Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

greendom · 01-05-2012 11:51am

If there was a bit of a bidding war he could go for 30 million plus. As long as it is re-invested in the squad I don't have a problem with selling him for that sort of fee, rather than seeing him go for nothing in a year's time.

Ideally though, I'd like him to sign a new contract keeping him at the club for the rest of his career.

jonneymendoza · 01-05-2012 11:58am

Hi All. This is my first post here. been a lurker here for a while.

IM glad to see that Wenger is doing well and meeting current expectations of the current crop of players.

i am going to admit that i have wanted wenger out 3-4 years ago because i felt that IMO he wasnt getting the best out of our squad back then(we once had a better squad then even United and still diddnt win anything) and got tired and fustrated with wenger not changing things up, fixing blatent issues in our squad before etc etc.

At the beginning of the season my expectations was that wenger should stay if we can finish top 4 with this current crop of side and not expecting a trophy and after 5-6 games , i was the loudest person in the world asking for wenger to go as i did not believe we would be in THIS position at this time of the season.

But things have changed. Wenger HAS got the very best out of this squad and more. He has also signed Podolski so early on, played certain players who are on fire(Rosisky, Benayoon and Ox) when previous seasons he would be sooo stubborn as a bat he would never change his lineup unless their was an injury.

We also changed our style of play a bit. we do not walk the ball to the net like previous season. u see us hoofing the ball long(Song/RVP combo anyone?) and you see us crossing the ball Alot now.

Toss in the fact that the team has a fighting spirit and never die/give up attitude that i have never seen for the past 4-5 years at arsenal and you have a team punching above their weight.

If we build upon this and continue with the same attitude next season. we can start talking about titles and trophies.

i think that if Gevinho and Ashavin come good next season, we would be in a very good place in our squad. i still think we need to add one DM and maybe one CB/full back and we should be good to go.

Also, need to sign up RVP asap. Give him 200k if thats what it takes.

200k for 4 years is cheaper then say 20/30m for a replacement plus salary on a player we dont know would be as good as RVP.

Keep at it Wenger. Your heading us to the right direction.

DenMan · 01-05-2012 12:39pm

Nice post jonneymendoza

The Stoke game at the weekend would have been a perfect example of us imploding. Having a lot of possession and getting annoyed at ourselves. At 1-1 we could have let our confidence go, had a few bookings, lose the plot at the back, concede a goal and end up losing the game. We didn't and in the end it was a useful point considering our record at Stoke. That point might very well help us finish third this season.

Galvasean · 01-05-2012 1:00pm

Ah FFS the season isn't over and all we have to talk about is selling our best player (again)?
So glad the Euros are on this year. I'll have something to distract myself with.

meriwether · 01-05-2012 1:37pm

DenMan wrote: »

Nice post jonneymendoza

The Stoke game at the weekend would have been a perfect example of us imploding. Having a lot of possession and getting annoyed at ourselves. At 1-1 we could have let our confidence go, had a few bookings, lose the plot at the back, concede a goal and end up losing the game. We didn't and in the end it was a useful point considering our record at Stoke. That point might very well help us finish third this season.

Welcome Johnny.

I think the above Stoke post is good too - we had all the fight and application in the world, which was great to see, but we just lacked a bit of creativity and cutting edge, which hopefully Wenger will work on this summer re signings.

More talk about Verthongen in the papers today - I like his profile. I also like that we appear to recognise that options are required defensively above anywhere else. We could do with being a bit more solid and a tad less flamboyant, IMO.

And buying Verthongen as a CB sure beats the hell out of buying Silvestre as a back-up CB.

Those were dark days.

cson · 01-05-2012 1:47pm

Vertonghen would be a strange one imo. Unless AW intends on using him as a DM in which case its just a cheapie option rather than going for M'Vila.

On the subject of RVP, I don't know why him being 29 in August is such a big deal, Drogba is 5 years older than him and still doing it for Chelsea.

