Not Pretty, But Gunners Take Three Points
Aug 29th, 2015 by 'holic
This football season, like every one that has passed before, will see Arsenal produce performances that amaze and delight, and others that will frustrate. What will determine how the season pans out is how we are able to dig in and get results when we are doing the latter. Today was one of those, and while many have been critical of a ‘one nil to the Arsenal’ against ten men we may care to consider how important the three points gained today will be.
The team news produced a real surprise. Mesut Ozil’s knee-knack came out of the blue, and let’s hope that Arsene was right when he said it would only keep him out for one week. The selection of Theo Walcott ahead of Olivier Giroud was perhaps less of a surprise, but once again his performance in the central striker role raised more questions than answers. It was good to see that Laurent Koscielny was fit enough to return alongside Gabriel, and they formed an impressive partnership in the match that followed.
Steve McClaren told BT Sport beforehand that he had told his team to ‘get in their faces’ and his charges took him literally. Less than three minutes in Sissoko was shown a yellow card by Andre Marriner for his second foul of the contest, a stamp on Coquelin’s foot.
The first clear opportunity fell to Theo who came out second best in a one on one with Krul. Minutes later we were denied a clear penalty when only Marriner and his assistant failed to spot Thauvin’s trip and push on Hector Bellerin as the right-back ventured into the box. Had we not made the breakthrough later on we would have been bemoaning yet another decision that cost us two points, as on Monday night.
To be fair to the referee it was probably his only mistake all afternoon, although the fiercely loyal Toon Army, not privy to the replays that television viewers enjoyed, howled in dissent when Mitrovic was shown a straight red for an awful studs up challenge on Coquelin. The sending-off changed the nature of the match and the hosts were happy to concede possession while denying us space in the advanced positions. They remained combative, with both Mbemba and Thauvin getting yellow cards before the break.
So often we are frustrated by the two banks of four deployed around the edge of the box that many sides have employed against us. Some days we are able to unlock such defences with speed and precision of our passing. On others, like today, we are a little too patient and one-paced to break down the resistance. This is perhaps where Ozil was missed most.
We looked most likely to score when someone actually attempted to shoot rather than walk the ball in. An Alexis snapshot was parried to Theo but his attempt went high, wide, and not so handsome. If it sounds as though I am being overly critical about Theo then that is not the intention. He continues to see his future in the middle but his finishing is nowhere near consistent enough for that. Today we were crying out for his trickery on the right flank, where Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was having a rare off-day.
Six minutes after the break came the moment of good fortune that decided the match. Theo and Rambo were denied in quick succession by Krul but it was third time lucky for us as Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shot, heading wide of the far post, took a deflection of Coloccini and bounced in off the inside of the post. From this point our laborious, if patient, sideways football proved advantageous as it simply gobbled up the clock.
Newcastle’s determined resistance had drained them of the ability to produce any sort of effective counter-attack. In the final twenty minutes Arsene changed the personnel with Giroud replacing Theo, and ten minutes later Mikel Arteta coming on in place of the Ox. In the last minute the big Frenchman was put through by Rambo but Krul once again proved to be the master of the one on one situation.
So, not a day that will stick in the memory, but one that has been made better by Chelsea’s continuing troubles in the early stages of this season. If we can keep ourselves three points ahead of them then we won’t be far away at the season’s end. We will have to be far more incisive, however, to achieve that.
The timing of such a performance will add to the pressure on the club to bring in fresh blood before the transfer window is shut on Tuesday. Own goals as leading scorer after four matches is not a great sign. None of us knows for sure what is going on behind the scenes, but Ian Wright expressed his fear that we had put all our eggs in the Benzema basket and may have left it too late to switch our attention to alternative options. We have shown in the past we can close deals at short notice when the situation demands so I guess I will do what I always do in these situations.
Have a drink and chill out. Cheers, ‘holics.
280 Responses to “Not Pretty, But Gunners Take Three Points”
Drink tastes so good about now!
It’s the points that matter….
Just look at Pool and the Chavs!
😀
“A little too patient and one-paced to break down the resistance” Holic the positive spinster.
Good three points. Tough game to sit through. A bad day for Mesut Ozil to go lame.
A win against Stoke and it’s 10 out of a possible 15 which could be worse given our tendency to be “a little too patient and one-paced to break down the resistance” of pretty much anyone inclined to defend these days.
Brenda and Josephine are born on the same day, 26th of January.
Thanks guv!
Winning beautifully = 3 points!
Winning ugly = 3 points!
Chavs & Mugwashers at home = 0 points!
Up the Arse! COYBG!
We looked far more dangerous and fluent going forward when the Barcodes had a full complement! Why is that? Could it be because of the incredibly fluid and mobile front three aligned with their pressing play?! Well, well! Food for thought.
The ref Marriner had a decent game aside from missing the barn-door spot-kick!
A very good if somewhat generous write-up, Holic.
First and foremost, three vital points and a good, energetic performance if not a very fluent one.
Theo threw in another of those anonymous performances that frustrate so much. He achieved nothing I can remember and wasted a chance that a top striker simply has to put away. What does he do, on any sort of consistent basis, that warrants £130,000 per week ?
I’ve said before that I like Giroud for all that he contributes and his work rate but, unfortunately, he is not going to win us the league title.
My test for Giroud is this: When he is through one-on-one with the keeper, if someone froze time and you had to put your house on him scoring or missing, which way would you bet ?
I’m afraid my instinct would be for the miss as he, unfortunately, proved today. Through on goal in the last minute, he shot weakly and straight at the keeper. A really poor effort that would have put the game beyond the last atom of doubt.
Today’s other results have put our early season achievements into perspective. That’s not to say we have been playing well but that some of these games are not as easy as we might have thought.
I thought Coquelin was excellent again today with a performance that underlines how important it is to have proper cover/competition for him.
And however you dress it up, we desperately need a proper finisher.
That, Dan, is because as soon as a team goes down to ten men they abandon their attacking ambitions, close up and drop back.
Our tendency to drift inwards from both sides of the pitch plays right into the hands of the deep, packed, narrow defence.
We should have stayed wide and aimed to get behind them with pace but we just kept trying to play through them.
To be honest, with Theo up front that’s all you can do. He has no height to reach a high cross, no strength to power past people, and can only look to run behind the central defenders. As a result, we have to look for the threaded pass. With Ozil, that is difficult enough. Without him, it seems nigh on impossible.
Still kind of get a perverse kick out of the old one nil to The Arsenal 🙂 Haven’t seen the game as the better half and dog come first today and listening to reports I may swerve altogether but we won – The Portugese cunt lost so life’s good 😉 Will be even better if we find that Striker and DM to help out the Coq by Tuesday. !
Up The Arse,
Didn’t see the game as was en route to Belfast but on a day of shocks we didn’t slip up.
But Wenger does need to sort out a striker. Trev articulates the situation well
Theo runs across the line well and he runs behind the line superbly, but he doesn’t often come short and then go with a burst of pace. He doesn’t show enough.
Usually his finishing is much better. I spoke to an Arsenal fan at a game afterwards and I was thinking as I spoke to him that Theo had a Giroud day with his finishing and the guy said, “His finishing was awful today it was like watching Giroud when he has one of THOSE games”
There was no Twilight Zone music, but it was playing in my head.
We have two strikers who can be superb on their day but neither will score 25 – 30 goals and the manager doesn’t seem convinced by either of them, as he swaps and changes.
It would not surprise me if Walcott was dropped after one start, just as it didn’t surprise me to see Giroud left out after being dreadful against Liverpool.
He should decide who is his main man and stick to him, or buy someone else to do the job.
Blimey Cynic. That was a Yoda-esque summation of the striker situation, talk about hitting the nail so squarely on the head it goes in without a pilot hole.
Giroud should be no 2 behind a more reliable option, his run of ‘form’ right now is wretched and as for Theo, he looks painfully one-dimensional – and up top isn’t that dimension!
Of course, this dearth of putting the ball in the net has to happen while the rest of the team couldn’t buy a goal if they had a whip round on payday.
Four away games in a row in September.
Oh boy.
“Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor… and surviving.”
A very happy birthday to Steve T. There’s still over three hours of it left! 🙂
Drink to another fake loss for the Chavs and 3 points of acceleration past them by the good guys. Now emerging from the desert wilderness into the bright lights of the big city. What happened to Chelsea stays with Chelsea.
I didn’t go to the match and have read about it only on this blog (precious little) and on the BBC website. I can imagine the reaction.
There’s no getting away from it; playing 10 men for 75 minutes and beating them only by an own goal isn’t impressive. Scoring only three goals in the first four matches of the season isn’t impressive, and two of them being own goals isn’t impressive either.
On the other hand (and who can honestly claim to be surprised that there’s another hand), four games in, we have won 2, drawn 1 and lost only 1. That’s not great either, but the team has failed to click since pre-season and for a non-clicking team, that is a fair return. It’s something of a mystery why the team has stuttered so badly in the league after the pre-season went so well. During a poor pre-season, fans tend to remind each other that “It’s only pre-season” and that it will all change when the season proper starts. Curiously, we seem not to do the same during a good pre-season.
The BBC “report” (here) is predictably fatuous. “Arsenal’s failure to convert their dominance into goals is shown by their heat map” – of course, it isn’t. The heat map illustrate Arsenal’s dominances; the failure to convert that into goals is illustrated by the scoreline.
Statistics don’t tell the whole story, but having not seen the game, and lacking the football knowledge and experience to interpret it even if I had, statistics are all that I have. From the BBC’s own statistics on the same page as their “report”, Arsenal had 74% possession, which rather bears out their strangely captioned heat map. Arsenal allegedly had 22 shots on goal of which 13 were on target – I’ve never understood the ‘shots’ statistic, in many matches it seems to be at variance with the reports and in many Arsenal matches it seems inconsistent with the drinks posted on this blog – at all events, it suggests to me that all the “For God’s sake, Arsenal, SHOOT!” comments that I read regularly and hear frequently on my rare visits to Ashburton Grove, are inappropriate at least as far as this match is concerned. Another statistic that is hard to interpret is the fouls count – 15 committed by Newcastle United, 8 by Arsenal – while that is a perfectly credible ratio it strikes me as odd when set beside a red and six yellow cards adjudged against Newcastle United compared with one yellow card against Arsenal. It seems to point to some kind of bias in the referee, but certainly neither the anti-Arsenal, nor the pro-home side prejudice that I have come to expect.
And finally, the pundits… Alan Shearer, in a tweet quoted by the BBC’s “report” says that Arsenal need a top class centre forward. This from a retired centre forward! This after one goal (apart from own goals) in four games!! No shit, Sherlock.
What do I think? Well, I’m unable to explain Arsenal’s stuttering start to the season, but I have observed that throughout Arsène Wenger’s time as manager, Arsenal teams have run on confidence, and confidence grows slowly and is easily broken down. The pre-season should have built some confidence, but the performance against West Ham will have shattered that and injuries and illnesses to the centre backs won’t have helped. Barring a collapse against Chelsea, and after the season before last, I’m unwilling to rule that out altogether, I anticipate a slow return to form, followed by a run of good results, ending in another loss of confidence – repeat until fade.
Is it a problem that the team depends so critically on confidence? Well, yes, obviously, but I think it’s the natural consequence of playing the kind of breathtaking beautiful football that we have become used to over the past 17 years. When the right players come together such football is unstoppable – see, for example, season 2003-4. Please don’t tell me how much things have changed since that team came together – it was almost impossible that it should have come together in the first place and we are deluding ourselves if we think it was ever likely that a second such team should emerge in our lifetimes. Still, self-delusion is the lot of all football fans and it may well be impossible to be a fan without an unhealthy dose of it.
Actually, I think Arsenal need a top-class centre forward performing at near his best, in a team performing likewise. Would Arsenal benefit if they had a world-class striker? Of course they would; so would any team (with the possible exceptions of Real Madrid and Barcelona). Is such a striker available? I don’t know. Would Arsenal make serious efforts to acquire his services if he were available? Almost certainly. Would those efforts be successful? Again, I don’t know.
The same goes for a defensive midfielder, although the exceptional teams that wouldn’t be improved by a world-class DM may differ.
For myself, I’d like to see Arsenal make a serious bid for John Stones. I would love to see how the odious Portugee from the Fulham area would react to that. If we landed him, it would allow us to play with three CBs in some games, and Wenger might be able to convert one of those CBs into the DM that we need.
The above appears to have run to over 5k. Sorry – that’s what happens when I compose a drink offline (and I’ve been honing and polishing it for about the last three-and-a-half hours) rather than typing it into the box at the bottom of the blog. On the plus side, I think there are fewer typeaux than usual.
Congratulations on reading this far, if you have. I try to restrain my verbosity normally and hope to do so successfully for the rest of the season.
I’m now of to read this posting and back-drink from Cynic’s drink@143 in the previous bar.
And finally (honest, really really finally this time) I caught some comments from a Chelsea and a Liverpool fan on 606 earlier and near killed myself laughing.
COYG
Hell.
The BBC report is here.
Shearer? Retarded centre forward.
“I don’t know what I believe in. I try not to think about it. I don’t want to think about it.”
Please, don’t.
*Checks whether SSY is quote from me*
*Finds he isn’t*
*Sighs with relief and wipes brow*
Vermaelen scored.
One hundred pounds on our account.
Pronto.
Posted from the heart P. I don’t mind verbosity like that. 🙂
You better believe it Guv’nor. If a new post hadn’t appeared, I was going to offer it to you by email!
