Arsenal Banter Archive June 12 2014

12 Jun 2014 23:36:27
Greetings and Salutations my fellow Gooners!

Will he, won't he, will he.well we now know. A few thoughts on Mr Fabregas.

1. Only those in the know actually do know what transpired. As such speculation at best is a guess and as such i'd prefer to trust our club in their decision making prowess.

2. I believe if we had signed Cesc that it would have been as a luxury signing. As a club I believe we have a budget, and Cesc while a fan favourite was not a player that addressed an immediate need.

3. Yes we turned Cesc down, Barca shipped him out and Pep didn't bring him to Munich. again only those in the know will know but I can't help but wonder why.

4. Why are we so shocked? Arsenal have always been ruthless in our financial dealings and have very rarely ever let sentiment dictate a deal. Conversely players say what we want to hear, but they have a limited time to maximize their earnings. Coupled together this decision shouldn't really surprise anyone.

5. Does AFC and Arsene have some work to do to restore the good faith the FA cup provided? Yes they do, frankly speaking we have been very patient as a fan base, its time for the club to pay up and bring in the players we need to compete.

In conclusion my Cesc jersey will hang with the others who have gone and left but my heart will always remain true to Arsenal FC, the greatest football club the world has ever seen.

And be patient everyone, this will be a great summer when its all said and done!

Gunners4Life, IN AW WE Trust

13 Jun 2014 00:06:43
That's a damn fine post.

13 Jun 2014 01:48:30
Brilliant post

12 Jun 2014 22:51:41
Well with Arsene passing on Cesc I can only assume that the Gareth Barry signing must be in the bag, him alongside Fellaini with Lescott filling in at the back and we really will be a force to be reckoned with.

If we hadn't missed out on Jermaine Defoe and John Obi Mikel god only knows what heights we could have reached.

Still there's always January and Kallstrom may need a few games and Remy will be eed up at the spurs. :-)

Now come on jenny don't be like that. Wengers about to announce the signing of Abou Diaby. The next Patrick Vieira! Who needs Barry lescott or Fabregas!

12 Jun 2014 23:35:26
It's ok Jen,

Fear ye not, Wenger is lining up Jimmy Bullard as our main man.

Deep joy.

Barry Lescott? Bang, and the dirt is gone!

12 Jun 2014 22:22:30
Does any one else think that if we didn't even got for cesc has wenger got something bigger planned bcos that's the only reason I can think off part from we have enuf players like him

12 Jun 2014 21:53:28
Ed,

Do you know the current situation on Luis Gustavo?

we showed an interest before he went to Wolfsburg but my understanding is he is not overly happy there.

Any chance of Arsenal rekindling their interest?

{Ed002's Note - I cannot sensibly answer questions with "any chance" in.}

Apart from oscar (and as I'm typing this he's scored) havnt been impressed with any of the Brazil team. Gustavo looks quite lightweight for the holding midfielder

12 Jun 2014 23:42:51
Yeah I watched match and came to the same conclusion mate.

12 Jun 2014 21:50:56
So i've had a few hours to have a think, and the way I work is heart over head, which gets me into trouble a lot of the time. I know that

a) Cesc left us when we needed him
b) We could have signed him, reportedly for 140k a week but he's got 200k at Chelsea

I can't help but feel even though we may have made the right decision, I feel sorry for Cesc. Why? Because he spent he early days at Barca, sold to Arsenal, spent 7 years at Arsenal and then home to Barca, only to be rejected again by them, and then to be rejected by us. Now he's signed fro Chelsea, a lot of fans hate him, and he has to cut ties with us as part of a PR front. He wanted Arsenal, a lot of the fans wanted him, and Arsenal decided no.

So my question is, if the fans wanted him, the fans pay the tickets, 27 million is 1/5 of the puma deal, the ticket prices rise, and we are ignored.

There is, whatever the details, something wrong with the way this sorry story has ended up, and I don't know if I can stomach 'we've got Cesc Fabregas' if Chelsea walk the title and smash us 6-0 again as Wenger smiles and counts the beans.

It does hurt, no denying it. This tranfer window needs to be justified with a large buy or it's a disaster all around.

