Arsènal FC - 09/10 Season Thread

kas wrote:What about Cesc? Will you sell him for 25m pounds + add-ons, Gudjohnsen, Henrique on loan, and a few plates of pan con tomate?

TheCrazy58 wrote:

kas wrote:What about Cesc? Will you sell him for 25m pounds + add-ons, Gudjohnsen, Henrique on loan, and a few plates of pan con tomate?

No. And I don't like the way Barca are going about it now. Basically the same tactics as Madrid. Barca have probably the best team in Europe, they don't need Cesc, it's just greedy.

TM wrote:

TheCrazy58 wrote:

kas wrote:What about Cesc? Will you sell him for 25m pounds + add-ons, Gudjohnsen, Henrique on loan, and a few plates of pan con tomate?

No. And I don't like the way Barca are going about it now. Basically the same tactics as Madrid. Barca have probably the best team in Europe, they don't need Cesc, it's just greedy.

Why are you complaining, you support Barca afterall

The Professor wrote:If the last time Arsenal won the league was in 1990 I'm sure the media would be wanking. Why is that Arsenal are dug out? It is xenophobia? If that is the case then I'd say the media were hypocrites. They cream their knickers when watching Arsenal at full flight but can't wait to stick the knife in about the amount of foreign players we have.

The Professor wrote:Why aren't Liverpool dug out as much as Arsenal?

Let me start by saying I don't want anyone, Gooner or Liverpudian, to take this as a dig at Liverpool Football Club. I'm merely using them as an example.

In fact, if Arsenal don't win the Premiership title then I hope Liverpool do. I think there is an affinity between Arsenal and Liverpool supporters. We respect each other and have a bond, especially over the Ray Kennedy fund.

I didn't want to write this, because of my respect for Liverpool, but I felt I had too.

All summer long I've heard that Arsenal are on the wane and are the side most likely to be replaced in the so-called top four. I keep hearing that 2005 was the last time we won anything and that barren run is probably going to continue. This comes from the so-called experts of the media. I hate the media.

The media, more than a senile tape recorder, repeat the fact that the last time Arsenal won anything (2005) the dinosaurs were still in town. Sure, it feels that long ago but I never hear that the last time Liverpool won anything (2006) was in fact only a year later when cavemen took over the planet.

Not a major difference? So why is it that we only hear of Arsenal's trophy-less run?

Last summer it went into overdrive, this year it's even worse! We are being written off more than my old Fiesta and I can't deny it frustrates me. Badly.

If the last time Arsenal won the league was in 1990 I'm sure the media would be wanking. Why is that Arsenal are dug out? It is xenophobia? If that is the case then I'd say the media were hypocrites. They cream their knickers when watching Arsenal at full flight but can't wait to stick the knife in about the amount of foreign players we have.

As I've said, last summer we were dug out more than a fossil would be. It would have been three years since our last trophy. Liverpool are at that stage now but has it actually been mentioned? I'll eat my own pants if it has!

Now let me apologise for using Liverpool as an example. I really hope they have a great season. Of course not at the expense of Arsenal! As I've said if Arsenal don't win the league, I hope Liverpool do.

But this is a perfect of example of the media using Arsenal to get headlines and it pisses me right off. I hope we smash the fucking league and that Arsene Wenger sticks his fingers up the hypocritical wankers.

http://wrighty7.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-arent-liverpool-dug-out-as-much-as.html


-------------------------------------

COTR #6 wrote:

The Professor wrote:Why aren't Liverpool dug out as much as Arsenal?

Let me start by saying I don't want anyone, Gooner or Liverpudian, to take this as a dig at Liverpool Football Club. I'm merely using them as an example.

In fact, if Arsenal don't win the Premiership title then I hope Liverpool do. I think there is an affinity between Arsenal and Liverpool supporters. We respect each other and have a bond, especially over the Ray Kennedy fund.

I didn't want to write this, because of my respect for Liverpool, but I felt I had too.

All summer long I've heard that Arsenal are on the wane and are the side most likely to be replaced in the so-called top four. I keep hearing that 2005 was the last time we won anything and that barren run is probably going to continue. This comes from the so-called experts of the media. I hate the media.

The media, more than a senile tape recorder, repeat the fact that the last time Arsenal won anything (2005) the dinosaurs were still in town. Sure, it feels that long ago but I never hear that the last time Liverpool won anything (2006) was in fact only a year later when cavemen took over the planet.

