Arsenal Thread

Not to sound like an apologist of Wenger's ways, but if we analyse only this match, we didn't deserve to lose and that f*cking ref was out there to screw us from minute 1. As proof that he's ill intentioned, something I've never seen in a football match: waving advantage after a penalty!? He deliberately waited for the Villa player to shoot on an empty goal, but after he put it wide he goes back and points to the spot? A penalty is a penalty, play stops. Perdiod.
Plus, the bookings for Wilshere, Cazorla and Koscielny were an incredible joke.

Having said that, it doesn't change that Wenger is playing with fire and his inactivity may cost us big time. Only today we had injuries to Sagna, Gibbs and Koscielny was sent off and will be suspended. We simply do not have cover for them as Arsenal4Life just said.

Many things are very wrong at Arsenal. Walcott is our highest earner - what did he do today? He's a good player for us, not much more than that. He's certainly not the type of player who'll take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Maybe I'm being unfair to him, because he wasn't completely fit. Again, this is a problem of lack of cover. He ended up playing all 90 minutes - cause now we don't have Gervinho, Arshavin or new signings for these positions. Podolski only got on near the end, and I don't know what's the deal with him?

Anyways, by today's standards, not much wrong with Walcott earning 100k a week. What's unsettling is that he is our top earner. This has to be rectified with big names arriving which will inevitably take us to a new level of spend: think salaries of 170k a week or above, for the world class proven players who may consider joining.

But the truth is I just don't see it. From now til the end of the window, will there be anything more than scraps from the transfer battle ground?

From the day we beat Newcastle 1-0 and garanteed a top 4 finish, Wenger must have known all along what to do, what the team needed. By all accounts, the money is there available. If he didn't spend anything so far, failing to reinforce our squad in advance, that's it for me. Enough said. The buck stops with the manager and I'll be the first one calling for his head.
 
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Rentboy said:
As proof that he's ill intentioned, something I've never seen in a football match: waving advantage after a penalty!? He deliberately waited for the Villa player to shoot on an empty goal, but after he put it wide he goes back and points to the spot? A penalty is a penalty, play stops. Perdiod.
Plus, the bookings for Wilshere, Cazorla and Koscielny were an incredible joke.
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First penalty was great refereeing.

Second penalty and first yellow for Kolscieny was a bad decision. And the second yellow card was absolutely woeful. I don't think there was any contact whatsoever.
 
beachryan said:
First penalty was great refereeing.

Second penalty and first yellow for Kolscieny was a bad decision. And the second yellow card was absolutely woeful. I don't think there was any contact whatsoever.
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I would have given the 1st penalty myself, but as I said, it's a penalty, period. Play stops. I've never seen before advantage being waved on in a situation like that - it's like you're giving someone more benefits than they should. I just think it was very suspicious behaviour from this ref who seemed biased right from the off.

Arsenal should appeal Koscielny's second yellow, but with the FA you never know, seeing how they apparently hate Arsenal/Wenger, they'd only extend the ban further.

I'd just like to make it clear that I'm not mixing things - I'm not pissed off at the club and Wenger on the back of this bad result. This here is a clear cut case of us getting done by the refs at our place again.

The reason I was already angry before this match is due to this suicidal behaviour we see from Wenger, this inaction in the market and letting us begin a season and CL playoff qualification in such shambles.
I have now given up hope that Wenger will ever address our transfer needs properly.
The way this club is poorly run, it's uncanny.
We see how United doesn't want to sell Rooney to Chelsea, Liverpool won't let us have Suarez, etc. We are the only club who sells their best players to arch rivals within the league. In the case of RVP, at a discount price! 24m pounds for him, in a world where Higuain goes for 34m and Torres for 50m... I feel Arsenal are a laughing stock alright, the joke always seems to be on us.
Man United sends us Silvestre, we send them Van Persie :LOL:

Sorry guys, but no... I can't take Wenger seriously anymore. He is indeed like Arseblog defined this week: a football hipster. The minute Luiz Gustavo became interesting to everyone, we lost our interest. Wenger likes to discover what's cool on his own. Forget Luiz Gustavo, Suarez, Higuain, Julio Cesar... these guys are so 2012! Gedion Zelalem is the real deal, you'll see. We're probably concentrating our scouts and agent's efforts into some teenage wonderkid from inner Mongolia right now. That would be pretty awesome to have. Yeap...

Rant mode OFF for now.
 
Surely the old boy has to go now.

I thought I heard some time ago that Wenger got some sort of bonus or % of profit on money income or the likes, if that is the case, then it's his call not to buy the players.


FD
 
Rentboy said:
Rant mode OFF for now.
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No worries , ranting are normally mixed w/ truth and a tad of delusion.

I was taking my son to the University, proudest moment after his birth. He can actually play in the MLS , if things pan out :)) As ,I was seeing the amount of money Im going to invest in my son`s future . I read the Arsenal vs Villa match and saw the highlights on MOTD (US verion) I rather the UK verion :LOL:

I was so angry...I almost bled sweat! Then, seeing Wenger almost single handily pass the problem to Ivan, like Wenger is too busy w/ team preparations and that Ivan is the one that does the deals :CONFUSE: I was livid!!!

