Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

batistuta9 · 08-02-2012 10:05PM

sunderland 2-1 up in ET

batistuta9 · 08-02-2012 10:16PM

sunderland in the FA cup, tough enough draw

kronsington · 09-02-2012 10:59AM

sunderland away twice in a row.. it'll be some result to get two wins out of this

jmayo · 09-02-2012 12:05PM

Dercola wrote: »

Don't think arry is that big a bastard, unfortunately.. Stuart Pierce will take the reigns for the Euro's, or until the end of the season at the soonest.. All the talk surrounding there manager could affect the spuds tho. Fingers crossed

I would say he will take it part time.
Sure there are only friendlies between now and end of season.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Got to love the English FA. A man with more relegations than cups is the odds on favourite to be the next manager of the national team :rolleyes:

If you limit yourself to say PL, who else is there ?
All the better managers now in PL are Scottish, Northern Irish with the odd Frenchman and Portugese thrown in.
The only other experienced English manager Ican think of is Roy Hodgson or McLaren.
I must be forgetting someone ???

gnfnrhead wrote: »

We all knew spurs would find a reason to choke, guess this is going to be it. Just hope ourselves along with Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle all take advantage and pass them in the table

I actually don't think they will choke, IMHO they are more of a complete team than all of the above.

kronsington wrote: »

sunderland away twice in a row.. it'll be some result to get two wins out of this

Their defense wasn't great for the goal they gave away so not so sure about them.

kronsington · 09-02-2012 12:18PM

Their defense wasn't great for the goal they gave away so not so sure about them.[/QUOTE]

that notwithstanding, they've been the form team in the league since o'neill took over and have played very well. I didnt see the game midweek so cant comment on the goal. i remain hopeful. the team should be full of confidence after the blackburn rout

djan · 09-02-2012 01:43PM

If arsenal are to beserious about 4th place, the question of will we or wont we beat Sunderland shouldnt even be raised. Must win game.

amiable · 09-02-2012 01:53PM

djan wrote: »

If arsenal are to beserious about 4th place, the question of will we or wont we beat Sunderland shouldnt even be raised. Must win game.

Sunderland are probably the form team in the league at the moment.

It would be dangerous to see them as a gimme.

I sincerely doubt Wenger will

cson · 09-02-2012 02:01PM

They're possibly the worst mid table team we could be facing at this point in the season. They're in form, they've still got the new manager buzz, O'Neill has a good record against us; we've historically struggled to get results in the Stadium of Light.

I'll genuinely be amazed if we win both those games.

Our next 7 games are absolutely pivotal. We could quite conceiveably be out of every competition including 4th if results don't go our way but equally we could be in everything.

Sunderland [A]
Milan [A]
Sunderland [A]
Spurs [H]
Liverpool [A]
Milan [H]
Newcastle [H]

Toughest run of games the club has had in quite some time. And we need results in every one of those.

I'm very pessimistic about it tbh, we've typically gone to ****e at this stage of the season for the last 3/4 years.

Kirby · 09-02-2012 02:08PM

If you form a mini league, since O'Neill took over Sunderland are top of the table out of the 20 premier league teams.

To say they are the form team is an understatement. A win against them would be a great result and they shouldn't be taken lightly.

keano_afc · 09-02-2012 02:11PM

Yeah I think a win on Saturday would be massive. Will be interesting to see which Arsenal team turn up, the spineless shower from the Swansea game or the free flowing football version form last week.

liamygunner29 · 09-02-2012 04:17PM

think a result on Sat would be massive

djan · 09-02-2012 07:49PM

yes they are a form team, but what I was talking about is, look at our quality vs ours. If we are unable to beat them then we have a problem.

gnfnrhead · 09-02-2012 07:51PM

Sunderland have been a bogey team for us in recent years, three points is by no means a formality.

Noo · 10-02-2012 02:23AM

Wenger saying there's no reason not to have Gibbs in the squad this weekend. Be great to have a left back to play left back. Im Verms biggest fan but he needs to be moved back to CB asap, he isn't a LB anymore and it shows in his positioning.

Mickeroo · 10-02-2012 09:27AM

djan wrote: »

yes they are a form team, but what I was talking about is, look at our quality vs ours. If we are unable to beat them then we have a problem.

