If I were Arsene I'd go around with a hammer dealing out justice to all the people who have unfairly criticised me. But anyway, that's just me.
I think you're a ways off with your valuations there. There's been a lot of chat about Hulk going to Chelsea and the figure quoted is £80 million as that's his release fee. They also received silly money for AVB and around £35 million for Falcao so they're not going to be accepting other than a crazy bid for Hulk. City are also sharking around Hamsik so I don't think £20 million will be enough to get him away. I think Arsenal need a CB, a LB, CF, two wingers and a really strong central midfielder. Who they could get for the amount they are willing to spend I really don't know though.
1. I'd watch the replays of contentious issues and give an honest appraisal. 2. Buy some anti-smug pills and some humility cream. 3. Drop the false frog twang after 20+ years living in London. 4. Stop sulking in defeat and shake hands with opposing coaches. 5. Forget about Terry "handball" Henry as any kind of solution.
Demba Ba Tim Krul or Michel Worm Chris Samba Clint Dempsey Chiek Tiote
5 PL signings who would slot in straight away at Arsenal and all could realistically move in the summer for an achievable fee.
I like this and agree it is definitely realistic. I definitely think Criscito would be a great addition to that though. Plus Pirlo for his pure creativity, class and experience. Dempsey would slot in perfectly floating behind RVP with Tiote clearing up in mid with pirlo picking out the passes and spreading the play.
it seems so bizarre that they havnt replaced Nasri, Fabregas, and didnt they lose one more? For very significant money and to bring in Arteta a top 6 player at best... losing corwd numbers ...
Whats interesting, is that when we were in the Prem it was such a tightrope that eventually we fell off and it could have cost us the whole club... you have to spend to survive, for arsenal they need to spend 80 million for us we spend 11 mill, fell out the league then spent another 11 mill and got relegated, now haemoraging 5 mill a yr with mr secrets and his money behind us...
But for the first time in 8 yrs we are manageble, and on the up...
What I think im saying is the stake s go up hugely when you reach the prem ... ludicrously so .. overspend and you can end up in a 10 yr cycle that could mean administration..
But get it right and you get a new stadium ... like we did .. in the first 5 yr cyle...
1. I'd watch the replays of contentious issues and give an honest appraisal. 2. Buy some anti-smug pills and some humility cream. 3. Drop the false frog twang after 20+ years living in London. 4. Stop sulking in defeat and shake hands with opposing coaches. 5. Forget about Terry "handball" Henry as any kind of solution.
Totally agree, apart from the false twang. However well you learn a language, you'll NEVER get rid of your native twang.
All that needs to happen is for AW to recognise that if he wants his team to compete all he needs to do is spend some money rather than buy cheap and coach them to compete with the very very best. His coaching is second to none but his ethos would work better if he had really top draw material to work with. Oh and get in a defensive advisor.
Who was the last team to win a Prem without at least a 50% British back four?
Cherno samba is not top four quality, a bit better than Bassong but still one that suffers when the game breaks down. It's no surprise they've not won anything since Keown, Campbell, Cole and Parlour retired or left. The only reliable defensive midfielder, and a leader by example, they had was Flamini. Yet Wenger didn't want to pay him anywhere near his shit-midgit players like Arshavin. If they'd have kept him, they wouldn't have fallen apart in so many matches. I can not understand him not signing Cahill, or mark Noble. There is no will to beat the odds in Arsene's current team. Personally I'd see if I could nick Di Natale. Small he may be, but disappear he does not when I've seen him.
I have to agree with sam, Podolski would be an excellent Arsenal player. He is an absolute metronome when he plays on the wing, something Arsenal desperately need so that they're not so fooking deep most of the time against top teams. He can play up front, and in a tight three. Everything that Arshavin is not as a player. Young and possibly cheaper than similar players, as FC Koln aren't that rich.
I realise this is going back some years now and some may say it's not that relevent at this moment in time......but in truth they/Wenger, never got over the loss of Tony Adams......as I believe Chelsea wont when Terry eventualy retires. These kind of players come long once in a lifetime and are the cornerstone of the club and team, when they leave it leaves a hole so big it cannot be filled for years to come. Sorry to have wandered off subject slightly but thought it might dove tail the subject matter.
