Time To Put My Money On The Table
Sep 2nd, 2010 by 'holic
Come back when the transfer window has closed and we know who we, and everybody else, have on board. It is my stock answer when people ask me to follow the trend for pre-season predictions.
I’ll try and keep this mercifully brief because you will be able to hear some of my thoughts on Friday’s excellent Arsecast, where the host is joined by Gilberto Silver from Gunnerblog, Rotor Goat from East Lower, and Goodplaya, as well as yours truly, for a round table discussion on what lies in store.
As you will hear what I think will happen depends on the question being asked. Can Arsenal win the Premiership? Oh yes. Will Arsenal win the Premiership? I fear not, but you won’t be surprised to hear I cannot accept we will lose our status as a top three club.
Those who argue that will happen point at the failure to add a goalkeeper to the squad, and I cannot disagree vehemently. I would argue we have the same four we started last season and they were good enough to secure the third place finish for us, despite widespread criticism, sometimes warranted but with the benefit of hindsight sometimes hysterical.
I still believe that Schwarzer was not the answer, and I am persuaded he became the only actively pursued target when Ajax qualified for the Champions League and our interest in Maarten Stekelenburg was thwarted, but that is based on nothing but decidedly dodgy (yet common sense) hearsay.
Indeed all of the question marks about Arsenal’s challenge for honours this season are in defensive areas. Will Squillaci provide the experience and leadership lost when Gallas, and particularly Campbell, went elsewhere? Will Koscielny add consistency to promise, or will his vulnerability to balls played in behind him remain an issue? And what will we do if we lose Alex Song from the holding role for any length of time.
I do understand when people use these as reasons why we may again fail to lift silverware. Even if I disagree on the degree of handicap it burdens us with, I will accept that I am surprised we did not appear to make a greater effort to add a couple more faces.
Now if I concede that our defence is likely to see us fall short of the biggest prize, I have to balance that out by saying I believe we have a richer array of attacking talent than any of our domestic rivals, bar none. When, or more realistically I should say if, we get everybody fit then how will we accommodate Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky, Ramsay, Wilshere, Diaby, Arshavin, Walcott, Vela, Denilson, Eboue? Of course we cannot, but what a fabulous problem for Arsene to face should it happen.
I’ve left out the big men up front. The uncertainty surrounding Nicklas Bendtner’s fitness right now would have been a real body-blow last season. When he was ruled out at the same time as van Persie, Eduardo, and Vela, and we were forced to play with Arshavin up front some significant points were surrendered. Now we have Chamakh.
We haven’t had a player with Chamakh’s qualities since Alan Smith was in his prime. Great control with his back to goal, able to bring supporting midfielders into the game, comfortable on the flanks with the ball at his feet and a threat in the box, particularly in the air. I have said before I think he will score a lot of goals with this Arsenal midfield providing the ammunition.
Then there is van Persie. I still believe we have to find a way of playing him and Chamakh, not him or Chamakh. I’m sure they will end up sharing the central role and one of the wide berths, interchanging to disrupt opponents defensive organisation. This assumes of course that Robin can spend more time on the pitch than in the Lewin infirmary.
That array of attacking talent will make us a threat in knock-out competitions, and of course chief among these is the Champions League. I’m starting to dare to dream that having played our Champions League fixtures at Wembley at the turn of the century, we are destined to return there to put the record straight. Get to the knock-out phase, and go for it. Are we likely winners? Perhaps not, but can we win it? Oh yes, I have absolutely no doubt about that.
Roll on March, April, and May, for that is when the arguments will play out to a finish. Those who blindly swear we cannot win anything with this squad have a distinct statistical advantage. It is odds on they will be right. However, I’ve never been afraid to take a little punt on an outsider, and three ‘holic pounds are invested. (No, not the Carling Cup, sorry.)
Cheers ‘holics.
239 Responses to “Time To Put My Money On The Table”
Your talking alot of rubbish today.
Thank you for your erudite and considered opinion.
Holic I have one question. Is the money from the sales of Toure Adebayor etc only allowed to be used to bring new players to the club? Or did I hear wrong..
blimey you have to be quick to be first at the bar these days
Fofza show some respect you idiot.
Chamakh will/would score a lot of goals if we had someone who CAN CROSS THE F***ING BALL!!!! Sorry… Watching Clichy, Sagna, Walcott, Arshavin, and any other midfielder hit the byline and deliver a crap ball every time when we have a master headerer waiting in the box has already become blood boiling. Do these players actually train on simple things like crossing???
Be positive man, keep your head up we’ll clean up this year, no problem.
The only reason why we fell of the pace last season is due to injuries to our main players.
No problem this season as we now have the squad to beat the best England and Europe has to offer.
As for the anti Arsenal muppets out there I suggest finding another club to support.
Up the GUNNNNNNERSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
Sorry slightly off subject holic, Do you think the bitter little spuddies will put out a full strength team in the Milk Cup?
stonroy, for the first time I think that is a valid question. Unless there is a plan to use the profits from both sides of the business to pay down the debt early then I think the supporters and shareholders do deserve an explanation now.
The cash that has been accrued is not going into further development, unless there has been a U-turn, so other than ‘fiscal prudence’ I don’t see the reason for not investing a little more of that cash in the core business, i.e. football.
Thanks Forza, seeing your response confirms what I thought, Holic is absolutely on the money. Well done, Holic.
i would say nice article if he was talking sense,but he’s not,i say it how it is,alright.
sam, they have to. Let’s be honest, even they cannot be confident of staying in the top four, so this will again be their best chance of securing European qualification.
I must confess I do wonder if the class of 2010 is ready for the challenge and the atmosphere, but what an achievement if we beat them with our Carlling Cup kids again.
What is your take on our main opponents, ‘holic. Have they strengthened, regressed or stood still?
Canadian Club with ginger ale, slice of lime. Thanks.
no,the only reason why we kept up with united and the chavs is because of them not having normal season ie them dropping points against teams they normally beat,it will not happen this season to many times,that’s the only reason why we kept up.
Forza, have you stopped taking your prozac again?
I made a huge mistake last year, KT, of discounting Manchester United from my thoughts. I thought we would go head to head with Chelsea and just miss out.
Chelsea are still strong if they don’t suffer too many injuries defensively. Like us, that will be their achilles heel, and I fancy they may not be as lucky as last season in that respect. If however they keep a settled back five then we will all be playing for second I think.
I won’t repeat my error of last season. United appear to have stood still, seem more reliant on older players, but grudgingly we have to accept they are good older players. I have a sneaking feeling they won’t last the pace, but there is no logical reason to believe that if I take the rose-tinteds off for a second.
I take your point though. We are the only one of the three to have definitely improved in attack.
Forza, do you consider yourself an Arsenal supporter? Because with all the moaning about how awful we are and how great everyone else is, I think you’re missing the point of the title. Supporter = one who supports.
I think it’s long overdue that we begin classifying our fans as Supporters and Detractors. Johnnie Walker black and lemonade please, ‘Holic.
forza could hav a point there.however i tink this is our strongest squad since pires henry vieira etc.i really tink we will b there or there abouts this year.
Officer on parade! Welcome Blogs. Funny Canadian stuff for you then…
forza. Better, you gave an opinion and explained it. That’s all I can ask.
rock, we fall out too often by not listening and blindly arguing. It’s time to talk a little bit more and bite a little bit less.
And yes, I am a fucking pot accusing the kettle of being filthy π
agree with u holic bout utd i thought same ting last year and i tink there the 1s with most to worry about regarding a top 4 finish.they look weaker then they hav in a long time.
I am awash with optimism. So awash, it’s leaving embarrassing stains.
My main reason is more of a hunch than anything else… it’s the increased desire and confidence we’re seeing from Nasri, Walcott, Almunia. The new signings also seem to have put in some missing pieces, and maybe their attitude and excitement have rubbed off on the others. I think we’re starting to look like a team who enjoy playing together again, something I don’t think I’ve seen since Hleb left.
Re: defence…
Citeh, Man U and Chelsea all have problems. Both Citeh’s new full-backs are injured. For man U, Ferdinand’s coming back from injury on top of indifferent form, and they still don’t have a right-back. Chelsea have lost Carvalho, which means their strength in depth in the centre is at least as worrying as ours. And in fact, I don’t find myself that worried about ours.
It’s always much easier to sit anonymously behind a keyboard, and be dismissive, offensive, negative, but forceful in your opinions, without any reasoning to justify them, than it is to come up with some original, reasoned opinion, seasoned with a little balance.
But why bother ?
Unanimity and sycophancy have never been demanded in this establishment as long as I’ve been reading. Just manners.
Cheers ‘Holic, one for yourself.
rockofgilberto,im not gonna sit here and pretend everything is fine when clearly it’s not.
i tink almunia could turn out to be this seasons eboue.any1 else??
just me then!!!
Catalan @yesterday.
It’s pleasure, for a week, just back in time for Bolton. Good luck with the scan.
Agreed with Anto, we have a very good selection of outfield talent, particularly in midfield. My one thought/crticism in the construction of it is that it seems that the manager has been placing less and less emphasis on the defence in recent years, and the defenders we have brought in, while brilliant (Vermaelen dynamite, Squillaci is class, Koscielny shows some promise) are very much “Wenger players”: more gifted in technical ability perhaps than in physical prowess. I could be talking rubbish, but I feel there’s some validity to this, and while it’s not necessarily detrimental to the squad (I’d take them all over the “classic English centre-half”, i.e. Shawcross et al), I still feel like we could do with a bit more steel. Watching Koscielny get pushed around by Diouf (the c**t one, not the one who scored) was particularly disheartening.
And ‘Holic, point taken about requiring more togetherness as supporters, but you well know how difficult it is. I personally would’ve been long since eaten if I were a fish, such is my penchant for rising to the bait π
Having just returned from a glorious 3 weeks away I expected to return to a few new signings and loads of optimism. I must say I am very disappointed with the way things have gone. We have a great chance to add the 2 or 3 players we really need and we would be well fancied. Now? I do not see us being any stronger than last season. The loss of Gallas makes us weaker at the back in my opinion. I have not seen enough of either new centre half to see how they will cope with the Prem. Have seen more of Chamack and am impressed. Does make me wonder what might have been if we had pushed the boat out last season and actually paid the asking price then???
Keeper situation is a shambles. Almunia is just not good enough. Not his fault. I have never seen him give anything less than 100%. But he is just not good enough. I am not really sure who of the 30 or so keepers we were linked with we should have bought but if the big aussie was the man then why not just pay the fee and get it sealed before the world cup? AW’s prog notes at the Man City game last season said that he had identified the areas that needed strengthening and was already talking to targets???? Well, how can that be? At this time both Gallas and Sol were staying so we had no need for 2 CB’s?? For once I think our dealings border on embarrassing.
