Pass Masters & RvP
Last night’s Champions League final was probably about the closest to a demolition that a two goal victory can ever be. United started brightly but were overwhelmed by Barcelona’s passing game. Caps will be doffed towards them but especially to Henry and Sylvinho. Or Silvinho. Whichever passport he is using is no doubt the guiding light on that one. A sweet moment for the Brazilian since he is out of contract in one month’s time and at 35, well into the twilight zone of his career.
From the Arsenal perspective, the victory was somewhat reassuring and alarming at the same time. United play with more pace in the Premier League yet the manner in which the Catalan’s midfield controlled the game through short passing gives hope towards the manner in which Arsenal play the game.
Judging players abilities is always a subjective matter but Fabregas is on a par with Xavi and Iniesta. Arshavin and Rosicky likewise – when he’s fit. The coming season in a similar 4-3-3 formation could prove highly beneficial. There are, after all, plenty of forwards at the club who can provide an attacking triumverate. As is always the case, fitness will prove to be the decisive factor in whether or not this works effectively.
Robin van Persie has yet to agree the terms of his contract, telling the Dutch press:
The club and I have not been able to make any headway. But maybe I will soon have something new to report. That is all I have to say on this now.
Everyone had been expecting Cesc to be the media transfer luvvie this summer but perhaps it is going to be van Persie who dons that mantel. Since the sticking point in the past was that the player wanted the club to match his ambition, if that is still the case, it is a tough one to resolve. The only way that would appear to be possible is either (a) winning trophies or (b) making a big name signing; the first is not now possible for 2008-09 and the latter, well in recent seasons, it has been the last day of the summer transfer window that has typically seen the activity. It might be a long wait…
Quiet days so ’til Tomorrow.
Posted on May 28, 2009, in Arsenal, Champions League, Football, Premier League, Premiership, Soccer, Transfer Gossip and tagged Arsenal, Champions League, Football, Premier League, Robin van Persie, Soccer, Transfer Gossip, Transfer Rumours. Bookmark the permalink. 236 Comments.
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How do we have who is equal to Messi though?
2nd
Eboue
m very happy for Henry… hes a Legend…. hope we bring him back….
Barcelona are lacking an English spine. They won’t win anything without some good old fashioned…. oh, hold on, they did win something…
who would be the defensive player in the 433 midfield?
for arsenal
may be wenger should sign Xavi or Iniesta… loved the way they dominated Manure yest……
Am a bit unhappy with Van P about that matching of ambition thing though.
Maybe cause am not too clear what he means.
For one of the key strikers this season, is he sure he matched the clubs ambition with his own perfomances? At times he was excellent and at times, he really didnt do that well with the lissed chances.
He should just make up his mind early and not do a flamini in January is all I ask of him though. If he wants to leave, it should be in the summer.
Arsenal stood by him through all of those injury hit seasns, many from national team duty, He like rosicky, owe us big time
DM in 4-3-3. I believe that Song fits that bill. Oh and whilst Arshavin is not universally recognised as being the best player in the world, he has sufficient talismanic abilities to fill that role for Arsenal. Oh and he seems half-decent…
YW
If Barcelona played in England, they’d get told they have no plan B, and derided for their “beautiful football”. And how on earth did they win a treble without an “English spine”. Where is their “strength in depth”?
And the media will encourage all the crap teams to “get in their faces”, and not just let them play.
The Times today had an interesting take on why Barca won. Man poo didn’t fould enough.
Personally, I wasn’t impressed with either side. Man U capitulated after they conceded (if it were Arsenal, the pundits would have been saying something about lacking experience and a fighting spirit), and Barca, although excellent in midfield, didn’t look particularly fierce on the attack.
Congrats to King Thierry and a great header by Messi!
Albertino, as Fergie said Messi wasn’t really the problem for United in that match. Xavi & Iniesta were, and I’d argue Cesc is easily on par with (one of) those two (maybe we need a second Cesc)
But to answer the question, Arshavin would be our equivalent of Messi I suppose, and he’s not too bad either.
Arshavin is our Messi.
I wouldn’t read too much into the RvP comment. He was probably at the CL Final or at the Holland training camp and a stray reporter asked him a question in passing. Just means that they have not sat down to talk it through. If I was him over the last couple of weeks I would have been seeking assurance from AW that he was staying.
“The club and I have not been able to make any headway. But maybe I will soon have something new to report.” Aren’t those two sentences contradictory? The first sentence isn’t included in the interview reported in De Telegraaf. Looks like someone in the British media has tacked it on to enhance it.
Ole Gunner
It is amazing how they can play near enough the same beautiful football as us and not take a battering, Chelsea took a few lumps out of them the last game and they couldnt get their act together.
Man U showed them too much respect and let them hold the ball for long periods without giving them a good kick like they would do against us.
I dont approve of the anti-football approach, but when Arsenal attempt to play that kind of way why are we slagged off for not having enough strength about us?? Barca played nice football, but thet are yet to hit the heights of our invincibles.. Anyway enough living in the past, trophies count i know i know, next year our boys will go a few steps further!!
Well done Thierry!! but in all honesty he wasnt in the game much, but could have come away with a goal!
YW – I concur, Barca’s triumph was a victory for the passing game vs towering defensive players, for the importance of possession vs this frenetic desire to shoot-shoot or get rid of the ball, in Row Z preferably. As much as I dislike Barca’s management and dubious financial practises, they are a credit to beautiful football. It is a victory for “Wengerball” when the English press within hours of ManU’s defeat were suddenly extolling the virtues of Barca’s midfield dominance and the value of possession in comparison to their sycophancy towards ManU and their presumed physical superiority prior to the game.
Let us hope this will shut up the anti-supporters who for the next 8 weeks would have been pontificating about the need for the big-mean central defender and defensive midfielder and slagging the likes of Denilson and Diaby.
Nasri-Cesc can be our Midfield duo
Arshavin-Theo-Van Persie our attacking outlets
Eduardo our predator
Ade/Bendtner the plan B
Clichy & Sagna / Gibbs & Eboue bombing on as wing backs
We have alot more to our game… when Arsenal win it every1 will be talking about our team for years and years.. Greatness is on the horizon
Arshavin
Arshavin is our Messi** like Bob said
shotta-gunna
well said… we can win the champs league with our current team in my view
Premiership though is a different story, its alot more physical than the Spanish League
I don’t think there is an equivalent to Messi, is there? He is Messi. Nor do I see an equivalent to Iniesta. We have players with other and matching strengths though, developed in the EPL context, so it’s bound to differ to some degree.
On the attacking side of the equation I think we equal Barca: RvP, Theo, AA, Eduardo, Ade, Rosicky, Vela, and even Bendtner, Nasri and Eboue bring equivalent vibrancy and opportunity.
Barca dominate in control and confidence, a sign of maturity that we are developing fast, especially in midfield.
The difference is that where refs tolerate cynical fouls, as in UK, it becomes the lowest common denominator, and removes much advantage from the more skilful team.
