Yesterday, France exited the World Cup pretty much as they entered it – just a tad embarrassed.
Those whose heads should bow in eternal shame are Sidney Govou, Franck Ribery, Patrice Evra and everyone’s friend Raymond Domenech. It was a complete disgrace and to be honest you’d have to really feel for the French fans who went to South Africa. The tricolour that had “shame” written across it said it all. Hopefully for the sake of French football Blanc can wipe the slate clean and start all over again. If the French public are patient hopefully he can do it – old heads like Henry, Gallas and Anelka will retire while embarrassments like Evra should never don the famous blue again.
Happily, I can report that the Arsenal contingent tried their best unlike 99% of the rest. Sagna and Gallas at least looked interested and ran (while others stayed in a jog), Clichy as always gave it everything while its hard to know when Diaby is trying or not because he always gives off the same vibe so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Another one of the French players who survived with his persona in tact is one who has lately been mooted as the next big thing in the goalkeeping world. France’s number one, Hugo Lloris, has been linked with Arsenal so often I’ve lost count. A lot of the blogs seem to really want him too. I wanted him – up until the World Cup started. Once again it seems to be a case of watching a couple of games and basing judgement on those snippets (I include myself in this folly).
Lloris is a top keeper – actually wait, he’s a top SHOTSTOPPER!
As he did for Lyon in the Champions League, he did for France in the World Cup. He proved himself to be a more than ample shotstopper but once those crosses started coming in he would flap at them like a mad man, remind you of anyone?
What is the point in replacing Almunia with someone who isn’t any better at crosses (watch the 1st South African goal from yesterday) but who may be a slightly better shot stopper? The EPL is made up with a lot of teams who will throw a tall player up front and either play route one football or spread it to the wings to try and get crosses on to the head of their target man. Hence, we need someone confident under high balls. Lloris, in my opinion, isn’t that man.
He is young and I’m sure he will improve in the next few seasons but I think we have all agreed we don’t have time to wait. We need a strong, stable keeper now.
Watching Lloris makes me appreciate how hard it must be for Le Boss and the scouts to try and find a top player especially a keeper. But the joys of it is that I can moan and bitch about it while watching those youtube clips and saying we should have signed Lloris already – seeing the shiny parts of his game while ignoring the major flaws. Meanwhile the gaffer and his boys have to face the brunt of it if he spends £10mil on someone and it doesn’t work out. Ah well, that’s what he gets paid £5million a year for – c’mon boss make it happen, get us a superman ‘keeper.
Arsenal News 24/7
No/Yes
Maybe 😉
Morning/evening gg,
Did you enjoy the cricket yesterday? 😛
We should definately buy french this summer. Gourcuff price tag must have had at least 10 m knocked off after this WC 🙂
Forgetting my manners again,
Thought provoking post irish. The last thing we want is another keeper who is ‘flappy’. It seems there are loads of good shot-stoppers out there but very few who are good in the air and can command their box. I don’t think we’d have paid the money for Lloris anyway.
Joe Hart is the one I’d really like but I think we have no hope there.
IS ALUMUNIA THE QUESTION?
THEN LLORIS IS THE ANSWER.
No he is not. He is no better than Almunia. Joe hart and Akinveev are the best all round keepers for me. The Lyon guy is too soft for the prem, Drogba will be sying boo and making the guy drop the ball.
Diaby was asleep for the cross the he missed against Bafana Bafana.
No,right noe i would rather have Diego benaglia of Switzerland.
I just want anyone but Almunia, Fabianski or Mannone really. Lloris is solid and rarely make the basic mistakes the ones mentioned above does. I agree he is not the best keeper at dealing with crosses but he is so much better than Almunia in all other aspects of the game. I mean Almunia is terrible at basic things such as ball control and goal kicks
no need of buying another goalkeeper lets just make szesney our number one for next season that boy is good.if cassilas was real Madrid number one at 19 why put this boy our nu one.
Why are people so fickle the guy had a bad tournament like every french player hence he is now dodgy. So now the judge of a keeper is in three games (in reality one game- seeing as he didn’t make any errors against Uruguay and Mexico)when the guy has played good season after season with Lyon.
Please watch him at Lyon before you make any such blogs.
