Summer Transfer Misery and Recriminations.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

As requested.

Xhaka seems the most likely at this point, not sure that one will descend in to a saga.

[GP]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Niall_Quinn]

Maybe this has been said before, but we need a striker. Preferably not one called Sanogo's Brother.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Maybe this has been said before, but we need a striker. Preferably not one called Sanogo's Brother.

How about Sanogo?

He'll be back.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Night's King. :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

How about Sanogo?

He'll be back.

He'll be like a new postman.

[Niall_Quinn]

So anyway.

Get that AxaInsurance bloke in, or whatever his name is. Provided he doesn't spend his whole time passing sideways and doesn't get injured every time he's touched then that's an improvement.

Also set aside £60-£70mill to get the striker we need. Or find the next Thierry Henry on the cheap (by Thierry Henry I mean not Yaya Sanogo). If we don't plan to do this much at least then forget it. If we go into another season with Bif and Walnut up top then fuck that, heads need to roll, literally.

Also set aside £30mill for a top class CB to work with Kos. Merts is done and Gabriel couldn't take his chance when it was presented.

We need a replacement for Walnut. If Ox had any sense about him he'd be the guy, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And anyway, the loon wants to play him in the centre.

Get all the best medical minds in the world in a room and see if they can come up with a plan for Jack to play more than 3 games next season. Tough task but surely it is not beyond human knowledge?

Sack Wenger.

Okay so that won't happen. But maybe we can get Simeone in anyway and see if he can out-shout the old goat.

[LDG]

He'll be like a new postman.

Can he deliver? I must tell you, he is top top class of course, but you cannot have first class, you know of course that the price of stamps is a bit inflated by Leicester.

[AFC Leveller]

Can he deliver? I must tell you, he is top top class of course, but you cannot have first class, you know of course that the price of stamps is a bit inflated by Leicester.

:lol:

[AFC Leveller]

Its tough because what we need is obvious but the man responsible for buying what we need doesn't see that. He has given Giroud 4 seasons to show what he can do and not once has hit 20 leagues despite playing the majority of games. This tells us (normal people) that this guy is not good enough and we need to replace him, but will that happen? will the manager do whats required and get that quality striker? NO, IMO.

This Xhaka fella looks good on youtube, looks like a proper DCM and is a lefty so would give us a nice balance in the middle. He is a bit like Jack so i wonder if the club have decided to cut their losses with him or not, either way should be interesting.

[Munchies]

He'll be like a new postman.

Oh god, f'n lol'd!! :haha:

[Munchies]

Remember the 2013 transfer thread on here

Jovetic, Bernard, Higuain, Suarez

Last minute Mezoot and no striker for the season

:bow:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSFEaI4HdA

gettahtttt. same shit 3 years later

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Don't get me wrong i think Wenger should go because he hasn't got enough out of the players he has, but for the sake of argument do you believe we'd spend anymore even if he wanted to?....i've never been 100% sure on that.

[Marc Overmars]

Xhaka would be a good start.

Then we absolutely need to find ourselves a quality striker, I don't know who that is but it would be criminal if Wenger swept it under the carpet again.

[selassie]

As requested.

Xhaka seems the most likely at this point, not sure that one will descend in to a saga.

Sounds like the Xhaka deal is already dragging on, been reading we're 10 million apart in valuations, classic Wenger :rolleyes:

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

As requested.

Xhaka seems the most likely at this point, not sure that one will descend in to a saga.

:d

[Munchies]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-d4vVXZXx4

Better than Giroud and Walcott imo. Makes himself present and defenders know they'll have to work hard against him. You just don't know what he's gonna do next!

Like a new signing :bow:

[Niall_Quinn]

Bayern have asked to be kept informed of Alexis' status. This will run all summer. Unfortunately for us Wenger has said he's "confident" the player will sign. Kiss of death. If we can't hang on to this guy it's a massive statement about this club and where we are placed in the global pecking order.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

How many years does his contract have to run?....two i'd imagine.....so even if he gets a bit funny about signing a new deal there's no reason to sell him

Ozil's contract is due to run out next summer so he's the problem

[GP]

Get rid of Ozil, doesn't save enough penalties.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Get rid of Ozil, doesn't save enough penalties.

he.....doesn't.....does he?

[Niall_Quinn]

How many years does his contract have to run?....two i'd imagine.....so even if he gets a bit funny about signing a new deal there's no reason to sell him

Ozil's contract is due to run out next summer so he's the problem

:haha: It's US!

The club isn't going to hang on to a player who wants to leave, not if there's money on the table. And it would be bigger money than they paid too. What's Alexis worth now? £60mill?

This could be a very shitty summer coming up. It's the board's and Wenger's responsibility to turn it around. I have every confidence in them.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I'm going on the fact that Nasri and Van Persie were in the last years of their contracts before we got rid

But you never know, will be interesting how they try and spin it after claiming the above two had to be sold to help pay for the stadium.

We even kept Fibreglass a year after it was abundantly clear he wanted to leave so who knows.

[fakeyank]

I am really trying to be bothered about Ozil and/or Sanchez leaving but dont care really. There is only one change that needs happening at the club, and thats AW leaving... that wont happen till at least end of next season. Till that happens, he can sell/buy players or take a shit at trafalgar square in broad daylight, it doesnt matter really.

#meh

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I'm tremendously bothered by them both leaving, no point in Wenger going if our best players are out of the door before him and we have to spend loads on replacements that will take ages to settle in the side.

[Özim]

Bayern have asked to be kept informed of Alexis' status. This will run all summer. Unfortunately for us Wenger has said he's "confident" the player will sign. Kiss of death. If we can't hang on to this guy it's a massive statement about this club and where we are placed in the global pecking order.

Wenger coming out and saying he's confident we're going to keep a player :lol:

The guy just thinks you can keep hold of players by promising them that with all crocks coming back as new signings and one more years experience we'll no longer be 2% away from domination.

Realistically Sanchez will probably see what the deal is with this club and manager, stagnation and a waste of your career, he's got 2 years left so I think it's probably the right time for him to go for all parties concerned, for him because he won't be winning any major trophies with Wenger in charge and for us (by that I mean the money men) because if his contract runs down to a year his sale will command much less money.

If he leaves who can blame him, any player with any sort of ambition wouldn't want to waste their career at this club at 27 years of age.

[Özim]

How many years does his contract have to run?....two i'd imagine.....so even if he gets a bit funny about signing a new deal there's no reason to sell him

Ozil's contract is due to run out next summer so he's the problem

Not true, a player with 1 year left will be sold at a knockdown fee as they can talk to anyone in January.

Ozil's runs out in 2018 but apparently he's relaxed about the contract and happy to stay in England. We could be seeing him at Man City or Chelsea very soon.

[Özim]

I'm tremendously bothered by them both leaving, no point in Wenger going if our best players are out of the door before him and we have to spend loads on replacements that will take ages to settle in the side.

Two different issues, Wenger leaving is totally separate, he needs to leave regardless. I agree we need to keep them as well, but Wenger isn't going to keep them here, what can he offer them, 4th place?

I don't understand the issues anyone can have with him leaving, he'll have to be replaced at some point and then a new manager will have much the same task as he has now, he may as well go now and let us start early with the rebuilding process.

[Munchies]

I wish Alexis the best of luck.

If Bayern's interest is truly genuine, he's gone. Ribery is old, Robben too. He'd be an upgrade on their wings.

Douglas Costa is doing well against the shit teams in the Bundesliga, he'd do too.

I wish him the best. Outstanding first season, average (by his standards) second season but still has like 15 goals and 9 assists or something.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBqxSapjrP0

Take care :wave:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Two different issues, Wenger leaving is totally separate, he needs to leave regardless. I agree we need to keep them as well, but Wenger isn't going to keep them here, what can he offer them, 4th place?

I don't understand the issues anyone can have with him leaving, he'll have to be replaced at some point and then a new manager will have much the same task as he has now, he may as well go now and let us start early with the rebuilding process.

I think my point was I hope it doesn't take them leaving to unseat him, otherwise we aren't in an especially better situation even with him gone.
It's for the same reason I don't want us to finish 5th just to spite him, I'd rather he go whilst we were still in the top four and had champions league football to entice a top manager and top players.

[Kano]

One but not both players may leave in the summer. Absolutely no way the club will let both go at the same time.

[dostoy]

I bet the idiot will buy at least one midfielder this summer, when we need a top class central defender and a top class striker as well.

I would get rid of both Mertersacker and Giroud and if somebody bid 25 million or more I would let Walcott go as well.

Wenger needs to be aggressive which he never will be of course and I cannot wait until he leaves.

[rodders]

My view is that one or both of Ozil or Sanchez will want to ship out at the end of the season, having realised the lack of direction and ambition deeply rooted in this club. That is the reason why so many have followed
this path in the past whether we care to admit it or not.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

If we hadn't had signed Elneny, I wouldn't have minded signing Wijnaldum after Newcastle get relegated, but perhaps we have enough now...

Wilshere
Ramsey
Elneny
Coquelin
Cazorla
Ozil
Iwobi

If this Nabil Fekir guy is as good is various people are saying then maybe bring him in? Add Lukaku/Aubameyang and Hummels who I think can play CB and DCM.

3 key signings for around 100 million or so, but it will take something significant to get this squad in shape for a serious title challenge.

[fakeyank]

If somebody bid 25 million or more I would let Walcott go as well.



I would pay the other club 25 million to get rid of Walcott

[dostoy]

Blink

Can you really see Wenger spending anything like that amount on ANYONE ?

There is no chance of Hummels or Aubameyang and Lukaku would now be too expensive for Wenger.

[Marc Overmars]

Hummels has handed in a transfer request and wants to join Bayern. :rolleyes:

[GP]

A real challenge.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Hummels has handed in a transfer request and wants to join Bayern. :rolleyes:

Total non surprise, he came through Bayerns academy system and was originally loaned to Dortmund before being bought outright.

[GP]

It was only 2 years ago Hummels was realy having a go at Gotze for doing exactly the same thing.

Dick move.

[GP]

Dortmund play Bayern in the cup final as well.

Jesus christ, at least wait until after that.

[Özim]

Hummels has handed in a transfer request and wants to join Bayern. :rolleyes:

Bayern have been negotiating for a summer move, they don't waste any time, now looks like it's gonna happen. Shame would have made a good signing, sadly we're more content sitting on our arses whingeing noone of high enough quality is available.

Not that we'd have a great chance of signing him with them interested, doesn't hurt to try though when you have a need for better defenders.

[Munchies]

Only Reus has told them to fuck off (as of now). The rest just run down their contracts before leaving with a year left or worse yet move on a free transfer so the club gets nothing (Fuck Lewandowski). Everyone else is fighting for second place. Astounding stuff and I feel for the Dortmund fans. Second best team in Germany continues to be a feeder club to the top one. Rubbish league.

[Globalgunner]

Some footballers have no soul honestly. If i was the Dortmund coach. i would keep him as far from the club as possible. Stay at home jackass.

[GP]

Club captain, no less.

[I am invisible]

I'd still rather be Dortmund than Munich, personally. They may only win 1 title for every 5 of Munich's, but I like the way they do it.

And who are the mugs here, really? Dortmund, with their incredible scouting network and never-ending conveyor belt of talented players (and managers!), or the rest of us who have to pry their players away from them with massive fees and/or massive contract offers? We're all sitting here feeling sorry for them, but it just looks like water off a duck's back to them? A lot of people come out with the old line about no player being bigger than the club, but Dortmund are one of the only clubs who I think prove the point, season after season...

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Blink

Can you really see Wenger spending anything like that amount on ANYONE ?

There is no chance of Hummels or Aubameyang and Lukaku would now be too expensive for Wenger.

Hey.... My request was for a delusional summer transfer thread. How boring and miserable do you want this summer to be?

Dortmund have been quite complicit in feeding Bayern their best......and have done very little to avoid it for years.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

I would pay the other club 25 million to get rid of Walcott

Haha we would be lucky to get anywhere near 25 million for the guy!

[Kano]

Hey.... My request was for a delusional summer transfer thread. How boring and miserable do you want this summer to be?

Dortmund have been quite complicit in feeding Bayern their best......and have done very little to avoid it for years.
What else can they do about it? If a player runs down their contract, doesn't want want to play abroad and then Bayern come calling, the options are petty limited.

[Munchies]

Haha we would be lucky to get anywhere near 25 million for the guy!

£20m+ hopefully :pray:

Hopefully that English premium rate helps out

[Munchies]

We're being linked with Lewandowski :lol:

It has begun

[I am invisible]

We're being linked with Lewandowski :lol:

It has begun

Well I've heard enough - we should tear the Emirates apart, if this incredibly easy and highly likely signing somehow doesn't happen.

[I am invisible]

£20m+ hopefully :pray:

Hopefully that English premium rate helps out


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnNCVx4Qd14

Just replace "allowance day" with "home-grown quota"...

[Munchies]

West Ham in discussion with striker Alexandre Lacazette as Hammers prepare to break their transfer record for Frenchman

West Ham are set to hold talks over Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette
Plans are to break club transfer record to mark arrival at Olympic Stadium
French international is keen on switch and deal would eclipse £15million

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3567416/West-Ham-discussion-striker-Alexandre-Lacazette-Hammers-prepare-break-transfer-record-Frenchman.html

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Post a link!

[Niall_Quinn]

Clubs have started cheating by ignoring the wanting and waiting periods. Absolutely no class.

[mastermind84]

Dortmund have been quite complicit in feeding Bayern their best......and have done very little to avoid it for years.
any examples of this?

[Munchies]

Post a link!

sorry was on my fone

--

Lacazette is the sort of player we should go for.

Which is why we won't go for him.

Injured for a while though, but he's played pretty well and started scoring again

[mastermind84]

we can and should do better than Lacazette.

[selassie]

we can and should do better than Lacazette.

But we wont.

