Arsenal Banter Archive July 16 2015

16 Jul 2015 19:49:34
i don't think we will make another signing!. Not a top class forward or a defensive midfielder. Wenger may sign some cheap players again. Its so frustrating, this summer everyone thought we could finally complete our team with 2-3 right signings but no!!! Wenger thinks vidal, schneiderlin, schweinsteiger, pedro, falcao won't improve our squad. i'm afraid wenger is going back to his ways when in 2010 we had a great team, and he failed to sign a centre along with koscielny and the rest is history, we crumbled in the end what looked like a really promising season and I'm afraid that might happen again!.
and man city won't stop spending!. I don't think we can win the league with this squad, we need a top clad defensive midfielder, and a forward to supplement gird if not replace him, then we can start talking! ;)

16 Jul 2015 20:17:35
I think I'm actually going to cry :-(

16 Jul 2015 20:26:52
Mate chill out! There's six weeks left ffs. This same opinion has been rattling out on here for the past week, or more precisely since United got spyder and swine flu.

It's a bit like when your younger and you friend down the road gets a shiny new bmx and its six weeks till your birthday. You then nag your parents for your present early and every time you see your friend you call his bike crap.

All iv heard is whining about not having signed anyone yet and others calling the United signings .

Time to get a grip

16 Jul 2015 20:44:56
Chill,

Buying a big name doesn't guarantee success.

Di Maria has hardly been a success at OT.
Radamel Falcao...Falc-who?

Balotelli?

Yes, Utd have signed fairly well, but Schweinsteiger, whilst top pedigree, is 30 and injury prone and will take 6 months to get accustomed to Prem pace.

They are still short at back, have Jones and Smalling as their centre halves, an injury prone right back and only potato head upfront.

As it stands, whilst I rate Utd,we are still ahead of them.

Chill and let's see what Arsene brings us.

{Ed001's Note - is Darmian injury prone?}

16 Jul 2015 20:47:41
Its ok Red Dog , I have make up in my handbag for you eh lol x

16 Jul 2015 21:00:24
Thanks Banbury mate but I've got a big purse. ;-)

16 Jul 2015 21:17:25
Dags, I'm all for balance but your of United is a bit blinkered. Schweinsteiger may be 30 but he is still captain of Germany and more importantly, fills a gaping hole we have had for many years. Jones and Smalling haven't been great but we conceded only 1 more goal than you lot last year. Rooney is the lone steoker' I expect that to change by the close of the window. Assume you mean Raphael for RB, he isn't being picked with Valencia playing there although you have forgotten we have just signed Italy's right back.

You also forgot Depay, hugely exciting talent, and Sneiderlin who is proven in the EPL. Not to mention Shaw who had a nightmare season but if fit and healthy will be a great addition this year.

I expect we will sign a CB and CF this window; the biggest concern is if DDG walks.

Right now I think we have caught you up, you still need a couple of top signings to stay ahead, not sure what's taking AW so long.

16 Jul 2015 21:20:56
Ed,

Sorry, was talking about Luke Shaw

16 Jul 2015 21:36:00
I always thought Darmian had a good injury record!
He's certainly played something like 27-30 games in at least the last 2 seasons!
We watch a lot of Serie A in our gaff, families comes from Italy/Malta, so it's big with the older lot and as such, most of the family watch it!

That being said, I occasionally have a memory like a sieve, and it's entirely possible Darmian's played like 3 games in the last 24 months!

To be honest, as I said in an earlier reply, I don't think Matteo is THAT great.
He's 25, so we can't really talk about his potential.
He's always struck me as a bit of a Monreal style.
He's good going forward, he's good defending.
But has no stand out attributes.
He's not a particularly quick player, he's quite tall, like 6'0 odd, so good in the air, a bit of an unofficial leader too, since he's been there a while.
But i don't expect him to set the Prem alight.
That said, I'm by no means an expert, the stage is set for him to make me look a fool!

I'm rambling again aren't I...
Hmm..
Should probably look into that.

16 Jul 2015 22:03:45
That's the problem D. People should lay off the United bashing for now because me might make ourselves look daft in the coming year.