Let’s stop being so Knee Jerky.
bonny I agree he is good but what if he fails miserably for the first couple of games. It’s a huge responsibility to put on such young shoulders
Toks I agree with you. Hopefully his value has decreased though 🙂
Lloris has shown himself to be really poor at dealing with crosses and high balls. I really dont believe that he would improve us as much as his price tag would suggest.
Id much prefer we went for an older keeper with prem experience but if we are splashing out cash on Lloris, Id prefer to go for Reina.
Judging by the amount of crosses our full-backs allowed in last season, we need a no-nonesense keeper who commands his area. I wonder how many goals we would have conceded with Jens in goal…
Depends on the question.
Morning Irish
You have just tapped into a whole new world……a bit like discovering a new planet.
My view remains as it was at the end of the season: sadly I don’t expect us to sign new keeper, a bit dull I know and certainly not a view that will generate a lively conversation.
Morning London,
Do you believe the story that we made an offer for Scwarzer?
Akinfeev is the man for the job..
he has had no world cup to bump his price up..
he has less than a year on his contract is well..
Lloris would cost 12million mark which is a good price, Reina would cost 25million+ hes just signed a 5year deal at liverpool..
i would get akinfeev though, hes a differant class!!
Gourcuff looked good untill he got sent off, he will be alot cheaper now so bloody go for it!
akinfeev
van der weil
gourcuff
Morning Rasp
Yes, I do and it gives me hope but I have become so cautious for fear of being let down that I won’t allow myself to believe too much.
I can make the case in my mind as to why Wenger won’t change the goal keeper but I can’t when it comes to the central defenders. I believe that Koscielny will come in but I find it difficult to believe that it will stop there.
A Jagielka or a Mello would work for me.
I liked that comment above about the Swiss keeper looking more the part than Lloris…..that made sense.
Lloris IS the answer, I have indeed watched him over the past 2 seasons and he is capable and coping with crosses comfortably, you MUST remember that it is the world cup, the most pressurised time of a footballers career. I accept that he did make a mistake, but pretty much every keeper has made a mistake, moreover the ones we are linked with…PLEASE do NOT buy Green, I honestly think that Almunia is just as good. Furthermore Lloris made some exceptional saves during the tournament and made one mistake, you cannot judge someone on one mistake in a tournament which had France playing 3 matches! Come on Arsene, make it happen!
how about the Greek or New Zealand keeper…. the greek one surely has a little “crazy” in him plus shot stopping abilities….its what we need
NO, NO, NO…..and nor is Green!
Hart & Scezceny would be my dream two.
Lloris has never been a great keeper. People tend to base their opinions off write-ups and consensus blog opinion rather than actually watching games and making a sound assessment. Sebastian Frey is by far a better keeper and should be at the top of Wenger’s shopping list
In response to O_O I too was mightily impressed with Mark Paston (New Zealand GK). He looked assured, commanded his box, came for crosses and caught the ball cleanly and seemed agile enough to pull off all saves. Then I realised he failed to make the grade at Walsall, Bradford and St Johnstone. I really think he just had a blinder against the Italians
Morning all. irish said ” Lloris is a top keeper – actually wait, he’s a top SHOTSTOPPER!”,which is correct but any half decent keeper is a shot stopper, but Almunia time and time again has shown the same vunerabilities, i.e. not commanding his box and beaten at his near post time and time again.
Hard to judge any keeper at this WC because of altitude, the infamous ball and quite frankly some very poor teams, and others that have not performed well.Last night the greek keeper had a good game,despite being beaten twice.
I would hope that if we buy, it is from within the PL, though the only feasable possibilities seem to be Green and Shwarzer but Sorenson would be a good shout IMO.
Returning to the french game, regardless of what people think, i found it sad to see TH14 bow out of football in the manner he did,presuming he is off to The states, and Diaby still flatters to deceive.
If london is right, it would worry me,but one can’t put all the blame on Almunia or even Fabianski.
Our wing backs and central midfielders often get caught up field and are left wanting to the counter attack.
Morning All,
I love the way that some blogs in particular get carried away with the transfer speculation, and DEMAND that x or y is signed as they are absolutely the new Messiah and will guarantee us titles and trophies.
Invariably those who’s profession is football management know infinitely more about any player than any of us just playing at ‘Championship Mngr.
