I am brand new to posting on this site (even though I met the man MikeK at Slainte in Baltimore last year) so please bear with me. I, like the rest of us diehard fans, are clamoring for a transfer before the deadline. Although I agree that we need a DM, do we as Gooners really appreciate our squad?
Dream with me, for a bit now, a time with no injuries to the whole squad. I know injuries are a part of the game and we need cover for every position, BUT……we have an amazing roster that has never played together at the same time. More so than wondering where the squad needs to improve, I wonder how we can incorporate all the players we have into any single game. The talent is off the charts. Dare to dream of a healthy RVP, Eduardo, Rosicky, and Diaby, into a squad that already has Ade, Cesc, Walcott, Nasri, Vela, Sagna, and Clichy.
I have loved the Arsenal since the first time I chose them on FIFA for Sega back in the mid 90s. It’s been a wild ride since then and we’ve had our ups and downs. BUT not since the Invincibles have I seen a squad so loaded with talent. It’s hard to have perspective as a Gooner, but I think we need some right now. For all the big name signings across Europe, I believe that our squad, without injuries, is capable of everything.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:01 am
That’s why I don’t care if we bring in another player. I believe in the casting call that Wenger has been conducting for DM. Each player in the running bring something different. Denilson is clearly more offensive while Song is more defensive and at this point he is the better passer. My hope is that Denilson can improve his passing and defensive positioning to take the pole position without us getting hurt. The key for me is Wenger’s statement that he ‘will’ bring in a player ‘if” he’s better than what we have. We sure as hell don’t want a player who we will criticize is not Arsenal quality after they arrive. Silvestre has still to show us what he has left that’s puts him ahead of Senderos (may he RIP in the Italian burial ground).
A perfect weekend: Arsenal win and look great and a team above us (Chelsea) lose points and look loke shite. Deco couldn’t carry Zindane’s (L) nut today. An aging Ballack is injured again (I know we have our own issues w/ fragile youth but it writes well). Creative, Brazilian type football was nowhere in evidence today as Chelsea did what it does best and that’s lumber forward w/ no width. Irony of the day is Arsenal reject O’Hara subbing off overpriced Arsenal reject Bentley.
AC Milan have a great heritage (scandals aside) but w/ all their big guns playing (Flamini, ha, ha, ha, ha), they lose 2-1 to newly promoted Bologna. How about your big club now, Senderos?
August 31st, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Nice one CTPA: “AC Milan have a great heritage (scandals aside) but w/ all their big guns playing (Flamini, ha, ha, ha, ha), they lose 2-1 to newly promoted Bologna. How about your big club now, Senderos?”
I ain’t got nothing against Senderos, but I thought that was an extremely disrespectful thing to say about his old club, Arsenal. Especially after Wenger held faith in him so long despite his far to frequent blunders. He simply had no reason to say that.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
My point exactly. Wenger being Wenger (like Manny being Manny for you Bosox fans, err LA Dodger fans who will understand the reference) supports the boy through hell and a lot of high water and he has the f**king nerve to belittle us. Wenger, the club, and some on this site had his back and this is how he pays you back. Fare thee well “Young Frankenstein”.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:08 am
Arsenal America in effusively positive post shock.
Welcome aboard rdm7256. You are the new fish Shawshank prison. After posting here a while, your air of innocence and optimism - and belief that justice will always triumph - will be incinerated as the rest of us lifers hold you face down in the showers and bugger some longsuffering, nihilistic, player-hating, and yes occasionally witty misanthropic despair into you.
Like crabs in a bucket, we will pull you back into our merry stew of hopelessness.
The first commandment of this site: From the euphoria of every victory, thou shalt extract evidence of guaranteed failure, disappointment and near-miss heartbreak ahead.
(Not hard admittedly, given the past three years!)
Second Commandment: Thou shalt covet their neighbor’s DM and ugly but effective CB.
Third Commandment: Make an offering to the Gods, every time we go up North for a cold, wet fixture.
Fourth Commandment: Drop the thread of any argument and make it personal instead.
Fifth Commandment: Mispell words constantly and have grammatical expertise of an autistic gibbon.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
LOL, absolutely brialliant Mic Mac i24. I must admitt I am guilte off all expect the 5th commandament.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:39 pm
“Welcome aboard rdm7256. You are the new fish Shawshank prison. After posting here a while, your air of innocence and optimism - and belief that justice will always triumph - will be incinerated as the rest of us lifers hold you face down in the showers and bugger some longsuffering, nihilistic, player-hating, and yes occasionally witty misanthropic despair into you.”
simply brilliant!! it does take a brave soul to survive here! LOL!
i add a 6th commandment here - Thou shalt repeat the same thing, same point with every single opportunity you have , everyday, every week, every month, every year, regardless of the subject of the original post.
7the commandment - in terms of player valuation “other people’s wives are always prettier than your own”!
August 31st, 2008 at 7:19 pm
8th commandment: Wenger does NOT make mistakes, neither short term or long term. If you perceive him to be making one, he is merely ‘testing’ you as a fan and more fool you for not looking at the ‘bigger picture’ and acknowledging the unorthodox nature of Wenger’s genius. Just keep thinking and angling, angling and thinking, you’ll find some logic in there somewhere. Feel free to use it as an argument in favour of every Wenger decision that evokes controversy, again and again….and again. Cause this ‘logic’ tends to be the same, regardless of context.
Hi, rdm7256. I’m one of ‘The Sisters’.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:59 pm
The 9th Commandment as written by the scribes of Arsenal America:
Thou shall not change your mind, and anything you say now will be etched in stone in the annals of AA and your words will come back to haunt you many years from now to prove you are plain moronic, stupid and a complete twit.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Caribkid, that’s no way to talk about Arsene Wenger. After all he’s done for the club!
September 1st, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Yes this was brilliant and very inspiring to judge the subsequent commandments. I would add that having made an argument or a statement here that it is sometimes better not to turn back while fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:04 pm
We do have an excellent squad but like you said, injuries happen. It would be insanity not to expect a major injury for one of our starting midfielders/strikers this season if you look at past seasons. The problem with this? We have very little depth in our squad. Most of our starting 11 are in the young stages of the their careers. Our reserves/bench players are even younger and less experienced.
We are set for strikers this season. We have backup Carlos Vela(who shows unlimited potential in my eyes) back from loan and backup Eduardo who hopefully recovers fully and can get past the mental barrier of his horrific injury.
Our depth is blatantly lacking in the midfield with already reserve quality players starting in matches(denilson). I’m not saying we shouldn’t give him a chance, I’m just saying if we had major CL games right now, I would certainly not rely on him. We have Cesc then Nasri, Rosicky(when he gets healthy), and Walcott out on the wings. Our main problem is clearly who will partner Cesc in the middle. I was being picky a few days ago as to who should play alongside him but right now I’m just thinking please sign a midfielder AW. Our whole season hangs in the balance over this achilles heal.
I agree that “daring to dream” with our current squad is a good idea but only after we have secured our weak spot in the midfield.
