Arsenal Thread

Spurs have Everton, Chelsea and Man City to play in April with two legs of the Europa League as well.

This could be interesting.....Hopefully :DD
 
Spurs got beaten at home, this is good. Chelsea won but despite having a very good squad, the atmosphere with Benitez is very bad and I'd love if we finish above them as well. Any of these, Spurs or Chelsea. If we overtake both to finish 3rd, would be perfection for us, as we'd qualify straight into CL group stages.

As for getting 2nd and overtaking City, I don't know... I don't see it. It's too much to ask isn't it? :D

For now we really need to win our game in hand, a difficult one at that, against Everton. If we win, it means 1 point only behind Spurs, but if we lose it Everton would overtake us. But it's at the Emirates and we simply have to win if we wanna make it happen. We gotta step up and show our credentials if we want to be in the CL spots.

Wenger has show some balls of steel with his goalkeeper decision. It's a big one. For me, an issue neglected for too long, as the ideal thing would be to have a senior keeper showing the ropes to Szcz and making him work really hard to get some matches under his belt.
But for now, with what we have, it's the right thing to do I suppose. Szczesny, at 21 and with the inconsistent performances he's shown, cannot waltz into the first team - and what's worse, knowing he has no competition.

I don't trust Fabianski, to be honest, but I already saw some better stuff with him, namely ball distribution. Szczesny's kicks barely go past our own half, and Fabianski deals better with back passes even under pressure. His long kicks found Giroud much more often.

Of course Fabianski didn't make a save against Swansea, and let's hope it stays that way. It's a very good sign that our defence worked very well - keeping 2 straight clean sheets away (one against Bayern).

Another big call from Wenger was benching his captain, but with what we've seen from Vermaelen lately, he won't be seeing first team action anytime soon - especially comparing him to Mertesacker and Koscielny.

There are even rumours about Vermaelen wanting to leave, and I wonder if there's any connection with his poor performances of late.
If it is so, we would have to go grab a good CB this summer.

Anyway, for now, let's get behind the team and the manager with our eyes on a CL spot because we can totally do this!
 
Rentboy said:
There are even rumours about Vermaelen wanting to leave, and I wonder if there's any connection with his poor performances of late.
If it is so, we would have to go grab a good CB this summer.

Anyway, for now, let's get behind the team and the manager with our eyes on a CL spot because we can totally do this!
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As I stated before, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he were to leave. Under-performing is one thing, failing to properly lead while wearing the captain's band is quite possibly worse. The only way I can see him staying is if Wenger fails to find a solid replacement or backup over the summer transfer window, or he has no other player in mind to fully assume leadership responsibilities.
 
The game against Everton will be huge for us and luckily it is at home as well. The same with Man United, it is at home which is a bonus and hopefully we go into it with confidence and can at least get a draw from it.

Vermaelen situation I'm not so sure about, it does make it a bigger statement that he is the captain, but hearing him talk and his personality I don't think he would be quick to jump ship and I don't think Wenger would get rid of him that quickly. I think he can improve a lot and its up to him to show it and I think he will have the determination to prove people wrong. I hope he does.
 
Spurs are imploding as i predicted. I would have preferred them out of the Euro League, unless it would tutnr they win it (wich i doubt). IMO Spurs's first eleven is not worse than Arsenal's, but they lack the squad depth Arsenal have and Spurs also have a tradition of choking when things matters (our good friend Sabatasso calls me superstitious when i'm stating this, i guess most Spurs and Arsenal fans would agree with me...but Sabatasso is in a class of his own).

Now Spurs risk loosing in both EPL and Euro League...

Well this was a good weekend for Arsenal with City and Spurs loosing, but IMO Chelsea are back in full force...they were fantastic against West Ham.
 
gerd said:
Spurs are imploding as i predicted. I would have preferred them out of the Euro League, unless it would tutnr they win it (wich i doubt). IMO Spurs's first eleven is not worse than Arsenal's, but they lack the squad depth Arsenal have and Spurs also have a tradition of choking when things matters (our good friend Sabatasso calls me superstitious when i'm stating this, i guess most Spurs and Arsenal fans would agree with me...but Sabatasso is in a class of his own).

Now Spurs risk loosing in both EPL and Euro League...

Well this was a good weekend for Arsenal with City and Spurs loosing, but IMO Chelsea are back in full force...they were fantastic against West Ham.
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I think you should leave Sabatasso to himself :DD It's best for everybody.

I can see Spurs turning it back around, they will have to because next month is tough for them, if they get through it well then they can change the opinion of them and they are more than capable.....but I am praying they bottle it :))

We have 4 points to make up and we also have to play Everton and Man Utd, so Spurs at the moment are still very much in a better position than us. Them being in the Europa is great for us though, it will really test their squad.
 
