Number of times that Manchester United still have to play Chelsea in the Premier League this season: 2
Number of times that Arsenal still have to play Chelsea in the Premier League this season: 0
Torres move could be a good one for us
Thoughts?
Have your say on transfer deadline day by leaving a comment.
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In theory massive 6 points for Chelsea from the 2 Utd games.
If Chelsea at least hold them to a draw on both occasions (4 pts dropped) & if we manage to beat them at the Emirates (they will drop another 3 pts) —-> 7 points!
At the moment it’s 5 points….I reckon there is a long way to go this season despite some claims that it’s Utd’s title to lose now.
We should keep our focus & collect max pts as much as possible!!!
HI Andrew Weber do u think arsenal need any transfers
# of times United have to visit Arsenal = 1; # of times United have been Arsenal by 3-1 at Arsenal in last 2 years = 2 🙂
Andrew I was wondering how seriously you reckon Nasri’s injury will affect the outcome of the month’s worth of games?
hahaha united fans must be really worried to be reading an arsenal blog
Torres’s move would be much better for Arsènal if he were becoming a Gunner.
We need players to stay at the top , if not second best yet again ,please sign someone AW
@ Matthew – I’ll talk about that a bit this week. Just wanted to do a short post to sum up deadline day here.
@Tony Waters-
Fernando Torres is a chronic malcontent(like Adebayor) who has been nothing but trouble for any manager he has played for. Do some research on what his former coaches in Spain had to say about him. In the last WC, del Bosgue made him warm-up for a whole hour before he got on as a substitute, after he displayed those same traits in SA. His current(or previous now) team mates at Liverpool did not have much good to say about him either. Carragher recently said his effort was diabolical. He is actually going to a club that will suit him fine, what with the already split dressing room at Chelsea.
No, Wenger will not want his type at Arsenal. Especially not after successfully getting rid of Gallas, Toure and Adebayor. For once be glad that he will not even want a player that will implode Arsenal’s dressing room.
Indeed it is good for us, given the schedule. Even better in the long-run because Chelsea just announced a 115 million pound loss today, Manu continue to swim in debt, Man City are joke financially, etc.
We continue to build on our singular path as the only truly competitive team in the league and one of the world’s best clubs that is more built than bought. When these ridiculous transfers happen our long term future looks far more secure relative to our competitors. Now for the remainder of this campaign I can’t wait to Torres back to his old form against Man U in his Chelsea kit. And how about Tottenham on the weekend? Gotta like it.
1NTTA
I hope you’re right, A.W. And your reasoning seems pretty sound to me.
I think the Torres move could work out well for both LFC and CFC – although I hope not!
ONE game at the time
we need to beat everton and than recover our players and hope that manu will loose points, dont think this is all over and that manu will loose boath games against chelsea, we must win our games and if we manage to do that we can be on top
arshavin needs to step up and replace nasri this 2 weeks and give his fucking best,we can end this seasson with a trophy bud one game at the time people
and next seasson we must bring some fresh blood and hope we dont loose cesc
BTW, Torres hasn’t been the same player since he cut off his Goldy-locks.
2 draws chelsea v man utd will do we dont want either side winning these fixtures
where did you get the figure that chelsea lost 115 million pounds
i will like to see the site because i am an ARSENAL fan and i hate everything about chelski
Croatiangunner is right on! We have to keep winning, no draws, in the Premiership. If we stay healthy and have a little luck finishing we can do this. But, SAF is right that many teams are better. Unfortunately, they usually get a little help from their friends the zebras.
Really hope we don’t lose a center back the rest of the way. Gooners forever!
Ridiculous over the top fee for a player past his best and often injured. Will have no impact because Chelsea’s midfield lack creativity and are getting too old. Smacks of desperation from Abramovich to me. Man U will still win the premiership for me – they seem to be able to time their seasons better than anyone else – grind out results when not in form then when they do hit form they don’t choke. Hope I’m wrong though! Nasri’s injury timing is pretty typical.
That fee 4 me is ridiculous for an aging player like Tores.I dnt see him doing much in Chelsea that will justify that fee. Lets see though.
There is some seriously shortsighted bull goin on right here today…Arsenal can meet Chelsea in the Champs League, Chelsea have signed Torres for 5 years, so how is that good for Arsenal….if he were cup tied and retiring in the summer, yeah its good for Arsenal, but Chelsea could yet win this years Prem League, not to mention the squad they’ll have for the next few seasons, its time to wake up.
Squillachis a joke
Denilson might aswel be playing on the x-box he spectates that much in games
Diabys speed of thought and concentration is done in monthly installments, if he gets Wilsheres place its a disgrace, Wenger has never dropped Diaby…..its a joke, mark my words he’ll walk back onto the team
Koscielny is hit and miss, should not be in the reckoning for big games against our rivals or barce, yet he is
Bentdner is Bentdner, converts one in 20 and you have eiigets telling me Im wrong and hes quality….get real hes bambi on ice
Wenger lets an intelligent finisher like Vela out on loan and insists on playing duds like these….he brings Nasri on yesterday and we lose him for 3 weeks……..c’mon now wheres the Wengerites gonna tell me Im wrong
Theres nothing won yet and there wont be with Squillachi and Koscielny in our defence….you can take that to the bank Arsene you miserable, shortsighted, arrogant fool.
And us fans will just shut up and pay a fortune for our tickets next season.
This is a reply to MTY – First comment.
You also forgot that they have to play Man City and we dont, hopefully thats another draw. to add to your predictions.
It’s an interesting one. Would have loved Arsenal to have bought him, why invest in this huge worldclass stadium if your not going to spend some if the revenue generated on increasing the squad? EVERYONE knows were short a centre back.
Anyway, sorry about the tangent. Torres to the chavs could work in our favour, but he’s hardly been prolific this season eh!
Andy – exactly my thoughts!
@shambo-
You have been on this same rant for so long- Squillaci this, Denilson that, Bendtner this, Wenger that,….. No one takes you seriously. Because there is no original thought in your ramblings! You, like the rest of us here has never managed a top-level football team. And you are just expressing an opinion that amounts to no beans. You see the product on the pitch on match day, and that does not tell the whole story.
