Arsenal Banter Archive August 18 2013

18 Aug 2013 23:37:44
Just to put my sin on the AW comment, "we'll buy quality to improve our squad"

CDM - we don't have one, so Diame/fellani/gonalons/bender

CB - we have three good, when fit but I would be adding one more Sakho/Williams/Richards, (also covers right back

GK - Shezza is terrible at decision making so, ceasar/Adler/begovic

LW - add one more, not to sure who really but we need another 1

ST/CF - we need 20 goals plus so, Rooney/Suarez/lewendovski this is where I would back the bank

I think I have now got to the end of my tether with the laughing stock of a club we are but am I stupid for still wanting to buy the new away shirt for me and my boy!

COYG

Don't buy any thing until the board start spending money mate, once the board see there losing revenue as well as patience from the fans we might actually buy someone

Nothing Shezza did in the game cost us. Was it reckless, yes but he made up for it.
Why people think Cesar is good is beyond me. Cesar is no better than Flappyhandski.
Shezza need to curb his enthusiasm and he will become one of the best in the world.

18 Aug 2013 23:15:44
Lady Bracewell-Smith, Arsenal's honorary vice-director for those of you who aren't completely ITK, said this tonight:

"Bring Davie Dein [back] and give [Alisher] Usmanov representation on the board if we are to have success going forward"

"And how deeply I regret selling to Kroenke"


To me this suggests that maybe Kroenke is having a much bigger influence on the transfers than first meets the eye.

For Gazidis and Wenger to admit at the beginning of the window we had an enormous capability to spend this summer, then for us to fail to do so AND for Bracewell-Smith to come out so publicly tonight. It seems there is much more going on behind the scenes here.

She's got a nerve considering it was her that contributed to Dein being ousted from the club!

18 Aug 2013 22:48:47
Rumoured that we're in for Bender and Yilmaz. Any info Eds? {Ed027's Note - nothing not going to ask anyone

18 Aug 2013 22:18:08
I don't know why the hell Wenger is not signing these players
Yilmaz 20m
Williams 10m
Fellani 20m
Wenger still have 20m in hand for the anything foolish signing which he use to sign like Santos, Park and Squillaci etc etc.

Ed can you please comment:
What is the problem behind it?

Thanks {Ed027's Note - who knows

19 Aug 2013 07:20:54
Rubbish.

Yilmaz would cost you in the excess of 25 mill and from an unprooven league as per wenger.
Williams 10m, would be an ideal signing
Fellani has a 25 mill buyout clause and would have to rival UTD for hism signature and the price would go up.

18 Aug 2013 21:51:26
The irony of Wenger not wanting to pay what he considers to be over the odds transfer fees due to PSG, Monaco, City etc, when he's surrounded by 60,000 fans who do just that every other week, is never lost on me. {Ed027's Note - brilliant

Great post,

Eds's how about a hall of fame page for great posts?

Agree with spanner. Hall of fame for good and infamous posts

18 Aug 2013 21:26:14
Wenger's talk of there isn't anyone available that could improve the squad etc, got me thinking and I decided to think of reasonable targets I believe could improve the squad.

Raphael Honigstein has said that a 30 million euro bid that's £25 million would be accepted for Lars Bender, why have we not done this? He is clearly worth the money, only 24 but has plenty of experience, so he would be a good investment for the club.

Jackson Martinez has a £35 million release clause but only 1 year left on his contract, surely £25-27 million bid would be accept, he is only 27 as well so could be at the club for a few years, goal return last year was also spectacular

Sakho is a great centre back, can cover left back he has made it clear he wants to leave PSG, only 23 has bags of experience for his age and is a natural leader, captained PSG before the take over and France at every youth level. £8-12 million

Rene Adler the best goalkeeper last year in my opinion in the Bundesliga, Hamburg finished 7th last year so we can offer more than they can(maybe), he is 28 years old and would cost between £5-8 million if reports are to be believed.

Vela, he isn't the same player that left arsenal two years ago much more mature, proper winger now with a great eye for goal, 27 in his last two season, voted 2nd best player in Spain last year by fans and third by journalists. Buy back clause £4million ( I think)

Flamini would be a good squad player could cover the centre of midfield as well as maybe left/right back as he has done for Milan and us. Wages wouldn't be high and he would provide experience cover.

That totals £75 million if we have to pay the maximum amount for each player, which is money we have. By doing so we would have strength in depth, these signings would address all the areas in the squad that need to be improved, all of the players excluding Flamini are young enough they could be around for years and make an impact for several seasons and we wouldn't need to shell out this amount of money again, but rather add one or two players a year while moving others on to keep the squad fresh and improving. I believe that all these players are reasonable signings and could make a real difference, but some are slightly different options from the usual Begovic/Cesar, Williams and Suarez.

18 Aug 2013 20:45:35
Could the struggle to bring new faces be down to the current squads wages? For example if we brought in Fellani he would be on around 100k a week, twice what Whilshere is on and a lot more than most of the team, possibly causing unrest.

I think Wenger will only go for a young player who may command a large transfer fee but their wages will be comparisable to the rest of the squad.

That is unless he can bring in a truly world class player who deserves the big bucks, but after yesterday I'm not sure if we'd be able to attract anyone of that standing.

Hopefully some of the important players contracts will be improved with our extra revenue, allowing us to pay over the odds to get players in.

COYG

Wenger doesn't want anyone on anything like his 150 grand a week because he thinks he's more important than any player. Its all about profit southampton have just equalled our transfer record ffs . In the top 5 revenue earning clubs in the world but about 105 when comes to spending it

18 Aug 2013 20:06:59
AW has now created the situation that clubs will now ask more for their players we are interested in due to our increasing desperation in the transfer market.Also Sky Transfer Centre has said we are in talks with 2 players but as we keep our cards very close they do not know who they are.Guesses anyone.
Heybridge Gooner

Ander herrera and ashley williams is my guess, but could just as well be arda turan and sahko. I do believe, though, that a midfielder and a defender is what arsenal will bring in first.