They have Bale-dependence though. He must have singlehandedly given Spurs some 7-8 points. Spurs have a good team all round but they are where they are not because of that, or because of their manager. It's mainly due to Bale's match winning performances, like the one against West Ham when he scored the winner from some 35 meters out.

They got exposed without Bale though. I think he still can help them for a CL spot but they could lose the momentum and bottle it as well.

This season I'm somehow relieved that we don't depend only on one player, like we did with Van Persie last season. Goals are coming from Giroud, Walcott, Cazorla, Podolski, et al. Monreal scored his first and even Gervinho scored too :D

I'm hoping they make it to the CL and Arsenal can do some serious business this summer. They need to put their money where their mouth is, but first getting a CL spot is key to attracting the players in the first place.
 
Spurs ' managers is important...he build the team around Bale. Much better than last year (and last year Modric was still a Spurs player, i miss him terribly).

Anyway, it would be nice if both Arsenal and Spurs would end in the top 4. Maybe City will implode...but i'm afraid it will be between our clubs...shame. Imagine next season's CL being a Spurs-Arsenal match....


I know, but one can only dream.
 
Anyway, here we go then. The first topic of conversation is something that is worrying me: Thierry's contract. Is he gonna stay or go?
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Big fuss in the Belgian press about Arsenal and goalkeepers.

Arsenal would be in search for a new GK and targets six possibilities: Adler, Vorm, Begovic,Valdes, Reina and Cech.
Why aren Belgian papers so much interested, well in the English press there is a rumour that the number one candidate is Petr Cech. Chelsea would let him go and would replace him with Thiabut Courtois....

Maybe just rumours....
 
Godotelli said:
Tip for you; Sell your house quickly
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:LOL:

Good one.
If this wasn't a message from the past, looks like someone just woke up from a coma.

I think the only chance to see both Arsenal and Tottenham in the CL is Chelsea screwing it up. It's not impossible, because Benitez is not liked by all fans and by some players. Their wheels could come off.
The thing is that they have too much quality in the squad. I chuckle whenever I hear some stupid pundits saying Chelsea needed more, another centre forward - as if Torres and Demba Ba were not enough. Most teams would kill to have these players.

Villas Boas made the smartest move when he changed Bale's position and role. It is paying off. But the downside of building a team around one key player is that when he isn't playing there is a huge dip in performance and results.

I think there would be no way Cech would sign for Arsenal, I would be very surprised if it ever happened.

But one thing is certain, Arsenal needs to sign a top keeper - it's never too late. The arguments for not doing so before is that Szczesny wouldn't be happy to sit on the bench. Well, now there he is, being benched for Fabianski - a man who had not played in 12 months and is out of contract after this season. For me, this speaks volumes.

It is one of Wenger's biggest errors of judgement, not addressing this goal keeper issue. It goes way back to the Almunia days. Now I hope he finally rectifies this mistake.
 
Rentboy said:
:LOL:

Good one.
If this wasn't a message from the past, looks like someone just woke up from a coma.

I think the only chance to see both Arsenal and Tottenham in the CL is Chelsea screwing it up. It's not impossible, because Benitez is not liked by all fans and by some players. Their wheels could come off.
The thing is that they have too much quality in the squad. I chuckle whenever I hear some stupid pundits saying Chelsea needed more, another centre forward - as if Torres and Demba Ba were not enough. Most teams would kill to have these players.

Villas Boas made the smartest move when he changed Bale's position and role. It is paying off. But the downside of building a team around one key player is that when he isn't playing there is a huge dip in performance and results.

I think there would be no way Cech would sign for Arsenal, I would be very surprised if it ever happened.

But one thing is certain, Arsenal needs to sign a top keeper - it's never too late. The arguments for not doing so before is that Szczesny wouldn't be happy to sit on the bench. Well, now there he is, being benched for Fabianski - a man who had not played in 12 months and is out of contract after this season. For me, this speaks volumes.

It is one of Wenger's biggest errors of judgement, not addressing this goal keeper issue. It goes way back to the Almunia days. Now I hope he finally rectifies this mistake.
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It could happen with Cech if Chelsea wanted to change and he wanted to stay in London? But I am sure there are better teams than us that might want him.

Being benched for Fabianski isn't too bad, if Fabianski has shown improvement while he has been out, he is an experienced keeper. It is a wake up call for Szcz that is for sure. He has only been on the bench for a couple of games now, if he is on the bench for the next two seasons then I am sure he will want to move on.

Cech would pretty much be ideal though, with his age and experience and track record having him at the club and Szcz learning from him and sharing games would be great. The only problem we would have is if Szcz didn't get a look in.