August 31st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
In my opinion as a rabid, ravenous and eager ‘Gunner for Life’, we still need an out and out striker to go along with a solid midfielder (Iagree we need one of those as well, badly!). And we need both now. Vela is not ready. Eduardo is out for a long time. Ade is great, but still has difficulties seeing the play and making good runs. Why are we not trying for Arshavin? Huuntlar? Both are within the 30 mill price range the board gave Wenger. Arshavin wants to come to the Prem. Let’s grab him. I have no ideas as to a good, and ‘available in one day’ midfielder…but Wenger knows best.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Welcome newbie. As Macmac alludes, most of us on this site do not appreciate the squad as much as you do. We spend more time looking at what is missing rather than the beauty of what we have. But that is human nature for you, bad news makes more headlines than good news on average.
But I am sure you have noticed there are some interesting characters on here with strong opinions which promotes good debate most of the time. There are those who try to be positive all the time i.e Andez,Wayne and LDE. However they are far outnumbered especially this season with the lack of decent transfer activity.
Hope you have fun and continue to see the good in what we have.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Welcome RDM,
I love my squad, I love Arsene, Fizman and the Board is ok and I love to see us play football we did yesterday.
I would love the squad even more if we got Corluka and Alonzo by tomorrow night.
Like most Arsenal lovers I would love to see us win some trophies and believe we can if we get a couple of EXPERIENCED players. Even Viera supported that view in an interview yesterday.
Wilshire, Ramsey, Mannone, Merida, Barazite are not stars of today but of the future and will begin their journey n the CC this year. Right now, we need a few old heads to take us all the way this year.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
A snippet from our favorite friend at ANR, Myles Palmer
“When Modric joined Spurs, he moved into the same apartment building as his friend Eduardo. When Vela came back from loan in Spain, he moved into the same apartment building as his Mexican pal Dos Santos, who had just joined Spurs from Barcelona. And Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal has moved into the same building as Chris Gunter of Spurs. Those two both played for Cardiff.”
Are we cohabiting with the enemy now?
What will happen to our dreaded rivalry with the hopeless Spuds?
August 31st, 2008 at 9:26 pm
There is another example, which might even be titled Sleeping with the enemy. I believe David Dein’s son is married to a Spurs chairman’s daughter, or maybe it is an ex chairman. Ofcourse that example is not relevant really as love is a different matter altogether, something about it being blind
The only thing is that Arsenal players should not go to dinner to the same place as any Spurs players are going. The last thing we want is Arsenal players getting food poisoning prior to an important game…
August 31st, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Nice.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:31 am
Does this mean that the Spuds are trying to infiltrate the Arsenal mystique and are those players supposed to be moles?
September 1st, 2008 at 7:41 am
Spurs just signed Corluka.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:25 am
I’m getting acid reflux here, my Corluka has gone to the mortal enemy. I guess Arsene didn’t rate him highly as he was available and at 8 mill is very reasonable.
It seems we the car owners are now shareholders in Manchester City. They have been bought out by ADI who are able to afford such things with the diabolical and mammoth increases in gas prices.
I vote that all auto owners should be offered share certificates and reduced ticket prices
September 1st, 2008 at 8:40 am
… and Pavlyuchenko. Berbatov to ManU now?
September 1st, 2008 at 10:38 am
OFF TOPIC:
It seems the Arsenal curse is still at work:
Flamini started in his “FAVORED” RB position for AC Milan and they lost to a no name Serie A team yesterday.
Hleib came on in the 2nd stanza for Barcelona and put in one of his most inept performances. Never even dribbled the ball to nowhere. Henry also looked like shite, was subbed out in the 2nd and Barca lost their opener to another no name team.
To cap it all, Real, which was all part and parcel of the Arsenal transfer saga this summer, laid down rather meekly to yet another no name team.Bayern finally got a win after starting the Bundesliga season with 2 draws and Klinsman now have them playing like Arsenal.
What the hell is happening this season, all the big teams are losing their openers and early games. Are these signs that Hull and WBA may rise to the top and is this the great year of the “UNDERDOG”?
September 1st, 2008 at 10:59 am
Fellow lifers,
I forgot to add Commandment Ten: Thou shalt constantly refer to “the post I made two years ago” to prove you were right all along and never doubted Flamini would come good, or always doubted Theo’s footballing intelligence, or always rated a Eboue a total anus, or always felt Stag was deep down a warm-hearted well-meaning guy who looked on the bright side!
As the Arsenal curse strikes again - dooming all who leave to injury and below-par performances - I’ve actually dug up a hug positive about our woeful defeat at Fulham. Losing so early actually takes the pressure off for the rest of the season.
Before, we would have these unbeaten runs and everyone would pounce on our first defeat to see how we coped. And invariably we didn’t cope at all.
Now we’ve got it out the way, so losing another game (hopefully not before Xmas) won’t be the usual monumental psychological test and signpost to another trophy-free season.
(Blimey, these rose tinted lenses don’t half hurt your eyes.)
September 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
I love all(well..most..) the commandments. Brilliantly witty..and creative :). Nice going MacMac
September 1st, 2008 at 11:11 am
Can this really be true? If so, then Man City would have really angered their neighbors by taking Berbatov away from them. A few more hours left still…
September 1st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Apparently it is. ESPN claims that Manchester City’s new owners have put in bids for Berbatov, David Villa, and Mario Gomez. Quite an impressive trio.
They also said that they’re going to spend big in the January transfer window(perhaps excess of 100million pounds).
The next Chelsea?!?!?!?! haha
September 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Another benefactor looking to purchase titles for personal gratification will not be good for football.
The bar is raised once again and the next reports will let us know in which hospitals Blatter and Platini are recovering from heart attacks.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
As soon as I heard this news, I thought that this is what will force Wenger to leave management sooner rather than later…
I think the Premier League is descending into dangerous territory.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Why are you guys AND WENGER so obsessed with OTHER people are doing?
Why dont we just buy our own relatively cheap players, and play our own football?
This exact complex is what is driving Wenger into lunacy.
If Wenger is so agitated by others money he should just resign and get out of the game.
Life is full of change. One has to adapt rather than sitting and moaning all the time.
September 1st, 2008 at 3:13 pm
i think that this team on song is pretty unbeatable…this year success or failure will be measured by our consistency to play at such a tempo and precision.
in the wake of this mad spending, i want wenger’s vision to succeed more than ever. in fact, i think the premier league needs it to avoid becoming a fantasy league.
if vp, fab and nas stay healthy, we have a real shot. im off for an afternoon nap; i hope all my dreams come true…
September 1st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
So no signings. I mean, really, no signings. Wow.
Anyway, if Wenger moans about “being short in CM” after one or two injuries OR he is forced to play Eboue in CM again OR he complains about “tiredness” OR he complains about the pitch/weather/hard tackles…..I PROMISE to fly to London, track him down and SMACK him several times over.
I really hope he knows what he is doing. This is a judgment season for him for sure.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
You forget another classic; “we lacked a little bit experience you know.”
Well Arsene, you’ve made your bed and all that.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Love all the wit and banter… and most of the commandments are right on the money!
No signings at all.
???
We are doomed to brilliant displays of football, like we had against Newcastle on Saturday… and absolutely shit against Fulham on the road.
Without proper depth and some experience in the crunch, we will undoubtedly have a similar season to last year, in my opinion.
