Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

Pepe LeFrits · 13-05-2007 09:39PM

herbieflowers wrote:

Not unless they regain the bite they lost when they sold Vieira. For all their flair and fancy,dan-ness they struggle against teams who knock them about...they need to stiffen their midfield otherwise it's gonna be another poor season.

The bite that Scholes and Carrick give United, is it?

Arsenal have done well against most of the teams who 'rough them up' this season. Arsenal dominate the majority of the games they play now, they just don't have enough cutting edge. The lack of a ball-winner is just a cliché at this stage.

johnor wrote:

I know it looks like chelski have got sidwell but Wenger never wanted him to leave when he went to reading, he could be a good player for arsenal, he passes well and gets well stuck in... thats the type of player wenger needs in the middle....

Sidwell is a decent player but Chelsea are only taking him because he's free and they'll be missing Essien and Mikel during January for the ANC. Arsenal don't have that problem, and imo Diaby and Denilson are better back-ups than him anyway, and neither of them are afraid to get stuck in. Arsenal's squad has weaknesses but central midfield isn't one of them.

psi wrote:

Alot of fringe players that Arsenal let go over the past 3 years are players that Wenger could have done with this season...

The likes of Bentley would have been useful but they didn't want to wait around and bide their time. Maybe Wenger shouldn't be so obliging with regards to letting players go at their request but looking after the player's interest before the club's is one of the factors that makes Arsenal an attractive proposition for young players.

Royale with Cheese · 13-05-2007 09:57PM

I don't think that it was injuries alone that kept Arsenal from bettering last season's 4th. Henry/Van Persie were definitely missed, but there were no goals from midfield either.

Ok Rosicky had a stop start season and hopefully he'll come good but the other wingers look rubbish. Hleb needs to piss off. Walcott looked decent enough in the earlier parts of the season but faded away with an injury and eventually had surgery.

Arsenal were slightly unlucky in that their 2 best strikers suffered lengthy injuries, and that at the same time the rest of the club's strikers (bar Adebayor) weren't up to it. I'm sure nobody thought Baptista would be such a spectacular failure. Aliadiere is probably one of the club's longest serving players at this stage, please go away. Henry, Van Persie, Adebayor, Bendtner and one new signing (somebody with some experience, but not a huge name who would be bothered by not being in the team all time) would be a fairly handy strike force for next year.

New winger please. Somebody proven and expensive. The club should ideally have 4 wingers. 2 extremely good ones, and 2 who aren't rubbish. Rosicky might still be a great player, Walcott did look good for a while, Freddie is past it, Hleb is crap. So I suppose 2 new wingers would be ideal. It's about time Wenger unearthed another French gem.

At the back Gallas has been a bit disappointing. Let's hope he's better next season. Wouldn't mind seeing another centre back signed. Don't have much confidence in Senderos or Djorou, probably less in Senderos.

leninbenjamin · 13-05-2007 10:05PM

nah i think the problem is largely that Henry is king. the lineups Arsenal send out most of the time should be capable of beating most opposition, i think Cesc kinda sums it up best in that quote. Henry is supreme now Vieira is gone, but isn't very good at that motivating stuff. the problem is, he's a moody fecker it seems (at least on the pitch) everyone is afraid to do it themselves for fear of undermining him and having him freak out/walk out etc. at least i think that's what the problem is.

Pepe LeFrits · 13-05-2007 10:06PM

Royale with Cheese wrote:

New winger please. Somebody proven and expensive. The club should ideally have 4 wingers. 2 extremely good ones, and 2 who aren't rubbish. Rosicky might still be a great player, Walcott did look good for a while, Freddie is past it, Hleb is crap. So I suppose 2 new wingers would be ideal. It's about time Wenger unearthed another French gem.

At the back Gallas has been a bit disappointing. Let's hope he's better next season. Wouldn't mind seeing another centre back signed. Don't have much confidence in Senderos or Djorou, probably less in Senderos.

