Arsenal Banter Archive May 11 2014

11 May 2014 23:39:04
If I recall correctly, someone mentioned that players rarely play for the club now; it's all about the money. Obviously, a player is providing a service and there is a high demand for good players. A high demand of course comes with a high cost.

So my question is, are there really any players who do only play for the club? Players who would rather earn half of what they could at another club, but choose to play for their current club?

Two players that come to mind are Di Natale from Udinese and Miccoli from a Serie C side. Di Natale has turned down opportunities to play for the biggest clubs in Europe where he would be earning much more than he is now, but he's chosen to stay with Udinese because of his love for the club. Miccolli has returned to his boyhood team after they were relegated to Serie C. He would have taken a huge pay cut surely.

There are honestly very few player in the BPL who I can think of who would do this, maybe Lampard, Shaw and Arteta to name a few. But can you see many City players or United players doing this?

Francesco Totti is the embodiment of a one club player, born in Rome, came through the Roma academy, now captains the club and has turned down opportunities to move on and will likely retire at the club, Legend.

Good question NEG,

The only player I can think of is Matt Le Tissier

I think the answer to that is up until the Premier League was introduced and the wages were, if you like, a little more in line with reality most players played for the club. But to me it's obvious that players play for the money now. That's why we have so many foreign players in the Premier League. let's face it they wouldn't be here for the love of the club would they? and the same applies for English players going abroad. We will see in the not too long distant future that most of the England team will be being picked from the Championship and League 1 even League 2 maybe. It's all about the money now.!

Heisenbergkamp. Best. Name. Ever.

Yes I can see Manchester United Players doing this - Giggs, Scholes, Gary Neville are perfect examples. Moratti of Inter Milan came in with a blank cheque to sign Scholes and Scholes replied "If you want me to play for you, you'll have to buy this club." More recently Januzaj was offered a lot of money to sign a contract with PSG but he refused and signed a lesser contract with us to stay at UTD.

Redrosie lol a lesser contract which makes him the highest payed 18 year old in world what a giant leap of faith that was ;)

He chose significantly less money with us. So he chose us with less money over PSG with more money. If you can't see how that qualifies as an appropriate example to the original question then I'm afraid I can't help you.

11 May 2014 23:21:06
Really annoying that our injury list is the shortist it has been all season

Ox and Theo

Everyone will get injured at the World Cup as well! :D

11 May 2014 22:45:53
Serious question (this has undertones of my constant fighting with you lot and Ed025, re Loic Remy, lol)

Yes, I know Remy is no Henry and I know he is not world class but, in all the years you have been supporting Arsenal, how many world class players can you remember us signing?

I can only think of Denis Bergkamp (btw he had 2 disastrous seasons at Inter before he joined us)

and Mesut Ozil.

Any more?

Chippy Brady would walk into any Arsenal side I have seen.

Kenny Sansom

David Seaman

Marc Overmars

I agree that we usually buy potential and look to make them world class but right not we need some ready made world class players. Remy is neither world class and he is 27, so hardly the age we would look to buy to turn into a world class player.

I would not be upset I we bought him but I would not be delighted either. At best a back up. I'd rather buy a top striker and keep Giroud as back up.

Banbury,

they weren't world class when we signed them.
We made them world class.

G95, I hear you, but how many world class players do you think would join Arsenal?

Hadnt seaman just done wonders elsewhere?

If we stump up the money then I could see a few. I'd rather Bony than Remy personally if we have to head down that road.

Sol Campbell plus Arshavin, Podolski both stars for their world cup sides.

Dags. That's been our problem mate. Maybe we should start buying World class from the off. Instead of buying players and waiting a couple of years in the hope we can turn them into World class. Because in the meantime while we are hanging about we are getting left behind .

11 May 2014 22:37:29
Dags where the hell do you get those jokes from, i'm still laughing. they are that bad :)

Lol mate,

All my mates say I can turn any situation into a joke.

It's a gift mate, what can I say.

If it's a gift then you've got 14 days to return it, fingers crossed you kept the receipt.

Lol thanks 1404, I like that one.

11 May 2014 22:07:18
Was at the game today as working up in Norwich and all I can say is the away support was amazing as always don't think I heard the Norwich fans all game jenks had a good showing and proved he can cut it, not at the level of Sagna positionally but defo can come good next season as Sagna has done this season. Great to see Diaby back looked strong and poised as usual. Apart from that it was basically a training game the only real threat was Olsson and Redmond on the left and as I said jenks coped very well.

