Arsenal Transfer Deadline Day: One defensive midfielder please, Arsene!

Blaise Matuidi remains one of the decent transfer possibilities for Arsenal

13.47 – My last update before going to bed is to inform you that Steven Taylor is apparently at the Emirates. Oh, and my wisdom teeth are hurting. I can’t completely confirm the first one but I can confirm first-hand the second. Night!

10.48 – OK, so there is a rumour emerging that Marouane Chamakh is still a possibility, as is Borussia defender Neven Subotic. Never heard of him, by the way,

9.46 – First update, nothing going on I’m afraid. Niko Kranjcar has apparently signed for Spurs which I think is a pretty good piece of business. Damn them.

* * *

Back on the 5th of August – 10 days before the start of the season – I boldly predicted that things were about to get mental at Arsenal on the transfer front. I stated that with Philippe Senderos’ move to Everton supposedly a done-deal that if Arsene Wenger wanted to win the league then he absolutely needed to bring in two players and I was fairly confident they would be brought in before the opening day fixture against Everton. How wrong I was.

Football-wise things certainly did go mental – a 6-1 win away at Everton in the first game blew absolutely everybody away – but from a transfer perspective it’s been quieter than a pin dropping in Carlos Valderrama’s hair. So now, on the final day of the transfer window, what can we expect? 

The safe answer to that question is probably ‘nothing’. While Wenger undoubtedly has a history for making late purchases (William Gallas and Andrey Arshavin immediately jump to mind) I feel we would only be setting ourselves up for a painful fall if we expect a transfer to be made. It now seems likely that Senderos would stay with Everton interested in Atletico Madrid’s Johnny Heitinga and if the Swiss defender does remain at the club then there is no real reason why another centre-back should be added to the squad.

Although I’m hesitant to predict it will happen, I still feel the manager needs to purchase another defensive-minded midfielder in the mould of Alex Song if we are to give ourselves an honest chance of going the distance in the Premiership this season. Denilson and Abou Diaby have undoubtedly started the season well this season but I don’t think either of them have the same tendency that Song has to think about defence first and given that he will be away for up to two months over January – a crucial period in the season – I think it is important that a like-for-like replacement is available. Who that could be I just don’t know, but if we are to make a signing before the clock strikes five then I sincerely hope it will be in this position.

Other than that I really don’t have any problems and am just ready to join in whatever crazy transfer deadline day ride that Wenger takes us on. I’ll be updating at regular intervals although I must confess that being in Australia doesn’t particularly make me the best option when it comes to really late updates (5pm in the UK is 2am my time – like I’m going to be awake then!) so it’s probably best to keep your eyes on this page. Also, check this out for a laugh.

You’ll probably have realised by now that there’s no Arsenal FC Weekly podcast for today. The truth is that I’m frantically trying to get my life in order for my one-week holiday to Malaysia which starts on Saturday (hurrah – a break!) and I just haven’t had the time to get one done. I probably would have said a lot of what I’ve said today and in yesterday’s Arsenal v Manchester United match report so in truth you’re probably not missing out on much.

Anyway, I’ll leave it there for now and if there are any transfer rumours or news I’ll be sure to update from the top down.

Cheers!

Have your say on transfer deadline day by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. @Andy

    Hope you are right about the CDM, I for one would love to see Patrick back in an Arsenal shirt but can’t see it happening, would he share the No.4 with Cesc?

  2. i agree, but unrealistcly i’d lyk to see 4 players in new right footed striker, cdm cover 4 song , cb cover, get rid of almunia he is so inconsistan and make’s reckless descions

    dout we will get 1 more player in tho

    sorry bout spelling

  3. Morning Andy and all. At present while blogging im listen to Skysports news and Talk Sport eagerly waiting for transfers made before the deadline Whufc have done some business even though its one player in and two out. Just signed Da Costa from Fiorentina for 12mil pounds. He is a 23yr old international and very good player. Many clubs tracking him but because of Zola he choose us.
    Talking about deadlines its looking that way for the Arsenal transfer department. There might be one or two surprises but something tells me that Arsene has been happy with the squard all summer. The worrying thing for me is that you are shipping some injuries after only 4 prem games. What will happen when the foul, excuse the pun, whether slides in. Any rumors at your end, I’ll be interested to hear any. Unfortunately its all quiet at the northen front. Wenger please get your cheque book out!