I think you make some valid points holic but like you I feel we will be just short. The frustrating thing for me is that I do not think we need to be just short. Ask yourselves this. Is the club maximising thier potential with the resources it has? In my honest opinion the answer is a big fat no. I sincerely hope that I am very wrong but if I am not I do not think many fans will tolerate another trophy less season considering the comments from the management re the financial condition of the club. As I said, I genuinely hope I am very wrong.
Keep the faith??????????????? Well at least I am trying.
anto, I think Almunia could turn out to be the 2008 model, which would be great.
The difference between him and the others is that his problems are, for want of a better word, ‘psychological’, rather than technical, which is where his rivals fall down.
He could be better overnight, if he has put his personal problems behind him. The others have a lot of hard work to do, and still appear to be learning the hard way.
I would hazard a guess that psychological problems seem to require a longer spell out healing than physical problems. A damaged joint can receive a fairly accurate prognosis (unless it’s the Duth national team’s physios); a wounded ego or crippled self-confidence cannot be spelled out in such a defined linear fashion.
Goonerholic I beleive that Van Man played alongside Chamakh towards the end of the Blackburn game with VP’s corner leading to MC’s goal. This also leads to LennyBruces point made about putting good crosses in to the box. Although to be fair, Sagna’s crosses are okay most of the time!
Hey Trev how the devil are ya?
The way we conceded against blackburn will continue throughout the season simply because we cannot defend as a team,it’s not good enough, untill we tighten up the defensive strategy as a team we will always fall short,the same hammerings will continue against the bigger teams and the same capitulations will continue against the lesser teams.
Sorry I meant Blackpool – Wrong Blacks!
@Gooner Town, I believe that was at the end of the Blackpool match. And to be fair, I’m glad Chamakh got that header, because he’d wasted a fair few chances up to that point. One of them looked like it was harder to miss than to score!
Forza, I’m really trying to work with you mate, but I don’t understand how you can be all negative, all the time. Is there no joy in supporting the club for you? I just want to understand, really.
One last point, the one positive we can take from having Almunia as our number one is: Hey, it could have been Fabianski. Let’s thank our lucky stars THAT didn’t happen…
Cannot say you are wrong about the defensive frailties, forza, but it is just not true that it guarantees we will suffer the same ‘hammerings’ and ‘capitulations’. In fact until the last month of the season our record against the ‘lesser teams’ was exemplary.
I would counter with a genuine striker likely to be playing against the other big two this season that we will not lose all four of those games this time around.
Evening ‘Holic
Can’t wait for the cast. Will listen to it rather than watch us Jocks. 6 Huns he has picked. Supporting them would be like eating you own young.
Lemsip for me.
Man Flu…..
‘Holic – can you enlighten me, what were Almunia’s personal problems last year? People talk about them but never get specific. Did I miss something to not know any more on this???
Great blog again!
at the moment there is no joy following arsenal,put it this way,i don’t wear sunglasses when the sun is not out.
Goonerholic is it me or have Chelsea transfered out most of the players who spent most of their time on the treament table barring Essien? To be honest I reckon our chances of sticking with Chelsea will depend upon how well we perform rather than how poorly they do. Last season them and Utd performing badly allowed us to sneak in there alot. But I feel it gave us the belief that we can win it! So this season I reckon we need to win all of our home games and get at least a point away. So far we have managed 4 points in two away games which is better than last season (so far!)
Essex, it was no secret. His mother in law died. They are a close family. It hit them hard. Add that to being pilloried for making mistakes when your mind is wandering and you have a classic lack of confidence. His was never a problem of technique.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-keeper-Manuel-Almunia-s-secret-family-tragedy-revealed-article207443.html
Although it’s possible, I don’t see us finishing above Chelsea, not least given their bloody irritating habit of not getting many injuries. Much as I’d like to pretend otherwise, they have plenty of attacking talent.
One thing we absolutely need to start doing again is taking points off them, United and (sorry to say it, because it amounts to admitting that financial doping works) City. We haven’t beaten either United or Chelsea since November 2008 – their flakiness last year, coupled with our solidity in games against everyone else, meant we were still in the mix late on, but to go further, we need to start beating them again.
Another good article Holic’ but I must disagree. Do I think we can win the title? Yes. Do I think we will? Who’s to say, it’s too early but something tells me it’ll be between us and United. If we keep the majority of our squad mostly fit then I think we can shade it. Our basic problem for the last couple of years has been defense and not necessarily the goalkeeping situation and I think the early promise and the experience of Squillaci will prove more than useful. And as well if we’re still in the championship race come Jan then who’s to say there won’t be additions to further help our challenge ala Arshavin. I honestly think United’s squad and ours if fit are the best in the league. Will Chelsea be as strong without Carvalho and with Terry getting on and getting worse? Will they survive an injury to Malouda (now a key player) or Drogba? Cause Anelka I daresay can’t score 20 goals.
Basically I’ve a feeling it’s between us and United. And we can certainly do it.
Cheers Holic
So long as nobody tries to say we should go for the League Cup this year.
And Forza, just stop grumbling. Last I checked we beat Blackburn.
forza forza – You mean at night ?!
United have already dropped points, well maybe Fulham are excused because they always drop points there.
Tottenham have qualified for the Champions League yet lose to Wigan at home.
Citeh have managed to make Abramovich look small time in terms of ridiculous spending sprees, but lost in the 94th minute to a Sunderland penalty.
We’ve been away to Anfield already, got a respectable draw, been to Ewood where we lost last year and won, despite the error for the goal, there was a distinct change in the second half with the way we went about things.
We’ve alsot started following in other teams footsteps and are using Internation breaks to recover from injuries rather than add to the injury list.
5 years trophyless,going into a 6th what’s wenger done to change it.
Just a lemonade don’t drink alcohol I would ask for coke but you know the media.
I have not had a chance to catch up on the past blogs so forgive me if this has been done to death already, but am I the only one that thought Clichy was massively at fault for the Blackburn goal? I have seen Kossa get pelters but the Clichy switch off was alarming. It is these weaknesses that are alarming.
You wanted signings? You have three. You wanted more? So did I, but sometimes the players you want cannot come.
We have more depth, certainly up front. That is what he has done.
The media are a mystery to us all Jack. Like the supporters, some stink the place out, most are ok.
Steve T, I don’t want to start anything here, but I admire the way people have stood up for Koscielny given he is new and likely to grow into the role. If only people had been so supportive of Senderos when pressed into service at right-back and similarly outflanked on the same ground a couple of years back…
@rockofgilberto yeah chamakh’s misses we’re a mixture of crosses and balls in to the box. Yeah the delivery’s were not bad!
Re:Fabianski I beleieve his confidence went to pot after the FA cup semi. To be honest our defence could have been better on the two goals. We lacked that steel in the middle which eventually lead to Chelsea’s confidence and belief growing and ours crumble in to dust by the Champions League Semi (sorry for the memories guys). Before that Fabianski was having a good little run in the Carling and FA.
Something tells me that we need our defence from the front to improve. If pressing is down to enrergy and fatigue then we need to watch our injuries (hopefully the GPS’s will help), and rotate to give us fresh legs. Therefore if we are having trouble blocking at least we can slow down the opposition flow. Our defence should really be sweeping more (in the Koscielny mould) rather than going in to direct tackles, which should only be used when dealing with difficult customers like the Dogba (enter Squillachi).
I guess our major problem hands down usually is set pieces. But we have not conceeded like that so far as Manuel has been keeping a firm eye on these! So then that brings me back to pressing the opposition! Although I’m not happy with them, if you look at the way Barca pressed Racing over the weekend, it left Racing needing to defend rather than play, which left the key forwards to unlock their defence which they managed no problem! If we can keep our ‘Arsenal Pressing Statergy’ going, we should find that we will find the more solid ball playing teams ie; the Man U’s easier the play and beat!
Hopefully a good run will give Manuel that much needed confidence and allow Fabianski to re-emerge to his v Wigan days!
Steve T – I think the midfield should have taken the brunt of the flak, how do you let Samba waltz his way through midfield like that ?!
Koscielny just needs to fill out a bit more, he’s already said he’s working on putting on more muscle.
Clichy could see Kalinic and was waiting for Vermaelen to make the move, their communication needs to be far better, but again the biggest part of that is you just can’t allow your defence to be exposed like that.
Some people just want a signing just for the sake of a signing. I think the 3 signings we’ve made this summer are very good. I actually heard someone on another blog asking why we didn’t buy Van Der Vaart and thats the mentality some fans have. Buying for the sake of buying. We needed defenders, we got defenders, we needed another striker who’s made of tough stuff we got one. We didn’t neccesarily need another goalkeeper since we’ve got 4 but rather need our 4 to be more consistant.
mystic
we could blame the midfield but in the end it boils down to the age old question……..wat happens if a green stone falls in the red sea??
@Stevie T & Mystic! Yeah when players are out of position, they need to be aware of their surroundings. We got caught ‘ball watching’
any1?
you are a dreamer if you think we are going to win the european cup.
as for the fa cup, forget it, wenger has deemed that cup beneath him and arsenal now so we will not be winning that again with him as dictator.
and we all know that his @hitted on the league cup long ago.
wake up and see that we only play for 3rd or 4th place now and enough of this nonsense about being winners. we are not winners any more.
one more thing: try not to get too excited about the win over blackburn because we were lucky (even the wenger god admitted that after the game). on another day two or three of those headers would have go in and we would have lost.
i’ve said it many times and i’ll say it again: it’s groundhog season and deep down we all know it…
anto – Who dropped it ?!
Go for it anto π
wait 4 it…..
it gets wet..BOOM
KEEP SMILIN
Thank you for telling us what we are all thinking, anon. Feel free to leave your name next time. π
At least the manager and players you despise have the bollocks to put themselves out there to be shot at on our behalf every week.
anto, in the words of Alan Davies,
“Never email me again” π
Gooner Town – We looked nervous in the first half, our midfield misplaced several balls and we had no go, forward, it didn’t help that every ball Blackburn played was a 60 yard punt, which is why the goal was soo disappointing.
Rosicky is quality, even in comparison to Fabregas, he knows when to slow the game down and just play the simple ball, and we looked far better in the second, Arshavin even dropped back to help out Clichy.
The way Chamakh dealt with th threat of Samba was pretty nifty, though for some reason the way Sky highlighted it, I think we’ll end up paying for it.
His mother-in-law died? Jesus, Lamest excuse ever. Frank Lampards mum died and he was back playing at his best within a few weeks.
Sometimes I don’t even think you watch Arsenal Holic. Unfortunately, the weaknesses aren’t merely down to personnel, tactics also play a large part. Tactically, Wenger is abysmal. Every time an experienced player leaves, his tactical incompetence is left more exposed. He is only able to teach players half the game, going forward.
Gael Clichy is a prime example, a player who has not improved 1% since he walked into the team 4-5 years ago, still makes exactly the same schoolboy errors now as he did then – Wenger has not taught him a single thing about defending in 5 years!! That’s why Arsenal will never win anything again under him. Once the famous back five went and Wenger refused to buy self-sufficient players of equal quality, the whole project died – and will remain dead until he spends big or leaves and gives someone else a crack.
