Arsenal Banter Archive August 19 2014

19 Aug 2014 22:09:00
Sami Khedira not in the Madrid squad for tonight's Super Cup game against Atletico with Alonso playing DM.

For all I know he could be having his hair done but just saying. :-)

Fingers crossed eh Jen? Although we need him before transfer deadline day!

19 Aug 2014 23:10:10
I think we need a Poll on this:- Giroud, Is he good enough to lead our line as our main striker fro the whole season?

For me no, just not clinical enough he misses to many presentable chances for me that the likes of Costa, Aguero and RVP would take at least half of those chances he misses. Yes he does have qualities gives some physicality and is decent with back to goal linking play. I think he would be good to have as a partner to a more lethal box playing striker in a 4-4-2 who he could link up with in and around the box. A straight line 4-4-2 Is not going to happen though.

I know his scoring record is decent enough in terms of numbers but you have to look at how many decent chances he messes up aswell. His touch seems up and down sometimes good sometimes the first touch of a rapist.

A good valuable squad player but for me a 2nd striker to support of another more lethal one, not reliable enough to lead our line especially in big games were chances will
be limited you have to take them.

Couldnt agree more, Giroud is clumsey and really doesn't have a whole lot of talent, he's slow, won't challenge anything, kinda just out there collecting a paycheck, actually worthless when it comes down to it, if we don't get a real striker by months end, look for another dissapointing season. simple as that

20 Aug 2014 00:05:16
Yes been saying for a long time he should be on the bench with our midfield I think average strikers would score the same amount as giroud all our rivals have better strikers rvp,aguero,sturidge,costa

Giroud has his qualities. He's a tall guy, so makes a good target man. He holds the ball up well, and brings others into play. However, he's not going to be the guy who will win us games. If a match is stalemate, and needs someone to pop up with a goal, Giroud is not the one.

19 Aug 2014 21:56:06
Well that was very poor to say the least!

Points from tonight,

We must replace Monreal, Arteta and Giroud before the window ends. We really need a top centre back as well before we can properly challenge on the two main competitions.

Top performers were Chambers and Koscielny. Debuchy was our best attacking outlet most of the night. Sanchez looked lively but needs someone better up top than Giroud. Ramsey doddled on the ball far too much tonight, just needs to keep it simple. Wilshere alright tonight but I would've traded him out for Cesc any day of the week. Cazorla can go, looks so out of place on the left.

We are still very pace less which worries me.

Not much to change there then 95 :)

I think you can put some of it down to that lack of game sharpness you only get to a few games into the season.

I think when Walcott gets back he can work well with Sanchez as tonight no one really kept up with him to support Sanchez when he drove into the box, they was a lack of midfield runners getting in there and Ramsey seemed subdued tonight and silly 2nd yellow for him now.

I agree in that Giroud although is decent and offers a box target and some physicality but is he really clinical enough to lead the line as a lone central striker for us? He missed a couple of very presentable chances tonight that the likes of Costa, Aguero and dare I say RVP would have put away at least one of them.

I think we need to buy another CF to give him real competition in that central striker role as Sanogo is not it. Which will sharpen him up I feel knowing he has real competition for his place.

Arteta like you say is past his best and I am not confident with him as our DM against better teams. I rather Flamini to be honest but we need a Better long term option brought in.

19 Aug 2014 21:52:45
Mixed bag.

We didn't lose, kept a clean sheet.

Calum and Debuchy were terrific.

Everybody else, pants.

Olly? Not even going to go there.

Rambo? Silly and needless yellow. Stupid.

Alexis. Good position out wide, but poor crossing.

No real cohesion, not enough mids getting into the box when we attack.

Early days yet, players still finding fitness.

We have to expect this performance for next 3 or 4 games until players find their mojo.

We should win 2nd leg.

Like I said, mixed bag.

Reading the posts so far I think we all saw the same game .

