Have Samir That!
Jul 21st, 2010 by 'holic
You would imagine that those who missed out on the disastrous French world cup campaign would have been somewhat grateful. I have to say Samir Nasri still looked more than a little angry about that this evening, and Arsenal may reap the rewards as a result.
As a pre-season warm-up fixture unfolded gently it was Nasri who raised the tempo, and produced two simply wonderful finishes to give the visiting Gunners a comfortable half-time advantage in Graz. Handshakes replaced smiles as he ‘celebrated’. This is a player with something to prove, which should be great for us when the serious stuff gets underway.
Also doing himself no harm was young Havard Nordtveit. I made the point elsewhere that I cannot see him dislodging Sagna or Eboue for the right-back berth this season, but in the absence of both of them he has impressed enough to earn himself an outing in his preferred central role next week, in my opinion.
The central defensive roles remain a concern, but too much can be made of July rustiness. As Thomas Vermaelen proved last season the important thing is to get up to speed in August. Let us hope that at least one of his colleagues does just that.
The third player to hog the attention was a half-time substitute. Jay Emmanuel Thomas alternated the central and right-sided attacking roles with Theo Walcott and the nineteen year-old gave an eye-catching account of himself. Jay’s problem is nailing down one role in which he can establish himself, but runs the risk of being a utility player who can plug the gaps when needed. Praise though is due for his performance tonight. That can only give him confidence for the weeks ahead.
Before moving on I should mention the scorer of the third goal. Henri Lansbury has grown physically since moving on loan to Watford last term. He produced a class finish to seal this fixture, and is another who must be wondering if the new season will see him get his chance at the Grove. He seems to have overtaken Barazite in the pecking order, but will that be enough?
All things considered I would imagine that the staff will be well pleased with the start to this trip.
Cheers Dudu, And Good Luck
I don’t think I have seen anybody with a bad word for Eduardo today. Down the years I have seen a number of players move on because physically top-flight football was beyond them, but few who were put in that position by a fellow professional.
Like just about every other Arsenal supporter who has commented on the various websites today I just want to thank him for the wonderful memories he left behind of a clinical finisher at his peak, and wish him every success with Shakhtar Donetsk (unless they are playing us in the Champions League, of course).
Hopefully with regular football, and away from the ‘get in their faces’ mentality of some in this country, he can regain the form that earned him our appreciation. I certainly hope so.
Apologies…
…if anybody was offended by the terminology used on this morning’s piece about FIFA’s appalling website content. I may have phrased it differently had I been up for a few hours and had time for a little reflection.
However, when I awoke early and the first article on the news aggregators was one from the governing body of world football carrying the latest blatant and orchestrated daily tapping-up of our captain by the skint and morally corrupt Catalans, I can assure you that the last thing that crossed my mind in the few minutes I had was reasoned terminology.
Since the world and his dog knows these insufferable cules don’t have the sort of money needed to buy a world cup winner, with his best years ahead of him and a five year contract with a financially stable club to boot, why don’t they accept the inevitable with whatever grace they can find in the particularly murky gutter in which they currently reside?
102 Responses to “Have Samir That!”
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*drinks*
Nasri looked very good, also impressed with Nordtveit who could well be ready to play a part.
First look at Koscielny. Small, I thought to myself. Very obviously small.
JET – monster, best I’ve ever seen him play but like you say he needs to get a position nailed down and fast.
Scotch, please!
no need to excuse or apologize for your language, holic, you were too kind actually.
As for Eduardo… it’s impossible to express how angry and sad I am at what English football did to such a player and a decent, admirable man. It’s all very upsetting. I just wish him the very best and hope he finds his wonderful form back again, and does great things with the Croatian national team as well as Donetsk.
Nasri – class class class
Nordtveit – class class class
Lansbury – class class class
JET – very good, in a way (and I can hear the howls), he seemed a better version of Heskey in an up front role. Big, made a nuisance of himself – but could also run, beat a man, and pass. Very interesting player.
Like Marcus said… you phrased it politely.
Samir Nasri did look like a man determined to prove himself, just hope he can keep it going into the season!
J.E.T looked very strong and powerful, would very much like to see more of him.
Nordveit impressed me greatly, the defence is a shambles at the moment though and the sooner it is settled the better. I’m sure I’m not alone in getting a bit worried about the state of our back like, two signings minimum, they have to be decent too. Not Sylvesters.
