Toure gone? + Arsenal don’t need to replace Adebayor (Guest Post Tuesdays)

Is Toure on his way to Manchester City?

Hello there – hope you’re having a lovely Tuesday.

Just a quick news Arsenal news round-up to get through before things get all Guest Posty. Here goes:

  • The Arsenal boys continued their impressive pre-season overnight with a comfortable 5-0 win over Hungarian side Szombathelyi Haladas. Eduardo returned to the team with a brace, Nicklas Bendtner also got two and Robin van Persie scored the fifth with a trademark rocket penalty. Meanwhile Szombathelyi’s Maikel missed late on with one of the worst penalties you’re even likely to see. You can see all the highlights here.
  • The Daily Mail (I know, I know) has claimed that Kolo Toure has joined Manchester City for £15 million. Toure started yesterday’s game so it does seem that this could be made up, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out to be true. However, I’ll be waiting for a more reliable source to break this sort of news before I make any sort of comment.
  • Nicklas Bendtner has denied he’s on his way to AC Milan. Good man.
  • Bacary Sagna loves Thomas Vermaelen. I would like to add that I like the idea of Vermaelen but I’m not going to proclaim my love for him until I see him play. After that I will send him a bunch of twelve red roses attached with the best haiku I can muster in the hope of wooing him all the way to Australia. You know how it is.

That’s that for all the news bits. I’ll be on Twitter and Facebook to break any further Toure-related information as it happens but in the meantime it’s Guest Post Tuesday time.

Today’s guest post comes from a London-based Gooner and regular commenter on the Arsenal FC Blog who goes by the name of Enemy Airships. I’ve been begging him for the last few weeks to write something for the blog as he’s a great writer who has his own blog about life adventures and music among other things called, funnily enough, Enemy Airships.

Anyway, enemyairships’ post today attempts to answer the question: do we need to replace Emmanuel Adebayor? It’s another superb read and as always, I hugely encourage everyone to let Enemy Airships know what you think via the comments. 

Enjoy!

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Arsenal don’t need to replace Adebayor by enemyairships

Now that the dust has settled on the Adebayor saga, it’s time to fantasise about what to do with the £25 million that’s suddenly burning a hole in the club’s coffers. Even though we sent him packing with a collective ‘good riddance’ instead of a ‘good luck’, the fact remains that he had an enviable goal scoring record at Arsenal and provided a majority of our goals over the last two seasons.

The gut reaction of many of our fans has been to vomit up a list of every striker who’s ever had a reputation in world football and demand that we sign one as a straight replacement. I’ve seen The Good (Huntelaar, Villa, Eto’o) suggested alongside The Bad (Chamakh, Trezeguet, Kalou) and the downright Ugly (Van Nistelhorse… I mean seriously, guys?).

You can’t blame them, it’s been a long time since we were in a position to potentially offer huge sums of money for a major star, but when you start seeing the names of your ex-arch rivals popping up you can’t help but assume the fans have gone mad. I mean, we’ve all been Arsenal supporters for long enough now to know that it’s simply not the Arsenal way to a) spend money and b) actually replace the players we sell!

Joking aside, I really don’t see the replacement of Adebayor to be a club priority at the moment. I believe that the attacking prowess he’s left behind at The Emirates is one of the most impressive in the league. Both Chelsea and Liverpool have been solely reliant on one and a half decent strikers for the past couple of years now, with Drogba and Torres shouldering the majority of the goal scoring burden at their respective clubs. The trick to this success is that a hefty chunk of their goals come from a dependable goalscoring midfielder.

In Fabregas, Arsenal have a midfielder with the ability to score as prolifically as Lampard and Gerrard. Two seasons ago, when he was given the freedom to prowl the pitch at will, he notched up 13 goals. He’s two years older now, with an international trophy under his belt. If we find the correct partner for him in midfield, he has the talent required to create and score goals in abundance. He might even earn a place as my dream team captain again!

Adebayor’s entire reputation was crafted from the attacking ability of our midfield – he simply had so many chances that he just had to score some of them! The fact that our midfield remains unchanged is good news, considering we still managed to conjure up the joint-highest amount of goals in the league last year, even with a lazy, disinterested striker up front.

