Well it’s the blogging close season so I’m about 170 miles from base camp and crazy golf is on the menu.
There’s chuff all going on so I’m keeping the old head down. The transfer window is open but it’s tumbleweed central as far as Arsenal is concerned. Millions are being spent by the club in the most debt, but the club with the second highest debt has yet to make its move.
Exciting? You bet it isn’t.
By 2nd highest, you of course mean Liverpool? I believe we are now third in the debt league thank you very much.
does this mean we could potentially do business in Spain now or do we still have to wait til 17th June before Reyes can be sold?
haha…spot on!
actually from recent news reports arsenal is the club with the biggest debts
I think we should take Wenger up on his words when he said he would do 1-2 “super-signings”.
I just cant wait to see who it will be.
come on wenger, get your cheque book out!!!!
Sign me, I will play!
and im available on a free transfer!
i think we are tracking blackburns pederson .atleast his agent think so.
he will be a good buy,wide player can score goals too
Pedersen is not a good buy. He is a very limited player, who doesnt have the skill and pace that is required to justify a place on our flank. Im Norwegian, and Ive been seeing him play alot. He has a good cross and is excellent on setpieces, but we never have players in the box, so there is really no need for a player like my fellow Norwegian. We need a player who has pace, tricks and a good shot.
he has average pace, a decent cross and a hard shot. personally I like him. for the amount of money he is likely to be it might not represent value and its not the sort of signing wenger would make. but he has experience of the premiership over several years. would be a good addition to the squad if it were true (which it surely isn’t).
i think wenger should buy from the premier league.players from other leagues will take time to adopt.and we dont have that luxuary.so players like pederson,richards,andy johnson,barton ,reo coker ,arteta
worth a gamble than any inexperienced player from south america or africa
even mark viduka(who is on free transfer)
and yakubu can make a difference.
I’m sure Le Boss doesn’t even think Pedersen is “super, super-class”
I don’t think Arsenal will go for Pederson for one simple reason. Check out the name of the agent….. Rune Hauge. Somebody please correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that the guy who caused the whole George Graham bung affair? I cant see us doing business with him involved ever again. Anyway, I’d much rather see Ribery on our left wing next year.
There’s some very AVERAGE players being mentioned above (except Ribery)
Come on boys…….. We are THE ARSENAL!!!!!
TRUST ARSENE……….. ARSENE KNOWS!!!!!! I bet he’s not thinking about any of those as his ‘Super special’ signings
PS. Won’y be happy if Manure get Le Sulk!!!
true but it still leaves Benni Macarthy up for grabs
I watched the England v Brazil game and thought I was watching Arsenal. Brazil had a good goal disallowed and were the better team and then England scored. Now how many times did that happen to us this season.
Yes, and it was our goal as well.
I’m a sort of Werder Bremen supporter – that is to say, if I were to support a German club they’re the one it would be – so I’ve been watching Diego a bit. His brief appearance tonight confirmed my impression that he’s magic. Tiny, but very effective. I wouldn’t mind signing him one little bit. According to the Evening Standard, Gilberto is (a) taking British citizenship and (b) saying Wenger has got to buy lots of quality. Of course they could have misunderstood him – I can’t never understand a word Gilbert says – but it’s an encouraging thought.
the players mentioned may be avergae in
quwality but all of them are real fighters
will lift the team sprit.i think the likes
of portsmouth spuds and newcastle will compete for the 4TH place next season,so we need some experienced premiership players who have physical presence
Exactly Stan, we have more than enough skill in the squad but we need more fighters with enough experience to win matches when it’s tight or even if we don’t deserve to win. When we outplay the opposition, they will make sure we turn that into goals & points.
We shouldn’t reject potential signings because they are less skillful than TH14 or Cesc etc; players like that need others to do the less glamorous stuff for the team.
17 million +Etoo for Henry . I know its not true, but i wish it were.
i think we dont need the hleb rosicky
type players .very gifted ,inteligent,
but very light weighted not very good in the air.cant defend when not in possession
work rate is poor. so i think wenger should buy players like cahill arteta
barton appiah reo coker richards
Ribery next to Real
http://el-hacha.blogspot.com/2.....-y-el.html
I rate cahill and appiah and richards.