Agree with most of it DG, I thought Chambers was excellent infact, I mean its not easy to OWN Ba, the way he did (Bar one mistake), Monreal played his part while people had doubts over him. But seriously Giroud, god Air shots so damn slow I think Per would be faster than him. Alexis is trying to much to do stuff by himself, he really needs to start passing to team mates, the quicker he releases we are a passing team the better. I expect a win at the Emrites Ozil, Mert Pod all to play

A mixed bag tonight Chambers for his first Champions league game and also Debuchy played well Debuchy got forward well and for me more than makes up for the loss of Sagna. Monreal played pretty well aswell for all his critics on here.

Sanchez had some dangerous moments but needed some more targets in the box to aim at, was lively and will only get better. Did run down a blind ally now and then but sometimes lacked support that kept up with him.

Giroud missed a couple of good chances but maybe just down to that real 100% Sharpness that will come a few games time.

Midfield a little disappointing tonight never got control of the game as they should have. Ramsey/Wilshire Did not get up to support attacks enough.

Overall Ok and we should be fine at Home. Everton next and we have to get sharp for that.

Liquorice allsorts mate!

MASSIVE game on Saturday against Everton.

Let's hope we improve on this again!

I thought his crossing was ok. His corners were pretty rubbish. I think he played fairly well. Was direct, took people on. It was a frustrating night for the front three mainly because of Giroud. He couldn't hold up a c cup with a wonderbra tonight.

19 Aug 2014 21:43:08
Only got to see the last 30 mins but getting the feeling from posts the whole performance was pretty poor.

But let's be realistic. One of the toughest draws we could have got in this round. The players are not fit. We would all take 0-0 back to the emirates.

You didn't miss much mate! I'd have liked to miss an hour!

19 Aug 2014 21:24:45
Can't complain about Ramsey got a very very cheap first yellow on the half way line

Silver lining for me is that he'l get a breather in the second leg and be fresh for upcoming games against Everton, Spurs, City and Chelsea on the horizon.

I hope a new striker comes in till then

Everton is this weekend mate :)

But yes take your point about the following games .

I would have settled for a draw but concerns for me are we still look scrappy not much fluency .

Giroud was horrendous, he wouldn't even get into Banbury Utd's reserves on tonights display .

Good effort from Ox late on.

We have the German boys to return which is a big bonus, Theo a couple of weeks later .

We need more pace upfront without a shadow of a doubt, when OG is as good as your gran you need another option.

Chambers looked excellent IMO he has a long a fruitful domestic and International career ahead of him

19 Aug 2014 21:13:11
Is this Vargas pacey bcis if he is I don't care if he hasn't scored for 5 years we need PACE

Using that logic, why don't we sign:

Usain Bolt

A race horse

A Formula 1 driver (with car obviously!)

19 Aug 2014 21:57:40
And my kids when it comes to giving Daddy their housekeeping.

#whoosh out the door.

I'd take them over giroud

19 Aug 2014 21:12:07
If someone came in with a 10m bid yes I did say 10m for wilshere I'd bite there fingers off

I thought he's been playing alright tbh

Agreed. I think he's played ok this game. Made some good forward runs, some solid tackles and did alright IMO.

I can't believe I'm saying this and not plenty of other people but why Jack this time?
Two games he's not been fantastic but apart from Chambers who has so far?
Let's not be biased for or against Jack let's just treat him fairly like all other players

19 Aug 2014 21:52:12
Witty wenger, mmmmmm think that's someone else maybe having a wind up! Jw10 played well tonight, although I'd take a tin of non branded baked beans for giroud tonight

I'm with you G62 on this! A lot of unnecessary haters!

19 Aug 2014 22:00:57
Harsh Witty mate.

On that basis, you would sell everybody except Chambers and Debuchy, because everybody else was poor?

Is The Ox already the player we thought Jack would be. I would start him over Jack every time now.

19 Aug 2014 22:29:18
Jw has been decent the last two games, while he had a poor season last, I still wouldn't sell him for 30m.
I think he knows he's been poor, and has started to pick up, but to single him out on this game is wrong.

