Arsenal Banter Archive August 13 2013

13 Aug 2013 18:32:52
Guys, do u think Wenger should leave the club if he fails to provide a trophy?

That is the silliest notion ever. Without Wenger we would become Liverpool.

The past few seasons our average (compared to Man City/Man Utd and other elite clubs) has scraped to 3rd/4th finishes, not because of pure talent, but because of the influence of Wenger.

Silly, silly

Hard to say what happens if we miss pout on league by 1 point or lose FA cup final on penalties?

I think if the team fails to improve or progress then Wenger should leav

Yes I think, if he fails to deliver a trophy, he needs to go. He has loads of money, he had the whole summer to sort his team out (the transfer window is not closed yet, I know), but I think he'll win something this year.

8-2 at old Trafford (the most humiliating moment of my life as a fan)
Andre Santos
Losing league cup final to Birmingham
Losing in fa cup to Blackburn
Losing in league cup to Bradford
No trophies 8 years.
Noted decline in quality of football
Noted decline in fitness levels compared to rivals
Failure to adequately replace lehmann, Campbell, Vieira, Gilberto etc
Putting gervinho above Mata or hazard
Predictable football with no plan b
Rewarding mediocrity
Oh and no trophy 8 years and counting
7m a year salary


Just a few reasons why he should have gone before now.

And just to preempt the arsene knows brigade, were the most cash rich club in the league and have been for a number of years and have a wage bill comparable to man utd, so don't give me the old "working within his means" rubbish.
His plan has failed and to say no one could have done better is insulting to all the managers that won things in those 8 years with less to work with.

Really? Most cash rich club?

Wenger is guilty for tactical naiveté, not bringing in adequate replacements, and a lack of ruthletvess with our underperforming players.

But WE DID NOT and DO NOT have more cash then man citeh or Chelsea, who are banked by billionaires. And we do not make as much money as Utd.

That is not going to change if you sack Wenger.

I agree with the previous poster. Wenger should stay as long as the team shows progress.

Ok I agree with most of what you said but remember Wenger wanted hazard very much so he was the first to have interest in him from the prem and we bid twice for him. Just before he joined Chelsea we were the unnamed English club with the fourth offer and 2/3 seasons before that as well at the last minute of the transfer and this was verbally said on sky tv.

We got Gervinho because we couldn't get Hazard and we got Cazorla because we didn't sign Mata.

Mh.

Spot on

Don't see any point in that list, you've failed to mention any positives which would massively be little your list - the Invincibles, champions league final, champions league every year to name a few. You mention how rich we are but wenger can take a lot of credit for us being this rich so even if a new manager was to come in and spend money on players and win many titles or cups then wenger should still receive praise for his part

I think he will run out of the door without any encouragement. He won't need to be asked to give it up!

13 Aug 2013 12:30:16
Ed027, any chance of a poll on who we all think will win the most trophies over say the next 3-5 yrs between

arsenal
man city
chelsea
united, newcastle that is. only joking, the mancs or rvp whose won their last 2 for them.

now we're supposedly getting to this level playing field and money to spend. {Ed027's Note - done mate, thought i'd add Liverpool to the list. Vote now!

Spurs should be on the list b4 pool

13 Aug 2013 16:02:14
Can we at least spend the 8 million we got for Gervinho this is ridiculous. Doesn't the season start Saturday?

{Ed022's Note - We have already spent the £8m! Just to put it into context, Nicklas "Worlds Greatest Striker But No-One Will Buy Me" Bendtner has taken it all. Since signing his new contract 3yrs ago or so he has taken home £7.5m in wages...}

Now we are counting that against what we can spend oh jeez we really are not getting anyone decent this window.

This is bendtner's year. I can feel it.

13 Aug 2013 15:26:03
Ed do you still think we will sign ginter after what he said today

{Ed022's Note - He has come out and declared his intention to stay at his current club. Im pretty sure a few footballers have done that in their time and then moved on shortly after. IMO though, I don't see him moving to us this summer...}

13 Aug 2013 14:46:27
A theory:

Maybe Wenger can't decide on the correct combination of players?

Ie. 4/5 very good players or 3 world class players. Possibly a mixture of the two.