A constant criticism of Arsenal’s football is that we are too intricate around the goalmouth and never get the ball into the back of the net. Next season will see a rested Arshavin and a returning Rosicky from day one, and they’re two players who love to have a crack from outside the box. Couple that with the fact that they’ll probably be playing just behind Eduardo and RvP – players who are naturally gifted goalscorers – and you’ve got an offensive quarter that that could really do some damage next season.

The single facet of Ade’s game we may miss is his aerial presence. He was brought in at a time when we were criticised for being too lightweight up top and he also occasionally used his head to teach our vertically-challenged defence how to mop up a set piece. Even so, Arsenal fans should worry not as we still have a player who can assist in that department – everyone’s favourite cult hero/pantomime villain – Nick Bendtner. I’ve completely changed my opinion on Super Nick and am now anticipating a big season from the much-abused frontman. Who knows, hopefully he’ll be looking to grab this opportunity with both hands and he might even shake off the ‘not bad for a fourth striker’ tag.

I haven’t even mentioned our younger players who could be promoted from within to fill the gap up front. Sure, the likes of Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshire are still too young to lead the line, but then again so is Fran Macheda, and just how many points did he single handedly notch up for Man Utd last season?

I don’t think our transfer priority has changed with the sale of Ade, and it was perhaps the only area of the pitch where we could tolerate a player leaving this summer. We should continue the search for a defensive midfielder who can cut the tethers that hold the rest of our midfield back. In the mean time we have a completely competent manager who should have fun experimenting with his well-rounded and able attack force next season. I have to say I’m looking forward to it! 

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Got a great idea for an article? If you want to write for Guest Post Tuesdays on the Arsenal FC Blog then be sure to get in touch with me via Facebook or Twitter. Just let me know your idea and we’ll take it from there.

Have your say on Kolo Toure or Enemy Airships’ guest post by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. Spot on, Enemy Airships. A measured, reasonable approach…very “Wenger-like”. As TH14 said in the papers today…Trust Arsene. And your post goes right along with that.

    Killer name, BTW. 🙂

  2. Damn if Kolo goes!

    And DAMN if the offer for Bendtner is not true!!

    And for the post of Enemy Airships…

    Youre right about Chelsea and Liverpool concentrating all their goals in one single striker. The problem is that we dont have that kind of striker.

    Dont get me wrong I think VanPersie is awesome but I see him more as a supporting striker than a “hunter in the box” I dont think Van Persie can score more than 20 goals. SO I think we really need that type of striker who can score every ball that he receives.

    And is not fair to compare Cesc with Lampard and Gerrard. Ces is probably one of the best creative midfielders in the world and an awesome passer but I think his biggest problem is that he can score the goals that we require for a creative midfielder.

    Even if you put him in Barca playing in the exactly same position of Xavi (something that suddenly will happen) he will not score more that 15 goals and its ok. But I think Gerard and Lampard are better than him simply because they can score many goals and thats what a creative mid need to have in his attributes.

    So thats the reason of why I think he is a little bit overated. I love how he loves Arsenal and his great vision but I dont think (at the moment) he is better than Gerard, Lapard, Diego, Gourcouff, Kaka and some others. Maybe I will be the only Arsenal fan the will not get mad if we sell Cesc for many millons and replace him with someone who can score many goals apart of a great vission.

  3. The problem with you kids is that you equate preseason games against 5 division oppositions as markers.

    The offer to Roma is true.

    Didn’t you silly people say that we don’t need to replace Flamini last year?

  4. @Enemy Airships
    An excellent article and your opinion is one that I definetly agree with but I wouldn’t be adverse to Huntler coming in, we need another Dutch player to keep RvP happy.
    @MexicanGunner, I don’t think there is a striker in the world that can score with every touch. We saw both Bendy and Ed score two excwllent goals last night, I realise the oposition was not Premiership standard but they were no mugs either.

  5. @ Dally

    I dont mean “literally” score evry ball he touch. If that striker exist probably will costs 150 mill.

    And what u say about Bendtner and Eduardo yesterday its exactly what “mark” says.

    We see that we dont receive goals and Bentner and Eduardo scores and averybody says “we´re fine” “just look how many goals scores Bendnter in pre season”.”Just look how our defence is so strong and hey look how we win the Emirates cup”.