If our boys learn to out pass and hold the ball against the more physical teams next season then we can bag a few trophies… our team of last season done it untill we suffered a few injuries. We just need to have RvP, Cesc, Arshavin, Nasri, Diaby, Rosicky, Walcott, Ade all firing from match day 1.. we need them all playing as a unit, passing as a unit, and defending as a unit.
We have the quality to succeed.. just need a steady team playing week in week out and NO INJURIES!
I couldn,t care much if rvp stays or goes.Sure now and again he scores a great goal but he is also very in-consistent and slows up our attacking play while he,s getting the ball onto his left foot.
More important than any of that though is his apparent failure to recognise that he is a regular member of the team that has failed to win a trophy.If he is suggesting that it is the fault of everybody but him then he should clear off.
It’s nonsense to suggest RvP is inconsistent.
ZimPaul
“Barca dominate in control and confidence, a sign of maturity that we are developing fast, especially in midfield. ”
Thats exactly it, it will come in time. Song seems to have that composure, Denilsons time this year has given him belief too that he can influence games, Cesc had it already and is always looking for holes and a killer pass, Rosicky can toy with the opposition, Nasri will also be better next year, Walcotts pace and improved passing will weap the benefits too.
We have alot of promise coming out of this season even though we didnt achieve anything in terms of trophies. Cant wait for them to run out onto the field in August!
In the EPL, ManU defenders are so successful coz the cleverly tag our front players shirts with impunity. They cant in europe where the refs don’t care this is manU.
I feel AW has a lot to learn from barca’s game last night. their team was well spread last night. even though defenders esp puyol made telling runs into enemy territory, the defence did not need to leave their lines much. they barely needed to cross the half way line. that way united couldnt’ mount any meaningful couter attacks. the few they attepted were thru long balls leading to frustrating off-sides. compare to arsenal where when they attack, everyone presses. this has lost us countless games, like in the champions league v pool last year(4-2), chelsea (FA cup) amonsgt many others. I suspect our game is that way becoz we dont have that dominant midfield and so needs the defence to come in if we are searching for goals. whenever we attack in those numbers, we are so vulnerable to swift counter attacks. the sort that must have so frustrated asharvin at pool in that thriller.
brian
Look at his goals and assists you mug, if he wasnt playing who would be doing it for us???
Top assists in Premiership is who???
Our top scorer????
Brian – point is shut your mouth if you dont know what your chatting about.
I love rvp, just dont want a flamini type situaton to develop as he nears the end of his contract.
I would rather he stays he is good at the passing game we play although like some other stat suggests, he does not release early enough?
Bottomeline, he is a key memebr of the current squad and should rather stay than leave for building of consistency sake.
How well could Barca do in the EPL? Interesting question. Well you only have to look at the semi’s to see how they were completely out of ideas. Beating manchester united, although great, but isn’t that big a deal. They’ve been good against the the smaller teams, getting only one win against the big 4.
…..I agree with Brian……
steve far,
English football is a different animal. When you’re playing teams who put 11 men behind the ball, you have no choice but to push forward.
van persie has been offered a new 70K contract he has rejected it as he wants 90K per week that is his ambition
he is only on 35K per week at moment – but i do not understand why he was not offered extension when it came to 2 years left on contract as all other clubs do (as he may have injuries but we all still wanted him to stay as he scores some fantastic goals)
we will lose him but wenger needs to be ruthless and cash in this transfer window as we have AA and he can play all the roles van persie can – but if wenger plays him and lets him go on free – well i will want proof of AW economic qualifications
Barca play like us but with one crucial difference they know how to get stuck in and apply proper pressure on opponents and all the team does that – we just pretend to try and get ball back with artless movements
well done to Henry and f*** y** Hleb
Ateeb, very true. Man U were shite last night. They couldn’t string two passes together. Barca are good but not unbeatable. Chelsea pissed on them but just didnt score a second goal
….I agree with cheryl cole……
Num-rod, if Idiot-beyor gets 90G A week why shouldn’t RVP?
School finish early BG?
thierry, deja vu all over again…
one nil, second half, clear through, one on one with VDS…
did what he always did, same decision…
same as Paris…
side foot, low, to the keeper’s far side…
same result…last night it didn’t matter…
in Paris it did…
he did nothing worthy last night …other than ostentatiously celebrate the achievements of others…
we sold him at the right time.
-BG +BH
H Gooner – he had a fantastic season and scored over 30 goals did not get injured much AW thought he deserved 90K as he did not want to lose another player to milan – mistake
van persie has seen what went on and is holding the club to ransom – i would pay 90K per week as i would have given 80K to flamani but players realise now that if they let their contract run and join another club they can also negotiate a sign on fee as flamani did 4m plus 80K per week
not sure which is the lessor of two evils
Firstly, let’s be realistic, Cesc, this season at least is not quite at the level of Xavi or Iniesta. No one is. Cesc might be unlucky in that he doesn’t have a partner to play with, but this based on this season Xavi and Iniesta will dominate the Spanish midfield. All very close, but let’s be honest wit our appraisals of performances.
Secondly, personally I think the treble is at LEAST equal to the Invincibles. The real treble (cup, league, European Cup) is a true feat, so let’s no let our love of the club blind us to that, especially since we haven’t yet won the ECC.
As for RVP, he should sign as recognition of his injury situations in the past. This is first full season we have really gotten out of him, so I feel he owes us. And the who reckons he can leave ???? Are you nuts or what? Let me guess, we should replace him with Villa.
‘Blazon’ squad,
Dont be a fool, you dont ever sell you’re tailisman at the right time. Do you think Gerrard wil leave Liverpool when he’s 30? Great teams have players who have been there a long time, not jump ship to Barca too win the champions league. Then to make it worse his plan actually worked. Hewon the champs league, barca didnt even need him, we needed him and have been a bag of shite since. Pll your head out of your bum and support the team, go and support chelsea…..rasers…..arsenal……..boyakka…..
hg. he should score 30 goals a season too then… and I thought Adebayor was on 80k? Am quite sure his name is adebayor, its shorter than ur version for him… likely has more meaning too
………….HI Steve……………..
…………rasers……………
Team Spirit,
His real name is Idiot-beyor, just like chrisGOONA’S real name is Julie
Hi BH. School fun was it?
I definately rate RVP, but he owes us for standing by him through the injuries, and I thought the ambtions he was talking about was not money related. Are they?
wilshire is our messi trust me!! and arshavin our iniesta…vela can do what those guys can do as well
Team Spirit,
He dont owe us sh1t, we pay Idiot-beyor 90g a week so RVP is worth the same IMO….RASERS….
Maybe We could sell dunce face Roiscky and use the money to give to RVP…..RASERS…….IMO…….TTFN……….Support then team.
…..arsenal…….click…click….booom shake, shake shake the room
….rasers….
HG, how do the 2 statements relate?
Be sure that i know what his real name is and likely better than you do…
Its a clearer english sentence when you simply say Adebayor is an idiot than trying to add it to his name in any way,
For you to do that, idiot shout rhyme with ade and with no stretch of the most retarded of imaginations even that you can call that.
