Arsenal Banter Archive February 18 2015

18 Feb 2015 22:48:03
I've just lost a shed load of money on one stupid gamble.

I gambled that nobody would break into my shed where I keep all my money.

I'll send you my address so you can post that crown out mate, that's just been stolen too

19 Feb 2015 11:53:35
Haha 337,

I will put a SAE inside, so you can send it straight back :-)

18 Feb 2015 21:49:22
Chris (Redman),

Mate, I, just like probably every Arsenal supporter, totally agree that we have under achieved over the years.

Indeed, even this season, bearing in mind the team we have, injuries withstanding, we are under achieving.

We should not be hovering in 4th/5th/6th place, we should be hot on the heels of Chelsea/City.

Somebody touched upon it earlier, we are both under achieving, more so your boys, due to the fact the amount of money it has cost to assemble your squad, the most in prem league history, by all accounts.

But, I look at the positives.
We are on the way up. We won FA Cup last year and should win it again this year, due to the fact we have an easy game in the next round (smiley face).

18 Feb 2015 22:12:57
Oh yeah Chris,

DDG and Shrek, the others are Arsenal bench warmers lol.

18 Feb 2015 22:27:02
Maybe your right, I would still say next season will be the proof for us, with the rebuilding work we had to do it was never going to be a quick fix no matter how much cash we threw at it, we lost a huge part of history when the boss left, one I think we all new yet somehow still didn't expect to be as hard as it is proving.
Are we underachieving yes in terms of performance, I predicted 3rd at the start of the season for us and said that would be a great finish and a huge stride forward to start with.
I want more and expect it to a degree next season, that being said anything less than 4th this season would be huge failure in my eyes so we will see how it goes mate nothing is settled yet.

My point was not a baiting one pal just ure comment I found odd and one I wanted u to go into more.

{Ed025's Note - fair comment that chris..

18 Feb 2015 23:28:33
I know you wasn't baiting Chris.

When it comes to banter, personally speaking, I think you reign supreme.

Ok, I'm going to throw it back at you.
I'm going to assume you agree DDG and Rooney will get into our team

What other Utd players do you think can get into Arsenal team?

Ps, don't go by reputation Chris. Example, you can't say ADM because he's world class.
You have to go by what they have done for Utd this season.

Chris the pogba walking out of your club set you back a few years. One of the craziest calls in football history. The guys focused on being the best. Still baffles me to this day

19 Feb 2015 08:48:36
Dags,

So if united have under performed more, is it fair to say that by default you must have expected us to be well above you this season? Was that your prediction?

Wenger has had plenty of cash the last 3 windows he also has bags of epl experience and has had years to put this squad together, whilst LvG is brand new to the league and united. On top of that only 2 of our players would make the arsenal team apparently. Oh and we had just finished 7th and low in confidence whilst you guys had a decent base to build from. United's target was top 4 whilst you lot thought you would be challenging for the title this season, I thought? I guess I'm just struggling to see why united are underachieving more? Is it really purely to do with the last summers spend and not the other factors I mention?

I actually think arsenal are pretty certain to make top 4, you always do! And united need to improve a little just to stay up there, so it will be an interesting end to the season.

But it seems like dags you want to have your cake and eat it, you greedy devil. You really believe that arsenal have the far better players, a better manager (I presume) and a more stable base - yet somehow united are underachieving MORE when we sit above you in the league. Sounds like you have a high opinion on united or low expectations for arsenal. Perhaps the years of accepting 4th place are hitting home? (cheeky smile)

19 Feb 2015 08:53:15
Derby, a lot of united fans would agree on Pogba. According to Ed002 however his agent was hawking him around whilst refusing to sign a contract for us that season. We really had little choice imo, knew exactly how good he was but also knew his agent was looking for a pay day.

19 Feb 2015 12:12:08
Hi Honey,

Sir, you make fair points.
To be fair, we are both massively under achieving. I take your view, and it is a good one, that we are further down the 'rebuilding road' than you are, although only by one season, due to funds that have never been previously available.

But, you have spent in one summer, what we have spent in 3 seasons.
You have as manager who is massively experienced, who has previously been in charge of Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern as well as the Dutch national team.

Does he need time to settle?
The man is vastly experienced. He has been given time and money in abundance, which is fair enough, although I'm sure Mr Moyes is scratching his head as to why he wasn't afforded the same 'luxury'.