Honestly, I think Wenger will look at Leicester's success and dig his heels in even more and refuse to buy what is required. The reality is they won it through a combination of things that we can only ever dream of offering.

[Niall_Quinn]

Are Wolfsburg going to rescue us again?

Having taken Bendtner (and then realising him after he obviously flopped) they are now rumoured to be interested in Giroud. We couldn't get that lucky twice could we?

No news on how much we'd have to pay them.

[Power n Glory]

The fact that he has picked Giroud to start the last three games and has gone on to say he counts his assist as a goal should set alarm bells ringing. He really can’t help himself but to keep trying with Giroud and he might be crazy enough to start him there again. It’s totally undeserved but I’ve come to expect this from Wenger. From the start of the season, I said I don’t mind if we don’t buy a striker, as long as he tries something new up front. A different type of striker whether that be Walcott, Sanchez, Welbeck, even Campbell just not Giroud. We played our best football with Walcott as striker. The most lethal we’ve looked was against Utd but we haven’t tried playing like that since Walcott returned to the squad. He hasn’t once tried Sanchez him there this season. Joel Campell can play as a striker and not once has he tried to play him there.


“You consider everybody up front when you don’t score,” Wenger reasoned afterwards. “But first I wanted to try something else. Giroud is a presence on crosses. We need him as well on set-pieces, and when our goalkeeper kicks the ball long. He wins many balls and keeps us in the opposition half.”

Giroud has now gone 15 league matches, or 891 minutes, without a goal, the longest run of his career without troubling the scorers. But Wenger was delighted with his assist. “He is a guy who is mentally strong,” the Arsenal manager said. “Today he gave an assist - I put that in the same category as a goal.”

He’s talking out of his backside. How many times has he tried this with Giroud? Why is he so obsessed with trying to keep the ball In the opponents half when we really struggle to break down a compact defence? He said the following in an interview with Geoff Shreeves when talking of how to cope with teams that defensive and better organised.


“We have to go that way. Our passing has to be quicker, our movement has to be sharper and our efficiency in the final third has to be better. We don’t have anybody with 20 goals in the league, so that is a handicap.”


So why the heck is he persisting with Giroud? He’s slow. He’s immobile. He slows us down. Heck, he badly wants him on the pitch then why not try a two striker system. A proper one and not one where we have some winger/striker that fails at doing both jobs like he’s tried in the past? Madness. At least the season is drawing to a close.

[selassie]

The fact that he has picked Giroud to start the last three games and has gone on to say he counts his assist as a goal should set alarm bells ringing. He really can’t help himself but to keep trying with Giroud and he might be crazy enough to start him there again. It’s totally undeserved but I’ve come to expect this from Wenger. From the start of the season, I said I don’t mind if we don’t buy a striker, as long as he tries something new up front. A different type of striker whether that be Walcott, Sanchez, Welbeck, even Campbell just not Giroud. We played our best football with Walcott as striker. The most lethal we’ve looked was against Utd but we haven’t tried playing like that since Walcott returned to the squad. He hasn’t once tried Sanchez him there this season. Joel Campell can play as a striker and not once has he tried to play him there.



He’s talking out of his backside. How many times has he tried this with Giroud? Why is he so obsessed with trying to keep the ball In the opponents half when we really struggle to break down a compact defence? He said the following in an interview with Geoff Shreeves when talking of how to cope with teams that defensive and better organised.



So why the heck is he persisting with Giroud? He’s slow. He’s immobile. He slows us down. Heck, he badly wants him on the pitch then why not try a two striker system. A proper one and not one where we have some winger/striker that fails at doing both jobs like he’s tried in the past? Madness. At least the season is drawing to a close.

Yep, this screams of Wenger wanting to persist with Giroud. I have given up with Wenger, it goes beyond him not knowing what to do but simply doing things to prove people wrong. Going 15 games without a goal as the first choice striker at Arsenal is disgusting, it's not even up for debate regardless of whether he offers the odd assist here and there. Wenger regularly preaches about there not being upgrades in the market on what we currently have? WTF is wrong with him? Is this honestly the best striker he can find for Arsenal?!

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think the persistence with Giroud is hubris, I mean on one hand he is not performing well on the pitch even taking into account his obvious limitation. But also how many crosses are we putting in for him or even trying to get the ball in behind the defence.
Giroud isn't a terrible striker he really isn't, his goal scoring for us whilst not fantastic is not bad either but we need better than not bad.
Giroud is a good player to come on when we are leading and the play is stretched as ridiculous as it is to say, he is probably our best finisher, and handled by a better man manager I actually think he's a valuable asset as he's more likely to get goals from set pieces or score with his head than any other of our players.

But he's not a starter, just like Wiltord wasn't.

[Niall_Quinn]

Well if he counts assists as goals then Ozil is our top scorer, so why is he criticising him for lack of goals? The guy is one contradiction after another. He doesn't know his own mind, let alone the minds of the supporters. Or he doesn't care if he's contradicting himself, perhaps he thinks the media and the fans will forget what he says from day to day and just take his latest excuse at face value. Whatever. It's clear enough that he doesn't have any sort of a plan to improve this squad. He seems determined to stick with what he believes is a successful formula, even though there's no success to show for it. He's doing real and potentially permanent damage to the club now. It's essential he's moved out. Unfortunately the owner is only concerned about moving money out.

[Özim]

But we wont.

Honestly, I think Wenger will look at Leicester's success and dig his heels in even more and refuse to buy what is required. The reality is they won it through a combination of things that we can only ever dream of offering.

What Wenger hasn't realised about Leicester is that their league success has shown him up as the fraud of a manager that he is, always hiding behind excuses of money and this that or the other, this time he's really been shown up by a club who spent very little and are way ahead of his "great" team.

Our season has been a car crash, very few other than Wenger see it otherwise, he's really an embarassment these days, the stuff he's come out with in interviews is cringeworthy to say the least.

[hobson's choice]

Your keep harping on about Giroud, but Ramsey is the biggest problem we have on this squad.

[Power n Glory]

Your keep harping on about Giroud, but Ramsey is the biggest problem we have on this squad.

Both equally as bad as each other.

[Power n Glory]

Yep, this screams of Wenger wanting to persist with Giroud. I have given up with Wenger, it goes beyond him not knowing what to do but simply doing things to prove people wrong. Going 15 games without a goal as the first choice striker at Arsenal is disgusting, it's not even up for debate regardless of whether he offers the odd assist here and there. Wenger regularly preaches about there not being upgrades in the market on what we currently have? WTF is wrong with him? Is this honestly the best striker he can find for Arsenal?!

I really have no idea why and how he's still getting chances. He has to be sold because Wenger can't resist playing him.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Both are decent players but clearly lack the ability to play in the system Wenger wants to use, the best you can say of either is that they are impact substitutes.

Ramsey nauses up the speed and precision of any swift attacking move we make, and Giroud often doesn't have the pace, movement or timing to be the recipient of good football.

[Marc Overmars]

Wenger having his style and philosophy is fine, every manager should have one, but to persist with players who blatantly do not fit into the puzzle is bizarre. You'd think after having enjoyed so much success with a more direct and athletic style of football he'd veer more towards that, instead of this ridiculous passing game that's about as useful as a blunt knife. Fine if you have the players but we obviously don't. This is where he could do with some extra help in terms of coaching but we knew he'd never allow that input.

[Özim]

Wenger having his style and philosophy is fine, every manager should have one, but to persist with players who blatantly do not fit into the puzzle is bizarre. You'd think after having enjoyed so much success with a more direct and athletic style of football he'd veer more towards that, instead of this ridiculous passing game that's about as useful as a blunt knife. Fine if you have the players but we obviously don't. This is where he could do with some extra help in terms of coaching but we knew he'd never allow that input.

Most rational people make mistakes, maybe multiple times but learn from them or look to change things so that they don't happen again, Wenger on the other hand pretends he doesn't make any mistakes and never learns a thing and sticks to the same failing formula year after year, it's frankly embarrassing to watch.

[Power n Glory]

Wenger having his style and philosophy is fine, every manager should have one, but to persist with players who blatantly do not fit into the puzzle is bizarre. You'd think after having enjoyed so much success with a more direct and athletic style of football he'd veer more towards that, instead of this ridiculous passing game that's about as useful as a blunt knife. Fine if you have the players but we obviously don't. This is where he could do with some extra help in terms of coaching but we knew he'd never allow that input.

It really is bizarre and so frustrating to watch each week. I can't even say we don't have the players to play the way he wants. What's really stopping him from playing Sanchez up front? What took him so long to play Elneny? He's mismanaged the squad for years now and it's becoming more obvious that he has really lost the plot. For years I've thought we should have been playing both Cesc and Rosicky or Nasri through the middle like we have seen him try with Cazorla and Ozil. Now that he's doing that he's playing with the wrong sort of striker all together. I've lost a lot of respect for him as a coach. I don't know why it takes him so long to figure out the best team and tactics after all these years.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think with Wenger it's partly loyalty and partly hubris, he does not want to be ruthless and stick the knife in but also he is obsessed with doing what people tell him can't be done. It's like the more he hears from people that Giroud and Ramsey don't fit into his system the more he will try and prove people wrong.

Combine what is essentially a very stubborn individual and make it even worse by giving that stubborn individual unrivalled power, and it's a recipe for disaster.

[fakeyank]

Wengers mom should have just gone to sleep that night... bitch.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Wengers mom should have just gone to sleep that night... bitch.

You.....really have issues don't you?

[Maestro]

Wengers mom should have just gone to sleep that night... bitch.


Okay I really dislike Wenger and have lost respect for him and his ways, but jeez FY

[Power n Glory]

I think with Wenger it's partly loyalty and partly hubris, he does not want to be ruthless and stick the knife in but also he is obsessed with doing what people tell him can't be done. It's like the more he hears from people that Giroud and Ramsey don't fit into his system the more he will try and prove people wrong.

Combine what is essentially a very stubborn individual and make it even worse by giving that stubborn individual unrivalled power, and it's a recipe for disaster.

It seems that way on the surface but he's been totally ruthless with Campbell, Walcott and Merts but Giroud and Ramsey get chance after chance. There are still ways to add his touch to the team and do what others don't expect. If he wants to create star players he's still able to do that with the squad he has. Why not convert Sanchez into a striker like Simeone has done at Atletico with Griezmann? Wenger would still get the praise for doing what others haven't done. If he wants to play the underdog card, we have a team full of players that have just as much doubt surrounding them but have never been given the same opportunities as other players. What he's doing is just foolish. I'm not sure what's the driving force behind it but it's foolish.

[GP]

Wengers mom should have just gone to sleep that night... bitch.

Grow up.

[fakeyank]

Okay I really dislike Wenger and have lost respect for him and his ways, but jeez FY

It's a joke :rolleyes:

[fakeyank]

You.....really have issues don't you?

Not as much issues as wanting Ramsey dead but yea...

Oh, and it was a joke.

[Kano]

American humour :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wenger. :haha:

If he hadn't been born we could have won nothing in 20 years.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Not as much issues as wanting Ramsey dead but yea...

Oh, and it was a joke.

Indeed but considering i've never said i want Ramsey dead

And yes realise it was a joke, but interesting that you seem to wish that a man who won us three league titles had never joined the club

[Kano]

I think Ramsey dying might bring about the apocalypse.

[I am invisible]

Some kind of extinction-level event anyway...

[Niall_Quinn]

Bring it on, because when that happens Jebus is coming down to lift me up personally and save me. So I don't care if all you bitches burn in Ramsey's fire.

[GP]

We should sign Griezmann and Lewa and Higuain and Messi and Drinkwater.

[Munchies]

We all mentioned Griezmann back here on the 2013 thread

:ilt:

[Power n Glory]

I remember. He'd have been played on the wing anyway.

[mastermind84]

But we wont.

Honestly, I think Wenger will look at Leicester's success and dig his heels in even more and refuse to buy what is required. The reality is they won it through a combination of things that we can only ever dream of offering.

im not necessarily disagreeing with you but my post was about some people on this forum being excited about Lacazette.

[mastermind84]

Your keep harping on about Giroud, but Ramsey is the biggest problem we have on this squad.

there is no context for this. Ramsey is absolutely not a problem.

He has even been good hte last few matches.



On the low, Sanchez is our biggest problem.

[I am invisible]

Icardi being touted again - latest fictional theory is that he might be looking for a move if Inter miss out on the CL?

I have no faith in us signing any kind of striker any more, but at least this one sounds a little more plausible than talk of Lewandowski or Aubameyang or an aging Ibrahimovich on a million pounds a minute contract, etc...

[selassie]

im not necessarily disagreeing with you but my post was about some people on this forum being excited about Lacazette.

I think a lot of us are desperate for anyone but Giroud, yeah Giroud is OK but he's not starting quality material, well not if we want to improve.

I agree with you about Lacazette, he's not bad...kind of reminds me of a French Defoe.

[mastermind84]

I think a lot of us are desperate for anyone but Giroud, yeah Giroud is OK but he's not starting quality material, well not if we want to improve.

I agree with you about Lacazette, he's not bad...kind of reminds me of a French Defoe.
yeah, he hasnt been as potent this year without Fekir.

Fekir is someone I think we should look at if/when Sanchez leaves. If he can recover from the ACL, he may be a better fit.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

What else can they do about it? If a player runs down their contract, doesn't want want to play abroad and then Bayern come calling, the options are petty limited.

They could entertain, perhaps even encourage interest in players before it has run down...... I'm won't comment on the ethics but I suspect they could have attracted a buyer for Robert Lewandowski a year or two before he went.

They could also put a team together capable of winning the title too as they have done before.....though I appreciate that is easier said than done.....but they do have only one serious contender to focus on.

[Niall_Quinn]

Sept 2013

Arsène Wenger has given Arsenal's supporters the statement signing they have craved with the €50m (£42.5m) purchase of the attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid, a move that has nearly trebled the club's previous highest outlay on a player. The manager had expressed the confidence that Arsenal's increased financial firepower would permit him to complete a deal for one of the biggest names on the market. At 10.30pm on Monday he could celebrate a coup.