Dags read my post mate I said wilshere nobody else and the reasons are, gets injured to much goes missing in all games can't pass wind never mind the ball, yes he loves the gunners and runs all day. But I've got a dog that can run all day dosnt make him a footballer

19 Aug 2014 20:14:11
The sooner we have a front 3 of Reus, Sanchez and Walcott backed up by Ozil, Ramsey and Pogba/Khedira/Carvalho the sooner we can stop being concerned about games against any one.

Two signings Arsene, it's not rocket science. :-)

Well said Jen we crying out for a left winger and st with pace

Agreed Jen. Love the front line! I know Giroud is not completely match fit but he is poor tonight. Slow, static and touch of a "you know what."

Dozen days to deadline day Jenny, fingers eyes toes and ears crossed

19 Aug 2014 19:30:54
http://arsenalrumours.co.uk/formations/Wittywenger.php
Thus team will win the league and isn't out of our price range

Normally a Giroud liker but he is poor tonite

19 Aug 2014 18:49:36
Just to reiterate what Jenny said --
" He seemed a little embarrassed when asked about playing for Chelsea last night."

I totally agree Cesc tried to avoid the Question and the Dumb commentator kept kicking it in again and again, and he was a little wise to avoid the Question, and just answer he wanted to play football since he loved it and that's it. It was a bit hard seeing him argue with ref, when the ref handed a card to Costa, but I guess we really couldn't accomdate him else, it was Jack out.

Also I guess he has answered the Questions of the Ed from Liverpool, what does he bring to the team and why would anyone want him is because of the 2nd goal he created. Question Answered?

19 Aug 2014 18:32:32
Judging from previous post's today, nobody would take Song back.

If we don't get a recognised DM, I would take him on a season-long loan.

I love slick Mik (Arteta) but I think Song will offer more defensive cover.

I don't think you can pay attention to Song's time at Barca, he was onto a hiding even before he put on a Barca shirt.

I would take him.

Problem with him is he occupies qhat I'm going to call the '3rd midfield position'
Theyre not Dm's they're not AM's, they can be box 2 box players, like song (not always), they're the other guy. we have so many of these players already, Ramsey, wilshere even arteta to a lesser extent. This is the same ROLE fabregas plays, now obviously (disclaimer) they're very different players but they both occupy that 3rd midfield position. We won't sign song for exactly the same reasons we didn't sign cesc

That's why you need seftioning Dags!
He's poorer than a homeless guy.

On this very site when we had song in our midfield, most people were moaning and saying we needed a replacement as he's not good enough. He's not suddenly good enough now.

19 Aug 2014 17:58:47
just like the ozil transfer circle, seperate rumours regarding certain players to clubs could jigsaw together to make an exciting circle in which athletico sign santi, them athletico sell turan to dortmund and then we sign reus.

19 Aug 2014 18:21:54
As much as I love seeing top talent coming to arsenal I'd hate to see a situation with the young talent like Zelalem, Gnabry and such become disillusioned and think they have no chance of getting in our first team and then look to move. I bet Fergie still has sleepless nights over Pogba.

I love it when a plan comes together!

19 Aug 2014 16:52:34
I have a feeling Wenger is waiting to see if we qualify for the group stage of the CL, before committing to any further spending.
Assuming we qualify, we will see the 1 or 2 signings Wenger stated he was looking to make. One will be a defender. The other will be interesting.
We are surely going to have some departures, such as Coquelin & Miyaichi for sure.
Loans possibly for Gnabry, Zelalem, Bellerin & Miquel.
Sales-wise I can see Podolski going.

19 Aug 2014 14:37:51
Lads, Can't believe i'm going to say this but if dags would release Loic from the basement, I'd sign him.

19 Aug 2014 16:29:15
Durban,

You know it makes sense mate.

And remember, I'm the only one who calls him Loic.

Mr Remy to you mate, lol.

19 Aug 2014 13:37:12
So, just a musing on my part.

But by all accounts, Alex Song has been made available for loan by barca.

In his first season he was voted the worst signing in la Liga, barca fans just didn't like him at all.
Last season he didn't really impress either.