Happy Birthday, Steve T. ???
*tumbleweed blows across the bar*
It is clearly Girouds fault.
Lets hang the frog!!
I dont mean that literally.
Im just rather tired of the pundits and their … Punditting.
Easy cliches and scape goatis. Not my bag.
No movemt off the ball, sloppy passing, and little creativity. Yeap. Aube thats a problem.
Many happy returns Steve T.
Its still Summer, so a round of Guinness for everyone in the bar.
Well firstly happy birthday to Steve T. I’ve always considered it a personal affront if Arsenal lose on my birthday which coincidentally tends to be around FA Cup fourth round day. Today the lads made Steve’s birthday a little more complete which is nice.
Secondly that is a long epistle from Pangloss and a bold suggestion ( I think it was serious) to buy John Stones who we know would cost around £ 40 million and possibly would not get a regular game unless we switch to three at the back which Wenger doesn’t like although one could see us making it work with Hector and Gibbs or Nacho . I think Gabriel showed there are centre backs at least as good as Stones for about half the price so I would disagree with my learned friend on that.
Arsenal are grooming Bielik for the DM role and alternating him at CB in the U21s who have started the season well. I think Wenger will use Arteta until Bielik gets more experience or Hayden returns from Hull having done a good job there. He could also use Chambers there as I can’t see anywhere else he could use him.
Wenger won’t lump £40 m on a CB especially when he has three but he will lump on a striker if he can find one. The going rate for someone likely to do a top job AND satisfy the baying hordes is likely to be £50 mill and I think that might secure Cavani or Higuain or Lacazette although they are all quite different animals. As you know I have a sneaking regard for Charlie Austin and believe in a good team he might wreak havoc. He might even do well at Spurs but they’ve gone for a South Korean. Which self- respecting club buys a South Korean that no one has ever heard of to play upfront? Ridiculous !
I always look on the pessimistic side and believe Wenger has left it all a bit late but his apparent demeanour suggests something might be under way and I would guess that is most likely to point to Cavani.
To return to Pangloss’s piece I think the point about confidence is well made. It’s clearly cyclical but something else is afoot in modern football- the difficulty of winning at home . My friend , a Palace fan has started to. believe me when I say that their style suits playing away better than at Selhurst.in fact it does with most clubs. Liverpool are much better away from Anfield where they have scraped a lucky win and been stuffed by the Hammers. United have scraped through against Spurs and drew nil- nil with Newcastle. We haven’t won at home, neither have Chelsea or Spurs. There were only six home wins before today and we had freak results everywhere today.
The style of modern football with two lines of four tightly drawn across the pitch makes it hard to escape a strong press and this season the title winners may be the team with the best home record and possibly the flexibility to vary tactics against counter- attacking teams who set up like West Ham and Liverpool did at the Emirates.
On that basis and because they have a five point lead on us Citeh look big favourites to me but it’s only four games in and as Pangloss says confidence is transient so let’s hope it departs quickly from the Etihad.
Good post, TTG,
I’m beginning to wonder if Charlie Austin would be worth a punt for relatively little money too. That may well be desperation as no-one else seems to be available and we do need someone who can stay on their feet and finish.
Sorry, Homer, if you’re including me among those seeking scapegoats – i’m not. I have consistently listed all of Giroud’s good qualities every time I have criticised him but I genuinely and unfortunately feel he can’t be relied on to finish.
In this league you have to take your chances and too often he doesn’t. It’s a shame because I think he really cares. He just doesn’t seem up to it.
Having said that, he had a good return for the half season he played last term and I’ll be delighted if he turns it round this time.
*Checks whether SSY is quote from me*
*Finds he isn’t*
*Sighs with relief and wipes brow*
I think he was quoting the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Trev@8,
The answer I was looking for was “we played with width and pace against 11 but we became slow and narrow against ten. 😎
Thank you people.
3 points is 3 points although the same old problems that have been evident for several seasons now are still very much there.
Otherwuse, it’s been an eventful day I must say with a few more hurdles to clear on Sunday.
Here’s to Tuesday’s panic buys.
Very nearly the team I would have chosen (although with Giroud CF and Theo RW), but completely wrong tactics. Gregoire in the previous drinks pointed out all our speed upfront – Theo, Sanchez, Ox etc – yet we played tikka takka all day, about the slowest I’ve seen any team’s build-up play for yonks. Deeply frustrating.
And I lost count of the number of passes that went astray, with Sanchez and Ox in particular quite awful with their distribution.
Marriner was my motm with a much better game than the crowd would have you believe. Just about all his decisions were spot on – except for his penalty denial which would probably have set us up for a more decisive performance.
That OG is now our top-scorer says it all frankly. ‘Own Goal’ that is. I keep expecting the ‘on’ switch to be pressed at any moment, but sadly this lot don’t appear to be plugged in…
Öskar
Fine summary Guvna. While we were less dominant than we would have liked, playing against 10 men is not the cakewalk that us mere observers expect.
Today’s game confirmed several things:
The current squad is clearly not currently playing well enough nor is it strong enough to wrest the Prem from the oil-stained maw of $hitteh.
We need a lethal striker to convert all the clear chances we make against packed defences.
Feo is never going to be a CF at this level as he simply cannot play effectively against packed defences.
The team looks much more balanced with HFB up front but you wouldn’t bet your house on him scoring a gilt edged chance [(c) Trev].
Steve McClaren is either extremely stupid, nearly blind or a manipulative propagandist of Goebbels proportions.
The Geordie crowd are ignorant twats who deserve Mike Ashley.
OTD @32,
We started off well with the starting eleven chosen and that tactics by Arsene; pace, width and fluid mobility were all on show and frustrating the Barcodes (that’s why they resorted to UFC tactics). Things just went backwards once they went down to ten men; the lads brought their deck-chairs out again. I want us to become cruel and sadistic bastards when we’re being roughed-up and bullied, and go for the kill once we smell blood! This ain’t a knitting club at the Women’s Institute for fecks sake! 😎
Possibly a bit early to be criticising our strikers just yet. Aguero, Falcao and Costa have scored only one apiece, Kane and Austin are still on zero, and $iteh’s leading scorers are Fernandinho and Kompany.
And we’re 3 points ahead of the chavs and 4 ahead of the neighbours. Could be a lot worse!
Öskar
Bath @33,
OG is either a plan B with width or he has to play with a mobile partner if he’s a plan A. Try to watch the first 15+ minutes of the match again and you’ll see why a mobile central front man works for this side with running wide men and overlapping fullbacks.
You’re right about the attitude, DanC, and that is down to leadership, imo. Without a Paddy or Tony Adams, or players with real character like TH14 and RP7 we’re basically rudderless. Sanchez and Ox good but still not as good as the latter pair. But then few are of course.
Öskar
I agree OTD. Santi was captain today but you never would have known. I’d give the arm-band to Alexis once his English’s improved. Man, this squad needs more on-pitch leaders that can make the first team!
Archbishop?
“My understanding of sexual ethics has been that, regardless of whether it’s gay or straight, sex outside marriage is wrong.”
So, gay sex outside gay marriage is wrong but gay marriage is not wrong.
I’m sorry friends but you are dooooooomed.
Trev
Not giving you any guff.
Im talking about the talking heads. NBCsn. Neville and their ilk.
I dont post much lately for a few reasons. One, been a stupid buisy summer. Two, i find myself in agreement with the likes of Dr F, and yer good self, that its hardly worth posting, “yes. What he said.”
I just think its too early to panic – not that anyone is yet, save the pundits. Im still hoping AW pulls a surprise out of his hat, mind.
And frankly, im tired of the warring tribes bit. Getting my Ohhmmm …. On. Theres a lot of football to go. 3 points and off we go. Teams will drop points at st james park. We didnt. Winning ugly. All good.
Im still buying the Guinness ….
Whether or not AW pulls a surprise out of his hat, Homer, we need more from what we have. That we are in 5th place (pending swans/canaries results) seems hardly deserved the way we’re playing. When we finally start to click, as I’m sure we will, we may find AW’s chapeau surplus to requirements.
Öskar
@Oskar
I don’t for a minute think we should buy him, but Charlie Austin got two goals last weekend on his first start of the season.
happy belateds Steve T
3 somewhat lumpen points
but all donations gratefully received
UP THE ARSENAL !
Pangloss, your efforts were not wasted. I read every word at a leisurely pace to take it all in and there’s a lot of good sense there.
The way things are starting to unfold, e.g. the hilarious results at the bus stop in Fulham and the bin dippers’ back yard, coupled with our 3 points, might just help a glimmer of self belief to start shining through in the ranks of the arse.
Personally I would have to be very pleasantly surprised by our performances before I can have any belief in a title challenge. As always, I concentrate on just enjoying Arsenal. Trophies are just a bonus, not a right.
Such a unique set of circumstances yesterday with the early red card and Newcastle basically sitting in unbelievably deep with the two banks of 4 that analysis seems a touch redundant….But let’s give it a go! Admittedly, they had nigh on nothing to do, but the back 6 (Cech and Coquelin added to the back 4) didn’t put a foot wrong. If I were Wenger I’d be tempted to start using Gabriel much more regularly now – I think if he goes back to the bench after the international break, waiting for the next Per-Kos injury, it wouldn’t be right. Perhaps Wenger can start rotating his centre-back partnerships once there’s 2 games a week after the international break?
As for signing a striker….The way I see it, there are 8 forwards who I could guarantee would be an improvement on what we’ve got: Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Ronaldo, Benzema, Ibrahimovic, Lewandowski and Aguero. Obviously, none of them are moving/available/would come to Arsenal, so thereafter we’d be taking a bit of a gamble. (I assume we want someone who’s better than Giroud, Walcott, Welbeck, rather than just going to be of a similar level?) All those clamouring for Cavani – don’t you think that just as we’re currently fixated on the foibles of Giroud and Walcott, that Cavani doesn’t have his own? He isn’t massively prolific, tends to spurn chances in big matches like Giroud, and would cost us 40m for the privilege! We’re at the stage now where we have a cracking squad, and we only need players who can improve it, so I wouldn’t be at all bothered if Wenger doesn’t buy anyone on Tuesday. If he can unearth a leftfield, unheralded striker or does decide to go for a Cavani/Lacazette/Aubameyang – then I trust him on that, but I’m a big believer on the strength of our squad already.
When I saw our line up I was expecting plenty of width and pace with the objective of getting behind the Barcodes back line but we spent the entire game once again trying to thread balls through the middle against a team that parked the bus once they were reduced to 10 men.
It was not a good watch, I spent the whole game shouting at the TV for us to move the ball more quickly but as has already been said we slowed the game down, passing the ball across the pitch getting nowhere and without Ozil there was no one capable of breaking down their defence with the killer ball.
Even when we had a few chances, our strikers were found wanting and we had yet another lucky break with the deflected OG but it was 3 points and that was all that mattered as far as the league table is concerned. I know I would not have gone home happy had I made the long trip up north, I expect more!
As far as Newcastle’s tactics to kick us off the park is concerned, it was a shocking display of pathetic thinking by the manager who deserved a red card himself.
I presume Le Coq has not been called up by France. He will need 2 weeks to recover from the treatment dished out by the opposition thugs. Thank goodness the Ref got hold of the game early on, pity about the Pen.
Arsene really does need to pull a rabbit of quality out of the hat by Tuesday. We can’t make any sort of challenge to Citi without someone who can put the ball in the net.
COYRs
Arsene there must be a striker
Morning all! (or night or whatever it is in your particular time zone!)
Belated birthday wishes to Steve!
Had a great day out yesterday celebrating the win and enjoying the last embers of summery weather, sat outside drinking pints for many hours after the game. This “football on a Saturday” thing really is quite nice, the Premier League should try it more often…
Trev@7:
Today’s other results have put our early season achievements into perspective. That’s not to say we have been playing well but that some of these games are not as easy as we might have thought.
Agree completely. From what I could tell of MOTD highlights, West Ham fully deserved their win and the scoreline in the Palace win flattered Chelsea. And speaking of which, oh how nice it is to see the continued deterioration of Moaninho…
Afternoon All
On the striker debate I believe Wenger is right in not panic buying just to say he got one. There are the usual rumors regarding anyone he may fit the bill, Cavani springs to mind but this player has a 60m euro`s price tag and in my opinion not worth that money at all.
I would rather the bank balance stay as it is than buy an over rated player that is not worth his price tag. In saying that this transfer window seems more outrageous than normal. Everton turning down 40m for Stones !! where are those figures coming from ? Stirling ? De Bruyne ? and Pogba for 82.5m WTF.
Walcot isn’t the answer either so that does leave us bare up front, Sanchez could do a good job I think but isn’t the long term solution either. Welbeck ? not the answer but is Cavani ?
I think we would all agree the PL is a tougher league than League 1 and he hasn’t pulled up any tree`s in that league.
Mourinho thinks he can adjust. But wait until the opposition figures out this extra new way of beating Chelsea.
Paint Terry’s head like this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4PT5zbcKI2Y/VZJybQT6o2I/AAAAAAAAk4U/PoTCME9Xz1Q/s1600/Nike-2015-2016-Premier-League-Ball%2B%25283%2529.jpg
And then kick it in the net.
With the standard of refereeing these days a goal will be awarded nine of ten times.
Cheeky bid for Gomis anyone?
A rather flat performance yesterday but certainly a satisfying result in light of the other games this weekend.
