Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

L'prof · 26-06-2009 01:27PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I know.

But i'm just saying, there are very few targets out there who would be good enough who don't cost an arm and a leg and who could immediately slot into the Arsenal style of play (in fact i can't even think of any). That's why I'm not confident of any signing so soon, I think it will stretch to August as usual.

Lucky you're not the manager then, or me for that matter because it's not that easy! Who was Vieira when he signed??? I'm not expecting a signing to be as successful as that, but I know it's possible even if I don't know who the player is or how good he is before he signs. If anyone can do it Wenger can!

leninbenjamin · 26-06-2009 01:32PM

jasonorr wrote: »

Lucky you're not the manager then, or me for that matter because it's not that easy! Who was Vieira when he signed??? I'm not expecting a signing to be as successful as that, but I know it's possible even if I don't know who the player is or how good he is before he signs. If anyone can do it Wenger can!

that's true.

but the increasing coverage that football has gotten in recent years makes Wngers job a lot harder. Now every up and coming star no matter who he plays with is hailed as the next big thing, and get a price tag of an established player associated with them. those diamonds in the rough languishing in the reserves are a rarer breed.

L'prof · 26-06-2009 01:42PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

that's true.

but the increasing coverage that football has gotten in recent years makes Wngers job a lot harder. Now every up and coming star no matter who he plays with is hailed as the next big thing, and get a price tag of an established player associated with them. those diamonds in the rough languishing in the reserves are a rarer breed.

Of course, he might not be able to sign many players for next to nothing, but picking a good young player up for less than £5m is certainly acceptable these days. We were linked with Diamé in January, who sounds interesting...not quite sure how good he actually is.

On an aside, I have his club Rayo in the Football Manager Group Challenge and he's one of their best players!

WillieCocker · 26-06-2009 01:46PM

No matter how much Wenger had to spend on a MC there's no guarantee he could fit in or have an effect on the Premier League and even then, 1 season to settle in etc.
I'm by no means a fan of Song, Diaby or Denilson, but at this stage i'd rather their experience playing in this league over a half decent MC bought in a hurry.
Use the money to replace Adebayor.

L'prof · 26-06-2009 01:50PM

WillieCocker wrote: »

No matter how much Wenger had to spend on a MC there's no guarantee he could fit in or have an effect on the Premier League and even then, 1 season to settle in etc.
I'm by no means a fan of Song, Diaby or Denilson, but at this stage i'd rather their experience playing in this league over a half decent MC bought in a hurry.
Use the money to replace Adebayor.

I'm fairly confident Wenger has his eye on a few players, so I doubt it would be a half decent player bought in a hurry. I mean if you think about it, since Vieira who have we had? Gilberto, Flamini? I'm sure he's constantly on the lookout for a defensive midfielder, so hopefully when we do eventually sign one, he'll be exactly what we were all looking for!

yahoo_moe · 26-06-2009 01:59PM

jasonorr wrote: »

I'm sincerely hoping that Wenger can find a solid player to slot in ahead of them or maybe alongside one of them when we play 5 in midfield!

Eh? If you'd said a "great player", fine (if unrealistic). But "solid" I wouldn't see as a great improvement - so why would you want to shell out money on Diamé or whoever if we're not sure how good he is or how good he might be? Players we don't have aren't always better than those we do have.

WillieCocker wrote:

No matter how much Wenger had to spend on a MC

Sorry I might be having a slow day, but are you talking about midfielders here? MC means something completely different to me...

WillieCocker · 26-06-2009 02:02PM

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Sorry I might be having a slow day, but are you talking about midfielders here? MC means something completely different to me...

Yes Midfielder Centre.
I play a lot of Football Manager.:)

L'prof · 26-06-2009 02:05PM

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Eh? If you'd said a "great player", fine (if unrealistic). But "solid" I wouldn't see as a great improvement - so why would you want to shell out money on Diamé or whoever if we're not sure how good he is or how good he might be? Players we don't have aren't always better than those we do have.

I'm not suggesting we buy Diamé, just saying we were linked with him in January. Don't know a lot about him, but he sounds interesting...no more!

As for a "solid" player, if he has enough experience then sign him up. When I say solid, I mean a player who already has most of the tools to do the job, not somebody like Song or Denilson who just aren't quite there a the moment. Personally I'd only rate Denilson and Song as good/decent players who can do a job if need be, not the type of players (at the moment) who fill me with confidence everytime I see them play!

yahoo_moe · 26-06-2009 03:26PM

jasonorr wrote: »

As for a "solid" player, if he has enough experience then sign him up. When I say solid, I mean a player who already has most of the tools to do the job, not somebody like Song or Denilson ... good/decent players who can do a job if need be

So is experience the only difference there? If so, I wouldn't be that pushed on signing someone at the same level just because they've been at that level for longer.