But if United don't finish higher than 4th let the ripping begin

16 Jul 2015 22:09:51
He's played 30 plus games for the past four years. Didn't realise he was 25 though. God I do loose track of time

16 Jul 2015 23:40:33
AJH,

I know mate, but just enjoy slating Utd, lol.

17 Jul 2015 04:32:14
AJH, isn't Lahm the German captain?

17 Jul 2015 08:15:54
I think Lahm has retired, Bastian has taken over.

Whatever happens, it's going to be fun. AW seems to be going for gentle evolution but given our last couple of years we are going for full on revolution. Assuming we get a top class CB and CF I think we will compete. We will lose some games horribly but win some gloriously. The big question is, how many of each?

17 Jul 2015 16:03:39
Correct AJH, Lahm stepped down after world cup and Schweinsteiger was his natural successor

16 Jul 2015 19:01:18
Ed001 £32 million for Benteke? Adds more weight still to my reality show theory mate.
He's a very bizarre contestant who is extremely bizarre in all he says and does but the most bizarre thing of all is why Liverpool let him spend so much money on very high risk players at such extortionate fees so often.
Hard to understand that

{Ed001's Note - I think they are just doing it to annoy me now. The less sense I see in us buying a player, the more likely we are to buy them, especially if the price is ridiculous and they are injury prone.}

16 Jul 2015 19:24:10
Mate that's the same money as Sanchez cost? All buys are a gamble to some degree but this is the equivalent of both Newcastle and chelsea being 2/1 to win the premier league next season and putting your life savings on Newcastle, its possible I guess but extremely unlikely you'll ever see your dosh again. Who is backing his judgement and WHY?

{Ed001's Note - I really do not understand what is happening mate, you don't clear out all the back room staff except the man actually in charge and expect results. The man at the top has to carry the can, they were all his choices. As for the signings, this has been year after year of him buying ridiculous amounts of players, very few of whom are as good as the players in the academy. It is just wasted money spent by idiots who have no understanding of the sport. Sadly FSG have a better idea than Rodgers it seems, and they haven't a clue. When the weakest link of the team since Rodgers took over is the goalkeeper and we are about to enter his 4th season and we still have the same hopeless one he brought in initially you just know it is not going to get better.}

16 Jul 2015 19:25:37
I think Rodgers and FSG are possibly the most wasteful double act in football.

They have received vast amounts of money with the sales of Torres and Suarez, and other players, but their purchases on strikers has been terrible.

Andy Carroll, Robbie Keane, Fabio Borini, Ricky Lambert, Mario Balotelli, even possibly throw Stewart Downing in the mix.

I know the above may not have all been from Suarez/Torres money, but they have not been a great fit for Liverpool.

No offence Ed001 :-)

{Ed001's Note - Keane was a different matter and well before FSG anyway.

Borini I don't understand why Rodgers wouldn't give him a chance, and why, though I don't rate Remy, he blocked his transfer I will never understand when he didn't have a plan B. It is just a downhill slope we are on until he gets removed. Still we have decent coaches in place, other than Achterberg who is useless.}

16 Jul 2015 19:38:39
Not sure if Borini was ever going to make it, but I can't remember the last youth player that Liverpool have fielded this past season with a view to actually playing them. Flanagan, Wisdom, Illori, Teixeira, Ibe... all decent prospects who never get a look in despite the men in front of them being pretty shite. Bizarre situation. Arsenal during the rebuild years actually would be a decent business model; invest less in buckets of transfers and focus on turning your academy/scouting network into a pillar of the club. My sympathies ed001