When you add that to the fact he’s so unnecessarily miserly in the transfer market, you have more than one good reason to wake up and realise it’s time he went. At least a new manager would give us optimism, hope of change – with Wenger we’re stuck on repeat forever.
Someone should tell Audrey Arshavin to increase his desire on the pitch.
Increasing his speed and movement would be a start.
*waves*
Gooner Town @31 – I’m good thanks. Breathless after reading all your posts. They certainly pack it in, and pacy!
Steve T – I know Gallas is a player of proven quality, and started last season really well with TV. I also know there were many occasions when the pair of them were beaten by one ball played through the middle of our defence.
I remember sitting through most of our games holding my breath every time the opposition attacked. A lot of the time we were a shambles.
Having seemingly forced Kolo out, Gallas then refused to speak, or even look, to Almunia. His communication appeared non-existent.
I would also like to know why, at the end of the season, following his injury, he declared himself ready to play for France in a newspaper interview, but still failed to appear for us in the final two games.
I am quite happy for him to go and undermine the Spuds and leave us well alone. I don’t actually think we are weakened by his loss at all, because of the effect he had on so many of the other players.
Quite a few other clubs also decided in the summer that they could do without his much touted services.
Once fit, I think Squelchy will be a better bet.
Ahh optimism. It happens at the same time every year and lasts until just before December when we finally come up against our main rivals. ” Wait until May and judge the team then”…its the same message every year. And then when we DO judge the team we are told to go and support Chelsea. How dare we criticise the almighty Weng!
Holic, Right on!
I guess I’m the only one left who believes we’re gonna win it this year.
You guys have GOT to look at other teams’ weaknesses.
Chelsea’s depth in defense is horrible, so is United’s.
Gallas leaving is great because he’s shit, always was for us.
We have the best attacking players in the league just like Holic said and the only problem we’ll have is with Almunia and I’m quite sure that he’ll be replaced either in January or he’ll rediscover his 08 form and avoid being replaced.
Chamakh’s arrival will be proven the most significant.
We’re already the best attacking side without him, imagine what we’ll be with him and the aerial threat he provides.
Vic – Gael Clichy is a prime example of what ? He was Ashley Cole’s understudy when he first arrived, he went on to replace him and in 07/08 was named as the best left back in the league.
Myabe if you were tactically aware you’d understand how he got to that point and how in recent years he hasn’t shown the same kind of form.
Well said vic.
wenger is clearly the worst manager we ever had.he has destroyed our club.lets get rid and get big sam in instead.
ud like tat woudnt u.
dipstick
Good post. I believe our attacking options are superior to anyone else in the league. Defensively, we will always get the worst flak from media … an Almunia flap gets more coverage than a Reina flap. Nothing we can do about it, but keep a perspective.
Those who clamor for strong defensive units should revisit our greatest season 2003-04 again. There were so many cheap goals conceded against the weakest oppositions. The big difference was that we always managed to outscore them
If Walcott and Sagna continue their good form, we can have a lethal flank just like Bobby Pires and Cashley gave us on the left side of midfield. And of course, having injury free seasons for our key players is also the key. We need that bit of luck.
I wonder how many Man U and Chelsea will stuff past us this year? 15? 20? They score nearly every time we have a corner, and every time they have a corner. And god forbid we should meet Barcelona again after the easy group stages – this time they might not be so forgiving and put the 15 past us they threatened too last season. Being an Arsenal fan has become an embarrassment. I remember a time when we might lose to a big club, but at least we’d give them a fight – show some pride. Now you know the game is over before it’s even started, tragic. After five years of this, people tell us to be optimistic when more experience is barged out the door and Wenger’s net spend is Β£3m. Ridiculous. We’re being had.
Hello ‘Holic & fellow ‘Holics,this is my first time of posting here though i’ve been a long time reader/admirer of this blog.I love this blog ‘cos its;
*informative
*entertaining
*has well thot out & clearly stated viewpoints
*has mostly great followers too
*and finally,not all doom & gloom but always optimistic while still being realistic,something we arsenal fans are seriously short of these days.
But one question that keeps eating my heart out is,”Why?…why oh why? Did AW refuse to strengthen the squad in the areas it so desperately needs to be strengthened this transfer window?,when;
1)The areas in which we need cover,or even outright replacements that guarantee both quality & consistency are clearly obvious.
2)He himself said,”there is MONEY to spend”.
It makes me sometimes wonder if maybe there’s a sinister plot being played out to continually keep the club in a state of mediocre limbo…not regressing but not moving ahead either….continually keeping the squad 2 or 3 players short of being real contenders……*big sigh*….I really do wonder….
RvP and Chamakh must play together. RvP is the best crosser and best corner taker we’ve got.
A glass of cava, if you would.
Grow up anto. Face up to the facts for once and stop burying your head in the sand.
No I don’t want big Sam, we are ARSENAL! Not Blackburn or Bolton. Arsenal is a massive club, it deserves the best players and the best manager, and when they fall short – badly, they need to be questioned. It’s supporters like you, with your blind faith, that holds the club back.
At least I can support my theories, all you say is the same old predictable drivel like, “go and support Man City”, “we haven’t got Β£100m”, blah blah blah
so pj u dnt tink we have a stronger squad this year then?
i dnt tink thers many stronger
@ Mystic I believe that our nervousness has part to do with losing to Balckburn last season and in the fashion we did. This young Arsenal side often start ‘big games’ off nervously until they have the game under control!
What more can I say about Rosicky? He is always that player that will see a game out til the whistle and try to win it if needed! He was always where Fabgregas is now in terms quality, before his untimely injury! He is like a new signing. I am a little pissed Frimpong is not around to add more cover in DM.
I was going to mention Chamakh and indeed the culmination of height at present, but I wanted to also hand credit to Almuina who deserves it!
vic
at least i am a SUPPORTER
…Sorry clicked the submit button by accident, but I was going to add that I know Manuel is just doing his job, but some will still falsely believe he is doing Schwarzers
‘one more thing: try not to get too excited about the win over blackburn because we were lucky (even the wenger god admitted that after the game). on another day two or three of those headers would have go in and we would have lost’
Call me old fashioned, but I could it swear it was cos we defended well. Well wtf do I know.
Mystic I am now convinced by the way the whole Fabregas thing was handled that Sky News in particular are anti-arsenalish!
VIC
wenger has his faults yea but u shud show some respect for wat hes done for our club.wat age are u 5?maybe 6
Nice 1 Trev!
Chelsea are a lot stronger, they have Essien back. He missed virtually the whole of last season and is a massive player for them. Also Malouda and Kalou are massively improving. They have men all over the squad, not babies.
Man Utd are considerably better too. They had their entire defence missing for about 2 months last season, and still put in a title challenge (a real one). Ferguson is miles ahead of Wenger tactically, another level.
I think Man City and Arsenal are level and will take the top 4 spot, but Liverpool need to be watched. Arsenal could come 5th if Hodgson performs miracles there.
I discount Villa now O’Neill has left and Tottenham will be left behind due to Champions League. So yes, no chance of winning the title, but should make top 4 unless Hodgson does the business at Liverpool.
The Nazis had supporters.
I’m an Arsenal fan.
PS. Are Arsenal stronger? No. Van Persie & Chamakh are vying for the same position, how does that make us stronger? Are Squillaci and Koscielny better than Gallas Campbell? Doubt it. I can also see Fabregas going through the motions this season, especially if Arsenal are out of it by Christmas.
pj r u clive allen in disguise
GoonerHolic – Should have started with this post really, I just want to thank you for this site and your views, with the popularity of blogs and the internet you get soo many people who just use sensationalism to guarentee themselves hits or internet traffic.
The last few years haven’t been as tough as people like to make out, well not for me in terms of Arsenal at least and it’s a welcome escape when in a sea of negativity you can always bring reason and clear thought to the table.
So, Thank you, I just hope we don’t have to wait too much longer to celebrate what all fans deserve from time to time.
No, I’m a realist. I would love Arsenal to do well, but sadly have given up all hope with this manager. It’s hard to believe he’s the same person who achieved what he did – I see no correlation at all. Unfortunately, people lose their mojo, players lose it, managers lose it – Wenger’s completely lost it. I actually think he’s doing exactly the same he did at Monaco, after initial success the board let him have free reign, whereupon he got completely lost in his own little world of French & African kids. Difference being, they had the guts to sack him, Gazidis doesn’t.
well said mystic
DOOM AND FKIN GLOOM
i bet vic and pj love eastenders
Trev Gallas and Toure effectively messed up our 2008/9. To me Gallas appeared to be constructively dismissed, as his contract was held in limbo upon expiration and his new terms were unfavourable enough for him to throw in the towel leading us to get what we needed which was decent non-disruptive cover!
By the way Toure and Gallas were and always will be winners! (for the record!)
I see where you’re coming from re: Almunia 2008 revisited. Like you, I share a sense that some things might come together for us this year. The balance seems better, the players growing together…
My only night off for a week, so a Lagavulin please, landlord.
Debate the points and cut the abuse boys or I will shut the comments down. It’s up to you. Non Arsenal supporters can fuck off too. You know who you are.
Yeah, well maybe you don’t care about Arsenal anto but I do. Looking at your posts, it appears as if you don’t show any passion for Arsenal at all.
I support my team on match day, I certainly don’t blame them for Wenger’s inadequacies and appalling tactics. I will be 100% behind Almunia on the pitch, but if you think I’m going to support the manager that puts numpties like him in the team then you must be a bigger idiot than I thought.
Pj:
‘ I remember a time when we might lose to a big club, but at least weβd give them a fight β show some pride’
You might tell that to the the guy staring at you in the mirror. Just ensure you employ good tactics while you are at it too.
calm down holic wat abuse.and he means u vic
Mystic @ 91 well said mate!
Don’t see any abuse Holic. I do see you sitting on the fence though – as usual.
I am not convinced that Schwarzer would have been an improvement on Almunia.
Although AW is careful with spending, it doesn’t mean that he did not try and buy/strengthen where necessary, but if the club refuse to sell, there is nothing we can do about it. Just like the Cesc situation, but in reverse.
Also, as the club/AW do not talk about going after players (like wheeler dealer ‘Arry who admits to looking at everyone), it doesn’t mean that they’re not trying to get players in. We just won’t hear about it from the club/AW.
So that’s it until Jan 2011, so let’s just get on with it and get behind the players we do have.
CoYRRR’s
Yeah but PJ @92 he built the invincibles on the same mixture
Spot on Jersey. Welcome.
The same old ip’s come back with different names every time. Are there really only four people out there without the nuts to argue their case sensibly and respectfully?
I am gettin rather tired of hearing the whole Wengerr is ruining Arsenal / No he is no arguments ….. Can’t we just agree to disagree?
Either way pressure from the fans isn’t going to oust Wenger, that’s even if it were to garner enough popular support. Most fans are more than happy with the work he is doing.