Though I fear I may be missing your point again...

gosplan · 26-06-2009 03:26PM

If our defence is sorted out, then I wouldn't really sign a midfielder unless they were really something special (and I'm not so sure there's many of them on the market).

I stil have quite a lot of faith in Song and Denilson and I think if you sign a mid-priced 'maybe' from a European league, you'l just end up with three of them instead of two. (OBV the likes of Essien or Mascherano, I'd love us to spend 30 million on tomorrow).

If you think about it, Man U's team had Scholes, Carrick, Anderson, Fletcher and Giggs. There isn't a single player there that I'd be really confidant about playing regularly in a big title chase. The difference is that the rest of the team bailed them out regularly, whether it was the amazing defence or the forwards ability to come up with a goal when it was needed.

Arsenal's big problem last year is that we underperformed as a unit. No-one really got us out of tight situations, the defence never really backed up the midfield or vice versa.

DenMan · 26-06-2009 03:28PM

Every other club around us can sign players who can come right in at the deep end and do a great job for their clubs. Why should we be any different? Wenger was spot on with Arshavin and what a signing he has proved for us. More of that now I hope. He realises we need to spend big in order to compete and maintain a top 4 finish.

L'prof · 26-06-2009 03:38PM

yahoo_moe wrote: »

So is experience the only difference there? If so, I wouldn't be that pushed on signing someone at the same level just because they've been at that level for longer.

Though I fear I may be missing your point again...

Yes, yes you are!

yahoo_moe · 26-06-2009 04:33PM

jasonorr wrote: »

Yes, yes you are!

Ha, thought so - just can't for the life of me see the difference between someone who "already has most of the tools to do the job" and "good/decent players that can do a job if need be" though. But anyway...

DenMan wrote:

Why should we be any different?

Money? Plus Wenger's policy has always been to only bring in players he feels guarantee a good improvement to the squad (even if someone like Jeffers, say, didn't quite do it). So even if his spending patterns have been roughly the same before and after the new stadium plans really took hold, he'll never 'do an Alex' and spend £17m on someone like Nani in the hope that he'll work out.

L'prof · 26-06-2009 04:44PM

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Ha, thought so - just can't for the life of me see the difference between someone who "already has most of the tools to do the job" and "good/decent players that can do a job if need be" though.

One is just a stop gap, someone that will do while we're stuck and the other is someone we actually want to see play every week! I reckon it would take no more than £10m to find a player who we want to see play every week ahead of Song and Denilson and I genuinely think we badly need someone ahead of those two for now.

leninbenjamin · 27-06-2009 10:39AM

Yaya Toure signed a new contract with Barca. Puts an end to the speculation he might leave (although i don't think anyone ever fully believed he would).

Galvasean · 27-06-2009 11:48AM

Speaking of Touré, anyone think Kolo could be converted into a defensive midfielder now that we've signed Vermaelen?

Kirnsy · 27-06-2009 12:20PM

Galvasean wrote: »

Speaking of Touré, anyone think Kolo could be converted into a defensive midfielder now that we've signed Vermaelen?

I don't think so. his positional awareness wouldn't be up to scratch imo.
plus wenger wouldn't take that option as it would completely ruin any development song or denilson have done last season. I think Kolo is city bound anyway.

yahoo_moe · 27-06-2009 05:33PM

Galvasean wrote: »

Speaking of Touré, anyone think Kolo could be converted into a defensive midfielder now that we've signed Vermaelen?

I'm genuinely curious why people keep suggesting this - nothing bar his energy levels would suggest that he's suited to playing there... or is it the fact that his brother's quite good there?

UnitedIrishman · 27-06-2009 07:34PM

yahoo_moe wrote: »

I'm genuinely curious why people keep suggesting this - nothing bar his energy levels would suggest that he's suited to playing there... or is it the fact that his brother's quite good there?

He came to Arsenal as a defender/midfielder as far as I can remember but he has only ever played in defence for Arsenal. He played a couple of times for the Ivory Coast in the holding midfield role aswell down through the years.

That said, you need someone else to sort your midfield problems out.

flahavaj · 27-06-2009 08:37PM

UnitedIrishman wrote: »

He came to Arsenal as a defender/midfielder as far as I can remember but he has only ever played in defence for Arsenal. He played a couple of times for the Ivory Coast in the holding midfield role aswell down through the years.

That said, you need someone else to sort your midfield problems out.