  4. Just saw something very funny on BBC606

    “I took the day off work today to hang out at the Emirates stadium. Very quiet so far but there’s a Merc parked here with the license plate T1tus. Think Bramble might be signing.”

    He couldnt be worse than Silvestre

  5. By the way i watched the Milan Derby over the wkend which was a fantastic game if you support Inter as i do. Patrick looked in very good nick so i guess Inter or Pat must be asking for a few quid. Jose doing a fantastic job and building a strong and powerful team. They are playing with style and passion.

  6. Hi guys, my area of concern is the defencive midfield role, i seriously think we need two player in that position, most dm’s are always varsatile, they can always be a backup for d back 4. Matuidi is good and i would’nt mind kranjcar, atleast let have matured bench, injury does nt knock on your door 2 say..hey u, am coming 2 visit u 2moro” we need to be fully prepared, what u sore is what u reap.

  7. Even West Hams transfer window is more exciting than ours. C’mon Arsene just one, for excitements sake.

  8. hey AW.

    great time to be visit Malaysia.
    It’s fasting month so in the evening its food food glorious food. you could try 3 new food daily and you wont even scratch the surface. thats how much good food there is in Malaysia in this time of the month.

    have fun and enjoy!

  9. Can see Matuidi coming in if they really want to off load him, he wants out and Gunners add 1m to 4m bid already in. You’d hope that AW’s comments post game about needing more calm and experience in defence would prompt him to chase one last signing. I’d be happy with that. Fingers x’d!

  10. I agree with the article, we need to have adequate reinforcements.
    While it appears hunky-dory with song on song, an injury from nowhere is all that we dont need to see our defensive unit rearranged.

    Necessary to have cover for Song; Denilson really is a bit and pieces player who does not have the physical presence as Song. I wouldnt mind Diaby as a cover from the existing squad but he is quite an offensive minded player and can easily have the midfield area open

    I get the feeling there is a signing in the offing before close today. Having said that, Wenger has always done the unpredictable – we might just show profits from the sales done this season and live with the existing squad till January

  11. Our physical strength is not good,i think we have to bring surely a defensive mid fielder.

  12. Jst dnt understand wat is wrong wit wenger,rvp can not play the lone strike role bcos he’s a one footed player,chamakh will b a good pair for him up front,song wil b leaving by january for nations cup,meaning he might b out for 2 months should incase he picks up injury wat wil hapen to the team,wenger realy needs to make a replacement for him we should nt forget that the have 4 competitions to play meaning he has to be rotating the squod to avoid fatique and injuries.

  13. Can Pompey possibly lose any more players? How many times to they want to shoot themselves in the foot! I’d love it if James went to Spurs though, what a crap signing.

    Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind any signing in any position. I’m so starved of transfer excitement I’ll take what I can get. I’m sure Wenger will pull off another Bischoff-esque master stroke before the deadline.

  14. I hope Arsene signs a cdm bt 2days likely purchase is Chamakh.we hope Arsene will surprise us

  15. we were the better team, fact. we bossed the whole game,fact. fletcher should have been booked, fact (for the penalty alone!) (anyone notice how he hammered the ball away into touch angry with himself for putting in such a silly tackle? even he thought it was a stone waller.) roonys (clever play) was identical to eduardos (cheating/bringing the game into distribute/conning the ref/causing world hunger etc) the difference in the challenges was the keepers. Burac pulled his hands away and made a point of doing so, eduardo couldnt see this or even react because he had his back to him and was heading for the turf. So its bad play from almumia but the dive is still a dive! dont really understand why wenger has apparently made the ‘anti’ football comment, I think he is talking about the reffing rather than the man utd team. they played the way they did because it worked (stop/starting the game) and the ref allowed them to do it. even eboues ridiculous dive was brought about by frustration at the constant fouling, he still shouldnt have done it. it bodes well if after the game we are just talking about how utd just kicked us around, they didnt create anything and looked poor yet all the idiot pundits will comment on how they ground out a result and thats what ‘champions’ do. the actual fact is that we lost the game because it was at old trafford. i dont blame fergy or his team but the refs seem to double bluff themselves, they seem determined not to be swayed by the reputation that refs bottle it at old trafford and make a point of always staying strong on big decisions, just so happens that all those decisions go against the opposition. i was gutted saturday and really angry whist still very proud of our team. the next game is massive but i’m looking foward to it.

