Arsenal Banter Archive February 10 2013

10 Feb 2013 19:16:57
Looks like Santos will probably be going on loan back to his home country. If we don't see him in a Arsenal shirt again, can I just thank him for giving me the believe that I could still make it as a professional footballer. I don't even have to drop that much weight.
# It's never too late.
Flybo

Whatever scout spotted and recommended him should be sacked

10 Feb 2013 23:21:55
good thinking fylbo let's start a "santos" appreciation page!

i would personally like to thank him for keeping the arsenal twitter page going for the last couple of years.

champagne charlie

I don't think Santos would make my pub team.

still tho, his teammates seem to genuinely enjoy the company of Santos. Reminds a bit of Eboue in that sense, although Eboue was twice the footballer and that's saying something.

Lets not forget he was very good against Chelsea away last season, and given most fans judge a players career on 90 mins then surely he is the bestested isn't he? oh i'm confused. what are the rules what are the rules.

Seriously though even Gervinho laughs at Santos. that's how bad he is

1404

When we signed Santos, some waiters in a Turskish restaurant told me he couldn't defend. If they knew, how come Wenger & his scouts didnt?

Santos is to the Arsenal team what the ugly girls are that a fitty will surround herself with.

He makes them laugh and ultimately makes them feel great about how good they are as footballers, just by being as bad as he is.

He did have a good game against Chelsea and thanks for that Santos. You defended ok and got a goal. Other than that, thanks for. well. um. going to Gremio. And for reminding us how not to drive.

Good luck! Maybe the heat will help you shed a few pounds!

Metal Gooner

Maybe because they watch him play football, whilst the scouts only watch the numbers on their stats spreadsheet.

10 Feb 2013 18:26:59
Hi guys, what with Santos' loan move to Gremio all but finalised, what do you think will happen with the LB position against Bayern?

If fit TV5

Sagna. Mert. Kos. Verm.
Flybo

Jenkinson Mertesacker Koscielny Sagna

It sounds like Vermaelen has a serious problem with his ankle, possibly requiring an op. Assuming Koscielny is fit, I think we will play the above back four. If not, then:
Jenkinson Sagna Mertesacker Miquel.

Its very worrying that the team has been left so short of defensive cover, by letting Djourou & Santos leave on loan. Whgilst keeping Squilacci & Miquel.

10 Feb 2013 14:06:52
Diame; no tracking back, no real effort, shooting when he should be crossing, can't attack a cross, not a great deal of pace and this is against villa. he looks appalling. No thanks, you can keep him.

Purchase

I am not sure he is enjoying his football at West Ham. Square peg in a round hole. One or two excellent displays but since xmas he hasn't been the usual top player.

Judging a player on one game?

Metal Gooner

Don't really care. any sorta realistic interest in Diame would've hinged on Diaby's recovery because he's the only person he could fill in for. he's nowhere near as good as Wilshere or Arteta or Santi to push them for a place. the club either hope Diaby stays fit or pay top dollar for a player to come in and act as a stand-in.
if it's down to a (possibly) fit Diaby or Diame, we'd be flushing money down the drain.

Mike

Excellent displays? By who's standards? Very average player. Nothing special about this guy. Nothing we Havnt already got.

Diame has put in some excellent displays and one of them was against us. I am not saying we haven't got as good, but in his own right he's a great player. Just because we have as good and better doesn't suddenly make him bad or average.

Metal Gooner

10 Feb 2013 18:11:26
What the chuff are you talking about?

Seriously, there must be something wrong if diame is now good enough to put on an arsenal shirt. He is by no means a 'great player'. Infact he's far from it.

Great is a word used to describe something different or a bit special. Diame is not.

The sooner everyone realises that we need quality not average players the better.

Would you see utd signing this sort of player? Short answer is no as he wouldn't make a big enough impact. Not worth changing your team to include an average player. The player has to make a difference.

10 Feb 2013 13:41:34
not arsenal related.

i was thinking about posting this months ago but did not know what sort of response I would get but after watching the barcelona game this morning I have decided to say what I feel.

Spanish football is crap, predictable, boring, 1 sided and over rated.

spanish football will never be in the same league as the pl. if you put messi up against the current pl sides he would not score half the goals that he does in spain.
the pl is far more competitive now than when ronaldo was at united,, you can tell this by the winning points margin that has won the league over the last 4-5 years.

you only have to look at barcelona and real madrid injury records or should I say what injurys!

in actual fact I wish spanish football was an option on my sky package, it would have been gone a long time ago.

thoughts please

champagne charlie

Hmmmm.

For me, the Italian league is far more impressive. I have not seen too many Spanish games but the Italian games I have watched are so exciting. The football for the most part is one-touch and even when it doesn't come off, you have to appreciate the efforts. I remember when Blackpool came up to the EPL couple of seasons ago and everyone loved them because they played decent attacking football. they just couldn't defend to save their lives.

For me Italian football is very similar. What separates our league from theirs is that, for me anyway, in our league we have a handful of teams who play like us/ Wigan/ Swansea/ City, whereas in Italy that is the main style of the league, it's just they lack the overall class of players we have. But honestly, some of the best games I have watched in recent months have all been Italian league games, you can't help but admire what they are trying to do on the pitch even if it doesn't work out.

Far too much hype is put on the spanish league. That said, there are some fantastic teams, definitely more than just Madrid and Barca, but for me, the leagues in order of greatness start with EPL, Bundesliga and then Serie A. Then The Spanish, Dutch, French and Portuguese leagues can fight amongst themselves!