Why is it when anyone else plays badly and wins they have “the mark of champions” but when it’s the Arsenal it’s “the same old failings”
@ 50 – Gomis would be a great signing at this stage…really like him.
Man Utd lose to Swansea for the third time in a row.
No easy games.
I thought yesterday’s performance was hard-working and started with very good energy. Lack of width and moving the ball too slowly at times maybe cost us a more impressive scoreline but even then, had Walcott and Giroud put their best chances away it could easily have been 4-0 and that’s without the “penalty”.
Do those calling for a bid for Gomis know his goal scoring record in the past season or two or are they basing their calls on 4 games? Thought so.
To be honest, at this point I am glad we missed out on Morgan Schneiderlin for that money. I was a huge fan of him last summer, not so sure anymore.
On other hand there are two players in this Swansey team that I would not mind at Arsenal atm.
Gomis could be an interesting choice if we can’t find anything better. I believe he has a release clause of 7m, it would be mad to miss out on that. If no one better is available that’s it.
Also would not mind Ki. That boy is very underrated, but I find him even a better footballer than Morgan and much more cheaper than him too.
If the cheeky bid for Gomis is £1.50, yes. We’d have nothing to lose. You can’t even get ten fags for that thesedays, even loose ones.
Porco, I am basing my call on this season games, I saw all four of them, sorry I didn’t know it is wrong.
Didnt have a chance to watch him playing as a kid, missed his games for his school team, and his youth career is a myth to me, my bad.
However I watched some Lyon games in the past and all I can tell is that he was quite an average player, kind of slow, rusty and fans didn’t liked him. I thought that his career is drained when he signed for Swansey with Bony in the squad. He didn’t do anything to prove me wrong last year, even though he scored some interesting goals, including two against us, if I am not wrong.
But, what I see so far this year is completely different player, much faster with a lot of self confidence and energy, exactly what Giroud lacks.
Not saying that we should buy him, but if someone offers me Gomis for 7m or no one, I know what my choice would be.
Anyway I hope for better player and I am sure Arsene has something in mind. Would save Gomis as a backup option though.
Calls for Gomis echo from similar sources to the demands for David Moyes to replace Arsene, Fellaini to be our new mid-field maestro and Benteke to solve world hunger up front.
I’d still like to sign Fellaini, but only if a condition of the deal is that everybody has to have his hairstyle. Can you imagine Mert with a sandy blonde, half ginger, kinky afro? He’d rock that shit.
Lurky, I’m not calling it wrong. He’s simply on a hot streak that may not be representative of his quality over 9 months or more.
By Christmas he might have faded from the limelight having only scored another 3 or 4, then he wouldn’t look so attractive. Sorry if I sounded judgemental.
The same sources that claimed that Coquelin career is over and he will never make it at Arsenal, basing their opinion on a deficient highlights from a Charlton game in the Championship, where he played as a right back?!
Fair enough Porco, I think that might be the case too, and he will fade later but as I said, the striker is in good form atm, PL proven and 7m is not a lot of money in today’s football.
We are not going to sign him anyway, so will stop right here, it was just a thought from a happy feeling that he scored against MU.
If we keep waiting for players to be available before we sign them then we would keep on being inferior to Chelsea, Man U and City. When we sold Fabregas, Van Persie, Reyes, Henry and Hleb I don’t they were available, but we were muscled into selling them. We have to learn how to muscle teams like Tottenham, Everton, Athletico Madrid, Dortmond, Porto and Sevilla the way we were being muscled by Barca, City, Chelsea, Man U etc. We don’t wait for Kane to be available we go for him.
Congratulations “Naija gooner”, you win the prize for being the first to call here for Arsenal to buy Harry Kane.
And who did “City” muscle us into selling to them? Sagna – generally thought to have approximately reached his sell-by date after many years faithful service and wished well by all? Nasri – generally thought to have been a c*nt and missed by almost no-one?
COYG
Lurky, nothing wrong with feeling good about manure conceding goals!
Corona with lime on the bar for you.
Cynic @60.
Don’t make me dip my elbows in that shit. 😉
I’d rather let someone else spend £80m on Kane. There’s been a few players over the years who have had one sparkling season, only to have an average to below average career. He might be the latest.
Michu, for example.
Gomis on the other hand would be worth a punt.
BtM @59,
“….Benteke to solve world hunger up front.” Hee! Hee! Now that would be “world class indeed”! 😀
I think Citeh levered young Emanuel Adebayor from us PG
Hilarious I know
It makes you wonder why they would ever do business with us again
But back they came, a fool and his money etc …..
To be fair the various moves that Aeebayor has made since, generally for £tens of millions in transfer fees and wages would, in the real world, be subject to careful investigation.
That is football though – infinite gullibility mixed with almost infinite resources
Naija,
No need to muscle Tottenham into selling their players – just wait a season and they give them all away.
Not that we’d want any of them anyway. ?
Anyone watching MOTD?
The outraged look on Rooney’s potato-shaped face when his theatrical fall didn’t win him a pen? Just priceless.
We have basically the same team that was better than anyone else for the second half of last season. Either it’s just a matter of time before they start firing again, or there’s something seriously wrong with either the tactics or their motivation. If the former all will come right in time. If the latter then the manager may have some explaining to do.
But it’s not like we’re in the relegation zone, let’s give it more time before we throw money at whoever is having a hot streak in front of goal currently. And ffs play Theo on the wing, AW.
Öskar
Evening all, Chill 🙂
Monday afternoon now and after all the other results of the weekend in our favour, I’m definitely chilled. A nice pint of Strongbow please, barman.
It seems like until we get a satisfying 3-0 with silky smooth passing and thunderous goals we’ll all be spinning around the frustration that’s the start of the season.
It’s all just biding time isn’t it. The beautiful torture that it is.
Transfer deadline day looms. Fun times.
Its our home results that have disappointed. We need a bit of flat track bullying to restore confidence. Two clean sheets is good even if the Liverpool one was extraordinary and in retrospect the Palace result was a very good one.
What the season has indicated so far that while the quality is dubious this is now an incredibly hard league to win. Were Citeh not unbeaten and stuffed with players ( albeit incredibly overpriced players) I would be quite relaxed but I would love to see a world- class striker arrive gift- wrapped before tomorrow teatime. But Im very pessimistic anything will happen.
Though a fan of Wenger’s he rarely does what we need fully in the window. We were left chronically short of a top centre back last year and by the highest standards I think some cover for Coquelin would be nice although we can cope. But it is very hard to see us winning the toughest games with our current striking resources, despite that sounding like a cliche. But I will be so pleased to be rid of rags like the Star, Express and Metro peddling utter bollocks and silly website’s dressing up,a sale as a purchase in their headlines to get hits. But of course we all know they will just roll,everything on to the next window this time .
I suspect aim not the only old lag on here who feels somehow despite all the glamour and progress made there was much more romance, intrigue and thrill before the game became a business.
Should Arsenal not purchase anyone their cash reserves will be obscenely high and to what purpose? Should the season not be a triumphant one it would be hard to defend a board and management that didn’t add a single outfield player and oversaw the usual exodus on loan and via sales. Still mustn’t jump the gun let’s see what today and tomorrow bring.
UTA?
Gomis was outstanding yesterday, but he’s also 30 years old and, prior to this run of goals, scored 2 in 21 for the Swans.
Thank you Lars, CBA and others for the birthday wishes.
Some interesting points and names being banded about above. The point made by Naijs re our transfer dealings is more than valid, although I don’t want us anywhere near the Spuds or their trash.
The fact that prices and wages have increased massively should be of no surprise to anyone. With the massive increases in revenue gained from the new TV deals and other sponsorship I suggested some time ago that this was inevitable. Board members saying we have £200 million to spend does not help the situation either.
I have always thought that a lot of this hinges on the aims and abilities of the board and Stan. What are the real priorities? Do they genuinely want a side capable of challenging for the title or are they perfectly happy going to bed every night cuddling up to a copy of the balance sheet?
To take us to the next level on the playing side requires a certain degree of investment. Is it a great business decision to spend £150 million on new signings if we win the league and it generates another £100 million in revenue? To us fans it’s a massive yes. To Stan and his buddies I’m not so sure.
Arsene is a dream manager for Stan and the board. He is highly respected and constantly delivers. Two cup wins have only strengthened his position. I am, and always have been a huge fan of AW. He has done wonders for this club. But I also find myself agreeing with a lot the Gary Neville has been saying recently. The deficiencies in this squad are the same as they have been for the last 5/6 seasons. Unless rabbits are produced we again face a season yet again, 3 players short. I don’t remember starting a season when we weren’t at least 3 players short. The situation highlighted above from last season re the centre backs is a prime example, although there are those that are regulars here that thought back then that it was all fine.
As I said earlier, some of the names being banded about now just show the desperation. We all know we are short in certain positions. We all know that there is a substantial amount of money available to address these issues. So, why have they not been dealt with? You can’t tell me there is not one player out there who would not have added to the quality in our squad? So why, 32 hours before the transfer window closes have we only signed a keeper? Incompetence? lack of ambition? Stubbornness? Or another reason?
I will wait until the window closes before making a final judgement but at the moment this all seems very familiar to me. The only major difference would appear to be that this time, the club really have run out of excuses.
For the last five year’s I have seen the same statement’s made regarding the transfer window and our dealings. And I am truely, royally fucked off with the trolley-dash references.
Look at it as poker, brinkmanship, blink-you’ve lost. Unless you have unlimited nation based, indeed perhaps ill-gotten, finances. Oh 55,000,000.00 I’ll have two thanks.
The last 24 hour’s – time to tune your game, zone-in, flex the finger’s, slide down the shades, the game start’s now.
Oh and Neville is a total knob.
By the way Mr ‘H last sentence, first paragraph beautifully put.
My understanding which like all these things is only fourth hand was that Ozil was only signed after the Board brought huge pressure on Wenger. It was virtually an ultimatum to appease the fans.
Similarly the Welbeck transfer was bizarre last year with Wenger going to Rome and making cryptic remarks after Giroud and Walcott were both out long- term.
It is an aspect of the club that will continue to frustrate and which doesn’t make much sense. Why hoard cash if you don’t pay a dividend and fans are disgruntled at high admission priced? As Steve T says there must be players who can improve a squad albeit it a very good squad. I didn’t think we needed much but I didn’t think we needed nothing at all !
Lord Harris didn’t help matters and I wonder if he was used by the Biard in a video message to say it’s not us it’s Wenger who refuses to spend . I shan’t buy his carpets ever again
Sorry I meant coded not video!?
LTHG. I wonder why the same things have been said for the last five years? I would subscribe to your poker theory if that was what everyone else did in the transfer window.
TTG. I agree re the signings of Ozil and Welbeck to a degree. I think both deals presented themselves to the club and we went for it. I don’t think that either were original targets that were discussed when transfer targets were mentioned earlier in that year.
I know he a figure that divides opinion but I would suggest that we have not been as anywhere near effective in the transfer market since David Dein left.
Just my opinion.
Just an observation, but last summer we had the second highest net spend in the entire league.
I share some of the concerns about the lack of activity this summer, but I do think things need to be kept in perspective. We’re a long way from where we were in summer 2013, both in terms of cash spent and trophies won.
If the board can pressure Wenger into making signings on a regular basis then query why they’ve not done so again this time around.
My own suspicion is that we put all our focus on Benzema, watched as other decent targets have moved and are now in great danger of being left with nothing to show for our efforts. I think the willingness to spend is there, but we seem to have misjudged our chances of signing the Frenchman and failed to hedge.
None of the above is to say that criticism isn’t justified. But I don’t believe this summer is exactly the same as the last two (when we did spend) or summers previous (when we didn’t have any cash).
Other opinions are available.
COYG
Nicely put N7 @ 87.
I wouldn’t be so sure that we’ve failed to hedge just yet though. The reason Wenger leaves it late is because we’re competing against clubs who have much more money and he’s been gazumped so often in the past given his reputation for having an eye for talent.
I still think we’re going to make one signing at least.
Trev – Superb post @ 7.
Agree with every syllable.
N7. You may well be right about our net spend last season but I also think that needs some perspective too. For some reason we spent the best part of £30 on two right backs. We did not bring in a centre half. Why was our net spend so high? One argument would be that we had nothing left to sell? The days of the constant rumours around are star players departing had all but dried up.
I hear what you, and many others say about previous years but just don’t agree. For me the lack of spending being linked to stadium costs is a total red herring. A myth perpetuated to justify the lack of investment. I respect all of the views of others who are not from this school of thought, I just don’t agree.
I’m more than happy to leave final judgement up until the window closes. Who knows, by 5 tomorrow afternoon we might have three to class signings and be £100 lighter? Perhaps it is a game of poker after all? I am more than willing to revise my opinions as and when fresh evidence dictates.
Am I brimming with confidence that this will happen? The somple abswer is no, not in the slightest.
Fair enough, Steve. People see these things differently and we’ll probably never know the full story about what we did or didn’t have to spend over the last decade. What convinces me we were broke is the following:
Net spend 2005-2012: £0
Net spend 2013-2015: £110m
New commercial deals kicked in: 2014
Our spending hasn’t been perfect, by any means, but the above makes it tough for me to believe that we had money and chose not to spend in pre-2013.
Anyway, don’t want to get into a big debate about it – we’ve done this one to death by now and everyone is entitled to their view. God knows we’ve all agonised over the topic enough.