Good. GREAT sometimes. And unacceptably poor at other times… without Cesc in the line-up, we could lose to any team in the league.
I read that Wenger could spend 30 million, its there if he wants to use it, but he decides to do absolutely nothing.
Not winning a thing must be OK for Arsene… he just wants to play a certain style, with young players, and make money for the club.
Go on yall. Rubberstamp it.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Robinho to Man City
Berbatov to Man Utd
oh dear…
September 1st, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Quaresma to Inter
September 1st, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Berbatov has to overcome his laziness and his attitude. A big ask. Clearly he outgrew Sp**s. So now Bent is the man
I watched the 2nd half of of the Chelsea game and it was not suitable for public consumption. The Sp**s midfield w/ Modric, Bentley and Jenas and Zokora were being over run by a Chelsea midfield that was missing Ballack. After all the money they’ve spent and will spend in January (because that’s what they do) they are still in the relegation zone battle.
September 1st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Arsenal in last-gasp attempt to capture Alonso
Arsenal were last night desperately trying to sign Xabi Alonso before the transfer window closed after submitting an improved offer, thought to be around £14m, for the Spanish international midfielder. Earlier the Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, had insisted Alonso was not for sale but it is understood that he was always prepared to do a deal if his valuation was met.
The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, who rejected Cardiff City’s attempt to take Aaron Ramsay back on loan, has played a delicate game of brinkmanship in trying to secure Alonso, whom he wants to partner Cesc Fabregas in central midfield. Wenger regards the 26-year-old as a player who can add the experience and steel which have been missing from his team. A bid of £12m was rejected last month as Wenger hoped to capitalise on Liverpool’s attempts to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.
It was a busy day as Benitez attempted to balance the books. Liverpool completed the £8m purchase of the Espanyol winger Albert Riera, who has signed a four-year deal, and also secured two teenagers: 18-year-old Brazilian striker Vito Flora on a free transfer from Botafogo and another 18-year-old, Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi from MTK Hungaria.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The more I think of it the more frustrated/angry I am because I already know the exact wordings of the moanings he will roll out in the winter!
Why exactly did he sell Hoyte if he was not going to buy a RM??? We are now SHORTER than last season on the right. One bloody niggly injury to Sagna and we are short in both RM and CM. This is just fucked up….
And Traore, why did he go on loan? Since we were not buying anybody why didnt he and Senderos stay and at least add NUMBERS to our team. Traore might have been a bit short at LB but he could do the job at LM at least - so some valuable backup to Nasri at least - somebody with pace as well.
The Silvestre guy is INJURED and out till the end of September!
So right now we have just Clichy, Sagna, Gallas, Toure and Djorou as defenders.
Song and Eboue can help out but they are already helping the firefight by boosting numbers in midfield.
There is no backup for Nasri. If Walcott gets injured, Eboue will have to go there and we are short of numbers in the center.
In fact in almost every single position a single injury will cause the shift of players and a stronger strain in the depth of OTHER positions. WOOOW!
If this season ends badly, Wenger’s head should be on the line.
If someone had told me in April/May, that this September we will have a team this comically short in depth, I wont have believed him.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I am not normally a gloom and doom person, but the feelings I have today is similar to when we lost to Fulham. I am devastated we did not sign at least one body before the transfer window closed, especially because we have the money and are on the positive side in terms of our transfers to date.
Before I go any further, let me say this will be the last time I address this issue of squad depth and lack of experience. I will follow Arsenal faithfully, cheer them on, enjoy their at times scintillating football and fervently hope we win a few trophies this year.
What gets my goat however, is Arsene admitting publicly we had a thin squad last year which caused us to lose the EPL, having the funds and yet entering this season with a weaker squad while the likes of Manu, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham have all improved tremendously.
For Arsene’s sake, I hope we win either the EPL and CL and keep our eligibility for CL next year. He has made his bed and will have to lay in it. If we win he will be a genius, if we lose he will just be a former great manager who has completely lost the plot and whom the fans will demand to be put out to pasture.
To take such a gamble, with the stakes so high is ultimately either naive, gutsy or just plain stupid. It worries me that such a great man may have become ensconced in the Ivory Tower syndrome and has forgotten that ultimately you must please the fans to some extent because your paycheck depends on it.
We are going to need a lot of luck in terms of avoiding injuries to key people, some unbiased refereeing, good draws in the CL, bad luck on the part of other teams and the emergence of Ramsey, Wilshire and Merida as meaningful contributors.
Good luck Arsene and I hope your “Young Guns” live up to the faith you have put in them
September 1st, 2008 at 10:17 pm
What I dont understand is why the bloody chairman comes out to tell us that we have “funds” to spend why he knows Wenger is not going to spend it anyway.
Why rile up the fans?
Why not just tell us there is no money or something, so we can all just chill and dig into our poor man’s cloth knowing we have done the best we can.
Can Wenger honestly look himself in the mirror and say he has prepared well for this season?
Wenger’s job is unfairly and way too secure for his and our own good.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:24 pm
@Fred
Unfortunately, I agree with you on this one. Has Wenger, like Napolean, set up his own version of Waterloo?
September 1st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Immediately following the international break, where we typically lose players to injury and/or fatigue, we face three tricky away ties - Blackburn, Kiev and Bolton. The league games will severely test our “soft” midfield and the lengthy journey to Kiev will test our depth. It will be a good indicator of how we match up for this season.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:12 pm
All I can say is………..”This sucks”
We are thin.
Very, very thin.
Arsene better pull out a top performance in the group stage of CL, to cushion our draw, or a top two performance in the EPL so we do not half to play these fucking qualifiers @ the beginning of the season. We risk to many injuries every year, and these stupid fucking qualifiers / friendlies just add to the risk.
I really had faith in him this year…. Watching our talent roll out the door, I thought…….he had something up his sleeve. Oh well, I am tired of this. “Get the fuck out”
Spurs spend more than we do? WTF!
At least hey are making an effort to improve, we are just coasting by.
I will root for this team, cheer for this team, brag about this team, but I hope for a miracle!
September 1st, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Commandment 11, or maybe 0, I lost count…
Thou shalt separate fact from opinion: your opinions are facts, and others’ facts are opinions.
In all honesty, bear in mind that we discuss a lot of things as if we knew all the details and facts, but we don’t. We debate about how much there is to spend on new players, which players we need to fill some glaring problem, why one player plays and another doesn’t, which player is loyal and which isn’t… but we rarely have all the information. We don’t know what happens in practice or the dressing room, or in the boardroom, or if player X comes in how well he will do or how he will fit in. Whenever I get pissed off at another poster, I calm down after I remind myself that we argue about speculation.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I guess Wenger misread how desperate Benitez was to get rid of Alonso.
Pool are right now in a bit of trouble. Torres pulls a hamstring and goes off at 20+ min in the Villa game. Voronin’s on a plane to Hertha Berlin. Crouch is in Portsmouth doing his new club, no goal robot dance. Benitez brings on his only true striker, Ngog who can’t get service. 20mil Robbie Keane disappears in the MF as usual. Gerrard’s recovering from hernia surgery (sorry about that timing Capello but it had to be done ‘now’). Benitez brings on Babel to get a goal. Yeah, right. (I’m going to take a moment to remind those who wish to remain nameless about how they pimped for Babel at Arsenal.) I watched this game and it was like a nail on a blackboard. Alonso long range shot was Pool’s only shot on target and their only goal threat. Benitez’s transfer dealings have put Pool in a precarious situation.