For me, we are both between a rock and a hard place.
Too far behind Chelsea/City but just in front the other runners, like Liverpool, Soton and Spuds.

So, answer me this.
Don't know if you saw my previous post, where I reeled off about 20 Utd players who would grace any team.
These are the type of players you don't seem to have anymore so, apart from my pick of DDG and Rooney, who would get into our Arsenal team?

Badger. Pogba wanted to play. I'm told he signed a 20k a week deal at juve when he joined. that's nothing. You had Anderson on a lot more. He'll go on to be a top top player.

If I'm an agent and a club doent reconzise my player deserves a certain wage I'd fish around. We did the same ash cole

19 Feb 2015 12:56:50
I would say ddg, Shaw, blind, Rooney and on current form smalling(yes smalling lol) but that is on current form when my players reach the heights we know they can I'd have more.

It's all subjective mate an argument that neither can really win as I watch a lot more of United than u and I'm guessing u are the same with arsenal. It's hard lol

19 Feb 2015 13:14:23
Derby u know as well as anyone there are many different things to take into account than just basic wages when it comes to football, ed02 confirmed long before he left that he was likely to leave us. The boss was that for a reason, he never let a player or agent dictate to him (sometimes to our detriment). Pogba wanted more playing time and bigger wages fair enough, but there is way to go about it. Again when u look at the agent and his clientele it makes more sense.
I would of loved pogba to stay and personally would of chucked a shed load to keep him but when a 18yr old starts making demands and getting them what hope is there for discipline? What happens in 2 years when his contract is up? Then a further 2-3 from that? it sets a dangerous president for others to follow imo.

Chris and honey, what's the feeling with united fans regarding moyes? obviously the end of last season he was seen as the worst thing ever, but afforded no time or money and on a hiding to nothing from the very start, in comparrison van gaal seems to of had it a hell of a lot easier with a crazy amount of money and i personally feel has been lucky to have more points than moyes had

19 Feb 2015 16:08:42
Top managers always seem to be the lucky ones don't they?

Moyes I felt was a wrong appointment, although sacking him set us back another year I always felt the direction he would of took us would of been also rans each year, so I could understand the change.
I didn't like the abuse he got but also he never helped himself with some of the comments made and decisions made (sacking of the staff).

I like the bloke and wish him nothing but success in Spain.

You have lots more cash than juve. For me he's proved fergie wrong. Fergie Stam fall out another example. If I'm pogba I'd want what marceda who is a championship player at least. Pogba will cost 50 mill nxt move. Pirlo says he's the boy .

End of the day hazard joined chelsea young on big wages. He's worth every penny

19 Feb 2015 18:33:42
Sorry Derby not sure that makes sense. We knew Pogba's agent was manoeuvring BEFORE Pogba even turned down our contract offer. At that stage it was clear that playing time was not the issue as the agent was working on the move out from the previous summer, when he graduated the academy. SAF knew precisely how class he was and would have given him every chance if he thought he was committed.

{Ed025's Note - i agree with that HB, the kid was a loose cannon at that time..

19 Feb 2015 19:53:11
Dags,

Typed out a reply but my computer crashed before I hit send, damn technology!

Long and short is, as well as those 2 I would have Shaw at LB, either Carrick or Blind at holding midfield purely for balance and I'd get Di Maria in there. I'd be struggling to get any more in there tbh but I'm not sure who would partner Kos at CB? Much of a muchness within both squads IMO.

20 Feb 2015 16:53:04
Many say at the time pogba was a true pro. He just knew he was too good to be reserve. I believe he was right.

Its a 50-60million pound mistake

18 Feb 2015 19:17:10
Regarding previous posts today about the misconception that whatever player 'top scores', his team win the league.

In 22 years since the inception of The Prem League, on 9 occasions the Champions have boasted their striker has finished top scorer for that season.

Less than 50%.

Hmm, interesting.

18 Feb 2015 19:47:28
It's a team effort, generally the best TEAM wins the league.

I would have gone with the team that has the most scorers from midfielders as champions nore often than not personally

Didn't TH14 finish top scorer in every season he played bar one?

18 Feb 2015 20:49:17
Th14 finished top scorer 4 times.

We won league on 2 of those occasions, 2002 and 2004 seasons.

So, the 50% ratio again.