We have a great striker coming back Bendtner he should bolster are strike force this season. So I think we need 2 wingers who can score goals Rosicky is bit of a sick note & I think Ljungberg is past his best,t I also have reservations about the defensive abilities of our left back. So a bit of work there and a couple of shrewd buys and not to many injuries and I think we have a good chance next season.
Maybe Walcott could be are Cristiano Ronaldo after all he cost the same money.
Apart from Ribery who probably will sign for Barca I have no idea who is good enough but I think Arsene will.
Well, Selling off Henry and getting Etoo wouldn’t be a good idea and I don’t welcome it at all. Etoo might take time to adapt and therefore loosing out on another season and the same applies to any new players we might bring in.
The best would be, to stay with the old team and then bring in some reinforcement just to strengthen.
Ribery or Aruna Conny would be a good option for the team since we need some competition between the players. In that way they will perform much better.
And lastly lets not forget that we missed our key players TH14 and Van Persie.
Shame we can’t score – this observation being based on last night’s internationals where Berbatov got two, Nani one, and one each for Scarface and Sulk. Don’t know if Bendtner was playing in the Sweden-Denmark 3-3 fiasco but, if he was, it’s discouraging that he can’t get past the increasingly lumbering Sweden defence. Not scoring for Birmingham is forgivable because they play so badly, but internationals have up to now been his strong point. Maybe he set the goals up – I don’t know – but I’m getting anxious that he may turn out to be as unproductive in the scoring department as Ade.
I watched France-Ukraine. Gallas played OK-ish and Diaby was on the bench. Nasri looked impressive but he’s too frail for us, I should think, and not the type of player we need at the moment. Malouda had a poorish game, perhaps because he was hampered by the even poorer Abidal – I’m so glad Clichy isn’t yet being picked by Domenech – but Ribery was good, and Le Sulk’s goal showed buckets of class. Where will he be sulking next season, I wonder?
The silence from the Arsenal camp on the TH- Barca situation is worrying me.
Watched the France game. The 1st half was a bore-fest. In the 2nd half France showed more purpose. None of the players on show were that impressive though. In terms of potential signings, Ribery and Malouda were good but I am really concerned about the players who we already have. I see that Diaby did not figure in the squad at all. Gallas did nothing really. He never wins any headers or make any tackles. He just backs off the guy who is running at him and really doesnt give me any confidence at all.
I was unable to see any other qualifiers. Heard that Berbatov scored and Hleb did not. What a surprise!!
Also I wonder how Rosicky, Senderos and Bendtner played in the other matches.
Sycorax, I am not too sure Malouda was poor, in the sense that even in the world cup his performances were not any better than what I saw yesterday. He works hard, passes ok and doesnt make any mistakes and carries a goal threat. He is nothing special though. Clichy maybe better than Abidal but Abidal was not so bad yesterday. It is just that under Domenech, France are quite defensive minded and Clichy also would not have too much freedom to go forwards under him.
Nasri plays in the same position as Fab. If Wenger buys another central midfielder and makes him play on the wings I will just go mad.
I think Nasri is too like Walcott, only not quite as strong. He reminded me a bit of Aliadiere three or four years ago, when he still looked something special. I don’t mind that he plays in Cesc’s position – so does Tevez, and he’d definitely add something to our attack – it’s rather that he’s too inexperienced and lightweight to be a good buy for us at this point.
Badrax, I know exactly what you mean about converting central midfielders to winger, but in fairness to Wenger it does sometimes work out very well. Remember Pires? He was a central midfielder. And Freddie, I think, played in the Bergkamp position before we turned him into a winger.
I agree Malouda was OK, just not as good as he’s often been for Lyon, and not as gutsy as Ribery. People have been saying Ribery has barely scored for Marseilles this season, but I heard yesterday that he has had a knee injury since October. I’m sure he’ll be grossly overpriced and will end up going to Bayern for 15+ million because it looks like Wenger doesn’t want him that much, but I still think he’s a fighter with great strength, skill and pace who’d be a very useful addition. I mean, a gutsy player who never gives up, who can play wide either side, who gets goals and who undoubtedly has a good understanding with Thierry – we’ve seen that a few times – those are precisely the things we’re looking for at this point, wouldn’t you say?