{Ed001's Note - Borini scored as many goals for a woeful Sunderland team from the wing as Ings did last season up front. Oh and he didn't bottle taking penalties as there was a bit much pressure on him. Nor did he, on joining, ask for a number that didn't come with added pressure. I agree, he is not really good enough as any more than a back up, but we are now bringing in worse players, it is insanity.
Oh and to be fair, Ibe was first choice on his return from loan, the games he missed in the second half of the season were due to injury. Flanagan has a long term injury that might well end his career, hence why he has been missing.
Wisdom is bizarre though, loaning him out and selling Kelly to bring in a hopeless right back in Manquillo on loan. Idiotic decision that one.
Ilori is even more strange, continuing to persist with the man most responsible, after Rodgers, for Liverpool's hopeless defensive record in Skrtel, rather than giving Ilori a chance is madness.
Even more maddening was the treatment of Teixeira, who came on in a match and bossed the game, so of course was never seen near the first team again! I mean what the hell is that all about??}

16 Jul 2015 19:44:45
But what happens when which looks extremely likely the next bloke takes over in January or next summer? Yet more millions on top of all the already wasted millions!
And how do you shift the players brought in who as looks very likely don't work out if potential new clubs won't match their wages?
It was a mess last season that just seems to be getting weirder and weider, I do feel for you Ed mate I really do because seeing your club so desperately going wrong is difficult to watch.

{Ed001's Note - it is even worse when the problems are so blatantly obvious like they are at Liverpool.}

16 Jul 2015 19:50:07
Is Achterberg GK coach?

Gary McAllister will do a good job, always rated him.

{Ed001's Note - yes mate, keeper coach, and not a good one. 7 years of mediocrity he was celebrating today on linkedin, I had to hold off from commenting on that. Nice enough guy but hopeless coach. Still, it could be worse, we could still have Joe Corrigan in the role, he was the absolute worst coach I have ever seen involved at any level of the game.}

16 Jul 2015 20:28:42
With the additions of Milner,frimino,clyne and possibly benteke i think Liverpool have a decent squad and should challenge for the top 6 I think Brendan gets a lot of stick but let's not forget they lost Suarez and Sturbridge that's 60goals or more Liverpool have some decent players of like to see how Moreno and markovic develop this season

{Ed001's Note - Rodgers had 4 strikers available to him last season he didn't have available the previous one, so not sure how he lost 60 goals. Just a fallacy. The guy just doesn't know how to manage the resources at his disposal.}

16 Jul 2015 20:43:18
Just what every liverpool fan wants to hear imired " Liverpool have a good squad you should challenge for top 6" no change there then.

I bet your buzzing ed01 at the thought of another fight with Spurs and the like.

Not gloating for a second but Rodgers is not the man and with the likes of klippity klopp free as a bird I can't believe they never made an approach.

Maybe Gary monk is available

{Ed001's Note - if it had been up to me Klopp would have been wooed with roses if necessary to get him in the job. Rodgers was never the right choice, one fluke of a season does not make him a decent manager.}

16 Jul 2015 20:48:21
Joe Corrigan.

Terrific keeper

Sh*te coach :-)

16 Jul 2015 21:03:45
Well Klopp is having a sabbatical . So you could have to maybe endure 1 more season and he could be yours next summer.

I always wanted him to take the reigns after wenger!

I think klopp would be a dream appointment for Liverpool

{Ed001's Note - I have had that dream, usually leads to me waking up to sticky sheets......}

16 Jul 2015 22:02:22
I agree Ed he was the a very poor choice from day one, this is a brave thing to admit with the benefit of hind sight but at the time I thought at the time Paul Lambert was the better choice of the two if you were going to gamble on an up and coming young manager at that time I know at Villa he lost his way with very limited resources and in the end got it wrong but the way he does things is lot easier to see why he does them even if you don't agree with them.

16 Jul 2015 22:08:07
Edd if Liverpool finished it the top 6 would that be a decent season

{Ed002's Note - For Arsenal, sure.}

17 Jul 2015 00:19:04
No Liverpool

{Ed001's Note - spending over £300m in 4 years is not aiming for 6th mate.}

17 Jul 2015 11:51:30
Well at least you got 160 back
With the sales of Torres,Suarez,sterling

16 Jul 2015 15:21:17
would anyone else be happy to have Alex Song back and shift out Flamini?

for the low asking price (between £0 and £5m allegedly) he would seem to be one of the best value for money centre mids around. he knows the club, counts as home grown and Wenger might even persuade him to stop bombing up the pitch like a madman. granted he would have to be happy with being a squad player tho.

and it would leave loadsa dosh to splash on a nice shiny new striker...