Depends how far the other players are behind. Nistelrooy scored a bucket load. Drogba cleared up.

18 Feb 2015 16:10:26
Totally agree Ed.

De Gea and Rooney for sure.
The rest would just about make our bench.

DG.

Hmmm interesting statement that dags, if u believe that and I can only guess u do mate, does that mean Wenger is really underachieving with the squad and money u have spent?
Wenger out?

The injuries is what keeps us from competing. too many injuries to key players, giroud, ozil, debuchy, kos, ramsey, walcott have been out for months. not to forget players like Sanchez, gibbs, Ox missing big games.

I personally think our starting 11 is good enough to contend for the title, perhaps a clinical striker and CDM short from giving chelsea and Man city a real fight.

our depth not soo much. lack of experience and lack of balace to supplement first team player injuries.

while cazorla has stepped up lately he was a peripheral player in the first half, and players like wilshere are wasting their talent on being smug. Welbeck has proven to be a reliable backup player.

while united have had their fair share of injuries, they have a much deeper squad and less competitions to play in. Also the strikers united have should have been scoring loads of goals, but it seems like your defense has been better than your forward line. There's no denying the talent assembled for united can go toe to toe with the rivals, but as currently assembled in the system they just don't work.

and may i add...long may Van Gaal reign.

Di maria would start for Us all day long. World class

18 Feb 2015 17:36:37
Christopher,

Firstly, when you look at Utd sides in the past, they have been awash with quality.

Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Cantona, kanchelskis, Butt, Ince, Keane, Robson, Van Nistelrooy, Bruce, Pallister, Neville, Ferdinand,
Denis Irwin, Vidic, Mark Hughes, Choccy McClair, Solskjaer, Sheringham, Jaap Stam, Dwight Yorke, Ronaldo, to name but a few.

Different era's but Utd teams have always been littered with quality.

This present team?
DDG and Rooney apart
Would not get into our team Chrissy boy, unless its a League Cup game mate.

As a Man United fan you cannot mention or even refer to the amount of money spent on a squad surely? And now LVG wants to buy another midfielder.

18 Feb 2015 18:17:29
Chris,

I respect that you are a Utd fan, but this is a bit of the pot calling the kettle black.

1. United have the most expensively assembled squad in the league (yes, more than Chelsea and City), whereas Arsenal have the fourth most expensively assembled squad in the league (while I think it is remiss to guess at final league position, which is all that matters for underachievement - Arsenal are, at this point, far less likely to underachieve than United);

2. If only wages are taken into account, Arsenal are third in wage spending (behind both City (1) and United (2), but estimated to be ahead of Chelsea (4)) so, again, slight underachievement thus far (but we are less likely to underachieve than United).

3. I am not sure how you would break down a per dollar spend, but I imagine, it would result in Arsenal needing to place 4th or in your best case scenario 3rd, to in relative terms achieve what was expected, with United having to win the league or place 2nd.

While, I and all Arsenal fans think this squad should be doing better with the talent it has, in pure economic terms both teams are underperforming at this point in the season, but Arsenal are slightly underperforming economically and can more readily meet economic predictions than United, who would likely have to win the league or at the least place second to be a relative success.

Again, that said, I agree Arsenal should have really done better this season, but in no way should that make you as a United fan happy about your terrible relative performance.

That being said this Arsenal squad should be challenging for the title!

Doesnt really matter a jot Dags if UTD beat us again.

18 Feb 2015 19:04:03
Very good post James.

Bambam, its not often I predict we will win a 'big' game, but I feel confident about this one.

PS, I'm going for a draw BTW :-)

18 Feb 2015 19:21:11
Its worth noting I was not trying to prove u wrong dags buddy just generally asking a Wenger supporter that if only 2 players and one of them is a goalkeeper can get into your 1st team then surely Wenger must be underachieving, Don't U agree?
Don't u also agree over the last 2 seasons he has finally put his hand in the money box and spent big.
Would u also not agree with all this spending, that a club 2 places above u that u believe only has 2 players that would get into your first team on a good day, u are below still is underachieving on his part again?

If u have the team why are u not doing better? If only TWO of our players would get in your first team and only ONE of them is a outfield player there surely is summit wrong, no?