If at the end of the season, you can assess the team objectively, maybe someone will listen then. Just calling for panic buys mid-season, where you pay $45- $60M for marginal talents like Carroll does not make sense. And what team worth their salt will trade their best players in January?
So please take your frustrations elsewhere.
^ Delete.
I’m ecstatic I support Arsenal.
I wouldn’t be able to stomach being a Liverpool or Chelsea supporter right now.
35m for a kid who has played less than a full season of EPL and with only one England cap, 50m for an overrated, out of form, injury prone striker who has scored less goals than Bendtner this season.
Luiz is a decent signing though.
Bring on Everton.
Last year we got 35 year-old Sol Campbell(who is in my all-time Arsenal 11) and his experience couldn’t compensate for his aging. This year we got nobody in a worse potential situation. Song was excellent at cb, but somebody has to take his slot if he goes back there for any length of time. Wenger seems to believe in Denilson still(!) can Gibbs play cb? Can Eboue? Was no one of any competence available? How can we take such a gamble? Prices are ridiculous, but rewards will be huge, only if Djourou and Koscielny go uninjured through the next 60 days minimum. Odds on or against?
@Byo,
Theres no original thought in my ramblings, ARE. YOU. FOR. REAL? Im pretty sure its my own opinon based on what Iv been watching for 22 years, the fact that its my own take on it makes it original numbnuts, however you coming on trying to represent what you think is the greater Arsenal community is not clever and most certainly not original, your looking for a load of bloggers to come on and say ‘go Byo, you know your shit’…….best of look with that, you know nothing about football.
NEWSFLASH……..you dont get to tell people who have a differenty opinion to yours to go somewhere else, get down off your high horse.
I never said anything about signing Carroll, or anyone like him, I never said anything about spending 50-60 mill on anyone either, stop putting words in my mouth to make yourself sound clever. I simply asked yesterday would it be so perposterous for us to talk about signing Torres and judging by alot of what has been said Arsenal fans are afraid of this concept now, Arsene Wenger has brainwashed most of the Arsenal universe into believing spending is the devil, its like you all recoil at the mention of it like its dirty……what the fuck is wrong with a club were told is so financially sound investing in a quality footballer, I mean tell me, when are we going to put all this money were supposed to have into effect???? oh yeah 10mil on Oxlade Chamberlain……GIVE ME A BREAK, at this rate we’ll want 2 Arsenal teams in 5 years time just to give all these kids gametime….Miyaichi, Eastmond, Wilshere, Gibbs, Wellington, Frimpong, Ramsey, Bartlett, Nordveit ( sold by the way), Merida ( gone aswel), Galindo, Barazite, henri Lansbury, sanchez watt, Afobe, Randall, Coquelin, Botelho…..why pay millions for these kids when 1 in 6 wont make it through, why not use the 3 mil you spent on 5 of them to buy a SOLID centre half, even if these guys break through andreach their peak whos to say you wont lose them like Flamini or to bigger clubs with bigger salaries on offer……..I m beginning to seriously question what Wengers idea is, get off the younster merry-go-round and sign whats required, not 3 or four but one good CB.
I am a more objective Arsenal fan than you have ever met, Iv been judging this Arsenal team at the end of every season for the last 5, where will you be at the endof the season when I have something to say?????……nowhere to be found, its a kop out to say judge at the end of the seasons when the problems of the hereand now are right in front your face, but you stick your head back in the sand there and when it comes back up mate just hope everything turned out ok…..you obvioulsy havent a clue about football and if you can tell me Squillachi and those others are worth the wages their getting or their fees you wanna stop smoking crack man. Arsene Wenger signed them when we needed quality, can you not get this through your thick skull, he hasnt the bottle to go out and boy like the big clubs and thats a FACT. He is determined to have be proven right that the misfits like Deni and Diaby are worthy and this will be our downfall, he is the most arrogant and egotistical manager in football, even moreso than Mourinho because Mourinho will react and change thing if he got them wrong…..what does Wenger do???? Wrap up in the fetal position and rock to and fro like a in a strait jacket only breaking his rhythm to occasionally fling a water bottle…..Id like to be wrong but Im not, there are too many holes in this Arsenal set-up and the managers current ideology is the biggest problem.
Where will we be if Djourou gets injured? Just answer me that Byo.
Shambo
Reading between the lines do I detect a teeny weeny bit of anti Wenger bias in your views?
Wenger has a different policy to most other clubs when it comes to transfers. I think we just have to accept that. I agree we are vulnerable if we get another injury to a defender, but fingers crossed Vermeulen will be back before to long to add back up. Also I think there are several players who are not good enough to be first teamers but I disagree about Bendtner and Diaby – I think they are good squad players to have. And I’d take Squillaci over Silvestre, sulky Gallas and Sol and his zimmer frame for now.
In the scheme of things – final of the Carling Cup, fifth round tie against a Lge 1 team in the FA Cup, a mouthwatering tie v Barca in the Champions League and second spot in the EPL with a real chance still to win it – I hardly think that is a sound basis for sacking our most successful ever manager. And don’t give me the “but we haven’t won anything for five years” crap. We have had far longer barren spells than that in our history and we played crap football to boot.
And I for one am happy we don’t have trillionaire sugar daddies to use as our play thing until they get bored.
Fuck I hope we beat Evrton tomorrow and don’t lose Cesc, RvP, Song or keeper to another player to injury. And Arshavin now is the time to deliver with Nasri out!!!
@Sahmbo-
I am glad I’m talking to a 22-year arsenal fan. In that case, it is a safe assumption that I’m talking to someone who has a sense of Arsenal history.
May I suggest you take a look at the GA. ManC/Chelsea-19, ManU 21 and Arsenal 22. goals, right? So where is the objective evidence that Arsenal desperately needs a CB? Is this a creation of the British media?
And Arsenal is one of 2 clubs with more than 2 goals scored per game, and one of 4 with less than 1 goal/against per game.
I will be the first one to admit that I DO NOT know the internal workings of the club, except for what I’ve seen on match-day(going on 3 decades)- even though I’ve been a club member for a while now. But I also know that assembling a team involves more than just buying players- team chemistry, is the player available, etc.
