A Good Sign – Guest Tale From Our Clive
May 22nd, 2014 by 'holic
Thanks to our very own Clive who has shared this story of an Aussie Gooner who came over to see the Cup Final and enjoyed the eperience thanks to one very generous Arsenal supporter. Thanks Clive, it’s a heartwarmer.
After being scammed online out of £260 by an unscrupulous crook, I was more determined than ever to get a ticket to see my beloved Arsenal play at the 2014 FA Cup Final…
So….made up a sign and decided to head out to the stadium in hope….
As we disembarked at Wembley a police officer approached me on the platform and told me to put the sign away.
‘’ It’’s illegal for anyone to on sell their ticket to you as they will be contravening the law and ticket touting’’
‘’ What even if they sell it to me at face value?’’
‘’Yes’’
So I folded up the sign and decided to take the walk down Wembley Avenue to soak in the atmosphere. As I walked with the mob I noticed a father and son standing in the middle of the avenue holding up a scrawled sign asking for 2 tickets. Police were walking right by him. Emboldened by this I moved off to the right of the avenue and unfolded my own sign.
Wembley…. I set up my stand under that red sign and held out my sign…..within 3 minutes 3 people had spoken to me.
The first asked how much I was willing to pay and when I replied ’’no more than £200‘’ he basically spat on me…
The second asked if I was selling or buying…
Then along came ‘’Dave’’ from Warrington.
Dave and his wife had travelled down from Warrington to visit the big smoke and take in the game. She had fallen ill and he had a spare ticket as a consequence. When he approached me the conversation went like this..
Dave – You need just the one ticket?
Nick – Yup
Dave – Well come with me…you can have my wife’s
Nick – Errr how much ?
Dave- Nothing ..you can have it for free if you are prepared to sit next to me
Transpires Dave is a massive rugby league fan AND Gooner. We spent most of the time waiting to get in talking about Rugby League rather than football. As it happened his seat was in front of mine so no need to share the seat ! And the seat was in the top corner of the Arsenal end. Being the very last row I was able to stand up at will.
AND it was the end where 4 of the 5 goals were scored.
Who is the man with the smile ?
Guess whose team has won the 2014 FA Cup ?
GO ON THE ARSE !!!!!!
Just goes to prove…If there is a will there is a way…
and Karma….it has a strange way of working
PS, Given the face value of the tickets were £49.95 each I forced a sum into Dave’s hand at the end of the game. Even then it was a struggle to get him to take the money.
My ever so lucky day indeed.!!
245 Responses to “A Good Sign – Guest Tale From Our Clive”
First !
BtM, from previous drinks,
remember Clichy in the 4-4 vs Tottenham ?
His dithering on the ball at 2-2, going into added time, happened almost right below me, as you will know from your time spent in Block 91. It seemed to be a kind of paralysis before eventually deciding to try a doomed, mishit pass back to My Pal Al.
It was pounced on by, I think, three LWCs who ran off with the ball and fired home. The equaliser was then, although there was only a minute of added time remaining, sadly a certainty.
A terrible, terrible evening made worse by the opening goal – a 40 yard wonder strike from the human rat that was David Bentley.
Sorry Clive, off to read now.
WOW! WAY TO GO!
Go Gooners! What a family! Excellent story!
😀
Nice one, Clive. Only Arsenal.
Well played Clive and nice one Dave. We really showed that copper, superb stuff. I’ll play some Clash in recognition.
UTA
Think I’ll write the club a letter. What they need is more 31 year old men posting them transfer tips via snail mail. Last time I did that, about 15 years ago, I got a reply and everything. Fairly certain Arsene did write it, but looked like his signature. Le Boss probably needs to spend more time signing letter to me. (Wonder if they kept the first on file?)
Arsene says no deals before World Cup. That gives me 20 days to get ready, then they have the whole tournament to process my transfer shortlist. What could go wrong?
So far, striking options: Immobile, El Sharawaay.
Now back to YoutubeScouting. Ta ta.
UTA
what a great story. good for you, clive, and dave, well never a truer gooner to be found. so glad you got to see the game.
we won the cup!
Great read Clive. Great stuff. Just re-emphasises what we already believe to be true.
a tale to warm the cockles and the muscles. still basking.
Basking 🙂
harsha, from previous, that mini-movie was beautiful. still tearful after watching it. loved the cheer arsene got at the end. thanks.
Excellent tale.
Still cheesin’.
here’s to Dave from Warrington
There are some splendid people around and Dave from Warrington is clearly one. In 1971 I was sent a ticket because one of the people in the Manchester office of my firm couldn’t use his ticket and as it was in the Arsenal end and because he probably hated Liverpool being a Manc he asked a contact in the London office if he knew an Arsenal fan. This contact, a Spud, was captain of the firm team and played with me and when I phoned the gent in Manchester he sent me the ticket for face value.
I was particularly delighted because I had been locked out of White Hart Lane on the Monday. It was a great ticket, directly behind Charlie when he scored the winner.
A great tale – the generosity of strange Gooners. :0)
that’s a bit redundant, bath? “strange gooners”, eh?
The Arsenal is more than a club, we’re one big lovely red and white family. Thanks for sharing, Mr Sweeper.
Amazing tale Clive. Good on you cobber.
Great tale, I hope Dave’s wife got better quickly.
What Trev said @5 and others echoed, Clive. Top tale.
Dr F. from the previous drinks. Take your point. Analysis to execution is only a step further along the spectrum, I guess. Lots of that in Brynjolfsson and McAfee’s The Second Machine Age. Recommend read for anyone half-way interested in this stuff. Is the reductio ad absurdum games being played by robots managed by other computer programs? Or is that Chelsea?
great read Clive.
one of the best I’ve heard and says a lot about arsenal fans
typical aussie travel tale
grab a beer first
then figure out the technical stuff second, like getting a ticket
things always work out whilst having a beer in the sun
great stuff
Lovely stuff Clive, and well done that Warrington gooner. I’m betting that first guy to enquire was a spud who bought a ticket by mistake when told a North London club was in the final. They’re daft enough.
Öskar
Clive in the story .neq. the sweeper, eh?
H2H … No worries re van Gaal. I have a thing about the correct pronunciation of names and tend to jump in, so no offense taken. And thanks for the detail, I must visit Holland again one day and see how ell I do!
One of my pet hates is another ‘G’ – Retief Goosen, the South African golfer. Originally pronounced Who-er-s’n it seems even Retief has given up correcting the hard ‘G’ everyone uses and has adopted a goose as the motif on his clothing line.
Another golfer, Graeme McDowell, should be McDoo-ell at the very least. More correctly using his regional Irish dialect you should also lose the ‘C’ and call him M’Doo-ell as his family does.
And there’s lots more who only come to mind when I hear them.
But does anyone care? Only me, apparently. 🙁
Öskar
*how well I do.
Groovy account of a ticket adventure there Clive.
And thanks for the kind words from the last bar NBN.
You’re a cool cat.
I waxed my moustache in anticipation of a trophy and one finally arrived at the Home of Football.
I’m hoping it’s like waiting for a bus of fat chicks…wait forever for one, and then they never stop coming.
Just wondering who would win in a fight if Sir Chips Keswick and Lord Harris of Peckham each put on a pair of spurs and had a go at it. Other than that, the interesting thing about this article is that it seems somebody is trying to make Arsene spend money again.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-are-prepared-to-break-club-transfer-record-again-to-become-champions–lord-harris-9416975.html
I bet Arsene would rather not be bothered.
Great story Clive, thanks for sharing. My heart is warmed… *goes off to reminisce* 🙂
Top quality clive.
Anyone seen this Remy fella, any good?
28 – I had just assumed Boycie was Lord of Pekham by now. Must be on the Council somewhere?
The return of Cesc is being widely trumpeted. The Barca years have not been as enjoyable as he wished and he appears expendable.
But do we need strengthening in an area where we have Ramsey,Flamini Arteta ,Wilshere, Ozil, Cazorla, Rosicky, Diaby and so on.
This potential transfer divides us all but I suspect he would be welcomed back simply because when he left we felt there was unfinished business to complete in the future but that future looked to be ten years away…not three. I do hope Wenger doesn’t end up forgetting the parts of the team that need attention simply because we have another marquee midfielder. That striker itch still needs scratching and as a very strong holding player would increase competition still further that needs to be done. I suspect if he does sign then Santi might be on the move or we may see Arteta pushed down the ranks.
Morning all,
The Fabregas story is growing legs. 🙂
The bigger the better I say!
TTG
My guess is that this is all being triggered by the Mancs. They’ve cooled their interest in Kroos indicating that they think they can get Fabby for the reasons you have mentioned above. Whoever gets him in the prem will be stronger. We need to remember that, if he comes home, our budget will be shortened, but our squad will be extremely strengthened.
I am in the bring him back camp, as long as we also purchase that striker, or you know who.
Does anybody know if Viviano will return back to his parent club on the 1 June?
The catalan sport.es is running a poll titled “Would you sell Cesc to Arsenal for 42M euros?”
http://www.sport.es/es/encuestas/barca/20140523/venderia-cesc-arsenal-por-millones/63390.shtml
It seems that out of 1000 voters, three-quarters go for a Yes. Would you believe it?
It would be a joy to have him back, but got to accept that we have to form a balanced team out of him, Cazorla Ozil and Ramsey – who must be regular starters in my opinion.
If this happens, I also wonder if we’d have much left to invest towards a striker. In which case, D.Milito anyone? It seems that he’s being released by Inter this summer and intends to continue playing.
GL
Another way of doing this is re-purchasing Vela and Fab, bringing in you know who and bringing back Campbell, along with a fit again Theo, which would bring an extra 30-60 goals between them.
Just saying 🙂
Anyway, I was thinking about the travelling gooners and the effort which they put in to catch the matches. Has to be commended.
Also I am looking forward to bringing my little one to both days of the EMs tournament this year, as he makes his own debut into his own academy squad.
🙂
What a lovely story and as ever the gooner family shown in true light.