Williams and bender for sure

Id say, flamini and cochia I belive from france

Can you post a link please? Been hearing this all bloody day and have yet to see it on TV or on the website. {Ed027's Note -

Lars Bender and Ashley Williams are the most likely.

18 Aug 2013 20:00:50
My earlier post didn't get through, The general gist of it was that we were unlucky to lose to Villa. Wenger always pulls through and I have faith he will make intelligent buys before 2nd Sep. Mertesacker, Monreal, Arteta, Benayoun. All last minute buys that paid off.

Reports suggest we are in for Cesar, Richards, Bender and Michu. I would me over the moon with this.

In Arsene We Trust

Will you lot stop this in Wenger we trust crap, we had managers before him and will be successful under another manager again, I know some of you no nothing but Wenger but it is not his club, it is ours, I know we have been successful under him, but one day he will go and we will be fine, honest.

Yeah, Gus Cesar.

At this point I'd be happy with a straw stuffed Guy in a barrow to make up the numbers. But of those four only Bender is quality enough for the ambitions we should be having to play attractive football and win. Maybe Richards also.

"Penny for the guy Mr Wenger?"
"Well is isn't the ideal guy and we have guys already we don't want to displace. I will give you 1/2p".
"It's a penny or nothing, that's the market for a guy."
"We'll I've also got this button and Nicolas Bendtner"
"Sorry, it's a penny, nothing less. So Thanks, but this nice Mr Mourinho's given me a shiny penny and some fireworks"

18 Aug 2013 18:58:43
Eds, a while ago one ed said on another rumour page that suarez's "people" still think that arsenal may come back wit another bid. do you still think that we'll come back in for him with an improved bid or did we shift our attention elsewhere? {Ed044's Note - You will have to ask whichever Ed said it. It wasn't me.}

18 Aug 2013 18:18:33
So on the arsenal website I read an interview that arsene claims he 'understands the fans'

I'm sorry but if he did, we'd have gustavo, Bernard, higuain, cesar and a list of all others by now .

He explains how he is 'sorry' for hurting the fans and states he is 'in the transfer market before the game and in the transfer market after'

I'm sorry but I believe our team should be more transparent .

The 70 mil Gazidis has claimed we had .

Then with the 32.6 mil from champions league last year

The 3 MASSIVE sponsorship deals we've acquired surely we should have at least 120mil to play with right?

I'm not a fan of arsene neither am I for him. The fans deserve to have their team contesting for the league and for silverware .

A lot needs to be done and all I can see is last minute buys from wenger .

Sort it out

18 Aug 2013 18:01:43
Just noticed that Gundogan is not in Dortmunds match day squad against Eintracht Braunschweig, does anyone no if he is injured or any other reason for his omission.
Heybridge Gooner {Ed044's Note - He is injured.}

He has a back injury and will be out until september so there is no chance in anyone signing him

18 Aug 2013 17:52:43
Rb: Richards / cb: Williams / cdm: bender / st: michu. This would cover all are most needed areas for inbetween £70-£75m be perfect for us, plus the sales of gervinho etc: would free up another £10-£15m for a couple of squad players

Richards is always injured we don't need someone to sit in the physio room with diaby we have vermaelen for that and williams and michu are not good enough

Michu one of the best cf's last season is not good enough? 18 (I think) goals in his first prem season is not good enough? Williams who constantly put in shifts last season is not good enough? Right enough mate.

One good season does not make you good enough and its all good that williams has put good shifts at swansea but I have seen many players like him before at the lower clubs that ain't good enough

Is 15 goals in the bbva and 18 in the prem back to back really not good enough? He's only going to get better. I would happily take Williams, strong, fast, good in the air and a decent tackler. What more could you want? Not to mention he would really take control of the squad. Something we've been lacking.

18 Aug 2013 17:44:43
If I remember right this time last year we were 17th after 3 games, I think we should see how the next couple of games go. If after the Tottenham game we are still down and around the bottom 4 then we should start spitting feathers. I know we didn't play very well yesterday but we were fielding a pretty tired looking team against a sprightly looking Villa with the ref in their pockets. I do however believe we need to buy 4 or 5 quality players. But I don't think the fight is lacking from our players. Rosicky was awesome by the way.

Gooner83

Good positive post bruv, spot on.

Yep, perfect way to finish fourth again, great ambition.

18 Aug 2013 18:34:14
Let's not compare SAF and Wenger. It's an insult to the now retired man. The reason United fans never called for Fergie's head was he never allowed the club to degrade to this extent. They lost 1-4 to liverpool but won the league that season and 1-6 to City when City won the league on GD.
We are being humiliated by almost relegated teams and mid table teams at home. Swansea, Aston Villa, Bradford. Fans are talking because they care about Arsenal.
It's not the truth that making signings is difficult. Cesar is more than ready to join but Mr Wenger wants a Bargain everywhere. He wants him to take a pay-cut since QPR's relegated and doesn't want to give him a long contract.
Luis Gustavo chose a 11th placed Wolfsburg over us. Ed argues it was difficult to convince a player settled in Germany to move. But he was very much interested and let's face the blunt truth guys. We are no more an attractive option for good players and players are not dying to play for us. WE ARE THE ONES IN DIRE Need of players like Gustavo etc so why not tempt these players by throwing the extra money, and there's plenty of it, to convince them to come.
He is making things particularly difficult for himself and then fooling us saying it's difficult. It's an inflated market thanks to the Citys Chelseas and Psgs but accept it man. Adaptability can guarantee survival not stubbornness or Arrogance.
Mr Wenger talks about top top signings and he shows Andre santos, Gervinho, Park Chu Young to back that claim. These are players we can't even get rid of.
How long are we going to talk about unearthing gems like Henry, Persie Fabregas. Due credit given to him. but players like Chamakh, Arshavin and Gervinho may also claim he had a negative impact to their careers. We support Arsena the Club - not a player or manager and hence we've lived through the unneeded exits of Vieira, Henry, Pires, Fabregas, Cole, Nasri and most importantly Van Persie still we backed him. But what's happening now is unforgivable and with 17 players leaving and the costliest tickets in Europe and so called 70m 80m war chests . honestly WE FEEL CHEATED by the club if the case is that Gazidis only spoke abut spending to guarantee the sale of season tickets. It seems rue in a way now. We need Usmanov, a visonary like Klopp or Rijkaard (he pulled Barcelona from 11th in December to 2nd in May) or any such manager. With all due respect to Arsene Wenger, he is now history.