16 Jul 2015 15:58:25
To be honest for the reported £21 million I'd rather have Grzegorz Krychowiak who has some pretty impressive stats and is a genuine defensive midfield destroyer like Coquelin.

I don't think Wenger is that keen on Wanyama, Carvalho is now injured and Song to be honest is pretty poor.

It would still leave ample money for a striker.

16 Jul 2015 16:08:14
I'd have him back if we get rid of flamini. If we get him cheap and have exhausted all other avenues then why not.

16 Jul 2015 16:21:38
Yes I'd take song back for 5mil let's not forget wikshere are Ramsey are capable of playing alongside coco

16 Jul 2015 17:22:53
By all accounts Song was terrific for first 4 months of season at West ham, than was almost non existent.

I guess a DM who plied his trade at Barca is pretty much redundant as Barca ball hog...selfish bunch they are.

Wouldn't mind throwing £12m at Newcastle for Sissoko.

16 Jul 2015 17:27:13
I would rather he rots in the Barca reserves to be honest.
He left us because he was 'so much better', had a rubbish attitude and did what so many have done before - only realised what he had at Arsenal, after he left and failed.

16 Jul 2015 19:42:01
Agreed Sussex. He and Hleb have basically the same career path. Song is nothing without Wenger, and he played too much as a box to box anyway. I'd rather have Arteta as second choice who is a leader, rather than a disruptive presence.

16 Jul 2015 21:03:40
Agreed

16 Jul 2015 11:42:49
Wenger needs to move on Arteta and Flamini - replace with good, young DM who can cover for le Coq then compete with him over time.

Giroud is ok, good even, but he won't win you the Epl. Wenger needs a Benzema, Lewandowski type to really push Giroud and allow you to play the same way when Giroud is out. Throwing Walcott or Welbeck in there is just plugging a gap Imo.

Will Wenger do what he needs to do? Will he make the chops (arteta/flam) - or will he allow "loyalty" to get the better of him?

If he makes those changes I think you can push Chelsea for the title. If you don't I think you have little chance of doing so.

16 Jul 2015 12:30:06
Think I said a very similar thing a few days ago so totally agree.

16 Jul 2015 13:04:26
You make some sense in what you are saying. You can see it we can see it can wenger see it.

16 Jul 2015 13:08:38
A very fair assessment Mr badger. Honestly who knows with wenger I'm sick of second guessing with him

16 Jul 2015 13:53:00
Yeh I know its already been said here and there. I genuinely don't know which route Wenger will go down either, let's wait and see.

16 Jul 2015 13:55:00
With all due respect mate this has been said so many times by so many people on here which has garnered the same opinions.

It's as steve said we all know it, every man and his dog knows and ed02 says they are the two players Wenger is looking to buy.

So the best thing to do is wait and see because it is getting beyond boring talking about it.

So no offence meant HB but it has literally been done to death. :-)

16 Jul 2015 14:21:18
Not my strongest post Red dog I'll admit that, 6 out of 10 must do better, need more originality 😆

I think this summer proves once and for all the way Wenger and the board see Arsenal being run, which is why it becomes such a talking point.

Won't mention it again I promise!

16 Jul 2015 14:52:38
It's no snags mate but we're all driving ourselves nuts with it. :-)

16 Jul 2015 16:33:20
A couple of good signings puts us from a top four finish to strong second favorites. Chelsea will be favorite no matter who anyone buys

16 Jul 2015 17:24:20
"Snags"?

Are you an Aussie Red Dog?

16 Jul 2015 08:37:12
Man Utd are not signing top players because they are impatient and not actually in the CL league proper. The quality of their signings would be better if they waited until they have qualified.

16 Jul 2015 08:51:58
There is nothing wrong with the signings United have made so far. Keeping in mind they needed a lot to rebuild. Sweinsteiger quality World Cup winner with bags of experience. spyder lots of prem experience. Darmian looks like he could be world class (watched him a lot last year)

And they will buy more

16 Jul 2015 09:41:40
You're right Brow there is nothing wrong with them at all but when you think back to only a few years ago and the quality of player they had to what they are finally replacing them with now they are just not on the same level.