So, looking at our team, I think we all still want that 'DM' player to join up.

Who'd take Alex Song back?

He may be a bit of a la Liga flop, but he was fantastic for us in his last season or 2.

I personally would take him on loan.

Which then begs another question, who drops out of that midfield to make place?

One can only assume Arteta will be playing regularly due to his captaincy, so when Özil's back, will our midfield be Özil, Arteta and Rambo?

Out of those, Arteta would have to drop out.
But I do wonder how much we'll see him play.
As TV5 showed us, Wenger doesn't mind his captain being benched.

Which, begs ANOTHER question for me.
Just how often will we be seeing Wilshere start this season?

It's a no brainier Ramsey is a starter.
Özil would be too.
So that leaves one spot for Arteta, Flamini, Wilshere and AoC (assuming he'll be primarily a central mid) and possibly/hopefully a defensive midfielder.

Intended that to be much shorter than it was.
Kinda went rogue on that one.


Peace!

19 Aug 2014 14:16:37
With a reliable, strong DM (wether that be Song, Khedira or whoever else) we can employ a team ahead of him with skill pace and trickery, to unlock the park the bus tactics we saw from Palace and will no doubt see a lot more this season. A team with Ramsey & Wilshere centrally and Ozil, Santi and Sanchez up top (or Walcott/Ox instead of Santi for more pace) should be able to find a way through any congestion and score.

For me, Song is nowhere near good enough.

Song has almost zero % positional awareness so for me I'd say no.
He's a defensive liability

He belongs on a beach giving kids rides.

Song has been and gone, we don't need him back thank you

19 Aug 2014 11:19:15
Just thinking about tonight's game and I'm worried about our left hand side. Monreal coming in for Gibbs for the next three weeks worries me hugely. Especially with Everton, Man City and Chelsea in the next month.

I would be tempted to start either Chamberlain or Alexis on the left as I feel both players track back more than say Cazorla would. I think Arteta needs to be aware of the weakness on the left.

We should win the game tonight but for the big teams I think we need to sort this out!

19 Aug 2014 12:34:33
I don't get the hate on Monreal. he's a perfectly good back up to Gibbs.

19 Aug 2014 12:48:04
I think Monreal will be fine Greeny, he's not as quick as Gibbs, but not many players are but he's a good defender

Fair play guys, I know I shouldn't rag on our own players but I just don't feel confident with the guy defensively.

I hope we see Ox and Sanchez on both flanks in the morning (tonight for you I guess). Left side is a worry, I kind of hope we put in a bid for Howedes, can cover both CB and left back and I think he is pretty decent at it as well. Just don't know if that's very likely.

Monreal is ok, afterall he is only a player that comes off the bench.

That's fine off the bench Banbury, but he's going to be first choice for a month! That's my worry!

I would have to Agree with Greeny, Man city have 2 good players for every position, kolarov and clichy, there is no doubting Monreal has talent and has put in a few solid peformances last season, you just don't know what you are going to get with him and he can be unreliable sometimes. If we had an injury to debuchy it wouldn't really matter because we know chambers is quality replacement. To win a league you have to have players that can play to at least 85% capacity of the injured player. do I think Monreal is consistantly up to that level. it would be a definitive no for me. Not hateing on him, he's an Arsenal player and does his utmost for the club and that has to be respected. Just an opinion

He had a better game off the bench than gibbs did against palace, before the injury.

Maybe he will relax in the knowledge that the LB spot is his for a few weeks and develop a bit of form. The only other option is to play Flamini at LB

It's massively unfair to compare us to Man City, they can afford to keep world class players content with money rather than playing time, as such they can have like for like replacements in their squad.
We however can't and for some perspective neither can almost every other team in the world