Well said!

Wenger has had 8 years to right the wrongs, but his stubbornness and arrogance has led us into a downward spiral where players think twice when signing. where has arsene's ambition for the club gone, the negativity rubs of onto the players and eventually the fans, we need success and have the means to achieve it if we invest with the funds we obviously have.
a club like arsenal should be competing with the elite when it comes to signings yet we search the basement for the leftovers and has - been's, or we go and look at a 15 year old from outer Mongolia hoping he will come good, then loan him out for ever.
we have the funds, we have the stadium, we have the fanbase, we almost have a decent team - what we require atm is the catalyst to take us to the next level - separate the men from the boys, the losers from the winners. can wenger be the catalyst? I really want him to, (I don't want him to leave on a sour note but what else can the fans do) but sadly imo wenger has lost the bottle and balls to compete successfully and is happy ambling around hoping to get fourth and juicy profits for his employers. imo, we need an injection of new blood, someone with new ideas and tactics that make the players tick.
its sad times at the emirates and the season has only begun, but it could be over by Wednesday.
wenger should as he is in his last year go out and be the man that he once was not this, accountant wannabe, cash saving, stubborn, arrogant and oblivious to the obvious man. if only he could accept his ideology is wrong,
wenger is not a bad person however, wenger is losing respect with every game, the media doesn't help the cause but I couldn't give a sh*t about red top papers, I only care about the welfare of arsenal football club.
the in wenger we trust brigade will surely be out in their numbers claiming he is the man and patience is required, it will all come good, but we fans have waited 8 years, stuck by him when all our stars left, we have been patient but it has run its course and imo so has wenger.

remember no player or manager is bigger than arsenal football club. no one is irreplaceable.

18 Aug 2013 08:42:08
Eds what happened to th questions & team pages on th mobile site?

{Ed033's Note - If you're having web site issues, please use the contact form

Agree, I personally think there are a few players who have said to Arsenal " speak to me if you get into the CL"

Yea that most likey is why it's taking so long but I wouldn't mind list b michu

18 Aug 2013 16:51:08
I feel that wenger needs to sign a goalkeeper urgently, as much as I like Szczesny I feel he has become overconfident and cocky over the past year or so due to the fact he hasn't had anyone of quality to push him for his place. poor goalkeeping spreads lack of confidence throughout the rest of the team.Top clubs Need Top class keepers.

I completely agree and for now I believe Fabianski should be our No.1 he commands his box and the defence which cannot be said for Szczesny.

Personally I don't think we will qualify, god only knows where we go after that

I agree m8? Euro league hear we come
We really need to change things quickly be4 we get to behined every1

Yes, we need to take of the rose tinted class he is a very poor goalkeeper and I can name 20 keepers better them him just in England, proberley not in the top 100 worldwide, but gets paid a world class wage for being very average

Guzan, Berovic, Stekelenberg, Ruddy, Renia, Jaasklelainen, Foster, Howard, Vorm, Mcgregor, Schwarzer, Mignolet, Butland, Krul, Lindgaard, Cesar, Chech, Hart, De gea, and Lioris

18 Aug 2013 16:18:37
Hi Liverpool fan in peace, just wanted to know how sagna is I heard he landed on his head/neck? But didn't hear anything after is he ok?

Gazidis reminded me of that prat of a Spurs boss who held up his train ticket.

Why mention what money we have, probably trying to mug fans into season tickets again

Think it's just whiplash, so lucky it wasn't worse. Let's hope he gets well soon.

18 Aug 2013 18:49:49
He was taken to a private hospital in Liverpool. U can go find out and report back to the rest of us.

Hospital in Liverpool?

Why would he be flown up there?

18 Aug 2013 17:25:34
Here's one for all my Arsenal mates on here to think about. My wife who knows eff all about football just said " how can you expect the players to be loyal if the fans are not loyal to the team? Ummmm I never thought of that! I think she has got a point. Unbelievable really 100% on the ball with that one I would say . What do you reckon Eds . Xx

Eh?

Players move on and mostly for money

Fans don't

I think it is the fans who are loyal, don't you?

Just because you voice an opinion that upsets someone doesn't mean you aren't loyal.

You are right, your wife know nothing ( smiles)

How can the fans be loyal to a complete liar who says what he believes the fans want to hear. Sorry no disrespect to your wife but every fan is showing their discontent towards a manager who ignores the truth that all fans know.

18 Aug 2013 15:57:56
Been reading all of the posts the past 24hours and it is grim reading. Just think what it must be like for the ED's working on the site, especially No.27 who must be fed up. Thanks for the site guys. {Ed027's Note - I just hope I haven't bought into the hype, I was promised big deals, not this

Pretty sure you bought into the hype. They do this every year though.

Chin up Ed. They have 2 weeks to patch things up before the rubbish really hits the fan against the spuds.

18 Aug 2013 15:40:05
Oh dear. 24 hours later and it doesn't get any better. Arsene talking the same old rubbish after the game just doesn't help. So we 'are watching every player in the world 24 hours a day' are we? So like other clubs we are struggling to make signings - are we?

Well the first quote is so nonsensical it numbs the brain. Utter rubbish.

The second is equally stupid. The average top eight premiership side have signed 4 new players, only United are even close to our pathetic record. The only difference being they won the EPL by a street, and we're in another league to us.