Anything alcoholic please, ‘holic
Nasri, JET, and Haaaaavard impressed.
A pint of plain of please barman!
Very impressed with Nordtveit’s distribution. Shame he didn’t put in many crosses, would have liked to have seen the quality of those.
Nasri is looking the part in central midfield albeit against cack. JET is scary, how can he be so big and strong for 18-19 years of age?
Heskey can only dream of having his ability on the ball.
Scotch, Blogs?
SCOTCH?
I have Black Bush here at fifteen dubloons a bottle, and you think I have SCOTCH!
🙂
Watched the friendly online on the Arsenal site. Just want to say what amazing support from the Slovenian, Czech and Slovakian fans of this Mighty Club. Nice one, Gooners here. Gooners there. Gooners every deleted word where! Huge shame regarding Dudu, as you rightly say, he will always be welcomed back at The Arsenal, I sincerely hope it works out for Eddy. Barca? I am just waiting for the next bit of respect and bridge building they feed into the media.
Re: Lansbury, JET, Nordtveit, et al., I say throw wave after wave of youth at Arsenal’s opponents until they scream. There will be no recurrence of last season’s complacency so long as Arsene uses the young players not only judiciously but also in enough strength. Thank you and bon voyage to Eduardo who got much worse than he deserved but will always occupy a place of honour in our memories.
Graceless Catalans deserved all your wrath today. ditto to everything. Dudu’s a loss – a regret that will haunt us for awhile I think.
JET can only be better then Denilson and Diaby.
Nordtveit
blogs spelt him right, ‘holic. 😉
*collects brandy*
Cheers. Goodnight.
FIFA are just as bad as the hit whoring chintz that copy and paste. Good point about those left out of the French farce.
Diet irn bru with a buckfast chaser please.
I’m running low on Buckie, Lord. I’ll nip out and nick another bottle for you 😉
Ollie, I have written to WordPress to insist ‘Nordtveit’ is included in the spellchecker on the next version…
Good post. No need for any appologies for this mornings blog post..
Sometimes you have to call it how you see it.
You know JET is quite versatile? Does anyone know what he is like coming for crosses?
No need to apologise for the Barca/FIFA rant, when you’re so passionate about the team thought rarely comes into it.
It’s the heart that leads the way.
It is with me and The Arse anway.
*swoons*
Heh, at Mean. Would you get in his way?
The scum of the xenophobic English press contributed significantly to Eduardo’s travails after his injury, not least in making him a scapegoat when some of their favoured sons do much much worse on a regular basis. Good luck Eddy, I hope you come back to haunt the little englanders with typewriters.
And Xavi and FIFA can simply go f@@@ themselves.
Good post ‘holic.
Mine’s a Margherita!
The young guns are steadily improving. If any don’t make the first team squad they should get a prem loan.
Have not managed to see any footage yet due to work but have been impressed with what I have read so far.
You are right to apologise for this mornings efforts holic. Did not go anywhere near far enough. Something really does need to be done about these pathetic specimens.
Have seen a few games with JET involved and agree that no ones still seems to know where his best position is. But one thing that Arsene does like to do is rotate players around to get experience in various positions. It will be interesting to see where he actually ends up.
Agree re Eddie. Sad to see him go if not at all surprising. Checked on Sky and his goals to game ratio was 1 in every 3. Must admit it was better than I thought. Good luck in pastures new.
Keep the faith.
Evening ‘holic, JET really did look the part I thought.
Of course he’ll encounter sterner defenses than those in Austria but his ability to take players on and come in from the right was a breath of fresh air wasn’t it? His linking up with Walcott was interesting, even though Theo’s end product needs work…as always.
Cheers Dudu, best of luck in pastures new. Who’ll ever forget that ‘beach goal’? A great memory, but it’s tainted by the fact that a player of that talent was never able to flourish at the club in large part due to some abject thuggery. Cheers indeed, quite fancy a brandy good sir
Evening Holic & Holic`s
Very sad end to Eddies Arsenal career, just because some neanderthal retard cant tackle. He was a legend in the making I always thought. His finishing was a joy to behold and was just getting into his stride and well we all know what happened then.
Signed the petition as I am all sure we all did.
Arsene just tell the Catalan cunts to fuckoff and be done with it
For those who didn’t watch (like me) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hTV_sqxtgk
Martin Taylor destroyed what could have been a magnificent Arsenal career. I wish Eduardo nothing but the best of luck at Shaktar.
