Saturday Arsenal stuff: two videos and a question

Hello again. I hope you’re all enjoying a very relaxed Saturday.

Not much going on today so I thought I’d just include a couple of video of the England’s U21 Championship semi-final shoot-out win over Sweden. Both Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs slotted their penalties after James Milner’s hilarious first miss and helped England to a 5-4 shootout win after a pretty amazing 3-3 draw. The English now face Germany in what should be a very good final.

Check out all the highlights from the game and the shootout below:

Other than that, I just wanted to finish off today with a question: after the signing of Thomas Vermaelen how many more players do we need to bring in to win the Premier League next season? Let me know in the comments.

Have your say on all things Arsenal by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. i would say 2 players at least. to be honest we need to strenghthen in 3 positions to be premier league winners. goalkeeping, reliable partner for cesc and consistent striker.

  2. I dont think our squad needs much at all to compete for the title. We have Thomas Vermaelen now which was an obvious area where we didnt have any depth. It will be very interesting to see if Thomas will be in the first 11 or if he will be intergrated slowly into the first team. I guess it all depends on what happens with Kolo and Gallas.

    The other signing i think we need is a defensive midfielder. Not a player that has talent and has potential. An experienced 25-28yo enforcer to partner Cesc.

    Thats all i think we need, but as AW said, we must keep all our current players too.

    BTW, you gotta love Cesc, the way he came out AGAIN to squash the Cesc to (insert club) stories. The way he does this time and time again does get me thinking about when he will eventially move on. I suspect it will all be very transparent, as we all know he is going to Spain.

  3. A gud Df mildfielder and a powerful box to box striker who can also play a freekick.

  4. Big question, SF: A lot depends on whether we can keep all our existing players. If Ade goes I think we need a replacement for him. If he stays (and gets his head straight and puts in a decent shift or two next season) I think we only need 1 more player. It must be an aggressive, experienced and skillful defensive midfielder. There’s talk of Hitzlsperger or Yaya Toure- either of them would do for me. If that happened w’e have the players to really challenge. Our problem once again would be squad depth. Even with those additions, we wouldn’t have the strength in depth that our main rivals have. However, with a decent run of luck on the injury front (which we definitely didn’t have last season), we could have a real go. I see our main chance of silverware coming in a cup competition. Generally, I thought we did really well in Europe last term. We came up short against Maun, who were then comprehensively outclassed by Barca, but these were one-off encounters and we all know they can go either way. We’ll always have a chance in the FA Cup too. If we can bring in a decent DM, I’ll be feeling quite confident for next term.

  5. We seriously need a DM..as u can see from last season..there were too many times denilson were outplayed in that department..somebody in the mould of gattuso would be great.
    Another position would be our strikeforce..i really cant see adebayor staying any longer since he has only 2 years remainin..AW would definately try to cash in on him as well after all the havoc he created..A pity though cause he is a good striker after all. But we can use the money from his sale to buy a truly world class striker..someone who bangs in 25 to 30 goals per season..we havent had any since Titi left..Villa or Eto would make a perfect partnership with RVP.
    Lastly, we need another CD as as either gallas or toure is bound to leave arsenal..senderos is also another 1 who will be leaving..i would love to see raul albiol coming to arsenal but reports are suggesting that he his close to signing for real..

  6. Yaya Toure I is perfect as a DM and that’s what we have lacked since gilberto moved.if we get a good DM I think we have a great chance of getting a much deserved trophy. There is speculation that fillepe melo might come to us. He would be just as good as yaya.I look forward to a great season for the arsena!

  7. I Think CDM is an must we need to buy an big,strong,aggresive,experienced CDM.Has any body checked out Tom Huddlestone how good is he. He is not wanted by Tspud. So how about checking him out. He can also play CB.For ST is concern I still will wait one more season to look at our ST department. I believe we have enough as compare to other BIG 4. We have RVP,Eduardo,Nick,Ade,Vela. So there is no problem for now hopefully eduardo is fit enough for next season and Ade puts his head on right shoulder rather than looking around the world. CB is covered by having T.V. I would be tempted to still buy one good winger. Arsha Is fantastic so is nasri. Bit worried about Theo still an quality player but needs to work on his desicion making and strenght and crossing. He losses the ball very quickly. TR7 is still an big problem to us. I would pray and be optimistic about him but the truth is he more an injury player. We will see more of him on the medical bench than in the squad. But Still Proud of the Team… Come on Gunners Don’t Disappoint us this time around…We are still awaiting

  8. A DM would be awesome. We are pressed for money, so there’s no way Villa/Silva/Toure/Eto’o would ever be purchased. Plus most of these high profile players have horrible attitudes.