You could say that about every point we've dropped playing teams outside of the top 4 or 5, its no secret, we have a problem.

batistuta9 · 10-02-2012 08:16PM

Henry's leaving on the 16th - day after the milan game - though he was to stay until the end of the month

Arsène Wenger says that while he would love to extend Thierry Henry’s loan spell, the striker must return to New York Red Bulls on February 16.

Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer has enjoyed a successful return to the Club, scoring twice in five appearances including the memorable winner against Leeds in the FA Cup third round.

But with the Red Bulls due to play their first game of the new Major League Soccer season on March 11, Henry must head back to the United States for pre-season training.

“There is clarification, it will be February 16 [when he returns]. The day after the game in Milan,” Wenger said.

“I would have loved him to stay for two more weeks but he has to go back. He is captain of the Red Bulls, so just to appear on the first day of the season would be unfair to them.

“We accepted at the start that we would release him on February 16 so we respect our word. He thinks as well that it would be too late [to remain for two more weeks].”

Wenger has been delighted with the “fantastic” impact Henry has made since his return to the Club, both on and off the pitch.

“He was happy to be here and all the players were happy to have him around,” he said.

“In training he looks better every week. He is now back to a fitness level comparable to all the other players. His movement in training makes me think it is a shame he does not play for the national team anymore.”

story on clubs website

worse news is that this has started already & will only pick up

Arsenal captain Robin van Persie admits interest in Real Madrid switch
The Dutchman's agent had indicated that the quotes were fabricated, but contacted by Goal.com, Spanish paper Marca has confirmed the veracity of the comments

The in-form Dutchman, who has struck a career-best total of 28 goals for the Gunners already this season, has been linked with both Barcelona and Madrid in the last few weeks.

Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was in the market for a top striker last summer, but was frustrated in his attempts to bring in Sergio Aguero from Atletico, with the Argentine eventually signing for Manchester City in a deal worth around £33 million.

And despite the good form of both Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain this season, Mourinho is still thought to be keen on signing a world-class frontman.

Van Persie fits the bill and the Dutchman is reportedly excited by the possibility of a Santiago Bernabeu switch in future.

He told Marca in a short telephone conversation on Thursday: "I am pleased to hear about the interest from such an important club as Real Madrid.

"Of course I would like to play there."

Van Persie's current contract with Arsenal expires in 2013 and his future looks certain to be decided this summer, one way or the other.

However, the 28-year-old believes the Gunners will be unwilling to lose their star striker.

"I don't think Arsenal will agree to negotiate," he added.

In another twist, Van Persie's agent denied the story on Friday, telling Goal.com: "No truth, no quotes, no interview."

But when consulted by Goal.com in Spain, Marca journalist Hugo Cerezo confirmed he had indeed spoken to Van Persie by telephone in English, via an unnamed contact present at Arsenal training on Thursday.

link from goal.com

and more bad news even though the russian transfer window is open until the 24th wenger says arshavin will be staying, kinda expected him to be kept anyway. Hopefully he goes in the summer

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ruled out the possibility of Andrey Arshavin leaving the club this month.

The 30-year-old has been linked with a move back to Russia to join his former club Zenit St Petersburg or Anzhi Makhachkala.

The Russian transfer window is still open and closes on 24th February, with the Gunners to play three games before that date.

Arshavin has played 26 times for Arsenal this season, scoring two goals in the process, but he has been at the forefront of criticism from some supporters.

Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have emerged as Wenger's first-choice wingers in recent weeks, but the Gunners boss insists Arshavin will be staying at the Emirates.

Wenger said: "I expect him to be here after 24th February and that is clear."

link to skysports story

Marty McFly · 10-02-2012 08:22PM

I wouldnt be to worreid about that report saying Van Persie admitted interest in Madrid, its meant to be a load of rubbish, from Van Persies twitter

Robin van Persie @Persie_Official

Contrary to reports in Spain I have NEVER spoken to Marca newspaper and never gave any interview. Enjoy your day

As for Sunderland yeh I do think theyll be tough games but there the games if we want to challenge should be dead cert wins. Im going to try be positive here and say well beat them twice, im more worried about the Liverpool and Spurs games coming up. Think well beat Milan aswell to qualify for the next round of the Champions League.

batistuta9 · 10-02-2012 08:35PM

I think we'll get through against milan too but would be less confident on the league games you mentioned

Radharc na Sleibhte · 10-02-2012 09:31PM

Jeez its very quiet in here.
I come back for a bit of reading and.....nothing.
Is everyone on tenderhooks or what?
Are we all waiting to see if Blackburn was a flash in the pan?

