If Reyes and Cashley leave,

will Wenger replace them with existing squad players?


imho, i think that he´d utilise existing squad members, eg Clichy at LB and VP/Rosicky WL, in fact it may not be a bad thing to reduce the squad size a little although he needs CB/LB cover as he has mentioned.

I think he needs to bring in a replacement for one of them at the very least. When we are trying to close the gap between us and the teams above us we need to be improving the squad, not losing important players. Wenger's faith in young players is admirable, but I think on this occassion we do need to go out and spend money on an immediate replacement.

The worrying thing is that Madrid have pulled Baptista out of the negotiating table. So it will be pure cash deal.

Since both Cashley and Reyes are primarily left sided players, we would be really short if we dont sign replacements. I expect boss to get two signings at least.

He may well do but if anyone gets injured we'd be hugely stretched. IMO we would signg at least one player if they both leave

Has anyone realised just how much our wage bill seems to have come down in the space of a season? Since Vieira left, we have also seen Pires, Campbell and possibly Cole all leave. Along with Henry they must have been the highest earners in the squad. Plus I can't imagine their replacements being on quite such large salaries. Maybe the club are trying to tighten up finances.

Im glad Mourinho is playing hard ball with you guys. How can you seriously want more that 15 million... Its preposterous (?)

SG of course the loan repayments on the emirates stadium are massive

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:SG of course the loan repayments on the emirates stadium are massive

I know. Just makes you think that despite what the board say about money being available, it may be more likely that if we sell Reyes and Cole only a small portion of the money will be reinvested in players, if any at all.

Sheffield gunner wrote:Has anyone realised just how much our wage bill seems to have come down in the space of a season? Since Vieira left, we have also seen Pires, Campbell and possibly Cole all leave. Along with Henry they must have been the highest earners in the squad. Plus I can't imagine their replacements being on quite such large salaries. Maybe the club are trying to tighten up finances.

It is really shocking!

Good news though as we have more than adequate replacements on only an 1/8 of the wage

Sheffield gunner wrote:

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:SG of course the loan repayments on the emirates stadium are massive

I know. Just makes you think that despite what the board say about money being available, it may be more likely that if we sell Reyes and Cole only a small portion of the money will be reinvested in players, if any at all.

It appears that we lied to Henry

I think if they leave then they need to make some signings. Vieira, Bergkamp, Pires, Campbell, Cole and Reyes will have left with only Rosicky, Diaby, Adebayour and Walcott coming in. Thats great news for the wage bill but not for the quality of the squad.

Dont get me wrong arsenal have some fantastic youngsters but i feel their squad will be far to thin to maintain a title and Champs League challenge unless they sign players.

Maybe Wenger will finaly give RVP some first team action....(he didn't get much playing time last season)

my point exactly axe, RVP will NOT play enough otherwise

1. Jens Lehmann
2. Abou Diaby
3. Ashley Cole
4. Francesc Fabregas
5. Kolo Toure
6. Philippe Senderos
7. Tomas Rosicky
8. Fredrik Ljungberg
9. Jose Antonio Reyes
11. Robin Van Persie
12. Lauren
13. Alexander Hleb
14. Thierry Henry
16. Mathieu Flamini
17. Alexandre Song
18. Pascal Cygan
19. Gilberto
20. Johan Djourou
21. Mart Poom
22. Gael Clichy
24. Manuel Almunia
25. Emmanuel Adebayor
27. Emmanuel Eboue
30. Jeremie Aliadiere
31. Justin Hoyte
32. Theo Walcott

hardly a small squad even without the want away 2, and with a lot of quality players, still believe CB would be more important than LB or LM[/u]

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:my point exactly axe, RVP will NOT play enough

1. Jens Lehmann
2. Abou Diaby
3. Ashley Cole
4. Francesc Fabregas
5. Kolo Toure
6. Philippe Senderos
7. Tomas Rosicky
8. Fredrik Ljungberg
9. Jose Antonio Reyes
11. Robin Van Persie
12. Lauren
13. Alexander Hleb
14. Thierry Henry
16. Mathieu Flamini
17. Alexandre Song
18. Pascal Cygan
19. Gilberto
20. Johan Djourou
21. Mart Poom
22. Gael Clichy
24. Manuel Almunia
25. Emmanuel Adebayor
27. Emmanuel Eboue
30. Jeremie Aliadiere
31. Justin Hoyte
32. Theo Walcott

hardly a small squad even without the want away 2, and with a lot of quality players, still believe CB would be more important than LB or LM[/u]

Yeah the squad isnt as small as i was thinking but i think that there are a number of players that have potential but are not good enough yet like Djourou, Song, Walcott and Diaby. Whilst others like Hoyte, Cygan, Aliadiere im not sure if they will be good enough full stop. ( well Cygan i know isnt good enough ) I just think they need 2 or 3 more if they leave.