19 Aug 2014 18:33:13
Nice shout ulster, how can we forget that flaming is a very capable lb

19 Aug 2014 10:45:53
So, bit of chatter on here around the no signing of Cesc. You've obviously all been waiting patiently to here my opinion on it. Cesc is best at either AM, or b2b CM. Presently, those positions are occupied in our starting XI by Ramsey and Ozil. As good as Cesc is, I'd happily take Mesut at AM and Aaron at CM over him every time. With Cesc being the quality player that he is, I highly doubt he would be happy to ride the pine playing a backup role. Therefore, it was absolutely the right decision not to sign him. From there, his choice of club, is none of our business. However, I find it interesting that Cesc likes to claim he's a Gooner, and seems adored by a lot of Arsenal faithful, still. Does a Gooner refuse to play in an effort to force a move away? Would a true Gooner ever think of putting on that horrible blue shirt? I don't begrudge him playing for Chelsea, any more or less than I begrudge Hazard for going there over us. Or, Jovetic for choosing City over us. I do however, find it irritating when the same people that choose to slate RVP, or Nasri, or Sagna, go on about their undying love for Cesc. They're all simply, former Arsenal players, who decided to leave the club when the club wanted them to stay. Our squad is strong, we didn't have room for Cesc and couldn't really give a capybara's behind about other teams players. Bring on Besiktas, COYG!

19 Aug 2014 11:11:53
Couldn't agree more, we signed a player that Madrid wanted to keep as opposed to a player Barca wanted to get rid of.

He seemed a little embarrassed when asked about playing for Chelsea last night.

There is little doubting he will do well at Chelsea but that's not a concern of ours, it's what we do here that is the single most important thing.

He is not of the class of Ozil or Ramsey. Good player but you have to factor in it was against Burnley. Hmmm.

Similar to Herrera at United, raving about him being a worldie playing against LA as soon as he's up against a premiership side he's subbed off for Fellaini after 60 minutes. Not saying he's in the class of Cesc but to many get bent out of shape about stuff like this.

I thought I was over Cesc until he played that pass for Schurrles goal. Beautiful pass.

19 Aug 2014 11:23:29
You're dead right about Cesc vs RVP/Nasri etc. He showed his colours when he walked out and they weren't red.

Would I have had him back? Of course. He's an extraordinary talent.

Why did he go to chelsea?
What other options did he have. We wouldn't take him. United City and Madrid were all off the table as they'd be the grandest insults to his former clubs. Italy is a dying league and Pep doesn't like Cesc so Munich were out.

He wanted London not Chelsea.

I do think not taking him back though will be one of Wenger's greatest failings.

But if he was such a gunner he wouldn't have stopped at no. He'd have halved his wage demands until Wenger took him back

Remember guys, we all loved cesc but he was out injured a lot in the EPL as he is a bit 'lightweight'. Granted, I would have loved to see him back in an arsenal shirt but there must be a reason Barca let him go?

We have too many options in midfield and having him back would have meant dropping Ramsey, OX, Cazorla, JW10 OR Ozil, there simply wouldn't have been enough room for him.

Although it was sickening to see him in a Chelski shirt our money would be better spent on a world class striker

19 Aug 2014 12:24:37
Decent post outback. Cesc doesn't fit our plans any more, and when he left we were building a team around him. I understand his reasons for leaving, but nonetheless, he left. And I'm not one for checking out how pretty another mans wife is all the time either. I'm liking the core of our squad.

Sheeny Fabregas moving to Chelsea had NOTHING to do with wages. Wenger felt he had Ramsey as a box to box midfielder along with Wilshere. He also knew he had Cazorla and Ozil for the number 10 position.

This is about Wenger, and I quote, "Not wanting to kill the careers of current Arsenal players."

19 Aug 2014 12:48:12
Good point Sheeny, or maybe, he didn't fancy sitting on the bench behind Mesut and Ramsey. Would be the best bench option in the premier league, but, that's all he'd have been for us, barring injury. Says a lot that he wouldn't make our starting 11, considering Chelsea are most people's pick to win the league. He didn't have much resistance getting a starting gig there. He'd have competition just to make our bench, with Jack, Diaby, Ox and Santi.

As much as I love Rambo and he was immense last season I would take Cesc over any of our midfield he is a world cup, European cup winner who has proven himself as one of the best in the prem, let's remember he left us for his boyhood club and we agreed to sell.