  16. Arsene has said Diaby can be as good defensively as Vieira so we have to trust him,he was right about Song when everybody was slagging him,he was right about Vermaelen so lets stop speculating and let the “man” who sees the squad 24/7 do his job and we the “fans” sit back and enjoy the show.We nearly won the league 2 years ago without a DM,we have since added Nasri,Arshavin & Vermaelen,the squad is also more experienced.We gave manu the game through a stupid challenge by Almunia and a misdirected header do people really believe we need more players,we had Cesc,Nasri,Walcott missing we Dont need any more.I have a good feeling about this season so lets all enjoy….Come on you GUNNERS !!!!

  17. The Daily Mail reports: “The Marouane Chamakh merry-go-round continues. Apparently West Ham have a greed a fee but don’t have the cash to buy him and were hoping to wait until January when his price would drop further. But we’ve now heard that Arsenal are today hoping to complete the double signing of
    Bordeaux striker Chamakh and Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic.”

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1210374/LIVE-DEADLINE-DAY-Follow-latest-football-transfers-window-slams-shut.html#ixzz0PqaBjTPQ

  18. Excellent post from wrighty7:

    “The press are having a field day. Arsene Wenger ‘has’ labelled Manchester United anti-football. Now I don’t for a second agree with that and I certainly do not believe that Wenger is having a direct pop at United. His frustration is more than likely being aimed at the referee and I make him right.

    United fouled Arsenal plenty of times in the match and that is something I expected to happen anyway. It is a fierce match. But to be honest I reckon Arsenal gave United as good as they got. We wasn’t bullied off the park, in fact we more than held our own. I think the main problem was the inconsistency of the ref, Mike Dean.

    That game on Saturday needed a strong ref and lets be honest here, Mike Dean isn’t a strong ref. In fact he is a pretty shit ref. More shit than shite itself. And I’m surprised to be honest that he didn’t lean towards Arsenal. He is from Wirral and apparently is a Liverpool fan!

    Perhaps all the shenanigans of the press calling Arsenal cheats was playing on his mind and subconsciously he felt that he needed to back that up by booking more Arsenal players than necessary. I’m not being biased here but if Arsenal deserved having six players booked then so did United. In fact, Darren Fletcher could have been booked more than those six players all together!

    Football is a physical game but ref’s need to be consistent with their whistle blowing antics. They can’t book one player for something and then not book another for the same thing. I saw plenty of incidents on Saturday where United were given the decision and Arsenal wasn’t. It’s hard to stomach but ref’s always lean towards the home side. Especially if its United.

    Despite the defeat I was impressed by Arsenal. We dominated for large periods of the game at the champions home and that is no mean feat. I always felt that to beat United you have to go at them. We did that and were unlucky not to win.

    I don’t want to put the entire blame of the defeat of the ref’s shoulders but he did contribute to it. I’d still argue now that Rooney dived for that penalty but if it happened at the other end would the ref have been strong enough to give it? The answer is obviously no because Arshavin was a denied a clear cut penalty and he didn’t certainly didn’t dive.

    There is no doubt about it that this campaign is going to be be exciting one. It’s shaping up to be a difficult season and I honestly believe, from what I’ve seen so far, that Arsenal can mix it up and challenge for the title this season. Some believe that we need to sign a couple more players and I would like that to happen. It adds more depth.

    It’s a shame we wasn’t playing Manchester City this week. I really feel that we would batter them despite their good form. The players would be eager to shake this defeat out of their systems and what better way is there than to get back on the pitch together and do that? Instead we have internationals and to be honest I probably won’t even watch. Fingers crossed we don’t get any injuries!”

  19. I was trying to keep this news quiet about the Chamakh affair, just incase City or Arsenal uped the offer, but we have found the money due to the Savio transfer to Fiorentina. Its almost a done deal other than salary.