Why it's even taken this long to fill those gaps is the most amazing thing, it should of been seem less, none of this 7th place crap and getting into the top four off the back of only the league to concentrate on.

16 Jul 2015 10:45:39
Schwienstiger is a good buy, for his experience alone, but wether he'll make it in the Prem, especially at 30, is a wait and see.

Schniederlin is also a good buy, but is he better than Coquelin?
No, and we can't afford to spend £25m on a back up, we have money now, but we're not rolling in it.

Darmian is good, but to call him potentially world class is jumping the gun id say.
If anything, he's Monreal-esque.
Reliable, good going forward and defending, but he's not going to set the world ablaze.

I'd probably guess that 3, including Cech, would be the max amount of signings we'll make.
But, it's only if the right players appear.

Utd have a lot to do, they need a bit of a rebuild.
They've spent close to £80m already, and they need a new striker, a couple of CB's and maybe even a goalkeeper if De Gea leaves, not to mention Van Gaal fell out with Valdes.

{Ed001's Note - Schneiderlin is comparable to Ramsey, not Coquelin mate, he is not a DM.}

16 Jul 2015 11:35:59
Red dog, the players you talk about that needed replacing e.g. Rio, Vidic, Evra, Scoles - they became world stars AT United not before arriving. We are trying to go down the same route again (apart from Schweini). When we go for the flashy players they rarely pay off so I'm glad we're going down this route, personally.

I thought as an Arsenal fan you would appreciate the merit of buying good players who can grow/improve at the club rather than the flashy player who has already built up their reputation.

16 Jul 2015 11:55:17
Also this "wait until after the CL qualifier" is such an Arsenal line I have never heard that comment from anyone apart from Wenger and you fans.

16 Jul 2015 12:06:54
Point well made ED!

With that said, if anything it furthers my point, because Morgan isn't better than Ramsey at all!

16 Jul 2015 12:45:45
HB,

There are plenty of players out there that don't fall into the flash category that look as though they would have little problem adapting to the EPL and are a cut above the signings you've made.

United are not in a position to develop a whole raft of players, sponsor demands, club brand etc is not something that gives you that luxury and your developing of players isn't really going that well.

Rafael, Jones, Januzaj, Smalling, Cleverley and the likes have all gone backwards and in an ideal world most like Cleverley should be moved on.

You cannot harp on about a history that is no longer, the demands are you buy the best to be the best as City and Chelsea are doing, no buy and see how it goes.

It was a thing of great ridicule from a lot of United supporters that we had to wait until we had qualified for the Chapions League to attract the best and now suddenly that statement is attributed to us.

16 Jul 2015 13:12:33
D
I have watched darmian and that's why I used the word potentially. He was one of the best players in serie a last year.

Your right badger I think there is a lot of common sense in your transfers.

16 Jul 2015 13:49:06
As far as I'm concerned we don't need stars. We need players that improve on positions of weakness. So far the signings we have made have allowed us to improve upon some (not all) of the weaknesses in our squad. That's what the best teams do.

16 Jul 2015 13:51:46
Red dog, can you give some examples of these players? Because I could have sworn most on this site had Schneiderlin in that category until he signed for United, he went from being one of the last pieces of Arsenal's puzzle to suddenly become unproven, no better than le Coq etc. Nobody seems to know much about Darmian, which higher level RB should we have gone for? Depay is clearly for now but also for the future - I can't see any argument in not going for him for what was a potentially reasonable fee. Schweini is top level and has the experience we need, though I appreciate some people think he's over the hill and ready to be taken to the abattoir at the age of 30 😊

Also, last summer the only two 'top level' players we signed flunked whereas the likes of Herrera and Blind contributed more to our season, which goes against your point.

What 2 CM's, RB and wing forward would have been better buys?