This squad is looking good, all the players look motivated and up for getting their teeth into the season. Walcott is already having his best season ever, Rosicky is finally back to fitness and is playing well and Arshavin looks to be picking up his pace too. Going forward we are looking impossible to resist, whilst our defence has been bolstered also; by the presence of Chamakh and of course our 2 new additions.
What do you all think of our rivals? I mean Utd and Chelsea, City for me are less of a threat than they have been and Liverpool added nobody of note.
Spurs seem to have done relatively well in the transfer window and are in the ascendancy, but for me Arsenal are looking the sharpest.
Regardess of the ongoing debates; I have been totally behind Wenger’s youth project since day 1 and can see the effect it is having on the league as a whole. It’s much bigger than winning trophies in the short term, bigger than any of our current players or anything else.
Arsenal football club is much more than the sum of it’s parts, which is why we are constantly under-estimated. This season I can see us handing out a few good thrashings to our close rivals.
Chelsea away and at home, City, United and Wigan. All are owed a damn good nailing since last season we should be looking to those games and putting the fear of God into theiir back 4 and keeper.
And don’t even mention Spurs π League, Cup and maybe even Champions League? I can’t wait
Ah Common Sensei, an attribute welcome here, and usually in the ascendency amongst the ‘holics…
PJ, why are we stronger?
Walcott seems to have turned a corner. We have the least amount of shots against so far which indicate that weΒ΄re working on our defense side of the game. We have young players who always improve every season. We havenΒ΄t lost key players for the first time since the 04-05 season. ItΒ΄s like talking to a spud with many Arsenal fans on the interweb these days.
Last season we lost Adebarndoor and Toure and only bought Vermaelen, yet everyone can admit we looked much improved compared to the previous season. This time around weΒ΄ve actually kept the side together and brought a good striker and 2 defenders. Gallas was 33, Silvestre was the biggest liability in the entire PL and Sol could only play once a week and is turning 36.
I seriously canΒ΄t understand the lack of belief, given the natural improvement we make every season. The problem has been losing the likes of Hleb and Flamini and relying on untested youths. Now we have Song, Diaby, Nasri, Cesc, Denilson, Rosicky etc. who are all experienced premiership players. ItΒ΄s not like 2-3 seasons ago.
ThatΒ΄s the reason why IΒ΄m optimistic. No certainty that weΒ΄ll win the league, but we should be better equipped to challenge than weΒ΄ve been in the last 6 years including 07/08.
Schoolboy error! It’s like going to the bar, getting a round in and forgetting to get yourself one. A Guinness Extra Cold please, ‘Holic.
Just starting to get some momentum and the ‘kin internationals kick in again.
How anyone can claim we are stronger than Chelsea and Utd after 3 games against a weak Liverpool, newly promoted Blackpool and one-dimensional Blackburn is a mystery to me. City less of a threat? On what basis do you make that statement? To all those who think we will win everything this year, please explain. I’m all for optimism, just not the blind unsubstantiated type. Its the burying of one’s head in Wenger’s ass that I really can’t understand.
@Common Sensai
What do I think of our opposition?
Chelsea – Okay they are buzzing with confidence but to me they are the same old crackers! They do not deal well with set-backs as last season showed (droppped loads of points when they were clean ahead). Man City away and us should be early seaon upsets for them (right lads?)
Man U – Looking very strong, but more in a stronger than last season way, rather than a stronger than us way. They are mighty fine going forward, but still frail at the back (see vs Fulham)
Citeh – They will be strong at home like last season, the money’s flowing, the spirits are high and they have decent players. To me their biggest problem is their defence! Add a couple of injuries to a couple of over priced key players and it could be belly up (see vs Tottenham last season)
Sp*s –
Liverpool –
……………………….
…………………………..
Wyn, you are selective in your reading, I think. I see where you are coming from on the first three games.
Now although I haven’t commented on Citeh, let me propose that their collection of individuals are far from proving they can evolve as a team, as Sunderland showed last weekend.
I think anyone who claims we have improved more than United or Chelsea is making a reasonable case, but we cannot deny we had ground to make up after last season.
Blind and unsubstantiated are emotive and incorrect labels to apply in such circumstances, i think.
Where is Matt when you need him?
I’m feeling lonely here all of a sudden.
@Wyn Mils
Being linked to so many good players and not purchasing most of them was frustrating! But we bought 3 and in key areas where we were short!
Everyone got sick when they thought we were Jgoing to sign Joe Cole. But to be fair does that seem like that would have been a good move?
The model at the club is something I promote with pride! Saving and developing youth!Exactly what is needed in post credit crunch/pre-government cutback times!
Trust me every other team is envious! The trophy is close so don’t blink or put the kettle on yet!
He won’t be long, Snir π
I, on the other hand, am gone.
Laters ‘holics.
Goonerholic, only some posters (you included) have made any case for why they feel we have a better chance this year than last. Others have been too busy trying to slap down fans like PJ and Vic who have honest opinions.
I have read all the posts, btw.
I hear you. I wish I could change the confrontational nature of the debate. This proves we bloggers don’t have the influence some suggest.
Good luck fella.
really gone now…
Gooner Town, I think virtually every gooner you speak to today still have great anxieties concerning our goalkeeping postion. Wenger had all summer to sort out a keeper having himself clearly identified the position as a problem at the end of last season. His next realistic opportunity will be next summer, by which time its highly likely Cesc will be packing his bags, City will have parted with another Β£150m and the whole game will have moved on..
We can’t afford to live in the past or the future. Its about the now. And Wenger has some serious questions to answer about why we go into a new campaign with huge question marks over our first line of defence.
It’s very simple.
Those who think Wenger doesn’t have a clue, has messed up the club, doesn’t know how to run a football team, has no transfer knowledge and wouldn’t know a decent player if he bit him in the ass – you lot can stop supporting Arsenal for the 2010-11 season and see what happens.
Don’t buy tickets or watch them on TV, don’t read the match reports in the papers, don’t pick any of them in your fantasy league team, ignore Arsenal Football Club entirely for the next 9 months or so.
Then, if there is no trophy, no glory, no success, you will not have wasted any of your precious time and can gloat from the sidelines about how right you were, how little the others know and how you could do a better job with your eyes shut and one hand tied behind your back. Go on. Do it. I dare you.
The rest of us are Arsenal supporters.
Sorry Holic later
Holic,
Kind sir – take a bow – by far the most common sense blog out there at the moment. Solid debating from real fans.
My tuppens-worth: – this team has everything if they really begin to believe in themselves. And all that will take is one big result against one of the top teams and a little momentum. We have for a long time been a better squad than Utd in terms of talent – we just didn’t know it ourselves and were somewhat naive on the field. Chelsea still have a little edge but if we stand up to them – it’ll be a close affair.
As for the transfers – well Im happy with the 3 we got but disappointed we didn’t get a GK and that we didn’t hold onto Gallas.
Keep the faith and keep up the good work.
Except it aint that simple.
You see Wenger does have a clue, and every now and then he uses it.
Some of us would just like to know why he doesn’t use it more.
I’d like to think that most true Arsenal fans can distinguish the difference between a club and a manager. Those that can’t are going to be devastated when Wenger does eventually leave.
Whilst I think you have a valid point, Wyn, it isn’t FIFA 11. The manager is not always able to do exactly as he pleases.
And I don’t mean having enough money, I mean identifying the player(s) he wants and being able to act on that. None of us have ever managed a top division football club, presumably? Or if we have, why are we not currently doing so.
Armchair management is a piece of cake.
@wynmills
I tried to touch on the keeping situation @52! I believe Wenger has to keep the spanish boys together! Any talk of a spanish exodus could get long!
Players can improve and however what messed us up last season was injuries and inconsistencies mainly!
I said I would never speak to Wenger again if he did not buy a keeper. In fariness he went for the best option in the interests of developing the 4 keepers we already have, as opposed to the best keeper! He bidded but it was rejected! The player put in a transfer request (that is the crux of the whole issue) but the club played hard ball!
Thats good enough for me from a Wenger point of view!
Lots of interesting views in tonight. I think the obvious frustration shown just outlines what an important season this is for the club. I am sure that many of us hoped for more during the window and feel that perhaps we go into the season slightly under cooked. Only time will tell of course. I am still one of the Arsene knows best bunch but even I feel that he has taken a big gamble not spending more. He will know his squad better than any of us so I leave it up to him. But it will not be long before the knives are out if it does not go to plan.
This best thing about this season is losing Gallas’s attitude in the locker room . And i think that Walcott training with Sanga n Chamakh is a great thing . Already we are seeing improvements in Sanga’s crossing and in time Walcott will do even better . Now all we have to do is get behind Almunia and keep his spirits up . we will do good
@Stevie – He went through the last campaign almost untouched! Now it’s Arsene Wenger give us a wave! His aim is to deliver more this season! But to be honest the team keep saying they have to repay the manager! I reckon we were only a DM, keeper and fully fit VP away! So not at least getting the obvious between the sticks man is true! But I beleive this is where we need to get together and at least get a few more songs together! Christ! Even if we recyle a few! I’m sure there’s enough to go around!
Are you saying there are no keepers out there good enough, other than Mark Schwarzer? I’m absolutely counting on the fact that Wenger and his scouting team know more about available goalkeepers than us ‘Armchair Managers’, otherwise we really are in trouble!
My question really was why did he leave it so late?
the invincibles defence was cole lauren campbell and toure and not the famous 5.
as for finding no joy in supporting the arsenal i think whoever said that has spent to much time on the internet watching streams rather than getting over there. i,m as excited about arsenal games now as i was in the mid 70,s when we were watching matthews,blockley and mancini lolloping about at centre half.
as for the geezer who feared we would concede 15 goals.maybe on some computer game but i suggest you get your pasty face out into the real world and realise there is more to supporting a football club than listening to media driven bollocks and doom and gloom wallahs.
there is nothing to see here. we conduct our business in private.
we are the arsenal.
Its obvious that some supporters and coach will not see eye to eye, especially who they think should be in the Arsenal team or the players they think will boost the team to win a championship.
However its the coach decision to make and pick individuals who he thinks will be suitable for his team.
We have done well in the earlier of this decade and even made it to the champions league final and been in the top eight a lot in the champions league.
Therefore i think Wenger has been a marvelous job and we should be happy, i wonder what would be the belief if we had not won all those titles, we would be glad for fourth place.
Yes i think that Wenger is stubborn in the type of players he buys, but the majority has been successful and like most teams we have to have some luck and from what i have seen so far everything is going on well with the team.
I have a strong feeling that we will be competing with Man U and Chelsea for the title, one supporter said that the Manu and Chelsea lost a couple matches thats why arsenal seem like they had a chance, but realised that this league is more competitive and points lost for the big teams is a distinct possibility.
Arsenal is a far stronger team than last year and once they get in a rhythm will be hard to stop
Yay hey Mark Paul Hooker you breath of fresh air you! I was going to make that same point about our defence earlier cos it’s sad when our own so called supporters get such facts fact-ed up!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal.com-enjoys-a-record-breaking-month
“For the first time in the official Club website’s history, our monthly page views topped the 50 million mark. A total of 50,764,427 were recorded.”