I may be mistaken but for some reason I remember Toure playing as a right sided midfielder in his first season for Arsenal. They could do better than try him as a DMC next year, actually, good call.

yahoo_moe · 27-06-2009 10:49PM

flahavaj wrote: »

I may be mistaken but for some reason I remember Toure playing as a right sided midfielder in his first season for Arsenal.

That's what I remember too - he wasn't really considered defensive at all until Wenger pulled one of his transformations.

UnitedIrishman wrote:

He played a couple of times for the Ivory Coast in the holding midfield role aswell down through the years.

Has he really played DM for the Ivory Coast? Even with Yaya there? Either way, I wouldn't have him anywhere near DM for Arsenal - his pace and power can cover his positional mistakes at centre-back, but a Carrick/Alonso/Lampard would have lost him and played the killer pass if he did the same thing 30 yards further forward.

Headshot · 27-06-2009 11:08PM

back page of the daily star.

Wenger ribery raid, gunners in record 40m swoop, 40m plus bentner .

Daily star are really taking the piss

flahavaj · 27-06-2009 11:14PM

Headshot wrote: »

back page of the daily star.

Wenger ribery raid, gunners in record 40m swoop, 40m plus bentner .

Daily star are really taking the piss

Even if its true, (which it definitely isn't) that kinda money is nowhere near Munich's silly evaluation of Ribery.

UnitedIrishman · 27-06-2009 11:38PM

yahoo_moe wrote: »

That's what I remember too - he wasn't really considered defensive at all until Wenger pulled one of his transformations.

Has he really played DM for the Ivory Coast? Even with Yaya there? Either way, I wouldn't have him anywhere near DM for Arsenal - his pace and power can cover his positional mistakes at centre-back, but a Carrick/Alonso/Lampard would have lost him and played the killer pass if he did the same thing 30 yards further forward.

IIRC, he played there in the African Nations either last time or the time before that.

Pepe LeFrits · 28-06-2009 12:09PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Well the story has appeared now and again, but most people have recognised if for the simple rehash it is. I don't think we'll go for him tbh, i don't think he had a great season? (could be wrong, more of a guess as we've heard so little about him in the past 12 months)

I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger is working on offloading Ade now and getting a new ST in, and then holding off to see how the midfield looks in pre-season.

Even though we're weak in midfield, it's very hard to see who can be brought in that would be
a) a significant improvement on the likes of Song and Denilson
b) not cost an arm and a leg
c) fit the current style and formation and not impact the roles of other players

I kindof agree with you. I'm hoping he can pull another Eduardo or Sagna out of the bag, as there's not much point in signing a middling (but experienced) DM if he isn't much better than Song or Denilson.

The Chamakh rumours seem pretty persistent, I have to say.

leninbenjamin · 28-06-2009 12:12PM

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

The Chamakh rumours seem pretty persistent, I have to say.

he sounds like a dickhead though, bit of an Ade mark II.

edit: More Felipe Melo sh*te in the Sunday Tabloid. Saying Fiorentina want €25million for him. And we want him in exchange for Senderos. I lol'd. I hope to f*ck Wenger has someone better in mind than Melo.

You'll also notice a little bit about us wanting Benzema. Now that'd be a dream come true, but undoubtedly that's all it is, a dream. Rags...

Bounty Hunter · 28-06-2009 05:36PM

this was posted in the Micheal Owen thread and ive gotta say it makes a surprisingly large amount of sense what would arsenal fans think?

would arsenal be an impossible dream?

I mean - they create a million chances per game, adebeyor is off it seems, bendtar is cack, van persie plays deeper aswell as arshavin, vela and walcott are stilld eveloping/not out and out strikers...

Given arsenals money concerns, a free transfer of a poacher like owen could be decent on a low wage but with high game/goal bonuses

am i mentally ill?

Arsenal sell Adebayor for like 20m and get in Owen or even RVN on the cheap and then spend the Ade money (and maybe a bit more) on a world class DM, like Di Rossi perhaps.

edit: although now that its been pointed out to me given RVN history with arsenal (that pizza thing) maybe he isnt a good shout but id say you get what i mean

gosplan · 28-06-2009 05:45PM

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

this was posted in the Micheal Owen thread and ive gotta say it makes a surprisingly large amount of sense what would arsenal fans think?

Most Arsenal fans would say either that don't need to replace Adebayor or that we don't really need another perma-injured player.

Given we have all those strikers you listed and Man U only really have Rooney and Berbatov, wouldn't it make more sense if he went to OT?

Headshot · 28-06-2009 05:45PM

Huntelaar could be gotten on the cheap

Pepe LeFrits · 28-06-2009 05:55PM

Owen being offered a contract by Hull tells you everything you need to know.

I'd rather go with any of our existing strikers over Owen.

Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

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