Oh and I'm not lying, I've only seen/heard the "wait until after the CL qualifier to make signings" on the Arsenal page. If a big club offers good wages most players will sign before hand - as proven by Bastien.

16 Jul 2015 14:51:16
Never said you were lying fella just stating a fact, much the same as when you guys thought Schneiderlin may come here that he wasn't what you were looking for and you should be going for Vidal or trying to get Pogba back.

Whilst Schneiderlin is a good player I have personally not wanted to see us waste our money on him when we clearly already have better.

The rest is a pointless discussion, you are happy with them, I am happy you got them and I'm sure they are all happy to be there.

Vidal or Pogba may have proved your last sentence but Bastien sure doesn't.;-)

16 Jul 2015 17:29:43
I'm a massive Vidal fan so can't disagree with that. He has a couple years on Schneiderlin and has never played in the Epl though so no guarantees there. Ed002 has said an Epl club stepped away last summer due to an unstated issue. Pogba - touchy subject lol- well he's class but very flashy and overpriced so will gladly see him go to Real, Barca or PSG. Hopefully not City tho!

Bellerin and le Coq show that its not all about reputation and more about strengthening weak points adequately. Hopefully that is what we are doing this summer.

Oh and if its a pointless discussion why did you get involved 😉 (only messing obviously)

16 Jul 2015 19:22:56
I was meaning pointless as in the part of who would be better etc as I'm pretty sure we'd end up agreeing to disagree. :-)

I just feel if you look at this season and last for the money spent you could and should have a better quality of ready to go players.

I don't imagine you'd in honesty think any different.

It just amazes me that the club let it slip so much before they started doing what was clearly needed, I think the title win, off the back of a great season of goals from RVP didn't help.

16 Jul 2015 20:40:08
Agree with the last para tbh but agree to disagree on the rest!

16 Jul 2015 02:52:18
Arteta & Rosicky injured, whilst Flamini was embarrassing in yesterday's match. These three need shipping out. None of them would get into the Chelsea or Man C squads. We have central midfield options: Wilshere, Ramsey Cazorla, Coquelin, Ozil & Oxalde-Chamberlain. Perhaps one additional DM midfield player would be sufficient. There are already rumblings from Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshere, who all prefer playing in the centre, rather than wide.

16 Jul 2015 07:02:16
We won't be getting rid of arteta as he has just signed a new deal. He might be good to have around the dressing room/training anyway. Rosicky will only play a handful of games anyway and yeah, flams got to go. Hopefully once we sign a new DM

16 Jul 2015 07:44:30
Arteta will definitely be our back up DM and don't be surprised to see Bielik pop up every now and than.

16 Jul 2015 07:44:51
To be honest I was of the opinion that all 3 could possibly leave of the own volition due to playing time.

Flamini is certainly no where near good enough, I like Arteta and Rosicky around the squad but don't see them getting much in the way of game time.

16 Jul 2015 00:06:17
My take on van gall for all the utd visitors. I am not dismissing them at all, they will be a threat of some sort, but boy he's wasted some money so far on some right duds and i'm not convinced by him. He is a bit of a tinker man and I think his teams have looked like they are missing something. His signings so far look good, but then again they did last year. I just wonder wether he may not be the one to bring the glory years back.

16 Jul 2015 07:04:44
He has a funny way of dealing with people that disagree with him by the looks of things. Ruthless? Maybe. But it doesn't seem so calculated and reasoned as mourniho. He's just hoping splashing the cash will paper over the cracks whilst he's there. No long term vision as he's said he won't be carrying on after the end of his contract

16 Jul 2015 07:41:04
I just don't get with the money they've got and the wages they can pay why they are not picking up the top top players.

Maybe they all know he's a nut job, fallen out with Valdes now.

Loved him in the toy story films though, Mr Potato Head, first name Rotten. ;-)

16 Jul 2015 15:04:40
Tbh steve-o I can't disagree with much of that, there are some question marks for me too surrounding his playing style and vision.

I do like the signings this summer though they all seem sensible.

Valdes, god knows what happened there wasn't expecting him to come out with that (Lvg)! Didn't hold back, did he 😅