    Thats season after season. We´re winning games like all the pre seasons and probably we will be losing like every season. (If Arsene doesnt strenght the team)

  6. Good blog. Its good to hear opinions from fans that may differ from your own but arent full of hysteria or depression.
    As far as Toure is concerned I think we may be missing a trick if he goes. Couldnt he play in front of the back 4 and release the midfield to attack using a 4-5-1 or 4-1-3-2 formation? He still has the pace, vision and tackling ability to do this. Anyone else think this way?

  7. Saying Cesc needs a new partner is just an excuse for how lazy he was last season. he didn’t defend, he didn’t put the effort in and he was not effective enough – simple.

  8. Enemy Airships’ post is damning truthful. We actually shouldnt concentrate too much on replacing Ade. did’nt he want to leave? And what’s that to Arsenal than good riddance? I’ve no squabs as long as Fabregas isnt going anywhere.

  9. “Couldnt he play in front of the back 4 and release the midfield to attack using a 4-5-1 or 4-1-3-2 formation?”

    No, that would be a terrible idea. A DM needs to read the game. Kolo Toure can read the game as well as I can dribble bowling balls.

  10. good day arsenal blog. I live in philippines, hows your live Arsenal coverage down in australia ? Deejay

  11. @ Tom14
    I think if he wasnt worrying about Gallas behind him with a knife in his hand he could see the game a bit clearer, but I see your point.

  12. Thank you Enemy Airships for your reasoned and may I say, entirely accurate essay. If we were, say, Man Shitty or (horror of horrors) The Rent Boys, we might well throw a wodge of money at a new striker. But we are The Arsenal – great up-holders of the true tradition of club football. We have have way many good strikers who can do the business for us. DM is a different fettle of kish but – yawn – nuff said on that subject from me.

    @ mark – can I ask – what the **** are you talking about?

  13. If Wenger thought Toure would make a good defensive midfield partner for Cesc by now we would have seen it happen. I mean he’s giving big Phil a chance there for crying out loud. Kolo is either off to City or one of our central defenders next season.

    I still don’t know why Arshavin is being played out on the left when it’s patently obvious he would damage sides playing in the true “No. 10” role although the injury to Nasri may leave us no choice but to play Andrey wide. We should be building around this wonderful player tho and playing a system to match his strengths.

    It’s a good post enemyairships. It’s completely true that Ade thrived on the service the Arsenal midfield and especially Fabregas gave him. I’ll be amazed if he does as well at City, what a great bit of business from Arsene. I believe we’ll see a midfielder come in regardless of where Kolo goes but I warn people it is likely to be closer to the end of the window than right now…

  14. @ White Ox – Arshavin only plays well for us on the left to be fair to wenger. He is clearly a “second striker” by nature, but he does perform on the left.

    @ Barndoor Bendtner – Toure was the guy slagging off Gallas, all Gallas did was tell the truth about the Arsenal team.

  15. Excellent post, excellent post…..I love whatever you guys are doing on this blog as long as you are truthful and dont write what you did not see.

    Now, what are the chances of landing a finisher in January…assuming something goes wrong with EDUARDO? He’s the only dependable striker we’ve got(we cant fully rely on a BENTNER in a Champs league final match).

    If we finish second in the EPL, some people will rejoice just because we’ve been doing 4th since. But, I would love us to have the EPL this year…so I wouldn’t like us to be taking any chances.

    Two seasons ago, when FLAMINI was there, goal scoring was just the problem coupled with Champs League quarter final experience as we couldn’t get past some EPL teams then. What did we do? Buy NASRI…the perfect answer to the goal scoring problem which I dont know if WENGER noticed at all.

    As lucky as we were, we hit the jackpot, got pure GOLD in ARSHAVIN….he saved our blushes when we were not even sure of taking the now much coveted 4th place. He is a supporting striker, eventhough last season he showed how versatile he could be playing out of position.

    So, we have EDUARDO and ROSICKY back, but I still feel we need something extra upfront. Dont forget Barcelona has BOJAN and GUDJONSEN as extras and didn’t even need our HLEB.

    This was why they could get past a highly motivated Chelsea in the semis. We know how most of our cup ties with Chelsea ends these days, especially when DROGBA is playing.