49,000,000 of said views were people frantically pressing refresh checking if we had bought a new chuffin’ goalkeeper!
@Wyn Mills
Wenger bidded what the player was worth in MAY!(maybe even slightly more)
There was no second option (37 year old top keeper in the last year of his contract with premiere league experience, former keeper of the season)
Liverpools troubles affected Fulham, which affected our bid! Chin man Hughes came along and took the piss!
The player requested to leave!
We then bidded again what the player was worth a week before the window closed (maybe even slightly more)!
Chin man carried on taking the piss and blamed Stockdales injury!
But it wasn’t to be! Almunia is going to be our Top keeper now!
I think it’s time for me to hit the hey!
Laters Gooners!
Top marks, Goonerholic.
There seems to be a view that if you don’t agree with the clubs transfer policy, don’t support the club. I personally feel that for all the goal scoring potential we might have we failed to rectify the week link in the team which is the goal keeper. The failure to bring in a new keeper over the summer will (in my opinion) cost us vital points again the season. I’m sorry we’ve spent virtally non of the money the club said was available for transfers at the begining of the summer. We didn’t need to spend big but we still didn’t manage to strengthen where it was vitally needed. I’m a loyal season ticket holder but I don’t feel Arsene always knows best and I think the same things were being said last season, the season before, and will be said at the end of this season.
I feel sorry for Almunia because every mistake he makes will be highlighted by fans and media alike but he should have been replaced in the summer.
‘Holic, You made a fair and valid assessment of our chances this season. We have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our chances in 3 competitions, without saying we are favorites in any one. We will need our share of luck and increased contributions from the whole squad but there’s every reason to expect we might get those things. Here is to a half full glass, a maturing team, and a squad that appears more united than we’ve seen the last few years.
Great work again ‘holic, as has already been mentioned on here, it’s nice to get a slice of realism and common sense on an Arsenal blog.
Things have been much worse, and may well be again, but for now we can only get behind the lads and hope they produce the goods on the pitch.
Well said Jersey, and haha @ NickTheGooner.
A pint o the black stuff please.
Cheers!
And what was said in 136 – a “glass half full” approach is essential if you want to enjoy football.
If it’s all doom & gloom, what’s the point?
Offski
Well Matt missed the night out at the pub but bt8bbnn did his job of lifting the spirits in great fashion!
Snir, Your positivity is also appreciated. What other alternative do we have, and who ever accomplished anything of value without it? We have responsible people in charge of the club who understand these things, despite the best efforts of some people to tear them down.
A Strongbow ‘Holic, please?
You would think that we are a struggling relegation club with no hope and no future, with some of the things said here.
Win or no win, premiership or 2nd/3rd place, Champions League winners or group stage exiters, get excited about the journey folks. From the Carling Cup kiddies, to the FA Cup tensions, LIVE IT. Not just the end of season report card. Yell, scream, pant, exhale, consume, let it be. It’s Arsenal, it’s football. Doesn’t get better than this. So get off that depressing attitude…we are the Arsenal, win or lose!
Read the whole blog….
and then read this :
1 forza forza
Your talking alot of rubbish today….
The comment made as much as the Blog !
bt8bbnn – I don’t think it’s positivity, I see it as realism.
I, as opposed to others don’t over estimate Chelsea and United based on last year’s fixtures against us, when we played with AA up front.
I, as opposed to others don’t think letting go of Gallas and getting Koscielny and Squilachi instead is not an upgrade.
I, as opposed to others, see the fact that we have one of the best replacements we could find to RvP when he gets injured (and he will, I’ve stopped hoping for a healthy season for him).
People tend to forget Chelsea’s and United’s depth at the center of the defense is worse than ours.
People tend to forget the fact that we have the best attacking force in the EPL with Chamakh now (we had the nicest looking one last year, but got stuck against stiff opposition with no aerial threat) cause we have both RvP and Chamakh – Both free flowing and aerial threats.
People tend to over estimate Chelsea and United and forget their dismal performances against Hull, Everton, Birmingham, Fulham etc’.
On the other hand, as opposed to other seasons, we won those tough fixtures but lost the big ones (exactly the opposite from 08-09) because against the big ones we played without a natural striker (AA23 upfront) and what worked against Stoke at home or Liverpool away didn’t work against Rio, Vidic, Terry, Alex.
Up the Arse!
Agree entirely with Steve T. Our defensive frailties are comtinuing. Clearly Konsielny needs time in the gym.It is unacceptable that he was outmuscled by little Diouf,how for Drogba or Rooney.Clichy is still in the business of switching off.I blame that goal on him. Almunia has an opportunity to revamp himself,i dont want to think about Fabianski.Why are we not prodding up Mannone over Fabian?
We are all just paying for the stadium again this term, let’s hear it for the balance sheet!
Snir
We have 2 very interesting fixtures coming up,which will put your well aired theories to the test.
In 2 wks time away to Sunderland,where we lost last season when we went there the Saturday after the mid week friendly round of internationals where we lost RVP for 5 months thnks to an Italian tosser.!!
2 wks later we go to Chelsea,who have given us a hard time of late.
I would like to go to both those away games with a full squad to choose from,except Bendtner and Ramsey who are still out for a while.
This will give us an ideal opportunity to see whether we have the capabilities to challenge for the title.
I have said in earlier correspondence with you,that nothing less than 9 points from our next 3 league games,Bolton/Sunderland/WBA,
is acceptable if we want to challenge for the title.
If we cannot win at Sunderland,we sure as hell cannot win at the Bridge.
Your beliefs about the various strengths/weaknesses of Chelsea compared to Arsenal will get a severe examination when they meet early next month.
The only downside is we have to travel to Serbia for a CL qualifier before the Chelea game and our record in league games played away after a CL away game is not crash hot.
I for one cannot wait,but i sincerely hope we go there full of confidence with league victories over the 3 teams mentioned earlier,and a good result in Serbia.
I know it’s early on a Friday, but a pint of plain please barman!
It’s never too early for a pint of plain, aj π
Bloody hell – did I miss opening time??
I’d better catch up – a large one of whatever you’re having please Holic.
‘If we cannot win at Sunderland,we sure as hell cannot win at the Bridge.’
Considering Man City lost at Sunderland this weekend and won at the Bridge last season I’d dispute that logic. Not that I want to lose either game!
So much of what Vic posted yesterday was rubbish but his comment that Almunia’s “mother-in-law died? Jesus, Lamest excuse ever” (11:24), that plumbed the depths on a human level. Just who the fuck is Vic to decide who another human being should care about? Vic mightn’t give a toss about members of his family, but if Almunia was grieving (and I have no idea if he was), that isn’t cause for criticism, that’s cause for sympathy.
I’ve been reading this blog over a year now but this is my first comment.I like this blog because of the ‘feel good’ factor.Some of the drinks have been particularly stupid today and let me clarify a few things.
1.’Arsenal aren’t crossing the ball well enough’ – 4 of our 9 goals have come from crosses or corners.Thats not a bad record for a team who try to pass the ball into the net is it?
2.’Our defence is awful.We shouldn’t have let gallas leave’ – yeah the Blackburn and liv goals were a result of poor defending but manu have conceded as many goals as we’ve done.Does that mean their defence is poor?And I don’t think Kos will play regularly in the first team.Squillaci will play with verma.
3.’We’ve not signed Schwarzer.The end is near.’-Actually no.I think despite his faults only reina and maybe van de sar would have been able to match alu’s performance against barca.so if he gets back to his best.
If u’re still not convinced well good luck supporting the team.To quote a spurs fan – ‘Arsenal fans don’t know how good they have it.’
Wow, I’m very late to the party apparently
Few Things:
I do not agree with all this talk of Wenger ruining Arsenal. It’s foolish to say that when he is one of the most coveted, albeit stubborn, managers in the world.
For those saying that he thinks the cups aside from the Champs League are below him: Don’t you feel that they are consolation prizes for the real thing. I’d much prefer to make a deep run in the Champions League then tire out the boys for one of the lesser cups just so we can say the silverware drought is over.
Almunia, almunia, almunia. I agree with you ‘Holic that it’s a matter of confidence. His blunders aren’t so much from a simple shot, they’re more often from crosses and corners, meaning he needs to assert himself and let his defenders know that he’s going to be there, so they can focus on their task. AKA Confident Keeping.
Time to support him!
Defense: My gripe with Kocsielny is not actually his defense. The mistake on dioufus was poor but that seemed to me like an adjustment thing. But I think he should have better adjusted to arsenal’s style of play by now. It seems to me that whenever he has the ball with space, he’ll take one or two quick looks around and then blackburn the ball down the pitch. I think he needs to be a bit more patient and get with the buildup mindset of sagna song and verm.
That’s all I guess. How about something with a lot of alcohol and a lot of caffeine for me.
Awe fuck it ‘Hols, looks like I missed a right royal mash-up last night! Some new faces and angry too. But let’s all back the fuck up – we are second and have an improved squad. Not perfect, but much better than last year huh?
Espresso please guv.
Blimey seems i missed out on a rowdy night !!
“Now if I concede that our defence is likely to see us fall short of the biggest prize, I have to balance that out by saying I believe we have a richer array of attacking talent than any of our domestic rivals, bar none”
That right there Holic is the reason i think so many are cheesed off its so so obvious what needed to be done to make us serious challengers but yet again it seems he hasnt addressed the issues, Going forwards there is not a team to match us bar Barca,But i dont hold out much hope of us grinding out wins against either United or Chelsea as they will target the same weak spots as previous,
The other point that you have touched on is where in the hell are all these profits going as they are certainly not being re invested in the first team, Me ive got a sneaky suspicion that they may have made a U Turn on the Queensland road project due to the upturn in the property market, It would all be so much better if someone at the Club actually took the bull by the horns and told the Fanbase what in fact was happening, Not having the facts adds to the anger and frustration which is understandable,
Im like you in that i think we will safely finish top 4, With a good wind second, Qtr finals of the cups, The sad thing is it seems that is the sum of the ambition being shown,
And also, Holic, i know he’s young and would need a ton of training, but have you heard anything further about ryo miyiachi? he would be a pretty exciting prospect to put through the system
KK, he looks like being this years Wellington. He’ll arrive to unrealistic expectation in the new year, and providing his leg has fully healed we will find out if we can polish another rough diamond.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. What is good is that we are still such an attractive proposition for some of the highest-rated young talent out there.
Morning all,
All this about us being pushed out of the top 3/4 is a huge overreaction imo. We’ve got a younger, fresher defence now, with an augmented attacking line that’s capable of tearing through any defence. almunia has been harshly criticised for years and i’ve got a feeling that he’s going to step up now. He’s coming into the GK prime years and will continue to improve – look at Friedel etc who wasn’t considered one of the best in England until around 33-34 yrs old…
We’ve also got the likes of Nasri and Theo who i think are going to show us what they’re really made of this year.