There HAS to be a good explanation for not spending. This is our best opportunity to jump back into title contention.

The explanation is he has tried but hasn't found anyone suitable.

13 Aug 2013 14:18:32
So Wenger says he wants to play 55 games this season.

That 38 Prem

2 qualifiers

6 Champions league Group games

2 First rounds of League Cup and FA Cup

= 48

That leaves 7 games to spread across League Cup, Fa Cup, and Champions league

Unless he wants to go full speed at the Premier League, that not very ambitious. It sounds like he has already discounted us winning any of the Cups before the season has even started.

Obviously its not a literal representation but it still seems weak

That's premier league and champs. wouldn't mind that as a double

13 Aug 2013 12:53:36
Hello Edd, would love your opinions on our centre midfield options.

The 2 questions I have are .Are we really in for Luis Gustavo (who seems perfect for us IMO)?

and if we do sign him. he surely plays, so who is not making the team for our 2 centre mid postions?

Arteta will surely play

Wilshere will surely play (maybe in attacking role)

Ramsey seems to be a vital part of our team this year also.

Would like to hear opinions :)

{Ed022's Note - I do think we're in for Gustavo as there is no smoke without fire. He is cheaper than previous options such as Bender, Fellaini etc... When thinking about midfield players it is important to consider that for example, Wilshere, Arteta and Ramsey won't start every game. I think we need a defensive minded player to marshall in front of the defence. This would allow Arteta to run the show in midfield linking the play...}

We'd then have 6 proper quality players that can play midfield (Gustavo, Arteta, Ramsey, Jack, Cazorla, Rosicky) which is great and Cazorla and Rosicky will get games on the wings too. I think with Gustavo we are then perfect for midfield.

Probably still need another forward and a young (but ready) CD (Ginter, Sakho)

{Ed022's Note - Agreed. A midfield enforcer or someone to break up the play is exactly what is needed. We have lots of players who are brilliant in the middle. Not forgetting that the Ox has been tried out as central attacking midfielder...}

I don't think we should worry about how many quality players we have.

this is what we have been saying for years, we don t have enough strength in dept.

i would rather have a quality player on the bench than have some 1 like gervinho.

this what big clubs do, they have players than can step in and not effect the quality.

bring them on, yeah!

Cheers for the reply Edd022, what you said makes sense. I think he could be the rock we need in front of our defense.

fingers crossed :)

{Ed022's Note - All will be revealed im sure over the next few days...}

I agree, we are well-subscribed in this area attacking-wise. We also have Rosicky and the Ox who can play there. (occasionally even Diaby!) A strong defensive-minded player is the only thing we lack, Gustavo would fill that role. If we signed him I would imagine Ramsey/Arteta will make way in 1st team terms. So Wilsh and Gustavo behind Cazorla would be 1st choice. Unless Cazorla is shipped over to the left and someone else fills the CAM role, which could be Ramsey or Arteta. There would also of course be rotation so Arteta and Ramsey would get considerable game time anyway.

I agree with all above posts.we would have a lot of quality and depth.

For me personally however I feel Ramsey has got to play if he is fit! He deserves a lot of credit for bouncing back the way he did and is playing some wonderful stuff the past 6 months. he also works harder than any other player in the team.

CDM. Luis Gustavo
Box to Box. Ramsey
CAM. Wilshere
LW. Cazorla
RW. Walcott
CF. Giroud

SUBS
. Arteta
. Rosicky
. Oxlade Chamberlain
. Podolski
. many very exciting youngsters, Sanogo, Ryo, Gnabry, Zelalem, Akpom

maybe we will even add Suarez.makes it a formidable team in my eyes :)

On a side note. and with all the negativity with transfers. or lack of. I still think this has been a very very positive summer for the Arsenal. 2 maybe 3 (DM, CB/RB, CF)(GK?) very good players and we have an excellent team with every chance of a title challenge :). we have got rid of almost every liability (Niki B) and still have all our top players.Another pre season under Bouldy and an excellent team spirit and cohesion with good pressing play and positioning . I for 1 am feeling very confident!

COYG.see you in the champions league Bale!

