Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

02-08-2008 02:17PM

Galvasean wrote: »

Darn, TWO Arsenal matches on in TV channels I have in as many days and I'm working for both of them.

Well if you look at the Premier league there are a few ex Arsenal youth players plying their trade:

Stephen Sidwell (Aston Villa)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Jamie O' Hara (Spurs)
David Bentley (Spurs)

Also Stephen Hughes of Coventry City (he did play Premiership football after leaving us)

I'm sure theres a few more that I left out.

James Harper for one

Royale with Cheese · 02-08-2008 03:04PM

Wow today's team wasn't what I was expecting

Fabianksi

Eboue

Senderos----Djourou---Hoyte
Wilshere----Denilson---Ramsey----Gibbs

Vela

Bendtner

Ok that's definitely the team

Defence looks dodgy. Really highlights the need for some signings there.

DenMan · 02-08-2008 03:11PM

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Wow today's team wasn't what I was expecting
Fabianksi
Eboue
Senderos----Hoyte----Clichy
Wilshere----Denilson---Ramsey----Gibbs
Vela
Bendtner

not 100% on Hoyte, will have to check that one again

It has the making of Arsenal's Carling Cup team I hope, looks very promising. Thanks man.

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 03:31PM

Senderos as captain.

Its things like that that worry me....

Also cant believe he left Gallas as captain again this year.
I was sure Kolo was a shoe in for it. Or failing that even left Cesc step up. Personally I think Cesc is still a little too young, but he could only be better than Gallas....

DenMan · 02-08-2008 03:41PM

No! You can't do that as a manager, make Gallas captain and then take it off him the following season. He has learned from his mistakes and will be much better this season for it, my 2cents I know, but Wenger has made the right decision. Besides if he gives it to someone else, and they go on to have a bad season, what then?, hand it over to someone else? That would be farcical and shows a lack of leadership skills...from the manager.

Senderos as captain today has to be a good thing. Wenger obviously still has faith in him and making him captain should give him more responsibility and help get his confidence back. Let's hope for a good performance today, and tomorrow.

PHB · 02-08-2008 03:44PM

DenMan wrote: »

It has the making of Arsenal's Carling Cup team I hope, looks very promising. Thanks man.

I'd be shocked if Vela doesn't break into the first team significantly this year

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 03:48PM

DenMan wrote: »

Besides if he gives it to someone else, and they go on to have a bad season, what then?, hand it over to someone else?

Senderos as captain today has to be a good thing. Wenger obviously still has faith in him and making him captain should give him more responsibility and help get his confidence back. Let's hope for a good performance today, and tomorrow.

Im not saying Gallas shouldnt be captain because we didnt win the PL. Im saying it because he showed no real leadership skills besides showing his teammates how to throw a tantrum or kick a hoarding correctly...

I agree with your Senderos comment though, hopefully this will give him a bit more confidence.

PHB wrote: »

I'd be shocked if Vela doesn't break into the first team significantly this year

I think there's no doubt that he will, he's world class.
I'd be amazed if he was relegated to Reserve and Carling Cup duty this year..
Im sure he will play in the Carling Cup, but hopefully as the one or two more senior players Wenger tends to put in the team ala Sagna last year

DenMan · 02-08-2008 03:53PM

Your right guys, Vela is awesome. I really hope him and Bendner play well together (as they have been so far). We need to win a trophy this year and the Carling Cup has to be a realistic prospect for us...and we need firepower to do it!!! Those two can score goals together, that's for sure. The way we collapsed against Tottenham in the second leg last season was catastrophic. Come on Arsenal.

Royale with Cheese · 02-08-2008 04:08PM

Not a huge amount to talk about there. Alot of possession but farely ineffective going forward. Bendtner giving the ball away a lot. Eboue still useless as a right mid.

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 04:17PM

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Not a huge amount to talk about there. Alot of possession but farely ineffective going forward. Bendtner giving the ball away a lot. Eboue still useless as a right mid.

Yeah really hope to see Nasri on for Eboue in the second half...

~Rebel~ · 02-08-2008 04:23PM

reporting that Diaby, Gallas and Adebayor all on.

Off; Senderos, Ramsey and Vela

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 04:25PM

Cant believe Eboue is still on that pitch and he took off Ramsey and Vela.

F*cking travesty

andrewie · 02-08-2008 04:25PM

Wilshire has been impressive pre-season.

Royale with Cheese · 02-08-2008 04:38PM

Eboue's off for Walcott. Thank fúck.

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 04:41PM

Thank Christ for that...

He's one of the most tactically challenged players ive ever seem play...

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 04:46PM

Is it just me or does Bendtner really not seem interested?