No, Rosick didn’t score. Not even against Wales. Honestly, I think I’ll soon take to my bed in despair.
Ribery is a little bit like Pires but without the diving but also without the creativity. He does not shirk from the physical challenges and I also saw him make a good tackle. Works very hard and tracks back and rarely gets pushed of the ball. But he is not worth more than 10 mill. I think Wenger will buy him if the price is right.
I know Freddie played on the wings but all his contribution came from getting into the penalty box and scoring goals from passes given to him by Bergkamp or Henry who would have switched to the wings or midfield. So actually Freddie would turn into striker and Henry or Bergkamp would become wingers as the match would go on. With Pires and Begkamp gone we have lost some of that flexibility. Hleb is not clever enough to make off the ball runs into the penalty box. Van Persie too seems quite inflexible. His goals are quite similar and gets very few assists from open play. Rosicky showed a little flexibilty at the latter stages of the season. Cannot help feeling that the present Arsenal team is quite rigid and limited in its way of interchanging positions among players as match goes on. But Wenger does not seem to like getting a conventional winger and a conventional striker. The question is how will Wenger replace the flexibilty that Bergkamp and Pires offered. Wenger said that Rosicky was the closest player he could find to Pires. He is wrong because Ribery is a better replacement to Pires. As far as replacing Begkamp is concerned, Rooney or Tevez would do a decent job in the second striker position, but who knows our own Bendtner may become a good replacement for Bergkamp.
Isn’t Bendtner supposed to be Shearer, i.e. a big lump of a player who holds the ball up and scores with his head? I’ve heard that he did create goals for Birmingham but I don’t think he’s a clever passer, at least not in the Bergkamp mould with the same dazzling creativity. Besides, we’ve already got clever passers in Cesc and Hleb; we just don’t have a goal-scorer apart from Henry, on the rare occasions he’s fit. I heard today that Vela will soon have a work permit, but not from a particularly reliable source. Anyone know if it’s true? (Not that he’s likely to be the answer to our prayers for a season or two.)
Yes, we’re too samey. And too thin. And much too dependent on Cesc. Worse, Rosicky and Hleb, though of the same type as Pires, aren’t anything like as intelligent. No one is as intelligent as Pires, in my view.
I actually think that with Bendtner or Adebeyor playing as an out-and-out centre forward, Henry could fill the Bergkamp role of second striker. He’s at the stage where he will loose some of his pace and won’t want to go in where it hurts (did he ever?), but he should have learnt a few more tricks by now, which he can use to play others in, DB10-style.
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Our lack of wingers last season was exagerated (but not caused) by losing Reyes at the 11th hour, espacially as we had just lost Pires and Freddie has not had his most effective season for us. During the previous season, Wenger seemed to have realised that Reyes was not best suited to playing up front with TH, and had started to play him on the left wing more regularly. I don’t regret that we sold him, because with his homesickness and pining for Real Madrid he would never have had a good season for us – he’d given up even trying by last August – but an “up for it” Reyes or a like-for-like replacement would have been worth his weight in gold last season.
Yes Pires is most intelligent and cunning footballer I have seen.
I know it is tough for Wenger to get somebody who is that intelligent, but one of the biggest problems of late is not the lack of talent and skill but the lack of ideas and slowness in decision making. Players like Hleb, Diaby, Ade, Flamini and even Van Persie seem to be of very average intelligence. We need players who are more sharp and clever. Only Rosisky and Fabregas show intellgence that the old Arsenal players like Pires, Bergkamp and Vieira used to show.
From the reports I hear, Bendtner appears to be a good passer and playmaker. Yes, he can play like the big man upfront, but he can also drop deep and dictate the play. I have very high hopes over Bendtner. We had 3 young strikers with a lot of potential in Bendtner, Lupoli and Stokes but Wenger is keen to keep only one of them. I cannot help feeling that Bendtner has gotta be a little bit special the way Wenger is treating him.
Hope you’re right about Bendtner, Badrax – and knowing Wenger you probably are. I much preferred Lupoli so I really hope I am wrong.