Not a major difference? So why is it that we only hear of Arsenal's trophy-less run?

Last summer it went into overdrive, this year it's even worse! We are being written off more than my old Fiesta and I can't deny it frustrates me. Badly.

If the last time Arsenal won the league was in 1990 I'm sure the media would be wanking. Why is that Arsenal are dug out? It is xenophobia? If that is the case then I'd say the media were hypocrites. They cream their knickers when watching Arsenal at full flight but can't wait to stick the knife in about the amount of foreign players we have.

As I've said, last summer we were dug out more than a fossil would be. It would have been three years since our last trophy. Liverpool are at that stage now but has it actually been mentioned? I'll eat my own pants if it has!

Now let me apologise for using Liverpool as an example. I really hope they have a great season. Of course not at the expense of Arsenal! As I've said if Arsenal don't win the league, I hope Liverpool do.

But this is a perfect of example of the media using Arsenal to get headlines and it pisses me right off. I hope we smash the fucking league and that Arsene Wenger sticks his fingers up the hypocritical wankers.

http://wrighty7.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-arent-liverpool-dug-out-as-much-as.html


-------------------------------------

Can't believe you posted this piece of shit

The Professor wrote:

I expected u to respond with a big lol....becoming so predictable COTR.

Truth hurts.

It seems not a summer goes by without Arsenal fans ruminating over what might become of Theo Walcott in the ensuing season. Amazingly Theo has been an Arsenal player for three and a half years now and is about to begin his fourth full campaign as a first team player. Yet he is still only 20. Walcott has been a player that has flirted with the sublime and the ridiculous in equal measure, equally capable of cutting defences to ribbons with a sixty yard saunter as he is tripping over the ball under no pressure. For Walcott, shoulder injuries disrupted his progress. The sixty yard run at Anfield in April 2008 was supposed to be Walcott`s grand arrival- his Hendrix playing the star spangled banner at Woodstock, his James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. The focus shifted in September from N5 and expanded nationwide overnight like so many Starbucks when he bagged himself a hat trick for England in Zagreb. Yet further problems with his shoulders elucidated his slight frame and enervated his progress with three months on the sidelines.

This season, the water wings really need to come off. Walcott is edging further and further away from the envelope marked 'potential`, the time has come to cut the apron strings. Walcott has shown on a plethora of occasions that he has the quality to swing games in our favour in individual moments- however, consistency must now be a keen bedfellow to ally to his still all too rough around the edges displays. Firstly, he has to learn how to control the ball much better and be at ease with it at his feet. All too often Walcott lacks composure, believing that every time he receives possession he must slalom past every defender and make a beeline for goal. At times, when the ball reaches his feet, it looks as though a mole has briefly popped out of the ground milliseconds before it comes to him. I often think Walcott`s legs are much too quick for his brain. His ball retention is not what a team like Arsenal requires on the right hand side of midfield, especially when compared to his predecessor in the possession Alex Hleb-who did not seem to understand that surrendering possession of a football was not against the laws of physics. I think Walcott`s presence on the right last season was a more accurate explanation for Fabregas bombing forward less than the old "defensive midfielder" nutshell so often trotted out ad nauseam.

That said, Walcott has the ability to be a pocket dynamo. Witness the assist at Ewood Park for van Persie followed one week later at the Reebok Stadium when he led the Bolton midfield a merry dance in the build up to Denilson`s clincher. Much like Bendtner, Walcott can infuriate and delight in equal measure, by virtue of his nationality Walcott gets an easier ride from supporters. However, supporters are fickle and there`s a new English queen on the scene, with younger perter breasts and doe eyes that set our loins a blaze. Jack Wilshere is already being hyped to the rafters; comparisons with Walcott are all the rage (anyone else notice how football fans are getting more and more like readers of heat magazine by the year?) and the poll results are in. Yep, Wilshere is better, sexier and writes better bass hooks apparently. Walcott may now have to content with the honeymoon period coming to an end as his sleeker cousin shuffles nonchalantly into the spotlight, Theo might have to put up with some backbiting and bitching as over simplified paradigms are drawn.