JET and in particular Nordtveit were impressive today. Nordtveit appears to have been a bit forgotten by us fans, but he did spend almost all of last season playing first-team football in the Bundesliga (and, as I understand it, did it pretty well) which is not bad at all. It will be interesting to see how things pan out during the pre-season.
Had some beers, want more, please. If you have them, that is.
Many players did very well today besides Nasri. Of course it has to be taken with a pich of salt, the opposition was pretty poor.
Holic, I thought Eastmond had a great game too, he asserted himself well in midfield after his firt 10 minutes and after that nothing passed through the midfield, although he was well helped by Lansbury and Nordveit. I didn’t watch much of the first half but on that second half we will certainly see more of him in the first team this season.
Agreed with TopGunPires, send many on loan and next year we will barely recognize our first team.
@jaygooner: totally! The fans were really great, pretty amazing to have that much support away from home.
Surprised nobody is giving Frimpong a shout.He looks potentially awesome to me.
I think we can all see the script is written for the next season unless events unfold in a surprising way significantly quite soon. We have been through this times enough. ‘holic, why did you never answer my direct q about denilson in the ‘I’m off’ post?
JET may take longer to get the position he wants. Take the example of Drogba, we only peaked in his late twenties. JET has the size and skill to emulate him.
Barazite was out 4 a year 2 years back he was the standout better than the lot it might take a bit of time but he can do that something special similar to Wiltshire but with more pace looks better suited to a typical number 10 in a 442 as Wiltshire is a midfielder
I really wanted to see Eddie bounce back from his horrible injury, though I shouldn’t be surprised it was a big ask. I’m finding myself actually really depressed he didn’t make it and is leaving … sure looked sharp in the months leading up to that ‘tackle’, and I thought he was just what we needed that year. Scored a few beauties since his return (including that sublime outside-of-the-foot shot in the Carling Cup (I think) for which James Richardson questioned whether they’d reattached his leg backwards), but otherwise a sad shadow of his former self. Hope he can get his mojo back in Ukraine … like others said here, he’ll always be welcomed back.
Here here to all comments regarding Eddy. R they in the final qualifying group of ch league?? If so hope they get the spuds and he gets the winner!!!
Ok I meant hear hear…..
Current No.9 shirt should be kept in the museum. Wenger should stop giving number 9 shirt to our strikers. Here check the list of Arsenal No.9:
Eduardo
Reyes
Francis Jeffers
Davor Suker
Anelka
Paul Merson (switched from No.10 due to Bergkamp arrival)
See the curses there?
I see that Nordtveit played mainly as a defensive midfielder in his at
Nürnberg. Could he be cover for Song next season in the absence of anyone else? He sounds like a very useful player to have in the squad, full back, centre back and defensive mid.
‘Hollic,
Damn Samir is GOOD! what with him having points to prove n all. That guy is gonna win us the CL just watch. Cesc will be winning us the PL so no worries about that. Still early in the day and busy to the boot. Long island, thanks.
Sad about DUDU shed a tear reading his final message!
I have been thinking about our squad and where we need to strengthen. Can anyone give me a genuine reason why we did not make more of an effort to keep Gallas? I thought he was outstanding last season. We are now looking at spending millions plus on a centre half when surely the best option would have been to give him a 2 year deal and be done with it. Is he that much of a pain in the dressing room???????
Just a thought.
Hleb for £3 million? Would that we worth a punt???? Seems good value to me.
“be” worth a punt even………
All of the Spanish press (EMD, Marca, AS, Sport) are reporting that Arsenal have caved in and is willing to sell and talk.
If we sell for what they’re offering it’s an utter disgrace – 42 Million Euros.
I was quite convinced he’d stay until yesterday, now I’m not too sure. I wanna see the same hardball approach.
Nasri was brilliant and as I said earlier Nordveit has a very good footballing brain, he doesn’t just crosses the ball and whatever, he looks for a player, crosses when needed, passes when needed.
He’s a much better 3rd choice option for RB than our 3rd choice LB.
Jet very impressive, Theo very unimpressive.
because Gallas is a mouthacaun who still goes on like hes captain and demanding respect from everyone, like Don Fanucci, until Don Vito Nasri told him to do one and shot him in the face!!
the key there Snir is Spanish press (EMD, Marca, AS, Sport) – its a national pastime being a cunt for these guys
Come to think of it, there is a softening in Arsenal’s stance.
