Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

yahoo_moe

jasonorr wrote: »

Nothing on the official site, but could this be Stan Kroenkes influence and is a takeover imminent?

Kroenke can only increase his stake to 30% or more if there's a takeover bid by someone else, most likely Usmanov. He's not part of the lockdown agreement (in place till 2012) so a takeover bid is the only way other board members can sell to him.

So, probably not.

Have to say i thought Gallas showed the right attitude last night, almost as if he heard Lee Dixon and took everything on board. If anything he prob tried too hard hence the mistake and finishing (though the old adage goes 'a defender's finish'). he respected the job of the new captain and got on with it.

Arsenal's work rate was better then ever last night. I was highly impressed with djourou. i think he could do the DM job in the future, maybe not now though. Song perhaps might be better as an attacking player as he tends to ball watch a bit.

Cesc can be a great captain. How long more of a future he has at Arsenal i dont know and im not going to worry about what will or wont happen. ill enjoy every minute of this brilliant young man playing in the red and white. he'll be a fantastic captain. the same way his idol josef guardiola was for barcelona

DenMan

You're there tipp. A very good performance. Regarding the bad finish from Gallas, I think that was a one off. They seem to be all technically good players (French). Remember when Barthez when to Utd?, his touch was fabulous. The goalkeepers train with the outfield players and it certainly shows. Unheard of at the time when he came.

yahoo_moe

Deleted User wrote: »

Song perhaps might be better as an attacking player

I like Song and think he has some good attributes but I really really really hope this doesn't happen.

Fortunately I really really really don't think it will.

Frisbee

yahoo_moe wrote: »

I like Song and think he has some good attributes but I really really really hope this doesn't happen.

Fortunately I really really really don't think it will.

Same, I like Song and think he has the potential to be great.
But he's been ****e this season so far...

AnCapaillMor

Stolen from arseblog where it was stolen fron F365.com

King Willy Diary wrote:

William Gallas: A Day In The Life
Posted 26/11/08 15:47

I am just coming out of the front door in the morning when I am confronted by a postal man. He seems very sure of himself, despite the fact that he is very young.

"Package here for a Mr Gallas," he says in a loud voice.

"Lower your voice when you speak to me," I tell him. "I have 69 caps for France. You have just one silly cap with 'Post Office' written on it."

"Er, right you are mate," he says. "Just sign here if you would."

I tell the man I am not his 'mate'. He is a very cheeky man. I tell him that too.

"Are you going to sign it or not, sir?" asks this man, who is nothing, a nobody, somebody whose name I do not want to demean myself by revealing, which is the next thing I explain to this Postal Delivery Worker Paul Jackson of the Totteridge and Whetstone Branch.

But he still stands there, holding out his little notepad thing. The arrogance of the individual amazes me. I think to myself that it is important here to show courage and leadership to the neighbours, some of whom are standing on their doorsteps now watching this situation.

One of them shouts: "Just sign for the package, you plum."

The neighbours respect me as I am a senior figure in the community.

"Yeah Gallas, you w*****," says the man next door, who looks up to me very much I know.

I decide to rise above the situation by running off to the end of the garden and sitting on the grass with my legs crossed.

This is the sort of dignity and standing firm skills that we older members of the community must show in the face of an arrogant postal worker. They are not scared of us, they come to the house to try and deliver letters.

The man, who cannot be more than 25 or 26 or 40, stands on the doorstep for a while. Obviously he has been shown to be foolish.

Eventually he comes down the garden. I am crying. He is not used to seeing a man brave enough to cry for what he believes in (that is to say, the correct way to deliver letters).

"Can you just sign for Mr Gallas's package mate? Only I'm knocking off in a minute and I've got to pick my kid up from the doctors," he says.

"Don't you know who I am?" I ask him. He says he does not care if I am Elvis Presley as long as I sign for the package.

I write my name. He leaves, defeated. I open the package. It is a dog mess. This is typical.

leninbenjamin

the Gossip columns this morning have reports suggesting AC are in for Gallas, although his agent has come out and said he'll stay.

seems like all the transfer crap is starting in earnest again.

premierstone

leninbenjamin wrote: »

the Gossip columns this morning have reports suggesting AC are in for Gallas, although his agent has come out and said he'll stay.

seems like all the transfer crap is starting in earnest again.

Gallas for Seedorf anyone???

yahoo_moe

premierstone wrote: »

Gallas for Flamini anyone???

FYP

L'prof

premierstone wrote: »

Gallas for Seedorf anyone???

Would love that, sound like he would like to play in the premiership!

yahoo_moe wrote: »

FYP

No thanks! Been there, done that, he's a ***t!

keano_afc

Frisbee wrote: »

Same, I like Song and think he has the potential to be great.
But he's been ****e this season so far...

yahoo_moe wrote: »

I like Song and think he has some good attributes but I really really really hope this doesn't happen.

Fortunately I really really really don't think it will.