Things were looking pretty bleak for Sparky and then another billionaire pops up bearing a gift like Robinho. Come January, they could add C. Ronaldo or Drogba or any other star. They could become a team of “galaticos”. Man City will now become the new 800lb gorilla in the EPL in a lighter shade of blue ( watch for some tabloid scavenger to pick up that line). I’ve always said that you cannot play ’serious’ football unless you have a Brazilian on your team and now Man City have 3 (Jo, Robinho and Elano). I’m predicting right now that Man City will take over Pool’s spot!
Now that the decks have been cleared, the real season can begin on 9/13. Looking at our finalized squad on 9/2, I feel like we’ve got this hand cut but unfinished precious gem for a squad and we can only hope the gem carver’s hand remains steady for the rest of the year.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
What does Cesc think of no Alonso? His is probably the most important opinion, and he really wanted him. I wonder what Wenger told him?
If we again do not win a trophy but finish in the top 4, I wonder if anyone will want to bolt in the summer “to make their dream move”. I think Cesc will stay at least one more year, my bet would be on Adebayor again and maybe Eboue.
And I think a player can be brought back from loan if the injury situation gets bad.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:23 am
I agree. Many of my thoughts relating to our non-existent last signing were about how it would affect team moral.
The rumour about Cesc threatening to leave after one more year without silverware opened my eyes. Cesc denied the claim and pledged his allegiance to Arsenal but it made me think that we need to keep this guy and our other stars happy because anyone gets fed up with a team that never wins. Xabi Alonso would not have only been a great improvement on the pitch but would also boost team moral and most importantly, our true leader, Cesc Fabregas’ moral.
The Manchester City takeover makes me worry how long we will be “guarenteed” our top 4 finish.
With all of those negative comments aside, lets try to be positive. We embarassed Newcastle a few days ago with our current squad. Our team is very talented and yes, very thin. If we can manage to avoid injuries our current squad is capable of winning the EPL.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:48 am
Again, the big “IF”.
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:33 am
HUGE
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Cesc will have every right to leave if this season ends up even worse than the last.
I mean, we are not offering titles or challenging for it. We are not contending. We are flogging him to death every year since he is literally our savior - exposing him to increased injury. Plus we are not even paying him that well anyway.
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 am
The light bulb flickered, disturbed my thoughts but brought me a great insight which I will now impart to my fellow colleagues at AA, and no, that acronym does not mean Alcoholics Anonymous, although many of us might have thought about hitting the bottle to relieve our sorrows at the lack of Arsenal activity in the transfer window.
I got it!!!!!
We can still sign free agents outside of the transfer window. This all sets it up for Arsene to one up last year’s late signings and provide sheer joy and intrepid titillation for all of his fans who now have stomach ulcers from waiting in bated suspense for the mythical signing.
Arsene Knows All!
He will acquire free agent Stephen Appiah, Ghana’s DM enforcer as he meets all the criteria:
1) As with Bischoff, he is FREE and therefore a bargain.
2) as with Bischoff and a host of other squad players, Appiah is coming off an extended injury absence.
3) He is good friends with Essien and could act as a mole to provide Arsenal with info from the inner sanctums of the Chelski.
4) He is African and so we will lose him for an extended period every other year due to ANC obligations.
5) He is African and therefore would provide good company for Kolo, Eboue, Song and Ade.
6) He is free
7) He is free
He is free
There you go lads, have faith, Appiah will be the next masterstroke by Le Professor.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:16 am
I was just about to write the same thing but you beat me to it. He is free, and very experienced, and not too old. In fact, I think he’s an upgrade to Flamini. I read an article about three weeks ago where he was declaring that he’d left Fernabache.
Wenger had the chance to buy him when we sold Vieira to Juventus and again there was speculation about him joining after the World Cup. Wenger probably didn’t see the need to sign him then but things change in football.
He’d be adequate cover for Cesc, as that’s where he plays for Ghana, he’s was first choice at CM for Juventus since he was like 18, and he’s free. I think he’s a very good option for strengthening, now that the transfer window is closed.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
http://www.stepapp.com/latest-blog1.html.
Here’s Appiah take on the Fenerbache situation. The club that has publicly been linked w/ Appiah is West Ham U. A 40K/3yr deal is on the table but he is not biting and is considering other offers. At 27, that offer is an insult when you consider what they paid a washed up Freddie. I truly hope we are in the mix. We are thin no doubt and he would be an up grade as a true ‘holding’ MF. He was a rock at Juventus during their ‘glory’ years. I thought the Fenerbache move was a step down for him. Turns out it was in more ways than one.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
We wouldn’t want to bring in Appiah.
He would stunt the growth of the youngsters after all.
We can’t have that.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 am
“What does Cesc think of no Alonso? His is probably the most important opinion, and he really wanted him. I wonder what Wenger told him?”
“One day after you retire and decide to go to management, you could decide who you are going to sign. Until then, your job is to play football son.”
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:08 am
I think the last thing Wenger will listen to is a player trying to influence him to bring in a certain player. It’s never happened.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Andez, maybe 20 years ago that would be the reply a star player might get. Maybe even 10 years ago.
But its a PLAYERS world now.
If Wenger ignores bringing in talent, like he has now for many years… what happens is … the star players leave.
Cesc will be no different at all.
If we fail to make the CL next year, he’ll be at Barca.
Again, maybe 20 years ago, we could say… rot in the reserves. But it is not done that way any more, and a star player can often shoot his way out of town.
Cesc’s job might be to play football… but Arsene’s is to improve the team.
His response to YOUR response… would be…
“Its time to retire Sir. We aren’t in the CL any more, and its time for me to go home to Spain… thanks for everything. Bye Bye.”
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:38 am
“What I don’t understand is why the bloody chairman comes out to tell us that we have “funds” to spend why he knows Wenger is not going to spend it anyway.”
It’s simple Fred. He wants to make himself look good as a businessman. It’s about being able to brag about how much money he has made in his role at the club. This has nothing to do with the fans; it’s all about stroking his own ego. When I heard him say those things on Arsenal TV, that’s exactly what I thought.
I am less than pleased with our transfer dealings because I don’t believe our squad is deep enough to win the league. I refuse to dream because championships are not won in dreamland.
Why give yourself a false sense of hope? Some things we tell little kids to dream or believe in so they don’t grow up to be dope heads or prostitutes but they, eventually mature to know the difference between a dream and a goal. Besides, I believe you have to be over the age of eighteen to post on this site. There are no kids here. Everyone here can determine sugar from salt.
I’m guilty of violating a few of these so-called commandments that range from predicting a player was going to be crap, to spelling shit wrong, to referencing a post I made years ago. For the past five years I’ve often ended a post with words along the lines of “Time will tell”. Well, that’s because I believe time almost always tells the truth about a matter.
