Former Players Views

[Cripps_orig]

ARSENAL legend Robert Pires has slammed the club’s transfer policy.
And the French former midfielder, 39, has urged boss Arsene Wenger to sign a hard core of English players.
Pires, who ended a six-year spell with the Gunners in 2006, said: “The difference between Arsenal today and my generation is that we had a backbone of English players.
“The club has some very good youngsters now but they lack experience.
“The only solution for Arsenal is to buy some English players.”


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz2OtJe4g5P

Cahill and Parker, both available at reasonable prices could have been bought and both better than Kos and Arteta. Why didn't we go in for them? Can't think of any decent English keepers or strikers but those 2 should definitely have been bought.

[Cripps_orig]

Samir Nasri has claimed Arsenal sold him two years ago because the board wanted to cash in.

Manchester City midfielder Nasri claimed Arsene Wenger told him he would not be sold if Cesc Fabregas left but majority shareholder Stan Kroenke had the final say.

The Gunners ended up selling both midfielders with Fabregas going to Barcelona.

The club vehemently denied at the time that Wenger was put under any pressure to sell even though Nasri only had a year left on his contract.

Nasri told BeIN Sport: "Cesc or me were supposed to leave. Arsene told me that if Cesc would leave, I would stay. But Kroenke wanted the money.

"Arsene Wenger is the greatest coach I have worked with.. he made me the player I am. I'm very grateful.

"I only regret not having more discussions with Arsene Wenger when I left [for Manchester City].

"I do not have regrets. I do not regret joining Manchester City. I want to play and perform. My departure from Arsenal is purely for sporting reasons.

"When you compare Arsenal and City, it's not the same. With City I'm playing in a better team. I didn't leave (Arsenal) for money."

Nasri has endured mixed fortunes since his £24m move to City, winning the title last year and being accused by Roberto Mancini of not trying hard enough.

Nasri added: "I am aware that I am not having a good season. There are many reasons. But when Mancini said that I'm training at 50 per cent this is not true."

On a potential move away from City, Nasri added: "There is nothing going on with Monaco. Nor with PSG."

Kroenke is a ****

[Cripps_orig]

DAVID SEAMAN believes the sale of Robin van Persie is to blame for Arsenal’s struggle to qualify for the Champions League.
The Gunners parted company with Van Persie in August and have seen the talismanic Holland international bang in 23 goals in all competitions since joining Manchester United.
While the Dutchman is on the verge of winning the Premier League title with United, his old team-mates are battling against Chelsea and North London rivals Tottenham for a place in the top four.
And Seaman doubts the Gunners would be in danger of missing out on European football’s top competition had former skipper RVP not been allowed to leave.

He told SunSport: “It’s difficult when you sell your best players because it’s going to be hard for the team. When you’re selling captains and players like that, it’s difficult.
“That would never have happened [in the past]. Arsenal would never have sold their best players to Manchester United.
“But it did happen and we’ve just got to get on with it.
"Where do we go from here? Well, we’re a very successful business but we want to be successful on the pitch — and at the moment that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”
While many Arsenal supporters turned on Van Persie following his switch to Old Trafford, Seaman remains a fan of the striker who netted in United's 2-1 win over the Gunners in November.
And he claims it is not all doom and gloom for the club he enjoyed so much success with.
The Arsenal legend added: “They’ve hit form recently, which is a good sign because the pressure is on now and they’ve got to get fourth place.
“For me, I like watching Van Persie — he’s a great player and a great finisher.
“But for the Arsenal fans, I imagine it must be destroying because they want him to have their shirt on and not Manchester United’s.”

It remains unclear whether Arsene Wenger has money at his disposal or is simply reluctant to splash the cash in pursuit of the game’s best players.
But Seaman, 49, disagrees with calls for the long-serving Frenchman to be replaced.
He said: “Spending the cash and maybe having a look at the wage structure is needed because you’ve got to be attracting the best players.
“People say about replacing Arsene, but no way, not for me. He’s the best.
“If he left Arsenal, a big, big club would snap him up straight away. It would be a loss to Arsenal.
“I’m sure the fans would regret it because what would change? Arsene’s a great coach, a great manager.
“Has he got the money to spend? We don’t know.
"If a new manager came in and suddenly he’s got money to spend, why wouldn’t they give it to Arsene? There a lot of questions that need answering.”


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz2PjOdCDFD

Tbf we struggled even with the ****

[Özil's Panoramic View]

Tbf we struggled even with the ****

Stopped reading after the 1st paragraph, tbh, as the same thing you say here flashed across my mind.

[Cripps_orig]

GEORGE GRAHAM insists Arsenal will edge out Tottenham in the battle for European qualification.
Andre Villas-Boas’ Spurs are currently two points ahead of fierce North London rivals.
But should Arsenal win their home clash against Norwich on Saturday they will move ahead of their North London rivals.
With just six games of the season remaining, Spurs are yet to play Chelsea and Manchester City.
And Graham said: “I fancy Arsenal to finish in the top four.
“I didn’t earlier in the season but now they’re favourites and could maybe even end up third.
“Tottenham have been outstanding this season.
“In the games I saw them play earlier this season I thought they would definitely be in the top four.
"But if you look at the fixture list they have got a very, very hard run-in.
"Arsenal’s only real tough game is away at Manchester United.
“Arsene Wenger has been under a lot of pressure and criticism this season, some of it is justified.
"However, when it comes to the run in at the end of the season he’s been fantastic.
“They’re not the Arsenal of old but they’re picking up important points and playing with a lot of confidence.”
Arsenal’s hopes of overcoming the Canaries this weekend have been boosted by the news Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere are due to return.
Graham added: “Jack Wilshere is one of the few world-class players in the team.
“He was out for so long and they missed him. He’s not only got wonderful technical ability but he’s a natural winner.
“They need that drive from midfield, without question.”