You'd easily fetch £30m for him even if he doesn't sign an extension. I'd be inclined to side with Wenger and let him run out his contract, we've gotten pretty good value out of the £2.5m we paid for him. Of course the prudent thing to do would be give him a two year extension with the proviso that he can leave next season should a £20m+ bid come in - incentive for him to stay in the same vein of form for next season.

ImpossibleDuck · 01-05-2012 1:48pm

Jesus, as bad as we are in here when Arsenal hit poor form, the lads over at the United thread are f*cking hilarious!!!

Soups123 · 01-05-2012 1:53pm

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

Jesus, as bad as we are in here when Arsenal hit poor form, the lads over at the United thread are f*cking hilarious!!!

I have been reading it since last night, hilarious stuff I was so tempted to troll!!!

On RVP my gut says he will stay and sign a contract extension in the Summer, unlike our other girlfriends we expected to stay and didnt I think RVP is marriage material

AnCapaillMor · 01-05-2012 2:00pm

Just through the arseblog forums and there was nothing on the RVP twitter rumour and they're usually first to get anything.

Marty McFly · 01-05-2012 2:30pm

cson wrote: »

Vertonghen would be a strange one imo. Unless AW intends on using him as a DM in which case its just a cheapie option rather than going for M'Vila.

On the subject of RVP, I don't know why him being 29 in August is such a big deal, Drogba is 5 years older than him and still doing it for Chelsea.

You'd easily fetch £30m for him even if he doesn't sign an extension. I'd be inclined to side with Wenger and let him run out his contract, we've gotten pretty good value out of the £2.5m we paid for him. Of course the prudent thing to do would be give him a two year extension with the proviso that he can leave next season should a £20m+ bid come in - incentive for him to stay in the same vein of form for next season.

Im not sure how true it is but ive read that Squllaci and Djourou will be moving on in the summer, Djourou was only given a new contract because of a clause in his last contract when he reached a certain amount of games it was triggered. So Vertonghen would be coming in as a cb giving us vey strong option in that part of the field and that were also still chasing M Villa which if true I would be delighted with but its early days yet wait and see, delighted with Podolski finally being confirmed a step in the right direction.

As for Rvp ssssshhh people stop talking of him leaving:( im dont know why but i have a strong feeling hell stay and the likes of Pdolski sigining along with possibly Vertonghen and M Villa would be persuasive enough to make him stay and how the club has ambition along with a new bumper pay rise, mixed in with the fact he likes it in London

gosplan · 01-05-2012 2:30pm

Soups123 wrote: »

I have been reading it since last night, hilarious stuff

Noticed that myself.

Everything's a disaster - team was terrible, players lacked bottle. Kind of ignoring the fact that they needed a draw against a team that was simply awesome at home and playing the line-up that shipped four goals at home to Everton last week mightn't have been the best strategy either.

But it's football all over - when things are great, it's always awesome, then they're not, then we look for someone to blame. Why didn't he try the other thing - it's so bloody obvious!!!

I noticed that Jones ('best young defender in the world' tm) is even cirticised now.

Though in fairness, united have a lot of sensible fans, they're just frequently drowned out by the berks.

01-05-2012 2:39pm

Part of me thinks if RVP was going to go to win something, he would've done it already.
And if it comes down to money (like Nasri), i agree with Jonney, we should pay him whatever it takes a week to keep him, than spending millions on someone unproven.

AnCapaillMor · 01-05-2012 2:41pm

Marty McFly wrote: »

Im not sure how true it is but ive read that Squllaci and Djourou will be moving on in the summer, Djourou was only given a new contract because of a clause in his last contract when he reached a certain amount of games it was triggered.

Whatever it was, djorou activated the contract extension himself. I think wenger once saw big things for Djorou, i remember ages ago wenger wouldn't say his name, just that there's someone special coming up the ranks. Seems like alot of our promising players, anytime he got near the squad he got injured. Dunno was he just not that good or all the time injured affected him but i wouldn't object to him leaving. Squillaci i'd object to staying.

