time and when you’re young you learn fast specially if you’re smart and have hurt badly. Cesc,Diaby,Clichy,Djourou,Sendy,RVP,Ade have all learnt this season in their own ways and couple that with Titi’s 20-25(not necessarily 35) goals we are fine.
ManU won the damn league with 1 team last season. Who’s to say we won’t have a relatively injury free season? We may be unlucky again but its not worth buying Carlos Tevez or Owen or Trezeguet , paying them the 90K a week to sit them on a bench for backup if Titi or RVP get injured. Hell in an ideal world … in the Stag world it would work fine but reality is that if Wenger tells Owen..
“Henry-RVP are first choice — you’ll get FA cup - carling cup games and starts when they are injured” … tell me he’ll come. Or you tell me that you’re prepared to let RVP go in a year. I’ll agree with you then — we need a striker. A fox in the box — like Francis Jeffers .. oh wait….
June 19th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Joshuad, I like Martins too. He has power, pace, finishing(the goal against Spuds comes to mind
)… I was joking with his years coz there was a thought that maybe Inter have made a false passport and have lowered his age. And as I said, Babayaro, 28, has said that they played together in the junior categories in Nigeria. Tell me how can a 11 years old Martins play in the same team with a 17 years old Babayaro. It does makes sense that maybe he is older, but who knows.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Just send Ade and Reyes to Atletico and get Torres!!!
June 19th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Stag, you are saying that our midfielders don’t score and we should sign a new striker. But, since our midfielders don’t score goals, don’t you think that maybe we should go out and sign a goalscoring midfielder. It’s more logical to me, and I think Wesley Sneijder is the player we should be looking at. He can play anywhere in midfield and he could be available this summer.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Torres is a piece of crap. How many goals did he score this season, 13 or something? A few of them penalties as well.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Well, Villa didn’t score more either, and he is still a great player right?
And I will tell this once again… Just imagine Torres in a great club like Arsenal, playing and creating chances like no other team in the world. If he can score around 15 every year for a crap team like Atletico, think what he could do for some team that play attacking football and score at least 15-20 goals more than his club. Just imagine.
June 19th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
If you look at Atletico though they’ve got quite a good team in terms of creativity, with players such as Maxi, Ibagaza, and Petrov. I just don’t see anything special with that player and he hasn’t improved since he first broke into the team four years ago. It must be his name or something, because I havent seen anything that special from him on the pitch. He is a complete non-entity everytime I see him play. The fact that no-one has bought him yet or really made a great effort to buy him tells you the jury is still out on him. Both Torres and Villa are overrated in my book.
June 19th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Well, Maxi and Petrov were injured for the most of the year and Ibagaza plays for Mallorca I think, so their team is crap. He hasn’t improved coz the team hasn’t improved, and I think all he need is a change and he will hit the heights. Arsenal is the right place for him.
June 19th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Maybe, but I just get a bad vibe with him. The Reyes sort of vibe. He doesn’t seem the sharpest of tools on the pitch. Lacking footballing intelligence. He seems to have his heart set on Liverpool anyway.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
No man, he is not dumb like Reyes, I’ve watched Atletico in the past 3-4 seasons, and believe me he makes the right decisions on the pitch, knows when to shoot and when to pass. Owen knows only to score and nothing else, while Torres knows to score, to give that final pass, he got skills and with all that he can fit in perfectly in Wenger’s system.
And how has he set his heart on Liverpool? Only because he wore that armband with “You’ll never walk alone” on it? Celtic fans sing that song also, so does that mean that he is off to Scotland? We all thought that Ribery has set his heart on Arsenal, and then he went to play Uefa Cup football with Bayern.
I think he would be extremly interested in joinig us, but it’s Wenger’s decision and I (it looks like I’m the only one here who like Torres) can only hope that he will bid for him this summer.
June 20th, 2007 at 12:29 am
Wenger knows…he always does….apart from a few bloopers once in a while
June 20th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Looks like the “BIG” Tuesday transfer was Aliadiere to Middlesbrough. Another small time agent talking out of his arse - should have known better really.
June 20th, 2007 at 9:35 am
If Henry is staying, we need goals from midfield, not more strikers, unless someone leaves.
If Henry is leaving, then Owen is not the answer.
June 20th, 2007 at 10:26 am
The point is IMO we WILL get more goals from midfield next year from our 3 musketeers with even Hleb scoring a few. Mozart was slowly understanding towards the end of last season what he was supposed to do and Cesc also started scoring a bit. If Theo can score 5 and Hleb can score 5 you have your 10 goals from the right wing as well. You heard me… This midfield will score more next season….