DenMan · 02-08-2008 04:52PM

Checking the Sky Sports Score Center, the caliber of opposition is excellent I have to say, Juve picked a very strong team. Class does show so I am sure Juve are marking him well. He could of course be having a bad day at the office!!! Probably a bit of both!!!

Frisbee · 02-08-2008 04:57PM

Nah its not even that, I haven't seen him run into space looking for a pass at all in the second half, he seems too content to just jog slowly about and let someone else look to make the breakthrough....

Maybe its all a clever ruse so they wont mark him and he can bang in a hat trick in the last five minutes...

Pepe LeFrits · 02-08-2008 07:13PM

Both positives and negatives to take from today's game. We outplayed a strong Juve team for most of the game and restricted them to very few chances, but lacked cutting edge ourselves.

Our strikers and wingers had off days. Eboue was woeful and Nasri had no impact. Wilshere was the best of them, he had a pretty decent game.

On the plus side I thought Denilson looked excellent in the DM role while Djourou and Gallas had very good games at CB.

eZe^ · 02-08-2008 07:49PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Both positives and negatives to take from today's game. We outplayed a strong Juve team for most of the game and restricted them to very few chances, but lacked cutting edge ourselves.

Our strikers and wingers had off days. Eboue was woeful and Nasri had no impact. Wilshere was the best of them, he had a pretty decent game.

On the plus side I thought Denilson looked excellent in the DM role while Djourou and Gallas had very good games at CB.

I thought it was a shining example of everything good and bad about Arsenal over the past 3/4 seasons... Utterly dominating with plenty of youth, but not having any cutting edge. It seems get a little frustrating to be honest, but Juve (despite the goal being disallowed) were passengers for alot of the game, but took their chance.

Thought Sissoko was the MOM too btw. He really really really impressed me.

vincenzo1975 · 02-08-2008 08:54PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Diarra and Flamini for starters. both are technically much better footballers than Toulalan. Toulalan would be found it if he were to leave France. he's just an average all rounder player, he has no real strengths to his game. he's not particularly fantastic in the tackle. not a great passer, not great going forward. he's just meh...

ahh cmon, thats just not true.

Toulahan has had 30 starts a season for Lyon for the last 4 years, yet he is still only 24, not to mention playing most of their champions league games.

He was the main player to come in instead of Viera for France in the Euro qualifiers and played all their games in the finals. he has been talked up very much for his solid displays and strong defensive game.

Lessana Diarra only had 15 starts last season and could not cut it at arsenal or chelsea and made only 11 appearances for pompey. He may be up and coming, but he severely lacks experience compared to Toulahan, as well as already turning his back on arsenal.

As for Flamini, he obviously had a good season, but there is a reason he was left behind for France, he puts in a lot of effort and covers a lot of ground, but I would question his effectiveness and the quality of his passing, tackles and shooting. His main strength is covering ground and closing down space. I value Toulahan above him, and fully expect him to be only a utility player at AC Milan next year.

Toulahan is the man for France in the next few years, no doubt about it. He will also be forming a potent partnership with a certain mr nasri, so it would benefit us enormously if we could get him, in my opinion.

leninbenjamin · 02-08-2008 09:25PM

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

ahh cmon, thats just not true.

Toulahan has had 30 starts a season for Lyon for the last 4 years, yet he is still only 24, not to mention playing most of their champions league games.

He was the main player to come in instead of Viera for France in the Euro qualifiers and played all their games in the finals. he has been talked up very much for his solid displays and strong defensive game.

Lessana Diarra only had 15 starts last season and could not cut it at arsenal or chelsea and made only 11 appearances for pompey. He may be up and coming, but he severely lacks experience compared to Toulahan, as well as already turning his back on arsenal.

As for Flamini, he obviously had a good season, but there is a reason he was left behind for France, he puts in a lot of effort and covers a lot of ground, but I would question his effectiveness and the quality of his passing, tackles and shooting. His main strength is covering ground and closing down space. I value Toulahan above him, and fully expect him to be only a utility player at AC Milan next year.

Toulahan is the man for France in the next few years, no doubt about it. He will also be forming a potent partnership with a certain mr nasri, so it would benefit us enormously if we could get him, in my opinion.

i had a big long response written out to this but accidently deleted it. most of it was ****e anyway but still...

on the Euro's, Toulalan was one of the poorer players for France, only marginally ahead of Malouda and Abidal imo. he was playing along side a veteran which should have given him the freedom to play his natural game, but instead he went missing. 35 year old Makelele passed better, covered more ground and was better at imposing himself as a creative figure on the game.

on Diarra. never got a chance, can only judge him on what we've seen which was very promising. he's a man to watch though for this season imo, i think he'll do very very well.

on Flamini. you could have probably said the exact same thing about a young Gennaro Gattuso as you levelled at him. he's a perfect replacement and if given his chance will become a fixture at the San Siro in years to come, i'm positive.

to sum: Toulalan is a decent all round footballer, i'll give you that, but he has no strengths, and in any match i've seen him play has failed to impose himself. watching him no particular element of his game stands out and imo he'll struggle to have any notable impact in the premiership. If Arsenal want to realise ambitions of winning the premiership they'll need a lot better.

vincenzo1975 · 02-08-2008 09:41PM

fair enough, I reckon he's good enough, LYOn have been great for the last few years and he has been instrumental.

