Muamba, Aliadiere, Henry, Ljunberg and Reyes have left. Gilbert and O’Connoly have gone on loan. Flamini has decided to stay. Not sure what happens to Song. Haven’t seen him in pre-season friendlies. Pretty sure no one else is leaving. Eduardo, Sagna, Fabianski and Norveidt are in. That leaves the team as
GK - Lehmann, Almunia, Fabianski
CB - Toure, Gallas, Senderos, Djourou
FB - Clichy, Sagna, Hoyte, Traore
CM - Gilberto, Fabregas, Diaby, Denilson, Flamini
WM - Hleb, Eboue, Rosicky, Walcott
FW - van Persie, Adebayor, Eduardo, Bendtner
24 players. One month to go for the transfer window to close. What do you think will happen?
I am quite sure that one more player will come in. The side looks pretty complete. But remember all the injuries we had over the last two years. We can do with one more player.
What position will that be? No clue, though striker/winger seems most likely. As Andez put it, as long as he can score goals, it doesn’t matter.
43 Responses to “One month to go …”
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July 31st, 2007 at 7:42 am
I think that we will sign a left footed winger from the Reyes money. Who would that be, who knows? I hope it’s Drenthe from Feyenoord, he is maybe the best available and would come relatively cheap, around 6-8 million pounds.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:05 am
Yes, i also feel there will be one more new signing. AW could not have be able to do much without Reyes’ situation solved. i also agree it looks very likely to be either a winger or striker.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:06 am
If Senderos and Djourou step up when called on and Gallas does what he can do we will be up there. I’m not sure where the new player(if he comes) will play though. I think RVP/Ade will be first choice strike partnership with Eduardo subbing in and NB for the CC and some FA Cup games. The new striker/winger/goalscorer … where will we play him?? Left wing?? Do you bench Rosicky then?? Okay you might say ..what if Rosicky isi njured …he has a lousy track record ..true. But what if he doesnt ??? Where does that leave us? An unhappy Mozart/Hleb/new player…and I dont want to lose Hleb or Rosicky…they fit like gloves into the Arsenal system. I dont know ..if Eboue and Hleb can play as well as they ahve been doing and score 5 goals each atleast we may not need more goal scorers.Thats just me though…coz I feel we’re loaded.
If Le Boss sells Sendy then we need a new CB…a big commanding CB but I doubt that’ll happen so I think I’m pretty happy. Buying players for depth’s sake is a very risky thing unless ur Chelsea. Look at how many games Lampard has played….its incredible. Chelsea could have done without Ballack but they bought him for depth’s sake..so its catch22. I’m happy as it is…what AW does is a different matter though.
BTW the Charles NZogbia noises have started again…..another smoke screen.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:42 am
LDE, the answer to your question is quite simple. If we have depth, we challenge on more fronts. With the 24 mentioned, we have to concentrate on the league and CL. Wenger admitted last season that he should have sacrificed the FA Cup. If everyone is fit, we can challenge on three fronts. If not, we are well placed on two fronts.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:18 am
You know something .. I work in Network security…and over the years I’ve seen one thing. When you have a completely open system and anyone can hack it you’re not really bothered. The moment you start protecting it you want more and want to be more and more secure and keep adding more and more protection. Its infectious…
Depth in a football team is also somewhat like that. If you’d have asked a Chelsea fan couple of years back whether he would like Michael Ballack even when Makelele, Essien and Lampard at their peak they will say yes. It would mean that one of the four was going to get lesser playing time and be unhappy and would leave eventually. The fan however would nto accept this…he would all four to stay because they are all that good. The player’s perspective however is…I’m not playing I’m off….Its always that way …we will always want more players and feel secure with greater depth..but there’s got to be a line drawn somewhere n trust what you have else there’s no end IMO.