Cesc Dna whatever coming back story makes me pukish, i mean this is crazy that a man who forced him move to play for his dna team now is being pushed out by the same team and we are rolling the red carpet for him, disgusting.
he may be a very good player but then who cares, we do not need him in this midfield, we need a strong cdm and he is not that so all other positions are filled, so sorry dna so and so, you can stay or go anywhere.
Griezmann for 18 million, now we are talking. Give them Vela on a permanent deal and let them give us Antoinne, he is terrific.
Schnederlin should be the next target now that lars Bender has ruled himself out, pool also want him so we need to move in quickly or else now suddenly pool is an attractive proposition and players will get tempted.
Lastly PSG buying Luiz for 50 million, well i wonder what will the world come to next. Bendtner for 100 million to barca????
Vinay
Vela is already permanent at Sociedad. We have a buy-back clause.
The only thing is, we re-purchased Sol and Flam flam and bid for toothy, so football morality appears to be out of the window.
But 50 mill for a centre back who is a liability, is ludicrous at the least!
😆
I’m with Vinay regarding the new Cesc saga. But, I would much rather have him back than see him at United!
What a terrific tale.
Thanks Clive and ofcourse the guvna.
From previous.
Heh @ Trev, great description, I’ve been spitting out imaginary flies for two and half decades now, maybe I should take advice from that old women and swallow a spider……….. But we all know what that can lead to. 😉
—–
Cheers Oskar.
Cesc could do just as good a job as Arteta in the holding role and be so much better as the midfield distributor. His performance away at the San Siro has always been my personal favourite of his time with us. Just do that, killing teams with his link play from deep. 🙂
UTA
Ttg,
Your absolutely correct in saying that we need a striker and that it should take priority.
Having said all that, in relation to Cesc, its a no brainer in much the same way as Ozil was a no brainer. As Blogs said this morning “it’s not as if we have loads of players who get injured all the time whose absences cost us dearly so having super-quality across the squad would help us cope with that..” But more than that from where I sit, despite all the talent we have in midfield, Cesc is still a class above them all and thats saying something. While all the others are capable of influencing games in spurts by making great passing combinations or by getting on the end of good runs to score, what really differentiates Cesc is his ability to control a game for 90mins at the very highest level.
In relation to the Aurier chap in Toulouse, while he sounds like a solid talent, I would just prefer to have someone more experienced and little older at RB. Sagna is 31 and I think its a little ambitious to expect a 21 year to fill his boots immediately. We need a player who can slot in immediately and not someone who might be good some time down the road. Young Coleman is a great prospect but can you honestly see Wenger spending 20m on a RB?
Great story Clive — good work mate!
I lucked out too — in a box in the Arsenal end, with my son (although that was because of a mate, not a stranger)… What a fantastic day — I was smashed by half-time, but for some reason, I kind of knew we weren’t going to let 2 10-minute goals beat us, and so it proved.
For me, the result pretty much vindicated the sentiments expressed by pretty much everyone in this bar, probably because ‘holic has presided over such a positive, friendly bunch.
Been meaning to say this for the past week, but cheers ‘holic and to all of you!! What a season and what a way to finish it…
Not absolutely sure how I feel about Cesc after the nature of his departure, but I’m sure we would all soon love him again if he got up to his best level.
One thing he did give us before was a midfielder who would run past the ball in attack to open up defences. In the second half of the season just gone, we had noboby doing that in the absence of Ramsey, and that’s when goals were hard to come by.
In reality, we may have to lose one to gain one but he can be a world class player at a very good age and you can’t have too many of them.
if I may, this is some brilliant stuff, goosebumps https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9DSfhCVIp40
The forum appears to be simmering nicely 😉
Joe, you have got me thinking. Doing a swap with the sky blues would be a marvellous way to re-ignite an England career or two. I would even test the resolve of the scousers again too. 🙂
Great account Clive and that ticket what can I say just goes to show there are still nice people out there 🙂
So Cesc to make a come back what do you people think?
Eandy: That was absolutely brilliant! Thanks for the link… Superb!
Less then a week after lifting the cup, the official ending of the campaign and it’s bang smack full steam ahead into silly season.
The Cesc story is the one that seems to be generating the most buzz this time around and why wouldn’t it? It’s an easy go to story that will generate massive amounts of hits and spark endless discussions. The story has everything, a returning hero, a prodigal son, the narrative of unfinished business, dodgy DNA, a less then successful return to his homeland (although I would beg to differ on that), a manager he sees as a father and the player who is reguarded as a son, the one that got away.
There have been polls among Barca fans to see if they would agree with his sale, there has been polls amongst the Arsenal faithful to guage if we’d welcome him back. Chuck in an arch villian in the dispicable shape of a ManUtd offer and a killer plot twist clause that means we could scupper any move, and you have an epic story that is good to go without even needing a single reliable quote from either player, agent or any of the clubs involved. It’s journo Nirvana, but gullable soul that I am, I’ll bite…….
Firstly I think I’m in a minority of two, Steve T being my only ally, in thinking that Cesc got a bit of a free pass and his betrayal was greater then many others who get absolutly slated as Judas’, turncoats and mercenaries. Others were older, or had less time left on their deals, but Cesc was still a young lad, Arsene was building a team around him, he was our captain and had just signed an extreamly lucrative and lengthy contract extension.
All of a sudden he had his head turned and the grass was greener on the otherside. Before it gets chucked in my face, yes, I do realise that this was his childhood club and he took a pay cut, but I still feel he took the easy way out and left us more then slightly in the lurch. That was always going to be a one club auction and as such we got nowhere near market value for one of the best players in the world who had a whoping five years left on his contract, we were robbed and those Barca basterds even had the gall and lack of class to rub our noses in it after the fact, as if their relentless and unethical pursuit and tapping up of our player wasn’t bad enough, a dispicable display that Cesc did absolutly nothing to quash. In fact, in the end he all but went on strike to force through a move, to me, that was ten times worse then any “you guys” letter.
But here’s the flipside……
Would I take him back? Hell to the yeah!!!!!
Ofcourse I would, he’s a world class player, he knows Arsene and Arsenal and he would fit in seemlessly. I don’t buy the notion that he is not what we need, the same was said about Ozil and I said then what I will say now, you can never have enough world class players in your squad. Can you imagine if we were able to bring in Cesc when Ozil or Ramsey was out last term? Do you still think we would of been scraping for fourth? I don’t.
Yes we need players in other positions too, but I don’t see why we can’t have our cake and eat it this time around (suck it Ya Ya T. ) We’ve been told, endlessly, that we’ve got the funds, so now that the players we have has had a taste of sweet victory it is time to push on, to aim higher for greater rewards and to do it we are going to need a squad of quality players, and no matter what my feelings are about what he did in the past, there is no denying the simple fact that Cesc is a quality player. Not to mention the fact that we could seriously throw a spanner in the works of the Manure plans to rebuild their crap midfield and anything that makes those bottomburps sad makes me happy.
Ofcourse it call all just be bullshit.
WELCOME TO SILLY SEASON Y’ALL.
@51@H2H The only reason cesc signed a contract was because he did not want arsenal to lose him for free.
Really Jude?
So Arsene made him captain and literally built a team around him so not to lose him for free?
What a cunning plan.
He already had a contract with a number of years left on it before he signed the extension with a major wage hike, so he wasn’t exactly looking at a Bosman now, was he?
Oops, apologies Jude, I misread your post.
But Cesc still had a while to go on his current deal before signing a new and improved one.
oh and I suppose its time to drop the umlaut after this season:P some nagging feeling that I might have to add X in my moniker (somehow) at the start of the next.
My concern with taking back Fabregas is the thought that he might once more expect the team to be built around him.
On the other hand, while we got poor value for him, there are persistent stories that we have both first refusal and a a sell-on clause which would give us around 50% of any fee Barca get for him.
So, if Barca want, say, £50M for Cesc, it would cost, say, Manyoo £100M. We, on the other hand, would only have to offer £50M. (Not often I get to write “only £50M”.)
If such a clause exists, it would represent really good business by us. It’s up to you, dear reader, whether you believe we are capable of doing business that good.
Brilliant Brilliant Vid Recap Eandy! Much Obliged!
Nice post @51, H2H. I am inclined to agree with you and Steve T.
I think the reaction to CvC a year later was all the greater because it exacerbated that feeling of rejection of Arsenal and the ‘youth project’ that had been hanging over from Cesc the year before.
Much of the ire associated with Cesc’s defection was also immediately focused onto Nasri as well because his departure followed the Cesc fandango and he had been seen as a good backstop for Cesc after his early year performances.
Hopefully that sequence of unnecessary departures of players in their prime has ended.
Great video, Eandy. Particularly liked the tribute to the far-flungs.
I’d stand alongside you, H2H, on Cesc. If we are firing on all four fronts next season there is no way Ozil, Santi and Ramsey are going to play every game. Plenty of scope for Cesc to come in, even with Jack, the Ox, Tomas R and even Diaby in reserve. I’m not sure Cesc is an Arteta replacement as El Puno suggests, but he can play the false 9 role which would give us a Plan B. And, yes, you can’t have too many world class players.
Giroud, Theo, Cesc ……..
Do all these false nines mean we don’t actually need a true nine ?
Isn’t a false nine an upside down six?!
😀
Afternoon all. Hope all are well and looking forward to the weekend 🙂
Evening (as it is here) ‘holic.
Hope all is well on your end too.
Great video Eandy!
About Cesc, Barca would be rather stupid to let him go. That doesn’t mean they won’t, but it would be immeasurably stupid of them. Wasn’t he supposed to be Xavi’s successor for the deep-lying playmaker?
They are hoping that Luis Enrique is going to pull of a Pep, and Barca is back on top again, but a few years of hubris and mismanagement had left a very unbalanced team…I would think quality like Cesc, still very young, is exactly what they should use to build the future upon.