I’ll tell you what, fish; I’ll let you continue to dream and at the end of the season, I’ll wake your ass up and we can see what your dream was worth. Lord knows I’d love nothing more than to see our guys win the championship this season by playing good football, keeping everyone fit, and our young guns stepping up to play like big boys. But for me, championships are won by being smart and working hard. I think we could have been a bit smarter this off-season but I won’t make any predictions. I have big hopes for this team but I’ll let time tell.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I seriously doubt that interview had anything to do with Fiszman trying to make himself look like a good businessman. I think it is quite obvious to everyone that he is a good businessman. Clearly there has been a lot of speculation over the past two years that the stadium debt is hampering Arsenal’s ability to compete in the transfer market, which has made the fans nervous about the future. This speculation has been used by Usmanoz/Dein to make people believe that their money is necessary for Arsenal to compete. Fiszman was setting the record straight to prove that the money is there and Usmanov/Dein are not needed. Arsenal can compete in the transfer market and it is down to Wenger as to whether or not they spend.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 am
first thought that the transfer deadline wasa midnight aug 31st… and then came to know it was last night ..
and both these days i checked all news related to transfers all over the place … waiting for something to happen … ( wonder why there were so few posts here… was everyone busy .. deperate doing this )
i agree that one more defensive enforcer would have been good…. but really that wouldn’t have covered for cesc… and as long as he is there he can make anyone look good at that position…
and realistically i think that alex song is more than decent for that position… as for denilson… we must have realised that LE BOSS rates him very highly… must be having potential… just lacks the courage to express himself on the field and that’s why the boss is sticking to him..
i remember that forlan despite his childish performances for ManU was said to do amazing things at the training ground.. same abt TH14 during his initial period at Arsenal… even Clichy and Toure didn’t seem to deserve Arsenal shirts once ( remember Toure’s own goal )
dor other positions
we couldn’t have got anyone better for CB’s… pertnership and gelling time are very important at that position… silvestre is an excellent addition… and we have a far more matured Djourou and even Song if reqd..
Eboue can play RB and so can Gibbs… or Ramsey or Denilson if reqd.
almost same in case of LB..
In DM we have Song,Denilson,Eboue Bischoff,Ramsey .. slightly short but only place where we might struggle… that too only if both of the firtst two are injured simultaneously or are covering elsewhere…
In AMf we have CEsc and Rosiscky and Nasri ( and Wilshere for one or two games.. )
LMF we have Nasri and Vela and Walcott
Rmf Eboue,Walcott, Van Persie (slightly short)
Fwds .. no problem … Ade… Van Persie… Bendtner .. walcott… Vela..
overall what i want to say is that we have might not have a well defined backup for each position but as a squad we can manage for extended periods quite well ( apart for cesc… but then u cannot buy someone to replace him.. like Manu cannot for Ronaldo or Chelsea for Drogba)
compared to last year:
Flamini-> Song/Denilson
Alexander Hleb-> Nasri
Justin Hoyte -> wasnt Arsenal qlty
Jens Lehmann -> Aluminia is OK… he was there almost whole of last yr
Philippe Senderos -> Djourou and SOng and Silvestre( LB also)
Gilberto Silva -> hardly played… had lost himself… harly matters
Armand Traore -> Vela ( still did not have defensive steel to LB)
so we are still at least as good as last yr with players having more experience.. so need for all this gloom..
unless we do not have 4-5 major injuries together we do not have much of a problem…
and seriously just ask yourselves would one addition last night have had made much of a difference to this situation..
despite all the millions and billions teams may spend … Chelsea and Manu remain our only threats in the league..
Liverpool are definitely not top3 material .. they should be ones shaking and fearing..
only hope that league becomes more competitive so that the title allows for some incosistency on case we slip)..
Impossible is nothing !!
go and JUST DO IT !!
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Stop talking about how one player cant change much.
It IS individual players that change a teams destiny.
Didnt Sagna make a MASSIVE difference last season?
Didnt Eduardo make a MASSIVE difference?
Individual players make a shit load of difference and a competent one in midfield would have stabilized our boat seriously.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:58 am
It’s 1:39 in the morning and I’m still trying to digest what happened today.
There have been plenty of ‘were screwed’ and plenty of ‘we’ll beat the odds’ thoughts throughout this daydream. And then there is this topic…
I think that going to bed one thought will remain…The Premier League has become a sandbox, and the biggest truck wins. I think that Wenger was blindsided today and even he must think that more should have been done. As I said above, i think this will also make him more motivated but may also force him to leave the game sooner.
We are now the private school kid with glasses in a sandbox full of bullies. Our response this season has to be one of defiance. Everyone in the team has to realize that they can be an incredible part of history…you want the trophies boys, prove everyone wrong and grab a few.
Going up north cannot be an excuse this season to drop points. Bad pitch you say?…you’re wasting your breath. Today Arsenal must grow up and stand up for itself, its beliefs, its culture…
I hope that Wenger is telling the team that its not time to be discouraged, rather its a time to find further motivation to prove your steel, show your talent, and make everyone stand up and take notice. We’re not a bad team, but we are a fragile one. The players must stick together and I hope they can cope with the greater responsibility. Going behind like we did in Fulham is a habit of the past as of today. I hope that game will be the fire under our asses for the rest of the season. Denilson, son….keep it simple! We don’t need you to loose possession trying to show your ’skills’…we know your from Brazil, but the last Brazilian we had was a master of short, innocuous passes. Just give ball to Cesc and let him work it…
Robin, stop being such a fecking cry baby…man up, take the hits, and toughen up your fitness please.
Ade, just work and don’t stop working…
And so on and so forth…we will need a lot of things to come together this season. Like today, the unbelievable can happen in our favor and swing the Title to us. Maybe Man City will fall apart with egos and the team will not gel. Maybe Berbatov will tear up his knee in his debut - not that I wish it. I think that today is a better time than ever to dream. Why should I think about what a disaster this season can be? I would rather concentrate on the positives that may come out. I hope the Arsenal takes me on a ride. I look forward to the celebrations, hopefully not to many let downs. I look forward to my dream coming true and Arsenal winning the league…
Where is my blood pressure machine?
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:31 am
Danny has written a very interesting article -
http://www.oleole.com/blogs/arsenal-truth/posts/untouchable-wenger-ignores-arsenals-weaknesses
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 am
Danny T makes a very insightful point about Wenger’s value to Arsenal w/ the new EPL economic landscape this morning.
Consider this: Dein (w/ Usmanov in tow) or Kroenke are NOT rich enough to compete at the new EPL dinner table without the acumen of Wenger.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Agreed, Danny definitely writes an interesting article, but my gut still tells me that the Laws of Supply and demand will dictate the money side.
Is MCFC now a a heavy hitter on the financial side? It appears so. But they’ve still got to compete for signatures with Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Barca, Real, Juve, Milan, Inter… see where I’m going with this?
Case in point: they swooped in and took Robinho right out from Chelsea’s reach. The money-ed superpowers can throw what they want at whom they want. The addition of City to the wealthy gives parity.
I’ll stick with Wenger’s smarts. Eventually, the new building will start turning bigger profits. Meanwhile, we’ve got a smart manager who can spot young talented players on the cheap and eventually (if they don’t res-sign) sell them for a profit…smart business investments follow stock market tips: buy low, sell high (or higher than what you paid anyway).