Are we meant to believe this rubbish? Does Arsene really believe this? I don't know what's worse, that he might be so deluded as to believe it or that he thinks we are persons. As people will know I am an Arsene fan, but please these comments are so stupid as to defy belief.

To add to the mess the rumours of Turan are awful. He fits with the kind f mid range player who adds nothing to our team that we might sign so I worry. Only sign class. To panic now and waste the money is worse than spending the absolute zero we have to date. Gervinho and Santos are classic examples of that.

We need to face a reality that we could well be on our way out of the ECL at qualification if we play like that again. I doubt we can be that mediocre again but in truth I wouldn't be surprised to be proven wrong.

Sorry but I get no sense we are anywhere close to any high calibre players. Bender isn't coming any more than Suarez is. There is no one in the pipeline. If we spend I fear it will be wasting money desperate to fill some squad places.

18 Aug 2013 16:34:15
I'm an Arsene fan too and have asked for people to wait until the window closes.

But I'm sure I heard him say something on sly spurts about not being able to buy players at 5 to 3 just before kick off. If that's what I heard I truly cannot believe my ears. I mean how many days has this window been open?

I don't see how there can be any players in the pipeline and will now honestly be amazed if we buy anyone of note.

I really no longer know what to think. This was his window, his chance to turn it all around and with a few days left there seems little to no chance he's going to do anything.

I will wait until 2nd Sept but simply out of courtesy for what he once was.

I accept he no longer has the ability to put out a team to play his way, full of the likes of Viera, Petit, Henry, Pires etc but this was and possibly by the skin of his teeth still is his opportunity to prove he can still do it and sadly from here right now he is killing everything we all loved about the man.

Oops rather large typo - sorry that's the fun of I pad and fat fingers! Fourth para of course wasn't meant to read 'he might be so deluded as to think we are persons', I have no idea how but persons got replaced with 'persons'! Ha!

18 Aug 2013 15:33:24
Shaneyd I'm 35

So your of an age that you would remember the end of the Graham era. Before the whole "bung" Saga we were stagnating. Yes we got to 2consecutive cup winners cup finals ( the second of which graham had already been sacked by ) our football was 1 dimensional and falling behind the times. Bruce Rioch was a mistake. A sideways step. The only plus in that season was the arrival of Bergkamp who I give no credit to Rioch that would have been Dein and Danny Fizman, who I must say must be turning in his grave with what is going on. When Wenger came in he was way ahead of the times. Something I think many fans including yourself still believe. There are younger managers/coaches that are ahead of him because they have evolved with football in the last 10 years. Frank De Boer at Ajax. Diego Simeone at AT Madrid to name a couple.
To think that in 100 years that it would be remembered for a Wenger revival is beyond delusion. If he was that good now we would be winning the league year in year out.
If he was that good a player like Andre Santos would never have set foot in the club.
The buck doesn't stop with just Wenger. Gazidis is spineless. If he done his job properly things would be more pressurised for whoever the manager is. And I don't think it will belong before the silent leech of an owner stars syphoning money in to his other companies.
I want people to back the manager but when he's won naff all for 8 years and done zero to change that then it's hard to back him the way you do.

18 Aug 2013 15:14:20
Not really a rumour but just a hunch - feel free to rip it to shreds though.

I don't see any signings (or at least major ones) this summer. Despite having the money, I believe it is wengers last season and he will move "upstairs". This will give a new manager unlimited funds to add to the team - albeit in the champs league, Europa, or none.

As they know wenger will be off, there is no point bringing in someone that another manager doesn't want, and then we can't get rid.

I was really frustrated yesterday and wengers "apology" somehow made things worse. It was similar to the 8-2 man united game.

Comments/thoughts?

I think there just might be something in this Gorzi but if so then go now & let's get sorted sooner rather than later

It was worse 8_2 to man u was bad, this feels much much worse and Wenger should have been sacked then. Don't know what to say anymore!

Why did they bid £40m + £1 for Suarez then which would have smashed our transfer record. Again its just another f##k up by our high management team that can't read a players contract correctly. They put all there eggs into Suarez because they thought it released him from his contract there was no back up plan. Were now scratching around for players like we did two years ago or so it seems.

18 Aug 2013 14:47:01
Not a rumour but just a discussion starter- Wenger is rightly so getting a lot of stick about not spending big this summer and in previous windows, the board have run thier mouths off to put the pressure squarely on his shoulders and the result yesterday was a result unwanted but here are some questions for my fellow gooners.

1. if we are going to get rid of Mr wenger, who would replace him, who could step in and do the needed nurturing of the english youth core and the up and coming players like Eisfield and Gedion while at the same time getting the most out of Giroud, Podolski and Sagna

2.Given the fact we never know the full circumstances of each situation, out of those names that have been "missed" by arsenal this summer, which ones truely would have made a difference to our squads and of those, how many did we ever stand a chance getting knowing thier current clubs or the effect of that "we can afford Rooney" statement will have had on the greed of their clubs

and finally 3. Being as our beloved team are looking more and more like a former champion boxer whose taken two many body shots, sluggish and being left behind by the actions and blows of the teams around us, would our club benifit from a step down for a season or two to take stock, build the squad with hungry players and regrow, a season in the europa league instead of champions league, would this help develope players coming through and would we loose too many of those players hungry for champions league games before we returned to that level

Klopp or Laudrop. The next big things in football. Bergkamp would be up there for me, but he is a gamble as he has no experience as the main main, just assistant. I'm sure all three of these guys would make sure the development of the 'British Core' is upheld, but at the same time, no one player should take priority because of their nationality/ age, should simply be based on talent. For me the biggest miss this summer was by far Higuain, because simply he does what he needs to do, scores goal by the dozen. And no they wouldn't benefit from taking a step back, Liverpool tried this and seriously failed.