Actually since the Richards comments came out I was thinking that he might potentially solve all those problems. Can't see it happening but if he did arrive, he could play right back or centre-back, and Eboue could play on the wing - he's equally adept there imo. Let Rosicky and Hleb compete for left mid, and Eboue/Walcott to compete for right mid.

leninbenjamin · 13-05-2007 10:10PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Actually since the Richards comments came out I was thinking that he might potentially solve all those problems. Can't see it happening but if he did arrive, he could play right back or centre-back, and Eboue could play on the wing - he's equally adept there imo. Let Rosicky and Hleb compete for left mid, and Eboue/Walcott to compete for right mid.

that could work actually. the one thing is, how good is eboué as an out and out winger? i can't remember seeing him actually play as one. when overlapping as a right back he usually has a bit more space as the full back is usually dealing with hleb/walcott/whoever. would he be able to do as well being man marked? i dunno if he's intelligent enough as a player to do it week in week out.

cson · 13-05-2007 10:17PM

He played on the wing today, did alright, won the penalty......fcuking Baptista.

I think Ribery would be a winger who could do well, but someone needs to be brought in, surely theres better out there than Hleb! £10 million he cost too.

Pepe LeFrits · 13-05-2007 10:17PM

leninbenjamin wrote:

that could work actually. the one thing is, how good is eboué as an out and out winger? i can't remember seeing him actually play as one. when overlapping as a right back he usually has a bit more space as the full back is usually dealing with hleb/walcott/whoever. would he be able to do as well being man marked? i dunno if he's intelligent enough as a player to do it week in week out.

Don't think we can know until it's tried out. He's played there the odd time and impressed - I recall he was excellent when he came on for Theo against Spurs in the CC. I don't think he'd have a problem with it though. He's one of the best attacking fullbacks I've ever seen, he's just pretty weak defensively. He's not the type of full-back who relies on the attacking midfielder to make opportunities for him. He's very capable of beating players on his own, he can cross and he can shoot. He used to play as a striker when he was younger.

gandalf · 13-05-2007 10:21PM

Whats the current situation with Franck Ribery, has he had a good season in France and would he be one of the answers for next seasons team.

Royale with Cheese · 13-05-2007 10:24PM

I heard Ribery will definitely be leaving if Marseille fail to reach the Champions League next year, last time I checked though they were quite likely to qualify.

Pepe LeFrits · 13-05-2007 10:31PM

Haven't paid him much attention but from what I've heard he hasn't had a great season - lots of injuries. Seems Nasri has been the impressive midfielder this season.

I'm not particularly enthused about Ribery - he's small, doesn't score much, hasn't got many years of improving left and would be very expensive. I don't think he's what we need really.

cson · 13-05-2007 10:37PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Haven't paid him much attention but from what I've heard he hasn't had a great season - lots of injuries. Seems Nasri has been the impressive midfielder this season.

I'm not particularly enthused about Ribery - he's small, doesn't score much, hasn't got many years of improving left and would be very expensive. I don't think he's what we need really.

The youngsters are fine, and we have a lot of them but imo we need a few finished articles.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2007 03:35PM

Saw this elsewhere:

There are a lot of obvious fakes going around but this looks genuine.

herbieflowers · 18-05-2007 03:52PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

The bite that Scholes and Carrick give United, is it?

Arsenal have done well against most of the teams who 'rough them up' this season. Arsenal dominate the majority of the games they play now, they just don't have enough cutting edge. The lack of a ball-winner is just a cliché at this stage.

Frankly, yes. But not just Man U, pother teams have players who are willing to get stuck in in the midfield, Arsenal's midfield, imo, is full of fancy-dans who are great at passing the ball around and playing indulgent football but couldn't grind out a result to save their lives. So, as you said, it's a lack of cutting edge, but I also feel they're missing that extra bit in midfield.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2007 04:07PM

herbieflowers wrote:

Frankly, yes. But not just Man U, pother teams have players who are willing to get stuck in in the midfield, Arsenal's midfield, imo, is full of fancy-dans who are great at passing the ball around and playing indulgent football but couldn't grind out a result to save their lives. So, as you said, it's a lack of cutting edge, but I also feel they're missing that extra bit in midfield.