We need some experience now, I would hate to see us lacking at the end of the season again.

1 more player.... who could it be?

leninbenjamin · 02-08-2008 10:00PM

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

We need some experience now, I would hate to see us lacking at the end of the season again.

on that note, i stumbled across this while trying to get his age.

However, 24-year-old Toulalan - whose 13 caps pales into comparison to the 105 of 31-year-old Vieira - believes that he has slowly erased the shyness that overcame him when he was earning his spurs in his early international days.

'I speak a bit more these days,' said Toulalan, who has been at Lyon for the past two seasons having previously been at Nantes.

'These days, I am now playing at Lyon and the season was a success both for me personally and for the team so it is easier to fit in when I join up with the national squad.'

Toulalan has certainly proved himself at Lyon - two titles in his first two seasons and a French Cup in the season just ended attest to that - which is no mean feat as he had to fill the gaps left by Mahamadou Diarra, who signed for Real Madrid, and of Portuguese international Tiago, who left for Juventus last summer for 13.6million euros.

if shyness is a problem for him, then he's definitely the wrong type of player needed.

vincenzo1975 · 02-08-2008 10:14PM

in fairness, thats a poor conclusion to draw.....

he obviosly expresses himself on the pitch, just look at the amount of league, cup, champs league and internationals he has been trusted in in the last 4 years. Just look at the experienced players, world and european cup winners that made up that team when he came in, Zidane, henry, viera, Thuram, desailly, makalele, Wiltord, Pires, etc etc, you seriously expect a rookie to hold his own with those giants. sheesh, you sure have high standards.

If shyness is his main problem, I would snap him up.

Gary ITR · 02-08-2008 10:27PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

if shyness is a problem for him, then he's definitely the wrong type of player needed.

Roy Keane had a shyness problem didn't he?

vincenzo1975 · 03-08-2008 12:21AM

Just a thought, what would you guys think of Kolo Toure stepping up into a defensive midfield role?

leninbenjamin · 03-08-2008 11:04AM

Onkle wrote: »

Roy Keane had a shyness problem didn't he?

maybe as a young un off the field, but not as a 25 year old on the pitch. in fact in his pomp it twould have been between him and Schmeichel as to who was the louder nutcase. Toulalan seems to be talking about on field shyness which is what worries me.

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

Just a thought, what would you guys think of Kolo Toure stepping up into a defensive midfield role?

i've seen this mooted in more than a few places now... he wouldn't be bad now, but that would leave Senderos and Gallas as the two CBs, so unless AW brings in another CB who's good enough to start i can't see it even being entertained.

still though, maybe if the likes of Song or Senderos progresses further at CB it would be an option against the bigger teams.

on another note; some of the quotes from Wenger yesterday sound decidedly non committal about getting another player in

Arsene Wenger wrote:

"We are not close to signing anybody and I will focus on the players I have. If we can find someone, then we will do it. If not, I am happy as well. Experience-wise we a bit short in midfield but we will see. With Diaby not being injured, Denilson being available, we have quality in there. Today we did not have Rosicky, Fabregas, Eduardo, van Persie and Song. They are five top-class players."

Song a top class player? maybe in 3 or 4 years... sounds like he has big plans though for him. All in all though, these quotes have me worried at the prospect Wenger is settling for not bringing anybody in

Galvasean · 03-08-2008 11:15AM

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

Just a thought, what would you guys think of Kolo Toure stepping up into a defensive midfield role?

Well he started his career for us there, but didn't shine until moved to CB. Although moving him to midfield creates a new problem, we would need another CB and I'm already of the opinion that we are one short.

BTW: Juve's goal, WAAAAYYYY offside.

Frisbee · 03-08-2008 01:16PM

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

Just a thought, what would you guys think of Kolo Toure stepping up into a defensive midfield role?

I reckon he could do it now, after having a few years experience of the English game.
But that would just exacerbate are CB problem leaving Gallas and Senderos/Song/Djourou.

Senderos is too unreliable.

Song and Djourou are both good prospects, but I think it might be a year too early for song to step up and play CB every week. Maybe against some of the smaller teams, but certainly wouldnt risk it in big games...

My 0.02

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