ImpossibleDuck · 01-05-2012 3:25pm

RVP 11 wrote: »

Part of me thinks if RVP was going to go to win something, he would've done it already.
And if it comes down to money (like Nasri), i agree with Jonney, we should pay him whatever it takes a week to keep him, than spending millions on someone unproven.

I don't agree. He never really attracted the big clubs before this season due to his obvious injury record.

As much as I love the guy and hope to god he stays, I can see him going. He's a world-class player and I think we can all agree he'll not win a thing here.

Marty McFly · 01-05-2012 3:34pm

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

I don't agree. He never really attracted the big clubs before this season due to his obvious injury record.

As much as I love the guy and hope to god he stays, I can see him going. He's a world-class player and I think we can all agree he'll not win a thing here.

Do you really believe that? God thats an awful pessimistic view to have

, sign of the times I guess and what some Arsenal fans have come to accept.

But I dont agree

, I think for a number of years weve always been just two or three players short of challenging and winning trophys.

If you look through our squad we have some top, top class players. I think the signing of Podolski is a real signal of intent from Wenger and the board and im hopiing they conitinue in that vein.

Take Chelsea n the Champions League final for example theyve had a shocking season on the domestic front but are still in the Champions League final, the City side at the top of the league are not some team im in awe off they are well beatable. We can win trophys and be back up properly challenging again were we belong.

01-05-2012 3:56pm

Agreed, every season we have been always in the top four and looked capable at least of pushing for the title.
The points we have dropped when we needed a "battle it out" performance have been the issue, be it through injury or lack of cover/leadership.
Every season we have been maybe one or two quality players short of mounting a serious challenge, and that is a by-product of bringing in fresh & young talent, needing time to adjust, let's not forget serious injuries (Ramsey/Eduardo/Diaby/Rosicky).
How many clubs would've been interested in Rosicky before this season, probably more now.

Soups123 · 01-05-2012 5:01pm

Marty McFly wrote: »

Do you really believe that? God thats an awful pessimistic view to have , sign of the times I guess and what some Arsenal fans have come to accept.

But I dont agree , I think for a number of years weve always been just two or three players short of challenging and winning trophys.

If you look through our squad we have some top, top class players. I think the signing of Podolski is a real signal of intent from Wenger and the board and im hopiing they conitinue in that vein.

Take Chelsea n the Champions League final for example theyve had a shocking season on the domestic front but are still in the Champions League final, the City side at the top of the league are not some team im in awe off they are well beatable. We can win trophys and be back up properly challenging again were we belong.

The whole havent one a trophy thing bugs me, more so how it is portrayed, if I was to list level of success and desired expectation I would see it as;

1. League
2. Champions League
3. Champions League Qualification
4. FA Cup
5. Carling Cup

We havent acheived 1 or 2 for a while but I wouldnt give up 3 in exchange for 4/5 or both! I know we can say we should have picked up a 4 or 5 along the way and I agree but ultimately we have achived the 3rd best achivement each year. The money bags of Chelsea and City in addition to United make winning the league a huge task.

Really hope the Podolski signing is a sign of intent, and some renewed effort to become a challenging team on all fronts. I sense a change in our style and tact this year that will hopefully be reinforced over the summer and we can challenge league and CL next season

gnfnrhead · 01-05-2012 5:12pm

Soups123 wrote: »

The whole havent one a trophy thing bugs me, more so how it is portrayed, if I was to list level of success and desired expectation I would see it as;

1. League
2. Champions League
3. Champions League Qualification
4. FA Cup
5. Carling Cup

We havent acheived 1 or 2 for a while but I wouldnt give up 3 in exchange for 4/5 or both! I know we can say we should have picked up a 4 or 5 along the way and I agree but ultimately we have achived the 3rd best achivement each year. The money bags of Chelsea and City in addition to United make winning the league a huge task.