Eh? Which one of Scholes and Carrick gets stuck in?

herbieflowers · 18-05-2007 04:08PM

Both. Watch a Utd match.

Pepe LeFrits · 18-05-2007 04:14PM

herbieflowers wrote:

Both. Watch a Utd match.

Oh, okay. I've never watched United play before, so it might be interesting. I reckon once they add this Hargreaves playmaker fella they'll be even more exciting to watch.

leninbenjamin · 18-05-2007 06:46PM

herbieflowers wrote:

Frankly, yes. But not just Man U, pother teams have players who are willing to get stuck in in the midfield, Arsenal's midfield, imo, is full of fancy-dans who are great at passing the ball around and playing indulgent football but couldn't grind out a result to save their lives. So, as you said, it's a lack of cutting edge, but I also feel they're missing that extra bit in midfield.

are you nuts? never seen Gilberto play have ya? he's among the best holding midfielders out there. of course Arsenal can get stuck in

Fuzzy_Dunlop · 18-05-2007 07:26PM

leninbenjamin wrote:

are you nuts? never seen Gilberto play have ya? he's among the best holding midfielders out there. of course Arsenal can get stuck in

Yeah i agree, and its not like Rosicky and Fabregas, and Hleb i guess, don't like to get stuck in aswell, they're always chasing back hassling players. Getting stuck in and controlling midfield is not Arsenals problem, its letting in stupid goals and not being able to score in a brothel

PHB · 18-05-2007 07:33PM

Arsenals problem isn't lack of steel in midfield, it's in defence imo.

Raskolnikov · 19-05-2007 01:33AM

Fabregas definitely upped his game this season. His tackling was much more tenacious and he consistantly has a desire to win and receive the ball. I can't say the same for Hleb or Rosicky though.

Arsenal's problem this season (besides Henry's "injuries") is that Robert Pires has left and Freddie Ljungberg has been absolute muck. Rosicky looks only to be a shadow of the player that Pires was and Hleb just isn't good enough. You only have to compare the goals and assist ratios to see that the new boys aren't performing. So therefore the brunt of making penetrating attacks has fallen upon Fabregas, we all know he's the potential to be great, but he can't work miracles on his own.

I'd love to see Reyes back at Arsenal to be honest. I know he can throw the toys out of the pram but he definitely has the ability. Definitely moreso than the likes of Hleb or Rosicky.

I fear for Arsenal next season. Compared to the top three, they simply don't have the cash to compete. With a quality manager and the cash to back him up, I can see Benitez taking Liverpool to the next level to challenge for the League. With Arsenal though, I see Dein gone. Rife speculation over the crown jewels at club, Wenger, Henry, Fabregas, etc.

GuanYin · 19-05-2007 02:49AM

In fairness it tool Pires the guts of a season to gel with the team they way Arsenal were playing and Lundberg was there maybe two season's before he hit top peak. I'd give the new lads a bit more time.

Raskolnikov · 19-05-2007 12:29PM

psi wrote:

In fairness it tool Pires the guts of a season to gel with the team they way Arsenal were playing and Lundberg was there maybe two season's before he hit top peak. I'd give the new lads a bit more time.

That's all well and good but what if Rosicky and Hleb don't come good? Can Arsenal afford to wait another few years before they can get replacements in to deliver?

leninbenjamin · 19-05-2007 01:30PM

Raskolnikov wrote:

That's all well and good but what if Rosicky and Hleb don't come good? Can Arsenal afford to wait another few years before they can get replacements in to deliver?

that's the thing isn't it? you can never know though without giving them the chance. you could let both of them go this summer, get some new players in and it could be the exact same story again. it's taken three seasons at Chelsea for Drogba to really show us what he's capable of...

Arsenal's biggest problems though is in their heads. it's more a mental thing at this stage, and i'm not sure a few new players would simply cause all the existing problems to go away.

Fuzzy_Dunlop · 19-05-2007 02:02PM

Raskolnikov wrote:

That's all well and good but what if Rosicky and Hleb don't come good? Can Arsenal afford to wait another few years before they can get replacements in to deliver?