Steve T, it repeats because it is as Joe says. I, like you want us to improve. The harsh reality is we’re gambling against governments and those supported by governments.
That is why Mr Wegner is a total fucking genius.
COYRG
@Joe
I really hope you’re right!
And kudos to N7 as always
My gut feeling : AW want to sign a new and real striker , but there is a limit on how much he want to pay , in term of price and salary .
If he can’t , he will revert back to his initial position : Giroud , Walcott and Wellbeck . Remember Bendtner , he used to be our striker .
If Walcott get a pay of 130K , there is a reason behind , but Bendtner get pay a lot too , so we shouldn’t read to much about this .
Football is a game of passion and passion without reason can ruin a club .
We already see Spurs and Liverpool , buy left and right and then what ?
I want to see what will happen with Chelsea and Man Utd . If they fail , it will be a huge explosion with many hundred millions to be spent again .
If Arsenal fail again this year , it will be rather fan frustration and nothing else , same fan frustration again , is it ? Arsenal fans are used to frustration .
Arsenal owner is an American , a capitalist with always a thinking of investment and return on investment .
N7. If our net spend between 2005 and 2012 was zero does that not make you want to ask why? It makes me want to ask why a club of our size and stature, with sell out crowds each week suddenly turned into a club that needed to sell star players to balance the books? I know we had moved into a new stadium but we were all told quie categorically that this would not affect our transfer dealings.
£110 million equates to Ozil, Alexis and two right backs.
I agree totally that we will never know the true facts about how much is available to spend and who pulls the strings. I just think we should be in a lot better position than we are now. I genuinely think we have missed a trick. The increase in revenue will all be relative as fees and players demands increase as a result. I keep hearing the phrase ‘value for money’ being banded about. For me this again is subjective due to the increase in revenues.
LTHG. I hear what you say. Every transfer is a gamble to a certain extent. That is where you have to lay your trust in the hands of those in charge to make the right decisions. But our inability to address the areas of obvious weakness over the last 5 years has been a constant frustration for me and many others. It is also a situation that I will always believe should have been avoided.
As I said, just my opinion.
3 points, 2 away wins against 2 teams which a lot of other teams will struggle to beat. This is one way to read or a more pragmatic way would be 7 points out of 12 and still no home win. 4 games into the season the dire need of a striker and a cover/upgrade to coquelin remains.
I do not see us buying a striker of any note in the next 2 days, simply because there is no one available. The kiev striker Yarmolenkov is the latest name touted but anyone can be linked in the last 2 days.
The perennial oh so close yet so far is what everyone is afraid of this season and i am one of them too. I truly believed the signing of Cech was substantial and if we had added 2 more, we would have won the league. Last season and this presented the best chance we have had to win the league in a long time because baring one team, last season chelsea, this season city( united signings are bollocks), no other team have really strengthened so much that they can win the title for sure.
Conversely, the mid lower teams have strengthened leaps and bounds with not just spending randomly but more so spending admirably. Hence the league will be a lot closer than normal and shock results will no longer be shocking because any team is capable of beating the other, home or away.
Arsene is hoping a lot out of theo and Danny this season and i hope that it does materialize for he is putting all his eggs in one basket. Danny does offer real hope provided he is injury free, Theo just needs to realize he will never be a striker and instead focus on being a proper winger.
A good weekend though for chelshit lost, pool were shown their place and united and lvg’s philosophy was pig poo. Anyone mentioned spurs?/ oh never mind them they are laughing at themselves.
@Steve
We were told quite categorically that the stadium would not impact our transfer dealings. And we were lied to.
The raw data shows a ten year period of no spending, with spending on either side, immediately after moving to the stadium. The simplest explanation – other than a decade long period of temporary insanity – is that we were paying off the new gaffe, and tied to long term underpriced commercial deals.
Anyway, as I said above, there’s not much point going back round it: I think we’ve both thought long and hard enough about the topic that neither of us will have our minds changed at this stage.
I do agree that if we sign no one else this summer then we have most certainly missed a trick.
Oh, and the £110m represents two right backs, Ozil, Sanchez, cech, Welbeck and Gabriel.
Arsene has said in the past that in his opinion the best strikers are South American. We all know how difficult it is now to get work permits unless the player is of the super star status which leaves us with a smaller pool in the EU.
We need a pacey striker who is capable of fitting into our squad, a goal poacher who would finish the chances provided by Ozil & Co, 90% of the time.Only Citi and Barca have that sort of player, anyone else IMHO would be second best. Look at the failures at United last season!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as desperate as all of you for “that striker”.At least I have the US Open to occupy my mind not to mention the decorating I have just embarked on. The weather in West Norfolk is absolutely foul, there won’t be many ice creams sold in Hunstanton today.
Ever hopeful of a surprise signing. COYRs
We’re we lied to or are there other failings at board level with regards to our transfer dealings?
Ozil 45 mill, Sanchez 35 mill, 2 right backs £28 mill. I will still never understand how we started the season with 2 centre halves and 4 right backs on our books. That will always be a mystery to me.
Like Vinay I truly hoped that the signing of Cech was the dawn of a new era. But it would appear not.
As I said, give it until the window finally closes and we will then be in a better position to judge.
Steve, Chambers was not bought as a right back. I’m not really sure where that idea comes from, but I assume it is because he played there a bit last season but he is and was seen as a central defender (which is also where he made his debut for the club, btw) first and foremost. He filled in at RB, yes, but there are plenty of quotes where Arsene says that Chambers is a player who shall play in the middle.
TTG: I don’t for a second believe Arsene was “pressured” into buying Özil. That is quite clearly bollocks because if Arsene didn’t want Özil, why did he speak to him on the phone several times trying to convince him? Would seem a bit counter-productive to me. And like Dan says, if the board could pressure him then, why not do it more often? Ivan Gazidis is also on record saying that the club worked on that deal for months. Just because it happened late and with very little talk about it before doesn’t mean it was a quickly done deal. On the contrary, I’d wager that it was probably all but done for quite a while but Real wanted to get the Bale deal over the line first.
Lars. Sorry buddy but I don’t agree with you in the slightest about Chambers. As far as I’m concerned he was bought as a right back. Where he ends up playing may be a totally different story though. As discussed several posts ago, I am one of those very much in favour of him going out on loan. I see absolutely no sense in him struggling to get a seat on the bench. He needs to play and to play regularly.
Park Chu Young last minute signing *striker needed* we wont go there, however I was at the home game when against Bolton when he scored in the cup.
Very much like a Jensen moment apart from Park being a striker.
Lars. Chambers is described on dot con as follows….
“the versatile youngster started his career in midfield, but established himself at right back last season and can also play in the centre of defence”
I would not be at all surprised if he ended up in the middle as I said above, and his potential versatility may well have been key to his signing. But I don’t think he was bought as a centre half.
Steve: I have seen that quote, but it doesn’t say he was bought as a right back and it is not a quote from Arsene. It also just said he established himself at Soton at RB, not that he was bought to play there for us. This, however, is Arsene himself talking about him:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150508/boss-why-chambers-will-play-centrally
Sorry, repeated myself a bit there – the dangers of changing the wording of a post mid-typing 🙂
Chambers played as a backup right back to Clyne the whole season before joining us. Arsene saw him playing as a right back against us and decided to buy him.
As Steve says, in which position he will end up is not relevant to that he was bought as a RB with potential to be used as a DM.
Which reminds me of this time last year, when most of the regulars here were quite certain that we have enough cover in the defense.
Which left me in disbelief as it was obvious that we had only two CB’s, and one of them was in post WC hangover while the other was injured from the start of the season. And there was plenty of time to address that weakness, why we haven’t at the time is still a mystery to me and I think it have cost us many points and maybe a title.
Just as I think that failing to sign a striker will cost us this year. The only difference is that now we all, the fans, pundits and Arsene himself are thinking the same. So, why on earth we allowed that problem not to be solved one day before the deadline when the money is available to spend?
Lars. It’s a cut and paste from the official web site.
As I said, I would not be at all surprised if he ended up playing centrally, but for me he was bought as a right back with potential to play in the middle.
Drink of your choice on the bar Lurky. Couldn’t agree more.
Massive, massive stretch to say not signing a back up centre back last summer cost us the title. Monreal filled in absolutely fine – I can think of maybe one goal conceded that was down to him.
That said, the next 48 hours are probably a prime opportunity for everyone to wheel out their crackpot theories: there will certainly be a receptive audience ready and waiting to get angry about pretty much anything.
This is basically Xmas eve for people on the Internet who reckon they could run a football club, no bother. Have at it.
Arsene saw him playing as a right back against us and decided to buy him.
And Henry was playing in midfield for Juventus. Didn’t stop Arsene from buying him to play in attack.
Didn’t know that having an opinion on the subjects regarding the club you love is allowed only to a chosen ones and all the others can imagine running a football club.
BTW, I never claimed that Chambers wont end as a CB, he probably will, just that he was bought as a RB
Just a small thought as we approach the end of the transfer window.
Lets say that we have 50m prepared to pay for the striker, if right player is found that is – improves on what we already have and makes significant impact right from the start.
Who would you like to see arrive to Arsenal for that kind of money and is realistically available to us (i.e. not only the club he plays for would be willing to sell but also the player would want to play for Arsenal)?
Randomly asking since I cannot see any player like that being available in the moment.
Also, where is Snir when you need him? This used to be a day when he took day off just to scour info all over the internet.
Lars. Henry is totally different. Henry was with AW at Monaco. He was a striker at Monaco. The only reason he hardly played up front was because of Trezeguet and Anderson. Arsene is on record as saying that all three were top class strikers but he could not play all three up front. All were so good that he could not leave one out and so he played. Henry out wide. He went to Juve as a winger with Arsene effectively saying to him that if it did not work out then give him a call. A year at Juve and the rest is history.
Eandy. I would actually take a player like Charlie Austin rather than take no one at all. There will be people falling off their chairs at that but just ask yourself one question. Who plays up front if OG is injured? Especially if he is out for a lengthy period? Please don’t say Theo. He is not a central striker. Not yet at least. Before people start proclaiming that he should play as a striker please rewind some six months and review all of those who wanted him sold as he wasn’t worth the money he wanted in his new contract.
I personally don’t think that there is any blind panic for a CB as what I have seen of Gabriel I believe he will be a great addition to the defense.
Chambers had a shocker but has barely kicked a ball at RB let alone CB in the last year. However Gabriel looked very much in the Kos role, quick, great leap and reads the game very well. I would go as far to say the BFG needs to be worried. Kos & Gab could form a great partnership and have BFG and Chambers as back up. If we get the usual injuries we still have Monreal and Debuechy or however you spell his name as possible back up to the CB role.
Chambers does need to go out on loan in truth and that may then lead to a decision for AW to make regarding the CB role.
We need a striker if we can get one but who is around that isn’t up for a hugely inflated price and over rated. We also need a DM as if the Coq gets injured Flamini and Artea are not the answer any more.
No time left and positions left open, no change there then.
COYG`s
Steve T, Charlie Austin is an interesting suggestion, not the first time I see his name mentioned, but I do not think that Arsene rates him high enough for him to become our main striker (and have to say that I do not either).
The thing is, buying player like him would be a stop-gap solution, not improving on what we already have in my opinion. So what should we do, just by someone to have a striker in terms of numbers or someone who significantly improves us and even pushes Olivier down the pecking order straight away.
With the current state of market it is all rhetorical questions, but maybe some transfer merry-go-round in the last day makes someone interesting available. I personally would not say no to guy like Aubameyang, but then again, Dortmund were adamant he is not for sale. Reus would be a dream signing but again, very highly unlikely.
I would certainly take Charlie Austin if we cannot get the big name targets we have been trying to get in. He would be a welcome addition to the striking options and an upgrade on some that we have had in the recent past.
I am sure we are frantically working on Plans B, C, D & E.
Unless there is loads going on under the surface then we have left it too late. Austin would be nothing more than a stop gap. Unfortunately, time is not really on our side at the moment.
I thought finishing 3rd was actually going to give us the opportunity to go out there and get our targets early and bed them into the team. No need waiting for CL play-offs. Getting either Benzenma or Cavani was going to be a long shot. There must be two players out there (CF/DM) that would have improved this squad. ( please do not ask me whowe do have scouts right? Still don’t understand why Wenger likes putting himself under this much pressure all too often waiting till the last minute. As big a club as we are, we cant always rely on getting last minute deals most of the time. Who will want to sell you a decent player this late without having time to get a replacement.
Wouldn’t hold my breath on AW doing any signing to bolster the attack. After all, the newest addition — the aptly-named Irish striker Owen Gael — has bedded in well with two goals in the first four EPL fixtures. Secondly, don’t forget that AW’s next LANS, Danny Welbeck, will be returning soon. And I think that he believes that in Alexis he has his own Aguero. So why get another striker?
Delia @ 99
” Arsene has said in the past that in his opinion the best strikers are South American. We all know how difficult it is now to get work permits unless the player is of the super star status which leaves us with a smaller pool in the EU ”
This is true . African and South American kids play soccer 16 hours a days , the only time they don’t play : eat and sleep . It develop an instinct on the ball , a fraction of a second , remember a certain Didier …?
European kids go to school and play soccer after school .
Eandy. Could be that Snir realized he could spend his time more usefully doing something (anything?) else.
Nah. I must be wrong …
Come on home Snir, wherever you are. Give us the low low lowdown.