Could it be that Cesc heard AW state he’s not for sale and went and cried to Wenger to agree a deal? If so, I’ll be very disappointed in Cesc.
And I’ll be very disappointed in AW, selling Cesc less than a month to go till the start of the season and not for good money (42 Million Euros is way too cheap).
The more I think of it the more I think it’s Cesc crying to Wenger to release him even though AW is reluctant to do so but will have no choice if he keeps on whining.
let him go/let him go/let him go he wont like the splinters on the catalin bench… watch and weep fab.
Snir – you read the Spanish press more than me, and I live here! What with that and reading that other website you’re really not doing your heart any good! 🙂
Keep up the good work fella!
Only 6 more weeks of it then we get a nice break till November at which point it will all start again for 2 months then we get a nice long break before the Cycle once again starts, How Boring !!
Barca cannot afford what Arsenal would sell for + Wenger and The Board would surely realise selling him at this stage for under his market value would cause absolute uproar amongst the Fanbase,
Snir i can think of a much better use for those papesr that dosent involve reading if you get my drift 😉
Up The Arse,
Could be painful if he’s reading online.
forget fabregas………isnt anyone here worried that we are much weaker than last year?? and the season is approaching fast! if we dont sign someone that would surely mean wenger to leave next year…….that makes me sad…….
Catalan,
🙂
That really gave me a chuckle,and some vivid images!!
@SteveT: Gallas is really top drawer as a player but unfortunately he is a very poor teammate, constantly on everyone’s back, very divisive in the dressing room. And let’s not forget he was one of the leaders in the french national team’s farce. We totally do need to find someone to replace him though.
On the other hand I am dead set against another midfielder, we have a plethora already and we must make room for the most promising youngsters (Wilshere, Rambo, Eastmond etc). I’m very happy we did not get Joe Cole, even if Cesc leaves.
@usama: I’m on the other side, I think we are much stronger than last year. Don’t forget we have many young players progressing and generally around 23-24 they start fulfilling their potential like Song did last year. I expect everyone but the older players (Rosicki, Van Persie, Sgana, Eboue) to play noticeably better than last year. Can’t wait to discover what Nasri, Denilson and Bendy can really do…
Evening Holics.
Snir, relax dude, its not gonna stop anytime soon, try to not let it get to ya.
CG. Ha Ha.
Matt. I agree totally about JC, I couldn’t understand why many thought he would be good for the Gunners, I couldn’t see him fitting in anywhere and in taking 90k a week at a club who are not in the CL just proves why hewanted a move, “fresh challenge” my ars.
Steve T, I kinda know what you mean, I thought Gallas had a more then decent season, he and TV clicked well, TV took a lot of the plaudits, but I don’t think he would have made the transition to the PL so well without WG.
If the stories about WG are to be believed, then it may be better that he’s gone, but it is a gapping wound that needs to be filled and a makeshift band-aid just won’t suffice this time around, GK position is exactly the same. I do think we are as strong as we were last year in the Mid and forward positions, defence must be strengthened though if we are to mount and maintain a title challenge.
Cider please guv’
Cheers.
And obviously we’re not done yet in the transfer market:
‘There is no news on a defensive signing but numbers wise we are short in defence,’ said Wenger.
‘The situation is still open for Sol Campbell and for the rest we are still looking.’
An explanation on Eduardo’s departure: “I believe he is at the stage where he has to play and we could not guarantee him that time,” said the manager after the 3-0 win at Sturm Graz, “That is why [I allowed him to leave].
“But it makes me sad twice – because it reminds me how he got injured and because he is an outstanding guy. We wish him well but he is 27 years of age now and he needs to play.”
Matt.
It’s a pretty nice way of sayimg he’s surplus to requirements.
I wish him all the best, hope he can find some sort of form and, most importantly, get his confidence back.
@H2H: at the same time what kind of grown-up player accepts to start the season as 4th choice in his position? Either youngsters, pre-retirees (Silvestre and Sol) or players just wanting to cash in…
Eduardo will earn as much money in Ukraine but will be a starter. Kind of no-brainer for him I’d say.
Finally found a very informative article about Cesc and tapping up. It looks like it was written in reaction to the uproar caused by Holic’s previous post. We may not like the cocnlusion but it clears up things. Some excerpts:
“There is hardly a Barcelona player who has not made some attempt to lure him (cesc) to Catalonia.