Can't believe people suggesting keepers when Czesney is world class. Only decent defenders they have are Gibbs and Vermarlen, possibly Jenks with a bit more experience. Sagna not a patch on Eboue who was much criticised, never tries to beat a man. Apart from Wiltshire and Gervinho the midfield are all journeymen. No cover for RVP as witnessed by Henri's return. With their 4-5-1 pass it around style with little tempo, they deperately need a Silva or Aguero type to penetrate in and around the box.
Can't believe people suggesting keepers when Czesney is world class. Only decent defenders they have are Gibbs and Vermarlen, possibly Jenks with a bit more experience. Sagna not a patch on Eboue who was much criticised, never tries to beat a man. Apart from Wiltshire and Gervinho the midfield are all journeymen. No cover for RVP as witnessed by Henri's return. With their 4-5-1 pass it around style with little tempo, they deperately need a Silva or Aguero type to penetrate in and around the box.
I don't think Szczesny is that good. I think he makes a few too many basic errors in his play. He's young of course but he's not world class yet. What he does do though is make a number of saves he has absolutely no business getting near, which is a good sign for the future, but it kind of affects his reputation with regards to the wider game. The fact Arsenal have no goalkeeping competition is a bad thing and they should bring in a more experienced keeper to compete and maybe even take the gloves off the lad until he's a bit less raw. Being a part of an Arsenal team getting spanked like that in Europe won't do much for the confidence of a young player
I think vermaelen, szeszezezcny, song, wilshere and rvp are the only players who can play in a title winning team. Koscielny, walcott, oxlade chamberlain and sagna could be squad players (the ox will be a star soon) but the rest need replacing
There's plenty of players out there who could improve them quickly, it's whether they are willing to spend the money, and whether Wenger will do so.
Hummels and Subotic at Dortmund are very good centre backs. So is Mamadou Sakho, who could play centre back or be a more solid left back than Santos or Gibbs.
Real Madrid have Alonso as their main centre mid alongside one of Diarra and Khedira, with Sahin to come back from injury, Coentrao playing there off and on, Granero... they could realistically get Diarra or Khedira for the middle.
Gourcuff at Lyon has been a bit off this season, but he missed pre-season - give him a full one and he could easily replace Nasri. Tiote, Hazard, Eriksson, Dempsey are good shouts too.
Goetze would be a great signing for the midfield, as would Lewis Holtby.
Up top, Benzema is in the team ahead of Higuain, and he is class.
There are plenty of players out there, it's just whether Arsenal spend the cash to get back to where they want to be. They should have gone for Parker and Jose Enrique in the summer, Alex in January but are so slow to spend.
I think those who said about signing a keeper are harsh - I like Szczesny, he'll be a top keeper and is solid enough now.
So in answer to the initial question, if they were really prepared to spend:
Cheaper options Samba, Baines, Demba Ba (£7m release clause?), or people's who's contracts are running out (I think) - De Rossi, Menez, Maicon, Abidal....
I've scanned through some of the posts on here and depressingly I've never heard of half these people touted around as worth £m's and £m's. I'm so out of touch with what's going on.
Equally depressing is the dearth of English names on these lists and that is why we ain't going to be winning anything soon...
The problem that he has is that he's in a constant cycle of having a group of excellent players that are a couple of years away from being ready. This is quite attractive as it means a relatively low wage bill (when the OP suggests values for players he's forgetting that you have to pay them and for a number of them you're not going to get them for less than 5M per year - also some of the values are daft: straight off the bat even an ageing Pirlo isn't moving for €5M as he's been instrumental in getting Juve back into a CL position which is worth 5 times that in itself). By the time those players are fully fledged the group that got off the production line a couple of years earlier are heading for the exit.
The other big issue is that things are fluid. The current Arsenal squad won't be the one that they start next season with. As a minimum I expect RVP to want top end football and top end wages. Man City or one of the Spanish giants might be a better bet for him. I for one find the manager and it's fans pretty unlikeable and am quite enjoying their spiral and can't see them fixing it in the short term.