June 20th, 2007 at 10:59 am
The midfield better score more next year because besides Gilberto they damn sure didn’t score enough this year. In fact, if you take away Gilberto’s contribution, they only scored eleven league goals in 38 games. That is not the right answer.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:53 am
No its not the right answer but they can score .. make no mistake about it as Rosicky showed so well towards the season’s end. I believe that all the talk about Arsenal not scoring enough is total hogwash written without taking into perspective the number of injuries. Yes they should have scored a bit more maybe but we were without strikers(sadly baps didnt do much) for a good while..hohum hohum..and Mozart n Hleb kept getting injured.
Well lets c…atleast the big tuesday transfer suspension is over and Paddy has written more rubbish ..looks like Paddy is trying to unsettle Titi all he can..coz if Titi stays n AFC win stuff then I’m sorry but Paddy will not feel too good…IMO as usual….easy there Stag…
June 20th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Live… its simple, the media wants something to print about Arsenal, so they call Paddy and ask him his thoughts.
I don’t think Paddy is calling around and holding press conferences on what Arsenal should do.
Besides that… what he’s saying is 100% correct.
If we want Henry to stay, we better be buying some proven talent.
Like it, don’t like it… its the truth.
Otherwise Titi will be scoring 25 goals for Barcelona, and we’ll be in 8th place hoping for a UEFA Cup spot, because whatever we get from the sale of Henry, will go into the clubs coffers. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest we’d buy a proven striker if TH14 were sold. NONE.
No evidence the midfield will all of a sudden score goals next season either. This crew NEVER has.
Just a few thoughts for the day.
June 20th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
If Henry leaves we won’t become an 8th place team. We didn’t when Vieira left and our young guys are much better than they were two years ago. We still finished fourth with Henry missing half the season last year and the young guys will be better.
Remember, even without Henry, we big-bossed the heck out of nearly all of our games. We’ve got a really, really good team and I guarantee no one is looking forward to coming to the Emirates and getting skull-drugged all over that beautiful pitch.
Speaking of that, I need to go cut my grass.
June 20th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
“henry wants to leave”
Snore…. zzzzz…. Well, we can either cash in or he rots on the bench since he has 2 or 3 more years under contract.
And I agree with Joshuad. We won’t tank & we won’t become some average team if Henry leaves anyway. Those of you who think that are basically stating that the youngsters have peaked & they have no more room for improvement. I I think otherwise.
June 20th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Both of you share the same sentiments that I have expressed, although the hardcore doubters will not give an inch on their stance that Arsenal isn’t even a fourth place team without him… but whatever. I don’t think #14 is going anywhere anyways.
Funny thing about all the Henry rumors and our interest in them seems to have fueled a tunnel vision perspective on the nature of European football in general. What I mean is, there hasn’t seemed to be much mention of all the other big teams and names caught up in the ceaseless rumor-milling that the European media thrives on. Here’s some of the bigger ones:
Rijkaard and Mourinho have both been rumored to be on their way out…
Eto’o, who is saying on the one hand that he will be playing with Henry soon has also been the speculation of being sold by Barca…
Chelsea is quashing rumors that Schevchenko is making a u-turn back to Milan, and the club may be seeking legal action (as Henry’s agent has also considered).
Fabio Capello’s job has been in question… and Real just won La Liga.
Like a regular freaking soap opera, yeah? August can’t come fast enough.
June 20th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Stag, why oh why do you continue to repeat your delusions that Arsenal will suddenly drop from 4th to 8th if Henry leaves???
The facts dont back you. Henry’s contribution to our comfortable 4th place was just 10 goals. So even if ALL our youngsters dont improve and even if we continue to have numerous injuries all we need as a replacement for Henry is a striker (any striker) who can score 10 goals.
Stag, believe me, there are NUMEROUS strikers who can do that…so please stop talking outta your ass.
June 20th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
IF Henry really wants to go, he will go. He is too big a player to keep when unhappy. So there is pretty much nothing we can do about that.
But if he goes, Adebayor should go with him. I was ready to wait for him to develop here because he seemed such a close chum with Henry (with that their embarassing dance!). But if Henry leaves, I think I will have far less patience with him.
My ideal transfer scenario if Henry were to leave would be to bring in Eto’o in exchange. And to bring in Anelka in exchange for Adebayor and some cash.