11 May 2014 21:50:09
Dags


Remy is and will not be a Henry

AND YOU KNOW IT matey :)

I got to agree but if we can get him on the cheap which I doubt my definition of cheap is valid I say we give him a swerve

did anyone see giroud today 30 mins in clean through on goal and hits it straight at the keeper - sums him up for me, not a clinical finisher and not good enough for arsenal first choice

Banbury,

Agree my good friend.

But was Henry good at Juventus?

Nope, he was as useful as a handbrake on a canoe.

But we made him world class mate.

We will do the same to Remy, trust me.

Trust you

Go and read your jokes again. no chance mate

I should also add Henry only played 16 games at Juventus, not really fair judging him on that .how long did we give him, I think the talent was always there. Remy . erm

If you look what we did to Henry, and in such a short time, we could make Remy even better as he is more advanced than Henry when he joined us.

Dags, I wholeheartedly agree that remy in an arsenal shirt will almost be a different player.

But we ACUTALLY made henry a different player, wenger saw his eye for goal and strive to win and made him lead the line, Remy isn't henry.

BUT. he will score goals for us, as much as say carlos vela imho

11 May 2014 19:20:06
City utd chelski Liverpool Real Barca PSG and Bayern have all conceded defeat on signing Remy and will turn their attention towards their second chioces targets :-)
Sorry but it does tell you something

When we signed Henry, City, Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real, Barca and PSG weren't interested in him.

can you see where in going with this?.

{Ed025's Note - unfortunately yes dags..

True Dags and they were both 27, its getting spooky now :-)
He's a punt that if it happens I hope I wear the dunces hat all next season, but I really hope we never find out, I was hoping for another Ozil moment not an oh well one

Apart from Ozil which was quite a surprise to everyone, other than Yougsters I can't think of a player we've signed when other teams have been interested in them, can anybody else?

The silver lining Dags is that we do have that pull for youth players. Ramsey chose us over Utd. Not sure who was in for Walcott and Ox but they were both rated very highly before we bought them, so they must have had a few good options. If players like Werner, Fischer, Meyer, Delofeou etc start getting touted around, we can offer a quicker route to 1st team football and perhaps better technical development than Chelsea, City, Real, Barca (I know Delafeou plays for Barca but in this case comparing us to other English clubs!) etc. Probably clutching at straws but I think we can still compete on this front.

Who was interested in Ozil?

1404 Ramsey signed for us when utd wanted him, tht too under fergie, there were others as well wallcott, Sol Campbell.

Sol Campbell comes to mind but I can't think of many 1404, mind you we haven't won a title for 10 years not doing so.
I just think it's time to bring in some proven quality now and have a real go before players like Ox and Ramsey start thinking about where they can win medals as others have in the past

Ed, I reckon you are coming round to my way of thinking.

G62, I will hold you to that.

1404, Charlie Nicholas.

{Ed025's Note - dont bank on it dags.. :)

Oleg, totally agree mate.

Saint, not many clubs as far as I know, I think it was very cloak and dagger.
Credit to Wenger for nipping in there.

I was expecting this one Saint, Ozil was below the radar and no one dreamed Real would sell him, if not it would have been who wasn't interested in Ozil.
The Ozil signing shocked the football world and most importantly our world, I rather liked that feeling I would like a bit more of it please, I don't want to taste caviare and then go back to bread and dripping sarnies

So Ed, won't you sign my 'Remy for Arsenal' petition?

{Ed025's Note - no way pedro!...he is a decent enough player dags, but not the world beater you portray him to be, he has an attitude and ego that can ruin a teams togetherness, he is one to swerve for me mate, but it seems you are the president of his fan club, and probably have posters of him on your bedroom wall, so i guess im fighting a loosing battle.. :)

If we do sign him DG one of us will be wearing that dunces hat and I truly hope its me my friend.
Success or failure Dags Remy will most definitely be your man, no pressure mate :-)

Ed, you been spying on me again?

In all honesty, I can see where you are coming from, and agree.

I just think he is a very decent player and at the right club (Arsenal), he will be a very good player and more importantly, a very good goalscorer.

{Ed025's Note - i would be happy for you if that happened dags...im just not a big fan mate..

Lol G62,

Mate, if we sign him and he turns out to be rubbish, I will walk along the beach in tight speedos, smart shoes and a glass of Southern Comfort in my hand.

Oh, hold on>>

{Ed025's Note - HEY!...get your own job!

I'm pretty sure Walcott, Chambo and Ramsey weren't established Players when we signed, kids like I said so Sol and Champagne Charlie it is then

Better than Lukaku and £7m cheaper?

Sparkling wine Charlie was a George Graham signing, if we're going back beyond Arsene, Malcolm McDonald.
Oh DG what about a Remy Joey Barton double hit on QPR :-)

{Ed025's Note - barton is of impeccable character compared to remy G62..