Really hope the Podolski signing is a sign of intent, and some renewed effort to become a challenging team on all fronts. I sense a change in our style and tact this year that will hopefully be reinforced over the summer and we can challenge league and CL next season

I think fans of most of the top teams think that way (unless you're Liverpool, in which case Carling Cup seems to be number one!), as nice as trophies are, qualifying for the Champions League is much more important. Finishing in the top four is seen as a reasonably good season for pretty much everyone bar United who expect to challenge every single year. FA Cup and Carling Cup are just bonuses that don't really matter unless it's your only chance of Europe.

meriwether · 01-05-2012 5:18pm

Soups123 wrote: »

The whole havent one a trophy thing bugs me, more so how it is portrayed, if I was to list level of success and desired expectation I would see it as;

1. League
2. Champions League
3. Champions League Qualification
4. FA Cup
5. Carling Cup

We havent acheived 1 or 2 for a while but I wouldnt give up 3 in exchange for 4/5 or both! I know we can say we should have picked up a 4 or 5 along the way and I agree but ultimately we have achived the 3rd best achivement each year. The money bags of Chelsea and City in addition to United make winning the league a huge task.

Really hope the Podolski signing is a sign of intent, and some renewed effort to become a challenging team on all fronts. I sense a change in our style and tact this year that will hopefully be reinforced over the summer and we can challenge league and CL next season

I agree.

Compared to the CL qualification, the CC and FA cup are not as prestigeous.

Anyone who says otherwise is simply a Liverpool trying to wish away reality.

niallo27 · 01-05-2012 5:27pm

Lukas Podolski "I'm moving to Arsenal to win trophies".And they say the Germans haven't got a sense of humour.

greendom · 01-05-2012 5:27pm

meriwether wrote: »

I agree.

Compared to the CL qualification, the CC and FA cup are not as prestigeous.

Anyone who says otherwise is simply a Liverpool trying to wish away reality.

True but winning a domestic cup and achieving CL qualification are not mutually exclusive - we really should have won something in that period. Anyway we are where we are and I really believe with a bit of luck and 2 or 3 top notch signings we could really challenge for the league next season.

ImpossibleDuck · 01-05-2012 8:28pm

Marty McFly wrote: »

Do you really believe that? God thats an awful pessimistic view to have , sign of the times I guess and what some Arsenal fans have come to accept.

But I dont agree , I think for a number of years weve always been just two or three players short of challenging and winning trophys.

If you look through our squad we have some top, top class players. I think the signing of Podolski is a real signal of intent from Wenger and the board and im hopiing they conitinue in that vein.

Take Chelsea n the Champions League final for example theyve had a shocking season on the domestic front but are still in the Champions League final, the City side at the top of the league are not some team im in awe off they are well beatable. We can win trophys and be back up properly challenging again were we belong.

Yeah it's pessimistic but I also think it's a naive to think we will win things.

Sure, at the start of every season I'll proclaim "This is our year!!" but it hasn't been for about 7 now and we seem to be slipping further and further from the trophies.

The teams around us are strengthening while we're slowly deteriorating. Newcastle are now on par with us in terms of the league, Spurs are now on par, Chelsea, Liverpool (:pac: but seriously, they have ambition at least) and tbh we're miles behind United and City.

When's the last time we've considerably strengthened the squad to the point that we, the fans, think "Hmmmm we might actually win something this year"? ...instead we sell someone and think "Can we hold onto last year's place?"

Podolski signing for us is good to see but he's not going to win us the league, neither is Vertonghen or M'Vila. Each year, more and more positions grow to need strengthening. I'm not calling for us to buy Hazard and Gotze and Messi, I'm just saying you're naive if you believe our transfer targets are going to bring us any success.