Ozil becomes the third most expensive signing in British football history, behind Fernando Torres, who joined Chelsea from Liverpool for £50m in 2011, and Carlos Tevez, who cost Manchester City £45m. The 24-year-old has agreed a five-year contract, which is worth a basic £150,000 a week, with bonuses on top, having completed a medical earlier in the day in Germany, where he was preparing with his national team for the World Cup qualifier against Austria on Friday.

There was jubilation from Wenger and the Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis, with the latter describing Ozil as a "world-class player, who is one of Europe's brightest young talents". Gazidis also paid tribute to the support of the club's majority shareholder Stan Kroenke who, he said, "wants to see Arsenal winning titles and trophies and has absolute faith and belief in our manager to achieve that".

May 2016

Mesut Ozil is declared unfit 45 minutes before kick off. And yet he hasn't travelled with the team. Work that one out. Since 2013 absolutely fuck all has changed at Arsenal and Kroenke's real agenda has become known. Meanwhile Wenger stands on a touchline, jubilantly celebrating his latest also-ran triumph.

So which world class players are we signing in the summer lads? I bet they all want to come here.

Goodbye Mesut.

[selassie]

May 2016

Mesut Ozil is declared unfit 45 minutes before kick off. And yet he hasn't travelled with the team. Work that one out. Since 2013 absolutely fuck all has changed at Arsenal and Kroenke's real agenda has become known. Meanwhile Wenger stands on a touchline, jubilantly celebrating his latest also-ran triumph.

So which world class players are we signing in the summer lads? I bet they all want to come here.

Goodbye Mesut.

He's gone, Mesut has been making noises in the press for a while now, planting the seeds to his exit, we're going to have a job on our hands convincing him to stay, same with Alexis, I read he went straight for the tunnel whilst the rest of the team clapped the away support. It was obvious it would come to this.

[Niall_Quinn]

I heard he hadn't travelled at all.

[Özim]

He'd love to play for Zidane according to him and has said you don't know what the future holds (not in those exact words but as good as), add in yesterday's weird events and it doesn't look great. Wouldn't be entirely surprised though, what top player would really want to stick around at such an unambitious club?

http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2016/05/mesut-ozils-worrying-response-for-arsenal-when-asked-about-madrid-manager/

(http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2016/05/mesut-ozils-worrying-response-for-arsenal-when-asked-about-madrid-manager/)

[Gooner23]

Losing one or both of Ozil and Sanchez would be a disaster for the club, both on the pitch and PR wise. No way the club can put a positive spin on that!

[selassie]

I heard he hadn't travelled at all.

Yeah I don't think Mesut did, the tunnel thing was Alexis.

[Niall_Quinn]

Losing one or both of Ozil and Sanchez would be a disaster for the club, both on the pitch and PR wise. No way the club can put a positive spin on that!

They'd blame the fans.

[Özim]

They'd blame the fans.

Kinda like they did with Adebayor, it's always the fans fault naturally, why would it be the fault of the players or manager who only get paid a few million a year to do their job, clearly people who pay have to shoulder the blame for all of this.

[AFC Leveller]

Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Borussia Monchengladbach star Granit Xhaka, according to German website Sport1.de.

The Swiss international hasn’t hidden his desire to play in the Premier League and has been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United, along with the Gunners.

The German publication claim the move will cost Arsenal between £23m and £31m.

[AFC Leveller]

Yeah I don't think Mesut did, the tunnel thing was Alexis.

I would not blame Ozil or Alexis for wanting to leave, these guys arent stupid. They know, having been here for the last few years, that winning the big trophies is beyond the club and there somes a time when money isnt all that matters for them.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Doesn't surprise me, this rumour has been repeated enough to make it seem plausible

Even when we get rid of Flamini, Rosicky and Arteta we will be stuck with too many central midfielders

Cazorla, Elneny, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Coquelin and then Xhaka

Means very troublingly that Wenger has cast iron excuse not to replace Ozil when he is sold

[Globalgunner]

Doesn't surprise me, this rumour has been repeated enough to make it seem plausible

Even when we get rid of Flamini, Rosicky and Arteta we will be stuck with too many central midfielders

Cazorla, Elneny, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Coquelin and then Xhaka

Means very troublingly that Wenger has cast iron excuse not to replace Ozil when he is sold

When you refuse to get with the program, you inevitably get sold.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

When you refuse to get with the program, you inevitably get sold.

I've lost all hope of Man City signing someone like Ramsey, Pep is too smart to do such a thing

[Munchies]

Xhaka talk building again

Coquelin probably will be benched

Flamini gone
Arteta gone

Xhaka - Elneny as our midfield

[GP]

Xhaka talk building again

Coquelin probably will be benched

Flamini gone
Arteta gone

Xhaka - Elneny as our midfield

Jack - Aaron

Xhaka, Elneny on the bench. Coq sold.

[selassie]

I would not blame Ozil or Alexis for wanting to leave, these guys arent stupid. They know, having been here for the last few years, that winning the big trophies is beyond the club and there somes a time when money isnt all that matters for them.

Me neither, I've no idea what Wenger promised either of them when they signed because it sounds to me like he sold a dream to Mesut, given what Mesut said after he signed for us.

They have no need to stick around scrapping for 4th place, they know it, we know it and I suspect Wenger knows it even if he is privately digging his heels in. They are not even paid that well in comparison to elite players in other top 4 clubs so we have pretty much nothing to offer them.

[I am invisible]

Wenger's got Ramsey and Wilshere the wrong way round in his thinking in my opinion? He keeps playing Wilshere further forward and Ramsey deep, but I've always thought that Wilshere is far more effective when he plays deep, and has the game in front of him, and I think Ramsey's natural, cavalier style is far better suited to one of the more advanced roles? I'd even consider using Ramsey as an alternative to Özil behind the CF, when we need an additional runner / goal-scorer more than a creative passer (or, to put it another way, any game where we have Giroud as CF)...

[Özim]

Doesn't matter where you play Wilshere, he'll never stay fit, then there's his off the field discipline as well, hope we get rid he's another Walcott.

[Munchies]

Theo Walcott on verge of agreeing deal to sign for West Ham

From the Sun so I cba giving them a click on their shit site. No quotes or anything, but hopefully he's off.

Thanks for the 12/13 season and nothing else, time to say goodbye.

[Özim]

Theo Walcott on verge of agreeing deal to sign for West Ham

From the Sun so I cba giving them a click on their shit site. No quotes or anything, but hopefully he's off.

Thanks for the 12/13 season and nothing else, time to say goodbye.

Really hope this is true, we need to start moving these non performers on, it seems Wenger won't unless the player insists he doesn't want to stay.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

You must be joking, no club is going to be stupid enough to pay his wages.

[Niall_Quinn]

You must be joking, no club is going to be stupid enough to pay his wages.

It's only £140,000 a week isn't it? Who's going to baulk at that, for a player like Walcott? They'll be queuing up.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

It's only £140,000 a week isn't it? Who's going to baulk at that, for a player like Walcott? They'll be queuing up.

On the other hand didn't they keep Ljungberg on something silly like 90k a week, so there is a precedent I guess

[Kano]

The Spammers paid 17mill for Andy Carroll and almost 100k a week in wages, so West Ham know how to do stupid.

[fakeyank]

Theo Walcott on verge of agreeing deal to sign for West Ham

From the Sun so I cba giving them a click on their shit site. No quotes or anything, but hopefully he's off.

Thanks for the 12/13 season and nothing else, time to say goodbye.

How much are we paying West Ham?

[GP]

How much are we paying West Ham?

That's not how transfers work.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

The Spammers paid 17mill for Andy Carroll and almost 100k a week in wages, so West Ham know how to do stupid.

Incidentally the other guy being linked with the domestic bid is Benteke.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Stat DNA a CB and CF.....

I'll miss having a player like Rosicky around. Very particular and unique skill set he has.

[Munchies]

@AFCAMDEN
Welbeck's injury looks a bad one & thoughts at the moment are anywhere between 3-6 months. Full results on Wednesday. Gutted for the boy.

https://twitter.com/AFCAMDEN/status/729780021473230848

FFS

[Kano]

There's obviously been good reason why Giroud has been starting games recently then.

[fakeyank]

That's not how transfers work.

No way! Really?

[Thierrymon]

A few places are talking about us signing Granit Xhaka now. This one is going to be the annual, drawn out all summer, transfer ordeal huh?

[Niall_Quinn]

Wenger's had his eye on this Xhaka for a couple of seasons now, so this is a non-signing. The player might be great but Wenger will have already worked out how he wants to fit him into the shitty, shitty, shitty, pointless system he favours. To get excited we'd have to see something out of the blue, some indication Wenger intends to change the way we play. That won't happen.

[Niall_Quinn]

I bet you Bilic will get Walnut playing. That's going to be pretty frustrating when it happens.

[Niall_Quinn]

Here we are, typical Arsenal, classic WUMger. Fucking around avoiding what we need to do so we can play the "one for the future" game again. Name them - all the "ones for the future" who have broken through to the first team and played regularly.

SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY!


Arsenal have made an offer for Bolton Wanderers defender Rob Holding.
The 20-year-old was dropped from Bolton's squad to play Fulham at the weekend after directors instructed caretaker manager Jimmy Phillips to leave him out as a precaution to protect their asset. Bolton value Holding at around £5million but Arsenal are looking to deal closer to £2million for a player who has one year left on his contract.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I bet you Bilic will get Walnut playing. That's going to be pretty frustrating when it happens.

I doubt it, he either wasn't that good to begin with or has come down with incurable Wengeritis

[I am invisible]

I bet you Bilic will get Walnut playing. That's going to be pretty frustrating when it happens.

Good luck to him - it's clearly never going to happen for Walcott here, so someone else may as well have a crack at him. As long as we end up with something that works out better for us (and playing with 10 men would probably work out better for us right now), then I really couldn't care less what Bilic or whoever manages to get out of him...

[GP]

I'm sure he'll feel much more at home in an athletics stadium.

[Munchies]

Hummels moving to Bayern for near £30m

http://www.bvb.de/News/Uebersicht/Hummels-verlaesst-Borussia-Dortmund-im-Sommer

Would've been good for us

[Munchies]

Renato Sanchez moving to Bayern from Benfica for £27m too

United fans :lol:

[Munchies]

Renato Sanchez moving to Bayern from Benfica for £27m too

United fans :lol:

Just read it could rise to £63m with addons

who?

[Power n Glory]

Good luck to him - it's clearly never going to happen for Walcott here, so someone else may as well have a crack at him. As long as we end up with something that works out better for us (and playing with 10 men would probably work out better for us right now), then I really couldn't care less what Bilic or whoever manages to get out of him...

Walcott should have moved on from Arsenal a long time ago and followed the moves of Sturridge and Welbeck, two other players that felt under utilised at their former clubs and wanted to play as strikers. Both players moved early enough in their careers to learn the role and settle in. Walcott is now 27 and has wasted a huge chunk of his career. He’s neither winger or striker, injury prone and really hasn’t developed the essential skills needed to play up front or wide. He’s still very raw and inconsistent. He has to pray he hits the ground running at his next club or it’s lights out on his career. He’s had some bad advisors around him and Wenger hasn’t done him any favours with this silly development plan. All those years playing him on the right wing for what?

[AFC Leveller]

Bayern Munich, won the league alst saturday, already signed up two players ti improve their squad and have a manager (Ancelotti) with plenty of trophies to his name.

Proper clubs dont fuck about.

[Niall_Quinn]

Walcott should have moved on from Arsenal a long time ago and followed the moves of Sturridge and Welbeck, two other players that felt under utilised at their former clubs and wanted to play as strikers. Both players moved early enough in their careers to learn the role and settle in. Walcott is now 27 and has wasted a huge chunk of his career. He’s neither winger or striker, injury prone and really hasn’t developed the essential skills needed to play up front or wide. He’s still very raw and inconsistent. He has to pray he hits the ground running at his next club or it’s lights out on his career. He’s had some bad advisors around him and Wenger hasn’t done him any favours with this silly development plan. All those years playing him on the right wing for what?

The hype killed Walcott from day #1. Next big England thing, on the plane before he'd kicked a ball at the top level.

[selassie]

Here we are, typical Arsenal, classic WUMger. Fucking around avoiding what we need to do so we can play the "one for the future" game again. Name them - all the "ones for the future" who have broken through to the first team and played regularly.

SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY!

It's terrifying given what is happening with Chambers who we paid 16mill for. I have no faith in Wenger to develop any young defender adequately, assuming we sign Holding he'll get a game here and there and be moved all around the place.

[Niall_Quinn]

And Campbell, who deserves to have landed many more starts but is overlooked by Wenger for some inexplicable reason. Wenger doesn't want to know unless he can vandalise these youngsters by instilling the Arsenal Way. Tip, tap, sideways, back. Campbell hasn't done enough of that and he's paying the price. He'll be gone too. Then there is the Polish kid we picked up on the cheap, another next big thing. The Brazilian kid who is supposed to be red hot but does anyone know where he is? Youngsters would want to think long and hard before coming anywhere near this club.

[Özim]

Bayern Munich, won the league alst saturday, already signed up two players ti improve their squad and have a manager (Ancelotti) with plenty of trophies to his name.

Proper clubs dont fuck about.

Exactly, but then Bayern are interested in winning trophies, coming 3rd/4th is of no interest to them. I guess we should be grateful with what we have, without Wenger we'd be nothing, probably be playing in the Rymans league by now or something.

[Özim]

The hype killed Walcott from day #1. Next big England thing, on the plane before he'd kicked a ball at the top level.

Yeah he was way overhyped, somehow we signed Walcott and missed out on a player who was far more talented in Bale, we also managed to pay this guy what 140k a week, a job well done. Pat on the back for the messiah Wenger.