Only Klopp. Laudrup isn't ready

18 Aug 2013 14:41:54
Just want to make a small point.
Although I am just as annoyed and disappointed as the majority of the fans after yesterdays defeat and the lack of signings this season as well as season before.
Just remember fellow gooners. one game doesn't define our season ahead!
No matter how disappointed and upset we are with wenger and boards decisions for the past 8 years. we need to stay truthful and back our boys every game from here on out!
we were there for the boys before our glory days and I know we should or will damn well be there when times are bad!
Remember we support the arsenal. not wenger and not the our ignorant board.

18 Aug 2013 14:35:37
Chamakh to come on and score the winning goal, now that would at least put a smile on my face.

18 Aug 2013 14:30:48
There appears to be an inherent and chronic inability to negotiate the signing of 'top, top players' by those managing Arsenal Football Club. I fear that with the departure of Dean all those years ago resulted with Arsenal nolonger having someone who got the job done in the transfer market. For Wenger to assert that it's not tha easy identifying top quality players then perhaps he needs to take a few leaves out of the books of City, Chelsea, and dare I say it, Tottenham. The excuses are getting mightily thin now and we find ourselves in the same precarious situation of a few years ago. It was obvious at 2:59pm on Saturday that Arsenal would find it difficult against Aston Villa. You simply cannot go into the start of the season without your squad settled. That mistake has been made before which culminated with the embarrassing 8 - 2 defeat at Old Trafford. I fear we have made it again.

18 Aug 2013 14:24:07
Let's hope that yesterdays result galvanises the team to produce a performance for the manager on Wednesday, that's normally what happens when backs are against the wall and you are up against it. We need to fight until we drop as this first game in the Champions League is really important for the future of our team and manager.

Let's not compare SAF and Wenger. It's an insult to the now retired man. The reason United fans never called for Fergie's head was he never allowed the club to degrade to this extent. They lost 1-4 to liverpool but won the league that season and 1-6 to City when City won the league on GD.
We are being humiliated by almost relegated teams and mid table teams at home. Swansea, Aston Villa, Bradford. Fans are talking because they care about Arsenal.
It's not the truth that making signings is difficult. Cesar is more than ready to join but Mr Wenger wants a Bargain everywhere. He wants him to take a pay-cut since QPR's relegated and doesn't want to give him a long contract.
Luis Gustavo chose a 11th placed Wolfsburg over us. Ed argues it was difficult to convince a player settled in Germany to move. But he was very much interested and let's face the blunt truth guys. We are no more an attractive option for good players and players are not dying to play for us. WE ARE THE ONES IN DIRE Need of players like Gustavo etc so why not tempt these players by throwing the extra money and there's plenty of it to convince them to come.
He is making things particularly difficult for himself and then fooling us saying it's difficult. It's an inflated market thanks to the Citys Chelseas and Psgs but accept it man. Adaptability can guarantee survival not stubbornness or Arrogance.

18 Aug 2013 14:18:31
Not a rumor, just realisation. To all my fellow gooners! For the last how many ever summers we have been promised big name signings but they never happen. This is a ploy by Wenger and the wonderful board to tell the fans what they want to hear and to keep us happy. How does it go from Higuain will be a Arsenal player to he's sighed for Napoli, nothing but bad negotiations! We need to realize it won't happen, the only way the board will take notice of the fans discontent is for US to hurt them financially. Our beautiful club has fallen and it hurts bad real bad. Its simple bring back the mighty DEIN and buy real quality and not players who are not even old enough to go and buy a pint!

There will be no Rooney and if we do indeed buy Rooney just think what it says about us. A few weeks ago Manchester United stated they will not sell Rooney to their rivals. We are no longer title contenders and no team is afraid to play us!

Bring back the glory days!!

18 Aug 2013 13:54:21
Just wanna say, there are some desperate gooners around, hoping to sign players that we've never heard of!

The truth is we've accepted there ain't no marquee signings happening and. Now any1 will do. let's face it out club is a disaster story. The best transfer that can happen is Wenger transferred out, we finish 6/7th and employ a new manager to settle in for NEXT season, too late for anything now

It's not really though is it? It'll be too late come the end of the window.

.

I'm sorry after the first fixture it's "too late".

Go support another team and take your negativity with you as well.

Sorry mate he is right, change now and push on for next season

18 Aug 2013 13:41:41
I get the feeling we are being mugged off now by both the board & wenger.

He's got 1 yr left on his contract, just get him out now, and that muggy little **** gazidis can go as well, the whole lot of them should go.

We are in serious danger of messing it all up.

Thanks for your dedication Arsene, but, we need a change, no more bull about finding players or injuries.

Step down, just go. PLEASE!

On a positive note, only 5 players out from yesterday. Brilliant.

18 Aug 2013 13:27:29
Its always an aweful feeling to loose, especialy in the season premiere, againt weak opposition. But under the circumstanses we are in right now, its even worse.

All summer we have sold, loaned out or even released players. I believed it was because we would replace them with better players BEFORE the season started. But we have not made a singe significant signing that would strenghten the team all summer. Even though so many players have left.

And must importantly; even though we have so much money screaming to be spent.

This was the summer we would show everybody that we are serious, and realy want to be in the top. Instead we don't strenghten, and loose 3-1 in our opening fixture, at home!

I can't believe the club has put them selves in this position!

18 Aug 2013 13:20:00
The favourites for their league's. Chelsea, PSG, Juve Shaktar, Barca and Bayern. Is it coincidence they all got their transfer dealings done early and none waiting till after their season starts before buying players. Surely everyone can see that its the best way to do transfers except Arsene. Really starting to believe that wenger can only do things one way and luckily for him and us, his way was new and innovative at the time but everyone has caught up and overtaken now.

All our transfers depend on champions league footy end of this week we will lay our cards on the table!