    I still think in order to make up for the lack of experience in the team, we simply need to be ruthless upfront at all times. I dont like the issue of “If this guy were fit or that”. Lets win things this season, get an experienced finisher…cos his job will always be simple with superb service form everywhere.

    I just love this team.

  16. I don’t want Kolo to leave. 2 or 3 injuries and ol’ Silvester will be in the centre again. NO. THANK. YOU.

    Wouldn’t be bad if we got in Naldo though. Wishful thinking. :'(

  17. Firstly, I don’t think Kolo did play yesterday as you stated. In fact, he wasn’t in the squad at all.

    Secondly, does anyone know if Rosicky is okay?? he played against Barnet and not a peep since!!

  18. its good to hear opinions however varied they maybe, but of all the seaons gone by, this is one of the coming seasons that i feel we will really win the premier league. i see the return of ED, Tomas, and the inclusion of a much rejuvenated Asharvin having a very profound effect on our game this coming season. so all you doubters, wait till the games begin. doesnt haelp to complain, whine and paint a not so good picture where none exists.

  19. Kolo did play, but he played in the second string defence.

    “I don’t want Kolo to leave. 2 or 3 injuries and ol’ Silvester will be in the centre again. NO. THANK. YOU.”

    Two or three injuries with any set of center backs and we are in the same situation, it would be the same at any club.

    Toure would not accept being 4th choice, so he will want to leave.

  20. Thanks for the comments, guys, and thanks to Spanish for the opportunity to write a guest post, it was a lot of fun.

    @Mexican Gunner:

    The thing about Lampard and Gerrard is that they haven’t always been 20 goals a season midfielders. They both exploded at around the age of 25-26 when suddenly they find themselves playing alongside midfielders such as Makelele and Essien, Alonso and Mascherano respectively. I’d feel more comfortable going forward with players like that watching my six than say Song and Denilson.

    And RvP has a bit of time on his side as well, not that he needs it given he scored more in all competitions than both Torres and Drogba last year. I do see what you’re saying though, but I don’t think Ade was a goal hunter either.

  21. @ enemyairships – Fabregas defended much less this season, so it is very unfair to blame either Denilson or Song.

  22. @Daniel
    What do you mean Kolo didn’t play, now unless he has a twin brother he was definetly playing in the 1st half and he definetly had the captains arm band on.

  23. Great post enemyairships. Have to agree with what you said but like RVP said, another striker will improve the squad.

    I also though a new DM is a must but i read an interesting article that had me thinking otherwise. The problem is not the DM, its the players who dont track back and contribute defencively. Cesc was lazy last season, Arshavin, RVP and Theo all provide zero protection for the defence.

    Heres the article, its worth a read.
    http://www.arsenalinsider.com/?p=5539

  24. That is a great article Gibbs, missed that one on newsnow.

    Backs up my own opinions – a new DM is not needed. Both Denilson and Song are not only good enough, but as good as the rest.

  25. Excellent guest post and one which I entirely concur with, especially since the Eduardo injury rumours have now been well and truly disproved!

    With Vela and Walcott desperate for a chance to lead the line too, we are looking very good upfront, despite what outsiders and the media may believe.

  26. A lovely guest post today. They’re certainly getting very sharp!

    Would comment a bit more but I’ve just come back from my first training session in a couple of months and can’t feel my legs. Wah!

  27. On the Kolo front I have just listened to wenger’s post match chat and he said the Kolo situation will be sorted within 24 hours, but he also said that we had 7 centre backs available. When questioned about new signings he identified that there maybe some but he is still evaluating to see what we need and gave no fixed time for any signings.

  28. I expect a backup central midfielder (Matuidi/Cattermole) and a more high profile center back and striker (Hangeland/Sakho and Huntelaar/Vucinic)

    I am glad about Toure – well past it.