Building a youth system means you might have 1 in 10 come through. But you keep the pipeline going for the club’s future.
Do a little research on players like Torres- we’ve had his type at Arsenal in the past- Adebayor, Gallas and co. A cursory research will show that Torres has had a problem with every coach he’s ever played for. Even Carragher said recently his effort is “diabolical”. Carroll? don’t even get me started there.
We have seen other players come on big-money transfers in the past to the PL-Sheva, Robinho, Alves, Forlan, Veron, etc. We know how they turned out. So in effect spending big money does not guarantee that the player will work out.
I guess we need cover for every position on the team in case of injuries, eh? I do not see “too many holes” in the Arsenal team as presently constituted. The British press have created a paranoia amongst the fans who have bought it(not necessarily you). I may concede that we may not have a replacement for Song, with Frimpong out.
As an adult, I expect a better use of language- accusing one(you don’t know) of a “thick skull”, or of “smoking crack” does not really make much sense. After all, we are only talking about football. I deal with life and death situations daily(in my line of work), maybe it reflects in how seriously I take football conversations.
One can tell from the way you express yourself- you are not too coherent, you are repetitive, you are abusive, and you are angry. And that does not prove that you care more about Arsenal.
After all it is just football.
Enjoy the game tomorrow.
afte luiz and torres and huge spending this is the article on the chelsea website today. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHCHELSEA BECOMES CASH POSITIVE
Posted on: Mon 31 Jan 2011
Chelsea FC plc becomes cash positive as it prepares for UEFA financial fair play rules
Chelsea FC plc today announced that results for the financial year end June 30, 2010 show the group had become cash positive for the first time since its acquisition by Roman Abramovich. The club had a positive cash inflow of £3.8m in the year compared to a net outflow of £16.9m in the previous year.The club believes it is now well positioned to meet UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
In addition, the group had a reduced operating loss of £68.6m on an improved group turnover of £205.8m. The operating loss was £3.6m better than the previous year. The total loss for the financial year was £70.9m.Amortisation of player transfer fees constitutes the largest component of the difference between the positive cash flow and the operating loss.
Group turnover has increased by £2.5m despite the economic situation and reflects the strength of the team, and the attractiveness of the FA Premier League allied with the continued allegiance of our fans and commercial partners.
The main figures were:
– Group turnover was up from £203.3m to £205.8m
– Operating Loss for the financial year reduced from £72.3m to £68.6m
– Net capital expenditure reduced from £4.2m to (£15.5m) due to player sales
– Cash inflow of £3.8m against an outflow of £16.9m in 2008/09.
Chief executive Ron Gourlay said: ‘The reduction in operating losses and increased sales in 2009/10 shows that we are moving in the right direction especially when viewed against the difficult macroeconomic environment.
‘The club is in a strong position to meet the challenges of UEFA ‘financial fair play’ initiatives which will be relevant to the financial statements to be released in early 2013.’
Chairman Bruce Buck added: ‘That the club was cash generative in the year when we recorded a historic FAPL and FA Cup double is a great encouragement and demonstrates significant progress as regards our financial results.’
@Shambo,
Having read your post carefully, I found three things that caught my attention. The first is the idea that Wenger believes (and has brainwashed the Arsenal universe into accepting) that spending is evil, the second that spending in a plethora of youth prospects is less productive than spending on proven talent, and the conclusion that Wenger’s MO is egotistical.
These arguments caught my attention because they are, like someone wrote up thread, part of the standard “Le Grove” criticism of Arsene Wenger, coupled with the standard disclaimer of being a loyal, long time supporter of the club.
At this juncture, spending imprudently is about as anathema as anything could be in the Arsenal universe. The number of clubs in perilous financial condition because of unscrupulous spending (Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester United, and yes, Barcelona, which missed payroll this summer) serve as cautionary tales. But as a long time supporter, you surely know that this has never been us. Herbert Chapman way back when took over the club under the explicit understanding that if he was interested in checkbook management he should look elsewhere. This club has always been cautious with finances (cheap if you like), even back in the Bank of England days. This is the Arsenal way. Arsene runs it that way because it is the Arsenal way. We’ve never pretended to be anything else. And if you’re thinking about titles, ask yourself, would you trade our current financial standing with Liverpool’s in exchange of that “Ol’ Big Ears”?
With respect to buying tons of young as opposed to proven talent, I believe you have a point there. It is frustrating that Wenger can find gems almost at will for cheap but can not buy mature talent as cheaply. Perhaps the absence of David Dean is felt there. I read today about long running rumour about Raúl Albiol, a decent, versatile player that Madrid can do without and we can certainly use right now, but probably won’t buy because Arsene won’t pay the 8 to10 mil the blancos want as opposed to the 5 mill valuation of 2 years ago when Wenger began tracking the guy.
My last point is about Arsene’s ego. With all due respect, get over it. Comparing him with Mourinho, one of the most uncouth, morally reprehensible managers of this era (google Anders Frisk), is simply beneath contempt.
Interesting Analogy Andrew, at least for this season ManU could suffer the wrath of Torres but it could also galvanise Chelsea. They could go on an unbeaten run whilst we could do the opposite. I need a longer article to read to see where your coming from.
To that guy who keeps on picking on people who have different views on Wenger, just quit it man, Shambo has been on this blog for awhile, his views and mind may not meet but he mostly disagree on the article, he dosen’t pick out others who disagrees on his personal views. I’ve saw him actually concur on occasions that his views were wrong, think it was about Song if I remember correctly.
If you say Torres is a disruptive influence, well provide us with a link or a source, if you don’t then you may be spreading rumours that was conjured up by some tabloid media or from other forums. Frankly I’ve not seen any articles on Torres ego or disruptive influence published by any respectable media or tabloid.
Shame-boo , you say you have been watching it for 22 years, i hope you are being honest about that. you must know Liverpool has not won it for last —- years, What u think was the reason for Fergie to let go CR9 and Tevez the same year and well they lost title to this team who buy players with Russian money and then let them go for free or for dimes (cole, ballack, deco, julio) . you are definitely not a gooner cause they know whatever happens PL title will be home sooner or later and CL as well.