Why are people arguing about what position AW signed Chambers to play in? Must I be caught in a parallel universe or has Chambers been announced as a new signing?
I think I have declared my hand on Charlie Austin before. Remember last deadline day we had no back – up CB and two strikers seriously injured and he went to Rome to coach a team for the Pope! His cryptic comments about the purchase of Welbeck were very hard to decipher!
Charlie Austin is a better natural finisher than Giroud or Walcott or Welbeck but not as talented a footballer. I saw him get a very smart goal against us at Loftus Road last season and we had a little debate when I said we should sign him. Why West Ham, Palace of Spu*s have not signed him I do not know he is a very real option for them and would get goals for us. I suspect his injury issues are deterring people.
As for the wider question of transfers I am an enormous Wenger fan but this is an area that does not work well at the club. To come back on Lars’ rebuttal of my point on Oxil the deal was in place but Wenger backtracked on it just as he has backtracked on other deals in recent times ( I am led to believe Schneiderlin was there for the asking) as was the French right back Aurier who went to PSG eventually.
He is very careful with ou cash and this has served us exceptionally well but we are in an era now where transfers need to be a bit more dynamic in their execution, like flying Supermac down to Denis Hill- Wood’s house in a private plane.
I don’t expect much and if Austin us available I won’t be slagging off Wenger for buying him. Probably?
Oxil is a combination of Ox and Mesut On this occasion I meant Mesut!
@112
You confuse the right to hold an opinion with the right to express an opinion unchallenged. Free speech is a conversation, not a monologue. That’s what stops people from chatting any old bollocks without correction.
Looking like an unhappy end to the transfer window, followed by a period of introspection. Bah.
COYG
@TTG
In case it’s useful info: I think I’ve mentioned before that a few of my family are season ticket holders are Loftus Road. They love Charlie Austin, but they openly laugh at the idea of him being good enough to play for Arsenal.
Doesn’t mean he couldn’t, but there you go. Personally, I think he’d be the
Oops.
… personally I think he’d be the panic buy of all panic buys, particularly given the doubts over his long term fitness.
He does seem a lovely bloke though.
Cheers, Joe @88.
Let’s be honest, we’ve made some strange panic buys over the years. It even goes back to the days of George Graham and when we bought the likes of John Hartson and Chris Kwomye. The fact that many would welcome someone like Charlie Austin at this stage I suggest tells you all you need to know. He would not be an Arsenal thoroughbred but would be more than useful when we play some of the lesser sides, allowing others a breather.
It’s funny. I know Clive touched on it a few weeks back about the lack of drinks after the West Ham game. I think a lot of that is down to a resigned apathy. I do start to feel exactly the same about our transfer dealings.
Sign Austin but only if he changes his name to Steve and the fee is six million dollars.
There was one panic buy signing that was more underwhelming.
He came from Manchester United
https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6012/5999390151_896dedaab6_z.jpg
(alternate spelling 😉 )
Cynic. He he to both.
Steve Austin. 6 million. Can you imagine the headlines if he got injured???
steve t (happy belated, btw) @135:
“Austin picks up a knock. Arsenal says they can rebuild him in 3 weeks”.
that’s one, anyway.
n7 @129, spot on.
3 delicious, yummy points.
Yum Yum Yum.
There is nothing I like better than to feel those points in my tummy tum tum. 😀
Steve T. Happy extra-belated and I hope it was a good one with plenty of width. 😉
Just to add to the general air of d&g, of course the European transfer window shuts in a couple of hours, so teams won’t be able to buy replacements if we do try and complete deals tomorrow.
Call me a ray of sunshine 🙁
n7
129
.
“Free speech is a conversation, not a monologue”
😉
much prefer the free speech monologue model
.
conversation implies one
model acknowledges the other
or gives a monkey’s tit either way
in my experience
models are less than bothered
.
free speech a contract
*chuckles*
.
*won’t get outta bed “uncorrected” for less than £10k*
🙂
you must be a rich man, cba 🙂
Just to add to the general air of d&g
Dolce and Gabbana?
Who’s which?
🙂
Here’s a question then.
If you’re schizophrenic and both parts of the personality are having a conversation with each other, is that a proper conversation or monologue?
howdy ‘hol
dolce and gabbana mention, eh ?
😉
ha cynic
d&g
<great minds think alike
= maths o level
A i got i might add
if I was a professional footballer
ineptitude notwithstanding
i'd a been called professor
Cynic, it’s both, depending on which one of me is speaking.
scruz 141
😉
sadly am as poor as fuck
can’t clothe me family
goalposts for jumpers
Smilin’ 🙂
The joys of nuthood. I joined officially a couple of years ago. Didn’t know it was a life sentence.
Makes you even more appreciative of others struggles, and how lucky you have been.
good man ‘holic
too right !
.
*picks splinters outta little jedediah an emmylou’s shoulder blades*
cba, you always sound uncorrected, so i only figured. goalpost jumpers sound terrible.
my wife and i were once given green sweaters with little 2″ tall white sheep stitched in, and a black sheep over the heart. we left them at a church, because we were damned if we were going to advertise we were black sheep.
say hello to the moos for me. a drink of redbreast, and the corresponding nesbo book (*with* bookmark) on the bar for you.
N7
You make ( as usual ) an excellent point although I wonder how many goals Giroud , or Theo or Welbeck would have scored playing in that awful QPR team.
My mate is a QPR season ticket holder and thinks he might get 25 goals plus with the chances we create. But I’d like to see Arsenal moving heaven and earth to sign a top quality striker albeit at the very last minute.
According to the papers this is clearly Cavani …or Higuain …..or Pato but no mention of Charlie. Must be him then.?
scruz
gentleman as ever
*swally hoovered*
.
.
but
not unlike pan G’s offside opus
i agonize over every syllable of my posts
sometimes taking nanosecond s longer than the type time
i’d avoid those though
I can get a bit nanoweepy
big pair o drunk knickers that i am 🙂
howdy thunder T
was in belfast the day ye said ye were over
i’d a stood ye a jar , m’lud
🙂
.
hate running outta beer
have bottles homebrew stout
just bottled
so shitin
like a muck spreader
on the cards
or in the bed
.
a my world problem
*assembles drunken pop stars of yore for xmas single*
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ra60Z51OAAs
.
.
tricky tightrope 😉
Couldn’t believe my ears cba after hearing orgy sung with a hard g in that song so testing my ears could be the order of the day. Thought you were avoiding the nastiness of the transfer window until this unexpected but welcome foray.
By the way cba the homemade stout sounds nearly enough to turn Donegal into the hof. 😀
Nuthood… that’s where Rupert the Bear lived isn’t it? That Raggity thing scared the shit out of me when I was … twenty-eight.
cba – I don’t have maths O level but I know how many beans make five.
I knew only having one hand would be useful for something 😉
Nope, Rupert the Bear lived in the Nuthood City Limits.
Everyone knew his name, by the way.
🙂
undercooked stout bt8
holy fuck no
shite out yer eyebrows
and no mistake
🙁
🙂
🙂
🙂
cynic
trev
el bosso
CBA
I’m still there mate. Although I’m in Donegal tomorrow. Consider yourself stood several pints especially if this is true?
3h3 hours ago
FA @GestiFuteFIFA
I have CONFIRMATION that Cavani will fly to London tomorrow to undergo his medical at #Arsenal’s training ground.#AFC
Expect we will see many of his ilk tomorrow!
cba
if you cook stout
you better well
cook it
cook stout?
i just thought
you drank it
or used it for
garden compost
All this angst about strikers had me checking back to last season, and I find that (perhaps not surprisingly) only the two who finished above us scored more than we do, with the champion chavs only bettering our tally by two. And this in a season with an appalling injury toll that saw two of our principal strikers missing most of the season.
I still don’t see what all the fuss is about. We have virtually the same personnel, plus far less injuries (currently). That OG (Own Goals, not Ollie Giroud) is our top scorer so far is depressing, but common sense suggests the goals will start coming eventually. And I’d rather concentrate of keeping the goals out by bolstering the deep MF and CD positions ahead of some billion dollar frontman who could end up another Falcao or, in the case of Austin, another Andy Carroll or Fernando Torres.
Öskar
*more than we did.
I still don’t see what all the fuss is about. We have virtually the same personnel
Badda-BING!
Answered your own query.
Giroud wasn’t good enough last year, wasn’t the year before. We finished where we finished in large part because Alexis had a bombing first half of the season. He’s nowhere near his best yet and was brought back much too early because we had nobody else the manager felt he could play instead.
Quality was needed, but we’ve been saying (most of us, faithful or naysayer) that we need just two players for about ten years. We don’t get them. Never will it seems.
Cavani??
Surely there’s got to be someone better than he …even if it’s the rumour mill!
😀
The point I was making, Cynic, was that last season, with our current players, we scored just two goals less than was good enough for the chavs to win the title. And this while our two best strikers, OG and Theo, were injured for a large part of the season. The goals just got shared around more, and that can only be a good thing because it means the opposition has more players to cover.
Given better luck with injuries logic suggests we should score more this season, and I see no reason to suppose Sanchez’s share won’t be at least as many as last time.
Yes we might spend a fortune on a world class striker (if one was available, big IF), but for the same money we could buy two class defenders, and that, in my opinion, would pay greater dividends.
Öskar
I find myself in agreement with Oskar on how to receive our transfer dealings – especially if we don’t make any further buys today. I don’t see the point in ‘taking a punt’ on someone just to gratify the fervour to make a purchase on Deadline Day, and our squad is of the level and size that we only want players who can realistically improve it, not just compete for a place on the bench. Beyond the 8 ‘worldies’ I mentioned on @45 on this thread, we couldn’t guarantee anyone else would be better than Giroud, Walcott and Welbeck.
The way I see it, if Alexis, Giroud and a combo of Walcott/Welbeck can all get 20 league goals, the Ox, Ozil and Ramsey can attempt to push close to 10 league goals each, and we get a few extra from the rest of the squad, that would ordinarily be enough, particularly if we continue to see the general improvement we’ve seen in our defensive record these last 9 months. I know it’s not fashionable to say you’re not bothered about whether we acquire anyone on Deadline Day, but unless it’s a genuine world-class attacker or (my preference) competition/cover for the Coq, I’m not fussed…And I think contrary to a lot of the doom-mongering here, we’re a dead-cert for top 2 this season at least.
I love your optimism Gregoire,
but if you think with this squad we are going to get anywhere near top 2
in the PL,then i am afraid you are sadly delusional.
We might finish top 2 in the number of red or yellow cards we receive this season,or in the number of times our forwards are constantly flagged offside,or in the number of times certain players relentlessly pass the ball to the opposition rather than to a fellow team mate,but top 2 in the PL, ?
Laughable.
So much doom and gloom. I see almost half our supporters slitting their wrists if we don’t sign anyone today.
Opening up vacancies for season tickets? Yay!
I think there is justifiable anger at the seeming lack of a transfer strategy, the stockpiling of a cash reserve that fulfils no purpose especially as it doesn’t earn much interest and the contention that the squad just can’t be improved.This is not the evidence we have seen in the first four games.
We don’t do transfer windows well but at least we haven’t pissed money away like the Martial transfer. It’s really hard to see where United are heading. With us we have a pretty good idea. It’s almost exactly where we were before. I guess the annoyance comes from the fact that fans feel they care more about success than the club. It’s hard to disputethat argument after this transfer window but Wenger does care desperately . It’s just that you feel he really doesn’t like the horse – trading and prefers to build from a very young base. But that’s a hard act to pull off with clubs strengthening with world- class talent around you and it gives a huge stick to his enemies to beat him with
It’s clear that we tried very hard to get one of several big name striker upgrades but have failed (unless PSG are still in negotiating mode when they say no-one is leaving today). Clearly AW is not going to compromise on that quality of target, he must be happy with the depth of his squad and is not going to add mere cover.
It seems very unlikely that we are going to add anyone else but if the players of the necessary quality are unavailable (e.g. Aguero) or too expensive (e.g. Bale) then there’s little we can do. There seems little point adding players who aren’t clearly an upgrade and who turn into the deadwood we struggle to offload (e.g. TGSTEL or Podolski).
Look at the activities of our rivals. Apart from $hitteh’s purchase of KDB there’s no-one been purchased who would have added significantly to our team.
Better than buying for the sake of it or simply to satisfy the howls of the needy is to be poised, cash ready, when the right player becomes available.
We are who we are, we have who we have, we are the Arsenal and we are the best.
Interesting reading, the rationales for the bonus points awarded to our defenders after our clean sheet against Newcastle. Solid back line is my conclusion (For those who dislike numbers, I also watched the game knowing we were helped by playing against ten men.) Still, none of these three defenders, or Bellerin or Cech for that matter, really put a foot wrong all afternoon. From the premier league fantasy website:
Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal
3: Gabriel (ARS)
2: Nacho Monreal (ARS)
1: Laurent Koscielny (ARS)
Arsenal beat Newcastle United 1-0 thanks to a Fabricio Coloccini own goal at St. James’ Park with defender Gabriel collecting maximum Bonus Points (BP). The 24-year-old accompanied his clean sheet with 11 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI), seven recoveries and two tackles.
Nacho Monreal achieved two BP by helping keep the Newcastle attack at bay with seven recoveries and three tackles. The Arsenal left-back also completed 93% of his 73 attempted passes.
Laurent Koscielny’s single BP came courtesy of a pass completion rate of 98% and a clean sheet, which consisted of five recoveries and four CBI.