Isn’t going to change how I feel about Arsenal anyway. There are 72 League clubs not in the Premier League, and a large majority of their fans seem to revile in horror at the state of the EPL and all the money…
I like to win, but I’m a fan of the football. Anyone can buy trophies. At the end of the day, I respect our methods and I enjoy our style of play. So what if we didn’t buy anyone yesterday. We didn’t spend now, so the money will be there in January if someone is available who AW feels can do a better job than what we’ve got.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:41 am
An alternate view of the BIG MONEY takeovers -
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2008/09/02/transfer-day-brilliant-for-arsenal/
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Good post Irakli. Here’s another article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/simon_barnes/article4648574.ece
This is not a football article but an article on dumbing down of sport in general…but have to say that the comparison he draws with gymnastics is too good.
Quote
Arsenal always happy to live the dream
How good it is to return home from the Olympic Games and see that there is one football team who rise above the sordidness and the acquisitiveness of the Premier League. Arsenal, beloved Arsenal - one day, like on Saturday, monarchs of all they survey, another day doomed and beautiful losers. Arsenal have become the rhythmic gymnasts of football: gorgeous, lithe and lissom, for ever twirling ribbons and jumping through hoops, knowing that points are accumulated through beauty alone. It is a glorious dream and Arsenal are annually prepared to die for it, or at least, to lose for it.
I am never quite sure whether they are the only team in England who have truly understood sport, or whether they have completely missed the point. But no matter, we are all of us richer for their presence among us.
Unquote
The Man City takeover has to have the owners of Man Utd, Tottenham and Liverpool really really worried. I think the more takeovers that happen…the more people will start appreciating Arsenal for what they stand for….until the Arsenal themselves get taken over.
When the inevitable take over does happen..i think playing Football Manager would be a much more realistic way of enjoying Football as a sport as compared to the Fantasy league that will take place every weekend in England
Cheers
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 am
I think the Robinho sale to Man City is very interesting. It has made Chelsea weaker as they sold Wright-Phillips surely anticipating the eminent arrival of Robinho to Stamford Bridge. That hasn’t happened. They might be a bit short for width. They really don’t play wide very much but sometimes they have to switch tactics and that is when they might hurt a bit.
Man City did it right. After Corluka put in his transfer request, they bought that Argentine kid BEFORE they sold Corluka, not the other way around. I think he’ll be a success in England but is he worth all that money? He may prove to be as effective as Cristiano Ronaldo. He certainly has the talent and potential. He’ll be exciting to watch for their crowds. Maybe we should have bid for him as he was determined to leave Madrid and Wenger’s admitted to being a big fan. Even our wages would have seen him get a pay raise compared to what he was making at Real Madrid.
Spurs seem like they’ve spent a lot of money but they’ve sold well and made a lot of money too; over fifty million just on Keane and Berbatov. They’ve made good money off Malbranque, Taiwo, Lee, Robinson, Chimbonda, Kaboul, and a few others. It’s still a high turnover but if they keep that team together, they might challenge NEXT season. I prefer our consistency over their turnover
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:25 am
I’ve said it before in another blog and I’ll say it again -Deco will weaken Chelsea in the long-term. I’ve never really rated him although he is a fine technical footballer. He lacks what real, top, top class players have- off-the-ball movement.
When he passes, he stands still and rarely bombs on with any gusto, like a Fabregas. Defensively he is medicore as well. He has to work extremely hard to keep up with the likes of Lampard and Essien when it comes to pressing. It’s not something that comes natural to him like it does to them. The novelty factor helped him in the first game and second one at Wigan, however on Sunday I noticed him slipping back to default levels…..levels which won’t cut it for a team like Chelsea if they want to maintain their freakish defensive prowess in the centre of the park.
So that’s one bright spark in my book. Already Deco seems to be diluting Chelsea’s vice-like, suffocation qualites in midfield, and Scolari is still the overrated manager I always thought he was. He doesn’t scare me or have the presence of Mourinho. After all, his Portugal sides often bombed out of tournaments or lost in a lack-lustre fashion with him standing on the touchline helpless, and Deco was often anonymous.
Finding holes in Man United is impossible though. Just can’t find any.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 am
Agreed. I was surprised when Chelsea signed him. I liked him a lot at Porto and in his early days at Barcelona but his best days are clearly behind him. The first game was in illusion. He was actually quite poor for Barcelona last year. I agree he’ll prove inadequate in the long run.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Deco was virtually anonymous in the 2nd half against Sp**s.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Strange day yesterday. When Roman came to Chelsea a few years ago, I wondered if someday another person might arrive and upstage his spending spree. Looks like I got a pseudo answer yesterday. If there is a positive in the Man City situation, it is that they now have more money than their neighbors and that should make for some charged derby games. I always felt Man Utd got off easy when it came to their derby matches or sometimes lack of challenge. Liverpool do not count because under Rafa they seem clueless against Man Utd. I hope I am proven wrong on that account when the two meet after the international break. But I am not counting on that.
Liverpool’s dealings were interesting too. Rafa is trying to balance books it seems. Why? Is there a pressure on him to stream-line the team and achieve results with what he has? The Barry transfer came down to money it seems. Or maybe Aston Villa fought to hang on to a player they wanted to, and if that is the case, then it would be refreshing.
Even though Chelsea offered a lot for Robinho (and if one believes the media even Kaka) but comments made by them last year indicated that they are realizing they cannot continue to live on Roman’s bankroll and not get carried away in their spending. But I think it was not only money that prevented them for getting Robinho. Real probably did not want to sell to them after what Chelsea did to Real what Real do to every other team in the world. And apparently Real do like a taste of their own medicine. Go figure.
As for Arsenal, their model is going to be a very interesting experiment (as even Wenger indicated). I still cannot understand why it had to be this way, but that is how things stand. If Arsenal succeed, then it will be a great achievement. However, they have to overcome many odds to get there, and unfortunately, some of those odds include variables not in their control, like injuries. Arsenal’s model now has a threshold for 0% injuries, something which is not feasible given the past few years. The technical weakness will still be there (defending from set-pieces the worst of them) but their only counter-action to those would be to continue to score plenty of goals. Once the goals dry up, then the pressure will be put on all aspects of the team. From there on, it will be a case of surviving the game mentally, something which was unfortunate to watch in the last few months of last season.
I am always weary when the international games come up, like they are in a few days time. After the international games, I do not expect that Blackburn and Bolton will be kind enough to jog around the Arsenal players chatting about the weather. Although right now, I can only hope for game to game.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Beer guzzling Mile Ashley now has to get a new replica jersey without “KingKev” on the back.
The EPL just got more interesting. No one knows what Man City is now or can become but we all will be watching them. Pool now joins Everton as teams that I think will lose ground this season.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/02/manchestercity.manchesterunited.
See my earlier post above. I predicted as much (the new pale blue 800lb. gorilla) but to see this come to fruition has got to be some what scary if you’re a ManU, Chelsea, Madrid (Ramos, Casillas), Liverpool (Torres, Gerard), Barcelona (Messi, Krikc) or even AC Milan (Kaka, Pato). We can be assured that Cesc would never go to Man City.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I can bet Platini and lathering Blatter are having are having an emergency meeting right now to discuss the ramifications of this sale to ADI.