Make or break few weeks, starting at 3pm tomorrow.
It could all be wonderful, or things will be getting very busy in here.

tayto lover · 10-02-2012 09:40PM

I think we will only draw tomorrow. They are playing well since MON arrived and its hard to judge us on last week as B.burn were useless and then went down to 10 men. We did move the ball well though and kept possession much better than in previous games. We need to get a good start and take the fight to them as we rarely come from behind of late and heads seem to drop when we do go behind. Wonder who he'll play in midfield tomorrow. I would leave it the same as last week.

Marty McFly · 10-02-2012 09:40PM

Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: »

Jeez its very quiet in here.
I come back for a bit of reading and.....nothing.
Is everyone on tenderhooks or what?
Are we all waiting to see if Blackburn was a flash in the pan?

Make or break few weeks, starting at 3pm tomorrow.
It could all be wonderful, or things will be getting very busy in here.

Yeh I think its just that everyones sitting on there hands waiting to see if last week was a fluke heres hoping it wasnt, im really not sure last week was the first time Ive watched Arsenal play in a long time and havent felt frutstrated as hell.

Yeh really important part of the season it make or break time really, were capable of pulling of the results we want in every competition if we perform to the tops of potential whether we do or not is another thing. Its going to be a nervous few weeks waiting to see.

Just entered Djourous competition on Twitter tickets to Arsenal v Milan or two signed jerseys for 2nd and 3rd place yeh think id be ok with winning one of them

, if your not in you cant win

.

gnfnrhead · 10-02-2012 10:06PM

Arent Marca well known for just making up stories? I'm surprised anyone paid any attention to it. It's basically Madrid's version of Barca sending Xavi, Inestia etc out claiming a player at another club has Barca DNA.

As for tomorrow, I said in the Blackburn match thread that it was the first game of 2012 that I hadnt watched. Based on that, I've decided I'm definitly not watching tomorrow and am instead going to try and match the circumstances of last week in the hope of a repeat performance

Marty McFly · 10-02-2012 10:10PM

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Arent Marca well known for just making up stories? I'm surprised anyone paid any attention to it. It's basically Madrid's version of Barca sending Xavi, Inestia etc out claiming a player at another club has Barca DNA.

As for tomorrow, I said in the Blackburn match thread that it was the first game of 2012 that I hadnt watched. Based on that, I've decided I'm definitly not watching tomorrow and am instead going to try and match the circumstances of last week in the hope of a repeat performance

Good man yourself, just make sure you dont forget the Spurs and Chelsea games

.

Royale with Cheese · 10-02-2012 10:15PM

It was great to see Henry back but in the end he was only a registered arsenal player for about 5 weeks. Also a bit sad that Blackburn was his final home game and he didn't get to say goodbye to the fans, again. Great to see him score at the end though.

brianregan09 · 10-02-2012 10:26PM

I have a funny feeling we'll beat Sunderland in both games , Milan are poor enough and i think we should have enough to beat them too, Can't wait for Pool,Spurs,Chelsea games can you imagine the position we'd be in if we won all those games and im confident we can

Noo · 11-02-2012 12:57AM

Tis eerie around these parts...

They say that after such victories those who predict the start of good to come shall be smitten by the tramples of a million wildebeest, while those who foresee a false dawn shall suffer the wraith of a starting team of red faced, little blond Russians.

Gooners are rightly keeping their mouths shut.

11-02-2012 01:29PM

Was surprised to see in the build up to the United/Liverpool game when they showed the best centre half partnerships in the league (going by clean sheets and goals conceded per game) that kosc and mert are 5th

Pierce_1991 · 11-02-2012 02:27PM

Arseblog:

Sunderland team - Mignolet, Bardlsey, Turner, O'Shea, Richardson, Larsson, Gardner, Colback, John McLaine, Sessegnon, Campbell.

Subs: 7 stripey *****
Arsenal team - Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Song, Arteta, Rosicky, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Van Persie.

Subs: Fabianski, Gibbs, Coquelin, Ramsey, Arshavin, Benayoun, Henry.

Glad to see Rosicky in again

Galvasean · 11-02-2012 03:04PM

Any good streams for the game?

cson · 11-02-2012 04:55PM

****ing get in!

Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

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