Funny I thought most of the fairweather plastic Gooners today are kids who just supported Arsenal for a few years and thought they know everything. Never expected it would be a 22 years Gooner. I mean, I never count how long I supported Arsenal, since early 80s that I remember. And I remember the era when we didn’t start the season expecting to win anything, just a top 4 finish perhaps, and a decent cup run. Being virtually the lone Gooner in my classroom, I remember my “ambition” back then was to watch Arsenal lifting the FA Cup ONCE. Cos the first FA Cup final I saw ourselves being beaten by a then old second division West Ham. Fast forward to the modern day, I don’t even wanna remind ppl the amount of trophies AW had won for our club, which something I never imagined we would be able to achieve when i first became a Gooner.. let’s take a look of this season, still in all 4 compeitions, 2nd in the league, and with a trip to League Cup final. And you still got the so called Arsenal SUPPORTERS here trashing Wenger with all the rubbish??
What I don’t understand is how on earth are Chelski going to comply with these supposed Fifa rules with all this spending? According to an article on BBC website today they just reported loss of 70.9 million quid for the year gone. And that’s before they’ve just gone and spent an equal amount on transfers today, which in turn doesn’t factor in the no doubt ginormous wages Torres and this other chap are going to be on. The article posted by @Ben up above is classic finance speak trying to gloss over the whopping loss they made, which in fact was greater than their loss for the previous year. So how can they possibly hope to comply with the FIFA rules by 2012? Is the whole thing from FIFA just a big bag of wind? I’m really looking forward to seeing what rabbit these ‘Loadsamoney’ clubs are going to pull out of the hat come 2012. They’ll probably threaten to sue.
@shambo – give it a rest, mate. I think everyone here knows what you think of Squillachi etc. now. I honestly think you should start your own blog and I honestly believe you’ll get a lot of people writing in and agreeing with you. 90% of them will be supporters of other clubs but what the hey?
the photo of vidic lying on the ground behind torres is gold.
hopefully torres can settle in at chelsea really quickly and hurt Man U.
meant to post link to that article to back up my sheeeet…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12330303
lol at the Wenger-hate just coz he didn’t sign anyone.
take a step back, breathe in deeply, and consider what Wenger has done for this club…in fact, you probably support ARsenal because of the influence of Wenger.
I was hoping that torres would complete the move. It might be very helpful for us in this season.
Just keeping fingers crossed that he will make an impact on the 2 Man Utd games.
Shambo you really hav beef with the all mighty AW.the old lad has done more than any other coach in arsenal history and more is yet to come.it calls for patience!money doesnt always buy success,we all know that!footbal has changed a lot these days thats why you see small small clubs givin big clubs a run for there money,but patience is there for the big clubs’ faithfulls.have hope we have a good squad and have a chance to snap maybe 2 of the four cups that we r competing for.i’m a real fan of arsene from Africa.
Torres movement is bad for us.That doesn’t mean that we need to buy Torres.We need to strength our defense to face Torres ,Drogba and Anelka together , if not this season possibly next season.Also now chelsea may easily go past us making our title ambitions tough , because every team has to face the threat from Chelsea now on.
The reason that we worry is that arsenal has been doing good till the month of Jan,Febraury and starting to lose as the injuries plague hereafterwards .Finally , losing in all cup competitions and retaining the fourth or third spot has become regular.
Arsene has finally moulded a very good first XI and should now speed up moulding the second XI.Otherwise we will end up as we already did.
Forget about the negative , but face the facts.
You know what i even suggested in the prev article about my comments that shambo should replace wenger as manager, 22 years??? Who are you kidding here, and if it is true you are the first person i have seen who has been a supporter for such a long time and is still cribbing, w.o. accepting the fact that wenger is gonna do his way, no matter what you say, so its better you just accept it shut up and get behind the club, than have to type your embarrassing comments.
And i can bet my house on it and say that shamboo will be the first one to come here when rvp and toress are both in the treatment room, and say what a waste of 50 Million it was..
And this is a crazy transfer if toress is worth 50 m, fabregas shld be worth 120 m , and our worst player currently based on form Denilson should be 20 M, this is a joke.
“Samir Nasri and Denilson both damaged hamstrings during Sunday’s win over Huddersfield”
Now it is interesting for me. I hope a change will come as arsene has to think beyond Denilson to cover up Song.Arsene has said he may recall someone from loan.
Nobody’s asking for AW to spend 100m, just 10-15 to solidify us in a few key areas where we are obviously lacking, and an investment that could mitigate a massive injury risk and put us over the top, especially in a season when there are so many opportunities for success. Our top 11 I put against anyone, and it is tough to get players in to be backups who are quality and will be OK with watching a lot of the time, but we have so many matches and are so thin at defensive midfield and central defense that any little injury puts it all in doubt. If we didn’t have the cash I’d say eff it no problem but it is clear that we could have afforded it.
It was said many times, we’ll win the EPL in matches against the so-called smaller teams. If we don’t fail there, then we will have a chance. Man Utd will drop points, I’m quite sure of that, they won’t be the new “invincibles”, because we’ll beat them on the Emirates, next to the fact that they have to face Chelsea. But we must focus and, like AW said, take one match ar a time, focus 100% and grab the points. Because if Man Utd will drop points but we won’t be able to take advantage of that, it will all be in vain. If we look at the fixtures, we’ll meet Everton, Newcastle, Wolves, Stoke City, Sunderland in the next matches. We can win all these games, we can get 15 points with careful rotation, it’s all within our gasp. If we won’t do that, it won’t matter that Chelsea will beat Man Utd.
Yes, Greg, I agree with that. I actually think we should have bought a CB or whatever. AW even said as much himself at the begining of Jan. Yet low and behold – nothing. I do find it bewildering as to why he wouldn’t want to strengthen…? I believe he could have got Chris Samba for under 10 mill as a for instance. But the die’s cast now so I guess we just have to see if the Prof was right to stick with what he has. I have to say personally I think we’re going to concede goals we might have otherwise avoided and it’s going to cost us. But I also concede that he knows better than I how to steer a football team to trophies.
A sh*t load of goals and a clean sheet against Everton will help to alleviate my transfer disappointment…
The simple facts are these, we currently have the strongest quad in the prem. bar none. Forget the crap about it being the Spuds or Manure even our second string is packed with internationals.