Re your point about Chelsea: sure, they've been crap this season but do you see us paying £50m per player to try to turn our fortunes? I know we can't afford to, that's not the point; The point is, crap as they are, they've got the money to win things. Liverpool have the money to win things (if they bought properly). While I don't see Newcastle winning anything, they've got themselves to our level by spending f*ck all. Now if that last point's not alarming you, nothing will!

gnfnrhead · 01-05-2012 8:30pm

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

When's the last time we've considerably strengthened the squad to the point that we, the fans, think "Hmmmm we might actually win something this year"...instead we sell someone and think "Can we hold onto last year's place?"?

I'm going to assume you mean other than last season when we were in the Carling Cup final?

ImpossibleDuck · 01-05-2012 8:33pm

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I'm going to assume you mean other than last season when we were in the Carling Cup final?

As previously posted by someone else, compared to Chelsea being in the CL final, what's a Carling Cup to a non-Liverpool fan?

Sure it's a nice added bonus but, at the end of the day, it means diddley-squat.

KaiserGunner · 01-05-2012 9:00pm

niallo27 wrote: »

Lukas Podolski "I'm moving to Arsenal to win trophies".And they say the Germans haven't got a sense of humour.

Bit rich coming from a Liverpool fan no?

meriwether · 02-05-2012 9:30am

KaiserGunner wrote: »

Bit rich coming from a Liverpool fan no?

They've got the Carling Cup.

Stewart Downing is in line for an invincible league season this season - zero goals and zero assists in a league campaign.

£20m.

jonneymendoza · 02-05-2012 9:33am

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

Yeah it's pessimistic but I also think it's a naive to think we will win things.

Sure, at the start of every season I'll proclaim "This is our year!!" but it hasn't been for about 7 now and we seem to be slipping further and further from the trophies.

The teams around us are strengthening while we're slowly deteriorating. Newcastle are now on par with us in terms of the league, Spurs are now on par, Chelsea, Liverpool (:pac: but seriously, they have ambition at least) and tbh we're miles behind United and City.

When's the last time we've considerably strengthened the squad to the point that we, the fans, think "Hmmmm we might actually win something this year"? ...instead we sell someone and think "Can we hold onto last year's place?"

Podolski signing for us is good to see but he's not going to win us the league, neither is Vertonghen or M'Vila. Each year, more and more positions grow to need strengthening. I'm not calling for us to buy Hazard and Gotze and Messi, I'm just saying you're naive if you believe our transfer targets are going to bring us any success.

Re your point about Chelsea: sure, they've been crap this season but do you see us paying £50m per player to try to turn our fortunes? I know we can't afford to, that's not the point; The point is, crap as they are, they've got the money to win things. Liverpool have the money to win things (if they bought properly). While I don't see Newcastle winning anything, they've got themselves to our level by spending f*ck all. Now if that last point's not alarming you, nothing will!

I disagree.

Spurs have proven yet again they are behind us and Harry will never take spurs to the next level as IMO he is overated and not even half the man Wenger is.

Why do i say that? easy answer. Look at Spurs squad and our squad like for like. Spurs have a far better squad then arsenal and where are they? behind us. Give Wenger that spurs team and that spurs side would be fighting for the title right now.

Now Give Harry our squad and Arsenal would be as low as where liverpool are.

Lets talk about Arsenal's season overall so far. we had a terrible start to the season and it would have taken us to win our remaining 20+ games for us to win the title which City/united themselves could never put on such a run in the PL.

Lets see our form since January. we lost i think 3-4 games? won the rest minus one or two draws? that record is as good as united and cities record from january onwards.

We was more then a match for United at the emirates. a bit of luck here and there and we would have got something. we made city look like a sunday league side(should have beaten them buy 4-5 goals easily). got slaughtered by AC away then came back 2nd leg and nearly did the impossible. beat Spurs comfortably and beat Newcastle a side you say is on par with us.