I wonder whether we would ever get back the Cesc of 09-10 season, the verve and the exuberance to go with the quality. Last couple of years he had seemed much slower to me, and somewhat tentative in that false 9 role. Still one of the best passers in the game.
If he joins us are we to revert to the purely possession based game that was built around him or do we find a way to fit him in the contain-counter attack mode where we have excelled this season?
Okay so now we have released four players for free:
1) Sagna – Defender
2) fabianski – keeper
3) park – striker
4) bendtner – striker
For the salary conscious amongst us that’s a cool 200k a week spare
Yahoo!!! 😆
I bow to all you ‘holics better knowledge, but would the 50million addition of Cesc prevent the Arsenal bending over and getting stuffed by the big teams?? because if it doesn’t then I believe that 50 million should be better spent elsewhere. If it does prevent the shafting, then let’s get him back!!
That’s what I wish for in simple terms 🙂
Lovely piece Clive, the feel good glow just keeps on…glowing:-)
Cesc back home would be a great addition to but not instead of the following:
Pacey striker
Big beast midfielder
RB to replace Sagna
GK to replace Fabianski
We are moving away from the unsuccessful tiki taka Barcelona lite period and it appears pace & power is now the way to go. Can Cesc
adapt to the new way? No doubting he is a class act though.
GT: the official EPL list still has Sagna and Fabianski on the retained list, albeit with an asterisk next to their name as having an offer outstanding. Couple of interesting names among the youngsters let go on frees, too.
Free transfers
Aneke Chukwuemeka Ademola Amachi
Ansah Zak Andy
Bendtner Nicklas
Boateng Daniel
Fagan Zachari Freddy Casey
Park Chu Young
Siemann Leander
Contract Players
Afobe Benik Retained
Ajayi Oluwasemilogo Adesewo Ibidapo Retained
Akpom Chuba Retained
Alves da Silva Wellington Retained
Arteta Amatriain Mikel Retained
Bellerin Hector Retained
Campbell Joel Retained
Cazorla Santiago Retained
Coquelin Francis Retained
Diaby Vassiriki Abou Retained
Djourou-Gbadjere Johan Danon Retained
Eisfeld Thomas Retained
(o) Fabianski Lukasz Offer
Flamini Mathieu Retained
Galindo Samuel Retained
Gibbs Kieran James Ricardo Retained
Giroud Olivier Retained
Gnabry Serge David Retained
Hayden Isaac Scot Retained
Huddart Ryan David Retained
Iliev Deyan Retained
Iwobi Alex Retained
Jebb Jack Retained
Jenkinson Carl Daniel Retained
Koscielny Laurent Retained
Lipman Austin Retained
Macey Matthew Ryan Retained
Martinez Damian Emiliano Retained
Mertesacker Per Retained
Miquel-Pons Ignasi Retained
Miyaichi Ryo Retained
Monreal Ignacio Retained
Olsson Mats Kristoffer Retained
Ormonde-Ottewill Brandon Retained
Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Retained
Ozil Mesut Retained
Pleguezuelo Julio Jose Retained
Podolski Lukas Retained
Ramsey Aaron James Retained
Rosicky Tomas Retained
(o) Sagna Bacary Offer
Sanogo Yaya Retained
Szczesny Wojciech Tomasz Retained
Toral Jon-Miquel Retained
Vermaelen Thomas Retained
Walcott Theo James Retained
Wilshere Jack Andrew Retained
Zelalem Gedion Retained
Scholars
Crowley Daniel Retained
Kamara Glen Offer Contract
Maitland-Niles Ainsley Retained
Moore Tafari Lalibela Retained
O’Connor Stefan Ramone Sewell Retained
Smith Renny Piers Retained
Vickers Josh Offer Contract
Wright Elliot Retained
Good vid, Eandy.
Also didn’t realize Coquelin and Djourou were still on our books.
See also that Citeh have released Costel Pantilimon (27), the Spuds Heurelho Gomes (33), Palace Julian Speroni (35) and the Chavs Mark Schwartzer (41). Any potential back-up keepers for us in that quartet?
@47 Eändy
What can I say goosebumps all the way fella!
H2H
Brilliant stuff on Cesc it has to said no one will welcome him with open arms and he has to earn his place in the team.
I only find one issue with that….
If he is a bench warmer in front of Rambo and Ozil will he really want to come back to above scenario? My gut feeling tells me no but this certainly could be some strange football force in all of this. Now the question is would I like him back in the squad?
Yes I would but I think Rambo and Ozil are the preferred two who should start games in and out. Will he go for this set up? I don’t think so! I know he has burnt his bridges for most but I believe we are more in for a really good defensive midfielder rather than another attacking one.
Pangloss.
I don’t think that’s quite right, sir.
As far as I can gather, from what I read at the time and over the last few days, the clause stats we have first refusal on Cesc, meaning that we have to be informed if they accept an offer from a third party. For example if Man u made a 40mill bid they are then obligated to offer him to us at that price before granting permission for him to speak to Utd.
If we choose not to exercise our right to buy him we will recieve 50% of any profit made on the sale of Cesc to a third party. So if say he went for 50mill. I don’t think that would mean we were entitled to 25mill of that.
It would be 50 mill, minus what they paid us for him and then 50% of what was over. but, with everything concerning this deal this is what I have personaly concluded from the available information, so i could be wrong.
Thanks for putting me straight on that H2H, of course, with the low initial fee, the profit, to which we are entitled to half, will be that much greater. Still petty good business.
NBN@70: Pantilimon would do very well as number 2, if we cannot get a really experienced mentor-cum-competitor for Szczesny like Buffon or Casillas …
Whatever happened to Stekelenberg?
ATG @ 72: I see two ways Cesc fitting in our current set-up.
One is the pivote role that Arteta plays, what Busquets plays for Barca, what Xavi plays for Real and what Pep, Cesc’s idol, use to play. His long range passing, distribution, switching of play are excellent. But one suspects in PL to be really successful as a counter attacking team we would need more physicality and pace in that role.
Another is the playmaker role, no. 10 with Ozil switching to wing. If both of them are playing together in the attacking third there really won’t be enough space for Santi to operate as he likes to float in between pockets of spaces.
Cesc never enjoys playing from the wing, even in the inverted position, as his best shines when he can have a full view of the angles to thread through.
I think Jack and Rambo would probably rotate in the box-to-box role, both are younger, fresher, faster and hungrier than Cesc.
Brother H2H knows. The whole way Cesc conducted himself when he left and the way we were totally had over still makes me mad today.
Cesc back at Arsenal???? No thanks. Not on a million years. In the days of massive penny punching and frugality if we were to spend Hod knows how many millions on a man who sulked is way out of the club because his DNA told him to do so then I would be fuming. Especially when as others have pointed out that there are glaring deficiencies all over the pitch.
In fact, if I ever saw Cesc in an arsenal shirt again I might actually advise him in no uncertain terms exactly what I thought of him.
Would he improve the squad, SteveT?
Every season the transfer window gets crazier and crazier. PSG who one would think might be tightening their belts after infringing FFP are instead paying £50 million for Luiz. That’s ridiculous. Luiz is talented but a bit flaky and is not really a defender.
I’ve been reading with interest the comments on Cesc. I agree with H2H that he walked away in rather unsavoury circumstances but I believe there is a tremendous relationship between him and Wenger and I am happy to back Wenger’s judgement on this one.
I think the vulnerable player is Santi. On his day he is a superb craftsman but he is very unpredictable and inconsistent. I’d hate to see him go because I love to see players with his skill at the club. But I think he is most likely to be expendable in our current squad.
On released players I am astonished that Speroni has been released by Palace. I was with a couple of Palace friends at the Oval yesterday and they were raving about him-about their whole season actually!He would definitely be a great back-up keeper.Schwarzer is a little too old. Interested to see Miquel and Afobe have been retained but I suspect both will be sold
He would unbalance the squad Pangloss. I don’t see how we can have a midfield that contains the likes of Özil, Rambo, Cesc, Jack, Santi, Theo, AOC etc and expect to have the right balance. It would look outstanding as an attacking unit but leave a defence so exposed. So for that reason I say no, I don’t think it improves what we have.
I have said for ages that I believe that we have had money to spend. Manu have tried to tell me that we have had to be prudent. We do not have a bottomless pit. Personally I hope that we address the areas that need addressing rather than look at expensive luxuries. Unless poor little Cesc is now the worlds best right back and I have just missed it.
If you wanted a midfielder, would you go back to Cesc or go for Kroos? I know which I’d prefer and for once, it’s the cheaper option.
If Kroos is available for the reported £20 million then the cheque should already be on it’s way.
I could see that Speroni would be a good backup to Szczesny, but not Pantilimon, thanks.
George Graham used to say, “don’t buy a player on the way down”.
While I don’t see moving from Man €ity to the Arsenal as a downward move, Pantilimon might. How motivated could he be at 27 to move from reserve keeper at the current champions to reserve keeper somewhere else.
I’m also not convinced that an older keeper, if that’s what we want, will necessarily want to act as a mentor to another keeper who is essentially his competition for a place. Surely the club employs a goalkeeping coach to do that. If the present incumbent isn’t up to the task, maybe that’s the replacement we should be looking for.
Schwarzer does look a bit long in the tooth now at 41, and Gomes was largely a nightmare at Tottenham despite a brilliant performance against us once for PSV Eindhoven.
not safe at work, but hilarious. bendtner reveals all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIts05JNeLo
Hi All
I knew this story would be appreciated by the regulars in the Bar.
What particularly impressed me was that Dave from Warrington, didn’t even want any money for the ticket.!!
Just wanted to help out a fellow Gooner who he had never set eyes on before that moment.
My old Dad [ god bless him] always said that Northerners were the salt of the earth.
He made some lifelong friends fighting alongside them in the desert with Monty’s troops in Africa.
When i was growing up,many’s the time during the season for an away game up North,we would go up by train on the friday afternoon,stay overnight with the family of one of his many mates,go to the game on the saturday, stay over Sat night,and catch a train home Sunday morning.!!