  20. Apart from cover for Song as you mentioned Andy, im fairly happy with the current squad. Not wanting to sound like Le Boss, the team has shown how much they’ve grown & matured together by achieving some great results already this season without the full squad.
    Mike Dean has never liked Arsenal plain & simple. Realistically with the opportunities created but didnt finish & fouls going unpunished, we should of had a scoreline capable of being able to afford to make those 2 errors on saturday. United were a shadow of their former selves after selling 2 players, yet the young guns have improved after sales.
    Just before Eduardo was attacked season before last, we had a similar team, with no Nasri, Arshavin or Vermaelen, & Henry was out injured most of the year with Van Persie similar. Out in front on ladder by 12 or so before it all collapsed. Eduardo near assisting Adecashwhore to his 30 odd goals total beforehand. That team is only a shadow of what we see now. Wouldnt mind some trophies now but as long as this team sticks together keeps improving, im quite happy to sit back & wait for them to cleansweep it all.

  21. Wow Nico Kranjcar has passed a medical at spurs. Don’t flame me for saying this but i hope dam spurs strengthen well enough for United’s visit to the damned Lane

  22. It is not a DM we need because we have Song and Denilson, with Nasri looking like he could easily play that role as well last year. What we need to remember about this season is not that we need a DM as such, just a hard working trio who interchange and have tactical discipline.

    I would want a ST to come in, and eiother Senderos staying or a new CB – but we are covered in midfield if we are being totally honest, and not following on from the immature crybabying of the summer.

  23. who ever signs …we lack expirience, and we have seen that last weekend. unless they got us some hard personnel in there….this season will the same as those passed 4…

  24. How can anyone state such stupid things about us lacking experience? How can Almunia lack experience? Or the idiot that is Diaby?

    We lost that game because of two stupid incidents, but we dominated the match and should have won.

    If you don’t understand football – don’t comment.

  25. Sorry, cant believe i even thought we still had Henry then. So yeah, we didnt even have Henry & still killed the league until feb. Ps. I took too long to write the 1st post whilst pre-occupied also, & like Gary’s post up further for obvious reasons.

  26. Arsenal are a great side right now, as good as we where 2 seasons ago… We would of won the league then if it werent for injuries and squad depth… just hope history doesn come to bite us….

    I think we need cover for song and a striker… we are fine everywhere else on the park…

  27. @Andy

    When they talk about fasting it is only within the daylight hours. It is Ramadan in Turkey which is a Muslim religious period. At sunset the Muslims can break their fast and they have special food especially for this occassion the restaurants also have a special set menu which is very nice.
    No sign of any transfers as yet, come on Wenger look what Vermaelan has done to the squad, bring in some new blood.

  28. Arsenal need another DM who can go into the strong tackles more consistantly and come out with the ball. Diaby is a fantastic player but more offensive in his play as he can go past players with those now trade mark runs. Den plays in a DM role but is let down by his lack of strength, especially when in deep positions.

  29. I just read that Sunderlands Danny Collins is officially heading to Stoke, medical pending.
    Gotta love the deadline day rumour mill though eh. So far Arsenal wise ive read Liverpools Voronin is coming & Vela heading to fulham on season long loan.

  30. i think we should have won that match dont worry lads we’ll be back – lets lose this game rather than the league eh 😉

    remember that season we did the double over utd and still did not win the prem – i’d rather lose to them twice and still life the title!

  31. There were so many so called dives this last weekend since Eduardo’s was highlighted that it is starting to raise one major questions in my mind. Do all players dive?? In my mind i think they do, kind of. I think they all without exception go down at the sight of an advancing goalkeeper or defender with the expectation that a penalty/free kick will follow. Sometimes when the impact is not as great as expected or when it does not come it then looks like they have tried to deceive the referee. Ask yourself how many penalties are awarded because the attacker was literally knocked off his feet? Not many!

    So penalties inparticular are awarded on the slightest of contacts wher the defender does not touch the ball. Attackers all know this and play for it whenever they can. Its not cheating, its knowing the rules and playing to the rule.

    Attackers are not actually trying to deceive anyone. I think they practise taking the ball past the keeper/defender and once contact is made falling in a particular manner to ensure the Referee sees that they have been fouled. Of course if the defender/keeper changes his direction of movement etc, then we have a problem.

    Unless the rules are changed forcing players to stay on their feet unless there is sufficient impact to bring them down, then trying to prove that a player tried to deceive the referee is incredibly hard.