I'd say Rosicky will come good, not sure about Hleb though. Rosicky has already adapted fairly well and you can see that he links up really well with Fabregas. His two goals recently when he went in at the back post and took advantage of the defenders mistakes shows that he is coming to realise what is expected of him in terms of getting goals. Plus he can shoot too when he wants, so, like Fabregas he is well able to score . His main prblem is the injuries that he gets every time he strings 3/4 good matches together

gandalf · 19-05-2007 02:22PM

Agree about Rosicky he is a great player and will come good. Hleb has had longer to fit in and he is too hit and miss, he gives the ball away alot as well so I wouldn't mourn his loss if Arsenal decided to shift him on.

If Reyes came back I would be delighted because he is a brilliant talent and definately gives Arsenal another dimension. I think its a very slim change him returning though.

Pepe LeFrits · 19-05-2007 03:35PM

Sanli Tuncay appears to be available on a free transfer this summer. Can play as a second striker or on either flank, scores lots of goals and is 25. Might be a useful signing. Wenger has expressed his appreciation of him before.

Pepe LeFrits · 21-05-2007 12:30PM

Echo! Echo...

Some reports are saying that we've signed 16/17 year old Icelandic striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. No, really! Don't explode with excitement folks.

Anyway, apparently we've been trying to sign him for two or three years and have finally succeeded, beating Real Madrid, Liverpool, Ajax, Man United, AC Milan and Accrington Stanley to the punch. It may be for quite a substantial fee as he is rated highly - some have suggested that he is the second best young striker in Europe, after Bojan Krkic.

We've also been linked to Pedro - a Brazillian midfield player, and Renato Augusto, a Brazillian midfield player. I know absolutely nothing about Pedro other than what I've mentioned and that he plays for Figueirense. Renato is 19 years old and Tim Vickery talks about him in his latest BBC column:

Renato Augusto is a 19 year old attacking midfielder with Flamengo in Rio - he is indeed a young man of great promise.

He reminds me more of a young right footed version of Rivaldo than Kaka - similar build and somewhat awkward gait.

He's making very good progress - and the encouraging thing is that you can see progress in his weaker areas - he seems to be lasting the games better, his left foot is improving, and his finishing, which was a real weak point, is also making strides.

Flamengo have him on a long term contract and will be reluctant to part with him for a while - he taps right into their tradition.

Historically they are known for producing players.

The cupboard has been a bit bare for a while, but he's a home-produced Number 10, like Zico.

So he can be a symbol of the club, and Flamengo, for a while at least, may well try to build their precarious finances around retaining him.

There's one big problem he has to overcome - hopefully before he makes the eventual inevitable move to Europe.

Like many home-based Brazilian players, he has a tendency to go down all the time looking for a foul.

He needs to get this out of his system.

In Europe he will not be awarded the free-kicks he is accustomed to getting in Brazil.

It's been mentioned by officials at Salamanca that Arsenal will be buying 2 more South American kids and loaning them out to them, so perhaps these are the two.

jank · 21-05-2007 12:34PM

More youngster are ok but what arsenal need is a leader and a finished article.

Pepe LeFrits · 21-05-2007 12:38PM

Leaders are grown imo - we'll just have to wait for someone to become one.

Get TH14 and RVP fit and get in a belter of a winger and we'll be in good shape.

cson · 21-05-2007 03:58PM

Henry is definitely not a leader. Head down as soon as things don't go his way or he's having an off day. It won't happen but Kolo Toure should be givent he captaincy. He has at least shown glimpses of leadership. Hell even Fabregas has. Its the major thing the team is lacking, no one wants responsibility, no-one. It would be imo the difference between having all those draws (was it 8 or so?) at home and wins. The difference between being 20 odd points behind utd and right in the hunt with them.

Another thing that might fcuk up our season next year is the african nations cup. Chelsea are missing the most players, we're missing a **** load too (Ade, Toure, Eboue) whereas Utd have no african players.

Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

Comments