    – Hitzlsperger would be alright, experienced, both in the EPL and Internationally.
    – Melo would be amazing. Probably out of our price range. Class act.
    – Rolfes would be alright, not to pricey either.
    – Vidal would be a great signing, he’s only 22, but he’s versatile being able to play DM or across the defence.
    – De Rossi, good player, scores some screamers. Strong, decent vision. Probably wouldn’t move away from Roma though.
    – Yussuf, regular for Nigeria. Only 24, but nonetheless a quality DM.
    – Brighi, also of Roma. Hard-working, great engine, great work attitude, highly professional. 28 and in our price range.

    Another CB maybe necessary if Gallas or Kolo leave to add that extra depth.

  9. Addition to the above, main problem with Italians though is that they never seem to travel well. But, to be honest Brighi would fit the bill in all measures. So he might be worth a punt at a price of £5-7 Mil, regardless of the Italian dilemma.

  10. martins is off to stoke for 5 mill wtf Arsne go get him and sell ade to milan for 10 mill plus flamster back and we will be sorted as we have missed him whereas we replaced hleb with nasri and sharva so we did ok in that department.

  11. I would say 2 to 3. Wingers are fine. Im content with Almunia at least for this season. Full-backs are ok, but if we sell Eboue we will need to buy a back-up RB. A Cm than allows Cesc to be more attacking. That Cesc can put trust in similar to the partnership of Cesc and Flamini and yes Flamini would be the ideal man to bring in. Melo is staying at Fiorentina. And another striker. Specailly if Ade leaves.

  12. In my opinion we don’t need any players.

    Denilson will suffice in the DM role, he will be better off for last season’s experience and will excel this year.
    At CB we have the Verminator and Gallas who can hopefully form a good partnership. Toure as back up would be nice but if he leaves then Djourou and Senderos would do and also Song.
    If we were to buy it would be good to buy another CB, not a DM. Gallas is a brilliant defender but only has so long until he becomes too old, so planning for the future with maybe a Sakho would be great.

  13. I think 1 more would put us in with a chance – but ideally 2 more. As far as I can see we have no real problems when it comes to going forward or scoring goals, especially with Eduardo back and hopefully Rosicky too. But it’s a lot to expect Thomas Vermaelen to sort out our defensive problems alone. I would like to see a very solid and experienced British defender in there and I’ve already touted Celtic’s Gary Caldwell (Scottish Football Writer’s Player of The Year this season) but no else seems interested. Presumably because he’s not a star name like all these Melo’s and Ya Ya’s and wot not we keep hearing about. But he doesn’t need to be famous – just good. Caldwell can also play defensive midfield – but of course it doesn’t have to be him either. Just an experienced, hard nut with a bit of class and some British guts to toughen us up. He might also take over captaincy which I actually think would be good for Cesc.

  14. In my opinion this team would be totally good enough:

    – – – – – – Almunia

    Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy

    – – – Denilson – Fabregas

    Nasri – – – Arshavin – – – Rosicky

    – – – – – van Persie

    If we were to get anybody, it would be a newstriker (Chamakh will be signed to replace Adebayor sot hat is sorted), an attacking midfielder if Rosicky is not fit and then a DM, but I think Denilson was as good as any last year.

  15. We need 2 players, a difensive Midfielder and an stricker to replace Adebayor.

  16. SONG is the tough DM we need, with Denilson as back up. Mark my words, SONG will be a revalation next year.

    And don’t be surprisedif Ade doesn’t leave. If he did, we would surely sign Chamakh.

  17. I think we only need one player…And that is a CDM.We will also need a cover defender if toure or gallas leave.Adebayor needs to go as hes not up for the fight.I personally would love to see adebayor go ac milan with flamini coming back in a swap deal or buying lorik cana with the money,heres how we could line up for next season…

    ————Almunia—————-

    Sagna – Gallas – Vermealen – Clichy

    ———— Flamini—————

    Nasri——-Fabregas——–rosicky

    —–Van Persie–Arshavin———-

  18. i think we need a decent CDM ESSIEN or Muntari wud be good.Definetly Hunterlaar as hes asri ara world-class finisher and bags of pace like Arshavin and Walcott.