We have Arteta, Diaby, and an aging Rosicky - 5 years of Cesc was not crazy for £27 million

Ozilbaggins. mate I couldn't have said it better myself. This nonsense has instantly reminded me of Wenger substituting Podolski for Sanogo after about 60 mins in the FA Cup final. Utter b*******! We will never win the league or champions league under Wenger that's the truth a cup maybe. but not the two that we covet. Sad times.

12 Jun 2014 23:05:53
Sanogo was fantastic when he came on. Podol didn't turn up for the final

Sanogo made all the difference in the final, I doubt we would have won if he had kept Poldi on. He had a very poor game.

12 Jun 2014 21:09:21
Nice to see Eduardo on the bench for the Croats.

I too am gutted to see Cesc wearing the colours of my misses' team but I think our style has change somewhat since he left for barca.

Would like to see AW come back from the WC with a few class acts in his suitcase.

And with Cesc joining Chelski, why don't we go in for Mikel as our holding mid? I know he's not the most illustrious of players but he does a job and would be cheap.

I would personally love it we bought Nigel De Jong and Balotelli.

Gooner83

Have you ever seen Mikel pass the ball forward?

G95 Have you ever seen carrick pass the ball forward? Seem to remember him winning player of the season a couple years back!

12 Jun 2014 22:44:46
What about bringing back Alex Song? Never plays for Barca, and could pass forward. Was also pretty decent as a back up centre back

I've seen Carrick pass forward plenty of times.

Have you ever watched Mikel? He is truly awful. Poor distribution and not great at protecting the back 4 either.

The fact that fans are happy to let Cesc go there then pick up their scraps says a lot about our club now.

12 Jun 2014 20:18:57
Hello EDs, quite a long time, I got this picture of Cesc Fabrigas showing that he has signed for Chelsea, kindly confirm if this real. Thanks

{Ed002's Note - He has.}

I rarely post, but I couldn't hold back on this! I am utterly disgusted that we allowed Fabregas to go to Chelsea. I agree we need strengthening elsewhere but my question is where is the £100m+ we know that Arsenal have to spend on players and that's not from the papers that's from the clubs financial report!



The talk is that Cazorla is wanted by Atletico, 22m euros being touted as the price. Why on earth we have not taken that and brought back Fab I have no idea. Cazorla to the best of my knowledge is on a 3 year deal, which means he is entering the final year this season, he has already stated he isn't sure about extending his contract with us earlier this season and bare in mind he will be 30 and we all know how that works at Arsenal. So why the hell we have not resigned Fab at 27 and we know he will not look to move elsewhere, I have no bloody clue!

Mr gooner M

We didn't allow Fabregas to go to Chelsea

We didn't want Fabregas

Barcelona sold him to Chelsea!

12 Jun 2014 19:59:05
The key to some of our success last year was the togetherness and team spirit in the dressing room. To bring back a former skipper would've upset the balance within the team. Fabregas belongs to another generation its time to let him go, his talent is not in question.

The generation that had walcott and wilshere and gibbs?

you forget cesc was was a youth with half of our current homegrown stars.

he wouldn't upset the balance. he might even improve it, when he was here we played for fun, not struggling to maintain a front foot.

12 Jun 2014 19:44:25
Yes its going to hurt a lot seeing Cesc in that shirt playing for that bloke but what's to do!
We got used to seeing the horrible dutch bloke in that shirt and reluctantly we'll get used to this.
Right or wrong it doesn't matter now we are and will always be Gooners through out what ever highs or lows come along.
ooo to be people ooo to be

12 Jun 2014 19:17:53
Maybe we can drop the Cesc thing, I mentioned 2 weeks ago he was off to Chelsea, and that is what has happened.

So tell me would Cesc make a difference? Given the current crop of players we have NO, I have heard for a while that we need a defender and a forward but no mention of a creative midfielder .oh until we heard Cesc was leaving Spain.

Please be consistent, it never works when a player comes back for a second time.

We don't and didn't need him, 30 odd mill needs to be spent elsewhere

12 Jun 2014 19:46:36
you make a fair point mate and to be fair you have stuck to your guns on this subject.

Respect.