Not bad. I am not making excuses but you take out 2-3 of your best/experience players right at the start of the season and replace them on transfer deadline day and it WILL affect ANY and i mean ANY team in the world mate.

Look at how arsenal play now. we now play with determination, intent and desire. something that has been missing for 5+ years in our squad and the performances have been fantastic if you ask me. even when Wigan beat us the other day i was actually happy with our determination and intent because after they banged 2 quick goals, instead of the old arsenal who would just fold and give up, this side fight and fight hard and got unlucky not to have won the match nevermind draw.

Just like a fact of life, sometimes you dont get the results due to your hardwork, but i can guarantee you that if you continue to work hard(in this case, arsenal work hard, show determination and flair in each match) you will see results come our way.

If we keep this same attitude and squad, i am confident this time next year we will be talking about Arsenal possibly winning the title.

meriwether · 02-05-2012 9:37am

ImpossibleDuck wrote: »

Yeah it's pessimistic but I also think it's a naive to think we will win things.

Sure, at the start of every season I'll proclaim "This is our year!!" but it hasn't been for about 7 now and we seem to be slipping further and further from the trophies.

The teams around us are strengthening while we're slowly deteriorating. Newcastle are now on par with us in terms of the league, Spurs are now on par, Chelsea, Liverpool (:pac: but seriously, they have ambition at least) and tbh we're miles behind United and City.

When's the last time we've considerably strengthened the squad to the point that we, the fans, think "Hmmmm we might actually win something this year"? ...instead we sell someone and think "Can we hold onto last year's place?"

Podolski signing for us is good to see but he's not going to win us the league, neither is Vertonghen or M'Vila. Each year, more and more positions grow to need strengthening. I'm not calling for us to buy Hazard and Gotze and Messi, I'm just saying you're naive if you believe our transfer targets are going to bring us any success.

Re your point about Chelsea: sure, they've been crap this season but do you see us paying £50m per player to try to turn our fortunes? I know we can't afford to, that's not the point; The point is, crap as they are, they've got the money to win things. Liverpool have the money to win things (if they bought properly). While I don't see Newcastle winning anything, they've got themselves to our level by spending f*ck all. Now if that last point's not alarming you, nothing will!

Are you suggesting we don't have ambition?

That makes no sense at all.

I hope you aren't conflating 'spending a load of money that you don't have' for ambition.

Leeds had 'ambition' too.

jonneymendoza · 02-05-2012 9:41am

Wengers problems before was that he always stuck by some of our crap players liek Denilson, bendter etc and did not get rid of them and replace them quick enough.

we do not need to spend 30m on a single player. there are plenty of 15-20m players that are better then Denilson and co.

How much was Arteta? Chambalin? Podolski? We do not need to spend big on players. what we need to do is to spend some money. that is all and to also reduce our wage bill and players like Ramsey and diaby should not be earning more then 40k until the prove themselfes whilst players like RVP should be on 150k mimimum. the outlay will stil be the same but rewarding world class players better pay

meriwether · 02-05-2012 9:45am

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Wengers problems before was that he always stuck by some of our crap players liek Denilson, bendter etc and did not get rid of them and replace them quick enough.

we do not need to spend 30m on a single player. there are plenty of 15-20m players that are better then Denilson and co.

How much was Arteta? Chambalin? Podolski? We do not need to spend big on players. what we need to do is to spend some money. that is all and to also reduce our wage bill and players like Ramsey and diaby should not be earning more then 40k until the prove themselfes whilst players like RVP should be on 150k mimimum. the outlay will stil be the same but rewarding world class players better pay

The only problem with the argument on wages is that while it may look bad for Diaby to be on a long term contract at £60k a week, it also looked bad when we let Flamini go for free because he was tied down on a short term contract for nowt.

Wenger had decisions to make on his young players. Some he got wrong (Diaby, Vela, Denilson). It happens.

