Arsenal Banter Archive May 18 2014

18 May 2014 22:58:31
Was Theo at the 'celebrations' when the final whistle went?

I don't remember seeing him.

He was in hospital dags. Jenko, Ox and Poldi facetimed him from Wembley.

It's on YouTube you can see them facetiming him. I asked that earlier lol. However why is no one asking where lord **** bentdner was! Lol

Thanks CIG,

much o.bliged

D16 read my post.

Sorry wrong post.

18 May 2014 21:51:38
brilliant stuff lads,, haven't been happier since the birth of my little girls.
I know what I've seen yesterday that I have never ever before,, Wenger showing real raw emotion.Wasent it just brilliant,, those players really love this guy and you could really see it there in the celebrations, brought tears to my eyes lads,, He is a class man and manager. we could see how close he was to the boys, even kissing Sagna on the head whilst praying, while he should be giving him a Glasgow kiss for wanting to leave.
I know this my fellow gooners,, this is the start of it for us now, we've smelt and tasted it now.
3 or 4 new signings in and we will be title winners next season.

18 May 2014 20:13:04
Hope the conversation re RB has Abate and Richards in them - would be nice to bring in someone proven.

Me i'd love richards hesca step up from sagna, but he's injury prone. Can play cb or rb but I wish he was not so fragile.

Abate - awful.
Richards - Very injury prone.

Can I ask Steve and anyone else why do you want Richards. So many arsenal fans moan and get annoyed with our injury list, why do you want to add to that? I swear he is injury prone as diaby

I am not so worried about fragile as Jenks is serviceable and an iron man - just need a good rotation. Maybe Richards is the man ;-))

D16 read my post.

Granted I misread, sorry, but why would you love it if we signed a injury prone player? btw I'm not slagging anyone off for wanting him, I'm just wondering peoples opinions on why, because to me he wouldn't make my top 10 list for right backs because of his injury past

D16 there is a but in there, what i'm saying is he would be perfect if fit. But he is injury prone.

18 May 2014 19:24:01
So we get rid of the Big German because he slipped LOL

It really does show how little some people know the game . In the big games when we were mauled he was too slow, ermmmmmm I think you should go back and look at the lads in front of him and how they gave the ball away, also see how forward Sagna and Gibbs were when the midfield lost the ball, you have to give the back four some protection, if you don't they will look stupid . Kos and Per were superb together, split them at your peril those two have been brilliant, they start for sure each week. It is elsewhere we need the change

I love bfg but unless we get another cb who can play with kos, we will never beat the top teams with him. But he's a great pro just lacks pace and that's fatal at the highest level. We need another option to use.

Steve it wasn't lack of pace at the back that were the cause of those heavy defeats, we were far too exposed.

Im talking about his falability not specific incidents/games. I like him he just isn't 100% the man. he's got a place because he's committed, but he is lacking in the mobility dept, that is needed at the highest level. don't want him sold.

I suppose my point is don't buy a back up buy a piece of quality.

96 Caps for Germany would say he is ok at the highest level, when I watched him for Germany at Wembley last year his reading of the game is superb, a good football brain can compensate for lack of pace

BFG generally starts for Germany and some think he does not have the pedigree for our beloved Arsenal - c'mon. He is a fantastic player, its all a case of making the pieces work. Here's to 3-5 years of K0S -BFG the foundation for our stream of trophies, yes!

Spot on RR

18 May 2014 15:41:13
Mertesacker has to go he's too clumsy he fell over and it could of been costly he done the same thing against Sunderland last year I'd prefer garay or lovren even Curtis Davies arteta needs to go as well nice lad but not arsenal quality and sanago is awful yes he's young but we can clearly see he's not arsenal material I know I will get stick about mertesacker but we're was he in the big games when we got mauled he's just too slow

I wasn't Per's biggest fan when he arrived but he has been outstanding all season. I'm pretty sure Gerrard slipped and gave the initiative back to MC in the title race and you don't see people screaming for his head. It was a slip and it cost is nothing, it can happen.

Koscielny was also very poor in big games this season. Should we sell him?

The issue with those games is mentality - it's a tactical problem more than the players on the pitch. The major thing missing on the pitch would be a solid DM. Koscielny and Mertesacker can't deal with the likes of Toure, Silva, Aguero, Fernandinho etc all coming at them at once but a dedicated DM would hold up some of that traffic. When it gets to one on one situations, Koscielny is very strong and accurate and Mertesacker has great positioning and timing. Honestly mate replacing him with Davies or Lovren (who has had some shockers this season) would be insane. Mertesacker was excellent last season and for the most part good this season. Arteta I think gets too much stick - not many will have noticed but he had a very good game yesterday. I don't think he should start because he plays DM and there are better options out there. But he was excellent last season (when we conceded way fewer goals than this season) and is a good squad option. Wouldn't be gutted to lose him but he isn't holding us back.