My post might have been a tad harsh, but we would have to sell some of the current crop to fit Cesc in. He wouldn't make a P L Winning difference whereas a TOP quality striker would .

Cesc would have come back to Arsenal but AW didn't want him so he is obviously content with want he has . I am sure he has something up his sleeve but also I think a few on here will be disappointed come August. Please don't expect 2 or 3 BIG signings

12 Jun 2014 21:08:16
Banbury,

I agree mate. £30m could have been much better spent addressing CDM and ST. If we bought Fabregas and afew squadies we would have the same problems as last year. No plan B, no CDM, no direct wingers/pace etc.

But the issue is. Will Wenger spend £30m+ on a top player. Such as Khedira, Reus or Balotelli to fill a gaping hole in our team. The longer the summer goes on the more and more that will look unlikely.

The way I see it:

Chelsea will sign Costa, Cesc and Felipe Luis - vastly improving their squad. Especially with Courtois back from Loan.

Man City will sign a Striker, Holding Midfielder and Centre Back. Say Mandzuckic, Fernando and Mangala - improving their squad.

Man U will buy top, young players. Shaw, William Carvalho, Strootman and gods knows who else - improved squad.

Liverpool will also get Lambert, Lallana, Moreno, Can. Maybe Lovren and Vorm too - vastly improving thier squad.

Where does that leave Arsenal? Remy, Chambers and Marshall? Adding nothing to our squad.

But hey. We might finish above Spurs.

Wenger needs to spend big to redeem himself. Ed, surely Wenger has big targets and cash to spend? Seeing as he rejected chance to sign Cesc.

12 Jun 2014 18:43:23
Surely by not re-signing cesc wenger really must have a plan, he knows that this will upset the fans.

If he honestly thinks that the same squad that finished 4th last season can win the title this season whilst everyone else is buying big then there is something not right in his head.

Would he have signed a new 3 year deal just to keep doing the same over again, knowing the fans are growing restless?

I would just like to see a couple of early signings in the window to allay some of our fears of another stingy transfer window.

I am one frustrated gooner tonight, but would be very pleased if we do go for Khedira.

12 Jun 2014 17:57:33
Think we've messed up by not signing Fabregas.
The usual reason - let's not sign world class because it stops what we have from becoming world class.
-fabregas would have chosen us if wed been in for him
-he'd have fitted right in
-he wouldve raised the game of other's around him
-you can never have too many world class players
-we can afford it
-by letting Chelsea have him unopposed gives them a huge boost to their squad next year.

Chelsea already have class players. Do they let that stop them from signing cesc? Hell no.

The whole thing baffles and infuriates me.

12 Jun 2014 18:30:19
Also by not signing him Wenger has put himself right back in the spotlight and as soon as things start to go wrong there will be calls for his head once more.

12 Jun 2014 17:12:13
Gonna be negative here, apologies in advance.

A few days ago, I posted saying i'd heard from a friend, that we were after someone big.
Turns out this player (allegedly, remember, nothing is ever certain) was Marco Reus, but it only ever went as far as a tentative enquiry, where we apparently just flat out weren't going to match his price tag (again, hearsay).

Now Cesc has signed for Chelsea and even though I didn't want him back at the expense of a good DM, I'm incredibly gutted he's gone to anyone but us, even more it's to Chelsea.
It just feels wrong, worse than Nasri, RVP or any of the others.

And I just can't help but feel we're going to have an awful summer now.
Like it's written in stone.
We're crying out for 1-2 big signings, a striker and a DM in my mind.

And I can see us being left till the final couple weeks of the window, hoping a decent players price drops, then having to settle for a poor substitute when someone else pays that players actual valuation.

I know it's early in the window and I'm possibly overreacting, but whilst everyone seems to be making some kind of move, we seem content just to sit around. (That said, I don't know what happens internally at the club).

I had genuine hopes.
That winning a trophy would inspire us to strengthen more in a bid to win.

But now I've gone from expecting players like Bender, Balotelli, Benzema, Di Maria, Griezman, Pedro, Sanchez and others.
Genuine hope.