When you look at our squad as a whole any team would be envious. The whole “We need to buy someone” argument is just daft. What we needed was a back-up CB but we have players that can fulfil this role. Would we really want to spend £20M on a player who would only be a backup?
No matter what anyone says, Kos is going to be a great player. He has only played 2 seasons in top flight football, one if you take into account his first was in France. Yet he is showing that he has class and he is still very young and adapting to the Prem.
Squillachi is a proven international with 21 caps to his name. Admittedly he has taken time to adapt and occasionally has made mistakes but watching his games as a whole I think he has done reasonably well considering he was supposed to be fourth choice.
I think certain Arsenal fans look at everything our players do wrong and never what our players do well. Denilson is a prime example of this, does really great work in nearly every game he plays but makes a single mistake and is vilified by certain members of the crowd, FFS he is still only 23, the same applies to Bendtner.
The fact is we call ourselves Arsenal Supporters, something I have been proud to be for my entire 37 years and not once have I booed or got on the backs of our own players or manager. I even remember the North Bank singing Gus Ceasers name!!
Surely getting on the backs of players is self-defeating, putting added pressure upon their young shoulders instead of showing them the support that they deserver whilst the cannon is on their chests.
For Christ’s Sake Denilson played on with a hamstring injury so the team did not have to go down to 9 men. That is true Arsenal spirit something some of these ‘fans’ would care to remember.
@Shambogunner has a point there is nothing to cheer about Torres signing.@Byo you seem to have a limited understanding of the anxiety and frustrations Arsenal fans go through not forgetting that they pay the highest tickets for game. They are adults, objective and absolutely deserve better and nothing less than hopeless stupid promises.The Denilson being abused is now also injured we wait to see if diabolical Diaby is better than him. How do you loan a pacey tricky player like Vela in his prime time and retain a Chamakh who decides to shield the ball instead of running at goal which managerial genius is that. Am afraid Nasri may be rushed for the Barca game and the story may be the same as on Fab last year.Injuries have started at their usual time and its likely to worsen again in the next games and Wenger is gonna be at his usual best convincing” in arsene we believe”. Like people say our culture is cheap then let the ticket prices be slashed immediately so that we cant complain any more for mediocrity. We arsenal fans are like babies as we lack foresight. At the moment we think we think being in 4 competitions is winning them. Absolute rubbish cause even Birmingham may not be a joke that day. By the way it is very possible that United may thrash Chelsea on both games and thrash us at the Emirates as well as it has done this time and again. What other excuse shall we put up. Credit indeed goes to Wenger and the team for where they are but we must be objective cause there is nothing won yet and we are exactly in the same position like other clubs are.
Regardless of the comments above, you have to agree that a revitalised Fernando Torres is going to make Chelsea a better side than they have been so far this season. The fact that we don’t have to play them again and that Manchester United have to play them twice has to be good for our chances in the league, yes? Simple as that, really.
Delano, Are you serious?? How can you claim that the Arsenal experience is mediocre? We watch the most exhilarating and sublime football played by some of the best players anywhere in the country yet no matter how good they do it is never enough for some fans.
Your pessimistic view of the club is one thing but to claim that watching the best attacking and passing team in the country inside one of the worlds greatest stadia is mediocrity is bizarre. Perhaps you could enlighten us as to what would make it better?
For the last four years we have improved and improved, this year we are already in a final and still challenging in all competitions. Now I am not naive enough to think that this means we will win them all but we are in better shape now than we have ever been.
Arsene Wenger is widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest coaches by people within the game and his policies of creating players rather than paying over-inflated transfer fees has seen us grow as a club and as a team.
I am sure everyone here was thrilled when we spent big to bring in AA23 yet now he is going through a bad run of form there are those who clamoured for this marquee signing to be shown the door. Big buys do not equal success. We do not know how Torres will fit in at the Chavs or whether he will stay fit for more than 2 games in a row.
As for your Vela vs Chamakh argument surely the goals tally answers that question not to mention Chamakh’s Champion’s league experience. I mean one minute you are saying why do we keep trusting these kids when we should be buying experienced players then saying we should be playing the kids instead of the experienced players?? I am confused!
Hey Shambo, perhaps you should go support Chelsea?
Hey Shambo,
It’s very shocking to see some of the things you’ve written. There is no relationship between your comment and the topic at all. Please learn to relate your views to the topic at hand. In addition please go back to class and learn some English and post a comment when you are mature enough.
Here’s a question. Name me FIVE (5) sides in English Football history (not just EPL history, you can go back as far as you want) that had a 2nd string of players that could be played en masse and get decent results? I am interested to hear the answers to this. Chelsea and Man City are not allowed since they have sugar daddies that can pay ridiculous wages. So come on, five sides that had a strong 2nd string of players in all of football history?
People dont seem to get just how lucky we are to have a squad like this.
We played for over half the match with 10 men, without Sagna, Djourou, our first two ‘keepers, Clichy, Wilshire, RvP, Walcott, Ramsey, Vermaelen and Nasri. It was Diaby’s first game back after a long, long injury. Song played central defense. Chamakh is in terrible form.
And we won. Against a decent lower division side that was playing its Cup Final.
What the heck is the problem?
@ Simon – The problem is that the game was stressful and Samir Nasri got injured.
People freak out when things are out of their control. They want control over everything. When Nasri got injured the panic button was hit — who to blame? what to do? Argh! ARGH! — and it just lit the flame on what was a poor performance but ultimately a successful result. I guarantee, even though Nasri’s injury is so completely unrelated with our squad depth in this matter, that the response to the game would have been different had he come through unscathed.
Why did we not sighn any center back?though Torres move to chelsea is a good move ,and as Arsenal funs we expect machester/howardweb,to lose
@Byo – I believe you are a very arrogant idiot.
You simply cannot READ properly….If you do, then it means you do not UNDERSTAND or interpret correctly what you read.
How dare you insinuate that Shambo mean’t we should buy certain strikers? I read all the comments. Even if he did, why are you against that? Its the same way you insinuated that I expected us to sign Messi etc.
I specifically think you are foolishly rude and very arrogant.