So say it… ADEBAYOR…. ITS NOT AN “E” AFTER THE “B” EITHER
Team spirit,
Ok I’ll try…
Ad…..Ad……Ade…….Idiot-beyor !!!!!!
Bollocks, sorry TS
…..RASERS……IMO……….BOOM SHACK-ATTACK…
Denilson will be the one in a 4-3-3 if Arsenal were to play such a way but there is more to it.
Forwards have to pressure high up the pitch requiring good organisation and discipline in the centre of midfield.
I never did buy the BBC line that this year’s Man U was the greatest team in the history of the world. Across the four major competitions their results haven’t been that special. Yes they won the league and well done for that, but they did so by beating the teams in the lower half of the Premiership not by their performances within the top four. There’s a lesson for Arsenal who always seem to lose the league against the bottom teams,
Oh yes, and Man U got lucky in the Champions League semi – final. Last night they found out what happens when your opponent scuffs out a goal with their first attack.
Happy Gooner
You gotta give it up you pothetic fool, starting to think your a bit crazy
Saying we have been shite when Henry left, we were crapper in the last 2 years he stayed. Your knowledge on football is amateur just like your comments. You know we almost won the title when he left…. was you watching or reading the Sun?
Your a ‘paper’ fan .. or better yet a ‘newspaper’ fan.. aint bloggs a bit too advanced for you.
HG, am not a fan of all that name calling and stuff so I cant help u in this on going conversation we are trying to have…
Adebayor may be an idiot to you, I dont have to share the opinoin and i dont.
What is Rosickys offense to you now? Is it just easier for you to call people anything other than their names? At least pretend to make it actually sound interesting
YW
Cant we get HG a dog muzzle for his dirty mouth??
TS, Ade is a fool who dpesn;t seserve you’re loyalty or respect or flowers.
Chris, you run along to YW like the little girl you are, Julie is you’re real name
…RASERS….
Num-rudd get your facts together. He has 2 years left on his contract and that’s why we’re renegotiating an extension.
That Xavi and Iniesta, all they do is pass sideways, never making more than a 5 yard pass. And they’re both lightweight, and get pushed off the ball. They are lucky that getting pushed off the ball is a foul in football except English football. In England they’d get derided for getting fouled.
Ole Gunner: Are u being sarcastic or for real? Both players have great balance, shielding and intelligence to always have the ball away from the marker.
Iniesta and Fabregas are great players but Iniesta has something that most CM’s don’t have and that is dribbling ability and turn of pace of a winger.
They don’t need to rely on their strength.
Happy Gooner
Would rather meet you on the street u lil schoolboy cu**. Ill show ya how Julie I am. You up for it?
Barca beat ManU using a 4-3-3 and that’s the way we should play. liverpool win using a 4-2-3-1 and that’s how we should play, with 2 sitting midfielders. if Everton beat Chelsea no doubt people will be saying we should be playing 4-5-1 (or is it 4-6-0?). Arsenal always look most comfortable playing their own 4-4-1-1.
I believe it was the change from our natural formation brought on by the need to cover a serverely weakened back 4 and a Cesc not being back to his best and being kept out of the midfield battle that led to our poor performances in the 2 semifinals.
Yes I know AW has often played 5 in midfield in tough European games, but how often have we played to our best in those games. We look more solid defensively but often look poor attacking
The Brain,
I am taking the piss at the absolute drivel I read on this blog from some idiots who slate Arsenal players for “passing sideways” and passing five yards etc. Or for being lightweight i.e. not being a 6 ft bruiser the media say we need.
Christ, the children are out in force today.
YW
well am female HG, so u score no points with me either by suggesting Chrsis is a girl because u do not mean it as a compolement am sure…
By all means try to be controversial to your heat content, but make it smart or witty or something
OG – whichever it is 1-2 years if he does not sign wenger needs to pencil him out of the plans for the coming seasons as he will be off and we need to cash in as we do not want him to become integral to the team as it will be more of a miss when he goes
which ever system we play the players need to be given a little guidance as what they should be doing when they havn’t got the ball what positions to be in and how to apply pressure to get ball back
Team Spirit
HG is a troll and a wind up… would love to meet him face to face, hes one of them saddos who get a kick out of creating conflicts in the comfort of his armchair. He is an attention seeking troll who if had any balls wouldn’t be on a blogg trying to create tensions.
To think he is in any form an Arsenal supporter makes me sick.
Chris HG is blog head the spud fan (ex Arse21) so just forget his input about our players.
Van Persie isn’t going anywhere people, he is ready and waiting to sign a contract as soon as its in front of him. My personal view is he will be with us for as long as Wenger wants him, Wenger sees him as instrumental.. With Henry it was different, he achieved so much with us, and he wanted a fresh challenge and so Barca as better potential to win a few extra trophies before the end of his career.
Van Persie is Arsenal through and through like TH, he wont leave till he brings success, overwise deep down he knows hes a failure.
CG – i hope your physco analysis of van persie is correct as he is a player i like and scores some fantastic goals
Num-rudd
There is alot more to come from Van Persie, Wenger wouldnt allow him to go if he believes this.
YEAH HE DID SOUND LIKE BLOG HEAD WITH BOYYAKA… It was a give away really… it also sounds his style… usually on a wind up.
Blog head as Blog used to be more witty than this though if I remeber him well from other blogs… he does get around and yeah he is defo a spurs fan without apologies.
CG – its going to be long 6 weeks -
the anticipation for new contracts, signings and players leaving the club has never reached this level AW is under a lot of pressure
Chris I think I agree with your analysis of Van P… Its why I felt unhappy with talks of him not staying to actually archive success with us cos he has always come acros as such a one until i recently started hearing all this club match my ambition stuff and it sounded like flamini all over again.. suggesting we didnt want to keep him enough and all that
Barcelona winning today was a handy reality check for most of the English press and pundits who were getting ahead of themselves. Some bloggers like ’4th the target’ also forgot that Man U are no Chelski and for all their faults, would’nt or could’nt constantly foul Barca to upset their rhythm in a high profile game like this. Where are you now 4th the target? Henry and Barca have won and you have lost.
RvP wants 90k? The club is starting with 70k?
Negotiations usually end up somewhere between – if the club goes up to 85k and he’s the new Cashley. Until then, let’s all calm down and await procedings behind closed doors.
Alex,
People also seem to have forgotten that Barcelona completely dominated Chavski at the Nou Camp. They could have won that game 4-0. So even Chelsea’s catenaccio wasn’t the antidote.
Is it me or does the win for Barca only increase your optimism for next season. I like the Nasri-Fab combo in the middle really think Arsene will move Nasri into the middle next season and those to in the middle would really be interesting.
Also was i the only one impressed by Yaya Toure playing CB usually a DM i throught he did a great job.
P.S It’s half-term for the kiddies…..