Will they decide this is the way to go with infusion of capital to lift the game or will they think it could ruin the very foundation of parity and ruin the immense wave of popularity club football has enjoyed in recent years.
It will be interesting to see their reaction and what will they do, if anything, to restore order to the ridiculous.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
RDM’s title for this blog “DARE TO DREAM” is more than appropriate for the transfer window results and the real question is whether as Arsenal supporters we dare to dream of glory knowing that dream could easily become a nightmare.
Wenger now has his dream, a dream to win the EPL with a young, relatively inexperienced group of lads playing by his rules and philosophies and without having to spend a dime. Wenger wants to prove to the world that money is nothing and faith and loyalty is everything. We as fans are now part of that dream whether we like it or not.
I like his vision, but I’m not overly enthusiastic about his dream
One look at our starting eleven says it all when we see the names of Walcott, Eboue and Denilson appearing on the game day board. Let’s face facts, none of these players would be core starters on the top 50 club teams in the world. They all share the same trait which should immediately disqualify them for being starters today, inconsistency.
Denilson and Walcott have an excuse, they are 20 and 19 respectively and I have no doubt they will be stars in the next 2 -3 years barring serious injuries or total loss of confidence. No, I am not a “Wagonist”, but what is Eboue’s excuse. he is 25 and has been in the first team for almost 4 years and has played regularly the past 2 seasons and going into his 3rd.
Wenger has no excuse for knowing he has a weak squad, has money and yet failed to improve the obvious deficiencies. Some people might disagree with me, but clubs owe it to their fans to put out the best possible product on the field within financial restraints. Without the fans the club has nothing, we are the ones who attend the games and purchase their merchandise. TV money helps, but without the fans there is no TV money.
And no, I am not asking for Ronaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Villa, Torres or Robinho, just get me a Corluka, Alonso, Freitel, Kompany or De La Red, all players ranging from 6 - 15 mill.
At this point, I would rather see Ramsey being ushered in the squad over Eboue and Denilson because of his upside, makes fewer mistakes and has a lot of grit. By having weak links on a team this puts great stress on the other players because they can’t afford to have a bad night and also places greater demand on these players when injuries occur.
Let’s all hold hands and pray to the almighty Fab and Nasri do not get injured or worn down by the reliance now placed on them, for without them we have no chance of glory.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1766_4087130,00.html
132GBP!!! Are you kidding me!!!
This makes me sick…
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Concerning Stephen Appiah, according to his page on WIkipedia (Yes, I understand how Wikipedia works and am just sharing what the article says):
“In August 2008, he was linked with a potential move to West Ham United of the English Premier League. Unconfirmed reports suggest the player is to have a medical at Arsenal on Thursday 4th September 2008 for £35,000 a week.”
Is it true? Who knows, but it would be interesting.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Robinho is making 160k GBP a week?!!!! That is fucking incredible! He was on 30k Euro’s a week at Madrid. WOW!!!
I’ve been to the UAE before, back in ‘92, and I can tell you that they are definitely BIG MONEY there. But that much money for Robinho’s salary is ridiculous.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1765_4087254,00.html
According to TeamTalk, he is in talks with West Ham.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
With ManCity having crazy money to splash out… with good management in bringing in talent, they can definitely crash the TOP 4 party.
There moves were pretty good. They have Elano in the middle, with SWP and Robinho on the wings. Thats not too damned shabby.
Its beyond a laughing matter now. If Cesc were to get injured for any length of time this season, the TOP 4 position we have become so accustomed to… would be in serious jeopardy.
One crazy man with an Eduardo-type tackle, and the season would be done.
Why build the stadium… if we can’t build a proper team to play in it?
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Stag,
The stadium has nothing whatsoever to do with the makeup of the squad, it’s purely Arsene’s choice.
As a matter of fact, I have come up with a new name for this squad:
ARSENE’S ANGELS
These angels aren’t as pretty as Charlie’s, but they will surely need to have a lot of blessings in order to capture hardware this season.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Carib,
ever since the stadium was built, it has been the excuse as to why we don’t go out and try and compete with the top teams … for players.
We have the debt hanging over our head, in 20 years… blah bullshit blah, ad nauseum.
If that IS the case, then why build the stadium?
If its NOT the case, then Wenger is a mad man, a crazy genius, who likes to gamble with the future every year.
Because without CL football, Cesc’s leaving too.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
You are a woman.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Funny though Stag, It’s the fans who are using this excuse and not the Arsenal board. Wenger did mention it once, but only once to my recollection.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:35 am
Gamble with the future - Wenger - Yeah right. Just re read that again..slowly.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:26 pm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1051949/Humiliated-Curbishley-plots-Hammers-exit.html.
If I’m Appiah, I would pass on West Ham United because they have the look of mid-table losers. The Wikipedia link to Arsenal has now been removed.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Apparently he does not have a lot of suitors because of his recent injuries. Not my first choice for Arsene because of his limited versatility but is a good DM. provides steel and is better than anyone we presently have.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:26 pm
The key will be Ghana’s game this Fri. Appiah’s not expected to start but could play off the bench if he looks good in training. He wants to come to the EPL. He’ll make a decision after Fri.’s game about where he want’s to play. If we’re in the mix, then Champion’s League will be the decider (it always is.) Plus Curbishley has resigned after the WHU’s board sell McCarthy from under him. Portsmouth is mentioned but give me a break.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
City to crash the top 4 party? Oh Stag, you gotta kidding me.
that’s how i felt last season. before all hell broke loose. they would be lucky if all the s*it brought by their new sugar daddy doesnt end up coming back to haunt them and break them altogether by the end of this season.
let’s face it, every year ppl talking abt who and who were going to break into the top 4, yet in the end it’s the same customers year after year.
this season it will very much be the same.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Remember Andez, nothing remains the same. Not saying it’s going to be City, other teams like Villa, Everton have been creeping up on the pack and the Spuds have the bodies now and will contend if they can gel.
Something to consider. Arsenal played out of their minds last year and finished 3rd with a point total which would have won in many other seasons. With a thinner squad we are going to be forced to repeat those performances to stay in the top 4.
We will have to win at home and take maximum points from the little boys like Fulham, Stoke, WDA, Hull, etc and produce some away draws with the top teams in order to remain in CL contention.
Just a hunch, but I feel the EPL will be won with substantially less points than it took last year because there is greater parity and the top teams can slip up any week. Whoever slips up the least takes the spoils.
On paper, Manu looks like they should threepeat, especially with the addition of Berbatov, but footballing gods usually frown on teams going three in a row.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:22 am
Good point about the point total. In Spain for eg. RM and Barca lose a lot more games than they should but still come out on top!! Maybe because the skill level there is higher overall.
As for ManU apart from the footballing gods I think they’ve been lucky with injuries. They have always got just about as much as they can handle. The CB pairing has been consistent for the best part of 3 years now? How much has Vidic/Ferdinand/Evra/Neville got injured. Yes NEville was out last season but they had backup in Brown who can play just that ..RB. Who’s the CB backup? OShea and Brown. Who’s at LB O’Shea and Silvestre(now gone). I’m not wishing they get injuries or something but if they do get them in defense they will struggle..big big time. As a matter of fact Arsenal have a better backup in defense than them!! Its just that Vidic is so good that it covers all of their inadequacies.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Andez.