18 Aug 2013 13:06:05
Ed, do you think that there could be players waiting to come in, but is waiting on our Champions League qualification? {Ed027's Note - maybe

18 Aug 2013 13:02:25
I think one of the key issues with Wenger is he sees the team put in a one-off blinding performance and believes that that is our level. It's not. It used to be with far better players, but these days it really is rare. The key thing for me is that years ago a team of any quality, be it Villa/Wigan/Stoke, or Man U/Chelsea could put in the performance of the season and we'd STILL win. These days, our level of performance is in direct correlation with how much the opposition fail to fire on all cylinders. There will always be the argument that we 'don't allow them to play', I get that, but it's not realistic.

City didn't turn up against us, everybody knew that. All those world class players and they looked like it was a training session. Technically it was. It's clear that Pellegrini's system is yet to totally reveal itself in all its glory over there.

Napoli turned up and even though we shared the majority of possession and pressure, our lack of quality told. We went behind to two poor goals, yet of course the club only gives the credit for the come back. We faced a well-gelled, title-tinning Galatasary and didn't get a look in. That was a warning.

Villa turned up and 'did their job' and we lost. It's as simple as that. If Villa had got the jitters and not played their way then maybe it would have been a breeze, but it's insulting to their players and manager to think they wouldn't turn up.

Now don't get me wrong, we put in a shift, and it was actually a good game if you remove the pens. But if we had the quality in all positions that we are famous for, they could have put in the game of their lives and we'd still have won at home.

Simple fact is on the day, their players were better drilled, more effective and did their jobs better. Like for like this is true where it mattered. The CBs only allowed us through TWICE.

Giroud failed to emulate Benteke's influence at his end of the pitch. Who was more effective out of Weimann or Walcott? Walcott was absent yesterday. The Ox was reasonable til he got injured.

But Delph is a prime example too. He did what a DM does and he did it so well. He didn't give us breathing space, he broke it all up, was an outlet, and even supplemented the attack. Did Wilshere and Ramsey do this? not at all. It's not good enough. For me, it was like this yesterday:

Guzan>Szcz
Weimann>Walcott
Benteke>Giroud
Delph>Ramsey+Jack
Agbonlahor>The Ox

When you look at it like that and then reflect on our lack of invention in attack that stems back three years or more now, it's a coaching thing (diff players + same problems = coaching, yes?). The following teams, regardless of their ability to pull it off, are far more drilled, direct and inventive in attack than we are: Wigan, Southampton, Villa, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U, City, West Brom, Norwich.

Take the blinkers off you you'll see that is pretty well bang on. They are. If you took away the players' faces and names on the Arsenal team and watched a game you wouldn't be able to tell which season it was out of any in the last 5 years. It's shocking.

We need a new coach, new players, fresh input, and better training. I'm talking a clutch of world class attacking coaches, a world class GK coach (new one). Everyone knows we need it, I think some people need to stop the denial thinking we don't. It boils down to this. The same problems regardless of players on the pitch is a coaching and quality thing.

Those players could probably be coached into a team capable of dismantling a united side firing on all cylinders, but they won't, and haven't in years now.

18 Aug 2013 12:59:20
Does anybody know how long Gibbs is out for and does anybody know defence against fenerbache, but kos can play. Also is sagna injured

18 Aug 2013 12:32:23
Question for the eds or anyone in the know. The villa game sh9wed real need for a midfielder to drop in to cover attacking fullbacks and generally boss the centre mid.

now it seems gustavo is out of the picture who do you think is on our shortlist for this position given we wouldn't pay gustavo high wages, so youd expect lars bender to be out the picture to? {Ed027's Note - don't know, we have really f*cked up

18 Aug 2013 12:12:18
AW could have so easily solved the issues with reinforcements if he could stop living in the past, he is i'm afraid to say unwilling to move with the times, Tactics, Players, Transfer fee's, and let's not forget his Socialist wage structure which has screwed us over for how many seasons.

Capoue, Wanyama, Gustavo, Gonalons, Bender, were all achievable if he had paid the going the rate, clubs nowadays aren't interested in dealing with Arsenal as a straightforward transfer is dragged out for weeks and weeks over penny pinching, unsettling the player, and as usually happens another club nips in says yeah well pay the extra million and bang another player lost.

Yeah we have cleared a lot of the "deadwood" but unless we replace them with players who can actually perform we are leaving ourselves open to the prospect of playing the kids who most aren't ready to play in the premier league,

Unless major changes are made, and SOON, its not 4th spot well be fighting for, it will be just to get into the channel 5 cup i'm afraid

A very p1ssed off gunner

18 Aug 2013 11:57:23
Surely it is the Manager's job to provide a team of players of the ability, within the budget confins, to be as successful as possible.
If Arsene is saying that with close to 200mill available to strengthen, this squad, [bear in mind we ended up with Podolski at left back & a kid at right back [& how many injuries?], he cannot find players better than we have then by his own admission he is not good enough to manage the club.
We all know of players available in Europe he just will not for whatever reason pay anywhere near market value.
Gazidis has said the money is there, if Arsene is unable or unwilling to spend it to secure a title challenging side, because that is our remit to him, then he must go.

18 Aug 2013 11:49:50
Ok guys, it's one year later since his tranfer. Was RVP justified in his comments of the club lacking ambition? Was he right or wrong? Comments please

Not even a question. Of course he was. I don't even blame him. He was head and shoulders above anybody at the club, a club that was not showing the ambition required to keep the best striker in the league.
At 30 he didn't have many options, sure, morally he could have repaid us by staying but in his position, I'd have done the same thing (Hypothetical me that doesn't support Arsenal)

He betrayed the club, and especially the boss. After the amount of faith he put in him. Should be ashamed of himself

18 Aug 2013 11:45:03
Diaby Injured
Arteta Injured
Vermaelen Injured
Monreal Injured
Gibbs Injured
Chamberlain Injured
Koscielny Suspended
Sagna Injured
Ramsey Injured
Rosiscky Injured
Wilshere play whole 90 mins has to be rested.

What will be your starting IX against Fanabache? Bosscielny can play since it isn't EPL.