Interested to ask, what exactly are ye basing this on? He cant pass, tackle or shoot. What are his "good" attributes?

Frisbee

jasonorr wrote: »

No thanks! Been there, done that, he's a ***t!

I know he was an arsehole about what he did but I would take him back in a second...
(We were hardly blameless in him leaving)

keano_afc wrote: »

Interested to ask, what exactly are ye basing this on? He cant pass, tackle or shoot. What are his "good" attributes?

His African Nations performance. He showed that he has the potential.

yahoo_moe

jasonorr wrote: »

No thanks! Been there, done that, he's a ***t!

I don't think Arsenal covered themselves in glory there either and I'm not sure why you think he owed the club anything - they were willing to sell him before last season, dropped him for the CL final after he was part of a great run and only offered him a new contract last year when he's gone an entire season in great form.

I'd rather Diarra back talent-wise (for what it's worth, I think Flamini probably overachieved a bit last year) but attitude-wise, I'd take Flamini back in a heartbeat (his engine and workrate would add a huge amount to this squad).

The club didn't make sure to keep him so he left. Simple.

yahoo_moe

keano_afc wrote: »

Interested to ask, what exactly are ye basing this on? He cant pass, tackle or shoot. What are his "good" attributes?

He's a decent reader of the game (a la Gilberto or even Gallas a little bit when he plays CB) and can break up play well. You say he can't tackle, I'd say he does it pretty well. He was superb in last year's Carling Cup run (against, I think, Blackburn and Sheffield United in particular) and was impressive against Wigan a couple of weeks ago too.

Apart from your point about tackling, I think you're missing the point a bit - he's not there for his attacking abilities. Obviously he has to work on the weight and precision of his passing but in a team like Arsenal, he's always going to stand out like a sore thumb in that regard. As did Gilberto and as did Flamini last year but they both contributed a lot.

Galvasean

The Mirror reckon Spartak Moscow want to sign Bendtner for £5million. Doubt Wenger would sell him unless that figure was at least doubled.

Evil_Clown

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Apart from your point about tackling, I think you're missing the point a bit - he's not there for his attacking abilities. Obviously he has to work on the weight and precision of his passing but in a team like Arsenal, he's always going to stand out like a sore thumb in that regard. As did Gilberto and as did Flamini last year but they both contributed a lot.

I see where you are coming from here Moe a defensive minded player that sits and disrupts in midfield will stick out in a fluid attacking side, but from what I've seen of Song so far this season and he has had plenty of chances I would tend to agree with Keano. If you leave tackling aside, Flamini had a far superior engine to Song and Gilberto had a much better passing range so I think those 2 complemented the Arsenal team well, for me Song seems lazy and too poor a passer to be in the Arsenal team. Maybe he will improve but can we afford to wait ?

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

I know he was an arsehole about what he did but I would take him back in a second...
(We were hardly blameless in him leaving)

I don't think we are blameless, but he didn't (doesn't) want to be here and that won't change, so we have to move on!

yahoo_moe wrote: »

I don't think Arsenal covered themselves in glory there either and I'm not sure why you think he owed the club anything - they were willing to sell him before last season, dropped him for the CL final after he was part of a great run and only offered him a new contract last year when he's gone an entire season in great form.

I'd rather Diarra back talent-wise (for what it's worth, I think Flamini probably overachieved a bit last year) but attitude-wise, I'd take Flamini back in a heartbeat (his engine and workrate would add a huge amount to this squad).

The club didn't make sure to keep him so he left. Simple.

What we did when we dropped him for that other ***t in the Champions League Final was inexcusable, but we then gave him a chance in his favoured position, in which he excelled and he kept that spot, we then offered him a new contract, but he wanted to leave and did.

I don't think we approached it correctly from the beginning, I always thought (even as a squad player) he was worth keeping as he was a real fighter, but we did try to correct that in the end and out of stubborness he left!

As for Diarra, he really is a joke! He expected to walk into Chelseas first team, then forced his way out. He then expected to walk into our first team and forced his way out! I don't think Wenger ever thought in a million years that both would leave, but what can you do!

Frisbee

jasonorr wrote: »

I don't think we are blameless, but he didn't (doesn't) want to be here and that won't change, so we have to move on!



What we did when we dropped him for that other ***t in the Champions League Final was inexcusable, but we then gave him a chance in his favoured position, in which he excelled and he kept that spot, we then offered him a new contract, but he wanted to leave and did.

We played him out of position for several season.
We tried to fob him off to Boro on the cheap.
I know he won't come back, but I'd love if he did.

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

We played him out of position for several season.
We tried to fob him off to Boro on the cheap.
I know he won't come back, but I'd love if he did.

We only did that because compared to what we had at that time, he wasn't good enough to break into the team! When he did, he had a bitter taste in his mouth and eventually left!

I genuinely wish he hadn't left, but I wouldn't take him back!

Frisbee

jasonorr wrote: »

We only did that because compared to what we had at that time, he wasn't good enough to break into the team! When he did, he had a bitter taste in his mouth and eventually left!