Cheaper options Samba, Baines, Demba Ba (£7m release clause?), or people's who's contracts are running out (I think) - De Rossi, Menez, Maicon, Abidal....
de rossi signed a contract extension until 2017. a much better player than the club but loyal give him that, and they outplayed inter the other day!
The other paradox is they have in Alisher Usmanov the second wealthiest man in the country behind Lakshmi Mittal and a shareholder who owns almost 30 per cent of the club. Yet he is not even on the board. Meanwhile, absent landlord Stan Kroenke lets the club drift, more than content for the money to roll in through some of the most expensive season-tickets in the business and the sale of crown jewels like Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. More and more Arsenal fans are coming round to the belief Usmanov, a far greater football man than the disinterested Kroenke, is the person to take the club forward. Huge sums would be made available in the transfer market and David Dein might even return.
Arsenal have picked up more points from losing positions away from home this season than anyone else in the Premiership. Not denying they have problems, for a start they're going behind too often, and certainly seem to be losing in the heads when it comes to games agianst the other top sides, but maybe they're not quite as mentally frail as is made out.
Don't watch enough non-Charlton football to offer up much in the way of names, but imo they need:
A commanding, organising and physically powerful centre back to partner Vermealan (sp?); A quality left back who is defensively sound before he is expansively attacking; An energetic, aggressive and vocal centre midfielder who can use the ball sensibly without needing to think he is Johan Cruyff (why didn't they sign Parker????); A winger who will work hard to stay in games, do his fair share on the defensive side and contribute goals from the flank (based on his games for Germany in tournaments Podolski seems a good shout); A creative attacking midfielder/deep lying forward who will keep them ticking and score goals, Schneider would be a good signing for this role but I don't know if he's a realistic target, certainly isn't if they're not in the Champions League - we hear they could have had Mata, big mistake turning that one away. Lots of hype about this Goetze kid too, maybe already out of their league and I've not really seen him play. Ditto Hazard. A option to RVP who can also partner him if they want to go 442 (as mentioned Podolski would offer this too).
I think they probably need more than that - at least 3rd/4th choice centre back to be in reserve alongside Kocielny and a third striker to beef up the squad, probably a 2nd choice right back too and then they need a big clearout. Arshavin, Bednter, Rosciky, Djurou, the Morrocan striker whose name escapes me and possibly Walcott can all go imo.
Most of all though, I'd be apppointintg an new fitness team - they get far too many injuries and I don't believe it's just bad luck. Either they are failing to complete thorough medicals before signing players or their training methods are buidling weaknesses into player. How often does Wenger have his best 11 to choose from? Probably less than 10 times a season.
Most of all though, I'd be apppointintg an new fitness team - they get far too many injuries and I don't believe it's just bad luck. Either they are failing to complete thorough medicals before signing players or their training methods are buidling weaknesses into player. How often does Wenger have his best 11 to choose from? Probably less than 10 times a season.
7 mins into his first game back after a hamstring injury, Coquelin has just limped off with a hamstring injury. What the hell does the Physio do to them at Arsenal?
It seems teams can unsettle Arsenal by getting in their faces these days. Teams used to try that but they'd get unpicked because Arsenal could move the ball so quickly and accurately. They just don't have the same class of midfielder these days. Arteta has looked fairly ordinary after being great at Everton but age wise he's past his best years. Says a lot when Arsenal are signing ageing creative midfielders from teams like Everton and putting them in their starting 11.
Hardly think a post on here will alert wegner but i really don't understand why anybody would post that so & so should sign one of our players, just seems wierd to me
I've scanned through some of the posts on here and depressingly I've never heard of half these people touted around as worth £m's and £m's. I'm so out of touch with what's going on.
Don't beat yourself up about it, BA. I doubt even Arsene has heard of half of 'em. Personally, I refuse to believe that players with names like Sahko and Higuain even exist.