Now in expecting the window to slam shut and for Wenger to be telling us how his signings of Remy, Schinderlin and Marshall have the ability to win us the league and that even though Di Maria, Benzema and Khedira all left Madrid, there were no better options in any position.


Like I said, maybe I'm being too negative.

I hope Wenger makes me look a complete fool, but I just don't feel it here.

12 Jun 2014 17:29:59
I know we didn't want to sign Cesc, however just seeing him in a Chelsea shirt kills me.

12 Jun 2014 17:26:37
Okay thts tht. Now let's move on!

If Wenger thot we don't need him. THN WE DNT. Better we use th money in areas of th team tht needs improving instead of wasting our money on luxeries tht wouldn't help us win trophies just bcuz of th likin we have 4 players. I'm pretty sure we'll better our team this summer & compete for th titles. I have faith in Wenger. U should too. Lastly, fairwell Cesc. Chapter closed at last. Lol

12 Jun 2014 17:02:47
I love Wenger, he's a brilliant manager and I'm sure he is the right man for the job. As good as Fabregas is/was I don't think we need him especially after the upset he caused last time around. But, and it's a big but, if we fail this coming season due to injuries in midfield yet again my faith in Wenger will have gone! That is all

Spot on. I always felt Fabregas was a good player, but overrated. He walked out on Barca as a kid, then slyly engineered a move back to Barca, despite being our captain and having 3 years left on his contract. I am pleased we didn't re-sign him and wish him well at Chelsea.

12 Jun 2014 16:47:03
Hi Eds, do you have any idea on when arsenal will start doing business? It seems that every player we have been strongly linked with has been linked with other clubs

{Ed002's Note - Arsenal have made bids and are discussing players with other clubs. I cannot answer when transfers will be completed.}

Since Dein left we have nobody capable of negotiating deals. Add Wenger's reluctance to spend and us fans are left feeling very frustrated.
Wenger will not spend anything like £100m, more like £30m on the 2 or 3 players he stated he wanted.
From my calculations we need:
1. A keeper
2. A RB - If Jenkinson is elevated to first choice we still need back up.
3. We need a 4th CB - 2 if Vermaelen leaves.
4. We need a defensive midfield player. Arteta & Flamini are simply not good enough.
5. We need a striker.

So if Wenger is suggesting signing 2 or 3 players, then our squad will be weak and the usual crop of overuse injuries will occur.

{Ed002's Note - Refer to the list of players I provided.}

12 Jun 2014 19:26:08
what players have we bid for Ed002?

{Ed002's Note - Read the posts. Aurier and Marshall for two.}

12 Jun 2014 16:41:32
so cesc to Chelsea is done. not a happy gooner, but we had the chance to sign him and said no, nothing more needs to be said imo. he should no longer be of any concern to us, he's moved on and so should we.
bigger and better things ahead me thinks.

12 Jun 2014 16:38:11
"Yes, everyone knows that Arsenal had the first option to sign me. They decided not to take this option and therefore it wasn't meant to be. I wish them well in the future."

If we get a few bad injuries in the midfield department or if he plays a big part in Chelsea's season, there will once more be riots in north London.

12 Jun 2014 16:25:51
Anyone read Cesc's statement?

Sounds pretty gutted that we didn't go back in for him. Now that he has gone, AW better have something very special up his sleeve.

As soon as we told Cesc that we didn't want him back, he has every right to look at our rivals as they can provide him with the trophies he wants so he doesn't really deserve the abuse that he will undoubtedly get from some of us.

Still, in saying that, I have to say that I'm still a bit annoyed at the way he left in the first place!

Said it before and will say it again. making signings of the caliber of a Bony, Remy and Vela were fine if we re-signed cesc. but not now, they just won't cut it anymore. unless Wenger actually likes the sound of booing at home games?

12 Jun 2014 16:20:06
Right back to reality and look forward now cesc has gone to chelski. He isn't coming back he's moved on so should we.

12 Jun 2014 16:29:34
I'm genuinely excited now about who we're going to sign no that's out the way. :-)

Jenny I agree with you, di Maria carvalho and martinez/ ballatelli ill be happy. Plus afew young prospects.