Alex @ 3:17 pm – You are correct. Let us not get carried away. Chelsea did suffocate Barca. Anti-football is alive and well in the English game. If you have a quality side like Chelsea willing and able to play 10-men behind the ball it is ddifficult to break them down.
Correction: “Chelsea did suffocate Barca for long periods.”
shotta-gunner, you said;
“Chelsea did suffocate Barca for long periods.”
Not in the first leg. In the first leg, Barca completely dominated despite Shellsey’s 9-0-1 formation, and their rather cynical fouling. There was a penalty, and Ballack should have been sent off. And Barca missed 4-5 clear chances including one, famously missed by Hleb. Despite Chelsea playing the entire game in their own half.
This one is a media myth. Barcelona dominated Chelsea too. In the second leg they struggled a bit and were lucky, but on the balance of 1st leg and 2nd leg, they meritably passed through.
Maria,
makes one very optimistic indeed.
surely a victory for football, no other phrase describes it better.
Man U is not a good at being cynical as when they had roy keane and the nevilles; scholes is getting old and alas anderson is still on the learning curve
Sorry Yogi I am a moron. Can I just say that you’re an excellent writer, I mean that.
What can Arsenal learn from last night?
One of the keys last night, I thought, was Pep’s decision to move Messi to the center and push Eto’o out wide. By making that shift they created a match-up headache Man U could not solve. Messi was far too quick for Vidic and Evra, who was geared up to stop Messi didn’t really know how to play Eto’o. Contrast that with the way Vidic and Ferdenand marshalled Adebayor and Evra marshalled Theo when we played them.
I also think that a 4-3-3 could work for us. However, I think that we came close to the kind of game Barca plays last year with Rosicky, Hleb and Cesc passing triangles around other teams. healthy. Perhaps Nasri, Cesc, Arshivin and Rosicky can reproduce that kind of game.
Finally, I am not convinced by what Arsene said regarding Henry. Would we have won a few more points? At the end of the year he could have made a difference. However, one of my memories of the first half of the season was the way young and marginal players stepped up in Henry’s absence and really began to play with commitment. Would that have happened had Henry stayed? No fault of his, but perhaps not.
Finally, finally — I thought the ref was fantastic last night.
Calfonia G… the ref cannot be praised enough! He really contributed to making the game thoroughly enjoyable
Barcelona are winning with their Spanish spine. Any serious and ambitious club needs local spine to be successful and we lack that spine, hence the failures.
Henry has been proved right, he knew staying with us might deny him the CL, which was all that was left for him to bring to an end his successful career.
Henry knew that AW had lost his ambition to win and would do nothing to help Arsenal win trophies again. Two years on, we’re still always struggling to place 4th and get eliminated in the CL.
We can’t win with average players spread through all positions in the team minuslocal spine.
ChrisGoona
We’re always talking about the future. The perpetual future. When will that future come to fruition?
We talked about the future when we reached the CL finals in 2oo6. We also talked about the future when we were beaten by Chelsea in the CC finals.
So when is the future going to be present?
AW has been spinning, season after season about the future and continues to spin.
Patrick @ 4.21
Oh FFS
YW
the future can never be now, thats why its called the future, what we have next season we all hope im sure will be an improvement on this one. same rules applies to everyone, barca won last night, thats the past, man utd won the year before, thats the past. simply put, if you wait and have patience the future will come to you, what it holds no one really knows, live in hope or live in dispair and anger its everyones choice
745
22
CG, you asked; “What can Arsenal learn from last night”?
I’ve been watching Barcelona all season and the only two things they do that we don’t are:
1. Counterattack. They’re not very good at that. But that’s not a negative because they are an out and out attacking team. They are set up to attack and just to attack. They have the ball so much they almost don’t need to counterattack. I don’t think this approach will work in the English Premier League…….
2. What will work is to copy the way they press high up. It’s not just that they press but that their tackles and interceptions are passes directed at team mates. When a Barca player dives into a tackle, he directs the ball at a team mate. We try to win the ball first and then pass it.
3. Fluid movement in central midfield. It’s harder to do though because we use wingers and try to play through the wings. So a whole lot more discipline is needed in central areas.
when was the barca academy set up and whne was arsenal’s
Pateince is key in all of these exoectations.
Barca’s victory last night proves we aare on th right track with the academy and also hpow well as team can be when they have grown together
hpow = hope
AW promised to buy one or two players this season and he’s already completed the summer purchases already.
1. Jamie Edge-15 year old midfielder from Cheltenham
2. Martin Angha-15 year Swiss under 16 defender
That’s what is called ambition and future.
I agree TS everything that the English press i talking up about Barca and Spain since recently has been what Arsene has been trying to instill in Arsenal and has been lambasted for it’s just ridiculous. Listened to Talksport and that wally Collymore claimed that Arsenal were the PL and could never win the league playing this way forgeting we nearly did last year and got to two Semis this year playing that way. Idiot.
Ole Gunner
How can we counterattack? We’ve already lost our counterattacking abilities. With Denilson always playing the ball backwards and sideways when he gets it, where will the counterattacking play come from? The lad can’t play a ball farther than 6 yards.
.
The manner of the Barca win has an huge psychological significance.
It tells ManU in big letters not easy to erase – for time to come – you are not as good as you thought you were, are you? Individually and collectively, you were ALL outplayed. It tells the media, for all their simplistic, jingoist ‘bigging up’ of ManU in UK, the team is not as good as you thought they were ‘out there’. They don’t look good. Manu has major deficiencies. They can be exploited. Next season they will be. The manager, players, and fans being interviewed all said one thing ‘ we were beaten by a better team’.
For Arsenal, it says something huge. Wengerball, to borrow a phrase, really works when it is applied well, therefore, Arsenal you are on the right track, just do the same thing better. With our in-built development for years to come, that speaks massively. AW will be mightily pleased.
The key for Arsenal is to keep the project on track, keep the core of players together, keep learning. That alone assures our success. Unlike previous off-seasons, and injuries, and transfer gossip, this year we will be able to prepare as a team properly, together, stable. It is great.
F*ck Off Patrick (Formerly known as Howard the Sick Freak)
…………..I agree with ZP………….
P.S Glad you changed your name back.
Patrick’s premise is based on submission and victimhood. He has been defeated without a fight. We just aren’t good enough, he says, we will never be; so we might as well all admit failure and become like other teams. It is a sad outlook.
It is Dickensian.
But, but … I really like my other name. It means something.
You’ll always be ZimPaul to us!
Exactly that FG….
Arsenal is the answer.
What was the question?
… oh, yes, how can football played in England develop and sustain itself in the long-term?
Barcelona was just a clue.
I agree ,,, F off Patrick,,, no room for your sort here….
Oh well then, that makes me happy FG and Maria, ZimPaul I am and ZP remain.
‘I’
The argument for pressing higher up is that you actually do less running. If you win the ball 20yards further up the pitch then you’re 20yards closer to the goal.
That’s partly why Barcalona players all look so fit.