However, Walcott has an awful lot to offer-he just has to work on his technique slightly and convince us he is more than just a sprinter. Patrice Evra showed in the Champions League semi finals that closing Walcott down quickly and not leaving him space to collect the ball and get it out of his stride neuters his game. He needs to be smarter and more suave; he has improved his body strength and looks more comfortable with his back to goal, but if he can learn to pass the ball more intelligently and then move into space- pushing defences back, he could become quite a weapon. The new 4-3-3 system would seem to suit his strengths more than any other player I can think of. The talk of the summer has been that this year will see Walcott will be nudged forward into a striker role. Looking at the 4-3-3 that has been experimented with in pre season, Theo will take up the wide right berth of the front three. With van Persie spearheading and Arshavin supplying the bullets to his left, the Gunners will not lack guile in the final third or ingenuity in the area. However, defending teams might look at van Persie`s lack of pace in behind defenders and look to squeeze Arsenal up with a high line.

This is where Walcott comes in. The prospect of his pace over the top should teams be tempted to try and make Arshavin and van Persie do their dirty work in the centre circle should either frighten defences into retreat or leave them open to punishment, as I do not honestly think there is a defender in the Premiership who could live with Theo for pace. Particularly if that defender has to turn back and run towards his own goal. This could go some way to enervating Evra`s tactic of squeezing Theo up, with players like Andrey and Robin equally capable of a dinked ball over the top into space, opposing backlines would be unwise to play a high line. Theo will still have to work on his defensive discipline, his awareness off the ball and his tracking back are still some way short. But I`ve no doubt that Arsene has worked tirelessly on making Theo`s off the ball runs sharper so that he can push defences back and free up some space for van Persie and Arshavin. Arsenal began to become too reliant on using Adebayor as a battering ram (perhaps no coincidence that the chief protagonist of the hopeful sixty yard ball to Adebayor has packed his bindle and joined Ade at the circus). Fabregas, Arshavin and van Persie can restore Arsenal to a side that passes and moves to great effect in the final third again and Walcott has the raw materials to be the ace up the sleeve and the apple in the eye of the aforementioned. But Walcott must iron out the small technical deficiencies in his game to really assume the mantle. At 20, he is a rare mixture of youth and experience, the opportunity awaits him. Will he slalom gracefully after it or trip over his own feet chasing it? Therein lies the question that 2009-10 will go some way to revealing.LD.

Walcott has been a player that has flirted with the sublime and the ridiculous in equal measure, equally capable of cutting defences to ribbons with a sixty yard saunter as he is tripping over the ball under no pressure.

The Professor wrote:Why aren't Liverpool dug out as much as Arsenal?

Let me start by saying I don't want anyone, Gooner or Liverpudian, to take this as a dig at Liverpool Football Club. I'm merely using them as an example.

In fact, if Arsenal don't win the Premiership title then I hope Liverpool do. I think there is an affinity between Arsenal and Liverpool supporters. We respect each other and have a bond, especially over the Ray Kennedy fund.

I didn't want to write this, because of my respect for Liverpool, but I felt I had too.

All summer long I've heard that Arsenal are on the wane and are the side most likely to be replaced in the so-called top four. I keep hearing that 2005 was the last time we won anything and that barren run is probably going to continue. This comes from the so-called experts of the media. I hate the media.

The media, more than a senile tape recorder, repeat the fact that the last time Arsenal won anything (2005) the dinosaurs were still in town. Sure, it feels that long ago but I never hear that the last time Liverpool won anything (2006) was in fact only a year later when cavemen took over the planet.

Not a major difference? So why is it that we only hear of Arsenal's trophy-less run?

Last summer it went into overdrive, this year it's even worse! We are being written off more than my old Fiesta and I can't deny it frustrates me. Badly.

If the last time Arsenal won the league was in 1990 I'm sure the media would be wanking. Why is that Arsenal are dug out? It is xenophobia? If that is the case then I'd say the media were hypocrites. They cream their knickers when watching Arsenal at full flight but can't wait to stick the knife in about the amount of foreign players we have.

As I've said, last summer we were dug out more than a fossil would be. It would have been three years since our last trophy. Liverpool are at that stage now but has it actually been mentioned? I'll eat my own pants if it has!

Now let me apologise for using Liverpool as an example. I really hope they have a great season. Of course not at the expense of Arsenal! As I've said if Arsenal don't win the league, I hope Liverpool do.