So why doesn’t FIFA crack down on this shameful contravention of the laws?
How about this: Because it isn’t tapping-up
The most convincing argument that players cannot be guilty of tapping up is this: Cesc Fabregas has just spent an entire World Cup with eight Barcelona players in the Spain squad. And, over the course of the past six weeks or so, you can bet your bottom dollar they have been chipping away at him incessantly, trying to persuade him to move. You might not like it, but there’s absolutely no way you can stop it, short of forbidding players in the same World Cup squad from speaking to each other.
Is Fabregas even allowed to be friends with the Barcelona players? Surely enjoying Pique’s company represents a subtle form of tapping-up? Can he sit next to him on the team bus? Shouldn’t Andrei Arshavin be there just to provide some balance?
Even if you ban the public come-and-join-us pleas, you cannot do anything about the private ones.”
The article continues with an explanation of FIFA’s statute and how it does (actually does not) apply to Cesc and Barca. Really well worth the read.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/world-cup/armchair-pundit/article/7539/
The writer is blasted by gunners in the comments but there’s one with more insight:
FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
iv. Maintenance of contractual stability between professionals and clubs
Article 17- section 5:
“Any person subject to the FIFA Statutes and regulations (club officials, players’ agents, players, etc.) who acts in a manner designed to induce a breach of contract between a professional and a club in order to facilitate the transfer of the player shall be sanctioned.”
it’s been well known that he will go back to barça for years and the fact he’d actually had talks with wenger over the transfer in May means he has never been ‘induced’ by anyone… the word ‘induce’ is what any claim will rely on and barça, wenger, arsenal, and fifa know this isn’t tapping up… it’s actually quite simple, wenger took advantage of cesc wanting to leave when he signed him, now barça are doing the same… so ‘tapping up’ based on emotional understanding, sure… but NOT according to the law….
The Daily Mail (a shitty rag at the best of times) have been really classy with their headline: ‘Flop Gunner! Eduardo was a big shot joining Arsenal…now he’s their latest striking failure’, and lines like ‘he is leaving the Emirates like many before him: with his name almost as badly shattered as the bones in the ankle he infamously broke at Birmingham.’ Fuck off. I’m not a huge of football365 but at least this article jumps to Eduardo’s defence: http://football365.com/story/0,17033,8742_6274415,00.html
Matt, that’s all very well but they are still a bunch of c u next tuesdays.
Charlie, just ignore the Daily Fail and the likes.
@55Matt. I have read all of that about Gallas but never seen any of it backed up. My point was that we actually offered him a deal so must have wanted him to stay. So why not go that extra bit further and actually negotiate a deal? If we did not want him for all the reasons you suggest then why offer him the deal in the first place?
@51 Chippy. Your idea re the Spanish press is completely stupid. I have just got hold of their papers tried it after a night out. All I can say is that I got more shiit off of the paper. The rest of you in the bar that were tempted please look out.
Keep the faith.
Catalan – re “reading online” – very funny.
Steve T – I agree Gallas was excellent during the first half of last season, but I also noticed how his relationship with Almunia deteriorated to the point where he wouldn’t even look at him.
Whatever their relative shortcomings, a professional player – especially one who regards himself as the rightful captain – cannot behave like that.
I take your point that we made him an offer, but personally I won’t be sorry to see the back of him.
His sulk at Birmingham was pathetic – kicking in the advertising and sitting sulking on the ground while a team-mate had just been carried away with a shattered leg, is hardly captain’s behaviour either.
He couldn’t get along with Kolo, or Almunia, or many young “disrespectful” players, and rarely or never communicated or organised anything in the defence at all.
And then, of course, there is the matter of his annual 3 1/2 month injury break.
Come to think of it, why did we make him an offer?
I’ve read a few comments saying that Koscielny looks small. I haven’t yet seen anything of him in action, but do folks mean that he is very thin, or looks short? As far as I know he is 6′ 1″, so while not a giant, he isn’t that short, or ?
@Steve T: There is no doubt Gallas is a troublemaker, there have been quite a few articles about him in the french press during the WC, in particular Sagna came out to say Gallas is overly and relentlessly critical of everyone (including himself). And Nasri said he and other Arsenal players don’t talk to him: “I don’t communicate with him, but I’m not the only one at Arsenal who doesn’t have any communication with him. We are four or five, but that doesn’t stop us fighting for each other on the pitch,” said Nasri.
