Arsenal Rumours Archive December 11 2012

11 Dec 2012 14:53:19
Ed - Luis Gustavo, is there any interest in him from Arsenal ?

Thanks! {Ed002's Note - A good question - I don't know is the answer, but he is available.}

Not sure how reputable he is but I always thought he was one of the more respected football journalists but Raphael Honigstein has said that, ""Luiz Gustavo to Arsenal" story. no idea where it came from but the premise - "he's fallen out of favour" - is complete b*******, he's never been more "in favour" before doing his groin, I'd say chances of Bayern selling Luiz Gustavo in January are about 0.5%, especially after Badstuber injury (Martinez might be needed as CB)" Martinez was injured today as well. So who knows would love us to sign him, though

11 Dec 2012 16:35:31
Looks like Wenger is off after his contract runs out, this was taken from his column for euro sport;

I have also been linked with the job. But I've already got a job and I'm trying at this moment to re-establish the order of my "own house" because everything is not all right there. I'm concentrated on that, and nothing else.

PSG did not contact me, and I think they should support Ancelotti. For my part, I must show loyalty to my employers, my club and my contract. I still have one and half years of work to do at Arsenal.

11 Dec 2012 14:38:08
I find it a bit strange that Gervinho recieves so much stick after his last performance against WBA. I am not sure if you guys watched a different game than i did because from what i saw he was in the midst of things the whole game. He was running more than anyone and creating alot of chances. I am not saying that he is the greatest player but how can you guys say that the WBA game was not a good performance from him? A little bit confused.

/The Swede

I have to disagree sorry...One journalist even described Gervinho's performance as "He's been outstanding - for WBA. Cleared danger in the West Brom box, given the ball away etc. Among Wenger's worst buys?"

Bacause he was rubbishe.

I can see your angle but sadly for me it's a recipe for failure - it's the same angle that sees Ramsey achieve absolutely nothing, sees our win rate reduced by 20% when he starts, and the point is if Gervinho was actually half decent he could have had 2 or 3 goals yesterday alone. He is odd - he will score from a tight angle at the keeper's near side, hitting the ball straight on, but he misses a sitter from 6 yards when it falls perfectly for him time and time again and he scuffs 90% of his shots...it is quite remarkable! If he was any other player we'd win games scoring 5goals+

Metal Gooner

I agree with /The Swede to a degree. He played better than usual for sure. However, his issue is that he slows the game down for us way too much and often. Counters don't happen with Gervinho in the game.
He certainly didn't help his cause by completely whiffing on that one shot near the 60th minute inside the 6-yard box. Any professional player would've finished that.

In a team like arsenal and the formation we play he should be in positions to reap chances all of which he couldn't make count.
he can muster a situation but more often than not he just simply doesn't have the end product, he's ideal as a squad player but beyond that its very worrying that we are relying on this guy.

Pointless debate - he is total rubbish!

11 Dec 2012 17:27:06
Nothing against Swedish footy I mean look at ibrahimovich...but it must be a Swedish thing cus here in London that kind of performance is not deemed worthy for arsenal.
Coyg
Gimmeg6

Gervinho is a ball hogger, yeah he gets the ball in good positions but instead of passing it, he insists on trying to run through 3 or 4 defenders that are way bigger and stronger. He is just too light weight, gets knocked over too easily and is not a good finisher. He wastes so many chances that the other players create. Can never understand why Wenger plays him up front and not Walcott who would score alot more goals in that position.

What really grinds my gears Is the way he don't use his pace. Don't knock the ball past players and run. Seems to just run at people with the ball to his feet. And 9/10 f's it up lol

D16

I a free with d16 he has no brain just pace.

players like henrey,pires,vierra,gilberto never had to play with players as bad as him.


champagne charlie

Agreed. Zero decision making ability watch Bradford match

He is the scapegoat, much like Arshavin was who would create more chances than are front 3 combined at times.

He has terrible finishing, he tries hard but, the main problem is he is a winger we can all see it but the only thing he can do is get a ball in the box down low, with no one to get on the end either Giroud or Eisfield in the centre (coming into that space) they were just wasted.