The fans leaving early and booing is just fans blowing bubbles in the air! pointless .

If, I could make an impact I would get behind Wenger and begin to question the Owner/board members. Almost making Wenger the victim in all this circumstance that could of been avoided. Either way the pressure is on, but we need to be smart in the next few days left. Hopefully Wenger is embarrass and realize having pride is bad for business. I think Wenger`s principle might be confused by pride.
 
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bebo said:
No worries , ranting are normally mixed w/ truth and a tad of delusion.

I was taking my son to the University, proudest moment after his birth. He can actually play in the MLS , if things pan out :)) As ,I was seeing the amount of money Im going to invest in my son`s future . I read the Arsenal vs Villa match and saw the highlights on MOTD (US verion) I rather the UK verion :LOL:

I was so angry...I almost bled sweat! Then, seeing Wenger almost single handily pass the problem to Ivan, like Wenger is too busy w/ team preparations and that Ivan is the one that does the deals :CONFUSE: I was livid!!!

The fans leaving early and booing is just fans blowing bubbles in the air! pointless .

If, I could make an impact I would get behind Wenger and begin to question the Owner/board members. Almost making Wenger the victim in all this circumstance that could of been avoided. Either way the pressure is on, but we need to be smart in the next few days left. Hopefully Wenger is embarrass and realize having pride is bad for business. I think Wenger`s principle might be confused by pride.
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If your son is in playing age, send him to London, Arsenal might need him in that squad! :P
I'm thinking about applying for a CF role myself, a cheap understudy for Giroud. As I've passed the 30 year old barrier, I'd gladly accept one year contracts ;)

As for who's to blame - I blame Gazidis and the board too, of course. What they care for is profits. But the buck stops with Wenger when it comes to football decisions. He appoints the team of people responsible for transfers - who appear to be a bunch of amateurs based on this showing - and at the end of the day he's the one sanctioning or not the transfers. He has a budget, but he didn't touch it so far. We're making profits on the sales of the likes of Gervinho and Mannone.

Wenger has said a gazillion times now that they are on the market, blah blah, but there's a shortage of players, it's hard to find the players. This is pure and utter nonsense. The players are there and they cost money. Either you want them or you don't.
 
The_Special_One said:
Chill out lads, Arsenal has finally signed a new player!

Arsenal sign Kristopher Da Graça
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A Swede called "Da Graça" huh? I bet he came to Arsenal "de graça" (which means "for free" in Portuguese) :P
Sorry about the pun.
But these half-Portuguese fellas, I don't know... they're as dodgy as they come. Remember Amaury Bischoff, the one who had no knees? :D

On a more serious note, the mood among the Arsenal fan base is the worse we've seen in years, and it's very justified.

Watch this group of fans from Belgium:
YouTube - Arsenal FC FanTalk - We are the worst prepared club - Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 3
This guy echoes 90% of what I think. Totally agree with him.

And this man says exactly what I think about us giving it everything and being lucky to get 4th place, only to chuck it all away with irresponsibility and sheer incompetence:
YouTube - Arsenal FC FanTalk - Either the Board or Wenger Must Go - Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 3 - ArsenalFanTV.com

Everyone seems to agree we need a striker and a defensive midfielder at the very least. But I've been saying for a while here that we need a top goal keeper too, and I must say after seeing the Wojcech Szczesny horror show in the 1st half against Villa, we need a GK more than ever. But amazingly, there's not even a hint that Wenger is looking for one.
 
Rentboy said:
A Swede called "Da Graça" huh? I bet he came to Arsenal "de graça" (which means "for free" in Portuguese) :P
Sorry about the pun.
But these half-Portuguese fellas, I don't know... they're as dodgy as they come. Remember Amaury Bischoff, the one who had no knees? :D
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Oh boy! That lad was terrible! Surely he was unlucky with all the injuries but, honestly, I've never bought into his hype. He couldn't even make it into the Portuguese second division!
 
It pains me to say it, but "I told you so". This has been happening for years and years. Arsenal have got systematically weaker year on year since that CL final 6 or so years ago. Look at the Arsenal team that night Campbell, Fabregas, Touré, Pires, Ashley Cole, Gilberto Silva, Ljungjberg, Henry, Jens Lehmann. Jesus, even look at the bench Clichy, Flamini, Bergkamp, Van Persie - that was a very strong squad one of the strongest in Europe at the time. It had such a strong spine. Look at the teams it beat Real, Juventus, Ajax, PSV and Inter (those two a couple of years earlier) - even with 10 men the team pushed Barca all the way in that final.