Redzer7 · 02-05-2012 9:47am

We need to stop giving players wages based on their future potential.

meriwether · 02-05-2012 9:49am

Redzer7 wrote: »

We need to stop giving players wages based on their future potential.

You can't do that.

Everything is based on future potential - wages, signings, etc.

AnCapaillMor · 02-05-2012 10:09am

Redzer7 wrote: »

We need to stop giving players wages based on their future potential.

We should but we can't, Chelski, man sh1tty, PSG etc have royally f*cked up wage structures, the high wages are more to keep players\agents away from the sugar daddy clubs. Diaby is on so much because chelski were in for him as well and it was the only way to get him. Give a player an unimpressive pay packet and he and his agent will be whoring themselves to a sugar daddy club. UEFA fair play my arse, its gone beyond a joke at this stage.

meriwether · 02-05-2012 11:26am

It would be really, really useful were Bolton to take points off Spurs tonight.

I'd settle for a draw right now.

tony1kenobi · 02-05-2012 11:35am

meriwether wrote: »

It would be really, really useful were Bolton to take points off Spurs tonight.

I'd settle for a draw right now.

I think Bolton will beat them.

GeorgeBailey · 02-05-2012 12:24pm

tony1kenobi wrote: »

I think Bolton will beat them.

Of their 3 remaining games I think tonight is the one where they're most likely to drop points. Villa are completely hopeless at the minute and then they play Fulham at home.

meriwether · 02-05-2012 1:22pm

GeorgeBailey wrote: »

Of their 3 remaining games I think tonight is the one where they're most likely to drop points. Villa are completely hopeless at the minute and then they play Fulham at home.

I don't think Arsenal will take 6 points from the next two games, so we need the rest to drop some.

Galvasean · 02-05-2012 1:54pm

meriwether wrote: »

I don't think Arsenal will take 6 points from the next two games, so we need the rest to drop some.

Norwich home and West Brom away... Two teams with nothing to play for. I would be visibly upset if we didn't pic up 6 points.

meriwether · 02-05-2012 2:04pm

Galvasean wrote: »

Norwich home and West Brom away... Two teams with nothing to play for. I would be visibly upset if we didn't pic up 6 points.

Dude, this is Arsenal we're talking about here.

There are no certainties.

Frisbee · 02-05-2012 2:14pm

Exactly. We haven't ended a season well in 5 years so I'm not going to get overly confident of us suddenly doing it this year. Especially considering Gervinho is pretty much guaranteed to start all our remaining games.

Galvasean · 02-05-2012 2:16pm

But the last day of the season is usually when Vela scores a chip against a team we just buried

ImpossibleDuck · 02-05-2012 3:17pm

meriwether wrote: »

Are you suggesting we don't have ambition?

That makes no sense at all.

I hope you aren't conflating 'spending a load of money that you don't have' for ambition.

Leeds had 'ambition' too.

I said that yes, but later in my post I clarified it as: If they spent properly they would be miles ahead of us now, which I don't think anyone can deny given the amount they've spent on shíte.

No one seems to be taking my point about Arsenal not winning anything seriously, I was just saying that it seems like we're slipping further from a title while the teams around us are slowly gaining on us. I wasn't saying Spurs, Newcastle and Liverpool are better (of course they're not :P), I was saying that they're coming closer to us each year, and we seem to be happy enough with letting them.

Within the last 3-4 years we've seen the departure of too many world-class players. We're now left with one, and there's a lot of talk of him leaving too. Sure, we've still got a lot of very good players, but a lot of them aren't up to the standard that Fabregas, Adebayor, Touré were. We just seem to be settling for a lower standard, which is worrying.

greendom · 02-05-2012 3:51pm

Of the players you mention there, Fabregas is an exceptional talent - not the sort that can be replaced out of a hat. Wilshere was getting there though. Adebayor - do we really need more of his attitude - he's pretty much flattered to deceive on his next 2 homes after ours and I don't think he's missed at all. And Toure ? Kos and Vermaelen are both his equal if not better.