A big ol’ pint o cider for me please barman
Blimey, a lot of cider going this morning. Careful, it doesn’t grow on trees you know π
Yarp! that’s Westcountry living for ya π
Holic – do you know if this rule about operating at losses for consecutive years is still coming in? Looking forward to laughing at these sugardaddy-funded clubs from our ivory tower if it does come in…
Charlie
Good to see you sniping away as usual,
I look forward to more of the same as the season unfolds.
I fear you will find they already have established ways around such legislation Geo.
I’m sure it would not be difficult to disguise cash injections as income from commercial activities and such nonsense.
Let’s not grab the moral high ground with such gusto. It will be very difficult for Arsenal to maintain multiple ownership over the long term. Relatively few people can afford chunks of shares now, and the only good reason for doing so is to get control.
In the next decade I would expect to see us become a rich mans plaything. It is the way of the big bad world.
Dignified as ever, Clive.
Funnily enough I was saying much the same as you last night about the coming fixtures. We must not lose one of the three before going to the bus stop in Fulham.
Don’t quite agree with the ‘lose at Sunderland and we’ll lose at Chelsea’ angle. You know all of these games are different.
Clive – well stop using faulty logic then, you can say ‘I want x points from these games’ but you can’t say with 100% certainty ‘lose this game and we’ll never win this game’ as football doesn’t work like that (just look at some of Wigan’s results last year). Look at 2008/09 where we were losing to Hull at home and Stoke, and then beating Man Utd and Chelsea.
“Going forwards there is not a team to match us bar Barca,But i dont hold out much hope of us grinding out wins against either United or Chelsea as they will target the same weak spots as previous,”
Absolutely agree. And you would have to say that the huge weak spot that is going to be targeted by every team this season will be Alumunia. It started immediately last week with Fat Sam’s aerial bombardment. Expect more of the same in weeks to come.
Last season Almunia’s shot to saves ratio (87.8%) placed him 15th in the league. The four keepers statistically worse than Almunia last season were Myhill of Hull, Kirkland of Wigan, James of Portsmouth, and Jensen of Burnley. Almunia was 8th overall on goals conceeded last season, at 31. But the most surprising statistic is that the Arsenal defence only allowed 254 shots against Almunia in his 29 league appearances. This amongst the group of the keepers was the 5th lowest amount all season, but crucially the lowest shots per game than any other keeper in the league. Almunia only had to deal with 8.76 shots per game which would imply we actually had a better defence than even United and Chelsea. Surprising, huh?
Now I know its easy to turn to stats and get them to say what you want, but as Wenger is a numbers man I’d be surprised if this didn’t figure in his thinking about getting a new keeper. And for me it illustrates where our major weakness lies. Gooner T, sorry but I cannot believe Schwarzer was the only option given the uncertainty over Given.
There might have been uncertainty over Given but that doesn’t Man City would have been willing to sell him to us considering they have designs on the top four.
Wyn – but most of the situations where we conceded goals weren’t due to poor attempts by almunia, they were clear cut chances that any goalie would have conceded. It was mainly due to the type of goals we conceded – counter attacks that left square balls and tap ins – nothing you can do about that – except diminishing these chances further up the pitch. I think this is something that Wenger will have been working on massivley over pre-season and will continue to do so over the season. Those GK stats can be very misleading.
Wyn – but most of the situations where we conceded goals weren’t due to poor attempts by almunia, they were clear cut chances that any goalie would have conceded. It was mainly due to the type of goals we conceded – counter attacks that left square balls and tap ins – nothing you can do about that – except diminishing these chances further up the pitch. I think this is something that Wenger will have been working on massivley over pre-season and will continue to do so over the season. Those GK stats can be very misleading…
Geo,
Man City + Brum away last year were two of the worst pieces of goalkepping ive seen from an Arsenal Keeper, In fact im still not sure how the one at Brum actually went in π We can pretend till the cows come home that Almunias good enough but sadly he isnt, Heaven forbid he gets injured mind and leaves us with Fabianski lol
sorry for double post – strange things are happening to my PC…
Haha chippy! Well i’m not pretending. I’ve always felt for Almunia and think he is underrated. If we’d have had Given or bloody Schawrzer in goal week in week out, we’d be giving them the same criticisms. Schwarzer is prone to the odd flap and Given’s communication has been questionable to say the least over his career. They haven’t been at high profile clubs and playing in as high profile games so they are completely untested at the highest level. I feel their weaknesses would be exposed just as often as poor Manuel’s… Just my opinion though obviously π
Totally agree about Fabianksi though. I’d prefer Chesney to be our number 2 for sure!
Charlie, the whole Schwarzer/Given thing was so intertwined there was always the likelyhood of us playing musical chairs when it came down to the wire.
Where was the plan B?
Geo,
I wasnt sold on Schwarzer i must admit, I think we should have been aiming alot higher than him but his organisation skills by all accounts are second to none so it made sense in that regard,
I long for the day i see an Arsenal keeper actually give the back 4 a bollocking and for them to know whether the Keeper will come for a cross or stay put, so many of our problems at the back are due to poor communication and thats starts with the number 1,
Nowt we can do now mind apart from cross our fingers and hope π
Sorry Geo,
Should add, Id go along with the Chezzer thing in fact id be very very tempted to start him as the Number 1, He already at a young age is more vocal than any of our other keepers and is not afraid of telling more experienced players where to be and that is a very very good sign in a keeper so young,
That’s true chippy – i’m sure a lot of the situations could have been avoided with better communication from the GK… As someone said the other day though, Barca have won plenty with a less-than-world class goalie, and that came from constant pressing high up the pitch. If we can nail that, we can nail anyone. With TV restraining from his charges forward and the experienced head of Squilachi back there i think this could be our year. Also players like Chamakh who seem to be up for running their arses off to get the ball back rom defenders often inspire the rest of the team to put in a similar effort… i’m definitely a glass hafl full kinda guy!
Geo, the fact is we were diminishing those chances, as the number of shots allowed against our keeper illustrates. The problem is Almunia was saving a lower proportion of them than our rivals. Sorry to push the numbers at you again but they are revealing. Van Der Sar had the best statistics last season at 94.1% of 209 shots. He had on average another two shots more to save than Almunia per game but kept out more goals. Although United didnβt win the league I think its fair to speculate that they would have finished below us last season if it wasnβt for a top class keeper. If Almunia had had Van der Sarβs save to shot percentage then he would have let in only 15 goals, which is over half of his total last season. Based on that statistic we may have won the league!
That’s a good shout too – although i havent seen enough of him to be confident he has the maturity yet… From what i have seen though, i agree, his agressive and vocal style is more what we need. Next year hopefully…
Chippy, I really think the communication thing with keepers is underestimated. No coincidence in my view that Lehman was as successful as he was. The guy knew how to use his voice.
Fair enough Wyn – the stats do suggest that we could have finished higher if we’d had a VDS in goal. But that’s a luxury that only a handful of clubs have. If we were prepared to spend 30 mil on a goalie then we’d have one of these world class stoppers. We have missed a cuople of tricks in the last 5 years as far as goalies are concerned but we didnt have the cash to splash back then – and it seems that all the GK’s that are a marked improvement are firmly at their clubs – with managers not wanting to sell – and why would they (particularly if they’re looking at similar stats to those above ;-))?
Wyn,
Agree and if your not Vocal youd better be a bloody good shot stopper and that is where he falls down as he is not really one or the other, Lehman certainly used that to great effect π
Geo,
Those stats surprised me as well, Couldnt argue over the maturity thing but im of the mind is a year going to make that much of a difference ?? Im sure people alot better placed than me know alot more aoiut that sort of thing than me tho !!
Yes, we can
And so say we all.
Barman, a pint of your best Bombardier.
Charlie Wells finest for the newest ‘holic…
Good comments and decent debates there. Thanks all.
Wow….full house at the bar last night holic ~ wish I was around. Looks like the air got mighty impassioned too….
You’ve provided a fantastic environment for high quality discussion about all things Arsenal. Thanks!
FWIW, I think Wenger has been a victim of his own success. This is a man that has transformed the expectations of Arsenal fans the world over…..who now finds himself in a position of almost being hoist by his own (high) petard.
Sure, he can be a stubborn old beggar….but my glass is definitely half full. To the whingers…..knock him as much as you want but let’s have a dosage of reality please. I think it is too simplistic to argue that the difference between a trophy and being potless lies solely in who is between the sticks. There is so much more to it than that. Manuel Almunia was not personally responsible for Arsenal not winning a trophy last year or the year before or even the year before that……
Charlie @ 166
Don’t be so sensitive,
It was an observation,not a criticism.
Everyone is entitled to throw their 2 Bob’s worth on the table,that’s what an open forum is for.
I enjoy a bit of to and fro,and i have to say everytime i post a blog ,i expect you to dive into your archives and hit me with a riposte or 2.
You haven’t missed me since our exchanges over the pathetic non performance against Sunderland away last season.
At least it proves your paying attention.!!
Your forensic ability to ferret out the slightest errors of fact or logic does you proud.
Keep it up.
I agree 100% with don. It’s the whole team’s attitude, application and lack of complancency that will determine our season. If we can be harrying and pressing from the front at high intensity, we can challenge on all fronts, regardless of who’s in goal.
Precisely Geo. The bottom line for me is that the manager looks at the whole squad in order to strengthen. He realised we have issues to address in goal (as he did in defence and attack) and identified targets with a view to possible relacements. Except that unlike other areas across the field of play, deals could not be completed for those targetted goalkeeper/s. BUT……that doesn’t leave us rudderless anywhere near as much as the knockers would like to portray the situation. Manuel Almunia is a fine goalkeeper. Nevertheless, I still feel the squad has been strengthened in the critical departments. And hopefully Manuel will benefit from the strengthened squad, as I’m sure will others.
Thank you Clive, I do enjoy being a pedantic git.
Best night at the bar for ages, and I go and miss it. π
Magic Hat I like it – yes we can.
My resolution for the new season is to assume we are going to win the league unless its mathematically impossible to do.
Roll on the Bolton game.
‘Holic, the interlull is lulling me to sleep. Triple espresso, please! Does anybody have a rundown on Turkey’s massive 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan? (Yawn.)
High gents can I have mine on the rocks please?
@Wyn your stats make alot of sense. I get it totally. My main points with regards to Schwarzer is just that:
1) Wenger did not leave it til the last minute as his first bid was confirmed by Fulham as being in MAY and his second bid was after the player formally handed in a transfer request after his informal request was being ignored. The player and the public were then officially led to believe that the club were seeking alternative options. I’m not sure whether or how Fulham failed to find a replacement, but I’m sure if they had, we would have reached an agreement financially as we did with our 2 CB we signed! Wenger pointed out in the press conference on Thurs before the Tuesday that our transfers were dead for now, indicating that Fulham were messing about! (also that we can get the player for free later etc)
2) Also Schwarzer is at the right age and time in his career to join Arsenal as coach/player to allow Schezney the time to come through as our No.1. Meanwhile the others can improve and compete within all four tournements. Schwarzers role would not be as just a player but has ‘a career for life’ beyond playing!