The club did negotiate with him for weeks, the parties could not come to an agreement. He wanted the same salary (80K) over a 2-years contract, the club agreed to make an exception to the 1 year rule for older players and offered to condition his wages depending on fitness/appearances or lower them by half and he refused.
Now he’s linked with a Greek club for 25K, perhaps he would reconsider our offer but my guess is that he’s antagonized too many people along the way.
@Charlie: forget about that article. Eduardo had very touching word for Arsenal, classy guy until the very last moment:
“The past few days have been very emotional for me,” Eduardo told Arsenal’s website.
“Although I am excited about the challenge ahead with my new club Shakhtar Donetsk, I am so sad to be leaving my home for the past three years – Arsenal Football Club.
“Arsenal is a very special football club and I will miss so many people – my team-mates, all the staff and, of course, the wonderful Arsenal supporters.
“When I first came to England, I could not speak the language and knew nobody, but as soon as I arrived I was made to feel at home and part of this big family.
“I had some very difficult times with my injury, but Arsenal was always there for me – the medical staff, the management, the players and the supporters. Thank you everybody.
“Although I have now left the club, Arsenal will always be in my heart. I will always look for the Arsenal results and of course, I wish Arsene Wenger and the great players at the club well for next season and the future.”
Henry just scored vs Spurs….I love that man!
http://www.mlssoccer.com/videos?catid=114&id=7132
video online….complete with horrible commentary
Just too frustrated and sad to say anything about Eduardo. We always remember him.
What a great start to the day. Cheers Tim. 🙂
Ditto,
Even more reason to smile on a Friday, You can bet he loved that 🙂
Steve T,
Probably best not to have tried it after 10 pints and a curry 😉
It’s way to early but what the hell,Peroni please barman,
Reports are that Sol has signed, or is about to. Personally I’m happy enough with that. If he can impart professionalism and experience to the younger ones. Covering for TV, Kos and Djorou, and bringing on Nordvelt (spelling!) – that’s good.
Now, if we bid 14m for Jageilka, PLEASE pay what is needed to get in a keeper!! Don’t quibble over a million here or there. If no one comes in then start Wos@y and cross our fingers. Personally, Fabianski has had enough chances.
stories like this are depressing:
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-keeper-crisis-Mark-Schwarzer-or-Lukas-Fabianski-set-to-displace-frozen-out-Manuel-Almunia-as-Arsene-Wengers-No1-article533733.html
mainly because they seem so plausible. for goodness surely we can not be contemplating going into the new season with fabianski in goal after his appalling season last year, when he was the worst goalkeeper in the top flight by a horribly wide margin. what’s going on?
and schwarzer? an improvement but is that the best we can do?
why can’t we just sign an experienced, quality keeper?
Beast, I agree.
Aspirations of being a top top club does not fit in with our inability to get a top quality keeper.
Its Wenger’s weak spot, imo.
Do you have any Deuchar’s IPA barman?
I love AW but seriously, is it beneath him to spend some money on a decent keeper? There’s loads of them out there! It’s such an important position too, it’s so odd that Arsenal neglect this.
I hate to say this about an Arsenal player but Fabianski is completely rubbish and I would be amazed if he goes through a season playing for us without committing a string of howlers which will cost us points and get us knocked out of cups. It’ll be ridiculous if he starts next season as our number one.
Matt, the fact that Cesc enjoys the tapping up or Pique’s company, call it what you want, doesn’t mean it’s not tapping up cause it is.
Rosell meeting with Cesc’s family is tapping up, Guardiola meeting Cesc in SA is tapping up.
Steve T – TBH I really was too impressed with Gallas, I actually thought he was our weak link.
Schwarzer coming is O.K, but if Sol will stay it means that either Djorou/Koscielny are starters… hmmmm not too sure I’m O.K with that.
If we don’t sign a keeper, another centre back and a defensive midfielder then we will have another underwhelming season. I can’t see our pool of goalies and the squad of defenders we have being good enough to win the league. Sad but true. Apart from signing Koscielny, who would be a risky choice to play as first choice straight away, we have done bugger all about this so far this summer and it concerns me.
@the beast.
I’ve been thinking the same but Matt got me thinking that we’re an all attacking team meaning we can still win the league with 40 conceded… We’ll just have to score more and we can.
So the defence will be solid, not too good, not too bad with Kos/Djorou and Schwarzer (looks like he’s really close) but the thing is that our attacking abilities will be a lot better.