The squad needs strengthening - don't get me wrong. Let's see the intent of the club this Summer - 3 or 4 more signings on an equal level to Podolski would surely put us back in the hunt.

jonneymendoza · 02-05-2012 4:20pm

greendom wrote: »

Of the players you mention there, Fabregas is an exceptional talent - not the sort that can be replaced out of a hat. Wilshere was getting there though. Adebayor - do we really need more of his attitude - he's pretty much flattered to deceive on his next 2 homes after ours and I don't think he's missed at all. And Toure ? Kos and Vermaelen are both his equal if not better.

The squad needs strengthening - don't get me wrong. Let's see the intent of the club this Summer - 3 or 4 more signings on an equal level to Podolski would surely put us back in the hunt.

3 or 4 of who? And where will these 3 or 4 new players play?

Look at our squad when its injury free and you will be hard pressed to find where these new players will play especially if wilshere comes back next season and also Ashavin.

Matter of fact, i reckon Wilshere will struggle to hold a starting position in our side.

put Arteta in the bench for wilshere? hell no, Song? no chance. A transformed Rosisky? Doubtful.

The way Rosisky is playing right now, he is playing sensationally and Wilshere will have to play in the same level as fabregas to better Rosisky.

You then have Chambalin to contend with and possibly Ramsey if he gets his act together and you have a midfield where any aditional midfielder wont get a say unless where buying someone as good as xavi.

Defensive wise i think we can add one or two at best. We have 3 great CB's, merteska, Kols and verminator and then we have gibbs and santos at LB and sagna and Jenkins(who i rate before he got injured) at RB. So at best one new defender could be added to that.

My point is that we cannot over flow our team. we can only play 11 at a time and even with a couple of injuries across the board, we have Ramsey/mertesaka, podolski/walcott/gevinho/jekins/Gibbs/Ashavin all sitting on the bench who can all do a decent, nto stella job as backups.

Adding 3-4 new players to that list, we will HAVE to get rid of a couple of the above players to make room for them.

IMO all we need is 2 new players maximum. Dont forget, Wilshere will 99% be back at the start of next season or thereabouts and that is like a new signing.

GeorgeBailey · 02-05-2012 5:14pm

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Matter of fact, i reckon Wilshere will struggle to hold a starting position in our side.

If Wilshere shows the same form as before his injury he'll have zero problem holding down a starting position. As to who will have to make way, I don't know.

L'prof · 02-05-2012 5:23pm

Wilshere fully fit starts for us without a shadow of a doubt in my mind!

Oranage2 · 02-05-2012 5:27pm

GeorgeBailey wrote: »

If Wilshere shows the same form as before his injury he'll have zero problem holding down a starting position. As to who will have to make way, I don't know.

Seasons are long so rotation is needed.

Not really liking the way we hope other teams F up but thats how much confidence we have at the moment. Here's hoping for at least 2 draws tonight.

Are we good enough to win the league next season? I dont think so no matter who we sign. We're pretty much guaranteed top 4 since I can only see spurs challenging next season for top 4, so I'd say we need to sign some good quality players it'll be much of the same next season.

ImpossibleDuck · 02-05-2012 9:41pm

Aw for ****s sake! Both Newcastle and Sp*rs on course for wins.

We're in a very precarious position now lads. Drop points anywhere and we could well lose our CL spot. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Sp*rs take 6/6 from their last two.

HazDanz · 02-05-2012 9:42pm

Right so worst possible results tonight. Thought bolton might sneak a draw for five minutes there but alas it was not to be. Very well done by Newcastle, that City game is not a no brainer for the manchester outfit.

Saturday will be vey tense now. Let's hope the team steps up to the task.

greendom · 02-05-2012 9:43pm

Worst possible set of results tonight. Still we're in the driving seat. Win both matches and we finish 3rd. Simples !!

Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

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