12 Jun 2014 13:45:23
How about this for the best press conference ever.Arsenal call a press conference after July 1st to officially launch the new Puma kits. as they announce the new home kit. out strolls Cesc, the new away kit. out strolls Ballotelli. new 3rd kit. out strolls Kheidra. new GK kit. out strolls Marshall. new training kit. out strolls Di Maria. then out come all the female presenters from ssn and they start undress. and then I woke up. damn.

I would believe every word of it, but wenger calling a press conference to show our signings? not happening.

he will probably ask you for a pound just for thinking about it.

Epping. care to explain why di maria gets the training kit and all the others kit choices too. :P

so many rumours, but no activity from arsenal. boring boring. at least the world cup starts tonight.

MrD. I Just run out of new kits. and would you tell Ballotelli he had to wear the training kit!!

12 Jun 2014 16:05:57
Sorry guys he has signed for Chelsea

Cesc is gone, the dream is over.

12 Jun 2014 16:13:25
Sorry to burst your bubble. Cesc is now a Chelsea player.!

12 Jun 2014 16:15:29
Out strolls Cesc.awkward.

Cesc has just signed five year deal at chelski

12 Jun 2014 16:17:47
Seeing as fabbers has signed for Chelsea doubt it

12 Jun 2014 16:36:19
Chesc is a man with no honour! De ad t o meee!! Ahh whatever he's mediocre NOT UPSET!! gahhhh

12 Jun 2014 16:44:00
I am growing tired of seeing former Arsenal superstars and legends associating with our rivals. The list is massive, and with Cesc I wasn't upset about him going to Barca, but to return to our London rivals makes me sick. This is worse than RvP, worse than Viera.

Fab was a legend, now he's a Chav. What next? Ramsey to Spurs!?

{Ed002's Note - You must be some sort of idiot Matt - players move from club to club. You think we should do away with transfers altogether?}

Oh well. I will have to concentrate on the ssn girls part of the dream then.

12 Jun 2014 10:37:03
Seydou Doumbia anyone?

Isnt he like. 40?

26 officially, but round it to 30 to be safe! He's got a quality scoring record but never had a chance at a top european club.

12 Jun 2014 08:29:10
At the moment I'm looking at the list of players we're interested in, provided by Ed002. I'm dreaming of us signing 5 players of the list, one from each category.

First category: GK (Begovic, Ruffier, Marshall)
To be honest I would like to sign any of these. I think Ruffier has been one of the best keepers in Ligue 1 for a while now. And Marshall obviously had a brilliant season. But I'm going for Begovic because there's just something intimidating in him. If we would sign him, we would have two brilliant keepers. It's Wenger's job to keep both of them happy and while it's not easy, it should be possible.

Second category: RB (Aurier, Abate, Uchida)
This is an extremely tricky area, because in my opinion we have two good and promising young rb's waiting for their chance. Yet both of them are inexperienced. I am a huge fan of Jenkinson and I would like to give him a chance - but I fear there will be games where he will simply cost us points. Bellerin isn't tested at all in the premier league and perhaps a loan would be a smart option. Ultimately I would sign Aurier because I think he's simply the best player of those three and also younger. But next season we might find ourselves with three good rb's, and one of them will have to go.

Third category: CB (Ginter, Williams, Hinteregger, Pejcinovic)
First let's make one thing clear: We can't go into a season with just three cb's. We were incredibly lucky last season we had Kos and Merte fit. Now I don't know what's the situation with Miquel. Is he good enough for 4th cb? I would be okay with Kos, Merte, Verm and Miquel, but Miquel, Verm or both might leave. Depending on those two we may have to sign one or two from the list. For me Williams is Verm's replacement with experience, Ginter is Miquel's.

Fourth category: MF (Khedira, Schneiderlin, Bender, Calhanoglu, Grenier, Rabiot, Hughes)
I would like us to sign a box-to-box midfielder with stamina and physicality but also qualities on the ball. And yes, that's exactly what Khedira has! Khedira and Ramsey in the base of our midfield would be such a powerhouse. Add to that Wilshere and Chamberlain and even further cover with Arteta and Flamini.