Okay I’ll put it this way…who will you sacrifice of Hleb,Eboue,Theo and Mozart?? Eboue is primarily right sided and will not be sold as he is different to the other 3. Theo is too young and can wait…Hleb n Mozart if they dont get playing time will be off if this new guy comes in. So who is it gonna be?? … Huh…who’s it gonna be???? Okay sorry for dramatizing it a wee bit.. ;)… u get what I’m saying…
July 31st, 2007 at 10:48 am
A valid point there LDE. I heard that Chelsea’s youngster Diarra is linking to us. His contract is gonna be up, and claimed that he would not extend it unless get promised of more first team football.
That pretty much sum up ur point. Chelsea, with all the $$, can have as big a squad as they wish, but for players who’s ambitous wouldn’t want to keep sitting on the bench, unless he’s a certain SWP, just happy to collect his hugh pay cheque.
Personally, i’d like to see the youngsters like Traore, Bendtner and Gibbs getting a few more first team chances, it’s only way to improve. No matter how much promise a youngster got, he gotta play to improve.
Talking about SWP, personally it’s sad to see such a promising player contend to be a bench warmer. He’s not a Flamini, or Nicky Butt, P.Nev (when they were with United). He can walk into many team’s starting XI had him chosen to leave now. SWP at his Man City days showed a tremendous talent that he could be Beckham’s long term successor in the England squad.
it’s sad to see his career stands still. particular when i think of his step dad Ian Wright. Wrighty never got such a luxury to make a name for himself as young as Shawn. When SWP was already a big name youngster, Wrighty at this age just started his professional career, with a lower division club Palace.
in the end, Wrighty fought his way to become a lengend of one of the biggest clubs in England. While SWP probably will soon become nobody. Footballer has a short career, fans have an even shorter memory. 2 or 3 more years on the Chelsea bench, by the time he moves, he probably would end up at clubs like Wigan, Fulham, instead of bigger clubs like Spurs, Newcastle (obviously other big 4 no longer interested). By Then nobody would remember he once being one of the most promising young wingers in England.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:49 am
One of the many things a manager in this league does is “man management” which essentially means keeping every player in a large squad just as dissatisfied (since one can’t keep everyone happy all the time). That is unless of course you always a chosen starter (TH, Ronaldinho, Lampard, Terry, Ronaldo). Every one else needs to be kept equally happy/unhappy. some managers are great at it (SAF, JM) and some not so much.
In order for us to compete on all fronts, we need to be deeper, because every one will get to play some how, some where, some time, to give the other guys a breather. And this aspect is a very tricky part of managing a successful football club.
I think Arsene recognizes we are “a bit short in numbers” with Reyes and Freddie gone and will bring in one more person. My guess is a winger; who it is, I don’t know and won’t even speculate because 99.99% I will be way off mark…..so I will patiently and excitedly await.
It won’t be a CB like I want. AW will keep faith with Sendy and that, my friends worries me…….
July 31st, 2007 at 10:49 am
I get what you are saying but there is a difference. Depth with too many big names and stars will hurt the team. We are not like that.
You are saying that Rosicky and Hleb will leave if they don’t play regularly. Give me a break. Rosicky hasn’t even proved himself despite showing flashes of brilliance. Hleb, after two years, is still splitting the Arsenal fans. How can they demand a starting place all the time?
Isn’t that why players like Ljunberg left? By your reasoning, very soon, one of RvP, Ade and Eduardo is going to leave because only two can play at a time. Please, it doesn’t work that way.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:54 am
What Arsenal is they happen to buy someone would be someone to provide something different, some other option when are playing a different formation.
Player with a different mentality of play. Hleb and Thomas are mostly RM/LM rather than wings. While Theo is more like a wide striker that can play Wing. Ade works well as a lone striker …
I still think that Ade is not that great. Arsenal has lack of exp. in their front line or in General their attacking tactics. Arsenal does hold the ball well, create chances, but dont know how to utilize it correctly.
The difference between the 0304 season or even the 04-05 season the 05-07 seasons is that we lacked the finishing.
RVP can score goals, Cesc can create some, Ade will work hard and score, … but we will lack the exp of Henry or Bergy or Fredie or Peres or ….
I think Arsenal should bring in an exp. striker a fox in the box … just an example but not a suggestion : some one like Inzhagi or Van Nistrolooy or or Ronaldo, u know what I mean. Or even and older kind of CAM or Wing.