When you attacked Kel unspectacularly, I expected Andy to caution you. I am mad with you cos of the way you overtly address comments with an alien type of enigmatic aggression. Do you want to work for the club? Then go apply and good luck to you.
Anyways, I already know you do not watch our matches, you probably see replays when you already know the results.
We are beginning to see some thining in the squad, whether we like it or not, we could be reduced to some bare bones very soon. Hey Nonny Mouse now expects Wenger to buy players rather than following foolishly as was the case (Is he now a doom and gloomer?). If his new sense of expectation arises because of some after-thought concerning what he has read here, then the educative aim of the blogging community is met. But, when someone is very certain of what he says and another (like you Byo) comes-up with something completely different, then it is just an opinion and nothing else. The annoying thing is that Byo never backs up some of his useless and baseless arguments with facts. He just frames-up some-one with something he did not say and uses that to attack(gaining some friends/pity in the process) the person. But he forgets that he ends up making the person look bad because of his deceit.
A lot of people just come up and continue the rant when they never even knew/saw the origins of it and this really pisses me off. Who wouldn’t want a Torres in his team(whether it be a video game or not). If any fan refuses to acknowledge these very curious/salient facts, then such fans(assuming they are concerned) should better SHUP-UP or IGNORE the comments. Attacking someone when he is obviously correct makes you seem very rude/devlish/foolish to me.
@Aman – take note of the corrections above…..You also cut yourself as a supreme prick. Initially, you said our free striker was the best……now you seem to be singing to a very different tune. I know the fans whose comments I read now. Although everyone cannot be seen to display a mature level of intelligence which i would desire(especially when responding to comments), I’ll still do my best to bring salient issues to the fore-burner but only when necessary.
@all – I could not believe my eyes when the little consolation I expected from Andy became a serious issue to many because…
Firstly – The issue was addressed to Andy
Secondly, I was only reminding Andy about something we discussed some months back..it had nothing to do with the Carling/F.A cup games(i never even commented in those games) played at the time.
Thirdly – A lot of us agreed that our free striker was not transferred to solve a goal-scoring problem…..a problem that still exists in the squad. Then, what/why was he transferred here for?
So, if any prick feels very obliged to defend any player…It shouldn’t be with so much venom especially when such issues are not addressed to you.
Can we all please stop arguing? I’m really not enjoying it. It’s gone beyond banter and it’s becoming painful to read. Please. Please. Please.
@gunnerboss. Well well well well!it really eats me off to stil expect our same beloved fans who love one team begin usin arrogant language against each other.I hate to mention that Byo is realistic and understands that footbal is a game meant to unite people,not attracting criticism.i mean it’s our team and we wont buy even if we criticise ourselves and our opinions.from the way i understand Wenger,he does the unexpected.yes we need to buy but the question is who and when,i’m sure AW knows what lies ahead us and he’ll surely reinforce in the summer that i believe.let us enjoy our success wit the young lads that have sweated all season long and the next season will be ours to brag of.lets accept the facts that AW believes in his squad so should we. And for the others,give Bendtner a break,He’s stil raw he’ll pul thru trust me.
What has wenger to do to be proved right ? Win the league simple as. Anything less is totally unacceptable no matter what some deluded fools say We are within touching distance of winning our first league since 2004 and wenger refuses to do what every man, woman and child knows he needed to do and that was strengthening a squad that is paper thin in crucial area’s. As a result of that falling short is not an option and is unacceptable in my opinion and should result in immediate dismissal.
As far as I am concerned we gave up on the champs lge as soon as wenger’s pricking about with team selections cost us top spot in our group (we all knew we would draw barca didnt we ? ). Yes we are still in with a shout in fa cup and have a great chance to win the beer cup (yippee ) but the bottom line is that the best teams win the leagues and the secondary competitions (fa cup and beer cup) can be won by 2nd class teams (like the scum). I would have accepted coming up short in our title bid if we had of actually brought in some proven talent but we simply have to show that level of ambition and this is something we no longer do
Anyway it is one thing to defend wenger on a lack of signings but another thing entirely to point to the 35m deal for andy carroll as a vindication of wenger’s lack of buying and frankly it is an embarrassing statement to make We made 56m profit last season alone and that money could and should have been used to bring in at least 2 quality players. We didnt look for wenger to overspend on an outdated english style football thug but we looked for him to sign a much needed quality centre back and defensive midfielder and yes the market may well be inflated but sometimes if you need something badly enough (and we do) then you have to pay over the odd’s to get it – the bottom line is when you pay peanuts you get monkeys and I am pretty sure that if you look up the definition of monkeys in a football handbook you will see the names of squillachi, denilson and diaby (to name just 3) in there
100% agree with Andrew. No excuse for bad manners and personal attacks on others. My last short comment on this post was #25 and some of my questions may have been considered rhetorical, but they weren’t. I hoped for some reasonable responses.
Saw my first live Arse game at Highbury in 1971 at the age of 27(I’m a yank) and have seen a lot worse than this squad. Still think we are seriously at risk until TV5 comes back, and not sure he will this season. Achilles injuries even after surgery are unpredictable.
Not a pessimist, but very nervous!
i love it how arsenal fan blame wenger for the way he runs the show at arsenal. would you prefer him to spend 50mill on a player then if he still doesnt win anything and the club runs at a loss would you be happy? he runs a pretty tight budget and i think he does a pretty good. he is consistent. that is good business.
haha omg gunnerboss you really are a joker, and i will stand by what we said AW and pat rice are vacating their positions for gunnerboss and shambo, problem solved one will solve it in attack the other in defense and still ensure our club is not in debts like Chelsea and utd and also ensure we comply with FA rules, hurray for a new arsenal era.
I don’t usually comments but I’m an active reader of you guys comments, I found there is a tendency of not accepting what we have. I believe if it was not for Wenger , Arsenal would not be what it is today. I believe in consistency and we have been in the top 4 for the better part of the decade plus fantastic football which keep even haters glued to their T.V. we might not have won anything but same apply to looser pool (chealse hijack their way into glory, that’s why Roman end up getting rid of Mourinho). Let’s get behind our team gooners or find a new home and see if you can last a month without begging for a ticket back. By the way I’m from South Africa, the English might not be good so don’t pick on it focus on the facts.