  32. Performance-wise, even with key first-team players missing in Fabregas, Nasri and Walcott, we showed up United big time, and other teams watching that game would now fancy their chances a bit more against them. I could see teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, Villa, and Man City causing them a lot of problems this season.

    Arshavins goal was utter quality. If he can do that carrying an injury, then I cant wait to see him fully fit again.

    Despite the result, I felt reassured that we’ll probably end up doing better this season, a top 2 position isn’t unrealistic. From what I’ve seen so far, Chelsea are the only other top 4 team I’d be worried about, and even then I feel we could beat them if we play to our best ability. Liverpool, similar to United, rely too much on just a few of their players for winning games, and with 4 cometitions to play in, I feel they’re bound for a few big disappointments.

    Despite the referees ineptitude, whether or not the penalty should have been awarded etc, which I all agree on, I still feel that what lost us the 3 points was mistakes on our part, mistakes that were preventable. Almunia, who I felt had a decent game otherwise, could have stayed on his line instead of going in on Rooney. He made some great saves towards the end of the game. And I got to feel for Diaby, who I also felt had an ok game otherwise, and I hope he can pick himself up quickly from this and make up for the own goal in the rest of our games. By the end of the game, you could see on the faces of the United players that they couldn’t believe their luck by the time the final whistle blew.

    As for the treatment of Le Boss, absolutely disgusting. No other manager would have been treated that way if all they did was kick a plastic bottle in frustration. Mike Dean and his officials were a disgrace on Saturday, pure and simple.

    Cant wait for the next game to be honest. We should have one or two players back in Cesc and Rosicky, and Arshavin should be fully fit by then too. In the mean time, lets hope the international break is kind to us.

  33. harry and karl absolutely fantastic points – chin up lads- theunited knew they were shitting it – we did ourselves proud

  34. Steve Bruce has now spent 37.5mil pounds. Does Arsene not have any money and what happends to the money if profits are not spent. Does he get a bigger bonus by having a surplus in the transfer budget.

  35. “Tom14 didn’t catch the joke”

    Read the post, it was not said as a joke. I may have been, but it was not, in any way, clear sarcasm or humor.

    If he was joking, and does not have that opinion, fair enough. But don’t say it plainly and they complain/pretend it was a joke when somebody pulls you up on it.

  36. Harry, i still play footy on a saturday afternoon and have suffered one or two terrible injuries from defenders in the past. Therefore whenever i about to receive a sliding late challange i swiftly get my feet out of the way. Sometimes that can be perceived as diving because there was no subsequent contact. ive seen this sineiro many times in the prem

  37. @ Tom14 – Dude, you seriously need to calm down. This blog is supposed to be fun and virtually everything you say is said in a manner that breeds negativity. I just don’t understand the attitude, as good as some of the points you make are.

  38. Subotic would be fantastic just quietly..

    Doubt it’ll happen though, recently re-signed for five years and I can’t see Arsene spending more than 10m on another defender.

    Kranjcar would have been a super buy, cheap, experienced and a damn fine player.

  39. Tom14, I do believe what i originally wrote but at the same time knew you would respond in that kind of manner. Im actually laughing at present especially when i read the amount of times you call other bloggers, sarcastic, stupid, garbage, idiots who dont understand football so should not comment.

  40. We’re talking football here, not throwing sand.

    Build a bridge fellas.

    I think it’s going to be a long night for us Aussie Gooners..

  41. No joke,Stephen Taylor just arrived at the Emeaates. Touch my heart. Stephen Taylor to Arsenal. Andy please give me the SP on it. This is very very true as a football supporter. Taylor to Arsenal.

  42. @Gruggy Early night for us Aussie gooners I reckon. It’s quiet but not even the colloquial “too quiet” that is so quiet you expect a deal will be done (if that makes sense).

    Everyone go read Jammathon’s excellent on-line magazine Portal for my prophetic words of six weeks ago, “Arsenal likely have concluded their purchases”

    P.S. This is what is commonly known as tempting fate. I’d rather look like an idiot and have a quality player come in. Anytime now AW, we’re waiting!

  43. Atletico’s Pres says Heitinga to Everton is on so you would think that’s one less destination for Big Phil. Of course Phil Brown may want him as a replacement for Michael Turner. It’s the chocolates of AC Milan to the boiled lollies of Hull City if that’s true.