We have Toure and Gallas in the back , then Gilberto in the mid .. who leads the attack (not the line but the mind). 22 or 23 year olds ???
When you are down 1-0 in the EPL, it takes nerves and calm players to score. rushed and unfocused players will create chances, but will not score it.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:54 am
Andez,
I’ve seen the stories with Diarra…..I think he, as a DM or MF would still be third or fourth in pecking order at Arsenal if he comes; so it’s not that different for him than Chelsea.
Unless Wenger brings him and turns him into a winger or a Vieira (behind Diaby)? who knows….
Is it a smoke screen or a hoax, like Palacio??????
July 31st, 2007 at 11:03 am
With 5 CMs and 3 RBs, where is Diarra going to fit in? It has got to be just rumours.
July 31st, 2007 at 11:08 am
Bigun, i never said we should bring him in did i? i also never said AW would bring him in neither.
i m just saying he wanted first team football, from what i’ve heard. and it’s good for the lad for having ambition.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I don’t think Diarra should come to Arsenal, we have too many defensive players and we don’t need another. We differently needs to sign a pure goal-scorer even if he plays the most unattractive soccer. Like Fares said Inzaghi would be good even if he’s constantly offsides, he has a lot of experience, scores a lot of goals, and is very fast.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I agree with Biggun. I think we should buy TWO BIG but QUICK centre-halfs to replace Gallas and Senderos. Senderos needs to be kicked out because he’s too slow and his concentration’s “iffy”. Gallas should be competing with Clichy for the left-back position as I think he’s better playing there and he doesn’t work well with Toure. If he’s not happy with this, then sell him. My choice of replacement centre-half’s would be Ledley King and Jonathon Woodgate (if they weren’t made of glass). Also, buying King would have the double bonus of pi55ing off Sp*rs fans. Both these players are at least 6′ tall.
We need to stop conceding the sloppy goals that we did last season and in the pre-season friendly’s if we are to compete for the Premier League title.
Also, a left winger is required. My choice would be Morten Gamst Pedersen of Blackburn Rovers as, although, he may not be the best available, he plays in the Premier league and hence shouldn’t require as long a settling-in period as someone brought in from overseas.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:58 am
No nipuna…you got me wrong. Its not just about demanding a place. I’ll try and explain how I think pscyhology works…Lets say today you work at some big firm. You are decent at your work and provide decent work most of teh time with occasional excellent work. Now however there are people who are consistently better than you and deliver more. Its not that you’re doing badly but it pales in comparison to what they are doing. They get all the plaudits , more recognition, better projects etc etc etc and your work isn’t appreciated enough even though you are workign as hard ass possible. Its just that the “OUTSIDE WORLD” doesnt see it and sees the other guy as much better …results count is what they say.
Now from a company perspective they would want to retain both of you since you’re pretty good as well…but how long will YOU BE CONTENT playing a bit part role and filling in only when there is an occasional need when the main men ar on leave or sick..how long can you take that is the key. If you can live with that and are content not being sum1 who makes a difference…its fine , you can stay else you’ll move on definitely.
This is true even more so in the case of a footballer, it doesnt matter what he does on the pitch or what he’s proved…if he does not get playing time even after a certain period ( irresepctive of what he does on the pitch ) he will leave saying things like…”The coach did not have confidence in me” … lesser in case of Arsenal coz of LeBoss and his wonderful man management skills but true none the less….
what do you think??
August 1st, 2007 at 4:08 am
I think that the more the number of players, the more number of games you can play in and hence more the number of competitions you challenge in. Considering the number of injuries we have had in the last two seasons, I would definitely like one more player in the team.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:13 am
LDE, I understand the point you are trying to make, but I don’t think it applies to us. We do not have a wealth of riches. We are just about there. We can certainly do with one more player. Let’s see what AW thinks.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:39 am
Off Topic:
Nothing to do with Arsenal, just want to say something. Celtics have acquired KG, and with PP and Ray Allen they have a team capable of lifting the NBA Trophy. Now they don’t look like an average team huh? :))))))))))))
August 1st, 2007 at 4:55 am
As Arseblog says, Bartley and Sunu are on the Arsenal.com reserves list. I thought Bartley was a defender, but the page says that he is a striker!!