Chelsea were not a top team BEFORE they became Chelski, with the crazy Russian money.
If ManCity have money to burn, and make decent decisions on players… bring in talent…
They CAN certainly become a major player in the league.
Why wouldn’t they be able to, if they have the unlimited funds that ManU and Chelsea have?
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 am
I’d like to say just one thing here amidst all the transfer madness. Let all the clubs get taken over..all of them with how much ever funding. It’ll still be hard to break in to top 4 because of 1 simple reason.
There are only SO MANY world class players. World class players = Players who can change the course of a game in a flash — who can pull you up when you’re dead with that one magical moment. Obviously if I talk of these traits it has to be an attacking player and not a defender(with all due respect to all those greats). So how many truly great attacking players do you really have??
The rest are all in the very good - good - competent players . They will all get paid more wherever they go eventually, much more than their skills deserve but the net result will still be that the better quality will still go through. Which is WITH the so called big four anyway. Man City and Spurs can buy names for all I care. That’ll last a season or two at most. The “names” will then get exhausted and they too will have to come down to the next tier of players, quality wise. And that tier of players will be no better or worse than the players developed by Arsenal + the odd Nasri/Sagna/Eduardo buy.
So really I’m not worried at all; about Man CIty or Abramovich or Mike Ashley or whoever. As long as Arsene’s there at least. If he goes …and he will go one day — Maybe I will re-assess. Till then the top4 will have Arsenal in it ..always.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
I do think Villa and Everton are different in that they have taken a sound approach to building their team, have improved every year and have god coaches and administrative teams. Both have also kept their teams together and therefore have a good chance if any of the top 4 stumbles.
Tottenham’s worst enemy has been themselves, because of impatience on part of management they have had no continuity. In Ramos they have a quality coach and if given the chance, and that’s a big IF, Spurs will be vying for the top 4 if not this year, then next. They certainly have the quality players to do so and once the current team gels the team would just need tweaking from time to time.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:16 am
Wow, All of the sudden it is not about winning the league anymore. Its about staying a float in the top 4. With Arsenal’s caliber in this era, this is not acceptable in my opinion.
Yeah we can talk about Wenger did this and did that and we should thank him for that what not, but the matter of fact, Wenger has raised the level up since he took over. Thus the expectation is higher. I dont see us winning the league in another 2-3 years. My hope is we dont loose players next year and keep buying 17-18 year old kids.Only time will tell.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 am
tAI,
Would I love to win the League? Darn right I would. I would love to win the CL, EPL and FA cups.
I am merely being realistic based on our current team profile and the history of our regular walking wounded.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I totally agree. I am just upset that Wenger really thinks or dream that this batch of players can win something.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 am
tAi.
We have ZERO chance of winning the league.
Wenger does not try to compete with United and Chelsea any more.
We can’t win the league with no depth, and not bringing in proper players, when United and Chelsea can bring in YOUNG stars to compliment their teams. They are already better than we are, and they just bring in players every year to get better.
We do feck all… and pray a lot.
No chance in the league.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 am
Oops just realized Man City now are actually own by another new owner. things surely changed fast in football. 18 superstars in January window? Ronaldo, Fabregas, Torres in the same team? cool! this is real life Football Manager stuff. won’t be suprised the Special One will be back to England managing City next season now they are really rich. I feel for poor SWP though, just signed for City again, back to the bench when all those stars arrive? he’s not going to start ahead of Ronaldo right?
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
As i said..a couple of years of this and Football Manager would be more realistic
..atleast teams have a budget there.
Think the Premier League and football is heading into dangerous territory now with the kind of comments the new Man City boss is making.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 am
So, ManCity should not dare to spend money.
They should just accept their role as mid-table?
What are you afraid of?
Who is it dangerous for?? Arsenal?
Yes, its dangerous if you want the status quo.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Who said anything about Man City and them having no right to spend?
I was talking about the Premier League and Football in general …the Man City comments being made show more and more that football is becoming more about the money and less and less about the sport
Let me quote the Simon Barnes article again where he talked about Arsenal
“I am never quite sure whether they are the only team in England who have truly understood sport, or whether they have completely missed the point”
This sums it up perfectly on where our respective opinions lie
And i’m not worried in the least of Arsenal losing out to Man City..we’ve competed in the last 4 years with the same model..if anything its should be Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool who should be worried.
Looks like the Man City owners are by far the richest owners of any football club ..so they can outspend anyone …..is there a chance that Abramovich and company feel that there is no point wasting money fighting a losing battle? …and go back to trying to develop another league like the Russian or the French League…possible scenario.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Andez, you sound bitter that ManCity would DARE to spend money to try and crack the top 4.
Is it ordained the United Chelsea Liverpool and Arsenal have to be there?
It would be refreshing, in my opinion.
It might actually force Arsenal to bring in some players.
Its a GOOD thing that Chelsea and United aren’t the only ones able to buy good players.
Maybe we can get SWP on a free. We know we wouldn’t want to spend a dollar on a player… it might cut into the profits from the most expensive seats in football.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 am
Seems like Curbishley has resigned as West Ham Manager …and Keegan set to exit Newcastle. Don’t think these clubs will ever learn that managerial stability is an important part of being successful in the long run
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I think Spurs have set a new standard regarding Berbatov’s “sale”.
Spurs did not want to sell him to Man Utd. On deadline day, they accepted a very nice offer from Man City. Berbatov heads to the Man Utd airport, where Ferguson just happened to be acting out his fantasy of being an airport driver. The two saw each other and it was love at first sight. Ferguson swept Berbatov off his feet while Mark Hughes was patiently waiting for his turn to talk to Berbatov a few miles away. While Berbatov is still drooling over Ferguson, Man Utd make a lower offer than Man City for Berbatov. Not only do Spurs accept, they also agree to not make a formal complaint against Man Utd.
Wow Spurs. Amazing stuff. Come this season, you can be sure that Spurs will still be pissed at Arsenal for events that happened in 1919 & even Sol’s free transfer move. But their fans will probably not flinch at Man Utd’s grab and smash job, which sets a new standard for getting a player — arrange a meeting at the airport, take the player to the club, have a medical and then the club will be forced to sell in shame.
I think Ronaldo needs to visit the Madrid airport.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Well, I think the fact that Cesc Fabregas came out and said we need ‘another dimension’ in central midfield speaks volumes for his stance on our squad. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him be specific about a certain area of the team that needs strengthening. It shows you much he enjoys playing alongside mediocrity like Denilson.
The decision not to strengthen the wings is baffling. Rosicky is never gonna play again so all we have is Nasri, Walcott, Eboue. Utterly pathetic.
Has Wenger forgot about the champions league? Because that squad may just about cut the mustard if we were only playing league games but throw in trips to Kiev and Fenerbache and he is seriously playing a dangerous game.
Anyway, this the last year we should allow for this ‘golden age’ to show us they are actually half-decent. When this policy fails, and it will fail, then hopefully Wenger will man up. If Wenger can admit to that and