[Özim]

And Campbell, who deserves to have landed many more starts but is overlooked by Wenger for some inexplicable reason. Wenger doesn't want to know unless he can vandalise these youngsters by instilling the Arsenal Way. Tip, tap, sideways, back. Campbell hasn't done enough of that and he's paying the price. He'll be gone too. Then there is the Polish kid we picked up on the cheap, another next big thing. The Brazilian kid who is supposed to be red hot but does anyone know where he is? Youngsters would want to think long and hard before coming anywhere near this club.

Football is about picking your favourites, that's how you win, if you picked the players who performed best you'd be in trouble.

You need to nurture your favourites, wrap them in cotton wool (especially on the treatment table where they usually spend most of their time), give them regular and substantial pay rises for doing nothing and most importantly deflect all blame away from them and onto the fans when they don't perform.

If you do that you'll be 2% away from domination.

[I am invisible]

Walcott should have moved on from Arsenal a long time ago and followed the moves of Sturridge and Welbeck, two other players that felt under utilised at their former clubs and wanted to play as strikers. Both players moved early enough in their careers to learn the role and settle in. Walcott is now 27 and has wasted a huge chunk of his career. He’s neither winger or striker, injury prone and really hasn’t developed the essential skills needed to play up front or wide. He’s still very raw and inconsistent. He has to pray he hits the ground running at his next club or it’s lights out on his career. He’s had some bad advisors around him and Wenger hasn’t done him any favours with this silly development plan. All those years playing him on the right wing for what?

Plenty of blame to go around with Walcott, but I still lay most of it with the player - 337 appearances is more than enough chances to have made one of these roles his own, but he doesn't seem to have learned a damn thing?! Even if we assume that Wenger has been sitting on his hands, you'd have thought he might have picked something up from working with the team mates he's had over the years? Or even from the cumulative experience of having played 337 times at the top level? It boggles the mind!

Anyway, whatever... I just can't be bothered with him any more. Ship him out. Move on.

[Power n Glory]

Plenty of blame to go around with Walcott, but I still lay most of it with the player - 337 appearances is more than enough chances to have made one of these roles his own, but he doesn't seem to have learned a damn thing?! Even if we assume that Wenger has been sitting on his hands, you'd have thought he might have picked something up from working with the team mates he's had over the years? Or even from the cumulative experience of having played 337 times at the top level? It boggles the mind!

Anyway, whatever... I just can't be bothered with him any more. Ship him out. Move on.

I still think Walcott has been harshly done by with that striker role. Since coming back from injury he hasn’t started there. Wenger stuck him out on the left where he hasn’t played in years. I only remember him starting games there when he first signed for us. The best we’ve played all season was when Walcott was up front so it’s strange he hasn’t had a game there in so long but Giroud is allowed to go 10 odd games without a goal up front. But Walcott doesn’t help himself. He must have recognised Wenger ages ago Wenger was a complete berk so why hasn’t he taken things into his own hands? Either practice dribbling, beating his man and developing into a winger. Working on his defence and working his socks off to win the ball back. That’s all within his ability to do so he’s at complete fault for that. He should have been smart enough to look for a move away from the club ages ago because it was clear that Wenger would pull this off. He hasn’t developed him into a winger or striker so he’s in no mans land with his career. He’ll end up like Podolski. But yes, it's time he moved on. Long time supporter of the kid but this season has been a joke and he's old enough to know better.

[AFC Leveller]

Walcott is a dumb ass. He has been here for 10 years and i honestly dont know how, he hasnt improved on anything and the way he played on Sunday was atrocious, really really bad. He is a clueless player, he runs and then stops and passes it back to the RB. He is also a player that lacks bottle/bravery, the way he moved out of the way at Sunderland and then again on Sunday when Joe Hart came out was sickening.

[selassie]

And Campbell, who deserves to have landed many more starts but is overlooked by Wenger for some inexplicable reason. Wenger doesn't want to know unless he can vandalise these youngsters by instilling the Arsenal Way. Tip, tap, sideways, back. Campbell hasn't done enough of that and he's paying the price. He'll be gone too. Then there is the Polish kid we picked up on the cheap, another next big thing. The Brazilian kid who is supposed to be red hot but does anyone know where he is? Youngsters would want to think long and hard before coming anywhere near this club.

I think Campbell will be sold in the summer, still no idea what he has done wrong because he should have been getting a lot more starts recently.

Don't even get me started on Wenger when it comes to buying in all these cheaper young players!

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

We have too many players who are essentially "good/decent squad players" but not much else

Joel Campbell is one of those, i'd personally rather get rid of someone like Serge Gnabry but there we go

[Özim]

I think Campbell will be sold in the summer, still no idea what he has done wrong because he should have been getting a lot more starts recently.

Don't even get me started on Wenger when it comes to buying in all these cheaper young players!

Seems to me all he's done wrong is that he's been too effective and not played Wengerball by not passing it sideways and backwards when it makes more sense to be more direct and run with the ball.

We all know Wenger has his favourites, he has from the day he arrives and they get a free pass into the team whatever the circumstances, in the past we could put up with that as the players who were his favourites were very good, now though half of them are dogshite and shouldn't be anywhere near this club.

If it was me I'd have a massive clearout and get rid of the all of the crocks, they can't be relied on and we shouldn't have to rely on them and waste money we could pay to players who actually can play most of a season.

Wenger seems intent on holding onto the crocks though, even after 4-5 years of injuries he still persists, believing that one day if some miracle occurs they'll stay fit and be like new signings, delusional doesn't even begin to explain it.

[Özim]

We have too many players who are essentially "good/decent squad players" but not much else

Joel Campbell is one of those, i'd personally rather get rid of someone like Serge Gnabry but there we go

Campbell has been excellent, he's earnt his place unlike half of the others, been quite impressed with his work rate, creativity and directness, it would be a shame to lose him.

There's plenty I'd show the door before him, probably a dozen or more.

[selassie]

We have too many players who are essentially "good/decent squad players" but not much else

Joel Campbell is one of those, i'd personally rather get rid of someone like Serge Gnabry but there we go

Yep, and this is one of the major problems I have with Wenger's ridiculous transfer policy. He's just stockpiling the squad with "projects" and "squad players" when in reality the less is more approach of actually signing a few high grade starting players to resolve the issues in the spine of our team would be a lot more beneficial.

IMO Wenger has pretty much made a mess of every single area of the squad and will continue to do so until he clears out the dross and brings in real quality.

[Power n Glory]

Yep, and this is one of the major problems I have with Wenger's ridiculous transfer policy. He's just stockpiling the squad with "projects" and "squad players" when in reality the less is more approach of actually signing a few high grade starting players to resolve the issues in the spine of our team would be a lot more beneficial.

Wenger in August 2014.


Olivier Giroud is out injured until the New Year but Wenger says his existing strikers are good enough.

Wenger said: “You have decided I have to buy strikers. I’ve not decided. The squad we have, we have enough to be successful. Why not? Sanogo, Sanchez, Walcott, Podolski, Giroud. Campbell. Of course we can be successful.

“We buy when we have to strengthen the squad. We spend when we have to. It is harder to buy top top players because everyone is in the market and we all know each other.”

The guys an idiot. He'll use these fringe players to justify not buying. He does it all the time but we then end up selling said players off or not using them. It's frustrating.

[I am invisible]

I still think Walcott has been harshly done by with that striker role. Since coming back from injury he hasn’t started there. Wenger stuck him out on the left where he hasn’t played in years. I only remember him starting games there when he first signed for us. The best we’ve played all season was when Walcott was up front so it’s strange he hasn’t had a game there in so long but Giroud is allowed to go 10 odd games without a goal up front. But Walcott doesn’t help himself. He must have recognised Wenger ages ago Wenger was a complete berk so why hasn’t he taken things into his own hands? Either practice dribbling, beating his man and developing into a winger. Working on his defence and working his socks off to win the ball back. That’s all within his ability to do so he’s at complete fault for that. He should have been smart enough to look for a move away from the club ages ago because it was clear that Wenger would pull this off. He hasn’t developed him into a winger or striker so he’s in no mans land with his career. He’ll end up like Podolski. But yes, it's time he moved on. Long time supporter of the kid but this season has been a joke and he's old enough to know better.

Yeah, I do appreciate that side of the argument - it's just massively outweighed by the part of me that is thinking 'grow the fuck up and deal with it'. If the CF chances aren't coming then just accept it, and make a play for a different spot in the side - anywhere, as long as you're playing! It might not be how you thought your career would go, but plenty of players find themselves in that boat. 337 appearances! In all that time he could have made a solid career for himself somewhere, but instead he's sat there with his head stuck up his arse for 10 years, waiting to be given the CF job. Not really got a lot of sympathy for him...

[Power n Glory]

Yeah, I do appreciate that side of the argument - it's just massively outweighed by the part of me that is thinking 'grow the fuck up and deal with it'. If the CF chances aren't coming then just accept it, and make a play for a different spot in the side - anywhere, as long as you're playing! It might not be how you thought your career would go, but plenty of players find themselves in that boat. 337 appearances! In all that time he could have made a solid career for himself somewhere, but instead he's sat there with his head stuck up his arse for 10 years, waiting to be given the CF job. Not really got a lot of sympathy for him...

I agree with you on that. There should have been a point in his career where he should have decided to adapt or move on.

[Kano]

Jon Toral - players player of the year, fans player of the year and goal of the season at Birmingham.

Worth a recall for a spot in the squad?

[fakeyank]

Jon Toral - players player of the year, fans player of the year and goal of the season at Birmingham.

Worth a recall for a spot in the squad?

We have as well Flamini who can play there.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Thinking about Rosicky departing got me thinking.......how good it would be to sign a player like Nedved!

I really think the entire summer will boil down too which forward we buy or don't buy as it may be.....

[Maestro]

Thinking about Rosicky departing got me thinking.......how good it would be to sign a player like Nedved!

I really think the entire summer will boil down too which forward we buy or don't buy as it may be.....

Blink, you stopped mid sentence there. Did you suddenly realise Wenger would still be the manager, and hence the folly of your thoughts l?

[selassie]

Wenger in August 2014.



The guys an idiot. He'll use these fringe players to justify not buying. He does it all the time but we then end up selling said players off or not using them. It's frustrating.

Yep, it pretty much reinforces the point that he is more interested in proving people wrong than just doing what is necessary.

[selassie]

Campbell has been excellent, he's earnt his place unlike half of the others, been quite impressed with his work rate, creativity and directness, it would be a shame to lose him.

There's plenty I'd show the door before him, probably a dozen or more.

That's how I see it too, I wasn't that keen on him initially but he really grew into his role and was scoring goals, providing assists and was then dropped.

It wouldn't be so bad if the alternatives were great but he was dropped for Ox who has been garbage all season!

[Power n Glory]

Yep, it pretty much reinforces the point that he is more interested in proving people wrong than just doing what is necessary.

That's not even all of it.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160509/wenger-giroud-was-at-the-top-level


“Olivier Giroud was questioned recently and I’m happy I kept confidence in him because I thought he had a top-level performance,” the manager told Arsenal Player. “He was fighting, he had control of the ball, he was finishing and he gave an assist.

He really think he's proved people wrong. He's stuck by a striker that hasn't scored in the crucial parts of the season when challenging for the title but scores once the race is officially over! What an absolute idiot!

[Özim]

That's not even all of it.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160509/wenger-giroud-was-at-the-top-level



He really think he's proved people wrong. He's stuck by a striker that hasn't scored in the crucial parts of the season when challenging for the title but scores once the race is officially over! What an absolute idiot!

Giroud has totally flopped, 15 odd games without a goal, poor performances to boot, when it mattered most he went missing and yet Wenger still believes this guy is up to scratch, it's totally ridiculous.

What hope do you have when you have a manager who thinks like a loser, any other manager would be prioritising the signing of a striker and certainly wouldn't be praising a guy after one half decent performance after a long barren spell in a game which in reality didn't mean a great deal in the grand scheme of things.

Whoever questioned him should have pointed out his indifferent performances and lack of goals and the fact we've struggled for goals ourselves.

Really sick of his unwarranted praise for his players, he gives out the praise like it's going out of fashion but you won't hear a word of criticism no matter how bad a player is. The way he treats the players and always absolves them of any blame annoys me too, that's part of the problem too they are too precious for him to say anything negative to.

[Power n Glory]

He's an absolute idiot. Goes along side his 'away winner champion' quote.


Olivier Giroud was questioned recently and I’m happy I kept confidence in him because I thought he had a top-level performance

:doh: The title race is OVER, Wenger.

[Özim]

He's an absolute idiot. Goes along side his 'away winner champion' quote.



:doh: The title race is OVER, Wenger.

Oh and in case he's wondering we drew that match we didn't even win it and the guy scored one goal hardly a mind blowing effort, he's a squad player at best.

[I am invisible]

I agree with you on that. There should have been a point in his career where he should have decided to adapt or move on.

I really think he's missed a trick with this. The wide forward role isn't just a consolation prize for players who haven't made it in through the middle, or somewhere to shove players who we can't find another place for - the role is highly valued amongst the elite. Look at the list of top, top players who have either played wide attack in the past, or are still playing there making a name for themselves... Sanchez, Reus, Griezmann, Mahrez, Bale, Müller, Robben, Ribery, Mhiktaryan, Aubameyang, Dybala, Neymar, Suarez, etc, etc. Messi and Ronaldo for fuck sake! Both those guys played wide for a lot of years. Our greatest ever striker, Henry, played wide before he signed for us, and he played wide again when he went to Barcelona. van Persie played a large chunk of his early career wide. I'm sure I've seen Aguero doing his bit down the right when he has to - makes no odds to him (in fact, most South American forwards are a bit like that). That wide right spot could have been anything that Walcott wanted to make it, and could easily have become the gateway to the CF spot somewhere down the line, but he just didn't want to see it. Such a shame - I'll probably never rate things like his control that highly, but that pace of his could have been used to devastating effect (defensively as well as offensively) if he'd really focussed on learning the job. Grrrr...