  29. Let’s stop this Fabregas myth:

    – Fabregas is not arsenal people. He’s just one of th players, who obviously has contributed to us not winning a title just like Ade, just like RVP, just like Gallas, just like Kolo etc…
    – Fabregas isn’t a natural goal scorer and he’ll never be th player tht regularily hits 20 every season. He may not make 15 even if he played as a striker…
    – Fabregas is human like th rest of th players not a god…
    – Fabregas will not single handedly win arsenal a title like wat most of th fans hope for. He is just a part of th team tht will win us a title…
    – Fabregas won’t stay in arsenal forever. He may leave anytime then u’ll knw loyalty means nothing where money matters…

    The list can go on nd on but i think i made my point that for arsenal to win we got to have a complete team where all contribute. We cannot afford to build arsenal’s future around one lad…

    Let us talk about gettin a DM not because it will ‘give Fabregas space to roam’ but because we need someone to support our defence, make tackles and push th ball upfront to the other midfielders, strikers nd overlapping defenders… COME ON!!!

  30. I agree with that knightman (apart from us needing a DM) and I think Fabregas is somewhat over-hyped, but he is still a top top class player.

  31. If we get Hangeland (who in my opinion is a better defender), good business for a guy who is 28, out of form, has only one year left on his contract and wants to move
    Big IF

  32. Toure has ONE year left on his contract, and with Gallas still at the club, and with the signing of Vermaelen, it may be that Toure is far from certain of being a first team regular this season.

    If he’s not a regular, then it’s doubtful he’ll sign a new contract, so if we don’t sell him now, he’ll walk for free next summer.

    If reports are right, £14-15m is a lot of money for a defender entering the last year of his contract… especailly a defender who has had problems with his form and fitness over the last 2 seasons!

    That said, I don’t like the idea of selling to Citeh, as they are one of our rivals now, but if they’re willing to take Ade & Toure off our hands for a combined fee of around £40m then I can understand Arsenal biting their hand off to do the deal!

  33. @ harry – you could also say that we are weakening them because they choud have signed MUCH better players.

  34. Talk about anything else. Justifying Ade’s departure with the presence of Nick is nothing else but racism. I have remained a skeptic of Nick Bendt.

  35. @Senior
    How does ade going justify bringing racism in to the equation? That is a very strong word in this day and age.

  36. @Senior – Watch what you say man. I like BENTNER a lot and I’m black….what do you mean by that?

  37. 16m profit for Toure is another feather in Wenger’s cap – but not another trophy, which is what we fans want.

    I’m sad to see Toure is on his way out, I really am. I hope we don’t regret letting him go to a rival.

    A great player for the club and the only one actually joining City for guaranteed first team football (as opposed to being financial motivated).

  38. @Gibbs

    I think that’s an interesting article for sure. I get the impression, however that the decision of our front six player not to ruthlessly track back isn’t one they’ve all made as individuals. I think it’s a genuine game plan of Arsene’s.

    I remember vividly a SKY interview with AW after the Villa game at Christmas time where he was asked if three players back defending in the box on the 90th minute was enough to preserve the 1 goal lead, and he replied that there were too many! Maybe it’s a tactical blunder on behalf of AW, but it does reap us a lot of goals.

    Those Denilson stats are interesting. It would be interesting to see how he compared with Flamini and Gilberto as well, maybe I’ve got him all wrong.

    @Senior Citizen
    Silly me, I can’t believe I had the audacity to compare a 6ft 4 striker with a 6ft 3 striker. What was I thinking, what a massive racist I am.

  39. Great post enemy airships, but id still say that Id be happy if we get Huntelaar, He can strike from 20m and most importantly a fast one which is exactly the quality we need now.I fully agree with what the Arsenal insider said about our attacking midflider and strikers, our attacking pace were totaly out of form last season, we didnt put enough pressure on our opponent as the usual Arsenal speed of game really failed us up front.We need a full strength fast attacking pace like the right Arsenal way of play and to do that we need a fast striker in the combination like Huntelaar not the may be the Lazy Ade (He used to be fast and good enough as a striker but I dont really know what happened to him last year..may be he really wanted to leave!!!???)
    @knightman, Of course, Cesc would have done more last season but remember that he was the key of our fast and pacey attack 2 seasons ago,but last season he was more defensive than offensive, i agree he isnt a god but he is a great player.What ive concluded is that Cesc didnt really have a full trust on his DM with the departure of Flamini who isnt only his best friend but also one of those who started together with him at Arsenal during the time of Vierra and the rest, thats why he was always tempted to keep himself deep to recover the central mdfld instead of focusing on attack like he used to do.Its difficult to analyse but I think that all of us knew and have noticed this weakness in the midfld in our squad.It took time for Cesc to trust Song till the Villareal game as stated in Gibbs post, and look how good he was after that (Liv game 4-4).
    With the in form Arshavin,1 more aged Walcott, Rosicky back and most importantly The improving Song, we arent really far from the PL tittle, i trust this team guys!!and especially after this last seasons battle for 4th place.. I think we gonna the world who we really are now.
    As for Toure, i hate seeing him leave, he was the Arsenal brand for me, but I also think that its also time for him now to earn big bucks to finish his carrier. He really deserved the Armband instead of Gallas, I think he s been a bit abused by the club, one of the most loyal to Arsenal!!!Hes been always there since the start of the invincibles.We ll miiss you Kolo T, Bonne chance a toi et on espere une bonne carriere pour toi at Man City.