I don't mind him playing for Chelsea as after we said we don't want him then really he can go where he likes but I do believe that we should have got him back,

I know we are all sticking by arsenal and our players but let's be honest and say if we had got him back our team would have been stronger and we would all be sat here with huge smiles on our faces.

That being said Rambo is younger and has the potential to do all that cesc did for the club and more, so i'm not worried.

Let hope arsenal address the defence issues we have (numbers not quality) and add rues or cavani (yes i'm still dreaming) and then let's go win the league and stick the middle finger up to Chelsea and city.

Great Post, couldn't agree more!
I think its also important to think about the teams around them, yes Cesc will help Chelsea with assists and goals as he is a great player, but would he help us with goals and assists, considering our team, not to the same extent. So instead of buying a player just so Chelsea can't get him it is much more worthwhile buying a player in a position we need to ensure our team is better than Chelsea's. Yes he is excellent signing for Chelsea, but would he have been an excellent signing for us. No.

19 Aug 2014 13:57:04
Fantastic answer YYC.

pretty much sums it up for me.

The "love in" for Cesc will disappear pretty quick when he scores a goal then kisses the badge on that horrid blue shirt. Then he will be the biggest see you next tuesday!

While I will agree with most and I also believe it was the correct option not to take him back. the fact is if he did come back he would not be sitting on the bench.

Ramsey is my current favourite Arsenal player and has become pretty much undroppable. Ozil with Madrid wasa genius but if we are to be honest about it, Fabregas looked better than ozil last night incomparison to ozils season gone by, now i'm not saying he's a better player than ozil because ozil was the best playmaker in Europe in his last season with Madrid registering more key passes than anyone else.

Its as simple as this, if we bought fabregas he would play week in week out, he would have moved ozil out to the flanks where he has played before.

I do believe that Fabregas wanted the Arsenal move. After all his family is still in London.

Wenger knew he needed players in other positons and put the team first over his heavy heart. Which every great manager does. As we do not have the financial power to buy fabregas and alexis. Arsene did right by the club, but I beleive it will be something we will regret

{Ed025's Note - as i hear it JK the money he wanted would have smashed the salary barrier at arsenal, so although he is an excellent player, the club probably made the right decision imo mate..

19 Aug 2014 16:39:07
Rocky,

"See you next Tuesday"

What have I missed?

Is there a cool gang club meeting?:-)

I heard that too Ed025, I agreed it was the best move for the club, its just people were saying he would be sitting on the bench if we did buy him. The man has 91 caps for the best International Midfield the world has ever seen. I know te wages were an issue but on pure football terms there is no question he would start on this Arsenal team.

Thanks for the reply, and the page is top notch

We've already had it Dags

whoops

Think about it dags. :)

LOL

Oh come Dags

Catch up

19 Aug 2014 10:01:21
What your thoughts on tonights game I am hoping for a couple of away goals to take back to emirates from very uncool wellbeaten

I expect that we score 2 or 3 goals. Although we may concede as Monreal is poor IMO and Cazorla on the left doesn't really offer cover.

19 Aug 2014 09:30:47
Got a name for dags' uncool gang, cloak and 'dag'ers. Is this the level of joke required for the uncool gang?

Well done Saint. You told an unfunny joke. You're in!

19 Aug 2014 11:24:50
*clap*

{Ed001's Note - is that what they infect you with when you join?}

19 Aug 2014 12:49:59
That was a BURN from ED001. (See what I did there) 😜

{Ed001's Note - the jokes are getting worse around here!}

19 Aug 2014 13:34:06
Correct and right Ed001. You're in :)

19 Aug 2014 14:04:58
Don't blame me Ed, lol.

Ps, love it Saint.

"I love Ed001" badge is on it's way to you.