I normally tend to agree with you Bath but the Number 9 situation is not new – Wenger has been trying to upgrade for the best part of 3 seasons, Where I will agree tho is that this summer there a distinct lack of viable options (Gets down on his knees and prays someone is found in the next 4 hours) What I don’t agree with is the “its best to keep the money in the bank” argument, 10 top Notch Forwards are not going to suddenly appear overnight and be buyable this winter or next summer or for the foreseeable. It will be a good few years before there are enough of them to go round;
In the Meantime Transfer Fees Rise and the pool becomes smaller whilst we sit on a stockpile of cash – It just makes no sense, Whatever you think of Suarez hes now looking a steal at anywhere between the mooted 40million and £1 bid and 50/55 million which is what Liverpool were asking. My point is not so much we should have signed him (Id have been most Uncomfortable as he seems a class A C##’ ) but more the fact that’s the way Fees are heading and by sitting on our hands we will just end up paying more anyway – All seems false Economics,
Rock and a Hard place I suppose, Just seems such a shame we are not doing all we can, Saying all that even with a 25 goal a season man would we bridge the gap, Not so sure we would.
Anyway Up The Arse,
@Goonersince54, #172 “if you think with this squad we are going to get anywhere near top 2…you are sadly delusional”
That’s a bit harsh, I feel. We’re talking about the same squad that all but finished top 2 last season? The same squad that is top of the Premier League for 2015? The same squad strengthened massively in the defensive department over the last 9 months by the arrival of Gabriel and Cech, the improved fitness record of our squad, and the huge return to prominence of Coquelin? I can’t see Man Utd, Liverpool or Spurs bettering us this season, and Chelsea haven’t strengthened significantly, so I’d hardly say it’s delusional to at least suggest we might get ‘close’ to the top 2. Plus, I actually believe in the potential of our squad….The fake lustre of procuring a transfer deal on Sky Sport’s “Deadline Day”, doesn’t sully my eyes to the excellent improvements that have been made to the squad over a more reasonable period of time (the last 2 years).
Gregoire. I agree with your rationale for saying that Clive is being a bit harsh there. It is no doubt the result of reading one too many Jo Nesbo novels. 😉
Top two here we come. Unless we give up in the last two weeks like last season. 🙁
Quite obviously we should be attempting to sign the entire roster of Newport County.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34115988
But given the choice between Manchester United, Liverpool, Hull and Brighton, a player named Poole would probably do best signing for a like named club. Perhaps that is why he did not sign for Liverpool as it lacks the requisite final vowel. Manchester instead of Brighton though is quite a poor choice, for this reason at least:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLI04E6U014
🙂
re: the net spend discussion above between Steve T and N7G, you need to be careful in interpreting the figures across that many seasons. They are skewed by two particular pairs of sales, of Fabregas and Nasri and of Adebayor and Kolo Toure two seasons earlier. Those four collectively account for £98 million of sales (out of a total of £217 million in that 2005-12 period, during which we spent £175 million, btw).
The season of the Cesc/Nasri sales we acquired — for less than we got for those two — Corporal Jenkinson, Gervinho, the Ox, Joel Campbell, Arteta and the BFG, plus Park Chu-Young and Andre Santos. But quickly moving along, the most recent season where we bought more players than we sold or released was 2000-01 (when we bought Robert Pires and Edu for £6 million a piece; happy days). Coincidentally or not, the club decided to build a new stadium to replace Highbury in November 1999.
Interesting fact for once from sky – We are the only club in the top division of the major 5 European leagues up to this point not to have signed an outfield player this summer 🙂
There is still time to sign the somewhat malodorous Japanese international, Wasabe Taekashawa ….
At our own peril of course. 😀
Chippy @182.
It’s the ingenious master plan. 😉
It’s certainly something 🙂 🙂 🙂 !!!
Bored and demoralised with this transfer window.
1 – it should end before the season begins. Real Madrid and Man Utd are a bunch of arrogant twats who couldn’t complete a deal on time that they had known about since the end of May, so what is the point of a three month window anyway.
2 – utterly ridiculous amounts of money have been thrown at also rans, second-raters and teenage gambles. We don’t have that much money and I’m glad we haven’t splurged £75 million on Cavani, especially in the light of –
3 – in the last calendar year we have added Sanchez, Gabriel, Cech and Debuchy to our squad for a combined total of £65 million. Yes, I would love to see more world class additions but we have to be realistic. However we might like to be able to, we cannot compete with Man City who have just spent £80 million on De Bruyne, who Chelsea sold the season before, and Man Utd have gambled £80 million – including add-ons – on a teenager.
There are very few world class strikers and they are owned by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Man City who will not sell them. The manager has a strict strategy of only buying to improve the team.
That is not the same as saying Arsene Wenger has no transfer policy – see the players already mentioned above – add Mesut Ozil – and presumably ignore Francis Coquelin and Hector Bellerin – two of the best players in their positions in the Premier League after less than one season – because they cost £0.00p.
Pffttt – they must be crap.
Clive. Absolutely spot on. If we don’t do something significant in the next 90 minutes then we play for top 4. We won’t even come close to the title. Even if we keep everyone fit????
Have we signed anyone yet? I’ve been trying to cut wet grass all afternoon.
Makes the Rizlas all soggy….
Trev – a long term plan nicely summarised.
I predict Danny Welbeck will prove himself as our top striker this season and memories of Benzema and Cavani will fade.
Can’t agree Steve. I think this squad are capable of pushing up to 2nd though if $hitteh wobble we might do better.
bt8b@183: Clearly he needs to visit the Toto Toilet Museum in Tokyo, where you can slide down into a loo wearing a poo hat and take a virtual tour of the sewers:
https://youtu.be/iVS_eaJIyn0
…all of which seems an apt metaphor for transfer window Tuesday.
If the technology works I’ll be on the Bergkamp Wonderland podcast at 6pm. Looks like it might be an explosive one. Wish me luck!
@NBN
You see different figures in different places, but I think what we can probably say with certainty that Arsenal spent more (net) in summer 2014 than they had in aggregate between (say) 2005 and 2012.
The exact numbers don’t matter: the point is that something changed. We went from Gervinho to Alexis Sanchez.
Bath. I wish I could agree. From memory, DW scored 4 league goals in about 25 outings last season. I like him as a player but saying he will be our goal scoring saviour is a bit off the mark for me. I just don’t see it.
Prices for players were always going to be inflated the moment the increase in TV money was announced. It will only get worse. Did people really not see that coming? That is why I have been saying for sometime that we need to invest. We either go with it or we don’t. But to sit on a mountain on cash when we have pleaded poverty for years seems utterly ridiculous to me.
Just wanted to remind everyone that this is traditionally the time of the season when we effect the move from “you can’t judge until the window’s over” to “well, nothing can be done about it now, no sense complaining – just get behind the lads”.
Let’s all work together to ensure we have a smooth transition.
COYG
whom would you have bought this window then, Steve T? there don’t seem to be strikers available/willing. DMs that would complement or unseat Coq? not many. I have to trust that if someone was of requisite quality, would fit into the team, and was available, we’d’ve moved for them. Do you think we didn’t for some other reason(s)?
@scruz
I think it’s important to keep a perspective on things, and not start up all the same moans we had in 2012/ignore all the progress since.
However, I also feel we did miss a player or two this summer while waiting for Benzema to make up his mind.
Cabaye (who would have been an excellent, cheapish addition to the squad/upgrade on Arteta), Dybala (the young striker who went to Juve), Vidal (world class midfielder, would be great alongside Coq), and a couple of others. I know not everyone agrees with those picks, but I think we might have got at least one of them, and they’d have added something to us. I also think Lacazette might have been an option up front; he seemed to be up for a move most of the summer before agreeing a new deal relatively late on.
What seems to have happened is that we went for Benzema, and because he made his mind up late, we had to pass on all of the above, and others too. That’s resulted in a pretty pony window, but I can see why we took that approach, because Benzema would have taken us to another level entirely.
I don’t think it’s at all fair to say there’s been no strategy. No strategy would mean panic buying this week, as Utd are doing. There was a strategy, and it wasn’t a bad one. It just didn’t work out, is all. That can happen, even when your strategy is correct – strategy doesn’t generally have the benefit of hindsight.
Personally, I think a brief period of light moaning is justified. But I also think any such moaning should take into account that we’ve had two pretty good summers, we did add a DM and a CB to the squad during the course of last season as everyone wished, we sign world class players these days, and we’ve won a couple of trophies lately. It’s disappointing, but we’re miles away from where we were in Summer 2011 (*spits on ground*).
I also think that weeks like this, when it’s all a bit crap, our best bet is to have a bit of a laugh about it. It’s all just words on the Internet, after all – no one here is on the board, and we’re not making the decisions. We’re just all on the same rollercoaster, reacting in our own different ways to the highs and lows.
COYG
Steve T: this whole window you haven’t suggested one player we should buy, but bemoaned our lack of transfer activity regularly. Wouldn’t you say we’re at the stage where we only buy to improve the squad (and as Trev rightly pointed out, the best strikers are at Man City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich, and none of them are selling this summer). Just b/c we have money, doesn’t mean we should waste it on overpriced pap! What if a decent option comes up in Jan, but we think twice b/c we wasted 50m on desperate buys in this window? With the exception of a back-up/competitor to Coquelin, I can’t particularly fault our activity in this window…
Scruz. From memory Llorente, Mandzukic, Dzeko, Navas, Tevez , Pedro and Martinez all moved during this transfer window. Everyone of those players would have added something to the strength of our squad.
I don’t really like speculating on various players. My knowledge on European football is nowhere near that of many others on here. But I do not believe that a side that finishes either 3rd or 4th in the league and struggles to get passed the quarter finals of the champions league does not need to make improvements.
Arsene said that the club works very hard and that there is a team working day and night to find good solutions. I will leave you and many others to judge if the signing of a goalkeeper justifies their wages.
Gregoire. See 198. If you are happy with the squad and what we have or haven’t done then good luck to you. I will look forward to celebrating a League and Champions League double with you in May.
https://twitter.com/tw14renato/status/638741405918199808/photo/1
😀
Of all the names we were linked with this summer, I thought the most likely signing was going to be Jack Shit. Hoped for his brother Holy, dreaded his other brother Heez, but we’ve ended up with Jack.
We’ve signed him more often than anybody.
I’m tired of that guy.
Llorente, Mandzucic, Dzeko, Martinez: all Giroud mark 2 (most of them are also older, and except for Dzeko have no Premier League experience).
Pedro: we bought the better Barca inside-forward (Alexis) a season before….
Steve T: I never said Premier Lge and Champions Lge double – don’t be disingenuous. I said I was confident on our top 2 Premier League chances. The Champions Lge is clearly out of our reach this season, bar exceptional circumstances…
N7 knows. Top post.
Gregoire. We are sat on a bucket load of cash. £200 million if you believe Lord Harris. There are enough players out there that would have improved our squad. There are players that would have supported and complimented Ollie G.
As I said, if you are happy then good luck to you. For me we could have done a lot better and have a stronger squad. I also know that that is a view shared by many that sit near me.
Heh Cynic @201.
I’ll celebrate too Steve T @199
Good stuff, N7 as always. With Danny and Wilshere back, Alexis back in gear and Theo returned to a right side berth, we’ll do just fine with this squad. Benzema highly over-rated. I agree that Cabaye in and Flamini out would have been good though and that looks to be a (minor) miss.
And of-course, The Jeff will outperform this Marshall Martial character 🙂
N7
Nice sense of humour and perspective. One can get very bitter paying £3 grand a year for two season tickets and wondering where it goes. On the other hand we do support the greatest club in the world, we do have some marvellous players and have had many marvellous experiences and there is nothing we can do about it now.
So,it’s wholehearted support for the lads but unfortunately there is going to be a hugely adverse fan reaction because of the lack of activity which can feel poisonous when you are in the middle if it. The media will slaughter Wenger if we don’t perform but they would have done exactly the same if we’d spent £150 million because they are gutless twats in the main.
At times when I’m depressed I think of my old Dad who used to remind me when Arsenal got me down that ‘it was the greatest club on earth and it needs your support more than ever. ‘
These are not desperate times by any means but I do wonder with that cash mountain what they will do with all that money. But the whole business has left football looking even tackier. It’s a sordid thing the window and some of the deals defy any kind of common sense. Trev writes a lot of @186.
Certainly the two most loathsome managers in the League, LVG and Moaninho appear to be losing their way which has to be good news. Let’s hope we can defy our critics and strike some blows for common sense even it is felt by many to be a lack of ambition
Trev writes a lot of sense@ 186
Top stuff TTG. Your old dad was a good example. Sadly not all who profess ‘support’ for our club are so wise.
Oh dear, the roaches have come out of that crack in the corner. Where’s the DDT?
Window is shut. Nothing more now than to support the squad. But if any fan really believe that we couldn’t have done any better during the past 90 days, well I don’t know what to tell you. Am actually more worried about the DM position than the striker options.
TTG’s dad knows.
Anyone hanging their hopes on Danny Welbeck needs to ask themselves a question.
If he wasn’t our player already, would you sign him as the solution to all our woes up front?
Exactly.
Disappointed with the window have to say,not surprised thou.iv been agreeing a lot with Steve t’s posts this last few days.we are always just one or two players away from been in that top tier of teams.greatest club on earth?sometimes it feels like arsene is running a bank not a football team,I’m not for a moment hoping we throw money away but the cost for some of the tickets is top whack why not expect the top in return?still hope and pray like all us gunners that we can do something big this season otherwise what’s the point.COYGS!