How this is good for Arsenal? Cesc get a spanish international in london. They can together ask the Barcelona players to fuck off when they try to tap him up to Barcelona when they are with the national team.
And for this season Chelsea still got the home game against United in early march. To be honest I think that in the long run that Liverpool will become a better club than Chelsea again. How much did Roman actually loss during the financial crisis? And the new Liverpool owners seems to know how to run a sportclub according to results in the USA-sports that noone cares about.
+ the financial fair play will fuck Chelsea.
…and manure played liverpool 2 times this season and won 2 time… and torz was in the pool squad.
Well said JJ Pittman and Andrew – I tell my kids never to post anything that they would be embarrassed to show me and that I will never post anything that would embarrass them, other than my horrific typos (even if it is Arsenal!) Now here’s an interesting piece from today’s Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/feb/01/transfer-deadline-day-financial-restraint
We spend when we must, but ours is by far the finest club in the world that is built and not bought. Not even Barca swimming in debt, can say that. Here’s to a great game against Everton…
1NTTA
@GunnerBoss
Just one thing…. If you want to know why Chamakh was brought in and if you have watched the arsenal games when Chamakh played, the answer is right before you.
Chamakh was brought in to do precisely what he did until now in this season. I think that answers it 🙂
Wenger made a very telling comment yesterday, he said “We don’t have to start prioritising games yet”
That means that at some point, he is going to play a very weak team in an ‘important’ match just to rest players for another match he see’s as more important. There’s a fair chance that the match he plays a ‘weaker’ team in will be the Carling Cup final because it’s in between the Barca games and two important league matches at home. I am amazed people still think the cup is ours because it’s Birmingham. I think it will be a very very close final and if we lose it, along with losing to Barca (because that is 100% guaranteed), then a losing streak will quite likely follow as history has proven that time and again with Arsenal.
So rather than making a statement about having to prioritise games Wenger, you could have signed the players necessary to let us push on in all 4 competitions but no, the dictator says we’ll do it his way – the proven way…..of losing that is. You senile old muppet Wenger.
you dont just lose points to the chelseas and arsenals of this league there are many tough games for united and sadly us 2.to be honest i cant see us catching them unless the fringe players who come in show the same intensity as the first team usually do
Can anyone put down a name who will play in the Song position if he is injured?. There is a fair chance of Song getting injured as he is going to play in CB whenever needed. The stress is going to break our first XI one by one like Nasri.We have seen this in the previous seasons.
The reason is that our team has a weakness and Arsene is not ready to plug, it is the only concern for me and a genuine cause for our captain to forfeit arsenal in the future.It’s hard to keep mum seeing someone making the same mistake season after season.I am not asking arsene to buy anyone but to find someone who can genuinely fill the role and train him.
There is a story which will be told to have some humour line here.
The fox stole the queen’s ring and ran away to the forest.On Ministers order soldiers reached the forest and arrested a bear. The Minister declared that they have arreseted the thief and will get back the ring. In reality soldiers were torturing the bear to accept as fox.
The same goes for Diaby and Denilson , brain washed by Arsene to be a DMF .
I still believe a win in Carling cup would put aside all our weakness apart and change the tempo of the team especially our second string. Our boys will surely feel the beer, that they can win something with the football they play.The Carling cup final is the turning point of this year season irrespective of the results.
@voley_gun: just having fun with your typo, but is this a Freudian slip?: “Our boys will surely feel the beer” I want them and me to feel the beer on at least four occasions this season. I have always been, and still am a huge Wenger supporter, but I admit he can be tactically unsound. I believe he needs to pay more careful attention to his individual players in specific positions. He and gambled on lost on Nasri, when should have gambled on Rosicy. B52 is confident and willing to do anything for the club, but he is clearly out of position right now and looked comical against Hudd.
1NTTA
@1NiltoTheArsenal – I thank jim for allowing me to use that word as slip.
Mmm, beer. I want one.
@Andrew – do you like foxed beer?
I have no idea what that is. Please elaborate?
Your only thinking of this season!
If Torres settles in and comes back to his best then Chelsea may be unstoppable again. You’ve got such an emphasis on these TWO games but what if Torres isn’t even available for them or has a bad game (you can’t rely solely on one player).
Also who said Chelsea are out of this title race with the way everything is going this year?
@ mark hussain – I am only thinking of this season. I’m thinking about winning a trophy this season.
To make (beer) sour by fermenting.
shambogunner is 100 % right i agree with him all the way
and tell me one thing people what will hapen when we loose that one player that capt us on top this last 5 years, im talking about cesc, and be 100 % shure that hes leaving us after this seasson, young palyers are not good enough to win important things and when they become good they are GOOOOONE
Sure, it seems like a great move for Arsenal as far as the League is concerned. But what if we end up facing Chelsea in the FA Cup or (as happened in the “Invincible” season) the Champions League?
It should be remembered that, while Torres helped Liverpool get some neat victories over ManUre (last season, and the 1-4 at Old Trafford the season before), he has never won a club trophy, unless you count leading Atletico Madrid to the Spanish 2nd division title. (And, let’s face it, he was not one of the top 5 reasons Spain won last year’s World Cup.) So maybe having to face Chelsea + Torres in a knockout tie won’t be such a problem. Still, even with our 3-1 win over the Chavs, I won’t be convinced Arsenal has the monkey off its back (not to be confused with Peter Reid or Gareth Bale) until Cesc lifts the trophies.
if our captain leaves i believe Ramsey will be the one to replace and take us forward along with Wilshere.But still it is a “if” and a win at any cup, will give cesc enough reasons to stay.
Let’s get there first, before we start naming an unborn child.
very strong analysis
@volley_gun: Song getting hurt would be worst case of all. I shuddered. Think of him as almost indestructible, but you are right, and all the more reason we need someone else to be a reserve center back. Is Gibbs tough enough to move inside? Don’t think Clichy is, although I like him outside and he has done some nice sweeping inside in recent games. Eboue is big enough and strong enough, but could he stay disciplined enough to play cb? Anybody else? Diaby?