He was better than Ox last night, and not just him.
You will never convince anyone that he is worth the shirt and w/o confidence he will never improve his finishing.

He won't come back from acon and do well either. It's just a player we have to wait to see better of. Maybe Gnarby, Ryo, Arshavin can get a call ahead who knows.

Only thing is he cannot be in the team w/o Giroud atm.

So, do you still feel the same way after watching Bradford last night?

11 Dec 2012 13:01:31
Huntelaar, ba, diame, Lopez are all good players. Would they improve us? Maybe slightly in my opinion.
Zaha is one for the future. Would he improve us? Maybe in a season or 2.
Pepe Reina lost it 2 seasons ago. Would he improve us? No.

Personally I doubt we'll sign any of the above and even if we did I would see it as a waste.

Why are we not being liked to proven players of a bit higher class? For example, Jovetic or Isco maybe...both are clearly going to be world class and at a young age are impressing in their respective leagues.

The players we get linked with would be good signings for Newcastle or spurs or everton, I don't think its unreasonable considering our history, facilities, money in the bank and TICKET PRICES we as fans have slightly higher expectations
AG

Mate have you not seen Huntelaar? He's a poacher in the mould of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, though not a better player, he's arguably even more lethal than RVP in the box. Huntelaar is a far, far bigger potential signing than you suggest.

And as for Jovetic and Isco... is it not obvious? They would both be £20-£25million pound players that would require high wages and that just isn't how we do it.

You have told us all the players we should not sign... care to enlighten us who we should sign?

Ag,

How can you say that these players will only 'slightly' improve us? Huntelaar is as good a replacement for RVP that there is, diame is obviously a class player to be shinning at Wh and lopez is a far better player than what we have.
Eds? who is actually on the radar and what names are just paper talk?

Demba Ba has 33 goals in 62 premier league games. This means he has proven to be a profficient striker in the EPL, in fact he is one of the most efficient. Huntelaar scores goals for fun, just look what he did to us this season. Diame has been one of the best midfielders all year and Reina would provide much needed competition for Sczez (however you spell it).
These are all good signings (Diame solely because we NEED a DMF)
Chess

Regarding Diame; yes, he has been excellent for WHU this season, but did he win the same rave reviews in his 3 years at Wigan? No, he did not. Ask yourselves this: if AFC had signed Diame on a free from Wigan in the summer, would everyone have lauded an astute free signing, or howled in derision at Wenger's cheapskate transfer policy? Reckon I know which...

To first responder -
yes, ive seen huntelaar - i've followed him since his emergence yeeeaaars ago. i said we should have signed him when he left madrid - but the guy is now 29.
how many years does he have left?
and as others have said - he is simply a goalscorer, and given we cant create a thing i think we need something a bit better with a bit more longevity.
your point on the cost of isco and jovetic is redundant. we're rich, and we're rated at (depending who you read) the 2nd-4th most valuable club in the world, with a world class 60000 seater stadium, the highest ticket prices in europe and 2 billionaires with an invested interest in the club.

im not calling for goetze, c.ronaldo or neymar,£20m is the going rate for a potentially world class player these days. utd pay it - liverpool paid it with torres, why should we not consider this standard of player?

2nd responder - ive given you 2, i'll add Capoue/Wanyama as well as Strootman in mf as well as Jon Artenetxe at LB and maybe the kid at derby Will Hughes who looks s**t hot.

3rd responder - Diame is just a standard afro-french enforcer off the production line - nothing special - every team in france has one if not two as good if not better.

4th responder - reina MAY offer competition but come on have you seen him the last 2 years? he has a shocker every 3 games - and how much will he cost? your looking in the region of 6-8 mil for a guy to mess up every third game. there are better gks in the league - id rather begovic, ruddy, al habsi than reina
AG

11 Dec 2012 09:34:02
wenger will sign 3 players in jan:
1. Shane long
2. Diame
3. Willems (left back)

I dont believe we will sign Long, nor a left back in this window as we have Gibbs, Santos & Meade, as well as the possibility of moving Vermaelen to LB, if necessary. I feel we will try & address this position in the summer.
My own thoughts are:
1. Reina or Buckland
2. M'Biwa
3. M'Vila
4. Huntelaar