And will involve us spending very little or no cash at all. Which is good for a club like ours that seems not to have much of cash.
An attack of Eto’o, RvP, Anelka, Bendnter, Walcott would be very impressive. And possibly a title winning strikeforce.
Wenger should also make a last attempt to convince Reyes. If not sell and replace. Or maybe swap! To be honest, anybody here will be hardpressed to name wingers who would come in and immediately make a mark. Pires and Ljunberg took 2 seasons to adapt. So the advantage of Reyes is that we dont spend any money at all since he is ours and he already as premiership experience. And he is always sure to play well as long as its not deep winter.
Also Reyes playing on his unfavored leftmidfield position outscores the likes Babel, Ribery, Queresma et al. And he never misses one-on-ones the way our Rosicky, Hleb, Fabregas and Adebayor have done routinely. If we keep him, we will then have enough money to buy an additional winger to replace Ljunberg.
A winger set of: Reyes, Rosicky, Hleb, “new winger”, Walcott … is very good.
IN:
Eto’o, Anelka, Reyes, New winger: total price: less than 15 million.
OUT: Ljunberg, Adebayor. And adding the Aliadiere sale that totals at least 5 million.
That gives a net expenditure of just about 10 million and also strengthens the team incredibly. I hope this exact scenario can happen.
Team next season:
Lehmann, Fabianski
Hoyte, Eboue; Toure, Gallas, Djorou, Senderos; Clichy, Traore
Hleb, Reyes; Fabregas, Gilberto, Diaby, Denilson; Rosicky, “new winger”
Eto’o, RvP, Anelka, Bendtner, Walcott
This looks like a title winning team to me!
June 20th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Arsenal wasn’t a 8th place team before Henry arrived so why would they all of a sudden fall further down than they ever been in over ten years
June 20th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
henry’s new striking partner found:
http://globoesporte.globo.com/ESP/Noticia/0,,MUL55038-4840,00.html
And the photo with the jersey confirms the signing as well.
June 20th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Fred, didn’t Adebayor just sign a new contract like the day before yesterday?
True, the only way Reyes MIGHT come back is if Henry’s gone. Yeah, we heard the lip service about the food, the language, the weather, and yada-yada but we all know what’s up. When the team captain hates your guts, it’s kinda hard to settle.
Personally, I’m expecting big things from Denilson. He looked good in the cups against Premiership competition. Rosicky and Gallas should also be at their best this year. I don’t think Diaby’s time will come until next but we’ll see.
Lastly, since we’re on this pie in the sky, could you imagine trying to cope with Anelka and Henry in the same front line at the same time? That’s straight up unfair. I like Darren Bent too but he costs too much these days.
June 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Fred … what facts?
There are NO FACTS as to what would occur if Henry leaves.
Its straight 100% conjecture.
My opinon is the same as yours… its conjecture.
You voice what you think, I voice what I think.
If you can’t handle that, its on you mate.
The only FACT is, that without Henry, we’d have no striker thats scored more than 13 goals in a season in the EPL, and a bunch of midfielders who can’t score for shite.
But enjoy.
June 20th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
it doesnt matter when a player signs a contract he can be sold at anytime or he can demand a transfer at anytime either.
personally, am just looking at scenarios that are reasonable and cheap.
- a henry/eto swap is very possible
- a adebayor plus cash for anelka is very possible given that anelka is valued at about 7/8 million
- reyes can be persuaded if henry leaves, though it might be unlikely but its still possible.
these their scenarios are all very, very possible and will cost the club almost nothing. and if we add in an extra young winger we are good to go!
June 20th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
look stag facts are that henrys contribution to us getting fourth place is 10 league goals!
with that fact in hand i am totally disclaiming your utterly idiotic claim that we will fall to 8th place without “our god” henry - because there are a lot of strikers who can contribute those 10 goals. so basically even if we replace henry with any mediocre striker we will still have enough goals to get to 4th.
and if we replace him someone like eto’o, anelka or owen….and they score over 20 goals we will probably challenge in the top two.
so whenever you mention that annoying “we-will-fall-to-8th” without henry mis-statement….i will hit you with another heavy dose of reality. lol.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Fred, based in part on what I’ve read, I don’t think Henry for Eto’o is going to happen — if he doesn’t stay at Arsenal, Henry could end up playing next to Eto’o at Nou Camp… but it looks like Eto’o isn’t going anywhere, unless it is to Milan. I’d say that our best possible striking option (transfer wise) would be getting Ryan Babel from Ajax (a guy who grew up supporting Arsenal is far preferable to whiners who get homesick and/or sick of 4th place). Anelka will not be back at Arsenal, and if he is, you may as well discount every promise Wenger has ever said with a straight face. Seriously, I would rather keep Reyes than bring that c*nt back to North London. Hell, I’d rather see us make the ridiculous bid the Addicks are asking for Darren Bent him. He’s younger, has plenty of upside without the baggage, and is a consistent scorer.