    Would we really do business with such an odious pack of scumbags? I guess we did business with City…

  44. I rate Traore higher than Gibbs tbh and would be disappointed to see him leave.

    No thanks to Steven Taylor either…Total grub.

    @White Ox I agree that I feel our offseason splurge solely remained with Big Tom. One can hope though!? I remember thinking the same thing last season..

    …or was that the season before?

  45. Erm East end of Australia hammer. Sorry, I was explaining SP for Andy’s benefit. You sure are good with your rumours, keeping me entertained nicely (it’s a compliment).

  46. Here’s one for the Aussies, David Carney from Sheffield United to FC Twente. Is McLaren still calling the shots there?

  47. @ White Ox : Sure is. Fantastic move for Dave as well.

    First team football (hopefully) in a more technical league. Look what it did to Wilkshire…and to a lesser extent Holman (who is shite for the ‘Roos, but awesome for AZ?)

  48. FCtwenty is a dutch team from Enschede and play in the Eredivise. Club formed in 1965. Actually watched them play over the weekend where Kuiper a player we were looking at rescued a point form Feyenoord. Very good game to watch. Big Mac doing a good job.

  49. I had forgotten about Holman, we’ll get to have a look at him when we play AZ, look forward to it.

    I like Carney, he’s just a good honest pro and bobs up with the odd cracking goal every now and then. Here’s hoping he has a good season before the World Cup.

    Now back to Arsenal…

  50. bentley could be, i stress could be off to Man City and is getting massive compensation due to lenght of contract left. Would the Gooners have him back at the Emerates i still think he has potential. Deal could be loan.

  51. Bentley burned too many bridges when he left Arsenal. Arsene certainly won’t break his policy of bringing back players for that bloke and I don’t think he’s requisite Arsenal quality anyway.

  52. The funny thing about your response, SF, is that I only post positive things about the likes of Denilson and Song, whereas everyone else (bar some) just say how terrible they are – therefore I a being positive.

    I don’t rate Diaby, so I say so – is that any worse than any other poster?

    And theicehammer, you proved my point. You believe what you are saying, so if I disagree, you have not hooked me onto anything. Its like me saying “Harold Shipman is a decent bloke” and you telling me to “f*ck off”

  53. tom14, Shipman…!thats a ridiculos example. Latest news Bentley going to Liverpool who have just offered Harry more money which is why he has not gone to Man City. Again i say Bentley now off to Liverpool. I beleive deal has been agreed. Andy, whats the SP on this story, come on man earn your keep.

  54. @theicehammer
    I am in Turkey hence the early start\late start for you aussies. It is only 6 aside so all over the pitch, and the level is not very high, well my level is not very high, some of the Turkish guys are pretty good though.

  55. i really hope Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera come back to Arsenal this season , we need a defender midfielder and a striker because i am afraid if van persie got injured 🙁 come on we need 2 player more

  56. Last year’s deadline day brought us the extravagance of Berbatov and Robinho transfers. This year all we have to get excited about is Ben Haim’s move to Pompey. What a rip!

  57. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha—–thats hysterical laughter- wenger loves driving us up the wall————ha ha ha ha ha
    injuries to RvP or edu will knock the stuffin out of our striking options while songs off in the new year….almunias just a bluffer…hes not even related to a goalkeeper and has nothin to teach fabianski or mannone…lets just hope diaby,ramsey,bendtner and eboue can make a difference when their called upon in tough games….is any1 confident that they can????