August 1st, 2007 at 5:04 am
Read somewhere else that he is a defender and him and Norveidt are the future centre back pairing !!!!! ….. we’ll know in 4 years
August 1st, 2007 at 8:52 am
Bartley is a defender. He is 6`3 so i expect he will play centrally.
All in all, he and Harvard are for the future…..maybe when Wenger has finally decided that Senderos doesnt cut it.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:47 am
Off Topic:
Does anyone know what the league code # is for Arsenal America on the fantasy premier league. I can’t seem to find it and would like to join.
August 1st, 2007 at 10:57 am
scalrke: it ws there on one of these threads…ryecatcher or sheed should know .. they were its most active propagators
August 1st, 2007 at 11:22 am
15843-5346
There you go
August 1st, 2007 at 11:33 am
Thanks for the info.
It looks like I am too late they are not accepting any new entries.
August 1st, 2007 at 11:36 am
Have you guys seen that the Arsenal opener against Fulham on Aug 12 won’t be on FSC or Setanta……it may be on Setanta extra, but I don’t know………..hope my local pub gets the game. If not, it’s ATVO for me.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:16 pm
sclarke, try again, maybe they have some problems with the page. As far as I know, the league is not limited and can join anyone who wants to. We have around 38 players and some other leagues have more than 150, so you are not late, try again, it might work.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Or you are already playing in 10 leagues, so you can’t join in another. The limit is 10 leagues max., so if you play in 10 you’ll have to leave one league to join in ours.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I’m not convinced that Eduardo will play as a striker. I’m sure I read somewhere that Wenger might play him on the flanks….
If that was the case and we were going to play 4-4-2, then I would suggest we need another striker, esp with the ANC and the lack of experience of Bendtner and Eduardo. An Anelka without the baggage would be ideal…
But to be honest I was more excited with the 4-5-1, with Hleb in the hole, which would definitely mean no room for another striker, but potentially for a left midfielder…
I agree with nipuna too, so what if a few players get bent out of shape if they are not playing every week? I want to see us challenge on all fronts, as such we need a big squad of quality players….
I think one more forward is required. I just hope that Wenger isn’t lulled into believing we don’t need another forward after our strong performances over the weekend. When looking at the squad, I almost believe that we don’t need another player, but think that while our current forwards are all very good, some are a bit inexperienced and as such unpredictable. Another forward would hopefully remove that unpredicatability….
August 1st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
If AW really plans to play Eduardo on the left, I believe he means in a 4-5-1 formation.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Could be the case. I haven’t seen him play at all, so I probably shouldn’t comment!
But I will anyway…. I see him as a potential replacement for Pires weighing in with 10-15 goals from midfield. My imaginary crystal ball also sees him playing LM in a 4-4-2…
August 1st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Naaaah, if/when Eduardo plays on the flanks it will be only in 4-5-1, not 4-4-2. He is a striker first and foremost and was brought to the club as such, so I can’t see him playing LM in a 4-4-2. He would be wasted there, just like Reyes.
August 1st, 2007 at 1:09 pm
He just looks really slight to me… almost too small to play upfront…. I guess if he plays with adebayor it wont be a problem.
As I said I don’t really know much about him, but time will tell….
So do we go for a striker or winger? I’m just concerned that our 3rd and 4th choice strikers, while having bags of potential, are unproven in the PL, and our 2nd striker has yet to be prolific…
And with the emergence of Eboue as an out and out winger on the right, im not sure we need an out and out winger on the left anymore. Rather see some variation on the left with Rosicky (and perhaps Hleb) cutting in….
So I would go for a striker…. doesn’t have to be a gun expensive striker, just someone with a bit of experience that will ensure healthy competition between all the strikers… and help us for when Ade goes to the ANC
August 1st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I don’t think that AW will sign another striker, in all of his interviews on ATVO he says that they have signed Eduardo and that they don’t need another striker. But if we do sign one, I would want David Villa since he scores almost 20 goals a season and has a dozen assists. He plays attractive soccer, and is able to score goals consistently. With him we won’t need a left wing since he could play wide forward on the left side.