Stags, mate I know you are a huge fan of Henry (as am I), and I respect your right to an opinion, but mark my words: even without #14 the Gunners will have a striker who scores more than 15 goals this season.
Robin himself would have done it this past season had he not been injured (on my b-day) against United. He had 11 in the books before he missed close to half the season. Between him, Walcott, Adebayor, Bendtner, Vela or Reyes, at least one will develop into a striker we can depend on — and that doesn’t even include anyone Wenger brings in (Babel?). After watching him last season, I honestly think Van Persie has the chops to be the man we need him to be.
This of course, is my opinion.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Saying without Henry we will finish 8th is a serious INSULT to the rest of his teammates and the manager.
Stag, if u ever feel folks here are Henry-HATERS as u put it, it’s not because ppl here do not aware of Henry’s contribution to Arsenal over the years. U have to take some blame for hyping up Henry to an unrealistic status at the Arsenal rank.
Folks here are only human as well. When u made some senseless statement, people response.
It’s good in one aspect as I love to argue with u. It makes things more interesting over here.
On the other hand though, u r not doing Titi any favour in terms of improving his popularity over here. I am sure even Henry himself does not feel the same way as you - that without him, Arsenal would end up midtable.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Andez, Fred… I enjoy the debate as well.
I think you under-estimate the importance of “great” players in the team.
2 Fives do not equal a 10 in sports.
Two guys that can score 8-10 goals does not equal a scorer that can bang in 20 plus goals.
It doesn’t work that way.
The presence on the pitch and the amount of pressure on teams to account for Henry … makes the entire squad better.
Look at the numbers. Look at the highlights. You joke all you want, in some respects, he’s other-worldly on a football pitch.
Yall are of the “fantasy league” mentality… that you can plug in this guy with x-goals, and that guy with x-goals… and it will add up to a Vieira or Henry or Pires…
It doesn’t work that way in real life. There are intangibles star players bring to the team… thats my point.
We miss Vieira and Pires and Bergkamp… not necessarily because they are still dominant players, but they have/had a LOT to offer that “kids” do not possess.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:49 am
Stag, at some point we have to let players go or else we would still have Ian Wright playing for us now!
Remember Ian Wright left and Henry took his place. Arsenal is the third largest club in Britain after Man U and Liverpool. We will ALWAYS attract players and we will always have new legends.
There is nothing more I will like than for Henry to stay. But if he has made up his mind to leave then there is nothing we can do. We move on.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:53 am
Henry and Eto’o can NOT play together in the same lineup.
Barca play 4-3-3. Messi on the right, Ronaldinho on the left, Eto’o in the center.
Henry wont play on the right. So he will take either Ronnys or Eto`s position.
So if Henry goes there one of them will have to leave and realistically that is Eto.
He wont go to Italy…because I cant imagine he wants to play in a corrupt league even more racist than in Spain.
Plus, dont underestimate the great attraction of north london.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:25 am
Fred and Stag - go and have a lie down. Stag - if Henry leaves, Arsenal will not fall to eighth place - don’t be so absurd. Blackburn paid £1.2m for Benni McCarthy and he scored something like 17 goals last season - although attracting players of Henry’s quality is very difficult - a team of Arsenal’s calibre is quite capable of recruiting other top draw strikers from around the world.
Fred - please stop going on about Reyes and Anelka. Reyes has stated 100 times he does not want to return to London or play for Arsenal - why on earth would you want him back?? Why would Wenger, why would anyone? As for Anelka, this is becoming a joke - NOBODY wants Anelka - every big club will not risk the moody, petulant little sh*t. And after the way he left the club there is no way on earth Wenger will ever buy back Anelka. This it total fantasy - if you’re going to speculate, speculate on on other players not impossibilities.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Arsenal will not be able to attract players of Henry’s quality, the “Thierry Henry POST 2002″ when his career took off.
But Arsenal will be able to attract players of a “Thierry Henry pre-2002″, that’s why we got him at the first place.
In other words, no matter how ppl don’t like Wenger tend to sign a Johnny Nobody, this is the way works best for Arsenal.