Ed,
I would love Joey Barton at Arsenal.
Hear me out on this one>>>

We sign him. Stick him on the bench.When he warms up and runs along the touchline, people hate him so much, both set's of supporters will throw coins at him.

We do this every game, collect the coins and at the end of the season we have raised £10m.

We buy Loic Remy from the money raised by the supporters.

Call it 'The Supporters Trust Fund'.

Cunning plan Ed?

{Ed025's Note - i think you have been watching dick dastardly too much dags..

11 May 2014 18:36:52
Congratulations to Man City.

Great individual players but also a great team.

Well done. Well deserved.

AGREE
the best team wins it over 38 games
shame we fadded, but look at the welsh wizard now
We missed the boyo

Yes well done city the final table doesn't lie and they were the best team over the he 38 game marathon.
Shame their isn't a half marathon

{Ed025's Note - or a 100m sprint..

11 May 2014 19:42:45
Pellegrini deserves a lot of credit too after the mess Mancini, Tevez and Balotelli left them in.

Thoroughly deserved though, quality on top of quality.

{Ed025's Note - thats the benefit of having unlimited funds jenny, when you have top quality coming off the bench, or to replace players who are injured with seasoned internationals, its so much easier than having to blood kids or draught in mediocre players to replace your stars...but well done to city, by beating liverpool to the title, they have certainly saved me some grief.. :)

Ed, you sound like a relieved man, what with Liverpool not winning.
Is that the sound of another bottle of Southern Comfort I hear being opened in celebration?.

{Ed025's Note - it is dags..good day all round mate..

You're right Dags, you can't fault the efforts of the players and particularly the manager.

I'll always have a chip on my shoulder about Chelsea and particularly City. At the end of the day, their money makes it a lot easier for them to win the league. I'm not feeling sorry for us - we have money and could have invested enough to win this season. More that teams like Everton, who have busted a gut to get where they are, could be in the CL now if it weren't for teams like City buying their way up.

But, City's severe advantages over other teams aside, they've worked hard this season and deserve it.

{Ed025's Note - FFP will soon sort that out oleg...as soon as nelson gets his eye back..

Enjoy Ed, you deserve it.

Top top Ed in my book.

{Ed025's Note - cheers mate..

11 May 2014 17:05:17
Another good win. Szczesny should have played to get the Golden Glove. Wilshere looked good when he came on and Ramsey's goal was sublime.

Roll on the FA Cup!

He'll play in the final to get the fac medal.

11 May 2014 16:39:58
If I'm not mistaken, Jack Wilshere and Carl Jenkinson had a £10,000 wager with the money going to charity.

Jack Wilshere bet Jenks that he'd never score for Arsenal.

Looks like its time to pay up Jacky boy!

Doesnt it say a lot about players today when they bet that amount of money.

Ffs it's going to charity! It's not their fault they earn the money they do is it? So I guessing if you scored a job with exceptional pay your going to turn around and say 'please don't pay me that much I don't need it' right?

11 May 2014 14:48:26
We all know we need or would certainly like a top striker.

But who realistically, of the type of quality we want, is available?

Robert Lewandowski (no)

Jackson Martinez (possibly? Has the pace and skills, but is he proven?)

Edinson Cavani (unlikely imho- even IF he was available, I can't see us being able to compete for him)

Luis Suarez (lets be honest highly unlikely and if going anywhere probably RM)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (highly unlikely- big wages, etc. for a 31 yeard old)

Diego Costa (possible? Chelsea appear to be favourites, so unlikely imo)

Augereo (no chance)

Falcao (no chance)

Karim Benzema (possibly, especially if suarez joins RM)

Alvaro Morata (possible. Good talented young player-but 20-30 PL goals straightaway? perhaps)

Gonzalo Higuain (unlikely!?)


Edin Dzeko (good player, but what we need? unlikely anyway imho)

Mario Mandzukic (better that Giroud and has a little more pace as well. Scored 22 out of 40 apps last season and 13 out of 25 this season. Possible)

RVP (I don't think so)

Rooney (very unlikely)

Mario Balotelli (has the ability, but? It would be a punt imo, but possible?)

By my reckoning and my opinion, who's a realistic possibility: Jackson Martinez, Diego Costa (ish?), Benzema (perhaps?), Alvaro Morata, Mandzukic, Balotelli (maybe).

So that leaves players like: Lukaku (?), Carlos vela (improved a lot and had a good season), Benteke (hmm) Alfred Finnbogason (prolific striker in the Dutch league, could be worth a punt, but still unproven imho) and Remy (think he could be good for us).