Anyway generally speaking I just think we need to add to our squad not start taking it apart. I've been on cloud 9 yesterday and for once it felt like the team and fans are together. We need more players but let's not start behaving like Chelsea/City fans!

Yes you are right. We should replace one of the best center-backs in the league and replace him with someone of a lower quality. We should dismantle our best CB partnership that we've had in years and replace one half of it with Curtis Davies, a solid center-back for a mid-table team.

Mertesacker loves this club, and yes, at times his pace is exploited, but get rid of him? You can't actually be serious?

Judge a man over a season not on one or two performance's, Merts has had an excellent season and grown into very much a Mr Arsenal figure during it, he's not been faultless but who has?

Well said ted - modern football means defence starts with the centre forward- not all those early goals were down to Per and Kos- we seem to have a sleeping midfield for the first 20 mins.

It's all about opinions rather have a more mobile cb with koscielny all I want is what is best for the team

18 May 2014 12:43:10
Just popped in to the spurs /chelsea pages.
Nothing better than a good gloat
Today seem extra special.
Thank you lads for a great victory.

M8 we won about 4 fa cups in the time u won 1 in 9yrs! O and don't forget 3 prems a europa league ANNNND the biggest prize of them all THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE! We are happy for you because it keeps mr wenger at arsenal.

Pinky, are we going to talk about the past? Don't even go there mate.

Now now Perky let's live in the present and not drag up past achievements of days gone by, like boot sales

Chelsea's 2 league titles, 4 FA Cup's, Europa League and Champions League - over £500 million (net)

Chelsea winning nothing with 'The Special One' and a squad that cost over £250 million - priceless

Yea I like boot sales do you want me to bring u a hot dog back? #nibble #haveyouwonthechampionsleague

{Ed007's Note - Drop the hashtags and use sentences, this isn't tw@tter.}

PINKY
muriniho has just tweeted
Had to shut the windows because I could not sleep because of all the cheering comming from the north.
I feel like a FAILURE
hope roman don't sack him

I have zero respect for chelski as a football team, but I do think its a bit soon to gloat, respect what we did yesterday and let's see if we can kick on.

18 May 2014 11:38:15
Well it's been a long time since I posted. In fact it was way back in September from sunny Iceland.

For some complicated reason I decided I would stop posting until we won a trophy, having no idea of course whether I'd be back this year or in 2023, but I kind of got the feeling it would be this year.

Although that confidence withered and died as we were thrashed by City, Chelski and the Scousers, and maybe worse still by Everton. But my god we have only gone and done it - a trophy!! Yes' I'd have loved to win the Premiership but honestly Liverpool are welcome to an unlucky runners up, and Chelski to thrid and being bored stiff by the most hateful man in football - poor old Jose he only got to spend £100m plus this year so he's right they were always going to struggle.

So 4th -again but everything feels right with the world when we've won the Cup, it feels like it all makes sense again.

So celebrate the cup, it can be what moves us on to better things as everyone says, and Arsene has yet again earned his place as our greatest manager of all time. But.

But we all know this we have to invest - we were unlucky with losing Walcott, Wilshere and Ramsey for so long and I don't think any club save maybe City could have coped with that, and yes with them I suspect we'd be the plucky runners up. But.

But it's obvious. You can't get so badly thrashed by the big teams, you can't fail to be a terrible United, you can't let 2 goals in the fisrt 10 mins against ant top class side (thank god Hull are plucky and not Chelski).

You can't have 'top' players looking so half hearted - yes Mr Ozil I do mean you (although next season is key for him and we know better than judging on a first season - but Eriksson and spurs gives a clue of how it should be). You can't have players who just never quite seem up to it any more (Podolski sorry, Arteta you've been great but age is wearying you, Mertesacker and Kos against any top class strikers, and sadly Giroud against any top class defence. Oh and you can't have no back up to the one striker you have or (oh god how many years have we been saying this for?) no defensive midfiled power house.

So let's celebrate but let's refresh quickly and effectively. Let's use this momengt to move onwards and upwards to create the third great Arsenal team of the Arsene era.

Time to sell Podolski and Arteta, sad as I like them both, they seem genuine nice guys. No time to think fantasy striker signings (Benzema and Sanchez are just two who won't come here.

For 2014/15
Szczesny, Aurier, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs
Carvalho, Wilshere
Ramsey, Ozil
Walcott, Bony

Although I'd buy a good center half if Kos and Mertesacker show signs of repeating this years wobbles - Doria from Botafago would be very effective cover and one for the near future.

Oh well better get back to rewatching yesterday again now.

The Ghost of Terry Mancini

At least you have your feet on the ground, don't agree 100% with you, i'm with you most of the way. We have major problems to sort our if we are going to next level. Time will tell.

18 May 2014 11:06:59
wow guys u made that hard for yourselves lol, anyways well done, although imo Hull did not deserve to lose it that way, I'm some what happy for your fans, u REALLY needed that!