[GP]

I really think he's missed a trick with this. The wide forward role isn't just a consolation prize for players who haven't made it in through the middle, or somewhere to shove players who we can't find another place for - the role is highly valued amongst the elite. Look at the list of top, top players who have either played wide attack in the past, or are still playing there making a name for themselves... Sanchez, Reus, Griezmann, Mahrez, Bale, Müller, Robben, Ribery, Mhiktaryan, Aubameyang, Dybala, Neymar, Suarez, etc, etc. Messi and Ronaldo for fuck sake! Both those guys played wide for a lot of years. Our greatest ever striker, Henry, played wide before he signed for us, and he played wide again when he went to Barcelona. van Persie played a large chunk of his early career wide. I'm sure I've seen Aguero doing his bit down the right when he has to - makes no odds to him (in fact, most South American forwards are a bit like that). That wide right spot could have been anything that Walcott wanted to make it, and could easily have become the gateway to the CF spot somewhere down the line, but he just didn't want to see it. Such a shame - I'll probably never rate things like his control that highly, but that pace of his could have been used to devastating effect (defensively as well as offensively) if he'd really focussed on learning the job. Grrrr...

Yes, wide right was so clearly and obviously the best position for him. He's an idiot.

[Munchies]

@honigstein
A change of tack from Wenger? After having earlier offer rebuffed, he's come back to pay full whack for Xhaka. (€50m, including add-ons)

https://twitter.com/honigstein/status/730311920553762816

:o

[Munchies]

@honigstein
Gladbach are trying to get a replacement signed before announcing the deal.

[Özim]

Is this Xhaka really that good, never really heard of him or indeed seen much of him? Interstingly seems to have been sent off 5 times in 3 years, so seems to have a bit of aggression about him, probably not a bad thing considering the players we currently have.

If we do end up spending this amount on this guy I would think a decent striker coming in would be unlikely.

Priority would have been a striker followed by a CB with a DM third for me.

[Power n Glory]

I really think he's missed a trick with this. The wide forward role isn't just a consolation prize for players who haven't made it in through the middle, or somewhere to shove players who we can't find another place for - the role is highly valued amongst the elite. Look at the list of top, top players who have either played wide attack in the past, or are still playing there making a name for themselves... Sanchez, Reus, Griezmann, Mahrez, Bale, Müller, Robben, Ribery, Mhiktaryan, Aubameyang, Dybala, Neymar, Suarez, etc, etc. Messi and Ronaldo for fuck sake! Both those guys played wide for a lot of years. Our greatest ever striker, Henry, played wide before he signed for us, and he played wide again when he went to Barcelona. van Persie played a large chunk of his early career wide. I'm sure I've seen Aguero doing his bit down the right when he has to - makes no odds to him (in fact, most South American forwards are a bit like that). That wide right spot could have been anything that Walcott wanted to make it, and could easily have become the gateway to the CF spot somewhere down the line, but he just didn't want to see it. Such a shame - I'll probably never rate things like his control that highly, but that pace of his could have been used to devastating effect (defensively as well as offensively) if he'd really focussed on learning the job. Grrrr...

I would call those inverted goal scoring wingers. All of the players you mention have superior dribbling technique and can glide past defenders with ease. It’s the evolution of the winger but not that far from what we used to see from Overmars and Pires. Players cutting in on to their stronger foot and scoring rather than playing on the opposite flank putting in crosses. Walcott is a different player. He can’t dribble at high speeds. He doesn’t have the close control to weave in and out of defenders. It’s something he should have learned but when it comes to dribbling, I don’t think it’s a skill you can develop so late on. I’ve never seen a player that was really bad at dribbling turn into a Ronaldinho.

Theo has pace but playing him wide is like seeing Podolski out wide. He has a bit of pace but can’t really dribble like the players you mention. You remember how stiff Podolski was and how anonymous he used to be during games. He’d need others to set him up with a shot. It’s like starting Michael Owen or Jermain Defoe on the flanks early in their careers. These sort of players are different and do more damage when the ball isn’t at their feet. It’s the opposite of a Robben, Ribery or Neymar. Again, it boils down to whether or not you’re a dribbler that likes to take your opponent on. If Theo weren’t so short, he’d probably have gotten more games up front ages ago. The manager should have recognised the type of player he was earlier in his career instead of trying to shoehorn him into something he’s not and not training him and instructing him adequately for that role.

I can extent that thought on to a lot of young players I’ve seen that’s grown up under Wenger. Ramsey and Cesc are good examples. Wenger had them focussing on goal hunting and he set goal targets for Cesc instead of telling the boy to track back and tackle harder. Be a more complete player and balanced before going for goals. That weakness in Cesc went undeveloped for so long it’s now so that he can’t really be trusted to play as CM without someone doing the leg work for him. He messed him up at Barca and he’d be playing as a striker instead of CM. Ramsey is the same. He’s goal hunting and focussed on runs into the box, timing his runs and arriving late into the box instead of helping to build play at the back like what we’re seeing from Elneny. I think Wenger is a bad youth coach. For older players that have had more first team experience, he’s great. But he’s like a bad car instructor that has drivers roaming the back streets doing the basics but won’t teach them how to parallel park or navigate a roundabout. Project youth has been an absolute flop and Theo Walcott is the poster child. Theo should have been smart enough to jump ship earlier. I’m sure if Wenger had Bale and Spurs Walcott, we’d have probably see a role reversal. I seriously doubt Bale would have become the player he is under Wenger. He’s had over 10 years picking out the best young talent from academies across Europe and hasn’t produced anything close to the players he’s bragged about nearly signing.

[I am invisible]

Jon Toral - players player of the year, fans player of the year and goal of the season at Birmingham.

Worth a recall for a spot in the squad?

Why not! I'd certainly take Toral as an option over either Walcott or Ox at the moment. At least he looks hungry and seems to know what he is. Still has to prove himself at this level, but he's certainly aced the Championship test! Either give him a chance or let him go, because I see no value in farming him out on another loan, or shoving him back in the reserves.

To be honest, I'd quite happily sack off a massive chunk of the first team squad at the moment, and promote several of the more promising younger players. Several of the senior players are either already at the end of their Arsenal careers, or will have their best years behind them, another handful might be looking to leave, and yet another group simply aren't good enough or reliable enough - there's potentially a lot of changes on the cards here, and we're not gonna be able to do it all with new signings...

[Power n Glory]

Is this Xhaka really that good, never really heard of him or indeed seen much of him? Interstingly seems to have been sent off 5 times in 3 years, so seems to have a bit of aggression about him, probably not a bad thing considering the players we currently have.

If we do end up spending this amount on this guy I would think a decent striker coming in would be unlikely.

Priority would have been a striker followed by a CB with a DM third for me.

We need a striker. That's the main thing we need over everything else. We saw the difference Suarez made with that bang average Liverpool team. Had them pushing for a the title to the very end.

[Power n Glory]

Why not! I'd certainly take Toral as an option over either Walcott or Ox at the moment. At least he looks hungry and seems to know what he is. Still has to prove himself at this level, but he's certainly aced the Championship test! Either give him a chance or let him go, because I see no value in farming him out on another loan, or shoving him back in the reserves.

To be honest, I'd quite happily sack off a massive chunk of the first team squad at the moment, and promote several of the more promising younger players. Several of the senior players are either already at the end of their Arsenal careers, or will have their best years behind them, another handful might be looking to leave, and yet another group simply aren't good enough or reliable enough - there's potentially a lot of changes on the cards here, and we're not gonna be able to do it all with new signings...

Honestly, we'll get the same results under Wenger. He's a shit coach. We can't get World Cup, CL and League winners to perform consistently so throwing kids into the deep end won't work. They all look hungry at first. I remember Ox and Walcott's first games. Instant impact when they played. It was the same with Jack. But once they stop playing of adrenaline, the form dips and they stop developing.

[Kano]

Why not! I'd certainly take Toral as an option over either Walcott or Ox at the moment. At least he looks hungry and seems to know what he is. Still has to prove himself at this level, but he's certainly aced the Championship test! Either give him a chance or let him go, because I see no value in farming him out on another loan, or shoving him back in the reserves.

To be honest, I'd quite happily sack off a massive chunk of the first team squad at the moment, and promote several of the more promising younger players. Several of the senior players are either already at the end of their Arsenal careers, or will have their best years behind them, another handful might be looking to leave, and yet another group simply aren't good enough or reliable enough - there's potentially a lot of changes on the cards here, and we're not gonna be able to do it all with new signings...

He's certainly worth a place in the squad based on a season where's taken plaudits like that - and it's only his second full season as a pro, which looks promising. Of course the Championship is the Championship but I can't recall a player going out on loan and getting such high praise. I agree about the current first team sqaud too and the fact that a swathe of new signings are not going to resolve the issue. The only concern is what Wenger will do with someone like Toral. He's an attacking mid I believe, so a place on the wing could be the only spot he gets a shot at in the near future, which is far from ideal.

[selassie]

That's not even all of it.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160509/wenger-giroud-was-at-the-top-level



He really think he's proved people wrong. He's stuck by a striker that hasn't scored in the crucial parts of the season when challenging for the title but scores once the race is officially over! What an absolute idiot!

I know it's comical, it's like he just erases the 15 games where Giroud went missing in the most crucial part of the season.

[I am invisible]

I would call those inverted goal scoring wingers. All of the players you mention have superior dribbling technique and can glide past defenders with ease. It’s the evolution of the winger but not that far from what we used to see from Overmars and Pires. Players cutting in on to their stronger foot and scoring rather than playing on the opposite flank putting in crosses. Walcott is a different player. He can’t dribble at high speeds. He doesn’t have the close control to weave in and out of defenders. It’s something he should have learned but when it comes to dribbling, I don’t think it’s a skill you can develop so late on. I’ve never seen a player that was really bad at dribbling turn into a Ronaldinho.

Theo has pace but playing him wide is like seeing Podolski out wide. He has a bit of pace but can’t really dribble like the players you mention. You remember how stiff Podolski was and how anonymous he used to be during games. He’d need others to set him up with a shot. It’s like starting Michael Owen or Jermain Defoe on the flanks early in their careers. These sort of players are different and do more damage when the ball isn’t at their feet. It’s the opposite of a Robben, Ribery or Neymar. Again, it boils down to whether or not you’re a dribbler that likes to take your opponent on. If Theo weren’t so short, he’d probably have gotten more games up front ages ago. The manager should have recognised the type of player he was earlier in his career instead of trying to shoehorn him into something he’s not and not training him and instructing him adequately for that role.

I can extent that thought on to a lot of young players I’ve seen that’s grown up under Wenger. Ramsey and Cesc are good examples. Wenger had them focussing on goal hunting and he set goal targets for Cesc instead of telling the boy to track back and tackle harder. Be a more complete player and balanced before going for goals. That weakness in Cesc went undeveloped for so long it’s now so that he can’t really be trusted to play as CM without someone doing the leg work for him. He messed him up at Barca and he’d be playing as a striker instead of CM. Ramsey is the same. He’s goal hunting and focussed on runs into the box, timing his runs and arriving late into the box instead of helping to build play at the back like what we’re seeing from Elneny. I think Wenger is a bad youth coach. For older players that have had more first team experience, he’s great. But he’s like a bad car instructor that has drivers roaming the back streets doing the basics but won’t teach them how to parallel park or navigate a roundabout. Project youth has been an absolute flop and Theo Walcott is the poster child. Theo should have been smart enough to jump ship earlier. I’m sure if Wenger had Bale and Spurs Walcott, we’d have probably see a role reversal. I seriously doubt Bale would have become the player he is under Wenger. He’s had over 10 years picking out the best young talent from academies across Europe and hasn’t produced anything close to the players he’s bragged about nearly signing.

Interesting. I've always thought of it as being the evolution of the traditional goal-poacher role, but I can see the inverted winger thing too? I suppose it can be either - I've seen players who come to the role from more of a striking background, and others who were more traditional traditional wingers. The role as it is now demands a bit of both, but I think you can still tell what background the player has come from when you look at them, and both can work in their own way. Pires and Ljungberg are a good example of the difference: Pires was far more of a dribbler and a creative, and was more likely to cut inside onto his stronger foot from a bit further out, whereas Ljungberg was more of a burst-through-the-lines type, as he'd look to overlap the forwards and finish first time. I agree that there's no chance that Walcott was ever being another Pires, but I think he could have made a passable Ljungberg? Doesn't necessarily matter if you're not the best at dribbling - you can work around that by building a solid understanding with your fullback. I never thought Freddie was an amazing dribbler either, but it was never an issue because he knew how to work with Ralphy on the overlap.

With Ramsey and Cesc, I don't have a problem with them being focussed more towards hunting goals, per se - it only becomes a serious problem for me when we put them in central midfield. I just think it's a fundamental mis-match between playing style and the demands of that particular role. As you say, what you want to see in a modern central midfielder is more what we're seeing from Elneny - you need to have the ability to do a bit of everything, but it has to be married to positional discipline and solid judgment. Cesc and Ramsey as attackers? No problem with that at all. Cesc and Ramsey as central midfielders? Doesn't work for me - not with how we've trained them to play.

[Gooner23]

I know it's comical, it's like he just erases the 15 games where Giroud went missing in the most crucial part of the season.

Very selective memory has Arsene. Its why I am not sure the defeats really hurt him that badly. Yes, during the game and in the immediate aftermath I think it gets to him, but after that it seems to be quickly consigned to just another case of bad luck, conditions were not perfect, poor referee etc etc.

I know he has never been in the business of publicly slamming his own players, which I get. But maybe after 20 years of repeating the same sort of thing, he does generally believe what he's saying now.

[I am invisible]

Is this Xhaka really that good, never really heard of him or indeed seen much of him? Interstingly seems to have been sent off 5 times in 3 years, so seems to have a bit of aggression about him, probably not a bad thing considering the players we currently have.

If we do end up spending this amount on this guy I would think a decent striker coming in would be unlikely.