It was quite an adventure for a young lad growing up,and despite the fact that during the late 50’s and early to late 60’s,we lost far more away games than we won,the excitement of those w/end adventure’s
never waned.
When we came up for a Match,despite the fact that nearly all the folk we stayed with were not well off,their house was our house.
Nothing was too much trouble.
Dad always used to bring his Army rucksack with him filled with some food to pay his way,tea,cans of spam and corned beef,powdered milk etc.
Not sure where he procured it from,as it didn’t come from our pantry,.!!
The ladnscape was much the same wherever we went,narrow cobbled streets,rows upon rows of little Terraced houses where the walls were so thin you could hear the conversation from 3 doors down.!!
I always remember the staple breakfast was the biggest bowl of Porridge you’ve ever seen,which was so filling that i didn’t feel hungry again till we got home for tea after the game.
Happy memories.
So why was i not surprised that the Good Samaritan in this story was from a part of England where my Dad’s favorite people reside.
Cheers
The Sweeper
Are we sure Fabregas has been made surplus at Barcaloanus?
All I’ve seen sounds rumor-ish.
Shocking if true.
Here it goes!
I don’t know where he would fit now!
Before we begin to cry foul at cesc, this was our club captain who gave his all for the team over many heartbreaking years and simply Lost faith in arsene, be that right or wrong.
As for tapping up, what bullshit this is. You can only be truly tapped up when the tapping up party knows you are unhappy and open to offers.
No different from a typical work scenario, where the opposition gets wind within the industry you are unhappy at your current place of work.
Trophies are important to many, especially the players as it is seen as a reward for he hard work and a measure among your flow pros and peers.
Cesc should not be slated as wanting to leave, he simply was left with no choice in a crap arsenal side who had no budget to spend and he wanted to win something in his career.
And we were buying even more crap such as Sebastian Squillaci and crew. Would that fill any of us with hope if you were in that team.
Rvp was no different, they both simply lost faith in the arsene youth project that did not produce a trophy for 8 + years.
Why is that so hard to understand for some.
Aussie. In my humble opinion you have never been more wrong.
Cesc sulked massively the last season he had with us. He signed an 8 year contract. No one forced him to. He signed because he wanted to. He would have been fully aware of what the club was doing and what the future plans were. If he didn’t then why sign such a long contract.
We are then treated to this DNA bollocks and all the shit that came out of Barca. We sat back and did virtually nothing.
Now, it’s rumoured that he is surplus to requirements at Barca and a fans survey has said they would be happy to sell him. We are the Arsenal. We are not someone’s back up or someone’s second choice if it all gets a bit tough.
As I said, as a season ticket holder I watched the vast majority of Cesc’s games in his latter days. I was also fortunate enough to watch the odd training session. His attitude at times was quite simply shocking.
How people still worship Cesc but want RVP strung up from the nearest tree is beyond me. The blinkers shop must be doing a roaring trade.
Aussie @ 87: My recollection of Cesc’s last season was very much aligned with Steve T’s excellent summary at @88 , he behaved rather poorly towards the end. Credit to him not too publicly but his body language had abundantly made it clear that he would rather be at his other boyhood club.
As I had stated @75, it would be hard to fit him now in the team when everyone is fit. But the thing is everyone is never fit together. Assuming the years and experiences have matured Cesc enough that he can now play as another highly talented player in a superb TEAM, and not as the center of all strategies, I think he would still be a good addition, but only after the DM, RB, GK and a fast goalscoring positionally versatile forward have been added.
Your mention of Squillaci was interesting. I know he has been a flop in PL, his tactical maturity and technical skills were not enough to compensate for the lack of pace especially given then very high line we used to play those days. But he was anything but a bad player. In the Ligue 1 dominating Lyon side he was an excellent CB, and he had continued his good form at Sevilla. It just didn’t work out for him with us, but in French football he was well known as one of the best defenders. When he had signed for us it was his compatriot who also joined Arsenal that year in the defense who had raised the eyebrows. At that time Kos had only one year of top flight football experience with mid-table side Lorient, and most Arsenal observers had him marked out as a potential dud. He had youth and pace on his side, and what a fantastic signing he has been.
You and many keep on complaining about the ‘Squillacis’ all the time, but I hear so little admiration about the signing and then development of Koscielny. The Per-Koscielny partnership is also Arsene’s work, right?
Cesc is the player he is primarily because of Arsene and Arsenal. Not because of his first fifteen years, but because Arsene recognized the true potential, nurtured it, encouraged it, put unbelievable trust in him (it is Bobby Pires and not him that leaves the field in CL final when Lehmann sees the red) and built a team around him. And we all had enjoyed and supported him. We didn’t own him anything, he owed us and still owes us his entire career.
At least that is the way I see it.
@89: I meant “we didn’t owe him anything, he owned us …”
@90 … corrigendum to the corrigendum, “…he owed us…”
With that, I give up, and call this a night. 🙂
I’ve always seen the Cesc departure in a different light to the van Persie betrayal. The yearn to play for his ‘DNA’ team who were, during his Arsenal career, the world’s best must have been tremendous. He was after all very young when he came to Arsenal which he must have seen as a much more likely route to first team football.
Whatever I think he’d be a good acquisition for us at this time. As I have said many times, if the right striker doesn’t become available the best alternative would be an attacking midfielder or two, and Cesc’s 35 goals and 77 assists in his Arsenal career (much of it as a youngster) suggest a more than useful contributor. And his Barca record (as a mature player) is even better, his 28 goals coming in less than half his Arsenal games – mainly playing further forward for Barca than he played for us.
But I wouldn’t pay £50m for him, £35m sounds more like his value.
And I’d still prefer Reus anyway.
Öskar
With Luiz going to PSG for some ridiculous amount I now read that the chavs are targeting Raphael Varane, and the figure touted is just £20m. That is a bargain basement price for someone who would be absolutely ace for us. He’s even French ffs … where are you AW?
Öskar
Steven/ DrF-
If you look at the cesc and Rvp situations without the emotional tie and love for arsene, why have both our previous Captakns who were both world class players in their prime, honed by arsene himself in their prime, who are loved by the club and fans alike, why would they even contemplate leaving such a club like arsenal, other than they don’t believe in he future under arsene himself, who by the way, they apparently big adored as a second father.
They don’t need more money, they are both filthy rich.
They want trophies and success, why is that so hard to understand or contemplate. Is success a crime nowadays.
The reference to Squillaci is an example of simply ” not being our best and not showing any attempt ” to be our best by buying second/ third tier players and hoping it all world out ok on a budget.
As an example the other way, look at the buzz and upgrade in players attitude when ozil came along. Players like jack suddenly reLised they have some work to do.
And yes kos was a good buy, but don’t we expect arsene to buy well or should he be receiving great plaudits every time he buys a player who is not a flop.
He does get paid $8.5 mil + bonuses for managing he entire squad.
If you listen to the Arsecast, listen to the very end to hear Blogs taunting Mourinho. 😀
Interesting discussion on Cesc. I probably see him through rose-tinted glasses as he is still one of my fave players to have donned an Arse kit, and if the price is right I would take him in a second. He is a bit like Ozil in that it is hard to pass up one of the best players in the world (sorry otd!) when they become available.
Imagine if he had been with the squad during the lean months when we were missing Rambo, Jack, and Ozil. Or if everyone is healthy Arsene would have to rotate players to keep them fresh and injury free. I know, some of you are saying, “What!?!? Rotate? That’s crazy talk!”
I think one of the reasons he hasn’t been the massive success at Barca as everyone expected is that he doesn’t necessarily fit into the tika-taka as well as Xavi and Iniesta. To me he was always a more forward moving player, and I think he would fit in nicely with the way Arsenal have been playing over the past 12 months.
Now having said all that, I definitely believe we should address our weaknesses first. A DM, RB, and pacey backup/complimentary/plan B striker/left winger. Then we can be indulgent. (By the way, I also recognize that we need a backup keep and CBs, but those should be relatively cheap).
Reminiscent of Sagna, after a long goal kick to the right side heads the ball down to…
I bet rotate isn’t a crazy idea to OG…
Nods the ball down an flicks out to the wing…
Öskar
Unfortunately ball rolls out of play as everyone is asleep. 🙁
Öskar
Throws the ball into the goal reminiscent of Rory Delap?
(sprints out the stadium)
Dr. F.: Stekelenburg is still on Fulham’s books but languishing somewhere in the reserves. Fell out of favour as first choice keeper middle of last season. Pantilemon may be the wrong age for us; still young enough to want to be a first-choice somewhere, and fed up with being a no 2. It would be good to have someone who would be even taller than the BFG though.
Well in ecg. Hope no one noticed that you can’t score direct from a throw-in…
The silly season is getting really silly if there is anything to the rumour that James Milner is being lined up as our new right back.
I quite like the Antoine Greizmann rumour, though. The lad seems nippy and to have an eye for goal. The hair looks a bit dodgy though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfYjO43zT6M
ecg – with the killer post and Dewlappian long throw.
I see the ball spinning harmlessly toward the touch line and belt a cross back across the 6 yard box …
nbn – this is the silly season, of course you can score from a throw in…
homer – thanks. Any teams out there need a long throw specialist? Will work for only 10,000/week.
nbn – watched the Greizmann video and although he looks like a quality player, is he really the player we want and is he an upgrade on Vela?
Re the Cesc/RVP departures. People have always been bitter at RVP and loved Cesc. I have never got that. Maybe I’m a bit cynical but I have always thought this Barca DNA and boyhood club etc was utter bollocks. It was a smoke screen. It was an excuse to justify him asking to leave. I’ve always been surprised with the amount of people that have fallen for that. Personally I have never believed any of that.
When RVP left he clearly did not cover himself in glory and it could clearly have been done better. But when you analyse the two I really don’t get why he is slaughtered so much and Cesc is loved. RVP said that he would not sign a new contract because he did not like the way the club was going??? Well I’m sure from just reading on here you will agree that he is not the only one who thought the club was being run properly. In his last season did he moan, whine or sulk? No, not a bit of it. He was our player of the season by a country mile. You also have to ask that if Cesc had stayed as per his contract would RVP have stayed???? The answer is that we will never know but my opinion is that he may well have stayed.