  19. With signing of vamaelen,i tnk a player dat can play a centre back also defence midfied & midfieder dat can play free kick,2 in total.

  20. Fair enough if you are telling the truth, but I have heard a lot of people say that Cana is very average, hence the move to Spurs 😉

    I don’t see any reason to replace Denilson unless a World Class player becomes available for around 10-15 mil – not likely.

  21. RB – Sagna, Eboue
    CB – Gallas, Toure
    CB – Vermaelen, Djourou
    LB – Clichy, Gibbs
    RM – Walcott, Rosicky, Eboue
    CM – Fabregas, Ramsey, Denilson, Diaby
    DM – ????, Song, Denilson
    LM – Nasri, Arsha, Vela, Gibbs
    CAM – Arsha, Nasri, Walcott, Diaby
    ST – RVP, Eduardo, Ade, Bendy, Vela, Arsha

    Regardless of the formation Arsene uses, I feel confident with the current depth of players except in that DM role. Song made great strides last season, but I would like to see him backing up a more experienced Yaya type player. I respect Denilson, but if a new DM is bought, he is far enough down the depth chart to allow Arsenal to sell him. Sell Senderos too. With all the talk of Milan’s interest in Ade, I think we should sell him if the offer is a good one.

    What is Traore’s situation? Is he going to be brought into the squad, sold, or loaned out again?

  22. Medeski, what are you talking about? Denilson was Arsenal’s best player last season, easily the best DM, and you are talking about selling him? Some people really fail to understand football.

  23. @ Medeski

    I read that Traore will back to the team and Gibbsie will go on loan.

    AND heyy Yaya´s lovers, yesterday he extended his contract to 2012. Anyway he still is one of the lowest payed players of Barca.

  24. Tom your 1 of them Denilson at present is a week Fab copy & not whats needed he is in cause there is no 1 else 4 me Cana /Melo & Veloso with Fab.in the middle so never again are we subjected to the likes of Eboue Diaby or denilson With Cana or Melo along side Fab or Veloso we can get back to 442 instead of sacrificing a winger to try and cover the week middle with an extra body

  25. Just a quality partner for Cesc, that’s all we need, I’m happy with the rest of the squad. Note that I don’t mean a Xabi Alonso type, we need an energetic ball winner, we all know Cesc was at his best with all action Flamini running round winning everything in sight and distributing the ball intelligently. Ideally you’d have Flamini back but I imagine his wages would (pardon the pun) put paid do that happening even if Ade follows him to AC Milan.

    Arsene also needs to play everyone in their proper positions and end this “Cesc in the hole” nonsense. We bought one of the best number 10s in the world in Arshavin and we should be playing him there and Cesc deep where he has always played his best. Other than that I’m really pleased with the rest of the squad and very excited about what Jack Wilshere will turn into in the next few seasons. I have the sneaking suspicion Jack could have a career to mirror Ryan Giggs and we don’t have to pay a penny for him.

    We hate to hear it but sometimes Arsene is right when he describes the return or emergance of some players as “like new signings”. Eduardo, Rosicky, Wilshere, am I living in cloud cuckoo land if I believe the improvement to win the league might come from within? Vermaelen will be a quality player. We aren’t far away when we play our best. I’m really looking forward to next season.

  26. Almunia (Fabianski)

    Sagna(Gibbs) Gallas(Djru.)Vermaelen(Silv.)Clichy

    Rosicky (Diaby) Denilson(Eboue)

    Fabregas Arshavin Nasri

    Van Persie (Eduardo)

    Of course this completely changes when you add Walcot.

  27. I would get a DMC and Melo looks the buscuit. I don’t think we need another forward even if Ade goes as we have Vela, RvP, Arshavin, Walcott, Eduardo and Bendy. Can’t wait for pre season as hopefully it will all be sorted by then.

  28. Rumors of Benzema choosing us over Man Utd. Say what you want but if Ade leaves Wenger WILL bring in someone of this calibre. WOuld be a great move IMO

  29. Hey there Mr Spanish Fry – it’s clear that there’s something of a discrepancy between Gooners on this blog about the merits of certain players. These I would call ‘The Usual Suspects’ or perhaps ‘The Ashburton Grove 5’? So I wonder if it would be a good idea for you to open a blog discussion on just the 5 of them at some point in the future? I’m talking of course about: Denilson, Song, Djorou, Diaby and Eboue. I won’t include Sylvestre because I think we nearly all would like to see the back of him. But which ones (if any) of ‘The Usual Suspects’ deserve to be saved?