Priority would have been a striker followed by a CB with a DM third for me.

Yeah, I'd never really heard of him before this season, but he sounds like the kind of player we need in the middle? Heard him likened to Schweinsteiger in terms of style, which sounds promising in as far as it goes.

Not sure where I'd put a CM in our list of priorities? I agree about the desperate need for a striker and a CB, but I also think that our season fell apart alarmingly quickly when we lost Cazorla, and that's not a situation that I'm keen to find ourselves in again. As things currently stand, we'll have 3 senior players who can do that controlling job from CM for next season - Cazorla, Elneny and Wilshere - and of those 3, Cazorla has just done his cruciate at 31 (and may even be looking for one last move - who knows?), and Wilshere is Wilshere! That leaves us with just the new boy as the only option that I have any kind of long-term confidence in. Coq is a different type of player altogether, and Ramsey, IMO, should be classed as an attacker - if we can bring in another proprt central midfielder, then I'm all for it. Not particularly fussed about the order the signings are made in, just as long as they are actually made...

[GP]

Not sure where I'd put a CM in our list of priorities?

Well 3 of them will be out the door, so we need numbers in there at least.

[Özim]

Very selective memory has Arsene. Its why I am not sure the defeats really hurt him that badly. Yes, during the game and in the immediate aftermath I think it gets to him, but after that it seems to be quickly consigned to just another case of bad luck, conditions were not perfect, poor referee etc etc.

I know he has never been in the business of publicly slamming his own players, which I get. But maybe after 20 years of repeating the same sort of thing, he does generally believe what he's saying now.

Spot on,he gets over bad runs and results very quickly, they never seem to affect for long and one shirt unbeaten run or the odd decent performance for a player are good enough to convince him things are perfect or that a player is good enough.

You can't trust him to see things as they are as he's ridiculously easy to please.

[I am invisible]

He's certainly worth a place in the squad based on a season where's taken plaudits like that - and it's only his second full season as a pro, which looks promising. Of course the Championship is the Championship but I can't recall a player going out on loan and getting such high praise. I agree about the current first team sqaud too and the fact that a swathe of new signings are not going to resolve the issue. The only concern is what Wenger will do with someone like Toral. He's an attacking mid I believe, so a place on the wing could be the only spot he gets a shot at in the near future, which is far from ideal.

Same goes for Toral as I was saying about Walcott: if he wants to play for this club, at this time, then you take whatever spot is available and make it your own. His preferred role might become available at some point down the line, but at this stage of his career he shouldn't be focussed on anything more than doing the job that the team demands, and making a name for himself.

I've never really seen minor switches like that as being a problem for talented attackers anyway - the skill set involved is pretty much the same whether you're playing left, right or central: creative passing, accurate shooting, intelligent movement, (ideally) decent dribbling ability, etc. If you think of it as going from point A to point B, where point B is always the opponents goal, then does it really matter that much where point A is? Most attacks are pretty fluid these days anyway, with any attacker popping up anywhere depending on how the play unfolds...

[Power n Glory]

Interesting. I've always thought of it as being the evolution of the traditional goal-poacher role, but I can see the inverted winger thing too? I suppose it can be either - I've seen players who come to the role from more of a striking background, and others who were more traditional traditional wingers. The role as it is now demands a bit of both, but I think you can still tell what background the player has come from when you look at them, and both can work in their own way. Pires and Ljungberg are a good example of the difference: Pires was far more of a dribbler and a creative, and was more likely to cut inside onto his stronger foot from a bit further out, whereas Ljungberg was more of a burst-through-the-lines type, as he'd look to overlap the forwards and finish first time. I agree that there's no chance that Walcott was ever being another Pires, but I think he could have made a passable Ljungberg? Doesn't necessarily matter if you're not the best at dribbling - you can work around that by building a solid understanding with your fullback. I never thought Freddie was an amazing dribbler either, but it was never an issue because he knew how to work with Ralphy on the overlap.

With Ramsey and Cesc, I don't have a problem with them being focussed more towards hunting goals, per se - it only becomes a serious problem for me when we put them in central midfield. I just think it's a fundamental mis-match between playing style and the demands of that particular role. As you say, what you want to see in a modern central midfielder is more what we're seeing from Elneny - you need to have the ability to do a bit of everything, but it has to be married to positional discipline and solid judgment. Cesc and Ramsey as attackers? No problem with that at all. Cesc and Ramsey as central midfielders? Doesn't work for me - not with how we've trained them to play.

Are there many goal poachers playing wide these days? When you say goal poacher, I think of players play Inzaghi, Owen and Raul. Thomas Muller perhaps for the modern game? I don’t know.

Yes, you’re right to mention Ljungberg and that’s who Wenger has told Theo to base his game on. Freddie wasn’t a dribbler and recall he played a ACM role for Sweden instead of playing the flanks like he did at Arsenal. I guess because he comes from a midfield background he’s more inclined to work his way into the box using other players around him. Thinking about it more, it reminds me of how we’ve tried to use Rosicky on the flanks, Nasri or even Ramsey. But even though these players look more polished than Theo, it never really worked because we’d still have problems breaking a team down. Different era for Freddie. I don’t know how well a Ljunberg type would work for us today. Players like Rosicky, Nasri and Ramsey are more rounded players than Theo. They’re central players that can play wide but that natural inclination to pass just feeds into that overplaying mentality we have. Square pegs in round holes. I don’t know if I’d want that sort of player on the flanks again.

But Theo certainly could have tried to get more involved with the build-up play. I don’t know what’s happened to Theo’s game recently. He’s fully focussed on making runs in around the box instead of trying to work the ball a bit more. It makes him look even more useless. I don’t know why Wenger hasn’t pointed out the low figures on his passing and touch of the ball stats. Or why Theo himself can’t assess a situation for himself and adjust his game. I really don’t know why we have so many players that can’t take the initiative. It really pisses me off. They can’t adjust their game on the fly. They just keeping doing the same crap over and over. We struggling to control the middle of the park but Ramsey continues to show no discipline in his movement and won’t making supporting runs as we see from Elneny. Ozil constantly passing and passing instead of trying to create a shooting opportunity for himself for a change. Giroud spending the whole game trying to wrestle defenders instead of losing his marker and making penetrative runs. Wilshere releasing the ball earlier so he doesn’t injury himself. I don’t know why they’re so brain dead and dull. Wenger is partly to blame but I don’t see him as an inflexible manager that tells these guys to stick to the script or else. So I partly agree with the criticism of the players as well.

[Özim]

Are there many goal poachers playing wide these days? When you say goal poacher, I think of players play Inzaghi, Owen and Raul. Thomas Muller perhaps for the modern game? I don’t know.

Yes, you’re right to mention Ljungberg and that’s who Wenger has told Theo to base his game on. Freddie wasn’t a dribbler and recall he played a ACM role for Sweden instead of playing the flanks like he did at Arsenal. I guess because he comes from a midfield background he’s more inclined to work his way into the box using other players around him. Thinking about it more, it reminds me of how we’ve tried to use Rosicky on the flanks, Nasri or even Ramsey. But even though these players look more polished than Theo, it never really worked because we’d still have problems breaking a team down. Different era for Freddie. I don’t know how well a Ljunberg type would work for us today. Players like Rosicky, Nasri and Ramsey are more rounded players than Theo. They’re central players that can play wide but that natural inclination to pass just feeds into that overplaying mentality we have. Square pegs in round holes. I don’t know if I’d want that sort of player on the flanks again.

But Theo certainly could have tried to get more involved with the build-up play. I don’t know what’s happened to Theo’s game recently. He’s fully focussed on making runs in around the box instead of trying to work the ball a bit more. It makes him look even more useless. I don’t know why Wenger hasn’t pointed out the low figures on his passing and touch of the ball stats. Or why Theo himself can’t assess a situation for himself and adjust his game. I really don’t know why we have so many players that can’t take the initiative. It really pisses me off. They can’t adjust their game on the fly. They just keeping doing the same crap over and over. We struggling to control the middle of the park but Ramsey continues to show no discipline in his movement and won’t making supporting runs as we see from Elneny. Ozil constantly passing and passing instead of trying to create a shooting opportunity for himself for a change. Giroud spending the whole game trying to wrestle defenders instead of losing his marker and making penetrative runs. Wilshere releasing the ball earlier so he doesn’t injury himself. I don’t know why they’re so brain dead and dull. Wenger is partly to blame but I don’t see him as an inflexible manager that tells these guys to stick to the script or else. So I partly agree with the criticism of the players as well.

Either they're a bunch of fairweather players, the manager can't motivate them or they are drilled and told they have to play this way by Wenger.

Watching Leicester was refreshing for me, their players showed so much desire to win and were so well organised and worked so hard, something we never see from our lot. We've had to watch teams with a lack of genuine desire to succeed for years now, you never really see us fighting for every ball, closing down players or making it hard for the opposition, our players are like drones taught to play one way who don't seem to be able to use their brains to adapt to different situations.

[Power n Glory]

Either they're a bunch of fairweather players, the manager can't motivate them or they are drilled and told they have to play this way by Wenger.

Watching Leicester was refreshing for me, their players showed so much desire to win and were so well organised and worked so hard, something we never see from our lot. We've had to watch teams with a lack of genuine desire to succeed for years now, you never really see us fighting for every ball, closing down players or making it hard for the opposition, our players are like drones taught to play one way who don't seem to be able to use their brains to adapt to different situations.

Probably all of the above. The few players we have that try to make something happen will leave. The ones that are clearly struggling will plod along until we're forced to sell.

[Niall_Quinn]

Hard to muster enthusiasm for any of this. What's most alarming is how the freshness Iwobi and ElNeny initially brought to the team has vanished. They are now both playing like Wenger players, in other words they are half as effective as before and suddenly they are making the same sort of mistakes as the rest of the team. The contributions they were making that got you out of your seat in appreciation, a rare commodity at Arsenal these days, are on the wane.

Oxlade Chamberlain, I thought he'd go on to be the brightest young talent in the league. Wengerised.

Young Callum Chambers looked excellent when he first arrive. Then he was switched around the place, used in a random fashion and his game has gone the way of the rest. That nonsense about him being a holding midfielder, the same shit Wenger was spouting about Chamberlain. Lunacy of course but par for our particular course. Wengerised.

Campbell. Maybe he's better off dropped. At least he hasn't been assimilated yet and might still have a career in a more football oriented environment. Resisted Wengerisation. Dropped.

Cech. A great keeper of course but I'd have expected so much more input from him over the course of the season. I anticipated him being a massive presence both on the pitch and off. But no signs of it. It's not how it works at Arsenal. Here we have one leader, one ego, one idea, one law. Cech has too much experience under his belt and has won too much, he'll be immune to Wengerisation. All those trophies will be like a vaccine. But we've not extracted all we can from him. He's wasted. Like Ozil, like Alexis.

Walcott. The most Wengerised player of the bunch. You can keep going. One reality emerges. Wenger ruins players unless the player has enough character and ambition to resist. It's about time Wenger was pulled up on his record and some hard questions asked. How much failure can be accepted without serious questions? There's still this myth going around that Wenger is the ideal man to shape a young career. Well where's the evidence? Surely there should be some evidence?

Relating this to the summer transfers, unless we are planning to sign those massive characters who can bring enough individually to overcome the handicap they'll have to suffer with Wenger as a manager, does it really matter who we sign? We all know what will happen to anyone who comes here after a few months under Wenger's (ahem) expert tutelage. Wenger's not changing his system so that's the system anyone who comes here will be forced into, effectively killing their game in the process.

Maybe it's just better to sign nobody and wait this out.

Meanwhile rumours going around of an Alexis/ Ibrahimovic swap deal. I don't see it. Ibra would be way too hot for Wenger to handle, he wouldn't want him within a mile of the place. I mostly mention it because, as expected, the rumours are gathering pace in relation to the winners we have in the squad, Ozil and Alexis. Of course they aren't going to stay here, why would they? The unnatural shit going on at this club isn't part of their nature. They win shit. They need to be at clubs that also want to win. We all saw Wenger celebrating his latest 4th place trophy triumph. Ozil saw it, Alexis saw it, the players across Europe contemplating Arsenal as a destination saw it.

Not much to get enthusiastic about.

[Niall_Quinn]

Either they're a bunch of fairweather players, the manager can't motivate them or they are drilled and told they have to play this way by Wenger.

Watching Leicester was refreshing for me, their players showed so much desire to win and were so well organised and worked so hard, something we never see from our lot. We've had to watch teams with a lack of genuine desire to succeed for years now, you never really see us fighting for every ball, closing down players or making it hard for the opposition, our players are like drones taught to play one way who don't seem to be able to use their brains to adapt to different situations.

It's Wenger. How can there be any doubt? 12 years of this. Different players, makes no difference. It's Wenger. Wenger turns good players into shit players. That's what all the evidence tells us.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

The frustrating thing is that it's not even universally true, there are games where we are well organised, attack with verve and desire but the problem is they are few and far between.

Games like Man United, Man City, Bayern Munich, Leicester away, Olympiakos away etc show we are capable of both decent and effective football.

Even at White Hart Lane we put in a good performance and did well to nullify Spurs' pressing game until Coquelin stupidly got himself sent off

But there are too many games where we look like we are going through the motions and just don't care.

[Power n Glory]

Hard to muster enthusiasm for any of this. What's most alarming is how the freshness Iwobi and ElNeny initially brought to the team has vanished. They are now both playing like Wenger players, in other words they are half as effective as before and suddenly they are making the same sort of mistakes as the rest of the team. The contributions they were making that got you out of your seat in appreciation, a rare commodity at Arsenal these days, are on the wane.

Oxlade Chamberlain, I thought he'd go on to be the brightest young talent in the league. Wengerised.

Young Callum Chambers looked excellent when he first arrive. Then he was switched around the place, used in a random fashion and his game has gone the way of the rest. That nonsense about him being a holding midfielder, the same shit Wenger was spouting about Chamberlain. Lunacy of course but par for our particular course. Wengerised.