  58. Rumors are David Silva to Valencia… really hope not as he is one of my favorites…

    Also “fasting month” they only fast until sundown then they usually eat a lot

  59. well the window has closed and we didnt buy anyone,zilch,nada,diddly squat what a joke!! i am very,very disappointed in wenger it was imperative the squad was strengthened and a dereliction of duty by the manager not to do so,injuries are already effecting us that inevitable but there in no excuse for not having cover in key position ie what happens when song goes to the anc in jan possibly for 6 weeks are we going to buy in jan transfer window then wait 2,3,4 months for him to adapt to playing in the most physical league of all??? arshavin is an exception, if almunia is out for a while can we really rely on fabanski?rvp cant and never will successfully play the lone striker role be it 443 or 451 formation we need a proper target man to hold the ball up and bring others in to play when we have to change the way we play,we need a striker who possesses aerial ability to mix things up because were too predictable whilst i admire the positivity of most of my fellow gooners i feel its time for a dose of reality we may be good enough to win the league if we can keep our 1st choice 11 players fit but that wont happen over a season and with our squad lacking depth and money available i,m baffled as to why we didnt venture in to the transfer market? just a dm would have done i,m not asking for 6 players although other areas need addressing but thats for another day, i,m soooooo pissed off!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  60. I disagree with whoever wrote the man u report when I say that i am frustrated. that game pissed me off, and I haven’t gotten it out of my mind. and of course the next game is in 10 days or so. and why the hell is eduardo in such deep shit for diving? it happens so much, and his goal was meaning less. celtic was no competition at all, and they would suck in the premier league to be honest. bottom half every season. i dont understand why rooney who had already tripped and purposely fell was given the pk, yet when arshavin who doesnt have the ball gets blatently taken out sufferd a great tackle. loved wengers post gamee interview on sky sports. i love that man.

  61. So be it if we don’t sign anyone, there’s 10 days for the squad to improve their concentration in games, esp Almunia and Diaby.

    Remember guys we still got T.Rock coming back. Anyway who could we buy that is within our budget? DM? We can’t even buy Inler for 14mil and he’s the more established central midfielder. Even if we went for Matudi, does he offer more than Diaby, Denilson…? Might as well stick with Deni and co.

    Lets all forget about the ManU game, thats done and dusted. The next game is about shutting up Ade-talk-shit-alot Mancity of UAE. God that guy talks alot and is so self absorbed. Okay I’m digressing too much…Cheers all.

  62. God damn it Tom14, if I want to read complete garbage, I’ll pick up the Daily Mail rather than your obnoxious approach to blog commenting and your inference that you somehow know what you’re talking about, and other people don’t.

    You seem to have nothing constructive to say other than flame bait other people’s legitimate opinions. It is extremely frustrating.

  63. Niko Kranjcar completes £2m to Spurs. What an buy man. Probably the purchase of the day in EPL. We all knew that Arsenal will not bring any player and it happened the previous year. Our players got injured and we were out of the title race before DECEMBER. Nothing has changed in ARSENAL now as well. What can we do is just stay positive. Puhhhhhhhh. Not again I say this word to myself every year. We just wanted one quality CDM. Bit disappointed.

  64. Andy it wil be a great disappointment if Arsene doesnot sign any player to day and i sure that it will be the last nail on the coufin of our hop for any thing this season.

  65. in AW we trust, yeah, trust him to just stay put and hope that our young squa will do miracles. what i cant comprehend is why AW is sooo hard to understand that injuries will deny any team chances of winning anything. especially Arsenal which is prone to injuries. what now, well we will just see how things turn out in the next few premier games.

  66. Good to be back now that its September.Its been a while.I do not know what kind of “disaster” will ever cause the Manager to consider the views and concerns of the team’s supporters on how to get back to winning something at least for the sake of the support given to this team over the years.Three or four seasons have gone by and we never seem to learn.I do not see how this season will be any different.If we win the EPL or CL it will be quite a pleasant surprise-at least to me.And that is why I will not dare put too much faith in this squad lest I get extremely disppointed like its been the case year year out.I will watch arsenal matches to be entertained without expecting too much because seriously I do not think anyone on the Board is interested in silverware anymore.That’s how far expectations have sunk.All we have heard in the last few seasons is that arsenal lack the financial muscle to compete or get the best players in the market.And now that 41million has come in from ManCity, instead of getting a decent DM, the story changes and we are told that the team is good enough to compete for titles.If we showed more seriousness in pursuing MELO I believe he would have signed and it would have been one signing closer to silverware.How do you explain losing to a below par ManU:the effect of the 12th man in the referee notwithstanding?But if we were good enough I do not think the refs decisions would have mattered.And what will become of us if we played Chelsea with their imposing midfield?I just do not think we are at their level yet am sorry and we may just be in for another trophyless season.There were quite a number of defensive lapses that would have cost us goals in that match had Manu been sharper upfront.

  67. @Andy – I am totally with you in getting a defensive minded midfielder.We will surely need one more guy in the place ,if not we will pay a costly price for it.

    As for this team they are still Arsenal-The Terminators and for that to happen truly ,they should believe that they are the chosen one like matrix movie.That is the only stuff missing for our team to go ahead dominating and thrashing all other teams.