For sure Cygan is a joker. Djourou on the other hand is quality and to my mind certainly has better attributes than Senderos. I think we need an experienced CB - Wenger has talked about bringing some experience in - but pesonally I hope that Djourou gets some considerable playing time. Sure, he's not the finished article but he has everything you need: aerial ability, pace, timing, ball control. Could beef up a bit mind. But why for instance is Curtis Davies so highly valued - I look at Djourou and see no reason why he's not as good. Long term he'll be better than Senderos because Senderos will always be slightly cumbersome and he doesn't have great recover speed. Cunning, agile and cute players will always expose Senderos imho.

Axeslammer ! wrote:Maybe Wenger will finaly give RVP some first team action....(he didn't get much playing time last season)

RVP must be first choice this season. He's too good a player to sit on the bench, but he has a lot to prove. We all know his quality but we need to see it week in week out - he's 23 now. He must move from being a prospect to an established top player.

It says a lot for the quality of our squad that we had the most players from any club at the WC.

Tweedledum wrote:It says a lot for the quality of our squad that we had the most players from any club at the WC.

We'll just indulge in a little bit of self praise there...

Yes. It also says a lot for the high number of different nationalities in your squad.

Axeslammer ! wrote:Maybe Wenger will finaly give RVP some first team action....(he didn't get much playing time last season)

I'm sure that RVP will play more this season. He was hampered by personal problems and injuries last season and still showed his quality. I think it helps that he has shown a good relationship with Adebayor so far this season. It might persuade Wenger to rest Henry more often and play them two together.

BallackTheBlue wrote:Im glad Mourinho is playing hard ball with you guys. How can you seriously want more that 15 million... Its preposterous (?)

if carrick went for £18mil, surely cashley is worth a lot more.

Mulletmassive wrote:

BallackTheBlue wrote:Im glad Mourinho is playing hard ball with you guys. How can you seriously want more that 15 million... Its preposterous (?)

if carrick went for £18mil, surely cashley is worth a lot more.

Not really.

LBs cost a lot less than CMs.

Roger_Hunt wrote:Yes. It also says a lot for the high number of different nationalities in your squad.

Is that relevant to the conversation?

Liverpool have a fair few as well!

Spanish, Brazilian, Finish, English, Dutch, irish, Malian(?), Chilean, Welsh....

Tweedledum wrote:

Roger_Hunt wrote:Yes. It also says a lot for the high number of different nationalities in your squad.

Is that relevant to the conversation?

Liverpool have a fair few as well!

Spanish, Brazilian, Finish, English, Dutch, irish, Malian(?), Chilean, Welsh....

Arsenal is a mixing pot of world football!

I think it is. If all your players were one nationality - let's say Spanish to be uncontroversial - you'd be highly unlikely to have the whole Spanish team at your club.

So more countries I think makes it more likely to have more current internationals.

In one sense you got lucky because of the number of your players from lower-ranked countries who got to the WC. I think that makes sense.

Roger_Hunt wrote:I think it is. If all your players were one nationality - let's say Spanish to be uncontroversial - you'd be highly unlikely to have the whole Spanish team at your club.

So more countries I think makes it more likely to have more current internationals.

In one sense you got lucky because of the number of your players from lower-ranked countries who got to the WC. I think that makes sense.

Well, to say we have a 'small' squad of 'non-star' players we did pretty well...

Yeah I don't think I'd describe your squad as small or poor quality.

I guess there is a perception that you have lost some 'star' players (Vieira, Bergy) and stand to lose others (Cole, Reyes) without 'big names' being signed... but it's generally been Arsene's way to sign 'em cheap and turn them in to stars...

they will both need replacing - maybe not with automatic starters but the squad will lack depth down the left which is a key part of Arsenal's game.

Hoyte is a decent player but he's no Ashley Cole, Rosicky was Pires' replacement as Percy was seen as Bergkamp's

Actually, interestingly, last season with Pires being uses far less and playing Flamini there, it was actually our right side with Hleb and Eboue that far more attacks came down. That said, we need some player who can play on the elft although (im in a contradictory mood) Van Persie and Hleb can and we dont need players with a left foot as we dont look for width from our wingers, we expect them to cut inside and be mini playmakers a la pires.

Is walcott going to be given a chance this season then?

If not, surely he should be loaned out.