Campbell. Maybe he's better off dropped. At least he hasn't been assimilated yet and might still have a career in a more football oriented environment. Resisted Wengerisation. Dropped.

Cech. A great keeper of course but I'd have expected so much more input from him over the course of the season. I anticipated him being a massive presence both on the pitch and off. But no signs of it. It's not how it works at Arsenal. Here we have one leader, one ego, one idea, one law. Cech has too much experience under his belt and has won too much, he'll be immune to Wengerisation. All those trophies will be like a vaccine. But we've not extracted all we can from him. He's wasted. Like Ozil, like Alexis.

Walcott. The most Wengerised player of the bunch. You can keep going. One reality emerges. Wenger ruins players unless the player has enough character and ambition to resist. It's about time Wenger was pulled up on his record and some hard questions asked. How much failure can be accepted without serious questions? There's still this myth going around that Wenger is the ideal man to shape a young career. Well where's the evidence? Surely there should be some evidence?

Relating this to the summer transfers, unless we are planning to sign those massive characters who can bring enough individually to overcome the handicap they'll have to suffer with Wenger as a manager, does it really matter who we sign? We all know what will happen to anyone who comes here after a few months under Wenger's (ahem) expert tutelage. Wenger's not changing his system so that's the system anyone who comes here will be forced into, effectively killing their game in the process.

Maybe it's just better to sign nobody and wait this out.

Meanwhile rumours going around of an Alexis/ Ibrahimovic swap deal. I don't see it. Ibra would be way too hot for Wenger to handle, he wouldn't want him within a mile of the place. I mostly mention it because, as expected, the rumours are gathering pace in relation to the winners we have in the squad, Ozil and Alexis. Of course they aren't going to stay here, why would they? The unnatural shit going on at this club isn't part of their nature. They win shit. They need to be at clubs that also want to win. We all saw Wenger celebrating his latest 4th place trophy triumph. Ozil saw it, Alexis saw it, the players across Europe contemplating Arsenal as a destination saw it.

Not much to get enthusiastic about.

I agree. I heard Iwobi and Elneny had terrible games against City. I hope Iwobi doesn't follow tradition. Most of these players have the raw ingredients to succeed but they seem to hit a glass ceiling very early. I forgot about poor Chambers. He'll end up like Jenkinson.

[Power n Glory]

The frustrating thing is that it's not even universally true, there are games where we are well organised, attack with verve and desire but the problem is they are few and far between.

Games like Man United, Man City, Bayern Munich, Leicester away, Olympiakos away etc show we are capable of both decent and effective football.

Even at White Hart Lane we put in a good performance and did well to nullify Spurs' pressing game until Coquelin stupidly got himself sent off

But there are too many games where we look like we are going through the motions and just don't care.

It reminds me of the early Cesc era where we'd beat some of the biggest and best teams but look terrible against the smaller teams. It's all a cycle. In fact, this is the worst Arsenal team I've seen play under Wenger.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Over the course of a season I can't really disagree, however I'd say specifically the worst I've seen Arsenal play was away from home between August 2005 and May 2007, with the odd exception like winning at old Trafford we scored 40 goals in 38 games lost the majority of games 1-0 because we didn't have the ability to break things down and it was pass, pass, pass lose posession in the opposistion final third.
It was like when we went 1-0 down you could switch off because you knew the outcome. Remember losing 1-0 to Sheffield United when Paddy Kenny the Pilsbury dough boy came off injured and Jagielka was in goal final half hour and not a single save to make....

[Niall_Quinn]

Over the course of a season I can't really disagree, however I'd say specifically the worst I've seen Arsenal play was away from home between August 2005 and May 2007, with the odd exception like winning at old Trafford we scored 40 goals in 38 games lost the majority of games 1-0 because we didn't have the ability to break things down and it was pass, pass, pass lose posession in the opposistion final third.
It was like when we went 1-0 down you could switch off because you knew the outcome. Remember losing 1-0 to Sheffield United when Paddy Kenny the Pilsbury dough boy came off injured and Jagielka was in goal final half hour and not a single save to make....

Wenger writes these things off, comes up with some excuse about how they are anomalies, then he presses on using the same old pattern. That's why we see these terrible low points repeated season after season. The Southampton drubbing. Stuff like that can happen to any team, but not with the regularity it happens at Arsenal. And not with the awful predictability attached. The football is not going to improve because the man in charge doesn't thing there's anything wrong with his team or himself. For him, everyone and everything else is wrong, harsh injustices that deprive his team of the results they are due by some pre-ordained right. That's why despite all the humblings we can still show such arrogance against the "lower" teams. Then he laments we haven't done well enough in the games we should have won. Should have? You have to turn up to win. There's are no freebies and now the new money is in the game Wenger has better get wise, if he still as it in him. Hard times coming for Wenger unless he reevaluates everything and makes the necessary personal and personnel changes.

[Power n Glory]

Over the course of a season I can't really disagree, however I'd say specifically the worst I've seen Arsenal play was away from home between August 2005 and May 2007, with the odd exception like winning at old Trafford we scored 40 goals in 38 games lost the majority of games 1-0 because we didn't have the ability to break things down and it was pass, pass, pass lose posession in the opposistion final third.
It was like when we went 1-0 down you could switch off because you knew the outcome. Remember losing 1-0 to Sheffield United when Paddy Kenny the Pilsbury dough boy came off injured and Jagielka was in goal final half hour and not a single save to make....

Yes, I think I remember patches of that season. The lows were low. Shocking tactics and defending for some games. But I also remember it being the season we’d at least see some sublime stuff. Was it that season RVP scored that sublime volley? We scored some cracking goals and I remember being so impressed with Denilson that season. You could see the potential from the young kids at least. We made it to the Carling Cup final with our kids. Beating Liverpool 6-3 was also a great game to watch. The moves just flowed when we were at our best. I haven’t seen us play anywhere close to that this season. It’s been dire. Not great goals to recall, no cracking games where you can say we played beautiful football….it’s all been disjointed and very basic goals. Nothing really well crafted and worked that gets you off your seat. Not for me anyway. It's been horrible to watch.

[selassie]

Wenger writes these things off, comes up with some excuse about how they are anomalies, then he presses on using the same old pattern. That's why we see these terrible low points repeated season after season. The Southampton drubbing. Stuff like that can happen to any team, but not with the regularity it happens at Arsenal. And not with the awful predictability attached. The football is not going to improve because the man in charge doesn't thing there's anything wrong with his team or himself. For him, everyone and everything else is wrong, harsh injustices that deprive his team of the results they are due by some pre-ordained right. That's why despite all the humblings we can still show such arrogance against the "lower" teams. Then he laments we haven't done well enough in the games we should have won. Should have? You have to turn up to win. There's are no freebies and now the new money is in the game Wenger has better get wise, if he still as it in him. Hard times coming for Wenger unless he reevaluates everything and makes the necessary personal and personnel changes.

Yeah pretty much agree with this, it won't matter who we sign this summer because Wenger is incapable of implementing tactics based on the strengths/weaknesses of the opposition. There is no proper structure to the team, it's as clear as day and night.

We'll probably finish in or around the top 4 next season due to the quality of some of our players, yes we do have some very good ones. We'll not win PL or CL ever again under Wenger because his principles and ideals are too pie in the sky and he refuses to adapt or modify his approach.

I personally think if Poch or even Ranieri was in charge of Arsenal this season we would have won the league.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Like I say there are examples where it's clear Wenger seems to have learnt from his errors, where we are clinical in front of goal and then close the game out....and we do what many teams seem to do to us.

But there is such an inconsistency with it, because it's like Wenger thinks "that's not the Arsenal way".

Some games we adopt a pre match tactic but it falls apart because the guy seems not to have any sense of in game management.

It seems to me like there are signs that he is capable of doing what is needed to take the club forward but it's like his stubborness takes over and it becomes not enough to win, he has to win by his rules.

He is definitely not a proactive manager, he used to be but he's too old and set in his ways to want to be an innovator. But his ego wouldn't allow him to delegate more of his weak areas to capable and trusted underlings. There is clearly been something done with the defence by Steve Bould as statistically in the last few years we tend to charge down more than stand off and there are a lot less long shots or shots outside the box (despite this weekend rather treading on the tail of that somewhat) but we are still too passive and indecisive from set pieces and our full backs don't so enough at times to stop crosses.

I honestly think if the board and the man himself hadnt allowed him to become such a demagogue, the last five-ten years would have been a lot more productive for this club. He's not a total incompetent because a total incompetent wouldn't have consistently got us top four but better oversight from the board and a man prepared to take both advice and criticism would have flourished in a decent environment.

Journalists who have known Wenger for years have said he has gradually changed since Dein left the club, more resolute in taking his own counsel, taking things very personally, being stand offish with people. He has created a bubble around himself and the board have helped him doing it.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yes, I think I remember patches of that season. The lows were low. Shocking tactics and defending for some games. But I also remember it being the season we’d at least see some sublime stuff. Was it that season RVP scored that sublime volley? We scored some cracking goals and I remember being so impressed with Denilson that season. You could see the potential from the young kids at least. We made it to the Carling Cup final with our kids. Beating Liverpool 6-3 was also a great game to watch. The moves just flowed when we were at our best. I haven’t seen us play anywhere close to that this season. It’s been dire. Not great goals to recall, no cracking games where you can say we played beautiful football….it’s all been disjointed and very basic goals. Nothing really well crafted and worked that gets you off your seat. Not for me anyway. It's been horrible to watch.

The first half of the first game against Utd. Direct, decisive football. I remember being pissed about the second half. We relaxed and settled for what we had. Some fans claimed this was sensible, a long season ahead and all that. I never agree with that sentiment. If players can play 90 minutes they shouldn't be here and we should be ambitious (not stupid, but ambitious) for every one of those 90 minutes. When you slack off enough times it becomes a habit and it's sure as hell our favourite habit at Arsenal. It costs us every season.

But the first 45 minutes of that game was worth watching.

[Power n Glory]

The first half of the first game against Utd. Direct, decisive football. I remember being pissed about the second half. We relaxed and settled for what we had. Some fans claimed this was sensible, a long season ahead and all that. I never agree with that sentiment. If players can play 90 minutes they shouldn't be here and we should be ambitious (not stupid, but ambitious) for every one of those 90 minutes. When you slack off enough times it becomes a habit and it's sure as hell our favourite habit at Arsenal. It costs us every season.

But the first 45 minutes of that game was worth watching.

45 bloody minutes is all we can muster up! :lol: It's been horrible.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Yes, I think I remember patches of that season. The lows were low. Shocking tactics and defending for some games. But I also remember it being the season we’d at least see some sublime stuff. Was it that season RVP scored that sublime volley? We scored some cracking goals and I remember being so impressed with Denilson that season. You could see the potential from the young kids at least. We made it to the Carling Cup final with our kids. Beating Liverpool 6-3 was also a great game to watch. The moves just flowed when we were at our best. I haven’t seen us play anywhere close to that this season. It’s been dire. Not great goals to recall, no cracking games where you can say we played beautiful football….it’s all been disjointed and very basic goals. Nothing really well crafted and worked that gets you off your seat. Not for me anyway. It's been horrible to watch.


I'll be honest I was referring specifically to our league games where we scored on average one goal a game off the back of the odd 4-0 win, but mainly couldn't score. It was depressing that you could be 90% sure if you conceded the first goal you weren't coming back into the game. And yes we haven't scored any goal of the season contenders this season but I have to say I prefer average goals to no goals.

Away from home PL - 05/06 and 06/07 combined our record was 13 wins 9 draws and 16 defeats

[Power n Glory]

I'll be honest I was referring specifically to our league games where we scored on average one goal a game off the back of the odd 4-0 win, but mainly couldn't score. It was depressing that you could be 90% sure if you conceded the first goal you weren't coming back into the game. And yes we haven't scored any goal of the season contenders this season but I have to say I prefer average goals to no goals.

Away from home PL - 05/06 and 06/07 combined our record was 13 wins 9 draws and 16 defeats

I don't recall feeling like that. Frustrated but never to the point where I'd lose interest in watching the game or nodding off to sleep. It's hard for me to pick 5 games where we've played really well this season and I think I've heard the same said on Arseblog's podcast and other places. People are switching off because it's that predictable.

But whatever floats your boat really. It's your preference at the end of the day. This isn't mine. I can't take another season like this.

[Niall_Quinn]

I've watched the last few games in the background while I got on with other stuff. There is absolutely nothing of the intensity that used to grip me as kick off approached. Some of this will be down to the general decline in football from my perspective, but not all of it. Watching Arsenal is a chore underpinned by an addiction that has mellowed into a habit. It won't be a hard habit to break if the current standards persist. Wenger should be ashamed of the decline in our game, but I don't think he even sees it as a decline.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Chelsea (a) - 1-0 loss
West Ham (a) - 0-0 draw
Bolton (a) - 2-0 loss
Newcastle (a) - 1-0 loss
Aston Villa (a) - 0-0 draw
Everton (a) - 1-0 loss
Liverpool (a) - 1-0 loss
Blackburn (a) - 1-0 loss
Man United (a) - 2-0 loss
Man City (a) - 1-0 loss
West Ham (a) - 1-0 loss
Sheff United (a) - 1-0 loss
Everton (a) - 1-0 loss
Newcastle (a) - 0-0 draw
Portsmouth (a) - 0-0 draw

Don't get me wrong this season has been totally depressing, but never before or since under Wenger did we go through a phase where we failed to score in so many league games over a sustained period. Our tippy tappy nonsense was at its height and we barely ever registered a shot on goal. It was by far the worst thing to watch, and as bad as things are now I'd honestly consider ending it all if we went through that kind of spell again.