  40. excellent post…we score 68 goals last term only bettered by liverpool..we conceded so much earlier but so much consistent in 2nd round..vermaelen in..he plays last year in arsenal preseason..u should look the video..he’s all conquering defender…

  41. I’m sad to see Kolo Toure leave Arsenal, he has always given 100% on and off the pitch, unlike the not much missed Adebayawn.

    That said, £15 million for a player of his age, who didn’t have the best of seasons last term is good business.

    The sale of these two players plus the departure of Bischof and a few other minor players has reduced the wage bill by around £8 to £10 million per year. No bad thing when the bill is currently around the £100 million mark.

  42. great post enemyairships,uv certainly made me rethink my feelings on wot we need going forward
    @senior citizen wot u talkin bout man?
    todays blogs been a great read lots of conflicting opinions from genuine caring fans.
    i will be sad to see kolo go as for the last couple of seasons when wev been faltering his powerful tackling and surges up the pitch often re-energised and re-inspired our ‘sleepy’ players, to me he was a true leader and he was always loyal to us and he always gave 100% and u cud see our defeats hurt him.im not sure wot his motives are for a move, if in fact he does want to move,but good luck to you kolo i will alway be a fan of urs….also the 15m wit 1 year left represents great value…wel done AW
    @ gibbs ilike ur opinion on us not needing a DM as i too hav noticed how inadequate theo,nasri,diaby are at defending altho i must disagree wit u includin cesc and arsha in this bracket as i hav seen the 2 put their foot in when they got the chance…if theo can run as fast as he can into the opponents half why cant he run back into ours as fast???mite be over critical but watch when were defending the guy just trots all the time its a fact…mayb if these guys upped their def work then song and deni could do their job easier.just a thought
    would like to see kenwyn jones and haangeland and dats it tanx…bendtner to produce big things this year….am even willing to keep eboue and senderos as i feel theyv got more to come……cant believe i just said dat

  43. Thanks shambo. Have to say I echo your thoughts on King Kolo as well. He is probably past his best, as much as I hate to admit it, but he has been without doubt my favourite player at the club since Bergy retired.

  44. @ enemy air ships nice article but I don’t think cesc will ever be a great scoring midfielder like lampard or gerrard as he is unselfish and will always look for the pass but he did play with henry for a few years and he was one proven goalscorer. I think sharva and ro-sicky will get a few and we will have the highest scoring team next year but we need to plug the back line. Selling toure is not the answer but 15 mill is stupid to turn down. But don’t hate to addmit he is a good player and I really like the guy and I can’t see him slaggging us off when he moves unlike some other lazy bugger we all can’t wait for another hleb “should never have left” comment in a year from now when we are champions.

  45. its complicated, adebayor was a reference in the front, now we have bendnter as a similar, but he isnt as good as our team has to have if we want to b at the top. what DM do you think we can buy??

  46. @Bendyhaters

    He will have a monster year this year if started. The pressure of not having Ade tell him how much he sucks every day will allow him to finally convert the millions of opportunities that fall to him.

    Defensively, we are still vulnerable and it would be nice to see aw get a tall, good cm and a fast dm. Hopefully, Rosicky will be an upgrade over Walcott on team defense and Song will continue to progress.

    The Emirates Cup will be interesting, here’s to a great year!