I'm sure there are others I haven't mentioned, but we are demanding a quality striker, so.

I don't think we have a great deal of choice, in terms of the more proven strikers imo.

Unfortunately top quality strikers don't appear out of thin air. So who does AW try and sign?

Ive heard benzema if off this summer
EDS
might cast some light on it

{Ed025's Note - karim looks likely to leave taff, press speculation is that madrid will try for suarez and use him as a makeweight in the deal, if that does not come to fruition, then i believe arsenal have a great chance of landing him mate..if they are willing to meet their valuation of course..

I am always suspect of these player swap deals.

1) the player being traded wants to go there.

2) the valuation the clubs set on their players needs to be agreed on.

so if Suarez is valued at 85 mill then Madrid will say Benzema is worth 45 mill, while Liverpool may value him at 20 mill, so the likelyhood of any swap is much more difficult to any sale.

if I remember correctly, during last seasons bale transfer, Levy wanted a world record fee, and then he wanted to buy some madrid players for his valuation, do not remember which players but depending on the players desire to join spurs and the valuation it was difficult to make that jump to say the least.

11 May 2014 14:28:34
Does anybody know why no merts or verm in the suqad today?

11 May 2014 10:21:42
We need to break the bank for Luis Suarez type player - if not Suarez himself. This would give us a striking four of Suarez, Giroud, Walcott and Podolski with Theo and Lukas also able to cover midfield. Mesut for one will think it`s Christmas! More than enough numbers and talent in midfield - just need a cdm and right back if Sagna goes. Like for like if Verm goes - personally think he and less likely Sagna may stay if we make marquee signings, and surely we can find a half decent reserve keeper for not much money.
So £65mill for Suarez
£25mill for Bender/Schneiderlin
£10 mill rb/Richards(cover cb also)

Okay its £100mill but all young players and won`t need to replace for years so over three years only £30million per year-( maybe Rosicky and Arteta will need replacing )

Enough penny pinching over last ten years, we have a real chance now

Just my thoughts
COYG

Agree we have to buy the best we can get, the more you spend on something the more likely it is to do the job you bought it for.
When we had Henry we could take our time and a gamble or two finding his successor but now we need to find our next Henry!
If the job your doing isn't that important buy your tools from a boot sale you might get a bargain, but if your future depends on it best buy the tools that are most likely to do the job right first time and pay the going rate for them

100m? Stick an extra 70m on top of that. Last year we forked out close to 100m on ozil, sanogo and Flamini when you take into consideration agent fees, wages etc.

11 May 2014 12:48:24
The saying is buy cheap buy twice so let's spend a few quid, to be honest I'd be happy if we blew the lot on Saurez, with out injuries we would have been involved today. Easily.

Saint
Wages are not paid up front so your way off saying it cost 100m last year. Agents fees for sanogo? Yes we will pay something but the lad was free. Won't be on big wages. Flamini all be it his wages are 60-70k it's pretty nominal.

Add to that money Madrid possibly still owed us from previous deals( eds may clarify if they likely still owed us ) plus there's not many transfers that are paid up front, and add into the equation the copious amounts of cash arsenal have been hoarding the Ozil deal alone would far from leave us skint. And I forgot to say the puma cash starts this summer plus the emirate deal. So spending big there are zero excuses

11 May 2014 09:54:51
Obviously we would all like to see the club sign a proven 30 goal a season striker, but if that doesn't happen
Would you rather take a chance and sign Remy or give Theo an extended run playing down the middle next season?

Remy for sure, we need Theo outside and both of them on the end of Ozil will be magnificent. (mixed with Giroud, Poldi as part of a rotation that we don't have now)

Sometimes we don't give the existing guys enough credit…we are very close to the top, will win the cup and probably only need a great DM and it will unleash all of our other forces. We are so close.

If we over do it we risk ruining the culture and it can go badly wrong - look at Totteringham - too many new and strong faces.

For me RB, Schneiderlin and Remy would put us in the mix.

Sagna Schniederlin, Falcao or iIbrahimovic would siut me better

Richards 8mil rb/cb
Javi Martinez 25mil cdm/cb
Loic Remy 12mil cf

Problem solved? Cover all the positions we need to fill and still have money left to maybe sell Giroud and splash out on Benzema or Draxler!

11 May 2014 08:41:36
Totally agree Goldboy, why do we want to be buying players who 'have potential'? it may never be reached

11 May 2014 02:44:29
Suggestion for a post Ed.
Will the Martinez rumour exceed the Higuain rumour of last season.?.
Only joking! I couldn't handle it. But I've made a preliminary booking for a retreat if it kicks off in the same way. LOL