Ironically, Patrick lacks spine and guts. But isn’t it always so, the very guy loudmouthing words of defeat, citing lack of ‘bottle’ etc is the very guy who doesn’t have it. Psychologists out there, isn’t there a name for that, must be, it’s so common.
Projection.
Patrice,
“AW promised to buy one or two players this season and he’s already completed the summer purchases already.”
Go on Patrice, say it like Howard does – AW is the new Brian Clough. Feels good taking that weight of your chest does’nt it Patrice.
Exactly.
Such people need a lot of patience and love.
F**k off Patrick.
Or a high velocity “accident”.
Either’s good.
Patrick,
Actually Denilson has very little to do with counterattacking.
How far is it to Tipperary? Isn’t that somewhere in Ireland? Isn’t Patrick an Irish derivative? Can’t he go there and sip guiness and be happy?
Denilson is my player of the season. And I was a big Flamini fan.
I just think Denilson offer much more and in a much more subtle fashion.
Myles Palmer yeserday:
“Barcelona only have three players who would get into the United team.
Iniesta, Xavi and Messi.”
Myles Palmer today: “Park looked like pub player, Giggs looked like an lost old man, Anderson a weightlifter from Venice Beach. And they made Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s No.1 footballer, look like a circus act, a one-trick pony who could only pull the trigger.”
MP yesterday: “Today we are told Barca coach Pep Guardiola will play Busquets, a novice, in CM and Yaya Toure at the back. I wouldn’t do that. If my defence was unavailable I would NOT break up my midfield to patch up my back four.”
MP today: “Rookie coach Pep Guardiola,38, has given the team steel and a wonderful work ethic. United lacked an organiser and it was mind-boggling that Sir Alex did not (1) bring Tevez on sooner and (2) switch Rooney into the middle.”
MP yesterday: “Tight or open, Man United should beat Barcelona.”
Today: “Pep Guardiola’s passionate technicians outclass clueless Man Utd.”
No contradictions then.
Is see you stil read for the entertainment Alex. That has worn thin for me over the season.
Good one Alex, the media just goes wherever the wind blows…
Patrick aka Howard…why don’t you just buggeroff. Every one of of your facile arguments for the past three years was ripped to shreds last night. 1st it it was the need for an English spine…which just got clobbered by Barca and put to pasture. Now you are clutching to a spanish spine, pretty soon it will be Catalonian.
What a pr*ck? What a loser? (At least you could play the hypocrite and join the English media now jerking-off in support of Barca’s dominance.)
Alex, love it!
ZP, call yourself what you want. It’s content that matters, not your name.
Le Patrick, you know what to do, now be a good boy and do it!
Gunners, enjoy the close season. We will always support you, especially in the face of scum-loving tossers like Le Patrick and HG.
Bould speaking on BBC London 94.9 said that apart from Gibbs and Wilshere, he believes, two, three, four or even five more players from the group that won the Youth Cup could be in the first team sooner than later.
He also said that AW has been observing them regularly and often let some of them join the first team in training.
Bould further said that the only problem is the fact that there are so many young players in the team and that this makes it a little bit difficult for them.
I think Bould was referring to all those average foreign players running around the training ground and yet not good enough. Diaby and his group of non-performers.
They should be given tickets and sent back to where they came from to allow the boys to blossom.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/may/28/barcelona-champions-league-arsene-wenger
this is what some people were referring to earlier about the optimism barcelonas win can bring to arsenal
Barcelona have local boys in their team fighting for them all along.
What local boys do we have other than foreign average mercenaries?
So what!
I agree with Gris Gris
“I think Bould was referring to all those average foreign players running around the training ground and yet not good enough. Diaby and his group of non-performers.
They should be given tickets and sent back to where they came from to allow the boys to blossom.”
Concerned Arsenal fan,
that is a racist remark,not needed here or on any forum.
Why do you have to local boys in the team?
…lost a have…
Alex
You slag off Myles Palmer yet read his column every day.No contradictions then
It would not be right to slag him off and not read his column now would it, Edward?
Well hellooo, Kelsey.
Frank
Beat it Howie the Cowie…we know it’s you. Go play somewhere.
@ a
In that Guardian article the writer also identifies our “Messi” as Arshavin and says:
“What he needs now, apart from time, is a main striker capable of the kind of lethal opportunism with which Samuel Eto’o poured cold water on United’s early enthusiasm in the Stadio Olimpico.”
And I say: We’ve got Eduardo!
I agree with FG……Eduardo is lethally lethal and he will be ready for next season to eaxct his revenge on the stupid giants of the PL (Got that Howard?)
We have far better striking force than any team in the PL. Eduardo, Ade, RVP, Arshavin, Bendtner, Vela, and Walcott.
Three big ones, three little ones and all offering something different.
I think i would take Eddy over Eto’o even though his probably my favourite striker outside Arsenal.
“They made Cristiano Ronaldo…look like a circus act, a one-trick pony who could only pull the trigger.”
Scandalous! Everyone knows he has two tricks, foot waggling and diving.
Frank
Well dont read it then.you know what you get with Myles.It makes me laugh how many people get worked up by him.Yet cant go a day without reading him
Just watching the highlights that fool Heleb had the Barca flag wrapped around them. While others had their country flags can’t believe he ever worn the great red and white.
Maria
You would probably take Eddy over Torres because you are so Arsenal biased.Eto”o has now done it in TWO CL finals.When Eddy does that then start comparing.
Torres-2008 euro final
Eto”o -2006.2009 CL finals
Eduardo-????????
FFS If you listen to some on here they want the two strikers next season to be Ade and RVP and not Eduardo
Eduardo is the most precise striker in football. It is only injuries that have caused him not to set the PL on fire.
I would take a fit Eduardo over Torres also.
GT,
I am not comparing careers but the qualities of both players in a particular system….also Eto’o has been playing at Barca with some of the best players and now that EDS has that chance i hope he can win two CL with us but first he must come back from injury.
Also OFCAUSE i have a Arsenal bias!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well Eto’o didnt do crap in the first CL final win and Henry was in our team, would you have taken Eto’o over Henry in that CL Final?
How exaclty does an injured player win a trophy, especially seeing he cannot score if he is injured.
IMO the Barcelona result was conclusive proof that Arsenal have gone down hill. In spite of our big stadium, Barcelona have a bigger stadium and whereas they play Inestia and Xavi, we have Denilson and Song.
Look at the evidence. We are a small club with no ambition. Whilst VP and Adebayor are still fannying around with lukewarm statements about their status and contracts, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich ffs !! have made signings already. THE WINDOW IS OPEN ARSENE WHY ONLY SIGN SCHOOLKIDS WHEN THE BEST PLAYERS ARE BEING SIGNED NOW.
Wenger did not realise or act upon our defensive weaknesses, last summer. It wasn’t through lack of money. He was unwilling to bring defensive players in. He asembles a ludicrously talented squad and then lets it down by plugging the gaps with unbelievably average players.