19 Aug 2014 08:46:48
As Alan sheerar said on motd until the window closes its difficult to call the Premier league champions.
But if we or anyone else realistically hope to finish above city and chavski they need to get busy.
I think as we stand top 3 is a must and maybe even sandwiching in between them and getting 2nd is achievable, but to have real hopes of finishing above both we need to add in the well documented positions

Spot on G62

19 Aug 2014 07:23:16
The good news is Giroud should be starting tonight. The bad news is Gibbs looks like he is out for up to 6 weeks.
This left back situation should have been made a priority to me. I'm not too convinced by Monreal . It's an important position to get right. Why it hasn't been addressed before now is beyond me. Looks like Mert will be coming in to strengthen the back 4 tonight because of it.
Changing the subject slightly and I know it was against Burnley! but I have to say that Fabregas looked the business last night he looks seasoned. That touch he put through for there 2nd goal was quality. In all honesty I would have liked to have seen him back at Arsenal. If not for any other reason but I believe it would have made some of our players a little more competitive for their places. Just my opinion mind.

Golds, NONE of the Germans are even in Instanbul. They all stayed in London. So did Gibbs, Walcott and Sanago.

He looked worryingly good and I can't help but think he will be the difference this season and we'l rue not getting him back. Or more importantly, we'l rue Chelsea actually getting him.

19 Aug 2014 10:22:39
He looked great and seemed to link up with their players fantastically BUT it should be noted that it was against Burnley (no disrespect to them) who have nowhere near the spending power of Chelsea and therefore do not have the quality of players that Chelsea have at their disposal. There was a stat floating around that Chelsea's starting/bench cost £310m whereas Burnley's cost £4.5m. I am not saying that money can dictate the results but I am sure people will understand that it does buy quality players who individually can impact games. I'll reserve any judgement on him and Chelsea until they face City deep into September.

Another thing about Fab. If you have watched any of the Spanish league, certainly after January in recent seasons, Fab seemed to drop off and sit further back in the games . It will be interesting to see how he performs after being played week in week out for potentially a full 90 minutes.

19 Aug 2014 11:32:07
You're dead right joker. At the end of the day Fab is an old man. He's on the go 3 days a week since he was 16. That's 5 years earlier than most people begin to make it. All takes a toll on the legs

19 Aug 2014 12:54:06
Marvellous.joker. What I was trying to get across mate was the fact that he is a very sharp player. It wouldn't matter who he plays against be it Arsenal, Real Madrid or Burnley! He is a very competent player. I would rather have him on our side then play against him in all honesty.

19 Aug 2014 12:57:31
GREENY mate. I got my info from someone at the Emirates on Sunday. I'm sure he will be there. Hope my info was correct.

I read on ss news that Wenger was taking him as a precaution should kos need replacing.

19 Aug 2014 06:48:40
I fail to understand why Wenger appears to take less interest in acquiring defenders, compared to other areas of the squad. Last season we only had 7 defenders for the 4 defensive positions and had to play a right back, Sagna, in central defence. We just about got away with it.
This season Wenger was aware that Metesacker would be back late from World Cup duty, Vermaelen wanted out and Sagna was going. He did well in bringing in 2 right backs, whilst sending another defender Jenkinson out on loan.
So we are left with only 6 defenders. We now have one, Gibbs, out injured for a reported 3 weeks, Mertesacker may have to return to the first team earlier than planned & Koscielny playing with an achilles problem, that could probably benefit from treatment & rest.
If Wenger doesn't get 2 defenders in quickly, this will set the course for the season, as defenders will be played too often & will pick up injuries. Meanwhile we have loads of midfield & attacking midfield players, something like 19 options!

Yes we need a defender and I think Wenger is working to get a defender in. The reason I think we haven't seen one in yet is due to the current defender market as there isn't many decent defenders available. Still a bit of time, someone better might become available later in the window and it would be a shame to miss that opportunity.

19 Aug 2014 01:34:33
Hi Eds, just a quick question. Surely with all this spending and not a lot of selling, we will break FFP rules will we not? Especially if the likes of Manolas, Khedira - or alternative - join. I can't see how we can comply with only one sale.

{Ed001's Note - you have a high income, you should be well within the ruling.}