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Whenever AW is confident that's usually a bad sign, we've been here before with contract talks. These things can drag on for ages which has two effects, it creates a lot of uncertainty and pretty much guarantees our focus is on re-signing these players rather than signing new ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Yup I agree. I hope AW is ruthless with Nasri because this could potentially screw up a lot of our transfer plans this summer if it drags on. If Nasri wants out then we should sell, no point spending all summer trying to keep players who don't want to be here.Quote:
Originally Posted by ItsMe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
He, like us, is waiting to see if Cesc goes. If he does Nasri will re-sign as we will be able to pay him and spend some money on transfers.
The potential Cesc deal will drag on and on for sure, we want big money for him and Barca won't pay anywhere near what we want.
Eventually I reckon that if Cesc tells us he wants to go we'll have to let him go cut price, but this won't be till the season is looming leaving us with no proper replacements/signings lined-up.
In complete agreement about the general point, guys need to take responsibility and look at what they've done wrong, players and manager included, I just don't think Kos is in that category (nevermind the Stepanovs/Cygan comparison, where there is simply no comparison at all). You're looking at a few mistakes he made and thinking about them individually instead of looking at general levels of performance and the state of our team and defence as a whole, it puts the blinkers on as much as these rose-tinted glasses that seem so unpopular.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
I remember that west ham vs united game. Vidic and Evra where awful. Same vs Liverpool, blackpool, wigan, WBA and City. Rooney bailed them out of two of those occasions, the ref did at WBA and blackpool.
When has our attack bailed out our defense after going 1-2 goals down last season? Hell, I can't even remember coming back to win a game last season after going 1 or 2 goals down. Can't lump all of the blame on the defense... Back in the good old days we always used to go a goal or two behind save in the knowledge we'll inevitably score. We just don't have that any more. Yes, we've conceded more goals than ever under AW, however - we've lost a lot of edge infront of goal too.
Also, a decent post from arsenal-maina's forums
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Wage Comparison
Almunia > Mannone (probably earns half of what Almunia earns)
Squillaci = Samba (Samba will probably earn close to or the same amount as Squid)
Clichy = ? (Clichy is on 50-60k a week and any new signing unless a world class signing will probably the same)
Traore > Bothelo (Traore was one of the highest paid youngsters at the club, one of the sticky points of him not going to Benfica in the summer. Bothelo wont earn half as much)
Denilson >> Frimpong (Denilson is on 50k a week and Frimpong is less than one fifth of that so unless we get a new signing here I think we are saving some major cash here)
Rosicky >> Lansbury (Lansbury is on the verge of signing a new deal but even then it will be close to 10-20K which is again significantly lower than what Rosicky is on)
Vela >>> Ryo (Vela signed a new contract till 2015 a season ago and his wages went up a significant amount due to that, Ryo on the other hand was signed as an unknown 18yr old youngster and will be 4-5 times lower than Vela
Bendtner << Falcao only signing that will actually increase our wages by a significant amount although Porto doesn't pay its player a huge amount in wages so it wont be too much
I have no problems with either of the last two posts, agreed it's not all Kos' fault, agreed it's not just the fault of the defence. There are deeply rooted problems running through the entire team, not relegation type problems but problems significant enough to pretty much ensure we can't compete at the top level. And even that could be lived with if the board and Wenger would come clean about the true extent of our ambitions as a club. They say we are seriously challenging for honours, everyone else and his dog says we are chasing a CL spot and that's what really represents success at this club. The board's actions match this limited ambition. So does Wenger's activity in the transfer market. A lot of the anger surely stems from having to listen to Wenger's unrealistic shit whilst at the same time picking through the wreckage of each season. Back to the plane analogy, we crash on landing EVERY TIME. Is it any wonder less and less fans want to get aboard for more of the same? The biggest insult of all is the type of football we are playing now compared to what was delivered just a few years ago. That was the real fun of being an Arsenal fan, watching the great football. That's gone too and all we have left is a diminishing myth. I think we're one of the least entertaining teams in the league now. Is it unfair to say that everything that marked Arsenal out as a team of note has now vanished?