Hopefully AW will sign a left winger who will play like Robert Pires and score 10+ goals a season, since Rosicky who has yet to proven himself. At this moment Quaresma would be my first choice.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:59 pm
We have 26 players in the first team if you include Randall, Traore and all three keepers. We Have a very vesitile squad with several players being able to slot in at different than normal positions i.e. Flamini @ left back/ Bert in center def. Ade and Bendtner are our only out and out strikers, the other 2 can play the wing. The positions I would be most worried about are center back especially when Toure is at ACoN, and left back behind Clichy. Our attacking options are good i think. We also could use to dump Song as he is generally worthless to us.
August 1st, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Yes, 26 plus two loanees listed on Arsenal.com as in the first-team squad. I don’t think numbers are a problem. If Arsene intends to move players around during the year - Eboue wide right and also full-back, Sagna across the back, ditto Gallas, Djourou as a defensive midfielder, Hleb across the midfield and support striker, Eduardo or Van Persie wide left as well as striker etc. etc. - then we may be well covered. However, I have a suspicion that with the departures of Ljungberg and Reyes/Baptista (Eduardo replacing Henry) there is space for one more attacking signing whether it is a wide player or a more conventional striker depending on where Wenger intends to play everyone.
You can make a case that we are well covered in every position. Left-back behind Clichy. Well you have Traore, Gallas, Sagna, Hoyte, Flamini and Ryan Garry not necessarily in that order. Left-wing, well you have Rosicky, Hleb, Clichy, Van Persie, Walcott, Eduardo (do we call him Dudu or Da Silva?), Traore, Randall, Gibbs who can all play there. The same argument can be made about every position. All five strikers (include Walcott) can play on their own up front, there just needs to be some adjustment to the way we play. There are players like Hleb and Rosicky who can play in the support striker role who are not considered strikers. You can argue that there is not enough quality in some positions say centre-back but Gilberto and Sagna can play there as well as the first four normally nominated. Sure eight injuries and we are in trouble but I get the feeling that versatility and the experience of the last two seasons could almost get us through with just the squad we have. So just the one addition please.
August 1st, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Haha, look who has an injury crisis already
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=369952
And I hope it stays that way, so the injury fever won’t pass the street and end up at the Emirates.
August 1st, 2007 at 11:17 pm
The problem with having one player backup in several positions - eg. Walcott as left + right winger and striker - is that if he gets injured, we have no backup for 3 positions.
The general consensus is for one more player and the majority feel it should be an attacking + goal scoring option.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 am
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=448865&root=england&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1&cc=4716
Interesting read on Arsenal and wingers.
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 am
interesting result as inter beat up Man U yesterday lol.
i really hope chelsea and Man U can falter early and we can start strong. that would give us a momentum to work with.
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:52 am
Eduardo will play as an out and out striker. There is something about this guy - at the Emirates I can see him going goal crazy! This is a striker who doesn’t care if he misses, it will never get to him - he lives and breathes goals like Ian Wright. He is razor sharp. I will stick my neck out and say it, because it feels right - this guy will slit the throats of defences time and again without even blinking.
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:29 am
hey sheed, is the fantasy league thing closed? when i try to join it says that its no longer taking new entries.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:54 am
Wenger mentioning that Eduardo can play on the left may have misled a few. I believe Wenger mentioned that more to highlight Eduardo’s versatility than to suggest he’s contemplating play him there. I believe Wenger would rather play RvP out wide before Eduardo. Wenger bought him to be a fox in the box and Eduardo is simply too potent a finisher to play out wide.
To me, playing Eduardo out wide would be like taking a brand new $70,000 Range Rover offroad for fun. Every Range Rover owner will brag to you all about the capabilities of their vehicle but it doesn’t mean they’re going to do it. Hell, I can brag to you that I can drive with no hands. Just because I can do it doesn’t make it a good idea. Wenger was just bragging about what his player is capable of.