But if Arsenal insist on filling the team with exotic names, I reckon you can't beat Oxlade-Chamberlain. It has the advantage of being at least as improbable as Sahko (wasn't that Jimmy Edwards - or was that Whacko?). But it's got so much more more class!
i dont hate arsenal as a club and i admire wenger in his philosophy in playing footy the right but i hate them because every arsenal fan i know are the most arrogant and stuck up w*****s i know.
Comments
I think you're a ways off with your valuations there. There's been a lot of chat about Hulk going to Chelsea and the figure quoted is £80 million as that's his release fee. They also received silly money for AVB and around £35 million for Falcao so they're not going to be accepting other than a crazy bid for Hulk. City are also sharking around Hamsik so I don't think £20 million will be enough to get him away. I think Arsenal need a CB, a LB, CF, two wingers and a really strong central midfielder. Who they could get for the amount they are willing to spend I really don't know though.
It's in the game
sagna koscielny *samba/perea* *baines/cissokho*
*inler/tiote* wilshere *gotze/honda*
ox rvp *danny/giovinco*
bold = first choice
Tim Krul or Michel Worm
Chris Samba
Clint Dempsey
Chiek Tiote
5 PL signings who would slot in straight away at Arsenal and all could realistically move in the summer for an achievable fee.
2. Hummels
3. Criscito
4. Honda
5. Eriksen
6. Podolski
2. Buy some anti-smug pills and some humility cream.
3. Drop the false frog twang after 20+ years living in London.
4. Stop sulking in defeat and shake hands with opposing coaches.
5. Forget about Terry "handball" Henry as any kind of solution.
I definitely think Criscito would be a great addition to that though.
Plus Pirlo for his pure creativity, class and experience.
Dempsey would slot in perfectly floating behind RVP with Tiote clearing up in mid with pirlo picking out the passes and spreading the play.
THEY NEED TO SPEND!!!!!!!
But for the first time in 8 yrs we are manageble, and on the up...
What I think im saying is the stake s go up hugely when you reach the prem ... ludicrously so .. overspend and you can end up in a 10 yr cycle that could mean administration..
But get it right and you get a new stadium ... like we did .. in the first 5 yr cyle...
Samba is half decent for their defence but not necessarily the best bet. need a solid partner for vermaelen.
they need a left back - id genuinely look at Rhoys Wiggins
a ball winner like Cheik Tiote (Parker would have been perfect for them but they overlooked him)
And a striker. Someone like Demba Ba who I personally don't know enough about but he has a habit of scoring.
Hazard Wilshere Gervinho
M'Vila MoussaSissoko
Wiggins Vermalean Hummels Sagna
Ter Stegen
Cherno samba is not top four quality, a bit better than Bassong but still one that suffers when the game breaks down. It's no surprise they've not won anything since Keown, Campbell, Cole and Parlour retired or left. The only reliable defensive midfielder, and a leader by example, they had was Flamini. Yet Wenger didn't want to pay him anywhere near his shit-midgit players like Arshavin. If they'd have kept him, they wouldn't have fallen apart in so many matches. I can not understand him not signing Cahill, or mark Noble. There is no will to beat the odds in Arsene's current team. Personally I'd see if I could nick Di Natale. Small he may be, but disappear he does not when I've seen him.
I have to agree with sam, Podolski would be an excellent Arsenal player. He is an absolute metronome when he plays on the wing, something Arsenal desperately need so that they're not so fooking deep most of the time against top teams. He can play up front, and in a tight three. Everything that Arshavin is not as a player. Young and possibly cheaper than similar players, as FC Koln aren't that rich.
Clint Dempsey, Cheik Tiote for midfield
These kind of players come long once in a lifetime and are the cornerstone of the club and team, when they leave it leaves a hole so big it cannot be filled for years to come.
Sorry to have wandered off subject slightly but thought it might dove tail the subject matter.
the pain they are in is a true joy, and long long long may the tossers feel it.
Hummels and Subotic at Dortmund are very good centre backs. So is Mamadou Sakho, who could play centre back or be a more solid left back than Santos or Gibbs.
Real Madrid have Alonso as their main centre mid alongside one of Diarra and Khedira, with Sahin to come back from injury, Coentrao playing there off and on, Granero... they could realistically get Diarra or Khedira for the middle.