[Power n Glory]

I've watched the last few games in the background while I got on with other stuff. There is absolutely nothing of the intensity that used to grip me as kick off approached. Some of this will be down to the general decline in football from my perspective, but not all of it. Watching Arsenal is a chore underpinned by an addiction that has mellowed into a habit. It won't be a hard habit to break if the current standards persist. Wenger should be ashamed of the decline in our game, but I don't think he even sees it as a decline.

It's been woeful. As soon as I see the team sheet I know whether the game is worth watching. It's really uninspiring stuff.

[Kano]

Yeah pretty much agree with this, it won't matter who we sign this summer because Wenger is incapable of implementing tactics based on the strengths/weaknesses of the opposition. There is no proper structure to the team, it's as clear as day and night.

We'll probably finish in or around the top 4 next season due to the quality of some of our players, yes we do have some very good ones. We'll not win PL or CL ever again under Wenger because his principles and ideals are too pie in the sky and he refuses to adapt or modify his approach.

I personally think if Poch or even Ranieri was in charge of Arsenal this season we would have won the league.

Tactics aren't even the key. Motivation and management of the squad are what make the difference in this league. The top two teams this season aren't tactical geniuses, in fact, they play the exact same way in every match, much like we do, except that our style has broken down completely to become one big mess. Pochettino uses the same system, just changing personnel where he is forced to. Same with Ranieri. The key to Claudio's success was being able to take last seasons run-in, listen to his players telling him to stick to the same game plan and then keep the harmony and manage when and where to change players.

[mastermind84]

Is this Xhaka really that good, never really heard of him or indeed seen much of him? Interstingly seems to have been sent off 5 times in 3 years, so seems to have a bit of aggression about him, probably not a bad thing considering the players we currently have.

If we do end up spending this amount on this guy I would think a decent striker coming in would be unlikely.

Priority would have been a striker followed by a CB with a DM third for me.
he is this generation's Xabi Alonso. Will be great for us.

Have him at the base of our midfield with Ramsey and Wilshere beside him and a bit forward and we will have the best midfield in England.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

We need a striker. That's the main thing we need over everything else. We saw the difference Suarez made with that bang average Liverpool team. Had them pushing for a the title to the very end.

Yup....

I can't see Wenger spending 40 million on another midfielder who most of us barely know.....he was barely willing to spend that on Suarez.

[Kano]

Yup....

I can't see Wenger spending 40 million on another midfielder who most of us barely know.....he was barely willing to spend that on Suarez.

Honigstein is generally a credible journalist, so I take his word has a lot more seriously than most others.

That said, he's still works for the media, so who knows.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Xhaka Xhaka Hey Hey.

Sorry.

[Munchies]

In depth look at Xhaka

http://abergkampwonderland.co.uk/the-debate-on-granit-xhaka/

50/50 I guess, I'd personally go for Kante but a signing is a signing :lol:

[mastermind84]

In depth look at Xhaka

http://abergkampwonderland.co.uk/the-debate-on-granit-xhaka/

50/50 I guess, I'd personally go for Kante but a signing is a signing :lol:
we need Xhaka more than Kante. Way more.

Ramsey and Elneny can do what Kante does, but an actual controller? THe premiership dont have any ones elite at it. Xhaka is potentially elite.

[selassie]

Yup....

I can't see Wenger spending 40 million on another midfielder who most of us barely know.....he was barely willing to spend that on Suarez.

I think it's happening but I think it means one of Ozil or Sanchez is off. Would be very surprised if we pay this money without a player leaving to offset the expense.

[Kano]

Hopefully the Feo rumours are true, which would help.

We have to remember we bought in Ozil and Sanchez without a big departure.

[mastermind84]

I think it's happening but I think it means one of Ozil or Sanchez is off. Would be very surprised if we pay this money without a player leaving to offset the expense.

Before the shambles of last summer, the prior two we spent much more than we took in on transfer fees. Arsenal doesnt do that "break even" thing anymore.

If we dont spend, its because Wenger is being an idiot.

[Master Splinter]

Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky, Debuchy all leaving.

Two or even all three of Campbell, Walcott, Oxlade likely leaving.

What matters most of all though is that we have the right mix of injuries and opportunism by new/young players so that we stumble upon a functioning team for a good period of the season, because otherwise we're relying on WUMger making sensible decisions. Which he has been averse to for a long time now.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I think it's happening but I think it means one of Ozil or Sanchez is off. Would be very surprised if we pay this money without a player leaving to offset the expense.

Doubt it these days, that didn't happen in the two seasons we signed those players.

I mean, I'm not saying one of them won't be leaving but it's not because we're signing Xhaka.

Oh right, Rkane already picked this up.

[Power n Glory]

How good is this guy? Is he just another player that's going add another 5% to our possession stats and maybe increase our total passes?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I enjoyed watching Munchiesgladbach play against Citeh earlier this season but I can't remember if Xhaka was part of that enjoyment.

[selassie]

Before the shambles of last summer, the prior two we spent much more than we took in on transfer fees. Arsenal doesnt do that "break even" thing anymore.

If we dont spend, its because Wenger is being an idiot.

I don't think we'll be breaking even, just very surprised that Wenger is spending this big on midfield when it's an area full of his pet projects. The cynic in me thinks Xhaka is in, Ozil out, Wilshere moved to AM to replace Ozil. I'm also shocked how early we're getting this done, admittedly the Euros plays a part in this but still...

[Munchies]

I enjoyed watching Munchiesgladbach play against Citeh earlier this season but I can't remember if Xhaka was part of that enjoyment.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvY2rWAYdVI

This vid has only his CL games

Seems okay. Then again it is YT

[Munchies]

Just saw these goals that he scored

https://gfycat.com/BountifulRemarkableDarwinsfox

https://gfycat.com/DeliciousWideDeinonychus

https://gfycat.com/MarvelousShinyCockatoo

Power shots :bow:

In b4 Wenger tells him not to shoot anymore

[Munchies]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=100&v=7uIKjgFedBs

We're being linked with Mikhitaryan from a ITK

https://twitter.com/Memz_Dogi/status/730509287651454976

Been told that Arsenal have watched Mkhitaryan a number of times recently & scouts are very impressed.

Feo/Ox out
Mikhitaryan in

:pray:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I don't think this should even be posted. :lol:

[GP]

Honestly, stay away from Twitter.

[I am invisible]

Would love Mhiktaryan here, but seriously lol at our scouts! Are they waiting for a pat on the back for unearthing that one?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

You believe the above? Some berk on Twitter decides to post about another midfielder when everyone else in the media is linking us to Xhaka.

Twitter needs to die.

[Munchies]

you guys remember wayne gooney from 2013? :haha:

[I am invisible]

You believe the above? Some berk on Twitter decides to post about another midfielder when everyone else in the media is linking us to Xhaka.

Twitter needs to die.

I believe we'd be interested, sure, but only because I can't imagine there's any clubs out there who wouldn't be! It's just stating the blindingly obvious.

[I am invisible]

I also love the thought of our scouts scouring Europe only to come back with a list of players that anyone could have come up with after 2 minutes on Google! I can well believe that's about the extent of their abilities...

[Munchies]

https://vimeo.com/166199004

best vid so far

His range of passing is great

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Honigstein is generally a credible journalist, so I take his word has a lot more seriously than most others.

That said, he's still works for the media, so who knows.

Yes he is.... I quite like him. I just doubt we will sign the kid for that amount. If we do though.....Wenger must have an almighty amount of faith in him.....

He's no Ozil style assist machine.....is he?

[Niall_Quinn]

best vid so far

His range of passing is great

Who's he going to be passing to? Giroud? Theo? Ozil at PSG? Campbell on the bench?

[mastermind84]

I don't think we'll be breaking even, just very surprised that Wenger is spending this big on midfield when it's an area full of his pet projects. The cynic in me thinks Xhaka is in, Ozil out, Wilshere moved to AM to replace Ozil. I'm also shocked how early we're getting this done, admittedly the Euros plays a part in this but still...
Nah, if anything Sanchez is done but that has nothing to do with Xhaka.

Jack will probably sit beside him in midfield with Ramsey further forward.


How good is this guy? Is he just another player that's going add another 5% to our possession stats and maybe increase our total passes?
He is the new Xabi. He will add 5% to our possession totals but will also liberate Jack and Ramsey and leave Coquelin on the bench.

He will also have Özil receive the ball higher up the pitch and will get our attackers the ball where they need to get the ball. This makes our midfield one of the best in the league as long as Wenger gets it right.

[mastermind84]

https://vimeo.com/166199004

best vid so far

His range of passing is great
This is why dude is special. We don't have anyone on the team with that passing range and he moves it forward quickly. He also dictates tempo which we haven't had in eons.

He is replacing Coqzorla because he does the job of both guys, and does it better.

[Power n Glory]

Nah, if anything Sanchez is done but that has nothing to do with Xhaka.

Jack will probably sit beside him in midfield with Ramsey further forward.


He is the new Xabi. He will add 5% to our possession totals but will also liberate Jack and Ramsey and leave Coquelin on the bench.

He will also have Özil receive the ball higher up the pitch and will get our attackers the ball where they need to get the ball. This makes our midfield one of the best in the league as long as Wenger gets it right.

We don't need Jack and Ramsey to be liberated. We need goals. Ozil playing higher up the pitch doesn't make much difference either if he's unwilling to shoot and have Giroud up front.

He may be a good addition but it's more crucial we find a striker and winger for the right side.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

We don't need Jack and Ramsey to be liberated. We need goals. Ozil playing higher up the pitch doesn't make much difference either if he's unwilling to shoot and have Giroud up front.

He may be a good addition but it's more crucial we find a striker and winger for the right side.

Is it me or does it feel like there aren't as many wide players who want to play on the right?....if i remember rightly after we first bought Sanchez he played a few games on the right but since then has pre-dominantly stuck to the left.

As for Wilshere and Ramsey, one of them has to go...frankly if it were me i'd get rid of both.

[Power n Glory]

I don't know. Maybe. I think we need to find a player with a left foot so he's able to cut in and shoot.

[Globalgunner]

I don't know. Maybe. I think we need to find a player with a left foot so he's able to cut in and shoot.

Campbell?

[Power n Glory]

Campbell?

A new signing. It's obvious Wenger doesn't rate him for whatever reason. He hasn't had a fair shake.

[selassie]

Nah, if anything Sanchez is done but that has nothing to do with Xhaka.

Jack will probably sit beside him in midfield with Ramsey further forward.


He is the new Xabi. He will add 5% to our possession totals but will also liberate Jack and Ramsey and leave Coquelin on the bench.

He will also have Özil receive the ball higher up the pitch and will get our attackers the ball where they need to get the ball. This makes our midfield one of the best in the league as long as Wenger gets it right.

Sanchez done? What do you mean?

You could be right re: Jack sitting next to him, I'll be honest, I have no idea of what Wenger has planned going forward but the signing of Xhaka will significantly upgrade our midfield, from the little I've seen of him he looks a "star in the making".

Not sure whether there will be space for all 3 of Xhaka, Jack & Ramsey, not unless Ramsey is out on the flanks, that's assuming that Ozil stays.

[selassie]

We don't need Jack and Ramsey to be liberated. We need goals. Ozil playing higher up the pitch doesn't make much difference either if he's unwilling to shoot and have Giroud up front.

He may be a good addition but it's more crucial we find a striker and winger for the right side.

Yep, totally agree.

Xhaka is a step in the right direction but we need more.

[Power n Glory]

Could be a good signing but we'd be building a powerful engine but still have flat tyres. I think we need a significant upgrade up front. Unless that happens we're staying in the same spot.

[GP]

With Welbz already missing most of next season we will definitely be in for a striker.

100% no doubt about it.

[Özim]

He'll bring Sanogo back or find some unknown from the French league.

He's not going to sign a quality striker as he rates Giroud as top class and wouldn't want to bring someone in ahead of him.

[Power n Glory]

We really should be this summer but Welbeck was injured last summer too.

[Power n Glory]

He'll bring Sanogo back or find some unknown from the French league.

It doesn't sound to me like he's given up on Giroud either.

[Özim]

It doesn't sound to me like he's given up on Giroud either.

No he's the golden boy and can do no wrong, despite not scoring for 15 games when it mattered most.

[Özim]

We really should be this summer but Welbeck was injured last summer too.

If there's one thing we've learnt is you can't trust Wenger in the transfer market, what seems logical to anyone else doesn't always seem logical to him.

I have no confidence in him signing a striker, he always finds a reason to not do the necessary, it could be the Euros and prices being inflated, or noone being available or simply that in Walcott, Sanchez, Giroud, Sanogo, Iwobi etc we have plenty up front, or that some kid from France has great quality and that you don't need to spend 50 million to get quality players.

He lives in a dream world.

[Kano]

No he's the golden boy and can do no wrong, despite not scoring for 15 games when it mattered most.
I’ve never seen Wenger have a go at single Arsenal player to the media in terms of criticising his play.

As maddening as it was to keep seeing Bif upfront recently, given what has happened to Wellbeck, hindsight shows why he was being put into the team. We all know Theo wasn’t going to do anything upfront either.

And yes I know about last summer etc etc but I’m just talking about the situation we are after those mistakes were made.

I don’t think Giroud is the Golden Boy, I think he’ll find himself behind a new striker this summer.

[Power n Glory]

If there's one thing we've learnt is you can't trust Wenger in the transfer market, what seems logical to anyone else doesn't always seem logical to him.

I have no confidence in him signing a striker, he always finds a reason to not do the necessary, it could be the Euros and prices being inflated, or noone being available or simply that in Walcott, Sanchez, Giroud, Sanogo, Iwobi etc we have plenty up front, or that some kid from France has great quality and that you don't need to spend 50 million to get quality players.

He lives in a dream world.

Pray Giroud has a bad Euro 2016. A few goals from Giroud may convince Wenger again to gamble on him.

[Thierrymon]

We've been linked with Tommy Rogic from Celtic. I am a big fan of his and he even played at a club I used to play with (Belconnen United). Technically gifted despite his size and good at beating his marker. It is a big step up from Celtic to Arsenal though.