If it would of been 4-6 players of ours that would get in i could understand as the gap ain't that big and there's plenty of time for u to catch up and over take I get that, but the fact that its only TWO that would I think says a hell of a lot more about ure failings as a club than the funny jibes at utd and its players the initial post was about.

Again I will stress I'm not trying to disprove u if u believe that I can't tell u different mate but, it just seemed an odd statement to me and one that seemed to show a lot more about arsenal and more Wenger than us.
one more point it's also worth noting that this is also happening with a manager in charge of us that u lot (rightly so imo) poke fun at Just food for thought.


Ok everyone else u all again totally missed my point and couldn't see past my name without logically commenting, it has nothing to do with United, that really wasn't my point, I'm fully aware we have underachieved with the money spent as of yet in terms of performance. But again if we have underachieved, what are u doing?

18 Feb 2015 19:46:04
Laker, I agree injuries have ravaged your squad, but again I stress only TWO of our first team would get in yours or even make the bench as dags said. So surely by that comment our 2nd string is irrelevant in this discussion unless u think Anderson(I know he's now gone) would of been an upgrade on your injuries or smalling, young etc.

I don't know the exact numbers but injury wise we must be very close in terms of amount as u. We have to play untried 18/19 year olds in a severely confident lacking back line, strikers and wingers as wing backa etc. That argument doesn't really add up imo.

The only reason 2 out of your first team would make the arsenal squad is due to the 2 showing up and the rest not, or not fitting the system.

if we were talking a year back, ozil would not make any top teams squad in the second half of the season, perhaps only ramsey.

its nothing to do with lack of quality...its not like man united spent 150 odd million for marbles...its the system or whatever condition it is that is effecting them that makes them currently below par, or lack of trust from the manager in players like shaw and herrera.

but if you look at the talent on display its there, just not utilized.

mata, herrera, blind, de gea, rooney, di maria, rvp, falcao...they are not mugs...some world class names underachieving.

while we have ozil and sanchez who can have any sort of name billing, the others are stepping up to create a name. as a team arsenal are playing better as individuals you guys have the better lot...150 mill does that...but id take the team anyday.

{Ed025's Note - good post that lakes..and very fair imo..

19 Feb 2015 13:19:13
Fair points Laker, I can't really disagree like I wasn't really to begin with just wanted the logic explaining to me as obviously u guys watch a lot more of arsenal than me I'm guessing.

18 Feb 2015 14:59:24
Derby Gooner,

Did your 8 fold come up?

Ye mate 3quid bet. Causes some family arguments tho. Last time I ever upto a fluke bet. For some people a equal split isn't enough. Nxt time I keep the lot

18 Feb 2015 19:07:05
Give it to charity mate.

Log onto www.Dagsneedsanewcar.com.

Such a worthwhile cause.

Not giving u that much money dags. I'd b worried the wheels would come off.

18 Feb 2015 08:28:32
So it was Abi wot done it, or was it?
Much like deadline day really

I reckon it was Cindy.

Yeah she's an expendable character so a likely suspect as are Nick and Dean, I'm still hoping it turns out to be all of them the entire cast in it together, that would be fun and worthy of a Duff Duff and a, half:-)

18 Feb 2015 09:35:03
I reckon it was Ed025.

He has guilt all over his face, as well as last nights greasy kebab.

The plot thickens.

{Ed001's Note - I don't mean to sound stupid, but what on earth are you all on about???}

Do people seriously watch that

{Ed001's Note - watch what??}

18 Feb 2015 09:40:19
Eastenders Ed, lol.

{Ed001's Note - is that still going? I never knew that.}

Um you're just put your self right in the frame Ed001, denying all knowledge is always a sign!
Where exactly were you on Tuesday the 15th of October 2014 between the hours 8 and 8.30pm? Uk time of course

{Ed001's Note - in Dubai mate, funnily enough chatting to a guy who used to be in Eastenders!}

You lot need to get out more, it was Ethal aided by dot - and just incase you lot get mouthy i know Phil (i really do) and i will send him round, i also know Ricky (i really do again) and i'll send him to fix your cars then you'll be sorry.

Dubai? would be nice for the eds to look after its keyboard roots. #neverforgetwhereyoucamefrom


lol

{Ed001's Note - I live here mate, busy setting up a new business out here, I was under doctor's orders to go somewhere sunny by the sea and I used to work out here many years ago so came back to live.}

I asked wenger he did not see it.

Fair play ed