Wenger would rather spend money on Nasri and Arshavin. Good signings, but we could never win anything with a weak defence. He at least needs some advice on a coaching basis, so that somone like Keown can come in and coach the same players. But he is stubborn. He won’t call Keown because that would be a loss of face. And Keown wouldn’t be accepted by all the glamorous foreigners because he is too ugly.
Take out the 2 doubles, the unbeaten season, the final of the champions league and where would Wenger be ? nowhere.
You are right Pedro this year has been a failure,
It cracks me up when the words you hear from the club are that we only lost one game in 28 games so if anything it was a very succesful season. It is spin aimed at fools and we are not fools, we are highly intelligent fansm we know only too well that 11 games in, our PL Season was pretty much over and I think this is the worst PL Season in Wenger’s Tenure. Especially as most realistic unblinkered fans realised that it was effectively over before it even began.
Last summer I have never been so dissilusioned as a fan going into a season and yet comical Wenger still waffled shit like an MP caught with their pants down over their expense claims.
Good point Ole regarding the pressing. I think I made that point myself earlier and I was not alone. The thing is, Barca players are so good at it — if you try it and are not quick enough it is just suicide.
However, I was also impressed by Pep switching Messi to the center to create match-up problems. The ability of the players to switch up is key. With RVP, Eduardo, Arshivin and Theo we should be able to do something similar next year.
Cali Gooner, never said this but in the CL Semi’s I thought maybe it would have been a good Idea to move Walcott to another position to give him more room to attack, maybe as second striker or something since Man U continued to double him.
LOL Muppet, that was outstanding!
Cali Gooner, et al. I agree and that is why I think Wenger puts so much stock in players being able to move around in formations. I would only say that I have not noticed Wenger switching formations on the fly very often but that is likely down to my own ignorance and the injuries we had forcing his hand.
Theo will play as a striker next season Arsene has said he will move him down the middle so what are our options for next year on the wings. While i love Abou i don’t ever want to see him on the wings so………
Patrick,
“AW promised to buy one or two players this season and he’s already completed the summer purchases already.
1. Jamie Edge-15 year old midfielder from Cheltenham
2. Martin Angha-15 year Swiss under 16 defender
That’s what is called ambition and future.”
I agree with you there. What’s the point of buying young players when we produce our own in the youth team?
Nasri, Eboue, Rosicky?
Nasri future is in the middle Arsene has been playing on the wings for his development. Ricky is still injured. Eboue well lets hope he continues in his transformation into a RW. Then……I really can’t think of any natural wingers on our books.
There’s no such thing as a natural winger.
Vela?
I don’t know what Wenger has said about Walcott, but I’d be surprised if he plays him exclusively in the middle.
A bit of ridiculous comments today. Firstly, too much is being based on one match yesterday. Secondly, we’re not barca. Moreover, yesterdays match is not a proof that wengerball can work. We know wengerball works, we’ve seen it for the past couple of seasons. We’ve seen it this season, when we beat manu and chelsea. Wengerball works, no doubt, but not because Barca won yesterday.
People have ignored that Barca were outperformed by Chelsea in the semis. Despite them getting into the final, they did not win a game. It was a draw, a goal that came in the end, before that they hardly had any shot at goal. Actually that was the only shot at goal for them. We’ve seen arsenal playing like this, this season. We can beat Manu, but we have yet to find an answer to the 10 man behind the ball tactics, with rotational fouling. And if there is any team that would find the answer it will be Arsenal, and not Barca. This pre-season will be massive, we have too many creative players right now, probably more than Barca. Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin, Nasri, and RVP. And we know, that if Ade gets the delivery he would score. What we need is for the above players to play as a team, and get used to each other. It wouldn’t matter much if we played 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. With the differing roles and versatility of our players, we usually end up between a hybrid of 4-3-3 and 4-5-1. When you’ve got theo and Arshavin on the wing, and you say we’re playing 4-5-1, well it isnt much different to a 4-3-3, when Henry and Eto are on the wings. The only crucial difference was that they defend high up, and pressurise from the front which we don’t. However, you’ve got to have alot of defensive discipline for that, because the risk is quite high, rooney and ronaldo almost got through on a couple of occassions, but were ruled offside. And frankly speaking, Manu were playing it decent yesterday, they didnt resort to the thugery that they usually do, not as much as chelsea though. And the refereeing was good.
It’s possible he is planning to buy a “winger.” We have been short in that position a few times this season.
It is Pz and it would be a good idea to buy a winger but i am afraid that while people are trying to find replacements for Denilson/Song or Kolo/Gallas all quality players we may fall short elsewhere.By natural winger i meant a player that plays in that has been playing in the position for most of their career in the Giggs/Overmars mould.
Some of today’s articles and comments from some fans are really pissing me off. Barca winning, is being used as a stick to beat us. F**** amazing. Hacks won’t give up. Arsene is being slated because our current first team doesn’t have academy players, but a group of technical players that have been bought. Being compared to Barca’s academy that has had a loger history. Our project youth, is still a couple of years before we really see what the academy has been producing. And it’s not like Barca doesnt spend alot of money. They do, quite alot.
Wingers, come on haven’t you watched Arsenal play for the last howevermany years. AW plays the traditional European playmakers in the wide positions. These cut in, allowing room for the full backs to overlap and act as wingers. If we played traditional wingers this would largely negate the effectiveness of Clichy and Sagna
Yep, it’s that culture of football that Arsene has going on about thoughout his reign but ‘fans’ like Happygooner could never understand.
Concerned arsenal fan your xenophobic views… buy them all a ticket and send them back where they came from …belong at a BNP convention!
Patrick dont get carried away by this local spine crap.WTF is that? Where did it get United? And how local are Messi, Eto,Henry, Silvinho, Toure, Abidal, Marquez, Alvez????
I aggree with John. What we need though is for Clichy and Sagna to make some crosses. Honestly they have been pathetic this season. And that has been a major let down this season. And then came the more restrictive play from the fullbacks. Interesting summers ahead, we’ve got the players now, need them to gel together, and find fluidity.
Carrick, fletcher and Anderson, are the most over rated players. Seriously, how Manu managed to win the title with such a midfield is beyond me. And it’s pissing me off right now, for no good reason. Got to do with Barca winning I suppose, ” BARCA SHOWS ARSENE THAT HIS STYLE OF PLAY MIGHT JUST WORK” F**** HELL.
JohnN,
That has been a recent change and in this spell we have been trophyless.
I think that a new system really needs to come along with our new style of football 4-5-1 worked for large parts of last year but with the change in personnel it hasn’t be as effective this year. This
could work for us…..
Song
Nasri-Cesc
Arshavin-Eduardo-RVP
Adebayor
For the D&G,
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don’t know, they can’t see, are you one of them?
When you’ve seen beyond yourself then you may find
Peace of mind is waiting there.
Poor crosses are common in football. I don’t know that Clichy and Sagna are worse than others.
http://goal.com/en/news/9/england/2009/05/28/1291908/potential-arsenal-target-gary-cahill-confirms-hes-happy-at
Am i missing something??
I throught this was all wrapped up early darn it we should offered that extra pound for him.