But this is a perfect of example of the media using Arsenal to get headlines and it pisses me right off. I hope we smash the fucking league and that Arsene Wenger sticks his fingers up the hypocritical wankers.

http://wrighty7.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-arent-liverpool-dug-out-as-much-as.html


-------------------------------------

Stimulus Package wrote:

Walcott has been a player that has flirted with the sublime and the ridiculous in equal measure, equally capable of cutting defences to ribbons with a sixty yard saunter as he is tripping over the ball under no pressure.

This is manifestly untrue, Walcott trips over the ball almost every game, and even the author of the article could only come up with one 60 yard dash in Walcott's Arsenal career, and it's the one Walcott defenders always bring up.

Chris Marsden once scored a goal Maradona would have been proud of...

Stimulus Package wrote:Indeed, Walcott has a better scoring record for Southampton and England than he does for Arsenal.

Hlebagone wrote:

Stimulus Package wrote:

Walcott has been a player that has flirted with the sublime and the ridiculous in equal measure, equally capable of cutting defences to ribbons with a sixty yard saunter as he is tripping over the ball under no pressure.

This is manifestly untrue, Walcott trips over the ball almost every game, and even the author of the article could only come up with one 60 yard dash in Walcott's Arsenal career, and it's the one Walcott defenders always bring up.

Chris Marsden once scored a goal Maradona would have been proud of...

Indeed, even the most mediocre players manage at least 5 60 yeard runs in their career.

Michael Brown once went on a 60-yard run to set up a Robbie Keane goal at Ewood Park in 2004-05...

Hlebagone wrote:

Michael Brown once went on a 60-yard run to set up a Robbie Keane goal at Ewood Park in 2004-05...

1) I dont see the problem here. The author merely used that run as an example of how potent Walcott to be when playing conditions are optimal for him. THis was immediately contrasted with his well documented hindrances. It was not proclaiming him to be the next Maradonna. Or Michael Brown for that matter.
2)I remember that goal. It confirmed to me what a c**t Robbiee Keane is as he scored a tap in, wheeled away for his arrogant rolly-polly celebration without even the slightest of thanks to Brown.

COTR #6 wrote:

The Professor wrote:Why aren't Liverpool dug out as much as Arsenal?

Let me start by saying I don't want anyone, Gooner or Liverpudian, to take this as a dig at Liverpool Football Club. I'm merely using them as an example.

In fact, if Arsenal don't win the Premiership title then I hope Liverpool do. I think there is an affinity between Arsenal and Liverpool supporters. We respect each other and have a bond, especially over the Ray Kennedy fund.

I didn't want to write this, because of my respect for Liverpool, but I felt I had too.

All summer long I've heard that Arsenal are on the wane and are the side most likely to be replaced in the so-called top four. I keep hearing that 2005 was the last time we won anything and that barren run is probably going to continue. This comes from the so-called experts of the media. I hate the media.

The media, more than a senile tape recorder, repeat the fact that the last time Arsenal won anything (2005) the dinosaurs were still in town. Sure, it feels that long ago but I never hear that the last time Liverpool won anything (2006) was in fact only a year later when cavemen took over the planet.

Not a major difference? So why is it that we only hear of Arsenal's trophy-less run?

Last summer it went into overdrive, this year it's even worse! We are being written off more than my old Fiesta and I can't deny it frustrates me. Badly.

If the last time Arsenal won the league was in 1990 I'm sure the media would be wanking. Why is that Arsenal are dug out? It is xenophobia? If that is the case then I'd say the media were hypocrites. They cream their knickers when watching Arsenal at full flight but can't wait to stick the knife in about the amount of foreign players we have.

As I've said, last summer we were dug out more than a fossil would be. It would have been three years since our last trophy. Liverpool are at that stage now but has it actually been mentioned? I'll eat my own pants if it has!

Now let me apologise for using Liverpool as an example. I really hope they have a great season. Of course not at the expense of Arsenal! As I've said if Arsenal don't win the league, I hope Liverpool do.

But this is a perfect of example of the media using Arsenal to get headlines and it pisses me right off. I hope we smash the fucking league and that Arsene Wenger sticks his fingers up the hypocritical wankers.

http://wrighty7.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-arent-liverpool-dug-out-as-much-as.html


-------------------------------------

Can't believe you posted this piece of shit

Incoherent, pointless, rambling, apologetic, self pitying. It couldn't really get much worse

Ray Parlour wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

Michael Brown once went on a 60-yard run to set up a Robbie Keane goal at Ewood Park in 2004-05...