I genuinely wish he hadn't left, but I wouldn't take him back!

I would.
Look at Arsenal defensively this time last season to now.
Look at the impact Fab had at this stage last season to now.
Fab had to serve a suspension the other day for 5 reds, dont think he got that many all last season. That's because he hasn't got Flamini around to take the brunt of the defensive work while he can roam forward. He knows he can't trust Denilson to do what the Flamster did, so he has to defend more, and as a result, break down the play to get players back in position, whereas before Flamini was in the hole, meaning Fab didnt have to do this.

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

I would.
Look at Arsenal defensively this time last season to now.
Look at the impact Fab had at this stage last season to now.
Fab had to serve a suspension the other day for 5 reds yellows, dont think he got that many all last season. That's because he hasn't got Flamini around to take the brunt of the defensive work while he can roam forward. He knows he can't trust Denilson to do what the Flamster did, so he has to defend more, and as a result, break down the play to get players back in position, whereas before Flamini was in the hole, meaning Fab didnt have to do this.

Fixed that for you.

I agree we need somebody there, I just wouldn't touch Flamini.

Someone will be found eventually and then Flamini will be forgotten about! As far as I know he's being played out of position at Milan too?

Frisbee

jasonorr wrote: »

Fixed that for you.

I agree we need somebody there, I just wouldn't touch Flamini.

Someone will be found eventually and then Flamini will be forgotten about! As far as I know he's being played out of position at Milan too?

Haha whoops yeah yellows.
Someone being found eventually isn't good enough. someone needs to be found in January or we're in serious trouble.

I know he's basically just playing understudy to Gattuso...

L'prof

Frisbee wrote: »

Haha whoops yeah yellows.
Someone being found eventually isn't good enough. someone needs to be found in January or we're in serious trouble.

I know he's basically just playing understudy to Gattuso...

I know, I want somebody now in January...at the moment what we have isn't good enough, but

Wenger wrote:

I dont deny the quality of Flamini but he wanted to go. I didn’t want him to go. Today, we do it in a different way and we have to show we can be just as efficient.

I think Denilson had an outstanding start to the season, he is going from strength to strength and Alex Song can play that role too.

when Wenger thinks we are just as efficient, I begin to worry as to whether anyone will be brought in!

yahoo_moe

Evil_Clown wrote: »

If you leave tackling aside, Flamini had a far superior engine to Song and Gilberto had a much better passing range

Flamini undoubtedly had a better engine but I think people forget (or didn't notice) how much Gilberto gave the ball away. He had a pretty lazy style of passing a lot of the time and we often lost possession as a result. Having said that, you're right that his range was definitely better - I'd say just not always his execution.

As for Song, I'm not sure that the plan really was for him to play so much this season so I'd reckon Wenger thought he had more time before Song's passing would need to be up to first team standard.

im nothing short of getting a pain watching flamini's performance vs pompey at the moment. All the errors arsenal have made this year, he is preventing the same errors for milan tonight. He even headed out a corner which our centre halves have struggled with. id have him back in a heartbeat. very foolish to let that man walk out the door.I cant help feeling we made a foolish mistake not tying hime down to a contract last year. People talk about diarra, i didnt see anything that convinced me he was as good.

Frisbee

Deleted User wrote: »

im nothing short of getting a pain watching flamini's performance vs pompey at the moment. All the errors arsenal have made this year, he is preventing the same errors for milan tonight. He even headed out a corner which our centre halves have struggled with. id have him back in a heartbeat. very foolish to let that man walk out the door.I cant help feeling we made a foolish mistake not tying hime down to a contract last year. People talk about diarra, i didnt see anything that convinced me he was as good.

Was coming on to say the same.
He really is some player

EDIT: That tackle on Johnson there was what I miss about him

Evil_Clown

Also on the Pompey Milan game
I thought Traore had a good showing if he improves his final pass/cross a little more he should be a quality player. He is very quick and gave Zambrotta a torrid time down the left.
Oh and Senderos is still sh!t, look at him for Kaboul's goal

Frisbee

Evil_Clown wrote: »

Also on the Pompey Milan game
I thought Traore had a good showing if he improves his final pass/cross a little more he should be a quality player. He is very quick and gave Zambrotta a torrid time down the left.

He's a cracking aplayer. He was made look better than he was tonight though considering him and Belhacj are faster than greased lightning and Zambrotta must be nearly pushing 50 at this stage.
Will he be happy to stay with us though playing second fiddle to super Gael Clichy?

L'prof

Fro the website and here it is on eBay

Over 9 days left and it's at £1650 already (that's €1,957.41)! :eek:

Wreck

Article on the BBC website about Arsenal in the transfer window- Linky

wrote:

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood says manager Arsene Wenger has money to spend in the January transfer window.

This is the kind of thing I really wish was kept quiet, serves no purpose to highlight the fact that we have cash available.