When considering Cesc you need to ask a few other questions. Cesc is 27 now and should be in his prime. The likes of Xavi and Iniesta are reaching the twilight of their careers. Barca also face a transfer ban. So considering all of that what has happened that makes Cesc surplus to requirements at Barca???
Sadly for me I would not be surprised in the slightest if Cesc ends up at Manure. That for me would leave a real feeling of betrayal. Seeing Cesc and RVP line up for the mancs would also just cement my opinion that those in charge of this club have made some massive errors in the previous years.
As others have said above, it’s the silly season. Anything is possible.
Stevet@ 197- did you mean to say that others do “not” think the club was run properly as rvp did or as written above ?
I agree that once cesc was gone, that was the last straw for rvp and he wasnt going to hang around with ” a strong finance model” as the only club goal.
Sorry steveT – should have read @107
I’m a bit concerned by the number of players we are being linked with. While this is a function of the way the media goes into overdrive in the silly season the stories are tending to emanate from journalists close to the club who are briefed, especially around season- ticket renewal time. My concern about Wenger in the transfer market is that he is less and less able to make up his mind, hence the problems in the last three windows. We seem to have surveyed every right – back in Europe and while I accept signings are not straightforward , those I know who are close to the club suggest Wenger keeps changing his mind and is seemingly more comfortable on a tight budget than with a huge ‘war chest ‘ .
I’ve also heard very concerning stories about the methods of Dick Law our chief negotiator which have turned off clubs all over Europe. As for the big transfer stories concerning us they are of then the product of a more media savvy PR department schooled in US sport who must find Arsene a bit of a headache. He is incredibly effective going under the radar and picking up players like Sagna and Koscielny who are unpolished gems. I hope he continues to do this if he can spot the right material. I suspect Ozil was primarily a Gazidis signing
Undoubtedly, Cesc rolled the Arsenal in his determination to force his move to the Barc. RVP, however, totally shafted the club and Arsene. He was carried through his immaturity and then his injuries (at one stage he’d played more games for the Netherlands than Arsenal). For that alone he has attracted such a level of opprobrium, and for me deservedly.
RVP has only managed two seasons – one for Arsenal the next for Man. He’ll not be that influential again. I suspect that he’ll not win much else and honestly I care not one jot. He’s simply a part player in our history – an ooh did he actually play for Arsenal? No admiration now or ever.
Cesc, however is an interesting dilemma. As Steve T mentioned why is he now apparently not an integral player? He’s still a compelling and influential athlete yet for both Spain and Barc he’s a peripheral rather then central person. As a player he would be wonderful to have in the squad, but where do we need strengthening most and what baggage does he (and his agent) bring to the table? Frankly, there are more important signings to be made. Next would I be bothered if he ends up at ManUre? On reflection yes but more because it would vindicate why he left and unequivocally confirm Steve T’s view’s.
Long post sorry, but on Squillaci, squad players and Number two keepers. The hardest players to recruit. You need quality, mostly experienced and yet content to accept that they’re not first choice but are expected to perform to to the highest standards at irregular intervals. I would not pillor Arsene for his signings of Squillaci or Sylvestre. They were experienced International players, one with considerable Premiership skills. They were perfect for the third/fourth choice positions yet they still bombed. Look at Vermalean – a top top pro, has made no complaints, massive respect from me for that, yet he’s undoubtedly frustrated at being Number three (and rightly so as a professional player) but fantastic for the club to have that quality in reserve. For punters to suggest that it’s easy to snap up players to play second or third fiddle is not confronting the truth. Unless you can throw huge wages at bit players (hmm which clubs might those be?) it’s a lottery.
@Steve
Without wanting to go right back round the houses, the primary reason that Van Persie is hated way more than Cesc is that he went to a direct and hated rival. Since he got there, he’s sung the praises of the club, made veiled criticisms of the Arsenal, scored repeatedly against us (and celebrated) and won them the title.
If Cesc moves to Utd this summer and does all of the above he will be hated just as much as Van Persie. Although “hate” is probably too strong a word now: pitied and forgotten, perhaps more apt given Utd’s travails.
N7.
My memory is that the one thing RVP did not do was celebrate when he scored against us. Certainly not when he first moved at least???
He went to a rival????? Spot on. WE agreed a fee, WE agreed the transfer and WE sold him. WE chose to sell him.
Celebrated against us the last time, though, didn’t he?
We agreed to sell Cesc too. You asked what the difference is. Well, leaving aside all the rumoured backstage intrigue (did Cesc refuse to play? Did RVP insist we drop Ramsey?) the above is the reason: people fucking hate Man Utd. They don’t love Barca either, but a player moving abroad is never as much of a knock.
Cesc also made it quite clear throughout his arsenal career that he’d go back to play for Barca one day. It was just a question of when.
Imagine a scenario where Van Persie had always said the same about Utd.
To me, that’s a pretty major difference.
I’ll leave it at that as we’ve been round this before. Just trying to explain why I, and some others, treat Fabregas differently to the Dutchman.
N7 – with you on your statements of Cesc/RVP.
RvP refused to go anywhere else except Manu.
With only a year left on his contract, he refused to extend so really the club had no choice but sell him to recoup something or see him leave on a free. So really, they had no choice but to sell to Manu.
Lhtg@111-
how do you explain players like squillaci, sylvestre and vermaelan playing well everywhere else except arsenal ?
Seems to be quite a long bow
Why did he refuse to resign joe.
Why would he not want to resign with where he was a legend.
He was captain of one of the best clubs in the world
He was loved by the players, the fans and the manager
Why would he want to leave ?
N7.
RVP did not celebrate initially. He has been given absolute dogs abuse ever since he has left. Do you honestly blame him for celebrating after all of that? Sadly, I certainly don’t.
Cesc didn’t play for large parts of his final year with us. Sadly I was there and had to witness it first hand.
If a player reaches the end of his contract he can do what he likes. You can’t moan about it on one hand and then gloat when we sign the likes of Sol from the spuds. Cesc still had 4 years left on his contract. Please remember that. The fact that he might now want to come back because the grass may not be as green as he first thought really does not impress me one bit.
One of the big advantages of moving to another country is you need to worry a lot less about whether to celebrate scoring against your previous club, or whether you’ll get dogs abuse as you beat them with your new team.
It’s fair to ask if Cesc gets a bit of an easy ride, but we all know and understand why Van Persie gets more stick than Fabregas. He totally deserves it.
Players can do what they like at the end of their contract and fans can (and do) react as they see fit. Players can waltz off to Man Utd and that’s entirely their prerogative, as is fans slating them as they depart and when they return.
Look at it this way; what reaction will sagna get it if he heads to PSG this summer vs if he goes to play in Manchester?
@Aussie
Because he tripled his wages in Manchester?
Does he still get to use the silverware excuse, now that we’re one and one on that front?
1. Cesc wanted to play for pep and with his Spanish teammates while he had a chance…they are dropping like flies now and the coaching is disarray ….the management is driven by the press…its a side show….worse than it ever was at Arsenal
2. Manu was the only reasonable offer for RVP…who would have thought he would complete a season on the field…
N7- i don’t believe that for one minute.
It is the excuse we use when we refuse to look at our own system of why someone wants to leave and more sadly captain no 2 !
He was already rich and he told arsene he wasnt happy with where the club was headed. Doesn’t sound like money to me.
Players dont play for sustainable finance models
Obviously, if a world-class player became available and wanted to join the Arsenal, we’d be best not to snap him up if he played in an area of the piych where we were strong. I can’t believe that anyone who wants us to be the best we can be could think othrrwise.
<trolling mode off>
Pangloss. Do you actually mean that or is that humour? If it’s humour then my apologies as I have read it wrong.
@Aussie
Pardon my French, but that’s self loathing bullshit.
If what you say is true we may as well shut up shop. Thankfully, it’s not, as evidenced by the string of Arsenal players who have signed new deals this season.
Dropping out of this one: I understand people not liking Fabregas. I don’t understand people turning cartwheels to defend Van Persie.
N7. I don’t think people are turning cartwheels. My stance is really simple. I wasn’t happy when either left. I had hoped along with everyone else that RVP would sign a new contract. Put feeling aside for one second and look at our side last season. What difference would RVP have made to us, assuming he had no fitness issues???? Top of the table for large periods? Finish 7 points off the eventual winners? It’s pure guesswork of course but my guess would be that we may have been a lot closer than 7 points away???????
RVP left with one year remaining on his contract. He always gave 100% and left as the player of the year. Cesc left having engineered a move, having sulked for large periods and with 4 years left on his contract. I have never ever understood the huge difference in hatred for one and a big love in for the other. That is basically the point I have tried to make.
N7 – I don’t understand people disliking another football club so much that it clouds common sense and reasonable judgement.
the fact remains two of our best players and team captains wanted to leave at the peak of their careers, Leaving the father like figure who brought them to arsenal. Even worked hard to get out.0
What does that tell you.
Perhaps you should read some of the names on the retained list of arsenal players before you get too excited. Perhaps Johan djorou can take bac’s place on the right, we still have him on our books as retained
Oh, another Cesc debate?
That poor unfortunate equine carcass is never going to be allowed to rest in peace, is it?
So Lars. Do you want Cesc back???? Yes or no??
If I remember correctly (probably not, but it illustrates my point anyway) it was George Carlin, the American comedian, who was asked whether he preferred Nixon or McGovern to win the 1972 Presidential election. His answer was Nixon because he provided Carlin with such a rich treasure trove of comedic possibilities, although personally he loathed Nixon as a man and as a politician.
In a similar way, in today’s Championship playoff final I am supporting QPR because Harry Redknapp is indispensable for entertainment and comedic value, although I am really rooting for Spurs to hire Redknapp away from QPR after he successfully get Rangers promoted.
