Arsenal FC Summer 2008 Thread

Ray Parlour wrote:I think Almunia signing a new contract spells the end of a purchase for a new keeper. Fabianski will become number 2 and that's the end of that.

With regards to our squad its been discussed numerous times but we obviously need strength and additions to our squad. Wenger realises that but is still reluctant to do anything about it.

Let's forget about next season now.

How is Akinfieev(sp?) developing?

He's a young keeper but already experienced and should be one of the keepers we should be looking at.

Hlebtastic wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Hlebtastic wrote:Tweed, we can have 50 players at the club and it won't help.

I mean how can people blame Wenger for not buying when we keep on losing our 1st and 2nd choice players in certain positions? do people expect us to have 3 or more class players for only a single position? we don't have that sort of money to do that.

I said after the psv game last season that we should really look into why our (key) players keep on getting injuries.

I was comparing the number of matches played by our regulars to that of Manu's this season and found out they've all played about the same number of games, so how come it's our players(who are still relatively young) that are suffering from burnout?

For me it's case of our potential match winners not performing either by drop in form( ade, cesc, hleb) or through injury(RVP, rosicky, eduardo) and a backline that has been solid for much of the season becoming shaky all of a sudden.

Its not about the 'key' players. Its about the fact that some of our players are clearly knackered at the moment - which is down to a lack of squad depth.

Many other teams have missed their 'key' players but they all have far better reserve options than us. Even Liverpool

fabregas is 20, Ronald is 23, both have played the same number of games this season(40),how is squad depth helping ronaldo to perform better?

Rio has played 41 games, gallas 36( so 5 games rest here), how's squad depth helping Rio perform better here?

Vidic is on 41 games now, Toure 35( 6 games rest here), who should be performing better here? clearly toure as he has played less games.

etc etc etc

You know i could have bought that excuse if our players were significantly older that the Manu players.

You could argue that the supply from midfield at United has been rotated more than Arsenals (and regularly not because of injury either) keeping competition for places, fresh and hungry players feeding him.

Hlebtastic wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Hlebtastic wrote:Tweed, we can have 50 players at the club and it won't help.

I mean how can people blame Wenger for not buying when we keep on losing our 1st and 2nd choice players in certain positions? do people expect us to have 3 or more class players for only a single position? we don't have that sort of money to do that.

I said after the psv game last season that we should really look into why our (key) players keep on getting injuries.

I was comparing the number of matches played by our regulars to that of Manu's this season and found out they've all played about the same number of games, so how come it's our players(who are still relatively young) that are suffering from burnout?

For me it's case of our potential match winners not performing either by drop in form( ade, cesc, hleb) or through injury(RVP, rosicky, eduardo) and a backline that has been solid for much of the season becoming shaky all of a sudden.

Its not about the 'key' players. Its about the fact that some of our players are clearly knackered at the moment - which is down to a lack of squad depth.

Many other teams have missed their 'key' players but they all have far better reserve options than us. Even Liverpool

fabregas is 20, Ronald is 23, both have played the same number of games this season(40), how is squad depth helping ronaldo to perform better?

Rio has played 41 games, gallas 36( so 5 games rest here), how's squad depth helping Rio perform better here?

Vidic is on 41 games now, Toure 35( 6 games rest here), who should be performing better here? clearly toure as he has played less games.

etc etc etc

You know i could have bought that excuse if our players were significantly older that the Manu players.

toure went to the ACN ffs so he played games there. Gallas i doubt has been rested too often more like injured, BUT compare the CMs to Cesc & Flamini and i expect a sizeable difference in a vvv important area of the field.

Is anyone else worried Flamini might play some nasty game on us like he did with Marseille come the end of the season?

I have to say i was confident he'd sign but am having some doubts after reading this:http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2267550,00.html

and keep on reading $h!t like thishttp://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/apr4g.html

think he'll be off but you can't blame him entirely you could have got this sorted last season but at the time he looked like he was never going to make it

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:think he'll be off but you can't blame him entirely you could have got this sorted last season but at the time he looked like he was never going to make it

Hope not coz we'll be fucked finding another DM who'll fit in straight to our style of play

Yes. Its April and still nothing has happened.

I think he wants more than what we are prepared to offer him. The thing is to buy an adequete replacement it would take a good £15m. It reminds me of the Sol Campbell situation where he said he was going to sign, made promises and everything, then all of a sudden left the club.

Did anyone see the article on the offical website the other day about Juventus not calling Arsenal about Flamini. It was a bit of a nothing article as Flamini has been able to talk to whoever he wants from January without the clubs consent.

So should we offer him what he's requesting?

Absolutely. What's the point in being tight-fisted about this? He has been great for us this season, and it would be tough to replace him. Doing so would probably cost us £10m+ and roughly the same wages, so it surely makes sense just to give Flamini more money. Plus I don't trust Wenger to sign an expensive player who will make an immediate impact if Flamini does decide to leave. We already need to sign one new central midfielder this summer, I wouldn't want to have to find two.

Does anyone know what we are prepared to offer him and what he actually wants?

I can't see Juventus paying him over 60k a week.

I'm personally already resigned to him him leaving. Hope we replace him with Toulalan. Diarra would have been an ideal replacement

20 ish something you are looking for Toulalan.

Cesc wrote:Does anyone know what we are prepared to offer him and what he actually wants?