Last category: FW (Vela, Morata, Remy, Lacazette, Benzema, Heung Min Son, Di Maria, Konoplyanka)
To be honest, only Benzema and Di Maria really excite me. In my eyes they are the only ones who would deliver for sure. And that's what we should be looking to add up front. I'm going for Benzema because we need a striker really badly. But should Podolski leave, or Gnabry for loan, I'd love to go for Di Maria as well.

So that's my assessment of the list Ed002 provided. I have a good feeling this summer will be significantly better than the last ones. Let's just wait and see.

12 Jun 2014 01:00:11
After just a few weeks we've been linked with countless players in every position we need to improve, many of which seem to be available and almost all of them seem to excite us fans.
That being said, I really do hope we don't get the same old drivel at the end of the window about 'there were no players that could improve our team' or whatever it normally is.
I was really hopeful we'd get something done before the world cup, but let's just hope we're not too late and get the players we so badly need to compete at the very top!

12 Jun 2014 06:25:12
Totally agree. I believe we will sign a back up keeper on a free, Jenkinson will become first choice RB with Bellerin as cover. Vermaelen will stay or be replaced with a cheaper option. We will sign a forward, possibly Etto on a free and will make one midfield signing, possibly up to £20m max. Our net spend will be £30m max, more likely £20m. This is in line with Wenger's comment to expect 2 or 3 signings. This happens almost every summer. Last summer we signed Ozil £42.5m, Flamini on a free & Sanogo for very little. We sold Gervinho for approx £8m, plus one or two other small deals that I can't recall, so our net spend was close to £30m.

{Ed025's Note - such a pessimist robbie, i think you may be surprised this season mate..

12 Jun 2014 07:49:58
Robbie,

I can't work out if your post is serious or tongue in cheek, lol.

Nothing wrong with Jenks Robbie mate, I think our summer spend will be between 60 to 70 mil on no more than 4 first team Squad members

Hi Ed025 - I hope you are right, but history tells us otherwise!

Hi dagenham, what makes you think otherwise. Last season we only made one top signing, Ozil, partly sibsidised by the sale of Gervinho & probably a couple of fringe players, I can't recall. We signed Flamini for nothing, Sanogo for around £450,000 euros and Kallstom on loan. We were linked with Higuain, etc.

Gunner62 - I agree that Jenkinson is a decent player, but not as good as Sagna. I was merely illustrating that the fans hope of making 5 or so mega signings simply won't happen. I can't see us spending anything like £60-70m, unless we sell players, such as Veremaelen & Podolski. I believe our net spend will be between £20-40m. Probably £30m.

Robbin

Look across the club at the moment. It's all evolving. Jonkers, the German fitness bloke. All brought in from outside. Not from inside Wengers "circle of trust" massive sponsor deals kicking in.
And a shed load of cash!

Rocky don't forget about usmanov revealing his true intentions of arsenal being an investment. that also is big news for the fans who wanted him as the saviour

Sorry my spell check made you a robbin not robbie

Rocky - We have large reserves for a while now. It must be remembered that Wenger's way of running the club is based upon it being profitable business and he won't change. Yes, he has brought in the new fitness man from outside, which is well overdue. Player-wise we will have to wait and see as the European window doesn't open until 1st July and many players are at the World Cup. Wenger also stated that he wanted to bring in 2 or 3 players. I would suggest these are a keeper & a forward for sure, possibly a midfield player. The only other signings would be a RB, a replacement for Vermaelen and/or Podolski, if they depart.

12 Jun 2014 16:10:42
Robbie,

You say Wengers way is to run a profitable business, I think Rocky's point is we are a profitable business but those profits have suddenly got much larger and in accordance Wenger will spend them.

Unless of course you believe the club will happily make £200 million (made up number for dramatic effect) and Arsene will only spend two bob.

Nothing anyone says will make you feel positive about it until it happens but I'm of the opinion it will. :-)

Jenny, we had around £150m in reserves last summer. Wenger's Arsenal model doesn't involve spending huge amounts. He likes to give young players an opportunity and likes clever well priced signings. Ozil was a true rarity, but he was the only high cost aquistion last season and we sold Gervinho which offset some of the fee. All the transfer noise will quieten down and Wenger will make the 2 or 3 signings he said he would and I don't see a net spend of more than £40m, probably less. As fans our emotions often overrule logic and that logic says Wenger is not a big spender.