So if you're interested in watching decent football mate watch the Italian league and the high end German games, and watch Hannover games, they can't defend to save their lives but love scoring, it's like watching Southampton vs top 4 clubs sometimes, so entertaining for the neutral.

Metal Gooner

I watch all football metal,, it was just my opinion why people rave about barcelona and real madrid all the time.

metal how do you think barcelona would get on in the pl?

imagine barcelona playing stoke on a saturday then having to go to sunderland on a cold wednesday night?

how many bangs would messi be able to take from cattlemore or shawcross?

champagne charlie

I will go out on a limb here and say I think they would destroy and finish top 3 if not higher every season in all honesty.

Barcelona, if anything, suffer by being in a poor league, it means they go rusty and world class players do not play to their potential. It's only in the biggest games that we see how special they really are. In the EPL every game is a big game and I think they'd thrive here, and I think if their players could sustain the intensity of a big CL game week after week, such is the intensity of our league, then they could easily finish top 2. I think people like to believe that if they came here they would struggle, I don't agree with that although I do understand why people say that. Make no mistake, Barca are the best team in the world at fast attacking football. The shock for them would be that their defence can never sleep because in this league you get punished, but I can't see a team as elite as them joining our league and not stepping up to the plate in the way that would be required. It would simply push them to play at their best imo.

Don't know if that makes sense but yeah.

Metal Gooner

P. s. Messi takes a beating almost every time he plays. People said the same thing about Oscar and he can more than handle his own. They said the same about Santi and Mata - and Arshavin. The only thing that affects how rugged a player is, is how rugged they are. Not size. Every time I watch Messi he practically gets kicked off the park, but he is so good that he plays through it. I haven't seen Oscar go down injured from a hard tackle, nor Mata, nor Santi. And for me Messi is harder than all of them! Simple truth is Messi would turn a Stoke team inside out.

Metal Gooner

I stuggle to get into it, Epl is the best by far imo

104

I can only watch the El Classico other than that I don't bother.

Bergkamp's apprentice

I think the spanish top 3, is stronger than the english top 3.

Barca > Utd
Real > City
Athletico > Chelsea/Spurs/Arsenal

The arguement about the attrition of the premier league and its physicality is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. The only thing that would have a negative effect on the performances of spanish clubs in the english league, is the weather, and the state of a football pitch. Just my opinion.

Daniel

10 Feb 2013 13:23:28
I know a lot of people are worried about the Bayern game but we prove every year we can go toe to toe in champs league big games and I can't wait for that game!

I don't know why, but I just have this really good feeling about that game.

Plus, as I realised was reminded recently, it is on my birthday. and a victory is honestly the only present I want. Please Arsenal, make that wish come true! I don;t want presents or cash or nice food, I don't care, just a win over Bayern and enough booze to celebrate a win accordingly!

Metal Gooner

10 Feb 2013 14:18:10
Have to agree mate,

I'm for some reason not worried either, we are underdogs, have attacking options I really like and if our defence plays like they did against Sunderland. who knows.

Would love Podolski to score a few too!

Stoner

I said this 2 weeks ago metal.

this game will be won because of passion and who wants it more.

just need to get to munich with a 50/50 chance and then who knows.

champagne charlie

10 Feb 2013 11:19:34
I recently asked on this site if Jenkinson will make a good center half in the future. I got a lot of response some good some bad, that's ok everyone has their own views, just wondering after yesterday I don't think he is good enough to play full back for Arsenal

Limerick Gunner

I think if you ask any pro they would say you need at least 6 games in the first team to get up speed of the game

Lets give him a chance as he certainly looked good after a run in the first team

SY4

Don't juge him on a single match you fool he hasn't had regular football for a while now! People are weathercocks.
Stan

Full back YES, he had an off day yesterday but has proved in the past that he is capable. Probably did'nt help that he did not have a proper CB next to him which would have made him nervous, although Sagna was brilliant.

Hey Stan is there any need to call any 1 a fool?

champagne charlie

^^ Charlie, why you getting involved you fool!

10 Feb 2013 09:09:26
My kids turn 7 this year and have never seen us win a trophy! Come on AW don't make them wait till there 10.

I know the club will be around for a long long time BUT by not winning you are shrinking our future fan base which means less money. Take a look at the playgrounds of today and compare the Arsenal shirts to Chelsea shirts then go back 10 years and think of the ratios.

You can count the Arsenal fans on one hand yet need to borrow a set to count Chelsea. No SPUD shirts but there again the kids would need to be about 50 years old to remember glory days!

Come on AW you know it makes sense in long term and short term to buy some quality ( 2 players not 11 ) and win a cup!

SY4

Who cares about poxy glory hunter fans?

My kids will support Arsenal because it is in their blood

10 Feb 2013 01:44:33
The Diaby I have been watching recently is not the same Diaby that bossed Liverpool at the start of the season.

The Diaby at the start of the season that we were seeing was a beast who took on players with ease. Now he seems to have lost his way a little bit.

Nick.

10 Feb 2013 10:16:47
I'm guessing that he must have a certain fear factor of breaking down again, has to be in the back of his mind constantly.

Stoner

I have the same problem Stoner, so I joined the AA.

Maybe that's the answer with Diaby.

10 Feb 2013 00:06:32
Gareth bale is the most overrated player in the world don't get me wrong he is class but people saying he is as good as messi and ronaldo is quite ridiculous. He is greedy and you can tell does he have more than 1 assist this season!


SM1996

Overrated, maybe. I wouldn't be too upset with his selfishness considering the fact that he's basically carrying that team on his own. if Wenger decides to splurge on monkey boy, I know i, for one, wouldn't complain much.

Mike