Gourcuff at Lyon has been a bit off this season, but he missed pre-season - give him a full one and he could easily replace Nasri. Tiote, Hazard, Eriksson, Dempsey are good shouts too.
Goetze would be a great signing for the midfield, as would Lewis Holtby.
Up top, Benzema is in the team ahead of Higuain, and he is class.
There are plenty of players out there, it's just whether Arsenal spend the cash to get back to where they want to be. They should have gone for Parker and Jose Enrique in the summer, Alex in January but are so slow to spend.
I think those who said about signing a keeper are harsh - I like Szczesny, he'll be a top keeper and is solid enough now.
So in answer to the initial question, if they were really prepared to spend:
1. Hummels/Subotic
2. Sahko (centre back/left back)
3. Tiote/Diarra
4. Hazard
5. Goetze
6. Higuain.
Cheaper options Samba, Baines, Demba Ba (£7m release clause?), or people's who's contracts are running out (I think) - De Rossi, Menez, Maicon, Abidal....
Equally depressing is the dearth of English names on these lists and that is why we ain't going to be winning anything soon...
The other big issue is that things are fluid. The current Arsenal squad won't be the one that they start next season with. As a minimum I expect RVP to want top end football and top end wages. Man City or one of the Spanish giants might be a better bet for him. I for one find the manager and it's fans pretty unlikeable and am quite enjoying their spiral and can't see them fixing it in the short term.
CB I still think is a requirement, a proper defensive midfielder, Parker would've been ideal. De Rossi would be good too.
A winger is important as they lack it. Walcott should end up through the middle as that's where he is best.
Yet he is not even on the board.
Meanwhile, absent landlord Stan Kroenke lets the club drift, more than content for the money to roll in through some of the most expensive season-tickets in the business and the sale of crown jewels like Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.
More and more Arsenal fans are coming round to the belief Usmanov, a far greater football man than the disinterested Kroenke, is the person to take the club forward.
Huge sums would be made available in the transfer market and David Dein might even return.
Don't watch enough non-Charlton football to offer up much in the way of names, but imo they need:
A commanding, organising and physically powerful centre back to partner Vermealan (sp?);
A quality left back who is defensively sound before he is expansively attacking;
An energetic, aggressive and vocal centre midfielder who can use the ball sensibly without needing to think he is Johan Cruyff (why didn't they sign Parker????);
A winger who will work hard to stay in games, do his fair share on the defensive side and contribute goals from the flank (based on his games for Germany in tournaments Podolski seems a good shout);
A creative attacking midfielder/deep lying forward who will keep them ticking and score goals, Schneider would be a good signing for this role but I don't know if he's a realistic target, certainly isn't if they're not in the Champions League - we hear they could have had Mata, big mistake turning that one away. Lots of hype about this Goetze kid too, maybe already out of their league and I've not really seen him play. Ditto Hazard.
A option to RVP who can also partner him if they want to go 442 (as mentioned Podolski would offer this too).
I think they probably need more than that - at least 3rd/4th choice centre back to be in reserve alongside Kocielny and a third striker to beef up the squad, probably a 2nd choice right back too and then they need a big clearout. Arshavin, Bednter, Rosciky, Djurou, the Morrocan striker whose name escapes me and possibly Walcott can all go imo.
Most of all though, I'd be apppointintg an new fitness team - they get far too many injuries and I don't believe it's just bad luck. Either they are failing to complete thorough medicals before signing players or their training methods are buidling weaknesses into player. How often does Wenger have his best 11 to choose from? Probably less than 10 times a season.
Squilaci and Djorou an absolute car crash of a centre back pairing.
Don't beat yourself up about it, BA. I doubt even Arsene has heard of half of 'em. Personally, I refuse to believe that players with names like Sahko and Higuain even exist.
But if Arsenal insist on filling the team with exotic names, I reckon you can't beat Oxlade-Chamberlain. It has the advantage of being at least as improbable as Sahko (wasn't that Jimmy Edwards - or was that Whacko?). But it's got so much more more class!
Best thing he could do is stay and allow me the privilege of explaining what the term team in decline means