1) I dont see the problem here. The author merely used that run as an example of how potent Walcott to be when playing conditions are optimal for him. THis was immediately contrasted with his well documented hindrances. It was not proclaiming him to be the next Maradonna. Or Michael Brown for that matter.
2)I remember that goal. It confirmed to me what a c**t Robbiee Keane is as he scored a tap in, wheeled away for his arrogant rolly-polly celebration without even the slightest of thanks to Brown.

Ray Parlour wrote:http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_5485601,00.html

Djourou injured.....Wonderful

They just keep coming

Ray Parlour wrote:Bendtner in negotiations for a new deal according to Sky Sports.

Ray Parlour wrote:http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_5485601,00.html

Djourou injured.....Wonderful

They just keep coming

The Professor wrote:

COTR #6 wrote:

The Professor wrote:Why aren't Liverpool dug out as much as Arsenal?

Let me start by saying I don't want anyone, Gooner or Liverpudian, to take this as a dig at Liverpool Football Club. I'm merely using them as an example.

In fact, if Arsenal don't win the Premiership title then I hope Liverpool do. I think there is an affinity between Arsenal and Liverpool supporters. We respect each other and have a bond, especially over the Ray Kennedy fund.

I didn't want to write this, because of my respect for Liverpool, but I felt I had too.

All summer long I've heard that Arsenal are on the wane and are the side most likely to be replaced in the so-called top four. I keep hearing that 2005 was the last time we won anything and that barren run is probably going to continue. This comes from the so-called experts of the media. I hate the media.

The media, more than a senile tape recorder, repeat the fact that the last time Arsenal won anything (2005) the dinosaurs were still in town. Sure, it feels that long ago but I never hear that the last time Liverpool won anything (2006) was in fact only a year later when cavemen took over the planet.

Not a major difference? So why is it that we only hear of Arsenal's trophy-less run?

Last summer it went into overdrive, this year it's even worse! We are being written off more than my old Fiesta and I can't deny it frustrates me. Badly.

If the last time Arsenal won the league was in 1990 I'm sure the media would be wanking. Why is that Arsenal are dug out? It is xenophobia? If that is the case then I'd say the media were hypocrites. They cream their knickers when watching Arsenal at full flight but can't wait to stick the knife in about the amount of foreign players we have.

As I've said, last summer we were dug out more than a fossil would be. It would have been three years since our last trophy. Liverpool are at that stage now but has it actually been mentioned? I'll eat my own pants if it has!

Now let me apologise for using Liverpool as an example. I really hope they have a great season. Of course not at the expense of Arsenal! As I've said if Arsenal don't win the league, I hope Liverpool do.

But this is a perfect of example of the media using Arsenal to get headlines and it pisses me right off. I hope we smash the fucking league and that Arsene Wenger sticks his fingers up the hypocritical wankers.

http://wrighty7.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-arent-liverpool-dug-out-as-much-as.html


-------------------------------------

Can't believe you posted this piece of shit

I expected u to respond with a big lol....becoming so predictable COTR.

Truth hurts.

Hlebagone wrote:

Stimulus Package wrote:Indeed, Walcott has a better scoring record for Southampton and England than he does for Arsenal.

Couldn't care less to be honest. Already shown i'm less than convinced about Walcott and whichever way you spin it, his goalscoring record is pretty poor so to compare his record for different teams seems to descend into little more than petty point scoring.

DS wrote:Everyone says Walcott needs to improve his technique and first touch etc, can it be done at 20 ?
Isnt this the reason alot of nations do technique training when their players are young and muscle training after they have achieved a level of technique.

Stimulus Package wrote:

DS wrote:Everyone says Walcott needs to improve his technique and first touch etc, can it be done at 20 ?
Isnt this the reason alot of nations do technique training when their players are young and muscle training after they have achieved a level of technique.

Probably not. If you can't control a ball while running quickly by the time you're 20, chances are you'll never be able to do it well.

I've still to see any significant improvement in Walcott's play since his Southampton days, and that was 3 years ago. So much for Wenger's ability to develop young players...