@uncle Mike: Liverpool are out of FA cup, so we would only have to face Torres in Champions League for which Liverpool did not qualify. If we meet him, that would mean we knocked Barca out, so I reckon that’s okay!
Kickoff in a little over an hour. Another must win game to stay near the ManUre.
@shambo, whats up my man. Keeping it real as the norm. I think you might as well bang your head against a brick wall before some of this small town folk understand what your talking about.
I can understand people not liking what you say because they love the club so much that they are blind but i believe that being a fan is about commenting about the good and bad of a club. Some people out there are brain washed. Shambo can see both sides of the coin but some of you seem so scared you wont flip the other side over. I’m sure he knows that the club makes a fat profit every season and that it only pays a small sum for its players and that the ground is almost payed for and that the share holders are happy and the club can play attractive footy……….he knows all that. The thing is that the club has not wan anything for almost 6 years……he wants a return on his support. Whats so wrong about saying that. What will you say if the club fails again…what will you say then.
There’s been a lot of criticism of Shambo’s style lately, but his last sentence in yesterdays post #26 was: “where will we be if Djourou gets injured?”
Looked an awful lot like a separated shoulder when he went down, didn’t it?
Skating on thin ice we are!
Arsenal 2 Everton 1
Played like shit but still won. When Man U and Chelski do it it’s the sign of a champion team. When anyone else does it different story. It was a bit too tense this morning for my liking. Maybe it’s the confidence boost AA23 needed with Nasri out for a spell.
This crisis is killing me! Newcastle away this weekend with the Toon in mounring from losing Carroll. Bring it on!
You see, Ice Hammer / Shambo and all those who seem to focus on the negatives all of the time, what use is your complaints? It’s not going to change anything in the short time. You want Wenger out? Who you going to replace him with? Crazy crazy talk.
Still in the loop for 4 trophies, second in the league, that is brilliant for a team that has hardly cost us a penny.
Panic buying is not a solution to long term success.
@darragh: so what did you think when Djourou went down? 67 years old and watched way too much sports(according to anyone who knows me). Sure looked like a separated shoulder to me. Thank God it was not! Great comeback, and deservedly so, but c’mon, man, we need more coverage at centerback. Keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for more poetic justice. We got some today!
@JJ Pittman: Well, I didn’t think the worst. It doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t get injured.
I agree more coverage is needed at the back, but who was available to get at a reasonable price? I don’t think anyone.
It is the hysteria shown by some fans that grates me. People get injured, yes, every team faces these.
Arsenal coming to White Hart lane…We are waiting for the double….Forget title, I doubt your top 4 finish…
Kosh and Arshavin on the score sheet – I love it. The team is playing better than I thought they could. They’re showing great battling qualities and determination but without losing their heads. It should have been another 0-goals-against too because their goal should not have stood. Our away form seems to be better than our home form lately, maybe the anxiety of the crowd is effecting the players? – so I’m feeling confident about the game against the Toon.
@Icehammer – As someone who has previously objected to some of shambogunner’s rants I can assure you I am neither ‘small town folk’ nor ‘brainwashed’ nor ‘afraid’ to ‘see both sides of the coin’ as you have it so leave out the insults. It’s okay to have a non-Arsenal supporter’s views aired on here on occasion but I rarely read any positive comments from you concerning us so what’s the beef? Since the ‘appy ‘ammers will be playing in the Championship next season why not embrace the mighty Gunners properly and follow the Prem with us? You never know, you might be supporting The Champions.
GET A LIFE STOP CHATING WITH THIS THING ARSENAL IS THE BEST END OF
GET A LIFE STOP CHATING WITH THIS THING MAN U ARE THE BEST END OF
Great win and character shown by our lads.
From Arsene’s post match interview
“On Alex Song’s injury…
He cannot walk. I don’t know what he has got. He was kicked, I think it was by Koscielny, he knocks out everybody in our team. So we have to see how he responds to that in the next days, but he cannot walk at the moment.”
@All,
I apologise if the way I come across is crude or offending, but I wear my heart on my sleeve and Arsenal is very to close that. But I am only ever giving my opinion,
it’s a good one, indeed. But that means we must win every single game… any point dropped will be letal and that’s what we need to become champions… ok, if chelsea win both games, that will help us, no doubt about that.
I’m a Man Utd fan. For me, Man Utd has not reaching top gear. Rooney hopefully will be back on form. Park Ji Sung return from Asia Cup. A.Valencia will be available in mid February. What I can say is that Man Utd has enuff resources to maintain good form as proven in previous season. And in fact, Arsenal performance normally weaker as season progress mainly due to injury. Who’s your backup CB? Nasri and Walcott are out injured. How will Arsenal cope with Champions League, FA Cup and also Carling Cup?
@Amiaq_ferguson Walcott is back..Nanas8 will be back soon. There is no need for us to worry.
CB is a bit of a worry but Squillaci will be back after this weekend (i think)…so that will give us Djourou (our best defender this season), Koscielny and Squilla and Vermaelen back in 3 weeks. We should cope and with Song being a back up. 4 CBs is enough. Last summer, I would have liked us to have bought an English CB coz I am not a fan of this all french speaking defenders barring Gibbs…he prolly knows a few phrases by now.
I dont see us beating Barca…so that is out of the window for me. FA Cup and Carling Cup, we are fine. We have a big squad so I am not worried as yet.
@Andrew I hope Torres scores a double vs United and the matches end as draws.
see the stupid wenger decision? why wenger still use the “rubbish” spanish goalkeeper almunia. every gunners game almunia played gunners defeat/lost the game. Arsenal FC better sale almunia to Indonesian football club “pelita fc” with free transfer. I suggest aesenal fc to buy malaysian goalkeeper zulfahmi.
Almunia or Lehman? This two guys will make a spoil to gunners. Lets buy a new goal keeper from malaysia.Hahahahaha hey wenger why are u very stupid manager? u are paid by arsenal fc to make a good decision for arsenal game line up
Hahahahahahahahaha stupid wenger have make a big mistake again by listed almunia played the game vs west brom.albion.a very very very very very very stupid wenger. Why are u very stupid wenger? arsenal fc must buy a three sharp striker or goal machine and a new goal keeper. sack almunia from arsenal team with free transfer. a school team goal keeper is better than almunia.