Evening all. Loving those who understand it’s ok to have different opinions and debate accordingly.
Please follow the ‘abusive dickheads will be deleted’ procedure. No post numbers as they will be a moving feast.
Cheers. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=103&v=OiA2gssm5ms
TTG @ 208: “tacky” is an understatement. I would say obscene, unethical, and appallingly detached from the reality of the world.
For their reprehensible excess and often outright corrupt behavior the football fraternity would always like to find justifications in the laissez-faire claptrap of “free market economy” (as if it is a religion all must follow and that rationalizes every bit of seediness) …
60 million plus refugees in the world now, half of them are children. I wonder how many 19 years old — dying on the borders or in the ocean, wearing their second hand Barca or Real or ManU jerseys — could have had their lives saved by 50 million dollars.
Fuck the transfer window. It is disgusting and I am glad that we for the most part avoid the excess.
My life doesn’t seek justification in Arsenal winning trophies. I am happy when we do it, sad when we don’t. But there is a world we live in that makes me much more sad, worried, and helpless.
Dr Faustus,
Whatever other differences we have had, that is an excellent post @216.
Fine post Dr F @216. A wee touch of perspective is always therapeutic for disappointment.
Thanks Trev @ 217.
… and bath @ 218.
Top post Dr Faustus.
Unfortunately the blinkered morons who are pathologically attached to Sky Sports News (and its repellent slavering over the obscene sums involved in modern transfers) will never have the wit to take it on board.
Thanks snowy.
You are right, some sectors of media and people who should know better should find a more matured perspective and not whip up these frenzied narratives.
If I may, I think the European governments and EU etc. have some scope of ensuring that Football “business” remains within the rules of any other business, and doesn’t totally degenerate into a parallel shadowy economy of not only obscene excess, but corruption and eventually crime.
I am surprised at all of the moralising going on around the money in football. Football sold its soul years ago. The money in football has been totally obscene for years now. We built a bigger stadium to ensure we were a big part of this obscenity. The new deals and sponsorships make that obscenity even more obscene. Money has for many years driven the game. Just look at FIFA and the corruption there. The more money that comes into the game will just mean that the rich get richer.
Dr F, I agree with all of your comments but the sad fact is that the world is full of many evils and injustices. There are many many millions that will sadly never be as fortunate as the likes of us. My 15 year old daughter has just come back from 3 weeks in Cambodia where she has been helping out in a school for underprivileged kids and in an orphanage. Regrettably, there are far too many parts of the world are not nice places to be.
All of that said, football has nothing to do with that. It’s a whole different argument as to whether is should or shouldn’t be. The world we do live in for some reason allows for such injustices. But no matter how vulgar it might be, football goes on.
Great stuff @208, TTG.
Steve T,
As you will know, I agree with the sentiment of your posts almost entirely. All i would say is that I think Arsene Wenger / Arsenal FC have shown over the last two summers that they have money and are not afraid to spend it, having paid £42 million for Özil and £35 million for Sanchez.
The sort of money being paid now though for players who have never even played in the notoriously difficult Premier League is completely bonkers. Van Gaal appears to have had another ‘cocks-on-the-table’ moment, paying €60million for Martial, with another €20million in potential add-ons.
I agree with you and others that Cabaye for Flamini would have been a good swop and, one assumes, very doable. Personally, I’m not a big enough student of Schneiderlin to join the clamour for him. I have no idea how many truly top class players of a sensible age were up for grabs but I don’t recall too many of them moving.
I agree, too, that a cash mountain is frustrating and useless in a bid to win the major trophies but I really don’t know who is better than what we have and was available to buy. Am I convinced by Welbeck ? No, not yet. There are occasional signs but no more. On the other hand, doeas he contribute more than Charlie Austin ? Very probably – if he was fit, but we all know that story.
It is very frustrating but the club is not in control of the world in which it operates. It can’t force clubs to part with the players we need, quite apart from the unfair competition from the financially doped.
What can be done ?
In terms of controlling the money in football, seemingly nothing.
I think the only way to control the activities of the Man Cities, Chelseas and Yaniteds, is to control the loaning of players. There should be a complete ban on loaning out any player over 21 years of age, and a ban on loaning any player of any age to another team in the same division.
Clubs would then have to construct their squads accordingly and, with the restriction on squad sizes, there would be no attraction for a player to join a club where he would be forced to stay and waste his time in the reserves if he were not included in the first team squad, as he would not be able to enjoy his wages on loan to another club.
At the moment City and their ilk can stockpile players to prevent their competitors from getting them and loan them out for seasons at a time.
The Lukakus, Courtoises, Moses, de Bruynes and Schurrles might then no longer want to become Chelsea reserves.
Would Man Utd have signed Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger with Carrick already at the club ?
What chance Fabian Delph would have deserted Aston Villa with two “Fernandos”, Toure and now £80million worth of de Bruyne to accommodate in their midfield ?
Could that possibly work ? I think it might.
Trying to control money never will.
It’s a fair point you make Steve about the money in football being obscene for years now.
But it’s not so much the general level of absurd money in football transfers that’s so galling, it’s how it is so brazenly celebrated that’s so vile. And that’s created this miserable culture where Clubs have to ‘win’ the transfer window by throwing money about like 1970s Pools winners. It’s just fucking ridiculous.
Good points Steve.
Well argued Trev.
The point has been made that it’s a surprise that the Premiership’s fourth CL spot isn’t awarded to the club that ‘wins’ the transfer window expenditure league.
Great post Dr. Faustus @216, puts things into perspective, thanks.
That’s ‘cos they’ve already qualified in first place, bath. ?
Snowy and Trev. From memory the last sponsorship deal that the Mancs signed with Adidas was something near to £800 million. You add that to the other sponsorship deals, other revenue and the obscene amount shelled out by the TV and the £35 million for a 19 year old is peanuts. It’s all totally ridiculous and figures that just should not be associated with any sport. Football is a business, first and foremost. That’s why there are so many foreign investors. Do you really think that Stan is bothered about Arsenal? Or is he more bothered about his business interest? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he wants to use money from us to prop up franchises he is responsible back in the good old US of A.
We as a club have certain decisions to make. We can moan all we want about the money in the game but as a club, we have helped to create this monster. As fans (customers) we actively support this by turning up week in, week out. We add to that by paying our TV subscriptions. We built a new stadium so that we could make even more money and be competitive. Considering all of that I find it somewhat strange that having fed the monster for so long that we then moan about the prices that it now commands. We have played more than our part.
I really don’t like what is happening to the game. I have said that for a few years now. But it is what it is. We either want to be part of it or we don’t. I fail to see how we have not been able to find one outfield player that we could have bought that would have strengthened our side. I fail to see how sitting on a wad of cash takes us forward. Unless of course that 4th really is a trophy for Stan and the boys. I can’t see how we can be part of a product that generates such vast and extreme wealth, and then moan at inflated prices.
Football is totally obscene. But we have all decided to allow that to happen and have continued to go with it. I really don’t see it as a valid argument anymore that we moan about extortionate fees and wages. We have all helped create the situation. For me it’s about time we got with the program. I think our lack of activity in the transfer market borders on being embarrassing.
It is amazing how an underwhelming start to the season coupled with the business done by other clubs can change people’s perspectives.
When we were winning everything during pre-season the mood was much more upbeat. Especially after the community shield win over Chelsea.
From the back drinking, I gather that a majority think that Man City might be the ones running away with the title this season. Their defensive flaws were obvious last season. Partly it was because of Pellegrini’s insistence on playing 2 up front which always left them vulnerable and outnumbered in midfield. Their holding midfield players Fernando & Fernandinho also did not cover themselves in any glory coupled with Kompany having a poor season & Mangala not settling into the premier league. I certainly expect them to be better defensively and tactically this season. But their two stellar signings have been Sterling & De Bruyne. Both are good players but they would not make a huge difference in my humble opinion – especially De Bruyne. And what cannot be argued is that they have paid way too much money for both of those signings. We will never do our business that way – certainly not until Arsene-Gazidis-Stan are around and rightly so. It’s a real pity that the FFP has withered away so quickly. City were restrained because of that and now they are buying left right and centre. Also their frantic buying makes them media darlings. They are portrayed as if they are super heroes or something!!
Whilst city will be better defensively than last season, they haven’t reinforced their defensive side significantly. I expect them to have a blip soon considering their tough group again (karma/schadenfreude) in the champions league. Its between City, Us and Chelsea that the league will be won. The moaninho brigade will resort to park the bus strategy for the next few games and I expect them to nick a few 1-0 wins now and I won’t be surprised if those solitary goals come via dubiously won penalties. The moaning one has never won a league title chasing a points deficit and I don’t think he would do it now. But if he has a sniff of a chance come January, I would expect Chelsea to break the bank in the January window. But that leaves our job just the same. If we are to win the league – we will need a super consistent season. We will need to take advantage whenever the other two slip up. Welbeck is a much better striker than people here give him credit for. Under the tutelage of Wenger, I expect him to have a much better second season. It’s a real pity that he missed pre season though. That would have made a world of difference to his game. In him Giroud & Walcott, we have enough goals up front. It’s the wide men and midfield who will have to chip in with important goals. Ever since we signed Cech, I have believed that we have a good enough squad to go the distance and win the league. More than the transfer market (this one and January), our success will depend on how lucky we are with injuries. I hope that the manager uses the squad well and rotates more. I remain confident of us having a much better season than the previous two in the league and with a very realistic chance of winning the damn thing…
The foreign investors aren’t really the problem though are they Steve? It’s the ones who are just bankrolling what is effectively at best a hobby, and a worst a way of feigning respectability to divert attention from where they acquired their dirty billions.
And £35m for a 19 year old is not peanuts, it’s laughable and smacks of complete desperation.
I know we disagree on this point Steve but I would still rather we kept the money in the bank for the time we can spend it on someone who will make more than just a very marginal difference. I’m disappointed we didn’t add much to the squad, but I can’t say I’m madly jealous about anyone else’s acquisitions this window.
This place is the mutts when you lot are about. Thank you.
I have to say I get Steve’s argument. I also have to believe we had a list of targets that for whatever reason we couldn’t close the deals.
Why, when I don’t really have a fucking clue, do I wonder about Dick Law and his team?
Snowy,
Where did you just hit that nail ?
Evening, Holic.
As I recall, we defined Dick’s Law around tbree summers ago.
So far, it would appear that definition is standing the test of time.
I just hope that people know that the transfer window wont get any better as in players being any cheaper than they are now. So if we think this window was horrible then just wait for next summer’s window. My only issue is still DM, I mean who really believes that there was no one out there that could have improved this squad
To be fair Trev, someone delivered Alexis and Ozil, but there is just a feeling that it wasn’t him?
Maybe unfair.
And in answer to your question of snowy (good man), on the bonce?
I’m not wondering about Dick Law this time ‘Holic – but I am wondering whether LvG is secretly on someone else’s payroll 😉
Snowy. £35 million to you and I is a totally ridiculous, obscene amount of money. To the Mancs, I would suggest that with their income that it’s not a massive amount. It’s all about perspective. The lad they have bought has been referred to as the new Henry. Only time will tell if that has any substance. If he turns out to be anywhere near the quality of TH14 then £35 million will seek an absolute bargain.
H, like you I have questioned the ability of those at the club to be dominate and effective in the transfer market. I do not believe for one second that we did not have targets. What will both amaze and frustrate is the fact that we did not have the ability to get one deal home. That is what I find embarrassing. I also think that is does nothing to support us in the negotiation process.
I thinm I owe you an apology, Guv, for apparently starting a trend for looooong drinks in this bar. Interesting stuff above – it would be invidious to identify any individuals. As usual, sadly, nothing has been written that makes me want to think about changing my mind. I suspect that many here, several of whom probably disagree with me about the issues, agree about the futility of picking over the issues yet again, which may explain why there is relatively little discussion here.
Strewth, only Tuesday of the first week. I HATE INTERLULLS.
COYG
Great if depressing debate on here tonight and I find myself agreeing with almost everybody!
Certainly we have created and tried to shape to our advantage the environment in which football finds itself . Certainly the general feeling around top football clubs appears extremely unhealthy and economically nonsensical . Chelsea’s experience of loaning out over 30 players and having to scrape around for less talented alternatives in the dying minutes of the window appears both poetic justice and sporting obscenity at the same time. Trev’s suggestions look mighty sensible to me.
Dr. F is right about the warped values in the game. Football appears inhabited by middlemen who are corrupt, greedy and divorced from the true spirit of the game.
Ultimately Steve T is right that we have tried to play the system to our own advantage and ended up where we moan about a system partly because it does not advantage us. Could we have done better ? I believe so. Liverpool are less financially potent than us but moved in the window earlier and did some good deals. Benteke looks overpriced until you compare him to Martial. Milner, Clyne and Firmino look as if they will improve the team. Sterling is the sort of sale non CL clubs have to make in this day and age.
Ah the Champions League. A form of slightly diminished Holy Grail that theoretically allows you to sign top names but may well consign you to a treadmill like existence like the one we have experienced in recent years. Good enough to contest it, not good enough to have a serious shot at it. Is that likely to change this year?