(Note however that there are no parallels I can detect between McLaren and McGovern, other than both being famous also rans.)
News item: Watford sign Heurelho Gomes from Spurs. Where does that leave Manuel Almunia. More alarmingly, where does that leave Watford’s goalkeeping situation, now that they have on their books two of the worst decision making goalkeepers in Premier League history, both of whom are on a downward career path??
Maybe Watford will sign Flappy next?
I can’t really say yes or no to that, Steve. “It depends”, would be my answer. Whatever people think about him he is a very, very good player. He is brilliant at turning defence into attack from deep with long balls in behind the back four and I’d argue he has very few equals or betters in the world when it comes to finding space in congested areas. On footballing qualities alone I’d have him in a heartbeat (and no, I don’t think it would hinder Ramsey at all, the one who would see a lot less time on the pitch would be Cazorla), but there is a risk that perhaps we couldn’t get the best out of him without tailoring our game to his qualities. But then again he has scored goals and assists at a very good rate at Barca despite almost never playing in the same role he did with us. It’s also about him really wanting to play for us or we won’t get the best out of him either. Et cetera et cetera ad infinitum back and forth and to and fro. I really don’t have a clear opinion, and this is pretty much all I will say on the matter until such time that we have more concrete evidence that there is actually anything more than lazy press speculation to all this – and to be honest Barca would be utterly mad to force him out. If 75% or whatever of their supporters are willing to sell him that only shows that 75% of their supporters don’t know their arse from their elbow.
Bt8b – they should strengthen up their back four with djorou and Squillaci as central defenders and also have a look at santos while they are at it!
Aussie. Those could work. 😉
ecg@105: 🙂
Lars. You mind out for those splinters next time you sit down.
😀
I think we’d have to play 4-4-2 to get Cesc and Ozil on the pitch together and working effectively. In our regular 4-2-3-1, one of them would have to play wide left, assuming Theo is on the right of the three. Two out of Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini and Diaby behind them. Not much room for Santi, Poldi or Rosicky though.
In a 4-4-2, Cesc could play off Giroud/Sanogo/our new world-class striker with Ozil in the center of the middle four with Ramsey (Wilshere and Diaby as back-ups), Theo on the right and one of Poldi/Santi/reincarnation of Bobby Pires on the left. Might leave the back four too exposed without an Arteta-figure as DM and curtail Ramsey’s forward runs as he’d have to be the most defensive midfielder, so this may be a plan B for chasing games.
So… QPR is back again…!
Does anyone believe that Sanogo actually had the ability to make it at Arsenal. I think he definitely had a rough deal with injuries and being thrown in at the deep end. I also think his work rate had been impressive but I have seen very little real quality from him. He will need a long loan spell next season which may well tell us all we know.
Steve, no worries – I have commissioned a couple of pairs of kevlar undies 🙂
You might need those with Wolfie around???
Steve
Sanogo is a mystery to me.
In flashes I see a potential talent, who, to be fair did not let us down last week, and in other flashes I see a very raw pub player who won’t score in a month of Sundays. The trouble with the loan system is that he is unlikely to get first team football regularly at a Premier Club. If you are building your attack around him its not a good sign! If he plays in the Championship its no preparation for the Premier. we might as well loan him back to St. Etienne!
Having said that Wenger has picked up enough gems to justify his approach. The South Americans have been the flops. Botelho, Galindo and Wellington will never make it and Denilson declined sharply after a great start. But France has served us well and there is a 25% chance that Sanogo might have a career with us.
Await the first Ozil/Cesc swap rumour. I’m sure someone in Fleet Street will come up with that soon.
Interestingly I wonder what the reaction would be at the Emirates to that one. I’d hate to lose Ozil but accommodating them both in the same side will take some doing.
Cazorla/Fabregas might have legs too. But they’d be short ones!
That’s true, Steve!
TTG@147: 🙂 Patter of tiny feet.
There is certainly something there to Sanogo. He may be one of those forwards whose main value is causing trouble to defenders in a way that opens up opportunities for teammates around him. He’s raw and needs to learn to be more composed when shooting but AW obviously believes he can hew him into the finished item.
Goal Atleti!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah! 😀
Sanogo is 21 and has played less than 30 first team games. He has yet to score for us and has one of the worst first touches that I have ever seen in an Arsenal player. I really hope he has raw talent and that Arsene is the man to drag it out of him. But I’m buggered if I have seen anything to get too excited about. Let him have a season on loan and playing regularly and then decided.
I would love to be wrong though.
Joel Campbell is due back after the world cup, we’ll see if he’s looked upon favourably by us or if he’ll go out on another loan again.
He’s quick and can score goals as we’ve seen against Utd in the CL.
That Di Maria had a total rotter. By Dennis did we get lucky they sold us Ozil instead of him, what a robbery! 🙂
Nail Biting finish… Extra time it is!
ARGH!!!! Well looks like it’s Real’s!
Oh well.. !
Di Maria???????? Are you sure????? He has caused havoc all night. If Real want shot I would take him in a heartbeat.
Well at least the team that plays attacking football wins… much more exciting than parking the bus…
Di Maria was the best attacking player by a mile. Ronaldo totally ineffectual the whole game. Posing after scoring the penalty….utter wankstain. Simeone = Mourinho Mk 2.
We were rumoured to have been after DI Maria last year. Of course you have no idea how true any of that is. Personally I would welcome him with open arms. Let’s hope that Real go all out for Suarez and look to off load a few. If it happens then let’s hope we actually have the personnel to conclude the deal. Surely after the Özil deal we have some kind kind of understanding???
Steve, I could only see Real letting Di Maria go if they sign Suarez. I rate him higher than Benzema and Morata. Hopefully there a good relationship between our 2 clubs of late which would assist any dealings that might ensue.
Uply. I agree totally. I think he would be a great signing for us. It would give us a great attacking option and I think would give the side more shape and balance.
Diego Simeone may have ruled himself out of any job with a class team in England after that exhibition. Possibly Chelsea’s next manager though. They play as excitingly as Chelsea
That’s the first one sorted Steve, just a powerful DM, RB, no 2 Goalie to source. Easy this managers job. I’ll split Wengers £ 7 mill salary with you 50/50, assuming you will work for a lesser amount than your current income due to your love of the Arsenal 😉
I would have liked to have seen Athletico win tonight. However, the thought of Maureen being booted out of Real because he failed miserably in Europe made me smile. Especially as a manager sacked by Abramovic then pitches up and wins the trophy. Even more especially when you think that dear old Maureen spent £110 million and won…… Well, won fuck all actually.
Still, the one saving grace for Maureen is that it’s clearly not his fault???
😀
You’re on Uply. See you Tuesday morning. If I’m late make sure you put the kettle on. Milk no sugar.
Steve, ST Tips will replace PG Tips 😉
TTG 162. Simeone has won more cups this season than Mourinho, now who was that specialist in failure?
Man, some great matches today. How devastated must Derby be? Had umpteen chances, QPR down to 10 men and Zamora pulls one out of a deep hole. Football is a cruel game.
Wanted Aleti to win, now we will hear about Bale non-stop until the WC. I get managers want to stick by their players but putting Costa on for nine minutes was downright stupid…..he ran faster to get off the pitch than he did on it. End of the year, your players are on fumes and you are playing Real Madrid…..they could have used that last sub to refresh in the second half. What do I know. Football is a cruel game.
My thought after these two matches was simple really, better them than us last Saturday….although I felt like them after the first 10 minutes. Really savoring our victory b/c you just never know.
Dunno about swapping Özil for Fibreglass, Ttg, but I’d swap him for Reus in a heartbeat. And throw in the prince of Denmark as make-weight.
Öskar
…Decide for yourselves who that makes worth the most, Reus or Özil! 😉
Öskar
Still barfing from when Cristiano Ronaldo flexed.
I switched OFF at that precise moment, 8ball. Sickening.
Öskar
I turned it off after the Marcelo goal when I realized I wasn’t going to see Ronaldo and Bale crying in each other’s arms. Wouldn’t have been quite as good as Terry crying but a close second.
How unbelievably awful was Benzema, eh? No runs, couldn’t hold on with back towards goal, no meaningful touches, missed passes. Never plays well nowadays when it truly matters. I hope that Arsene no longer rates him that highly and we are not in for him. Di Maria ups his game in big matches, that was some performance. Along with Robben probably the best winger right now in terms of direct running at defenders, but equally adept at running towards the goal as well as stretching the game by going towards the touchline.
And how splendid was David Villa, at this age, after a broken leg…has always performed in the biggest matches.
And good for Ancelotti, great manager and as much class on the touchline now as he was as a player. Even the Chelsea experience didn’t make him any less so. Well rewarded for the positive substitutions to bring on Isco and push forward.
For a man who was possibly just two minutes from being sacked, Ancelotti conducted himself with great dignity, Dr F. But he is a class act and has the trophies to prove he is a class manager.
Not just Benzema but most of the RM attack was poor for most of the game with the exception of Di Maria. Their tactics seem to boil down to nothing more than getting the ball to Ronaldo or Bale to shoot. And I hope the match put an end to that nonsense in the Washington Post earlier in the week about how Simone’s tactics let Atletico’s players ease through games. They worked liked dogs out there, and tackled like them, too, without getting much change from the referee. They were running on fumes after the equalizer.
NBN @ 175: I had seen the links to that Washington Post article, but didn’t bother to read. 🙂
I get that Cholo Simeone is the flavor of the year as the manager, and all credits to him and his very well balanced (actually superbly balanced) hard-working team for achieving a rare preeminence in Spanish football so skewed in favor of the big two, but I don’t see any tactical originality or any innovations in playing styles etc. A team moulded on his own playing ethos and not exactly the pinnacle of enjoyment. I am sure he is a great motivator and disciplinarian. I think Klopp creates a similar work ethics and togetherness but with much more panache.