13 Aug 2013 11:43:31
Hi you Handsome Goons

Just thinking, and wondering if i'm the only one, but what has happened to the typical 'winger'? So often these days teams play technically gifted players on the wing who tend to drift inside a lot. Ribery, Iniesta, Mata, Cazorla, Silva etc. I miss the days of Overmars tearing up the pitch, like a steam train going full speed to the bye line and cutting a ball back. I know he's the enemy, but Bale for me is the perfect winger. Direct, powerful and crazy fast. I would love for Wenger to find a gem in this mould for the LW position. I don't want a tippy tappy little guy (as Bernard would of been), I want a speed demon hell bent on getting past his man. Anyone agree?

{Ed022's Note - Sol Campbell played for Spurs and still signed for Arsenal and won several trophies for Arsenal. However, in all honesty, he will join Real Madrid THIS summer.}

13 Aug 2013 10:47:25
Wenger needs to sign:

Rooney, Gustavo, Sakho and Cesar.

My maths says all this for under the reported
£70m we have.

All this, would make us challengers, for everything!

{Ed022's Note - I think most fans would be happy with this outcome...}

Rooney on 240k per week? no thank you.

i want him to spend, but not spend for the sake of spending.

Suarez on 160k or even 200k will do me fine.

{Ed022's Note - I can understand Lakerville but at this point Suarez or Rooney is potato/tomato. £200-£240k pretty much the same ball park. They're both big premier league strikers who can turn a game in an instance. I think we need a Bergkamp style signing to rejuvenate the confidence and happiness amongst the Gooners...}

13 Aug 2013 11:25:38
I totally agree those singing would be great for the club

Suarez is a lot better than Rooney, any day. I would like us to buy Suarez!

{Ed022's Note - Two different types of players for me, I would take Suarez over Rooney but don't underestimate the power of having Rooney playing for us...}

Ed, I honestly feel united are playing a game to get rooney's price up. for them, he has peaked, his body is not that of an athlete, he is just a really good footballer in an average mans body.

That man has a belly that makes me wonder if I could be a professional footballer. I think in 2-3 years he will massively decline like normal players do in their late 30's.

Weight has always been an issue with him. and for me, especially in a team like arsenal, where fitness is not muscle, but rather the ability to run for 90 mins at a very high pace, while interchanging positions, is not easily done.

thats just my opinion thou. We could win a trophy or two, but then long term, he will be a very very expensive version of chamakh into his 30's

13 Aug 2013 00:08:43
Hi eds I put in 2 posts earlier just wondering if there was something wrong with them that they weren't posted?
Thanks

{Ed022's Note - Don't know mate, only abusive posts/pointless/boring posts are deleted. Sometimes there are posts that don't get through. Try again as im on it today and will make sure your posts come through...}

13 Aug 2013 09:02:23
Is Sebastian Perez going to sign or is wenger letting him go! Looked quite a talent and I feel would be a decent back up for Arteta and Gustavo (if he joins). Also our squad is ridiculously thin and we need around 5-6 players to beef it up. To lessen the impact of injuries and as we all know at arsenal injuries are a regular occurance. In my opinion we need another CB (Ginter or Sakho maybe Williams) another GK (Cesar) a DM (Gustavo) a Striker (Suarez) a winger (Munian, Nani, Draxler) and a few back ups like (Perez etc). This I feel would make our squad stronger, more back up and more competition! We need players desperately, I'm sure wenger knows this as he said this squad is to thin to handle 55 games which we want to be playing!

Wenger did admit in an interview at the w/e that the squad is thin and that we need additions.

They are working on it.

{Ed022's Note - I think Wenger is currently concerning himself with players that are first team ready such as Suarez and Gustavo. Perez is someone that, if he wanted to, could push through a deal in the last 48hrs of the window in order to boost the squad depth...}

13 Aug 2013 03:26:10
I'm telling you. keep an eye on Dzeko, he is surplus at Citeh, would be available for 25 to 30 million, and a typical Wenger signing.

I'll watch. I prefer Suarez because Dzeko is the same build as Giroud but wouldn't mind have Dzeko. He's got great feet for a big man

How is spending 25-30 mil a typical Wenger signing? Its exactly the opposite.

Also, he's too similar to Giroud (and I'm not convinced any better).