Isn't it also fair to say that unless we can add some quality in the form of signings that can add value to the team, not just technique but actual effectiveness in terms of what it takes to play in the English PL, the players we have now have demonstrated they don't have what it takes to step up a level? There are exceptions. I think we all know who the genuinely talented players are. We have Cesc (when his mind is on Arsenal rather than Barcelona), Nasri (when his mind is on Arsenal rather than his pay packet) and Jack (who is young enough not to be fully immersed in the bullshit yet). That's not enough to build a winning team. Yes we have a few rookies who show a lot of promise but expecting them to make up for the severe lack of experience and know how in the squad is too much. Do I see players like Kos and Chamakh as capable of lifting this team up a notch (which is what we require)? Absolutely not. Where's the evidence they are capable of this? They can fill a gap as far as I'm concerned, but that's it. That's what we have in most positions on the field, adequate players who can plug a hole. Hardly the basis of a winning team.
If Wenger gets his chequebook out and corrects this problem (I doubt we have the money) then the situation might change. But for as long as we're relying on average players to consistently perform at a higher level we're onto a loser. Eventually these players will be found out as we have seen. I'm listening to demands for yet more foreign players, from Argentina, Portugal, Japan, and that just seems to me like another roll of the dice rather than proper corrective action. Maybe these players will work out, maybe immediately maybe after a year maybe after two, perhaps they'll just be more of the usual like a Reyes or a Baptista. There's no way of telling for sure. Signing a whole bunch of foreigners and expecting us to attack the next season as an effective team is unrealistic. That's because we don't have the foundation in place on which to introduce these players and give them time to bed-in. Instead we'll be expecting them to do a job for us from day one. I can't see it happening. What I can see is another season sacrificed.
I have no idea why we don't just make the simple fix and bring in an experienced PL GK, an experienced PL defender, an experienced PL midfielder and an experienced PL striker. A spine in other words. Instead we'll probably end up with more tippy-tap wingers and fluff-ball forwards who may or may not enjoy the London weather. Which will leave us back at square one with players like Kos having to carry a bigger load. I just don't see him as capable of doing it. I don't see TV being capable either tbh. It's all a bit of a mess really. Wenger has fucked up big time.
The last paragraph hits the nail imo, although I don't think it's easy given the amount of money we know top PL players cost and the kind of wages they expect it'd be worth it; move a few guys on and we'd get enough for a midfielder and CB at least anyway along with some more foreign investment for some class (we ain't gonna get any of the forwards I think would make a difference that are playing in the PL atm), I'd be happy with that.
I suppose my answer would be that it is too simple to fully address the problem. This so-called cure-all solution of buying PL experience (e.g. British) harkens back to a time when that truly made a difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
As an example, here are the nationalities of the starting players in the three teams above Arsenal, for the final game of the season.
Man U: 2 Brasil; 1 England; Northern Ireland; Scotland; Netherlands; Korea; Portugal; Bulgaria; France; Serbia
Chelsea: 3 England; 2 France; 1 Czech Republic; Brasil; Nigeria; Serbia; Spain; Ghana
Man City: 4 England; 2 Argentina; Belgium; 1 Netherlands; Spain; Ivory Coast
So out of 33 players, there were only 8 English players, and only 10 British players.
:banghead:Quote:
Arsenal and Tottenham target Radamel Falcao has expressed a desire to stay at Porto, but admits his future may be out of his hands.
The prolific Colombian striker has a £30million buy-out clause after his goals helped Porto to league and cup glory last season.
North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham have both been strongly linked with the player, who could follow in the footsteps of former Porto stars such as Deco, Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Bosingwa by switching to the Premier League.
Falcao said: "I have two more years left on my contract, but we are speaking about a renewal."
But he added: "At Porto, many players, and even the manager, Andre Villas Boas, have clubs interested in them. Porto is the most selling club in the world.
"I am calm because I know that I can play in another championship, but I still do not know if this moment has come."
http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-ne...ts-stay-porto?