Kevin Davies has also confirmed that he is staying at Bolton.
WHAT??
And Nolan????
Nolan’s gone to Newcastle, hasn’t he? Maybe Wenger will do a double swoop for him and Bassong.
The crosses come in but sometimes we dont have enough players in the box and some of them are a bit poor.
I saw crosses come in and our players actually backed up at times, I think that was due to our early season defensive woes.
I agree with Ateeb 8:33, we know Wengerball works as it did when we beat Man U and Chelsea earlier this season.
Our losses in the CL and FA Cup have been blown way out of proportion. Our team the most talented group in football if you ask me and our time has come!
TRANSFER RUMOUR!!
FunGunner, of ALCFC, has confirmed that she will not be joining Arsenal. “If Arsene were remotely interested in signing me, it would be incredibly flattering,” confessed the slightly-older-than-35 midfielder, “but in any case I am happy playing the odd bit of Saturday football with my mates, who are a great bunch. Plus there’s this fab cafe we go to afterwards for a latte.”
hehe…..we wish if only Arsene wasn’t so cheap….
ACLFC, that should have been.
Cah!
If we’re not buying Cahill, Davies, Nolan, or FunGunner, who the hell are we buying?
Now i am jealous FG before my long-term injury i also enjoyed my Sunday footie team. Had i known Arsenal ladies may pick me up i would have worked harder to regain my fitness.
The “I’ll have what he’s having” crowd look at the shiniest thing they see and they demand it. Chelsea have 5 heavyweight boxer midfielders. Then that’s what we need. Man poo have 8 faceless midfield clogs that are perfect, albeit not spectacular, substitutes for each other. That;s what we need. Barcelona have 7 academy players, academies are suddenly what Arsenal need.
I hate the feckin internet.
“I hate the feckin internet.”
A bit harsh no??
Persistent rumours linking pacy and pugnacious ACLFC striker Maria with the Centre Back position at Arsenal have been batted away by the London-based footballer. “Go away,” she screamed. “I don’t know anything about this, so leave me alone and let me finish my thesis. You people, honestly!” Maria’s early career has been dogged by injuries but it is thought that she has now put them behind her.
***
There you go!
OG, insert
“the Feckin idiots on”
between hate and the, and I agree.
Gee thanks FG but i was a renowned winger….hence my interest in that position.
Just wondering if anyone knows where i can watch the FA Youth final highlights.
And no it isn’t on Arsenalonline.
If you have ATV – they are on now Maria
Which section Passenal??
Maria it is on Arsenal TV (not online). You can download tvants and get a stream of Arsenal TV.
Not online – the TV channel, although there are highlights on ATVO under the reserves and youths section.
Of the game itself?
How steve?
From the Guardian…
Wenger stressed it was only Henry who received special treatment in being allowed to leave in pursuit of silverware. He also indicated that he would take a more strident approach to holding onto players in the future.
“Thierry played a long time for us, nobody else did that and he was close to the end of his career. All these players [in the current squad] are at the start of their careers so it’s completely different. I think the exact opposite now – I don’t see why we should educate the players, get some stick and when they’re ready we sell them. That would be masochistic.”
This sounds good, Arsene! Hope we can come out on the other side of this transfer window intact and rejuvenated!
I don’t like the noises emanating from the RvP camp. I just hope he doesn’t do a Flamini on us….
Maria, click on my name and it will take you to download site for tvants. Just download, install and run. Then search for Arsenal.
I have been reading some Liverfool fansites and the way they are slating their young players after the final puts everything on here in perspective.
God their brutal.
Thanks steve but i can’t find any channels on there Arsenal tv or skysports or bbc.
Any throughts?
The thing I most want Arsene to buy this summer:
-Crossing lessons for Sagna and Clichy
To the idiots complaining about our two 15 year old signings.
Each year every team with an academy (pretty much all English teams now) sign players for the academy. Some academy players are locals, some are from overseas, some are from other English clubs (e.g. Gibbs from Wimbledon).
Anyone who acts as if buying academy kids is unusual for any team needs to get their head examined. Guess what, Fergie is buying an 18 year old from Stockport. Do you see any idiot “fans” complaining about the transfer policy there? Will kids from Stockport help Man Utd win against Barca next year?
Or maybe we should do a Kevin Keegan. Let’s scrap the academy so we can all buy the players we like on Football Manager
The point is not whether Wengerball works, we know it does, but the self-belief and confidence of our younger players to dominate games, especially at the highest level. No, we are not Barca, but the parallels are really interesting. On the other hand (whatever the reasons etc) this year we are not at the playing level of Barca.
There is a lot more psychology in football than fans imagine. For example AW’s biggest worry at the end of the previous season was how running out of steam, and the injury to Eduardo, might affect this just ended season. Confidence.
The passing game requires a high degree of confidence. It entails some risk. The ‘organised defence’ game less so, it is easier to execute, and the ‘percentages’ as they say are greater.
It was not Barca’s win, but the dominance – evident for all to see – that is telling. There is a context. Spain’s performances and new methods in football, the passing game, in which Wenger is a massive figure, but not the only one – and there are variations in this general ethos.
Therefore, it is important to watch the others, see how they do, learn, understand the type of tactics they employ, in specific conditions.
The impact on the English game is interesting, because the ‘well organised defence’ has worked at club level for British teams, abetted by referees, rules and the media. But there are subtle, and massive, changes afoot.
In Britain, Arsenal are at the forefront of these changes, and have been for some time. The invincibles influenced every top club, especially ManU, who learned and adopted some elements.
But football is not static, and we find ourselves at an interesting point. The story of Barcelona this year is not the game v ManU, it is all the games that led to record breaking 104 goals in domestic league, plus all the games to the CL final, and then in front of 2 billion TV viewers – not to scoffed at – they outplay the defensive game.
Meantime Arsenal has been building, preparing, developing depth, finding the right players, in order to mount an assault, with the passing game, on the top echelons of football. We are way ahead, in England, in this strategy.
The Barcelona-ManU result has, at the very least, implications. It will influence the game in England, no doubt. The influence is partly psychological. The ‘best team in the world’ with British ‘spine and guts’ (in the eyes of many British) has just been blown away by ‘short, fast players’ who pass the ball with speed, and dominate.
This is of interest to Arsenal.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2454217/United-havent-got-a-leader-no-Keane-Gerrard-or-Lamps.html
HA HA HA !
http://www.arsenalinsider.com/?p=4910
Just saw this it seems Myles Palmer has rubbed many gooners up the wrong way.
Oh yeah look @ Harper’s comments i understand what you guys mean now. DAMNNNNNNNNN
His a sick man.
ZP,
4:58 Great early post!!!
Am i there only one awake…damn i miss Bob….
I’ve been awake for hours … yawn (literally)!
RVP why don’t you just go and fug yourself?
Yah RVP!!!! Why don’t you?
“The influence is partly psychological. The ‘best team in the world’ with British ’spine and guts’ (in the eyes of many British) has just been blown away by ’short, fast players’ who pass the ball with speed, and dominate”.