Fully agreed on Real’s ordinariness in the attacking third. I thought both Isco and Marcelo did well after coming on. Whenever I have seen Isco play I really liked him, intelligent and efficient in using his talents, has a good idea of space and rather matured for his age. I think Ancelotti would sell Khadira and Benzema, get Suarez in, and change his system a bit to make it less reliant on the individual brilliance of the two speedstars but create a more fluid system with interchangeable forward line.
Hate to admit as he is an ex-Spud, but Modric has been very impressive this season.
Either Benzema was not 100% as alluded by the commentator of the match or he’s really not all that good. For me, he’s too similar a type of striker like Giroud, who has acclimatised to the EPL and can only improve. Unless we’re thinking of backup striker for the bench.
What we need i feel is a different Type of Striker to give us Options when playing varied opposition that warrants it. Costa, Aguero, Tevez type maybe..?!!
Oh and Di Maria.. would pick him in a heartbeat would tear the flanks up, brilliant dribbler and excellent passer!
Great game by athletico.
They deserved to win doing all the hard work for 94 mins.
Simeone has done a great job wih that side and that budget compared to real and barca
Ronaldo Sadly acted like a real prat and was very average as was bale.
Agree with others, di Maria was very dangerous.
Can’t wait to see what arsene assembles next season.
I would love to see us really kick off the shackles, both financially and attitude wise.
I really hope arsene shakes things up now he is a deserved winner again
bB and DrF – also agree that Modric is such a good player and seems very underrated in the world ratings of midfielders.
His control with the ball under pressure is amazing to watch
Ancelotti is an exceptional manager and apparently a very decent man.
Simeone is a jackal who has done a superb job at Atletico but like Mourinho has had a dignity bypass and behaves like a slimy cheat on the touchline. He organised his team superbly but over the 120 minutes Real played most of the football. Very good displays by Di Maria , Ramos , Marcello and Modric. Bale took his goal well but had disappointed up to then. Can’t see much to love in Benzema. At least Olly G is an honest runner with a decent first touch (on occasions).Also didn’t see much of Morata that impressed me. If Real go for Suarez I hope we go for Di Maria but prefer Remy to Benzema. Not sure on Khedira who is the other likeliest signing from them
Morning all,
Today shall mainly be a cricket, garden, and bubbles day 🙂
With you 100% @180, ttg
Mornng maestro, enjoy (take a brollie).
Remy over Benzema for me, too. In fact any striker over Benzema for me.
If there is someone from this Real squad that could improve us and could not be expensive is Khedira. Good friends with Ozil, good work rate, decent skills, natural fighter.
I would not mind Di Maria too, but he rejected us last year and decided to stay in Madrid and fight for a starting place, so can’t see him changing his mind.
TTG: I can’t understand people’s love fest with Benzema. I agree with you that Remy would be the better and cheaper option. I’ve watched many games with Benzema and he always seem like a luxury player who just goes through the motion.
Ttg,
I agree with you completely in relation to Ancelotti who probably came within 90 seconds of being fired last night, however, I do feel that there needs to be some understanding in relation to Simeone. The guy is a street fighter and a hugely passionate man. I think Real only begun to play in the last 10 minutes because they were largely neutralised until then. For a team that were missing Costa and Turan and one with a smaller wage bill than either QPR or Fulham, it gives you some idea of the magnitude of the achievement he’s managed with that team to win La Liga and to come so close in the CL. For all their money and power Real have no character and were it not for a superbly taken header in extra time they would have been beaten. The team with the most dignity and character were the losers as evidenced by Ronaldo’s strip show after doing sweet fanny adams for the entire game. Just goes to show though what a hard working team with the right discipline and attitude can achieve.
In relation to the transfers, I think people are very quick to write off Benzema. His figures have been impressive over a number of seasons and he got no service last night. Di Maria was a real threat and I imagine they’ll be keeping hold of him. But I think we’ll be signing at least two attacking players : a primary target and a second target (ala Remy ).
I wanted both teams to lose last night. Sure, Atletico were the underogs and it’s always nice to see the bullies lose but bloody hell, they play like a Sam Allardyce Bolton, only with slightly better players.
On Arseblog today someone said that Boss said on French TV that Benzema would be playing in the Premier League next season and that he has probably played his last match for Real…if he comes to us, is that good? Thoughts anyone?
Personally, I think we need another German! Ozil would then think he’s playing for Germany. Methinks Ozil will be wonderful next year…only so that he proves his purchase price to grumpy Oscar the Dog of course! 🙂 But which German, Oscar??
howdy ‘hol an all
.
sweet holy hairy mary
.
people’s masks slip
.
gooners my arse
.
yer
.
statisticians !
.
pronunciationalists !
(look it up oskar it.s not a real word)
(d’you like the . instead of the ‘)
*oskar screams*
.
about mc dowell
oskar
he can’t even decide
what his own feckin accent is
without you coachin’ others
.
but
.
if yer interested its
either
mic dole
or
mic dow- ill
.
indeed
ken doherty
is not pronounced
ken doe – er – tee
a la snooker commentators
it should be pronounced
ken dorty
but because he’s from dublin
and not donegal
whence the doherty name came
he pronounces it
doccchhhh (trev and h2h’s fly phlegm) urrrty
.
phonetics learned from books
now there’s a goodun
.
😉
.
UP THE ARSE !
or
should
that be
oop
de oorse
.
*respectfully awaits erudite instruction*
.
😉
In that case, Peter, let’s buy Sami Khedira, as Lurky suggests. Ticks two boxes: German; and DM.
No, Lars, Atletico are Walrus Bolton with immeasurably better players, and particularly up front with Costa and Villa. Say what you will about their bus parking, but I’ve yet to see bus parkers keep their shape as well as that Atletico team. Deep into extra times their two banks of four remained immaculately in line with the two forwards dropping back and two midfielders dropping into the space between. Pretty impressively. There aren’t two many teams that can make Ronaldo and Bale look as ineffectual as they were in that game.
Never really rated Benzema, but I don’t think it would be fair to judge him on yesterday’s performance alone, it was a cup final and, as we very well know, anything can happen in those kind of games.
El Puno.
You must of been watching a different game mate, di Maria one of the better RM players on the pitch.
Steve T.
It’s still just you and me mate with the RvP/Cesc thing. I’ll leave it at that.
Aussie.
I don’t understand people disliking another football club so much that it clouds common sense and reasonable judgement.
I don’t think you’ve fully embraced this whole football fandom thing.
Apologies, for I don’t mean to be derogatory, maybe it’s a cultural or geographical difference, but where I’m from logic goes out the window when it comes to rival clubs.
Tottenham are our natural enemy, Manure where our biggest rivals for years, Liverpool were the object of our abuse when I was growing up. That doesn’t mean that I would pick a fight with any supporter of those clubs just because, I have had a large amount of friends that were daft enough to allign themselves with those forces of darkness, but a healthy level of contempt. mistrust and general disgust at their very exsistance is a big part of being an Arsenal fan.
Hehs @ cba.
Godd afternoon to ye, good sir.
North Bank@190: Yes, Khedira would be a nice acquisition!
afternoon
h2h
the
phlegm-meister general
.
h2h
not unlike
a lactating waterfall
of a woman
.
d’you express gook
from the back
of yer throat
in the downtime
.
bottle it
fridge it
and
call on it
when the double vowelsch
and
van gghhhhaaaaasssssness
requires
.
i struggle with
some irish names
.
ye need to
take a run up
to them
.
respect
😉
Not much demand for that I’m afraif cba.
Besides, I think Grolsch have already cornered the market. 😉
Knocks a tentative ball out wide…
yup indeed
wouldn’t bathe
me bunions
in grolsch
*peels two ton a bunions*
ye know it made sense
#he wore
#he wore a yellow card
the boy cba done good !
Unorthodox strike
cba
Koscielnyesque
in its
execution
Well in cba.
i don’t know
where
to start
.
its been emotional
.
*weeps openly*
.
‘holic
you have mail
.
*jameson snotters*
can’t wait
’til trev
finds out
i work at colney
.
“all togevver lads”
“knees up maaver braan”
.
i don’t
of course
.
that would be absurd
i do however
have
an upside down
dickie davies
on my beard
feckin
wha
i’ll world o sport ye
not a good look
mind you
i’ve a good
few years on
dean windarse
and
he made me
feel good about
my years
of debauchery
numpty
.
god bless all here
etc
Interesting opinions re; transfer rumours.
Everything covered in depth. No more to add. The rest is down to the staff at the manor. Whatever happens I’m tired of strengthening rivals.
Other than that I’m happy.
Well done to QPR another London team back in the prem. A mate of mine works in their the coaching team, so this will provide interesting debates, over the next 12 months.
Bring on the World Cup and hodgsons mainly inexperienced but pacy side. Hope to see them do well, as I am the Germans, Spanish and brazilians.
🙂
‘holic
.
i really have to say
this place has
gone down
fuckin
hill
.
ye let anyone in
.
.
.
tut tut
.
see above
Heh @ H2H and cba
multiple
times
Pronunciation ?
.
Multiple and
Martin Hehs !
@cba. 🙂
.
and H2H. 😉
Glad you enjoyed the
Fly Flemish
cba ! 😉
I imagine that’s where
Phlegmish acquired
it’s name. 😉
.
.
Oh, and ‘cba’
is already well known at
London Colney / Shenley,
but as a condition,
not a person –
.
c (ompletely)
b (bollixed)
a (gain)
.
😉
H2H / Steve T,
I do completely get the RvP / Cesc thing.
I think I probably agree with you, and while I did understand Cesc’s strong desire to return home after 7 years abroad from the age of 16, the manner of his detachment was unacceptable for a professional on an 8 year contract.
It’s still hard to turn down the chance of a top quality player given that Diaby and Flamini are unlikely long term options for various reasons, and Arteta and Rosicky – much as I like them – are already some way the wrong side of 30.
Cesc seems unlikely to happen to me.
RvP can, as they say, do one, as far as i’m concerned.
Celebrate against us ?
Sure, if he wants to. But he practically raped Rooney on the touchline at Old Trafford. In fact, if RvP had been 20 years older, Rooney might well have been interested.