Now look at squad, disgracefully thin in terms of numbers and quality. The squad is so feeble they are almost underdogs in the CL playoffs against Fenerbache. The decline has been so rapid in the last few years it's beyond belief. I think a lot of this acceleration of decline has been under Kronke. It really does seem like the club is a cash cow to him, and furthermore there is noone at the club who knows how to deal in the transfer market, compare this to the days of David Dein who was as shrewd and astute as they come. I read somewhere that Wenger is the best paid manager in the league (I think maybe now Mourinho might be on more than him) either way he seems to be earning a vast amount for being a lackey, a patsy for an incompetant and penny pinching board. It's gone beyond hiding behind the half-truth of "not being able to compete with City, Chelsea and PSG" - how come in the last few years teams like Spurs, Newcastle and even Swansea have been able to strengthen their teams with good players without breaking the bank? A lot of these signings would get into the Arsenal squad some would probably get into the first team. Now it's at the stage where vast swathes of squad are being released and sold and simply not being replaced at all (nevermind being replaced with inferior players) - it really seems to be a case of bleeding the cash cow dry.

I can see the board salivating over the minutiae of trivial and marginal profits - like the guff about how it was good that Arsenal got an extra £1-2m for Van Persie winning the league, and Wenger playing along collecting his salary. 6-7 years ago an ambitious transfer policy would have seen you compete for winning the CL, 3-4 years ago if the club was ambitious it might have still been contenders in the league, now it really is a case of having to sign players to have a chance of finishing 4th. As I've been saying for years if you lower your aims and expectations you keep declining. Aiming for 4th so publically meant you would never come close to winning the PL and eventually you would miss out on 4th - just like teams that aim for 1st (Man Utd, City, Chelsea) eventually/occasionally come 2nd or 3rd. The trouble is finishing lower than 4th will really be cataclysmic for the club.

There is a way out of the spiral, as a club you should be able to attract the sort of players you need to, Fellaini (or Neustaeder), Julio Cesar (or Caballero), Adil Rami, Joel Matip - all these players are within budget, all would probably join and all would greatly increase the squad strength. If they really pushed the boat out they could even bring in players like Lassana Diarra, Willian or Eto given Anzhi is in meltdown. Of course the current board will never do this, and Wenger would rather humm along trying to be a youth player alchemist. But I fear this year really is the last chance to arrest terminal decline.
 
But I don't know if that is a massive concern for them, in some ways Newcastle might be more of a competitor for them than City. City will probably finish comfortably in the top 2-3, there is an outside chance Newcastle could compete with Arsenal for 4th, or if Arsenal slip from 4th, Newcastle might be in the running with them for a Europa league place via the league (5th or 6th), 2 years ago they did this.
 
Clubs know we are desperate and loaded on cash.

Clubs don't want to leave their best players after the season has already taken off.

Wenger has pushed himself into a corner and it is his fault.

Imagine, we could easily have already signed Julio Cesar, Luiz Gustavo, and David Villa.
 
Wenger is in a situation where who ever he signs is going to be under the weight of the world to succeed, and if they fail arsenal fans will blame him no doubt.
 
I'd take anything from the daily mail with a truckload of salt.

But I agree the fact that Wenger has an empty trolley so far in the transfer window doesn't make his life any easier - nor does Ivan Gazidis' bang-on-chest statements that we have 70m pounds and can pay salaries to Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo and Maradona.

It doesn't make sense to me to have a manager that plays his cards so close to the chest and a chief executive who's a loud mouth.

For me, the whole problem is Wenger/Arsenal not completing the transfers quickly enough.
We were haggling over Higuain for a long time and had we bid some 3 million over the odds, maybe Madrid would have accepted it. But instead, what happened next is that the big sugar daddies put the wheels in motion and made a few clubs cash rich, such as Napoli, and in turn Real Madrid bumped up he price tag on Higuain.

The Suarez thing is another cock up that is testament to the incompetence of our transfer people - to believe in a dodgy release clause and actually make a mockery of the whole thing by adding that pound to the bid.

Then Luiz Gustavo, I just don't know what to make of that. I can't begin to understand how a Champions League club as traditional as Arsenal can be beat to the signing of a target by... Wolfsburg! With all due respect, but a mid-table team from Bundesliga.

Now last I heard is that we are after Valencia's no.2 keeper Guaita. The way I see it we have two keepers who are of this calibre already - both Szcz and Fabianski aren't good enough to be 1st choice, 2nd keeper at best. So what do we do? We go for another keeper who is second choice at his club.
People say Guaita is pretty good (I don't know much of him) and he only lost his position because Brazilian keeper Diego Alves is doing great.
But Diego Alves isn't even called up for the Brazilian National team. Who is the NT no.1? Julio Cesar! The guy is Premier League material, world class, 1st keeper for Brazil, lives in London and wants to stay in London, and he is available in the market. What's the deal with that??

I'm tired of trying to make sense out of this transfer window.
 
bebo said:
Law made the bid on Friday morning , not Monday morning.
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Got it. Weird given Pardew's quotes, maybe he only told Cabaye on the Sunday or something.

Doesn't really matter. No idea why Wenger is after Cabaye. Good player, but isn't a position Arsenal really need help with.
 
Here is Arseblog's take on the Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain possible contract clause:
http://news.arseblog.com/2013/08/mail-astounded-that-club-pays-for-player/

I have to agree with him. The fee for the player was around £12m plus £3m add ons. Considering all appearances he made until today, the maximum Arsenal would owe Southampton would be around £600k.

I don't think it's that shocking, considering the figures involved in the transaction.
 
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