Gibbs was a head cut think he will play and also rambo wasn't bad think it was just a knock. Sagna looked bad but jenks will cover so we have a strong defence tbf but no back up to lb or either center back. Personally would rest walcott and go with gnabry and podolski on the wings and sanogo up front swapped for giroud in the second half. Don't really know what to say about the midfield, ridiculously thin is the only way to sum it up all I can say is #PRAYFORRAMSEY!

18 Aug 2013 10:59:40
hi lpool fan here, just wanted to say completely agree with majority of your fans anger twrds your club, I get frustrated at lpool seeing where we have dropped to, but the big difference is your club have money and r in a very healthy financial state so for u not to be spending big is hard to understand, I think wenger worked wanders in his early days made your team into winners on small fees for top players viera, petit, gilberto henry, but times have changed any player seen now with potential is highly priced and u have to pay it or someone else will hence why u missed so many players, I mean u actually knocked the mancs off there perch and I believe the season u were invicibles was the time when your club should of been buying and kept buying each year, any player in the world then would of come to arsenal and think u would of gone to to an era of dominance both domestically and in Europe, instead u seem to of gone backwards as not only have u not signed players u let your best ones go to your rivals why?? I think as fans u have every right to ask these questions and deserve answers, I mean we r in a worse position than u after all only 1 game in but but we have held firm on suarez and have signed some good players which i'm happy bout the direction we r heading just will take time just feel u could and should of been in that place now, anyway I hope we both get back to winning ways as would much rather us be battling it out at the top than chelski and the mancs nice to dream good luck

You are completely spot on and its nice to support from others fans- who get it.

cheers.

18 Aug 2013 09:46:12
Just read that because of tax laws (whatever that means) Monaco might be forced to sell Falcao who they've only just signed. I know we need to focus on our defensive problems first but seriously if this happens, BUY HIM!

18 Aug 2013 09:43:59
It is simple for me now, all banter and rumour aside.

The club have till the end of the window to spend some serious money on quality.
There is players of quality out there if your willing to spend.
A club will accept a bid for a player just like we accepted a bid for rvp.
The problem is we need 4 players like rvp.
The football and the whole set up is wrong.
I watched villa Spanking us on the 1st game of the season
Really can't believe this was our transfer strategy, how is our transfer not in place got the 1st game.

In my eyes he has the window to spend or resign

Very angry

18 Aug 2013 03:12:59
Ed's if we sign players now is it too late to register them for champs league quilfier? {Ed027's Note - I think so

18 Aug 2013 09:26:15
Right guys, I know some of you think I've got blind faith in our manager. You maybe right. let's get something straight, he has made a few mistakes but will comeback strong. If we are playing the blame game today, and fingers of accusation are being pointed at the Wenger, the board and the ref. how about adding the fans to the mix, we should have been ashamed of ourselves yesterday. We showed no class. And that probably upset me gve most.

To have a pop at the fans is rediculous. Some of us have backed Wenger and the Board while forking out thousands to support the team.
I have hoped and believed that Wenger would turn things round by either spending money on superior players to what we already have or to be honest and say the board/kroenke are restricting his spending.
The fans fury is fully justified. We are fed up of being deceived. You may not have accepted this but it's true.
The build up to this season has been a disgrace. Open your eyes and be honest without 100m of additions and good ones at that we will NOT compete.
The board have no balls to act as they are happy with mediocrity. So the hole Board should go. Wenger has nurtured (Not produced) great players. There are modern managers who can do that too.
So please I'm saying this politely. Take your head out your backside and stop crying because passionate fans who love this club show there distaste for what is going on!

18 Aug 2013 08:36:44
If Wenger resigns, il never come onto this site again.

How old are you wengerism? Haha.

Thank God.

That made me laugh, I hope web site can save AW's job so you don't have to leave.

18 Aug 2013 07:22:04
I wonder if this would change things. If a player was injured for a certain amount if time that after a period he got what every other NORMAL person would get STATUORY SICK PAY! I think in some cases you would see some miracle recoveries!

18 Aug 2013 03:34:12
Wengerism,

It's great that you actually have enough faith and appreciation to stand by Wenger. Very few are doing that at this point.

Don't get too worked up about the people calling for Wengers head, because there is plenty of them every year, and they're usually the ones saying 'in wenger we trust' or 'only one arsene wenger' when the times are good.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who wants to keep Wenger.

Sorry if I'm leaving anyone out but it seems like the majority of the posters on this site want Wenger out, which is fine because everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I could list many reasons why we should keep Wenger but I would be here all day.

Wengerism, keep the faith, you've got my support on this one.

Nick, you and I have been posting on here for years, and I'll always respect your opinion, or try to. It's difficult when you disagree. I have no problem with people wanting to keep Wenger if they can justify it - but I simply find that most people cannot. I'm yet to read anything from Wengerism, you or anyone else that goes beyond 'I don't think he should go' and actually goes as far as justifying why he should stay, given everything that we've seen of his performances in years and years now. We borrowed money and built a stadium That's not a reason to keep Wenger now. Having his hands tied in terms of selling players (i.e. I know he would've kept various players to the end of their deals if he could have done e.g. RVP and Nasri) is again not an excuse to keep him now. If someone can provide me the reasons why they would still want to keep him, and keep the reasons to transfers in, tactics, playing style, and specific coaching areas, and come out with something that says he really is the one, then I would be prepared to consider how I now feel. But so for, you, Wengerism, and imo nobody else has yet come out with anything like that.

18 Aug 2013 12:42:14
Not calling for his head I just want him to pull his head out of his ar5e if he can't see we are painfully thin and rectify it then he should go 10 fit first team squad is a disgrace he forgot about the past where we've had our squad top of the injury table for last 8 years

Could you just list 5 reasons, without mentioning past glories?