With Shay Given being just 34, it would not be fair on Schezney who would be 26 by the time Shay would be ready to hang it up. We have seen with Joe Hart that a young keeper of this calibre would be ready much sooner! Now Hart is Citeh’s no.1 over Given for freak sake!
With our policy of investeing in our clubs future in the best interests of the club including the players, it would be contradictory for us to sign a younger keeper where we could miss out of Schezney when he reaches his peak, which regardless of how good he is now which is freakin magnificent, he has not yet peaked. But he will and just like with Fabregas, we need to be ready when this happens as these sorts of players do not fall off the back of lorries because if they did we wouldn’t be having this lovely chat! In this case timing is key.
We would be stronger with say Schwarzer than we would with Almunia but I beleive that when Almuina was at his best it was when we were also playing better!
It would be interesting to see Almuina’s stats 2007/8!
Bloke walks into a brothel and says βIβm a bit kinky, how much for total humiliation?β The madam replies fifty pounds, man replies βWow, what do I get for that? β She says βA fucking Spurs shirtβ.
See, life is good gooners – non?
Quality!
Good to see Theo training with Kieran! I believe he is also close to Glen Johnson!
I also believe he is currently the highest goal scorer in the prem so far in the England squad!
Oh how the tables have changed!
okay i did mean turned
Gooner Town: Here are the Opta Index numbers for the 2007-08 season. They show, of 37 keepers rated:
1. Schmeichl 1181
2. James 1169
3. Turnbull 1114
4. Kuszczak 1089
5. Hart 1065
6. Warner 1045
7. Al-Habsi 986
8. Van der Saar 971
9. Cech 945
10. Lehman 935
11. Alumina 928
28. Schwarzer 703
35. Given 526
Thank you North bank Ned just choose any drink in here as I’ve have place a tab behind the bar!
Anyone care for a manuel song? Or even a diaby, Vermaelen and Rosciky one?
I’ve got a couple
” we’ve got Almunia”
” Abou Diaby/Thomas Vermaelen/Thomas Rosicky (clap clap clap clap clap)”
Okay what happened was i clicked submit but then i tried to place a full stop and change ive for i have which i would not have done if the screen had changed…i guess i’m a litte tipsy
…Arsene Wenger give us a wave…
May I open the new century of drinks with a toast to our host?
Whoever’s here can have whatever they fancy, I’m feeling generous.
Cheers Holic – this session has to be a record?
I made this observation recently. Ever since the triangular partnership of Hleb, Flamini and Cesc was disbanded, and in a way the BFF thang that was going on between Diarra and Diaby during our carling cup run in season 07/08 was culled as well, we’ve never had a settled partnerships. One where you can see the overwelming joy displayed amongst Titi-Bob-He shall not be named on the left and the high energy and poaching skills of Ray Parlour – Fred – Lauren on the right. The menace of Sir Dennis – Pat – Tony/Sol down the spine. There was a lot of joy and high energy in the way we played that seemed to stem from deep friendships formed off the pitch and spreads its very intoxicating aura upon supporters like myself and I would reckon you guys felt that too.
Thus I do wonder: off-the-field, are our current lot best mates with each other? Maybe this talk about how Almunia’s personal grief has affected the time he could have spent talking and communicating with the back 4. Thus every defensive moves are instinctive. He doesnt have to shout much when there’s deep understanding. Jens was a “fun” entertaining character guy to have around and it showed when we see how a fella like Panderos could lead our make shift backs in such a strong display to the final. Kolo wasnt even supposed to be a defender. He was coached into it.
I think my point is: each different character in our club now need to really gel with each other to make this season work. I am with the view that a potless season would not mean failure. It would be a great success like always when supporters are shown great fight, team spirit which will translate to our great class and entertaining football every week. Thats my biggest wish still. More fight. Strong friendships. And conviction in the way we play. Past seasons’ individual match fiascos. eg losing to the likes of Hull, Wigan, Brums were all due to that bit of cockiness and lack of respect from certain individuals. Selfishness is a creepy thing. When they dun seemed to care, we fucked ourselves up. Some lads like diaby, much dispised Song, Eboue are beginning to show bits of that bond that took abeit too long to show up now.
Better late than never. π
COYGs
Well said pete sgp π
I firmly believe it is the belief we are sometimes lacking. Certainly not the potential.
Interesting pete.
I think it is true of a lot of clubs these days that some of the comraderie may have gone as a result of a more sensible attitude to drink, and Manuel is certainly more of a family man away from the training ground, I believe.
Not sure any club now could have a ‘Tuesday Club’ like the lads of twenty years ago. They would be outed, if not by the press, by any Twitter users around.
Generally though I’m told there is quite a deal of socialising done between most of the lads in the squad. It is more likely to involve games, music, and food than the tried and now mistrusted twelve pints and a bottle of vodka!
Hehe, I wasnt making references to drinking as a form of making connections, like they did in the old days. I am of a romantic dreamy view that these fellas are finding soulmates amongst one another. Defo not meant as a gay way. Heh. Workmen liked soul-less performers would be something Titi and Bob were looking at playing with if that was the case. Still cant forget that penalty “fiasco”. Hehe.
Im fairly optimistic of the season ahead. Not gonna mind too much about the keeper situation. If Eboue could make such a good effort at picking up Korean, I reckon that would rub off onto the rest of the fellas there. Theres so much room for positive turnarounds. One moment we’re slating, another cant help loving. So much to learn and evolve. First few games so far have shown the level of trust in oneself n the team is building up nicely. Next up = having fun scoring.
This could be our year. Like any other.
Heh..craving for a heineken now.
‘Holic and ‘Holics hi,
Money on the table is it now? Well, how about my Β£100 saying we take either CL or PL and Β£50 saying both? am optimistic with or without a new goalie (just praying that Manu doesn’t get injured)
I’ll take any hard stuff you might be serving just to make me forget the above bet.
If you’ve got the money honey I’ve got the time.
Yes Pete spg! A Heineken on me!
I have noticed that our so called ‘young squad’ have grown together. Despite the departures of Flamini and Hleb Wenger has made suitable aquisitions who have been together now for a couple of seasons!
It’s good to see academy players coming through together aswell as they are familiar with each other and the first team too!
Eboue is definately our comedian (aparrently pre-ceeded by Hleb)!There have been reports from people who spotted Adebayor, Cesc and Hleb hanging out together! Likewise Denilson, Gilberto, Eduardo and Baptista!
By the look of the current squad Chamakh definately seems like a galvaniser and we also have team captains in each department (club and national)!
I believe Andrey said he found it hard to settle when he first arrived. I know he said he has been nursing an injury for a while, but seems okay so far in this campaign (2 in 3 goals).
ette! I believe we can systematically take the prem if we keep home a fortress and at least nick a point away!
Jesus 200 and going up …. Good read Holic Sir!
I haven’t had time to read all the comments but there are some sensible points raised. I will attempt to do that this evening, house chores for now I’m afraid and my little one wants to go out and play football too.
Arsecast was very interesting as well and I agree with you Song is my biggest worry, if he will get injured then who do we play in that position? Diaby? His tackles scare me a bit to be honest and Denilson hasn’t got I’m big factor. It will be interesting for sure.
Barman please…..
An injury free season please with a PL Cup on top π
*squeezes into a small gap at the end of the bar*
Pint of cider please holic, before I wade into these 200+ drinks.
Apologies for a late response,holic,but I too believe that Schwarzer was not the answer,but having said that it would have been nice for Almunia to have real competition for his place.
It is said we are vunerable to set pieces, but one can’t always blame the keeper for goals that are conceded from these still ball situations.
I see a new grit and determination in the defence and midfield and baring too many injuries, a top three position guaranteed.
it’s still bloody hot here, so anything cold will do π
Some good reasoned points and debates in the bar ‘holic mate and some, well, not. On the bright side your windows must be spotless the amount of licking going on.
I love Arsenal, always have, always will. I can’t see the point of berating our own players, supporters are supposed to get behind them.
Of course sometimes you wanna curse at this player or that, that’s normal. The only thing that would really annoy me is if I felt that a certain player wasn’t giving his best. A lack of talent is excusable, a lack of effort is not.
I too would have prefered a new keeper. I’m of the opinion that Schwartzer would have been a good signing, a short term solution to a long term problem, but as has been previously pointed out, he’s never been scalped by big clubs before.
For those fans who think Wenger is bad for our club, I’d like to say……… Well I’m not really sure where to start, so I don’t think I’ll bother, if that’s what you really think then that’s your perogative. Opinions are like arsholes, everybody has one, except for Carlo Ancellotti who has a whole squad of them.
Same again please Holic sir, I’ll help change the barrel if needs be.
Cheers.
ps, @Wyn Mills.
Great name, mate. You’d be really popular in Holland. π
*applause*
I have loved reading the thoughts of others and echo many of them. Many seem to think that with the current crop we will be there or there abouts. I tend to agree which for me makes it even more frustrating. In my humble opinion we are no more than 2 players short of being a real contender. We all agree a keeper was a must. The debate about who it should have been will continue but I do feel a tad let down that we as a club could not sort this out. I would also have liked another holding player. I do think that going forward we are as dangerous as anyone. But I also can not help thinking that at times the balance of the side is all wrong. A Gilberto type player who was big, strong and did all of the mopping up would I think really make the difference.
A drop of 6X if is still available please holic?
Roll on The Arsenal. Just reading all these diverse opinions gets me even more fired up for the rest of the season. We’re only 3 games in, unbeaten and looking a bit tougher. So far. But that’s all we can ask.
Keeper situation could be better, but let’s get behind the team AND the manager and then see how we go.
Enjoy the ride…It’s not so bad. You could be Spuds.
PS – H2H @ 212 Nice succint post. A pint of Heineken please, my pseudo Dutch friend.
Fuck Barca… They guy’s playing for Arsenal and you keep on talking about him.
I didn’t hear anyone talk about Schwarzer after the transfer window.
He’s definitely gonna move next summer, and since I hate them so much, it’ll be hard for me to root for him.
Agree with Catalan – Let’s enjoy the ride. I know I will.
From a Barca and Cesc point of view he should go next season.
From a Arsenal and Cesc point of view next season is too soon.
50 mil – 60mil is alot of money! Barca have to wire the funds! I believe this venture initiated by Laporta has gone terribly and embarrassingly lawronga!
Any such movement next season is not conclusive! Barca know it Arsene knows it but silly little barca players are high on ego and self importance! They are disillusioned and in the middle you have our boy feeling awkward!
Well, I’m not too sure anymore, I really don’t like the quotes coming out of his mouth saying “Barca did everything they could to sign me but Arsenal told me I had to stay”.
First of all, they didn’t, if they would have really wanted him they would have asked for another loan, Real do it all the time (no bank will ever deny them of a loan – No bank wants to be known as the bank that denied FCB a loan), but they didn’t cause they didn’t really want him.