  47. The problem with this current Arsenal team is the fact that we Lack balance!!Theo,Nasri Arshavin,and Rosicky none of them are natural left footer or natural wingers. If you look at our defeats last season, it wasn’t because that we were outplayed or our defense had more holes in it then your grand aunt Jenny knee high socks. But, rather we were unable to break down the opposition when they put ten men behind the ball. The successful Arsenal teams of the past, were able move the ball around and draw the oppositional defense out of position. Everybody keeps fixating on our forward line when the real problems lies with our lack of width!! Bring back Jimmy carter!!!

  48. jimmycarter, i have been trying to explain your observation for the past two weeks. Wenger keeps purchasing basically the same type of player. If u study the strikers and MF they can almost all slot in one anothers position far to easily. They dont have specialised players for striking or left or right wing. They play a brand of football which is pleasing on the eye and infectious so much so that i started watching after my son joined the academy. Yr stuff from 2001 to 2005 has been electric, but since then i hate to say that u seem or could be comming just like my team westham a selling club for the big boys. Im not saying yr situation is as bad as ours. We sell our players from 18-20 you sell yrs on average from 21-26. Love or hate the ones that have departed or for what ever reason, this seems to be stalling your progress. Could someone tell me who are the 7 CB Wenger says he has. This quote was made on Tlk sport yesterday. Lastly it seems that eboue will be on his way to ACM.

  49. Hello gooners. I think we need to make 3 more signings this summer. Our prority should be a defensive midfielder, and i think Wigan’s Cattermole fits perfectly. Having him, Cesc will have more freedom and can expect a much better performance. Though Arsene insists we have 7 centre backs, so he’s letting Kolo go, i don’t agree. Having Kolo gone (looks certain), we are left with Thomas V, Gallas, Senderos, Djourou, Song and Silvestre. Among these 6 Senderos is likely to leave, then we are left with 5, Gallas and Thomas will make into starting line up, incase one of them, maybe both of them injures(as last season’s) then we should play Djourou and Song/Silvestre, So i would recommend AW to sign Fulham’s Hangeland who is an ideal replacement for Toure. Then we should go for the Hunter, Huntelaar would be a perfect partner for RVP as they play for same country and know each other well. These 3 signing would Arsene Wenger around 45 GBP, and we sign these 3 players, we are definitely in a strong position to challenge for the title as well as champions league.

  50. Tom14, what you observed about Cesc is true but one cant blame the lad for that, it not really his game. I believe the mans vision and creativity is what he should be concentrating on and leave the breaking down to other players or player, Song. When he was scoring 2 seasons ago it was not noticed but since then Wenger pur chased others that are the same and didnt seem to worry about the defensive side which is typical of the British game. Its so refreshing to see supporters being critical about the team they love. We must all remain as honnest as possible.

  51. shoaibfash, 45GBP seems a little cheap, dont u mean mill. If Song is one of the “7” , does that mean he will now be employed as a CB leaving the middle weaker! What does mean for Cesc.

  52. Tom14, Kolo would make a very good DM player. Again yr mistake is wanting a player that is techniquely gifted just like all the other Asnl MF. Have a look at most of the players who have done that job at the highest level in Europe for teams like Chelsea, Baca, Liverpool, Man u, Asnl, ACM, the list goes on and on. Think out of yr box.

  53. White Ox,If u say that Wenger does not think Toure is good enough to play him as DM then maybe Asene does not play Arshavine as a True No10 because he does not think he is good enough!

  54. Tom14 spot on about yr Gallas comment. He hates loosing so much that it causes him to loose control. Why was The Roy Keane allowed to do it and people say he is a winner.

  55. Harry, was there ever a player who moved from Asnl to any other club that u thought was any good or who prevented the club form progressing. It seems to me that so many people think that most of these players were no good and that Wenger is correct. Why dit they play in the team for so long. The kids are comming through. Why sell them when they become young men with experience. Is that not what you what them to gain, experience. Why keep selling them, its a constant carrot.

  56. Arsenal don’t need a DM because both Denilson and Song are good enough. that is not only shown in performances but the statistics back it up. Toure would be a terrible DM, no question about that so why even argue about it?

    Arsenal need a few bodies in, but the overall quality of this Arsenal squad is at a very high level, much better than the start of last season (no Arshavin, no Eduardo, no Rosicky and no vermaelen) and if we do get a bew more bodies (don’t have to be first team) we shoud be more than fine.

    We have a better squad than City by far.

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