12 Jun 2014 16:42:50
But Robbie,

Those reserves have always been there, it's the way a top club/company should be run.

I honestly believe that Arsene will spend big again, you don't buy Ozil and sell him a vision that involves young untried or older experienced pro's.

He like Koscielny who just signed a deal will be expecting some real quality and I believe that even more so now that he has let Cesc go.

He has some big irons in the fire.

Jenny, yes we do sign players such as Ozil or have top players at the club, who have become disillusioned at the lack of top signings. RVP urged Wenger to buy and left when he didn't. The proof will be seen at the close of the window. To date we have lost Fabianski and look like we have lost Sagna. I believe Vermaelen will kick off, after the World Cup. We haven't signed anyone or even agreed a single deal. Whilst Chelsea have made a couple of top notch signings. At best Wenger will make one top signing, the rest will be either young or cheap players with potential. Mark my words. A Wenger doesn't change its spots.

12 Jun 2014 00:37:38
REDROSIE. Look I don't care whether Rooney plays for United or whether Wilshire plays for Arsenal or Joe Hart plays for Man City. Fact is if a player in my opinion is not cutting it in an England shirt he shouldn't be there. I'm an Arsenal supporter and I would be the first to admit that one of our players was pretty poor if he played like Rooney does for England. I'm not having a dig at you or Man Utd. But sometimes you have got to hold your hands up and admit that one of your own is pretty shocking in Internationals and Rooney has been just that. Why in the World would I be saying it if he wasn't. Sod's Law he might pull himself together after these posts but I'd be surprised. But anyway let's agree to disagree.

12 Jun 2014 09:38:14
If you wish to ignore all the goals he has scored in qualifying and only count his World Cup performances then yes he has been poor.

I don't think it's fair to say he is shocking in Internationals - Top scorer in qualifying can't be shocking. Perhaps he isn't performing to the standards you are setting but perhaps you need to lower that bar?

Regardless it seems you and I aren't going to agree on this! Fingers crossed we have a good world cup and Rooney wins the golden boot ;)

12 Jun 2014 13:15:26
I come over hear for a little look every now and again, and I'm sorry but if Rooney had cemented the position he's had pretty much to himself since 06 then we wouldn't even be having this debate.
I doubt it's down to Rooney, but whether it's tactics or not being used to the players I don't know, but IMO Rooney gets a big 5/10 in a England shirt.
I also think it's a simple lack of options that's kept him there, until Sturridge back end of last season and this one, there's nobody who's even been slightly capable of leading the line,
Roy probably wouldn't have the balls to drop him even if he did have competition to be fair.

And he may have had the most goals during the qualifiers sure, but qualification wasn't really in doubt was it? Rooney or no Rooney chances are England were qualifying for the show.
He needs to turn it on against Italy and Uraguay, not Andorra!

12 Jun 2014 14:08:25
We failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Don't be so naiive.

If his lack of goals at major tournament's count as a negative than his goals in qualifying count as a positive.

I agree he does need to perform well this World Cup, as do the other 10 players on the pitch that join him. Why he has to be held to a higher standard than everyone else I'll never understand.

12 Jun 2014 15:24:09
Why he has to be held to a higher standard than everyone else I'll never understand.

I can't believe you just said that RedRosie. There in lies your problem.

So now we all know that Rooney is not the World Class messiah that United constantly make him out to be along with some clueless pundits it makes sense that we shouldn't be slating him.

He is just ordinary joe doing a pretty good job. Phew glad we finally cleared that up. :-)

12 Jun 2014 16:25:22
This is not about United or my club allegiance, please stop trying to make it out to be. I would make the same point if he played for City or any other club.

I've tried to make clear and concise points to you all to prove that Rooney is at the very least a good footballer and you have responded with sarcasm, conjecture and condescension based on your dislike of the club he plays for and your unwillingness to even slightly compromise on your blanket opinion of his ability. It is not a debate if you are going to completely ignore my points and just make yours.