RvP is 30 now. Too old to be recruited with the kind of package he would demand, even if he was interested. With van GHGHGHGHaaaal installed at Old Trafford now, he won’t be.
In any event, he was injured most of the time last season – or refusing to play for Moyes, which would make him no different to Cesc in his final Arsenal days.
Evening, bath,
Trust you are well, sir ?
That must be the biggest post-it note in the world.
Just watched the FA Cup Final again.
My opinion hasn’t changed from my first viewing.
Hull gave us a hell of a fright and a fight.
They surprised us with their attacking intent in that first 15 minutes.
None of the penalty shouts were nailed on.
The players have only themselve to blame, falling about like shot ducks all the time.
I’d have been pissed off if any of them had been awarded against us.
I thought the Ref had a great game.
Kept his Cards in his pocket early on,a more impetuous soul could have booked players on both sides in the first half.
Wasn’t impressed with our whining to the Ref every time a Hull player
gave us a bit of stick.
It is a contact sport after all.
But all’s well that ends well,and over the 120 minutes i thought we deserved to win.
Just would have liked us to win with a bit more style and panache.
But the weight of history/stress/fear of failure does strange things to players mindsets.
Hopefully the players will enjoy the taste of winning a Trophy,and will want more of the same next season.
Only 82 days till we start to find out.
Cheers
The Sweeper
H2H@191 a healthy level of contempt. mistrust and general disgust at their very exsistance is a big part of being an Arsenal fan
Not this Arsenal fan.
I never
scream,
cba, not even
poetically – or
versificationally,
if you prefer – I
usually mutter
scatological ripostes
under my breath.
You were honoured.
Dunno where you
found your
micknames (sic)
btw
but I had mine
from the mick
himself in colloquium
wit’ (like the
‘, not the ‘h’?)
Sir Nicholas of Faldo
deliberating the
pronunciationalising of
Portrussian nomenclature.
But let’s not
quibble. A far
more serious
obliquity, imo,
is the ignorant
practice of hanging
union jacks
upside-down.
Öskar
Enough with
the short lines.
Clive: there was a handball that was clearly a penalty. The other shouts, as you say, 50-50s in today’s world.
I think our cunning plan was to let Hull go 2-0 up, knowing that they would have no way of knowing how to deal with that.
Ned
Not sure about the handball .
He certainly didn’t move his arm in the direction of the ball, ref had a clear view and didn’t give it.
But probably the only one that could have been given by a more pedantic letter of the law ref.
As far as I can see, then general consensus is that Referees are slow to give penalties especially in cup finals unless they’re left with very little choice. You want games of that magnitude to be decided by goals from play and not by refereeing decisions.
I tend to agree with Clive. I didn’t think we were wronged in any explicit way and serious questions need to be asked about how we conceded 2 goals so early in such a big game. We also conceded early against against Liverpool and Chelski and the difference between those games and Hull, was that ‘Pool and Chelski knew how to take advantage of our slip ups and the ensuing consternation in defence. Now we’ve lost Sagna – who was not only our primary RB but also our 4th covering CB. Vermy, I think, will leave also – so there’s quite an amount of work to be done to re-constitute the defence. And thats before we begin to think about the pretty huge hole that tends to appear at DCM when we play the bigger teams, let alone addressing the two GK positions that need to be filled.
There’s a lot of speculation about the sexier positions in the team, but the defence needs serious attention too.
Chances are, this could well be the largest transfer window in the clubs history. And I say that with a degree of confidence because if Wenger really wants to have a crack at the CL over the next 2-3 years: he’s going to have to spend big and buy some serious quality.
GS54@216 – very honest and accurate summary of the FA cup final.
One of the first ones I have read regarding our performance v hull who were absolutely woeful except the first 10 mins.
I don’t understand teams that go ahead by attacking and pressing and generally working hard, then try to shut up shop very badly once ahead.
Why not just continue to work hard as a team.
You have summarised our performance, so I will respectfully add no more.
Joe@222- like GS54@216 above, agree wholeheartedly with your views and summary and can add no better
“The players have only themselve to blame, falling about like shot ducks all the time.”
There, in one sentence Clive manages to sum up one of the massive problems in football today. How can anyone possibly moan at a referee when every single player that takes to the pitch is prepared to cheat in some form or another??? It drives me nuts.
Sadly the prevailing philosophy as repeatedly cited by so-called experts is, “There was contact, he’s entitled to go down. Clear pelanty!”
Utter tripe.
Agreed Bath,
One solution to all that: bring in real time video analysis as applied in Rugby. Its a brilliant tool that enables referees to make the right calls consistently and it’ll force the players/managers to have respect for the rules. Punish the bastards who cheat.
There were two absolute stick on penalties on Cazorla in that match. No one will convince me otherwise – they happened yards from where I was standing.
Morning all. Hoping against hope that the Mac Doctor can save Eduardo today. Not looking good thus far 🙁
Morning maestro. Fingers crossed for Eduardo.
Zico @228 Those challenges on Santi looked like pens to me. As did the handball and Huddlestone’s arm round HFB’s neck dragging him back. Even Andy (I hate Arsenal Townsend thought each of these was a pen. We have lost pens for less.
Late but nevertheless, in a cup final there are no favourites, so anyone think we should have rolled over hull are wrong because they also came to win than just make up numbers. How many teams come back from 2-0 in a cup final and win? Not many i am sure. the same was done by a different team, the wank fest would not have ended. We thoroughly deserved to win the final for the fight we showed and not giving up.
Cesc Dna whatever and RVC are the same for me. they just used us as a springboard and then jumped on to a team where they could win and more so win with bucket loads of money.
The DNA boy was pathetic, he forced a move, refused to play and then maintained his stoic silence throughout even when the whole barca fraternity were licking up to him from rossell to reina. RVC made his whole family including his dog lie by stating they love Arsenal and all that crap and then he took his personal website to state his lost direction, freaking so and so.
Ozil/Santi for the dna shit, please we have 2 fantastic players who value playing for us, not someone who keeps discovering his dna everytime
This is priceless:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xavX1SIDy_Q&feature=youtu.be
Really dkg?
So if someone would ask you;
What you think of Tottenham?
and follow up that question with;
What you think of shit?
How, pray tell, would you reply?
Heh @ 233 and 234
Vinay: Everton came from 2-0 behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday in the 1966 FA Cup Final; Blackpool did the same against nine-man Bolton Wanderers in 1953 (no substitutes for any reason in those days; Bolton lost two players to injury).
Bacary Sagna has told Le Parisien he has not agreed to join Manchester City, but admitted it is “90 percent” certain he will leave Arsenal.
“Today, there’s a 90 percent chance I will leave and 10 percent that I will stay. I have been asking myself that question for a long time, and it’s the time for a new challenge. Arsenal is an extraordinary club that has given me the chance to grow, both in sporting and human terms. It’s a family club, I feel good here. I’ve had some very good years here.
“It’s incredible to finish by winning the Cup. The club so deserved a trophy. It’s an opportunity to thank Arsene Wenger, the staff, all the people at the club and, of course, all the fans for the support they have given me over my seasons and above all my two serious injuries. Whatever happens, Arsenal will stay forever in my heart.”
———————-
Can not fault him if he wants to go, got to do what’s best for himself. He’s always given his all. If only some of our players of old were as committed..!
Hope we’re already scouting for a proper replacement! Got to hit the season running this time.. no more Villa debacle!!!
Arsene and whoever is in charge of transfers, pls pls fill up the most important positions before we can start talking about The DNA boy. I don’t mind having him back but we more important positions to fill up. And pls all this talk about we can’t sign anyone until the World Cup is crap to me. Go get the 2-3 players we need right now and. Deal with the ultra fanciful striker later. No waiting till August 30 and hope for a miracle to happen. We can realistically sign Remy, Aurier and a back up keeper right now. But for whatever reason watch these guys take all the time and not sign anyone till august.
Santi X2 both penalties. Yes it’s a contact sport but when both feet are swept out from under you as you are changing direction even those with outstanding balance are tripped. On the second one, Santi was bundled over from behind, hell Santi even lands on the ball that was in front of him.The Hull player pushed him from behind. Again a penalty.
The clothesline on Giroud, depends on you angle of view. Huddlestone sees him and clearly reaches for him but I can see that not being given. The handball? I would say his hands were far from a natural position when it occurred. I’ve seen much weaker ones given.
WE STILL WON THE CUP. ENJOY IT. IT WILL NEVER BE DISCOUNTED IN MY EYES.
Eduardo est mort 🙁 Fucking motherboard 🙁 Now the search of the refurb store commences..
Ooh, sorry to hear that, Holic.
Sounds expensive and mega-inconvenient.
I was hoping my Mac was going to be a much safer bet than my dead all bells-and-whistles Dell 🙁
Clive,
I don’t often disagree with your views but we part company on the penalties. I know the Ramblers would not have claimed a pen unless someone had actually lost a limb on the pitch but, especially under today’s rules and from my post-match slow-mo memories, it’s hard to make a case against any of them.
Probert to me, I’m afraid, seems to exhibit little idea of what is really going on on the pitch.
I would agree though that the job has been made almost impossible by diving, cheating players, and the sooner someone comes up with a viable solution to that the better.
Condolances for Eduardo.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Holic, condolences for Eduardo. RIP.
Lee Probert once gave us two penalties in three minutes at White Hart Lane-and both were genuine, so I think the reason for his performance in the final was that he decided to let the game flow, which necessitated letting a lot go and then found it hard to manage as Hull began to defend increasingly desperately.
Certainly at the time I thought the first foul on Santi was a stick-on. The Myler foul was also a definite pen and the other two were fouls but I’ve often seen them ignored.
I thought he had an awful game. He set out to be laissez-faire but games that flow most naturally are those with relatively equal possession and both sides attacking (often at pace) not sieges which our game was from ten minutes in. Hull decided to defend deep and frustrate us but apart from Davies they weren’t very good at it!