Second of all, even if they did, why do you need to go out and say it in public? What’s up with that? You’re the Arsenal captain, shut up and do your job.
And up until now I haven’t been disappointed in him as opposed to others that have just from wanting to leave but this was way over the line for me.
Thanks Holic, they say the truth lies at the bottom of a bottle!
‘holic, an applejack and a calvados for comparative drinking, if you please. Can we clone Alex Song, for good measure? By the way, for those not giving credit to Arsene, did anybody else keep their faith in Song while he was developing those few years and people were saying he was shite?
@ Snir Geuli 218
Media reporting aside……as has been said before Cesc is both an honorable gentlemen and a professional. He knows it is in his best interests to give his all for Arsenal….in order to secure any future deal with Barca (should he choose to want away). But that is at least 12 months away. I’m certainly not gonna worry about it and I feel sure Wenger is already planning a future with or without our current captain.
If he continues his application and progress, I don’t see why neutron Jack shouldn’t slot into Cesc’s shoes, plus there are other options in Nasri as well as the transfer market so I’m confident looking forward.
I’ll close by saying that of all the sides in the PL, our squad seems to me one of the strongest (if not the strongest) so there is no reason why we shouldn’t be pushing for honours come the end of the campaign.
Keep on believing.
‘holic…..I’ve just opened another bottle of Stowell’s Shiraz Pinotage on the bar. Whoever gets there first is welcome….it definitely won’t last long!
π
@ 220 bt8bbnn….
I’ll be honest….was glad to see Song disappear (“hopefully for good” I remember thinking) to Charlton when he did. Then I heard not long after he was tearing it up at the Valley…week in week out! Although I just couldn’t see any redeeming qualitites in him. I will be forever shameful for having questioned his talent…….
Don, you probably misunderstood me.
I have no problem with our squad as I think it’s the best in the EPL or with Cesc’s ability, devotion, determination etc’. I have a problem with that quote cause I have a problem with him doing a Mascherano/Begovic (not in refusing to play, but in talking about how Arsenal forced him to stay).
I’ll drink to Don, an honest man. I’m another who thought he was just one of the crowd of players about to move on.
@ 223 Snir Geuli
Yes, gotcha….I see what you mean (I think!?). I kind of think he is better than that. Time will tell but Cesc seems to me to have more class. His head was turned by his childhood team. He was man enough to admit it. Speaking personally….I bear no malice with him for being honest enough to admit it. Again, time will tell.
@ 224 bt8bbnn
The thought still makes me blush. Needless to say Song has been a revelation. And has started the season so far in every way as he finished the last campaign. I’ll drink to that sir.
π
Do you think Cesc will come out and say that someone forced him to sign a 6 year Β£90,000 a week contract??????????
The more I read what he has to say the more I just want to tell him to keep his gob shut and show some respect. These are not the comments I expect from our club captain.
Forgot to say Snir…..yes, assuming the quotes are correct, Cesc should keep his mouth shut and get on with the job in hand as club captain. I wonder if part of his problem is tht he is too honest!?
The meeja are always on the hunt for a story and will use every opportunity to distort his word to make a ‘story’.
don,
Ig he would have admitted like this – “I wanted to join FCB but AFC didn’t sell me and AFC is the only place I’d like to be if not FCB” then that’d be ok, but when he says AFC forced him to stay, it just has a bad sound to it.
Agreed Snir. As you said…..and as I did subsequently……best keep his ‘norf and sarf’ firmly shut!!!!
Although the caution is that the meeja are always on the hunt to spin a quote or story. Historically, Cesc has been one of the cleverer interviewees so I’m slightly sceptical of this his most recent claimed quote.
don, and everyone – apparently it’s the daily mail trying to piss us off.
This is the Goal.com article:
“Barcelona made every effort to sign me, but Arsenal had told me to stay, which in no way I was going to refuse, and in the end I had to stay,” Cesc told Publico.
Fabregas believes that the season with Arsenal will be “a long one” but above all he wants to “be professional and give it everything”.
On his future away from the Emirates though, the playmaker observed he had not made a decision as he drew the line on Barcelona talk.
“What happens in the future? We’ll see,” he added. “I do not think of anything because if I think of the future it would not let me focus on the present and I would have a bad year.”?
Now that’s much better.
Fuck the Daily Mail. Can’t believe I fell for their devious writing.
Yeah I hear you guys! It really pisses me off that everytime since the end of last season when Cesc is with his national team these Arsenal disses seem to generate!
But for me the story initially unfolded when Cesc was asked if he’d return to Barca after leaving Arsenal to which he said “yes” and that he was “happy at Arsenal” and was ‘in no rush to leave Arsenal’. However the report back was somehow lost in translation and we heard that Cesc then stated that “any decision regarding his future would need to be sorted before the WC started”! For me the important part of his quotes that night in question was that he was “happy at Arsenal” and that he was “in no rush to leave Arsenal”
But Barst-elona! jumped on the quote about sorting out before the world cup started! To which Barca tried to do EVERYTHING they could to sign Cesc as he has apparently reiterated today!
However that night when Cesc was left on the bench during the Spain v Paraguay game he was quoted on a radio station as reiterating that he “did not say he wanted to leave Arsenal this summer”
For me, those quotes from Cesc are good enough! To me he has not said anything different than what he has said in the past! BUT…
…then there is Barca who upon showing interest in signing Cesc, our captain knowing what Barca means as a Catalan figurehead, got that feeling you get when something you hope to get sometime in the future is offered to you sooner…you get happy! For a moment you may even go crazy!If while trying to rationalise in this state of mind you feel that you only have one opportunity or this would be a good opportunity for everybody to eat including your current family/club, who could cash in big time, you may even be tempted to accept! But when you calm down and realise that you are only excited and that you don’t have to accept this opportunity at this moment in time what do you do?…
…you consult your second father the proffesor Wenger who the majority of the time keeps a level head and whose advice you trust! He then tells you that you are making a mistake and that you will get the opportunity in the future when the time is right, as you had both originally understood, especially 9 months earlier when you both happily signed an extension to your stint as Captain and to not worry and to leave Barca (ahem I mean ‘it’) to him!
However as your family and childhood club will not stop chatting, and on top of that you are playing in the biggest footy tournemnt in the world with them and then vacationing with them, things become so awkward that you cannot just come out and say how much you love playing in every game where you are captain and everyone in your stadium show you “more love than you get in your own house”…
…but you already said it so it is okay! Whatever else you want to say as long as it is a fact is okay by me!
I do not blame Cesc for not wanting to burn bridges with the club we have all agreed he will re-join at some point in the nearish future! That would be a little careless! I don’t feel like he is taking us for granted as he has made his intentions regarding us clear!
You are right he is a proffessional and made it clear that as a proffesional who loves his current club he will leave his future in his managers hands and we all know what Arsene thinks about Cesc and so do Barca!
It’s the media who have got alot to answer for by distorting quotes to suit themselves!
For example the Daily Mails had a headline which stated:
‘Arshavin says he has lost his spark at Arsenal’ implying that Arshavin is saying that since joining Arsenal he has become shit!
The evening standard was a little bit more forthcoming and said that:
‘Arshavin says he has lost his spark but has become more effective since joining Arsenal’. This headline using slightly more of the same quote by Arshavin sounds like Arshavin admiting that he has lost his spark on his own accord whilst we have helped him to compensate that by being more effective than previous. Make of it what you wil.
Cesc recently told us about his sadness that Senderos was leaving Arsenal as he looked after him when he first arrived from Barca and helped him to learn English!Everytime since when transfer speculation has arisen Cesc has told us on every occasion that somebody is ‘causing mischeif’ and how much he loves Arsenal!
Only in Jan 2010 did he come out and say that he loves the club and does not want to leave. Then again in May 2010. So it struck me as strange that reports would then surface that Cesc wanted to leave just weeks later!
We are all aware that there was ‘mischief’ taking place over the summer and now Cesc is out with the national team again that same old ‘mischeif’ is begining to resurface!
For me I am happy with the Cesc who says that he is not in a rush to leave Arsenal and is leaving his future in Arsenes hands!!
…sorry am I talking too much? I must be tipsy!
Anyway the next round is on me
A toast to Holic please!
This blog rocks!
I’m outta here Holics!
Big up Holic!
As for me I trust Cesc to give us his all this year but won’t worry where he is headed next summer. There’s too much else to worry about at this stage, but I trust in Wenger to be planning for Cesc’s replacement if he needs to be doing so, as he probably does and is.
Morning Snir….& fellow ‘holics. Yes, I briefly read the goal.com piece before I went bo-peep last night. It seems the Daily Wail were doing their usual mischief making, no surprises. Cesc said nothing of the sort about being forced to stay at Arsenal, as if in some way completely agsinst his will. That particular quoted news source is frankly the lowest of the low….100% pure contemptuous gutter bile. IMO anyone who uses it to feed their understanding of the world needs all the help and assistance they can get….poor luvs.
I’ll just mention, can you all please keep the noise down as I have a raging hangover!
Strong coffee for me please barman, plus two of your finest aspirin. BTW, you might wanna give a couple to Gooner Town (@231) ~ I can still hear him mumbling* in the corner over there π
* only joshing GT ~ I think you’re spot on π
At last the transfer window is behind us even if there’s another interlull to prevent us from getting into the season’s excitement proper.
It was a very interesting Arsecast this time with many good questions and answers (yours topped it imho `Holic). Certainly we ought to make top 2 this time, we have better players, more depth, more experience and a lot of progress ahead of us while the other 2 contenders seem to have stagnated if not regressed depth-wise. As usual injuries will play their big part as will our attitude going through a tough season. It being football there always will be uncertainties. Will Almunia get back to his best? Will Walcott continue to impress? Which other young players will step up? Will we witness Denilson’s coming of age? Can Vela push for Arshavin’s spot? Will Wilshere follow Rambo’s steps? How will the players who don’t play much react? Will we be more flexible tactically? 442, 4213, 4123 or even 4114?
I love it and yes of course we can do it.
And I’m very lucky to read the best Arsenal blog there is with so many valuable contributors.
Bourbon for me bartender! Let’s dull the interlull’s boredom…
Lol…morning Holic, fellow Holics
Yes Don I am thinking of having a lay in this morning but knowing me that won’t last long!
Yes Sinir Geuli Fuck the Daily Mail…
…and fuck Sky Sports with their Breaking ‘ahead of themselves’ News, with their leaving tribute!
GT,could’nt agree more,Sky Sports is a pimple on the arse of humanity full of cuntz,of which Andy Gray is the biggest Arsenal hating cunt there is,he was willing Blackburn to equalize last week,fuck the Daily Mail,fuck Sky Sports and fuck all the other Arsenal haters,here’s to trophy laden season!!!!!!!
* a trophy laden season!!!!!
Hey gaz, leave some fucks for the rest of us, hey?
Snir – you do raise an important point though . It’s media creativity. Cesc is normally quite guarded with his comments, so we can assume it is bullshit.