18 Aug 2013 02:32:08
And another thing! What really gets up my nose are the people that say Wenger loves this club he does not do it for the money .! No you are probably right . But the 7 million a year he has been getting certainly softens the blow for him. I don't know of any job in the world where you can be in charge produce absolutely nothing in 8 years and still get paid top dollar. In normal circumstances if anyone had a job like that you would have to say there was something crooked going on as it wouldn't make sense. Think about it for a moment £7,000,000 a year minimum and NOT ONE TROPHY in 8 years! Don't p*ss in my face and tell me it's Champagne.

I agree, I was saying the same thing to a mate. How on earth has he managed to keep his job, people can't keep saying we won this we won that, that was 9 years ago and with a squad he inherited .

I'm not a wenger hater or a sack him fan but I must admit it's unacceptable, something is wrong at our club and we deserve to know what, is it arsene saying no don't buy or is it the board unable to wrap a deal up. when David Dein was there we never had this trouble did we

18 Aug 2013 02:18:57
TO TED. ON MY VERMAELLEN POST . I know our squad is paper thin but I thought we should have sold Vermaellen before the season started mate and before you start jumping down my throat just go and have a look at his stats I posted it before, out of I believe 4 seasons he has virtually missed 2 of them on and off through injury. We are now in our 5th season with him I believe and he is injured again!
Yes we all know he is a very very good player but the truth is he is unreliable. We are not talking about Joe Bloggs here Ted we are talking about people who are pampered with the cream of medical care millionaire lifestyles etc etc and they can't turn up for work mate! Tell me what job you know where the employer would put up with that? WOULD YOU?

I think Sam, that we all know how good Vermaelen can be and because of that I think getting rid of him would be a bad idea.

Vermaelen is my favourite Arsenal player, and it would break my heart (kinda) to see him play elsewhere. He has said in the past that he would spend the rest of his career at Arsenal. He is one of the last of his kind, a loyal footballer. I think selling him would show, to me anyway, that loyalty is well and truly dead.

I can totally understand where you're coming from, but I just can't see how selling him would benefit the team. On the occasion that he does play, he is our best CB. Koscielny may be very good, but on form TV5 is unplayable.

Maybe I hold too much personal bias when it comes to the player, but I would hate to see Vermaelen sold.

18 Aug 2013 01:33:08
It's only 1 game it could be worse at least give it till end of transfer window. I believe we will sign players. Wenger must have a plan or at least I hope he does. Be careful what you wish for is it really his fault wouldn't the board sack him otherwise

We've been waiting for this plan to materialise for over 8 years mate. So what makes you think it's going to happen now? The only plan Wenger has got is to keep spinning the same crap cop his £7,000,000 a year plus and eventually go through the slips and make himself comfortable in the boardroom.

You say give it to the end and I do kind of agree but if we don't voice our frustrations they might not change their stubborn ways

18 Aug 2013 00:39:04
Yes of course my last post was sarcastic. It is not the first window that this has happened. We have had a thin squad for years. It is not something new. I don't even get angry anymore, instead I laugh because the situation is so easily fixed and it is just the same story year after year. I don't really post that often here anymore, even though I do read it. The reason is simple. I see new faces coming on here before every new transfer window and every new season with the same bloated ideas and high hopes as I once had. They are delusional but it will probably take them a year or so with broken promises to realize that nothing is going to change. We have been in need of a defensive midfielder for ages for example but we have still not adressed that issue. I wonder if the same people have the same patience when it comes to their personal relationships, because if they do I wouldn't mind having them as friends. I can just screw them over and over and nothing would happen. They would still believe me when I say that I will be nice. Perfect really. Actions really do speak louder than words but for some people it seems to be enough to just paint pink clouds with your tongue and they just instantly believe you. I admire your blind faith but I am at the stage in my relationship to Arsenal where I have seen through the cracks and that is not going to change, unless it actually does change. For this transfer window and season I didn't have high hopes because I felt like I knew what was coming. So far I have not seen anything that would prove me wrong, it is just the same old crap. So to the guys that are rampaging, I understand you. As for myself I am way past that point already. Instead I spend my time looking at clips of Diaby and dreaming of the impact he could have had on our beloved club. Cheers guys and keep the dreaming and raging going

18 Aug 2013 00:15:09
The debate as to whether it is wenger or the board has been going on here for years. People can only go by some of the comments and the actions of the people involved as we are not sitting in the dressing room or boardroom, but! certain comments stick in my throat, which make it hard for me to see past wenger a the main problem, but the board to scared to manage him.

Wenger said recently that he feels he is being pressured to buy certain player. Is there conflict then between manager and board? do the board realise the frustrations of the fans? The board have said for several years that funds were available to wenger. yet he chose mostly not to use them.
Wenger said he would only buy players that would strengthen the squad, then bought squillaci!
Wenger talks about wages, but ensured that fringe players earnt £50k a week, hindering the opportunity to offer more to the class players such as nasri, cesc, and RVP.

When bendtner was on £52k a week, danny wellbeck was on £14k That is gross negligence.

The board should of put their foot down a long time ago and forced wenger to comply or leave, either way I think we would of been in a better situation today.

I have long wanted wenger to leave, he does not motivate this team, whilst he once went unbeaten he also took us through the worst run of results in over 50 years, and has lost more finals than won, he has had his day, move on.
I would prefer to see him leave without the abuse that some are giving him though, we have more class than that.

17 Aug 2013 23:52:12
We need a keeper, right back, central defender, defensive mid and striker, that's 5 quality players NOW

Cesar Richards Williams Capoue Rooney

we will probably end up at 11:59 pm on transfer deadline day with last minute buys Given boswinga silvestre(again) Derry and bendtner who will get a new contract all for £3.50 making a grand profit for the board of £69, 999, 996.50 from their warchest only stan Ivan and arsene will be smiling

Sorry but I'm pi**ed off with the austerity measures of the tight fisted, loaded board

Sorry capoue went to the spuds

Unfortunately Capoue signed for Spurs this week.

Usmanov, dein, landurup

Capoue has already signed with spurs, also I disagree with all your targets bar williams.