Again well done.

Hi Chris,

Thanks mate, respect to you.

18 May 2014 10:50:43
Well done yesterdays boys. A great team effort, especially after going 2 down. A proper football club and a great manager. Maybe this trophy will open the flood gates with more to come. Anyway, heres hoping both our teams dominate for years to come and keep any silverware away from the mad mancs and the chavs! Easier said than done tho! Cheers.

What is your obsession with utd Irish? proper football club? lol, u mean 1 that u dnt feel threatened by. ;) I hope arsenal pip u to a 4th for the next few years just so we can see the 'real' liverpool fans.

I was on about Citeh. Is there another team in Manchester worth worrying about?

18 May 2014 10:37:59
Wow. It really did happen. Arsenal are the FA Cup winners 2014!

That was an unbelievable game. One for the neutrals but ultimately we came out on top and I couldn't think of a better player to give us the win than Aaron Ramsey. The guy has all the makers of a world class player. He seems grounded and a geniunely nice guy too.

This is an improvement on past seasons IMO as we have accumulated a decent amount of points (more than most seasons) we have secured Champions League football (albeit via the play offs first) and we have finally got the monkey off our backs and this team HAS the experience of winning a trophy.

Following the celebrations and the parade today it is important that Wenger signs a new deal (which apparently he will do by Monday) and we reinforce the team. We cannot stand still as every other team will spend and spend big (regardless of the FFP sanctions!)

Sagna, judging by his and the players reaction of holding him on their shoulders etc. Is leaving for Manchester. We need to replace him and Aurier is the most likely battling it out with Jenks.

We need a combative midfielder with pace to go alongside Ramsey and Bender is the speculated favourite.

Now as we saw yesterday, we CAN play 4-4-2 so I would love a big striker along the Benzema mould to play for example, the home games against the mid to lower table teams. We need a pacy left winger and I'm a huge fan of Greizmann.

Now the World Cup is round the corner, there will be speculation but ultimately, NOTHING will happen til at least July 15th onwards so strap yourselves in for a bumpy ride!

18 May 2014 09:50:27
Arsenal to spend some of there transfer funds on a good hot meal for Wenger?

Brilliant

18 May 2014 08:55:09
Brilliant end to a brilliant season. Let that trophy be first of many. We're still a couple players short to win the league though. But with the right moves we can come back even stronger next season.

Striker and a midfielder will absorb most of our money but after that we don't need to spend so much anymore. Back-up gk, back-up cb and rb to compete with Jenkinson should be signed as Sagna and Fabianski will most likely leave. That's 5 players so a lot to ask but let's see. Once we signed 5 players in just one day.

Is Benzema finally coming to London? Or do we take a gamble with Morata? Can we convince Bender to join us? Will Aurier join us? If so, is he up to it? Exciting times ahead.

Trophy drought is over!

18 May 2014 05:23:34
Great Result. But tell me was Stan the Man our owner at the game?

Yes he was.What was the point of the question? Since he owned the club, we have developed financially and gone through the difficult period of building the new stadium. We look in great shape for the future.

Yes he was mate

If you had watched the presentation of the cup you would have seen him along side Gavidis

18 May 2014 03:14:38
A lot of fans on here have Bern talking up Lars Bender, am very suspicious as to how they reached there glowing conclusions.

Firstly he doesn't play as a defensive/holding midfield role that's rolfes position he plays more box to box like Ramires at chelsea. Ofcourse he can tackle but that can't be the only criteria surely? For me the players potentially on the Market this season the outstanding central midfielders are Pogba (exceptional player, star of the under 20 world cup last summer) if you doubt his ability or dnt watch much seria A the just wait till France play in the World cup this summer.

Javi Martinez a truly World class Defensive Mid.

Javier Mascerhno only 30ish very disciplined and can cover in central defence. Still clinging to World class status IMO.

Fernando at Porto but looks set to join Man city

Arturo Vidal Reaching his peak and undoubtedly World class. Wages/price/niggling injuries could deter our manager.

Morgan shindlers-list is regarded as home grown status, played really well at the start of the season in a possession team and relatively young.

A few others possibly but not all of us are familiar with them so no need to mention in this post.

All in all I'd Love if we went all in on Javi Martinez €30-35mill and 100-115k in wages plus sign on bonus a big investment.

If not then move flamini on, 1more season for Arteta as a rotation player and sign both Schnirderlin and Mascernho.

Mogan has the size and potential were after and Mas has the experience, versatility and quality straight away.

That's my two pence/war and peace on our DM situation!

Critiques to follow

I've read us linked to Gonalons, again. He's another proper defensive Mid. We could do a lot worse than him, in my opinion.

18 May 2014 02:34:18
I'm glad we won, too nervy for a Saturday evening though!
Supporting arsenal is not a choice it's a way of life!

18 May 2014 01:10:08
Phew. pulse rate finally dropped. time for bed. night night gooners.