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz2PtQ9J6G0

away at man Utd?

[IBK]

Samir Nasri has claimed Arsenal sold him two years ago because the board wanted to cash in.

Manchester City midfielder Nasri claimed Arsene Wenger told him he would not be sold if Cesc Fabregas left but majority shareholder Stan Kroenke had the final say.

The Gunners ended up selling both midfielders with Fabregas going to Barcelona.

The club vehemently denied at the time that Wenger was put under any pressure to sell even though Nasri only had a year left on his contract.

Nasri told BeIN Sport: "Cesc or me were supposed to leave. Arsene told me that if Cesc would leave, I would stay. But Kroenke wanted the money.

"Arsene Wenger is the greatest coach I have worked with.. he made me the player I am. I'm very grateful.

"I only regret not having more discussions with Arsene Wenger when I left [for Manchester City].

"I do not have regrets. I do not regret joining Manchester City. I want to play and perform. My departure from Arsenal is purely for sporting reasons.

"When you compare Arsenal and City, it's not the same. With City I'm playing in a better team. I didn't leave (Arsenal) for money."

Nasri has endured mixed fortunes since his £24m move to City, winning the title last year and being accused by Roberto Mancini of not trying hard enough.

Nasri added: "I am aware that I am not having a good season. There are many reasons. But when Mancini said that I'm training at 50 per cent this is not true."

On a potential move away from City, Nasri added: "There is nothing going on with Monaco. Nor with PSG."

Tosser. Wish he would go away.

[Cripps_orig]

Perry Groves has warned Arsenal fans the club will have to settle for ‘second tier signings’ this summer.
Former vice-chairman David Dein was quoted on Tuesday morning saying Arsene Wenger is planning to splash the cash on big-money buys in the close season, but Groves insists the desire to spend is only half the story.
The ex-Gunners winger told Hawksbee & Jacobs: “Arsene Wenger will try to spend big, but the players he’s going to be in for, the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea will be in for as well.
“And it’s not just a question of the transfer fees. Everybody knows the top players will demand top salaries, so if Arsenal still have a wage structure with their top earners on £100-£110,000 a week, then other teams will blow them out of the water because they’ll be paying £180-£190,000 a week.
“I think Arsenal will have to take the second tier players because the top players will want to play for the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City, who are going to be in the hunt to win things.
“It also depends if Arsenal finish in the Champions League places because all the top players want to play in that, and sometimes you have to pay over the odds for a player.
“If Arsene thinks a player is worth £10m, he won’t pay more than that, whereas managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp will if they think he’ll be that important to the team.”
Arsenal’s close seasons have been disrupted in recent years with speculation over leading stars like Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, but this year it seems unlikely they will be battling to keep hold of their big names.
“Arsenal’s top players are still in the development stage,” added Groves. “They’ve probably got another season of Jack Wilshere, but if Arsenal don’t win anything he might think about moving on, so they should be a bit more stable. It will be more interesting who’s coming in than who’s going out.”



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Move to Emirates Stadium has worked well

[Cripps_orig]

IAN WRIGHT cannot wait to see Arsene Wenger splash the cash and get Arsenal challenging for silverware again.
As revealed by former vice-chairman David Dein, Wenger has finally conceded he must strengthen his squad this summer.
And Wright firmly believes the Frenchman is still the right man for the job to end the club’s eight-year trophy drought.
The Gunners legend told SunSport: “I’m delighted as my only argument with Arsenal has been we’ve not replenished the squad with the kind of quality players required to challenge for the Premier League.
“I get a lot of people on Twitter saying that I’m constantly slating the club, but I don’t do that.
“However, I won’t sit by when I know what is expected in terms of winning something. You expect to win something at that club — the fans do, the players should do — and I think we’ve lost sight of that in the last eight years.
“We’ve had a manager who has been great for us and now he’s finally realised that in order to compete, he has to spend the money.
“Now that Wenger has said he wants to buy big, I wouldn’t want anyone else rather than him doing it.”

Wenger has been notoriously reluctant to spend despite Arsenal’s strong finances.
But Wright, 49, insists the only way to get the Gunners firing again and win their first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup is to overhaul the team.
He added: “It’s hard to put your finger on specific players but for me, as a forward, I like the look of Edinson Cavani.
“He very much looks like a top player in terms of scoring goals at the highest level.
“I also think we need another goalkeeper to go alongside Wojciech Szczesny so that hopefully he can kick on.
“We need two centre-halves and we could always get another strong midfielder, but who is really available out there?

“I did like Mousa Dembele, but obviously he went to Spurs and I don’t know whether or not he’d have been an Arsenal type of player.
“My dream player for Arsenal would be Mesut Ozil. I think he’s amazing and you could put him in midfield alongside Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta.
“Finally, we need two big-name strikers to go with what we’ve already got so that everyone can raise their game and aspire to be at the same level.
“Then we’d have the whole squad playing for places and playing to win trophies because there’s proper competition. Arsenal need to get that mentality within the squad.”


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz2QH5UNsvZ

did Wenger actually say he will spend big or did Dein say it?

No way is Wenger spending big

[fakeyank]

People are creaming their pants with what DD had to say.. Wenger will come with the usual BS of signing 'only super quality players'

[Marc Overmars]

Wenget has been "ready" to spend big for the past 5 years.

They're generic comments from Dein designed to appease some fans, as we've once again proven how uncompetitive the squad is.