I aggree with you. But we’ve known that, the point is will the lesser teams adapt or change the way they play? Most of the teams are trying to stay in the PL. They wouldn’t risk changing the way they play. They’d stick to the old methods, and I think next season will be instrumental for us, to show that 10 man behind the ball strategy won’t work against us anymore.
Did somebody say United local boys didn’t help?
They’ve won the league consecutively three times and won the CL last season.
Our foreign players are average and will never win us anything.
Barcelona has local presence in their team. Pique, Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi and Valdes.
We always play first team of foreign average players who haven’t been good for years.
Pool is offloading Babel because he’s average but Arsene Wenger is paying huge wages to foreign average players who’re on ‘vacation’ in london.
Next season is his last chance to do something else Steve Bould will be replacing him.
His “British is bad and foreign is good” policy has failed big time because his so called foreign have been found to be a big spin. He’s only pushed club towards a mid table level.
Now we’re competing with Villa, Everton, City and Fulham instead of fighting for the title.
AW hid behind Graham’s team to succeed, now he’s been found out.
Ah, it’s Howard’s latest nom de plume.
At least he’s not talking about Kenyans anymore.
Concerned Arsenal(?) fan,
That was a really dissapointing, and unintelligent post. You’r really mastering that art, aren’t you?
Let’s play a game? Name me a few BRITISH player’s with the technical ability to get into that Barca midfield. Player’s that can play the beautiful football.
I’ll save you the trouble, there are none, as for now. None, gerrard, lampard, Carrick, Fletcher, or whoever, would never get into the Barca, or for that matter into our team.
However what you have as of now, is a group of many British youngsters in our academy, who with time will break into the first team and play the way we play. And, growing up together, and having gone through the academy, these crop of players will be playing far better than our first team plays. You’ll have to be patient though. No?
Manu is already on the drawing board. Sir Alex is ditching Nani, Park and Tevex because he thinks they don’t fit in his plans.
Well, our so called ‘one of the best coaches in the world’ are throwing hard earned Arsenal fans money on his ‘skilled’ players.
He will keep faith with Diaby, denilson, Song, Bendtner, Eboue,Sylvestre and their likes until he’s sacked from the club.
Ateeb
Oh! You mean Denilson, Eboue, Diaby, Song, Sylvestre, Almunia will get into the Barca team?
Arsene Wenger fed us with trash that his recruits are “exceptional players” they’ve been found out that their average.
He’s wasting so much money.
He pays Denilson, Diaby 40k a week
Eboue 50k
Traore 15k
Syvestre 50k
Almunia 50k
What a waste of struggling fans money?
Breaking News:
Howard’s youth project has started to bare fruit. Blogger’s from his academy have stepped up on the world stage, to show their lack of inteligence, or complete lack of it. Cries of “Get rid of foreigners” echo through the blog sites. Some of the more accomplished are, patrick, Kelsey, Concerned Arsenal fan. They are being compared to the LG academy, that last night won the award for the shi*** site in the arsenal blog world. Howard’s project though has a couple of season more to go, before you see complete and utter twa**.
Concerned T***,
Denilson, Diaby, and Song might make the bench at Barca. But Cesc, Arshavin, Rosicky, Nasri, And RVP will make it into their team.
F**** off!!
Concerned t***,
Ever tried getting your head out of your ***?
It’s ridiculous, how you can compare Denilson, diaby, and Song, with Xavi and Inietsa. For fuck sakes, don’t you see the age difference? Xavi has 71 caps for his country. You can compare, basquests, keita or the likes with Dinilson, Diaby and Song though, and you’ll see ours seem more talented. As for Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin and Nasri, they’ll be right up there with Xavi and Iniesta, when they get to play a season or two, together.
AW need to surrender the club back and allow us to rebuild. He’s at his wits end.
The players that he’s planning to keep won’t deliver anything next year.
Mark my word and watch this pace. The average foreign players don’t have what it takes to win anything.
5th year of emptiness is coming and after that most fans will swallow their gullibility.
Concerned t***
Shall AW surrender the club to you so that you can advise how to rebuild?
Your words don’t mean nothing, and this space is not yours. So f*** off.
Ateeb
So how do you compare Senderos now 24 to Pique at 22?
Denilson, Diaby can never develop to be an Iniesta or Xavi because they lack the skills that can push them to that level.
Could you count the number of balls that Iniesta and Xavi lost? Negligible.
Do you know how old is Iniesta? Diaby is 23 anyway and has been here for 4 years.
AW should just buy quality and stop creating employment for average Afro-French players.
He pays huge salaries for French players who’re not good and don’t get rid of them even if they’re not performing.
Sir Alex won’t do that. He keeps fletcher and O’Shea because they’re true United players and die for the club when they play.
Show me any Arsenal player who kill himself on the field?
“Show me any Arsenal player who kill himself on the field?”
That would be difficult, because, had that player killed himself, we wouldn’t be able to show you him.
Besides, we need to keep our squad together this summer.
Although, I’m starting to understand where Fletcher and O’Shea get their good looks from; it seems they’re part of the army of the undead. For that matter, does Paul Scholes die every week as well?
Yes, O’shea, Fletcher and others were brought through manu youth system and they play their hearts out “killing” themselves. All these average foreign players don’t really care.
OneOfUs
Another empty year is coming and you’ll see your gullibility.
May be you’re happy and its possible you’ve got your national in the team and his pay is adding to your GDP so you don’t care.
You support AW and Arsenal as far as he keeps your average countryman in the team. Isn’t it?
“Show me any Arsenal player who kill himself on the field?”
That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever read! Injuries are bad enough but if players start ‘killing’ themselves on the field, we’d run out of players in no time!
Concerned Arsenal Fan – pls shut the f*** up.
Denilson keeps the ball better than anyone in our league and thats a straightforward fact CONcerned Arsenal Fan…
Can hyou count the number of balls Denilson has lost this season?
You don’t appear to know much about football Concerned Arsenal Fan…
There are other blogs where that would appear less obvious…
Actually, I think Iniesta’s pass success-rate on Wednesday was slightly worse than Denilson’s usually is.
On some blogs where football knowledge is merely a “nice to have” rather than a prerequisite – they even let you write the posts.
Since when has O’shea been English?
Dear Concerned,
Thanks for trying out as an Arsenal supporter. I feel you need more experience so as to toughen up and develop your skills. There are numerous opportunities. Good luck out there.
You can go now.
Many thanks.
Here I was thinking the title was referring to Eboue and Silvestre.
Yeah, Arsenal’s foreign teams have been crap.
We had these shitty players like Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira, Henry, Edu, Ljungberg, and Toure, who were carried by the phenomenally loyal, honest, and mentally strong Brits like Franny Jeffers, Sol Campbell, and Ashley Cole.
Oh yeah, and and of course, it was really George Graham who was signing and coaching these players. Wenger was just the figure head.
Or maybe George Graham actually puts on a Wenger costume, and it was him the whole time!!
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