I agree with Farnborough that losing Reyes at the last minute, having already lost Pires, Freddie (the old Freddie) and Dennis, not to mention Thierry, Walcott and van P – which couldn’t have been predicted – left us desperately short. In retropspect, with losses like those, it seems like a miracle we even came fourth. I’m sure Wenger has been looking at wingers for months now and will have more than one possiblity in mind.
But that said, I’m not optimistic about seeing any quick transfers. For starters, there’s the Reyes problem, but the main obstacle in my view is Kroenke and Dein. Just because we’re all bored with discussing it doesn’t mean the problem has gone away. What are they plotting? Will Dein be back before next season opens? How will it all affect Wenger’s decision to go or to stay? And how will that affect whether players want to come to us? Until a little light is cast on this darkness we’re in a kind of limbo, I think. Ribery is clearly hoping we’ll sign him, but with Bayern on a mega-spending spree – there’s that 18 million they’ve just pocketed for Hargreaves, for instance – how long will he wait? I dread the thought of more complicated swap deals being done at five minutes to twelve on the last day of August.
Apparently we have signed or at least agreed a deal to sign Fabio Quagliarella of Sampdoria for around £10 million. He has scored 12 goals in serie A for them this season. This looks to be a done deal and on youtube he looks really good. Google his name with arsenal and you will get more info. Or if anyone has any info on whether this player IS coming i wouldn’t mind hearing it.
Quagliarella looks good on YouTube, but I just never saw Wenger buying another striker what with Bendtner coming in and us in desperate need of a winger. talk of Rosicky being sold to Atletico is daft. that is surely just a rumour started by that story of Torres swap for Ade and Rosicky. wont happen.
then I see some rumours about us taking Bakari Sagna from auxerre. £6m for a full back wont happen either. Wenger is not stupid. £3m tops if it happens at all. if he comes then surely Eboue will be pushed forward into right midfield?
I saw the France game on Sat and personally I thought both Malouda and Ribery (MOTM) were excellent. on that display I would take either.
gunn gunn,
that story was a load of shite, it origanated in some italian paper i think.
Yes, all the stories have to be rubbish. Can’t see us buying a striker or a right back, especially not an Italian Torres-type striker, not when we’ve just sold a perfectly decent one to Fiorentina. A right back is possible, I suppose, if we were going to convert him or Eboue into a winger … but we’ve got Hoyte, who’s OK and improving, and Gilbert who I liked a lot. Better to spend our money on what we most need: winger(s), a central defender, a Tevez-type deep striker cum attacking midfielder so we can vary our formation and tactics a bit.
Gazzap, I thought Malouda was quietish, relatively speaking, because he’s usually a much bigger goal threat. I got the impression he was playing fairly defensively, probably because he was told to … That’s no bad thing, obviously. He and Clichy could interchange as the situation demands. Yes, I agree, I’d take either of them happily. Trouble is, both are wanted by richer clubs than us, but money isn’t everything despite what most people say. I reckon both of them would sacrifice money to come to us because of Wenger, Thierry, the fact that we’re mainly French-speaking, young and promising, and there’s the attraction of London, etc. The agents could be a spanner in the works, but fingers crossed we’ll get one of them. I’d prefer a French player to an Italian, Spanish or Portuguese one. They seem tougher, more adult, and they’ve usually settled in very happily.
agreed that Malouda normally plays an advanced winger type role for Lyon but for France he was deeper than that with abidal going past him a lot. but I was just watching him on the ball and his decision making and passing was all what wenger would normally look for. he had all that. of course he needs goals but his goal tally for Lyon is pretty good, though I think it could still improve further.
any winger who can score goals will do
i would be happy if he is bit stronger
and good in the air so will be a threat in set pieses also will be helpful when defending
Well, in theory Bendter will be good at heading set pieces and he’s certainly big. I don’t think we need tall wingers as well; in fact I prefer little pacy skilful ones so long as they’re reasonably tough, which Ribery and Malouda both are. Malouda isn’t that small anyway. What I like best about him is his intellence. Yes, Gazzap, his scoring record is terrific, especially in the Champions League.