  68. What a load of rubbish from some people on here.

    We’re better than last year, even though we failed to add any new players after Vermaelen. I was hoping we’d some 1-2 new players as well but it didn’t happen.

    Nevertheless we’re better than last year. Song has improved beyond belief, Vermaelen and Gallas look a very, very promising central defence partnership. Cesc is fit and playing well, Walcott, Nasri and Rosicky (I know..) are about to return. Despite his mistake at old trafford, Diaby could be fantastic for us if he stays fit.
    Eduardo will have a massive impact once he’s completely fit and everybody knows what a quality player RvP is.

    Only Alumnia seriously needs to raise his game.

  69. in arsene i trust,but we need one more good striker and defensive midfielder in january, otherwise we are the champs

  70. Michael, you did not finish the sentence, everybody knows what a quality player RVP is IF HE STAYS FIT.
    I apologise that my tip off’s in ref to Arsenal transfers did not come to throughition. My intelligence was not up to their usual standards. Nevertheless, I’m as dissappointed and fustrated as the next man and like all am hoping that the rest of the squad are lucky enough to stay away from serious injury.

  71. michael your the one talking rubbish maybe we are better than last year the point being made is we got 41 million for ade and kolo an investment was required even if only a dm as the past 3 seasons injuries have played a major part in preventing us from winning tropies and will again this season so before you come on the blog dismissing other people,s opinions sort your life out!

  72. Andy@arsenal, when is the next Arsenal genersl meeting-AGM-. I remember watching the last one on Arsenal TV where Wenger was thrown to the wolves by the board. He was slated by the smaller share holders/supporters of the club for the lack of investment in players and the abysmal success in silverware in the last 4 years. Alot of questions directed at him showed signs of losing faith in Wengers vision. The only realy contented people seemed to be the larger shareholders. Do you think Wenger will continue his thrifty attitude towards the clubs money after the Emerates has been paid.

  73. Yeah, sorry. If he stays fit. I think his injury record’s been slowly getting better and I’m banking on that tendency to continue.

    george, I would also have like a new dm very much, don’t get me wrong. But given Song’s progress it’s not that necessary anymore. For the moment at least. I do see the ACN looming and that’s a worry indeed.
    Nevertheless we’re better. The Man Utd game has confirmed that.

    And I suggest you get a grip mate.

  74. If Song gets injured i think Arsene may try Eboue.I see it’s our only option to cover song.Anyone else can fill in.

  75. Umm Icy – Arsene was “slated” by one person attending the meeting who may or may not have been a shareholder and the extent of the “slating” was in relation to the signing of Silvestre.

    I know you have a taste for fiction Icy as your transfer deadline day ravings underline but do try and keep a grip mon ami

    Or were you there Icy lol ?

  76. Michael I do respect your opinion and your views and the rest of you who are of a contrary opinion to mine. However, for me so far our performance has not been convincing enough or out of the ordinary.I would not be comfortable with a second round CL draw against RealMadrid,Barca,Inter,Chelsea,ManU i.e. at least not against the big teams.It will be like tempting fate.We outshone ManU because they were extremely below par and in any case that is how they begin their season while for arsenal, it gets harder as winter sets in and all hell breaks loose in Feb/March when injuries are at their peak.Do we have to wait for another 4-1 humiliation by Chelsea to realize that we do not measure up just yet?I do agree the team is looking better in many apspects but not to the level of winning the EPL and CL

  77. So hands up all those who thought Arsene would sign a defensive midfielder ?

    Hmm – not many then – well nor did I

    Creative midfielder maybe but a DCM ???

    Waste of a shirt

  78. Mimi, would any of those big clubs be happy to be drawn with us? I doubt it somehow.

    We outplayed all our opponents thus far and only lost against Man Utd due to individual freak errors and in parts an inept ref performance.

    I think that’s very encouraging.

    I don’t buy your argument about the old trafford game at all. Yes, they were not as good as last year, but they also beat Wigan 5:0 the week before.

    Why belittling our own performance? We were good and they were not because we didn’t allow them to play well.

  79. An attention-grabbing dialogue is value comment. I believe that it’s best to write extra on this topic, it won’t be a taboo topic but typically people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers

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