Well we have a good squad that has begun mundanely but if Citeh had not raced away we would be fairly satisfied. If Watford had won the first four games and Citeh sat back with us on 7 points we might be more sanguine. As it is Citeh whilst overpaying for talent have strengthened and refreshed their squad. They must be huge favourites for this League already. Steve T has understandably bemoaned our seeming unwillingness to take them on. Economic prudence always wins out over football fantasy at the Emirates and given this it is mighty hard to get really enthused about our chances.
As I said earlier all we can do is dig deep into that reservoir of Gooner Love and Affection and hope the warm cosy feelings sustain us if Arsene’s boys can’t do the job. That is what football following is about. It’s just that in our position you can’t help feeling we could be in a much more exciting situation.
I await with trepidation that walk over the Ken Friar Bridge with supporters proclaiming the inevitability of outer disappointment after what we did in this window . I hope it is deferred until well into the Spring. Whenever it is and despite everything I think they would have to have a point
Take your point about not being able to close a deal Steve, but as the Stones/Chelsea saga showed, even ginormous amounts of cash mean nothing if the selling club tells a would-be buyer to sod off. And while none of us know the specific details of our targets, those we can guess at (and we’re all really just guessing) look pretty embedded at their respective clubs. For now at least.
Is there any such thing as a great football club owner?
As mentioned earlier, I have relatives who have had season tickets at Loftus Road since forever. A few years ago, they acquired a new owner: one Tony Fernandes. He was great: chucked cash at them for players, went to the pub with the fans, constantly talked about his affection with the club, never off Twitter.
Cut to a few years later and they had a dressing room full of Bartons and Wright Phillips, they’d sold the less glamorous players everyone liked, yo-yod up and down the divisions, become (in their own words) “the sort of club I’d hate if it wasn’t us” and, most of all, they were all desperate for Fernandes to stop talking.
I mention this not because the only alternatives are either Silent Stan or chatty Tony, but because it demonstrates that whatever approach an owner might take, the fans will still loathe them when the results don’t work out and/or they have a quiet transfer window.
Personally, I don’t care if Kroenke never says a word. His role is to own the club and (hopefully) not do anything too stupid with it. I certainly don’t hanker longingly for the previous owners who – after all – decided that he was the right man to sell to, and got stinking rich doing so. Nor can I readily think of another premier league owner I would particularly prefer. They’re club owners, we’re not meant to like them, are we?
I sympathise with those who have the hump tonight. As said above, I think this was a missed opportunity and criticism is merited. But I really don’t think we have it that bad overall and Steve is completely correct about our own complicity in bringing things to where they are now. I hadn’t actually thought about Stan Kroenke in months until the chat above – if he could play back up DM if would be such a different story.
This place is at its absolute best after a disappointing day. Hats off to everyone, and here’s to Welbeck discovering a pair of magic boots and lashing in 25 goals.
COYG
Nice little article to help ease all this gloom:
http://www.7amkickoff.com/2015/financial-data-proves-arsenal-not-in-the-top-top-tier-of-world-football/
Be kind to one another, ‘Holics.
BMBD
Trev. Your point about loans is valid but I’m not sure you will ever be able to change it. That said, I do think not allowing players to play in the same division is more than valid.
Snowy. Those using money for their hobby or to hide various funds no doubt have to pass some kind of fitness to own test. I can’t imagine for one second that money plays a part in any of that?????
Your point re Stones is an interesting one. Everton as part of the Premier League have also benefitted massively from an increase in revenue. Not only are they now able to turn down such an offer but the are also able to spend big on players like Lukaku. Yet again, in increase in revenue leads to a big increase in values and prices.
TTG, the reason you are agreeing with everybody is because we all have the same goal, just different routes of achieving it.
We all agree we need a dm and a striker.
Nowadays we need a world class dm and striker because we have very good ones.
The clubs who have the handful of world class strikers and dm’s are not willing to sell. Hence Manchester United spunk £36m + £20m on a teenager who may or may not make the cut.
Shall I nod off? 🙂
The reason LvG is spending so much is because he is under pressure. His position is questionable. And the only way he thinks he can consolidate that is by spending money on players in the hope of being successful.
Wenger on the other doesn’t have to spend money. His judgement is accepted. Gazidis and Stan know his thinking and rationale. Its served this club so well for the best part of 20 years. If we doubt it now after coming from such a dark period of austerity and then signing players like Sanchez & Ozil while winning back-to-back FA Cups, then at what point exactly, are we supposed to ever trust him?
I think we have no choice but to give Wenger the benefit of the doubt in that he genuinely tried to sign top class players. And lets not underestimate the signing of Cech. He’d walk into most of the top teams first 11’s.
Anyway, “buying players” – or “buying success” – has never really been our thing. We make players. We create our own success. Its done organically. Its part of the values of supporting this club and who we are. We have a wonderful squad and with a little luck on the injury front we should compete this year. Let’s keep our money and faith in the manager to spend it on those who deserve to come and belong here.
Great posts Faustus & Snowy btw.
Spot on N7 (*196), Cabaye and Vidal were the only transfers in this window that could have improved us, and both (relatively) cheap imo. I never was convinced by Cavani, and certainly not at £50m for which we could have bought the above two and probably Austin as well.
Öskar
As for $iteh, I’d like to see how that ‘favourite’ title stands up should they have half the injuries we’ve endured in recent years. Especially if one of them is Aguero.
Öskar
Now the window has shut,with only the addition of a Keeper to our squad,i haven’t changed my opinion that with our current strikers,which are Giroud,who was only bought as a back up for RVP, Welbeck,whose goals to games ratio is frankly terrible,and Theo who is a winger despite his claims to the contrary,that whatever qualities the rest of the squad possess,we have no hope of being in the mix at the pointy end of the season in the race for the Title.
Sure we might get lucky in one of the local Cup Comps,and give the fans something to cheer about,but Champions league,??No hope.
It is what is is,and based on what i have seen so far this season,we are in for another WHAT IF 9 months,and the usual sideshow of CL qualification.
So that’s it then, wonder where all the twitter experts are who were so sure of big signings (the South American models and the other chap)?
Maybe Arsene tried, maybe there were no players as Thierry says here http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/thierry-henry-defends-arsene-wenger-6365056?ICID=FB_mirror_MF
We have what we have and that doesn’t seem like it’s enough to win anything, right now, as things could change. That said, it’s hard to believe there were no players available at all to fill in the gaps evident to everyone except the club apparently. We don’t have to buy because everyone else is, but we must address the issues (as discussed above) in key positions.
Guess we can hope for a shot at the FA cup, a top four finish and group stage exit in CL. Familiar territory. Maybe Theo will have more in common with TH14 than the first two letters in his name and the jersey number which is all he’s had so far. Maybe big players will show up in all the, well, at least in the ones that matter at least, and see us through. Maybe. One never know.
There’s a nice line in the Untouchables, Sean Connery says something about bringing a knife to a gun fight. That’s what it feels like.
NBN I didn’t expect you would find video of Taekashawa in action. Above and beyond the call of duty. 😀
Spot on Clive yet again.
Dennis10. Your line about bringing a knife to a gun fight is also spot on. The only thing to add is that you bring a knife when you know you have the money to buy a really good gun. For some reason, you just don’t bother. ,
Go tell your knife theory to to James Coburn, Dennis10 … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU-paVv6zTk
…and remember, there are no rules in a knife fight … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPqhm36sjVE
Öskar
me
a stick of dynamite
to this particular bun fight
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCJHLCcbp8
duck , you sucker !
😉
a stick of dynamite
to this particular bun fight
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCJHLCcbp8
duck , you sucker !
😉
There was a similar one in the five man army as well Oskar, but those are rare:) The second one applies more to the refs who let challenges from the opposition unpunished rather than us.
@Steve T. Guess there are no guns here seeing as this ain’t America:)
Well, with the other teams not playing all that great, maybe we have a chance to put some distance on them.
*aftershock*
Sir Roger Moore’s critique regarding Idris Elba’s non-suitability as the next 007:
“He was born in Hackney, raised in East Ham, schooled in Canning Town, started work in Dagenham and he supports Arsenal.”
He may have a point…I’m not a classist (I hear SRM is a UKIP man), but I think it’d be brilliant to have a Gooner as Bond. Thoughts? (We are in an Interlull…)
BMBD
You’d think these actor types had never heard of the word acting.
I’m reminded of that story of Dustbin Hoffman telling Dear Dear Larry that he’d stayed up for three days so he’d be right for a scene where the character (in Marathon Man) hadn’t slept for three days, and DDL’s response.
I can imagine Elba’s interview for Bond going something like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTX6Q6_VFW8
We cannot compete in terms of money and financial fair play is total bull shit. Clubs know how to play around and bend rules and FFP is the same. Arsenal and Arsene if they believe the playing grounds are fair are wrong. It is one where the player goes for the highest bidder. Technically it is right, a player will go for the highest bidder who pays him the top dollar, but then morality was lost a long time ago.
Did we need anyone? of course we did, for me a DM in particular but then we have to deal with what we have and i believe we have a very good squad. A squad capable enough to win the league? Injuries away, why not. September maybe a real eye opener if this team really can last the distance or will it be one more season of let us be the best among the rest.
I will not cry over what we do not have, i will support the ones who play for my team through thick and thin. Am i happy with what has happened, well no but then you cannot please all always.
Side note- Ozil’s knock may take longer to recover, well now that’s a dampener to say the least.
Re: 255&256.
*puts on poker face*
Oh fuck it.
😀
LSG: Little wonder Idris Elba supports Arsenal. If you were “born in Hackney, raised in East Ham, schooled in Canning Town and started work in Dagenham” you’d have to support the Hammers or the Spuds otherwise.
But that cv sounds more like Harry Palmer than James Bond.
Some fine posts above from the regulars, but an especial tip of the hat to Dr F@216.
The whole transfer window is a Sky-boosting rip-off of the draft in U.S. pro sports.
Oh for the days of jumpers for goal posts, ankle high boots and ankle length shorts.
https://youtu.be/Nc2To-pKMSg
For anyone in need of a boost of optimism (or sarcasm if you prefer), from Arseblog today:
One small fact people are overlooking: Flamini is in the last year of his contract, he’s going to be brilliant.
Lonestar @ 259
As a long time Bond fan I must say that I would be happy with Idris Elba – more so than Roger Moore who to my mind was the worst Bond ever, closely followed by Daniel Craig.
I discount David Niven and George Lazenby entirely for just one appearance each.
I see Elba as a powerhouse midfielder in the Patrick Vieira mould.
Connery would be a dour Scot defender, modelled on Frankie McClintock.
Dalton would be a bustling winger – very much like Alan Skirton (one for the elders there.)
Brosnan would be a silky schemer, much like Ozil but without the poor body language.
I’d put Jaws in goal and Odd Job as our midfield destroyer.
Auric Goldfinger would be the manager and Dr No could be in charge of transfers.
We’d need to find a role for Honor “Pussy” Blackman – I suggest either team doctor or masseuse.
And we’d still need a 25 goals a season striker but hey, nothing new there.
Onward. UTA.
Noosa.
Goldfinger too freestanding surely. It has to be Moneypenny for me. Else we will fall foul of FFP in a flash and what then??????
bt8b
But think of the cash reserves he could bring to the party.
Fort Knox? Should be more than even Usmanov, no?
UTA.
The secret cash reserves of Fort Knox combined with the penny-pinching guile of the most closed mouth, poker faced sonuvabitch in charge of our transfer negotiations. That should clinch a few world class signings each window. Also, we should notify all the other clubs that Arsenal has a unique one-day transfer window so if they want to do business with us it is either now or never. There you are, problem solved. 🙂
Time to move on to bemoaning something else, like the uniquely long transfer window, before turning to something more positive? Having recently returned from a savage journey to the heart of the antithesis of the American Dream, I am not too worried at the moment by the outcome of this transfer window. Not saying that others are wrong to be worked up about it, but Dr. Faustus is correct that is it not the end of the world in a larger sense. And it may not be the end of the world in an Arsenal sense either for all we know.
a savage journey to the heart of the antithesis of the American Dream
You been on the PATH back to New Jersey, bt8b?
If you are squeezing Bond girls into the team, Noosa, if you laid Ursula Andress and Diana Rigg in front of the back four, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
No, really, lads, I don’t need that many coats…
No just the happy train MAch 51 Ned. Area 51 which most people don’t think has a train with regular stops. Pathological if you ask me. 😉
Ned, I would’ve said the Path as well. Possibly the No. 7, but going to Queens/LI City is a whole ‘nother story.
First Bond film I remember seeing was For Your Eyes Only. The thought of Melina Havelock/Carole Bouquet still puts steam in my strides!
In this day and age of blurred nationalities Olivier Giroud might make a decent Bond except he might not be the best at suave anti-French humor.
Always looking for the contrarian angle on things, I would like to be the first to predict a Giroud brace against Stoke. And no, not a leg brace necessitated by a leg breaking tackle. 🙁
bt8 ?
“at”?
(rudimentary terminology notwithstanding)
i think that’s for
suave auntie french humour
to decide
Kubana bo
obana fikinina peepeekuva
Who do they play for and, more importantly, why didn’t we sign them? 🙁
speaking of notwithstanding
.
linking A with Z
doc fau @216
nope
but
the bulk of that post
a great example
of a good soul
throwing words well
top shelf
slainte
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Now for the excitement of the international break. 🙁
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
yerself !!!!
.
“why , i nigh on sharted, Vera”
.
“impertinent shite”
.
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