Yeah I can't see Chelsea and Man City dropping too much, it is between us, Spurs and Everton for that 4th spot.
 
gerd said:
Big fuss in the Belgian press about Arsenal and goalkeepers.

Arsenal would be in search for a new GK and targets six possibilities: Adler, Vorm, Begovic,Valdes, Reina and Cech.
Why aren Belgian papers so much interested, well in the English press there is a rumour that the number one candidate is Petr Cech. Chelsea would let him go and would replace him with Thiabut Courtois....

Maybe just rumours....
Click to expand...

The Guardian (a trustworthy source) broke the Cech to Arsenal story but I don't think it's likely seeing as he has just extended his contract at Chelsea and he'll probably will stay in the first eleven unless he starts making mistakes.
 
I hope we don't get Valdes or Reina. Cech is good, but I prefer a goalie who is not at the end of his career. I prefer someone who has at least more spurt in him. If it really is gonna be a veteran goalie, I would pick Buffon over Cech, however, will he adjust to a new club, a new league this late in his career is of question.
 
Buffon won't leave Juventus, especially not for Arsenal. Plus, Buffon has just extended his contract at Juventus.
 
Our chance to snatch Buffon would be around the time when Juventus were punished and relegated to the 2nd Division. Or after that when they were struggling a bit. Now they are in a great moment, he won't go anywhere.

I agree on Valdes and Reina. Valdes not good enough, and Reina is declining fast.

Don't count on Wenger signing a new keeper though. He didn't agree to pay £2.5m for Schwarz around 2009-2010, when needed a keeper badly. Szcz was 4th choice and we had Almunia and Fabianski in terrible form (even Mannone played a few games).
The team was strong back then, but our weak link was clearly the GK position.

If Fabianski starts performing well now, many people will say Wenger knew better, but I still wouldn't agree - otherwise Fabianski would have had a renewed contract by now.
 
Rentboy said:
So Walcott got injured, huh? Are we f*cked or what... is it serious?
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He hasn't done much since he signed his contract anyway, hopefully The Ox can fill in seems to be playing well the last few games. Hopefully Walcott isn't out for too long.

Also if any body wants to go to the u19s game tonight at the emirates I have two tickets, if you wanna go they are email tickets so send me your email on a pm and I will send them over. I got them for somebody and they cant go, they didn't cost much so they are free, be a shame if they are wasted :))
 
My countryman Dejan Iliev starting, good to see.:)

I'll certainly watch the game, should be good.
 
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/angelo-ogbonna-to-arsenal/topic/ansicht_180_2407_seite1.html

Rumours suggesting Arsenal are preparing a big for Ogbonna from Torino F.C. If there's any truth in this and it become a reality I think it would be a very good piece of business and sure up Arsenal's defence. He's still young and will grow even more as a player, seems a solid centre half and can also cover at left-back. Recently started for Italy in the World Cup qualifiers. Promising signs and it could prove to be a very good move should it happen.
 
Vermaelen has played 2 outstanding matches for our national team (i know it's against a relatively weak team, but still he impressed me). Over the two matches he must have been our best player.
 
gerd said:
Vermaelen has played 2 outstanding matches for our national team (i know it's against a relatively weak team, but still he impressed me). Over the two matches he must have been our best player.
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Maybe him being dropped gave him a kick up the arse?

Looks like Diaby is out for another nine months, it has to be the end of at least his Arsenal career now, if not his career. The guy is just brittle.

I hope he comes back from this and plays again at a high level, but I think we need to cut our loses. If he is given another chance with us, we need to act like we don't have him and get another midfielder in, if he turns out to be fantastic and never has a major injury again, then great, but there is no way he can seriously be considered a part of the team now.

The poor guy, he had it all imo to be a great player, but these injuries are like a plague.
 
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Bloody hell, Diaby. Such a waste. Rather talented, but like many injury-prone players before him, you can't rely on that type of player.

Wonder who Wenger will go for. He has an eye for technical midfielders.
 
"Traces of Diaby to be found on your Tesco hamburgers soon" - I saw this comment somewhere today :LOL:

On a serious note, I feel for Diaby. This is the kind of injury that can't even be classified as 'niggling injuries' reminiscent from that leg break.. this is just pure bad luck.

And history tells us that ruptured cruciate ligaments tend to be career changing injuries. Look at Torres, how he lost his pace, that split second that makes all the difference at this level. And the good old fat Ronaldo, who had to change his style and no longer rely on those lightning fast runs.

I don't like Diaby's style too much to be honest, but I gotta feel for the guy, he never really had a proper run :(
 
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