I can't see Juventus paying him over 60k a week.

Think i have read somewhere he's looking for something like 70k a week but we are unwilling to offer anything above 50k(coz of our strict wage structure).

shazlx wrote:I'm personally already resigned to him him leaving. Hope we replace him with Toulalan. Diarra would have been an ideal replacement

Except he's a prize phallus.

Not necessary that Diarra would do as well...from that Telegraph article it seems that Cesc-Flamini's off the pitch friendship and particular individual styles on it work very well together, producing this excellent partnership. Diarra is a totally different personality and has a different playing style as well.

I do think Arsenal should offer him something higher, and try to hang on to him. But Wenger will no doubt fancy himself at buying a 22 year old from somewhere unknown.

kas wrote:Not necessary that Diarra would do as well...from that Telegraph article it seems that Cesc-Flamini's off the pitch friendship and particular individual styles on it work very well together, producing this excellent partnership. Diarra is a totally different personality and has a different playing style as well.

I do think Arsenal should offer him something higher, and try to hang on to him. But Wenger will no doubt fancy himself at buying a 22 year old from somewhere unknown.

Very true. Diarra, though a class player, likes carrying the ball a lot instead of passing it earlier(something flamini does and how we like playing) but he'd have learnt to play the arsenal way had the idiot stayed and fought for his place.

shazlx wrote:I'm personally already resigned to him him leaving. Hope we replace him with Toulalan. Diarra would have been an ideal replacement

Quality player, but i'd rather have another ball winner next to Cesc.

Is Walcott good enough or ready enough to start a game , he seems to do well as an impact sub.

I think he is better as a substitute. He seems to have more impact and more intent about his play. Plus he is better when the game is more stretched and he has more room to attack.
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A quick note for JDG in particular. There's an interview with Nacer Barazite in the programme today. I would scan it and post it on here, but my scanner isn't working at the moment. It should be posted on the Arsenal website on Monday or Tuesday though so you might want to keep an eye out for that.

next week arsenal will be kicked out of the CL, no chance of winning the BPL

so what do you have from your fantastic football, people only remembers titles, WENGER is a looser

kas wrote:Not necessary that Diarra would do as well...from that Telegraph article it seems that Cesc-Flamini's off the pitch friendship and particular individual styles on it work very well together, producing this excellent partnership. Diarra is a totally different personality and has a different playing style as well.

I do think Arsenal should offer him something higher, and try to hang on to him. But Wenger will no doubt fancy himself at buying a 22 year old from somewhere unknown.

Right on both counts - Diarra is better technically than Flamini, but Flamini is willing to do simple and effective things almost all the time. Basically, his job is to press opponents, win the ball and give it to a more attacking player. And he's been one of the best in the EPL at that this season.

Barazite has scored 19 goals for the youths/reserves this season. A very decent return, maybe he will be loaned out to a Championship club next season.

On another note Bastian Schweinsteiger was linked to us today in the Mirror. No thanks Arsene.

Cesc wrote:Barazite has scored 19 goals for the youths/reserves this season. A very decent return, maybe he will be loaned out to a Championship club next season.

On another note Bastian Schweinsteiger was linked to us today in the Mirror. No thanks Arsene.

that will be the possible words from schweini

bayern>>>>>>arsenal

Toni Kroos wrote:

Cesc wrote:Barazite has scored 19 goals for the youths/reserves this season. A very decent return, maybe he will be loaned out to a Championship club next season.

On another note Bastian Schweinsteiger was linked to us today in the Mirror. No thanks Arsene.

that will be the possible words from schweini

bayern>>>>>>arsenal

I just don't understand the animosity towards Bayern on this board.

Fine contributions as always Toni. Thank you for gracing our thread.

Schweinsteiger's progress is stalling, we can make better signings than him and probably for less money as well. He is better off getting his act together at Bayern and start contributing a bit more for them and Germany.

As to whether Bayern are better than Arsenal, I guess we might have a better clue next season when you actually make the CL. You look like walking the Bundesliga, but to be honest that should be the minimum expectation, the rest of the league are average at best. Who knows if you will get through to the next round of the UEFA cup, and you haven't exactly impressed in the competition so far. It's almost certain that Bayern will win more than us this season, but considering the quality of the opposition and the money spent, that is the least that should be expected. Next season will be a far better indication of how worthwhile the vast sums of money you've spent have been.

Dark Savante wrote:Is Walcott good enough or ready enough to start a game , he seems to do well as an impact sub.

He isn't ready for a start yet, but he's been one of the positives of the season for me.

When he 1st joined and even up to early parts of the season he looked timid to take players on. He didn't have that confidence and lack of fear which a lot of talented youngsters of his age have. But now he gets the ball and tries to run at players without any fear of losing it or taking the wrong decisions. That how's youngsters should play, it helps them learn from their mistakes and ultimately makes them better players.

Great rebona from Ade, never thought he could do thishttp://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/9W04R8YYQBHMZP4B

Was awesome definitely be on Soocer AM next week.

Shame about Arsenal I knew for a fact that United would drop points today but Arsene being the lovable idiot that he is did not capitalise on this. He has no option but to spend a few bob in the summer he knows it and we know it, why he is reluctant i don't know.

If he keeps faith with the same team next season and we achieve nothing I can see alot of people calling for his head.

Are we playing a friendly in against Stuttgart in Germany on the 30th July?

BBC says we are.