  30. Well, it is quite clear that Denilson will stay and become a first team player. he was excellent last season, whatever anyone says, and Melo – this supposed “excellent” player – looks terrible in the Confederations Cup.

    If Arsenal fans watched other clubs more often, and tookmnotice of hiw many mistakes every player makes, we would appreciate how good Denilson is, but unfortunately, fans are critical of their own and full of love for players who they have hardly seen.

    Even if they already are the energetic ball winner we all crave.

  31. Ribery for Bendtner + 30 mil? That one sounds a little far fetched but I think Benzema could be on the agenda to replace Ade

  32. Wenger is really going for it in the transfer market, he signed a nice early player, a defender, he is now going after Benzema, a young, talented striker, he could offer a big amount of money and thats not normal so he maybe realising he needs to do something different. If Benzema does sign, I cannot see Ade staying.

  33. I don’t dislike Denilson and he stepped into a difficult position last season. I don’t think we need to sell him, but I do want a more experienced DM to be bought. If that means selling Denilson to help raise the money, so be it. Bringing in a DM makes it unnecessary to keep both Denilson and Song on the bench. I only suggested selling Denilson because I think Arsenal would get more $ for him.

  34. this is the team id like to see lining out next season …..

    _______alumina

    sanga___toure___galas____clishy

    ___________melo

    rosisky________cesc______nasri

    _________benzema_____VP

    subs… Varmelen
    Song
    Walcott
    Denileson
    Eduardo
    Bentdner
    Eboue

    i no its very unlikely that well sign benzma but it would be fkin brilliant !!!

    hope ade stays imo i think hell win the fans back this year and bang in another 30 goals this season !!

  35. Ribery for Bendtner + 30 mil Haha manure was told Ribery was 90 mill so that would mean bendtner is worth 60 mill where do these journos get info from? Benzema could be true if ade goes as arsne does like french players and especially strikers Aliadiere, anelka, wiltord and of course our henry plus we have sunu coming up and watching him in the under 19 championships he does look another good youngster.

  36. @ Tom14 – I sincerly hope not. I do hope AW signs Wenger, it will be a great step in the right direction and should signal Ades depature. Chamakh is overrated.

  37. @Sf, good post mate, but personally by seeing others here insisting on a new CDM really desapoint me.Song is a perfect CDM player, I really wonder how people can easely forget good things and effort that Song has done during his last 17 PL games? I see him perfect for this coming season and I defntly agree with that mate who mentionned that he will be a revelation for this coming year.
    Deni?? Im not yet convinced!!1
    Benzema? He is one of my best striker but I dont think we can get him for 30M Pd/ Ofcourse he is french which for a fact could put an ease for Le boss to get him but still….I wont bet much for the challenge of getting him more than Fergie who is ready to spend anything now for CR7 replacement.Dont know!!, for me its like dreaming but who knows what AW would do???Im just trying to be realistic!!!!

  38. Song has been rated as one of the most improved player in the PL last season and also I still remember a scenario when both guys on the commentary really complained (with me at the same time) when AW took him off so early during one of our lately season game.I personally think he is a fantastic CDM.

  39. im getting sick and tired of people saying flamini should come back.he had 1 solid season with us.song will be brilliant next year.arsenal made a bid for benzema. it looks like arsene is gonna move adebayor on to milan because dzeko renewed with wolfsburg so milan will probably make a bid in the next week.
    In arsene we trust.lets go gunners

  40. please send me the exact signings for this window so that we know whose joined us rather than speculating.Iam gettin sick with speculations.Tell me, how players have we bought?

  41. i just read that AW is willing to release ade for 25 mil pounds and use that money to lure benzema to arsenal!!! Also Fiorentina are demanding 25m for melo AW is nego a part-exchange with senderos going the other way

  42. The new post is up and I have already had a bit of a say on that, but as for the discussion about the strikers, Chahakh has a better shot to goal ratio than any Arsenal striker last season.

  43. if these were to be considered then , i would rather suggest that for us to win next season, lets bring David Vila as striker which has ability in finishing like Henry.

  44. Ade would fetch some good cash,i hope he goes so we can buy like 2 more players.Other than that no one else should leave the club but pple like Melo or benzema are very much welcome.The door is open for them to come and make a difference.

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