We didn’t just add a player in Chamakh, we changed our play, not it won’t be passing the hell out of the opposition, every time the opposition plays narrow we’ll go to the wings, cross it to Chamakh and score 🙂
I admire your optimism Snir Geuli. But are we still not likely to get battered again next season any time we play someone good if we start with last year’s defenders (swap Gallas and S*l*s*re for Koscielny). Chelsea destroyed us twice last season, and Man Utd pummelled as at home. I’m not sure we have made sufficient changes to stop these sorts of things happening again. Not sure Djourou and Koscielny are the men to stop this. I’d like to see Gibbs being given an extensive run in the team though, he looks really good and Clichy wasn’t great last year.
It’s very rare for a team to win major trophies with a “not too good, not too bad” defence.
People tend to get over dramatic because of those fixtures against Man U and Chelsea.
We got caught on counter attacks (Drogba’s goal in the 2nd game, Rooney, Park) and conceded 3 fluke goals (Drogba and Vermaelen and Nani).
You gotta remember that we played Chelsea twice and United once with no strikers, we played AA up front and had tons of possession and that’s exactly where Chamakh comes in cause it was quite obvious we wouldn’t score against Chelsea/United with no brilliant through pass from Cesc cause of the height disadvantage.
We conceded 8 goals in those 3 games where 3 goals were flukes, 3 goals are goals that even if we had Koscielny or Djorou there we would have conceded so it doesn’t matter who is playing this year and 2 goals from set pieces – Corner and free kick.
We have to defend better as a TEAM, not as defenders. You know that all that possession will lead to goals/much more chances with Chamakh and v.Persie in the box and not the 5’4 Arshavin.
Just like AW said – it was “Corner for us, goal for them”. Usually on corners the players at the back are not the defenders so we need to defend better as a team not as defenders as said earlier.
Chelsea conceded 32 goals last year.
We conceded 41 with 7 goals that are strictly only GK (2 against Blackburn at home, Wigan, Birmingham, Spurs, Blackburn away, Liverpool).
So maybe it’s not the defense that’s that bad, it was just our clowns in goal.
I really do believe that if we improve our offensive possibilities it’ll improve our defense as well. Anyhow they only have to defend 30% of the time, we have the ball 70% :D.
A GK is much more needed than a CB.
Re: this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8849972.stm
I guess that means Nasri will be in the squad?
It appears that the only thing Barcelona players are doing in their off season is tapping up Cesc. Surely they have no time for actual football training?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfers/7906040/David-Villa-joins-list-of-Barcelona-players-urging-Arsenals-Cesc-Fabregas-to-join-them.html
Certain players will always be remembered with fondness, either because of their contribution eg. Pires, or because they were just nice people eg. Gilberto. Eduardo could almost fit in both categories. Anyone who saw him play could not doubt his skill and eye for goal, and it was just unfortuate that his on the pitch mugging left him unable to mentally play to his full potential. Good luck mate!
Why is AW arguing the toss over the odd million for Schwartzer? He`s certainly in the veteran stage, but would be a more than competent fill-in while Szczesny (I spelt that from memory – was it right?) gains experience. My fear is that AW is so determined to prove to fans that he`s right about Fabianski. Could Arsene`s bloody mindedness cost us the chance of honours before we`ve even begun?
More on Gallas who despite whatever he dreams off will have to take a pay cut at a much less prestigious club.
“The France defender missed out on a new deal at the Emirates Stadium because of his insistence on a two-year contract and a reluctance to take a pay cut on £80,000 a week wages.
Italian suitors – led by Roma – have also been put off by the demands, leaving Panathinaikos and Paris Saint-Germain as the front runners for his signature.
Reports say Gallas is prepared to take as little as £35,000 a week after tax if the deal is for three years, but Panathinaikos are apparently offering £25,000 a week, plus a signing-on fee and bonuses.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1297120/Arsenal-contract-rebel-William-Gallas-pricing-Panathinaikos-claims-Greek-clubs-chief.html
The more i read about Gallas the less i am bothered by his leaving.
The bloke is trouble, not liked, and far too often not fit.
He is not as dominant in the air as Sol, although it must be said that he is quicker.
Many seem to be doubting Sol’s ability to last a season, but there can be few better judges of a player’s physical powers than Arsene Wenger.
Personally, at the end of last season – injuries accepted – i thought he was often our best player.
It will be good to have him against some of the battering rams when we play the likes of Blackburn and Stoke – not forgetting Drogba, of course.
Admittedly it was a very brief appearance, but if Djourou can stay fit and display the kind of determination we saw against Fulham in the last game, he looks an excellent prospect. And he’s big enough to cope with Drogba too.
Clearly, at around £9million, Koscielny has not been bought to warm the bench. But maybe,there is a pragmatic plan to rotate our CBs depending on who we are playing.
Still, none of it will matter very much anyway if we don’t hurry up and SIGN A PROPER EFFING GOALKEEPER!!!!
Cheer up lads!!!
Off topic a bit…I realise he’s 27 now and the decision made makes more sense for the player…but would it not have been better sense for us to send Eduardo out on a 4 month loan? If the issue was confidence would 19 games and 13 goals in another league have seen him come back to us at his best?
I know I’m being selfish and I wish him all the best….he’s a class player and seeing him go after this is one of the saddest Arsenal tales of recent years.
Will never forget his day at Goodison when he showed what a striker will do for you in a difficult match.
@biscuitbum. With you on the worrying feeling that AW is determined to prove himself right on Project Fabianski. I may be wrong, or Fabianski may prove me wrong, and I hope he does.
He seems like a nice boy.
I don’t want a nice boy.
I want a mad German stamping on people’s feet and picking fights.
I want a great lump of a Yorkshire man whiplashing them with his ponytail.
Or, maybe, a young confident W@sny knoking forwards’ blocks off.
I don’t want a nice boy in goal.
I do want a drink.
Project Fabianski sounds about right. I remember Arseblogger complaining the last couple of summers about AW putting the interests of some of the underperforming young players (eg Denilson) ahead of the interests of the club – and if he ends up keeping faith with the hapless Fabianski at the start of this season then it would be the same thing all over again.
We can’t afford to rest on our laurels – City will no doubt improve, obviously Chelsea and Man Utd are very strong and Liverpool and Spuds can’t be taken for granted. And is Fabianski the type of goalie you want for trips to the likes of Blackburn and Stoke? No thanks.
would it be expecting too much of schezney to be our number one this
year?
If fabaianski is picked we might aswell give up now!
At least i might get a season ticket in a few years time if AWs stubborness leads
us to another tropheyless season
Not even August and already people moaning (even with over a month of the transfer window left) – god knows what it’ll be like when we have our first bad result of the season.
Hilarious…poor old Thierry Henry (this is how it sometimes feels in the States when you discuss foorball)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tULSYW5NbnU&feature=player_embedded#!
or football….tsk
A good point make by Tony Attwood
http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/2010/07/23/where-is-the-statue-of-herbert-chapman-at-the-emirates/
@94 don’t u mean SOCCER!!!!! ha ha
Off the topic… But saw that mallorca r not allowed to play in the europa league becausethey didnt satisfy the “financial requirements” of UEFA. Can anyone elaborate?? ManUtd having such a debt is allowed to play eh!!
I think I’m gonna cry from happiness because of this.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/146066/Igor-Akinfeev-wants-to-team-up-with-Andrey-Arshavin-at-Arsenal/
This would be one of AW’s best and I mean best (I see Akinfeev a lot, one of the Israeli players plays in Rubin Kazan so we have live Russian games here) signings EVER!
I’m also quite happy by the commitment AA is suddenly showing (even though I’m not sure if this isn’t recycled from the winter). I’d really love AA if he wasn’t lazy and uncommitted to the club. Very glad to hear AA is publicizing us as a club.
A Daily Star article? I could compost my lawn (if I had a lawn anyway) with that sorry excuse for a ‘newspaper’, or trust anything it writes.
@nez: actually, the word “soccer” is, contrary to popular belief, not an American word. It is very much an English word that has been around for ages.
@pab: Mallorca are in administation, and it is because of this that UEFA have not allowed them into the tournament.
Here’s another goalkeeper link;
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/arsenal/887081/MOVE-FOR-MAARTEN-PUTS-MANUEL-IN-MIRE.html
The source, NOTW, belongs with Charlie’s (post 99) grass helper, but if there is any truth to it, then I think he would be an excellent purchase. Can’t imagine Ajax would let him go for the reported £4m though, they’d probably want at least double that amount.
@nez…no, I’m from England. I actually like convincing the natives to call the helmeted variety american football (or simply shite0. Happens now and then with anglophiles.