Lloris is MILES BETTER than almunia…
i would say YES!
but would rather have AKINFEEV as he is even better!
Blimey Ras
For beating the World Champions, the entire England team should be Knighted 😆
Aaron, you’re right he had a blinder against the Italians…thats it.
He’s clearly responded very well to the occasion and had a great day. Although I’m not sure what he was thinking about Montolivios shot, when he casually let it fly onto his post.
I will say we go for Vincent Enyeama, the Nigerian goalie! Man of the match against Argentina and Greece! Stopped Messi with 5 unbelievable saves. Has been doing same thing over the past 7 years. Won the African Champions League twice with Enyimba FC of Nigeria. Kept clean sheet against England at the last world cup. Unfazed. Supremely confident.
I wonder if this new age WC football will see life after the WC. If it had been invented during David Beckhams heyday, we probably wouldn’t have even heard of him; & Posh Spice may have married Tony Adams instead 🙂
@ sharkeyshore
i love how your a cnut
Tundy. What about the mistakes against Greece and South Korea. I think it made him look like a clown!
Lloris? yes please..
and Gael Clichy.. lol.. hes shit!!
‘I am moron’, just copy and paste my name if you really can’t spell it.
Anyway, apart from that, many thanks for your kind words, you’ve really made my day.
Hope you’re having a great day too…
iamgooner,
you have most probably posted and gone, but kindly refrain from being abusive if you pop in again. Thanks.
Iam gooner.
By all means have a pop at SS or any other blogger, but do it with grace.
If you explained why you disagree with SS, it may show that you have a modicum of intelligence. As it is you come across as (in the words of the mighty M.Python) a very naughty boy,
lol Kelsey.
You guys are funny.
Super post Irish. It reflects my beliefs about Lloris – though he is better than what we have.
As to Akinfeev. The man is nailed on United, who need a GK as much as us and are prepared to spend.
In what way London? 😉
vincent enyeama shud be in a bata club dan dat stupid isreali 1 lyk all isrealis r
id shoot myself rader dan hav almunia
no 1 lyks da french cowch
hes racist
Great stuff Mike !!
yeh, in what way London 😉
Can you tell me how Domenech is racist?
Sagna, Gallas, Clichy, Diaby, Govou, Cisse, Henry, Malouda, Diarra, Evra, Abidal +++
Or is it that he is anti-white?
Funny, in the way that you both seem like you have a good sense of humour.
I was going to use some good old fashioned Anglo Saxon to tell him what I thought.
mike,
surely not all austrailians are like you, are racist ,and what’s being israeli got to do with it.@12.23. or is this the wind up for the day.
We need a bit more information Mike. Who is a racist?
London,
re: your 10:55, sorry I didn’t respond earlier. I can’t fathom what Arsène’s policy is towards a new keeper either, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Almunia start next season in goal.
I have been really impressed with Melo – he’s got Flamini’s work rate but with better passing skills. If we had him playing alongside Song our defence would be pretty impenetrable.
Sadly I don’t think it likely we will sign Melo or Jagielka. I think AW sees Koscielny as TV’s long term partner with JD being given a chance too and Song as back-up CD if required.
Sign one of these:
Neuer (Schalke 04)
Adler (Bayer Leverkusen) if healthy
Frey (Fiorentina)
all better than Lloris and play in physical leagues.
Rasp
Do you expect that either of Gallas, Campbell or Silvestre will stay?
Gallas and Silvestre are gone I think, Sol is maybe 50/50 and that could be why AW is happy to only sign Koscielny, or at least wait to see what Sol is doing.
Unfortunately, Arsène hasn’t been the luckiest of managers in recent years so I fear we may be thin in back-up for defenders next season when the inevitable injuries start to mount.
Yeah, I wouldn’t disagree with any of your logic, if Sol stays we could just about scrape through but it still seems thin. The injuries are so predictable and the loss of Gallas’ experience worries me to the point where I am hoping that the same concern is obvious to Wenger which is probably the reason why I am still holding a candle for someone like Mello to arrive. Failing that I suppose we have to conclude that Wenger has a lot of faith in this Koscielny.
I can report that today is the first day in months that El Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona mouth piece has got no mention of Cesc in it…….which is a good thing, they are like little children having, now quickly, turned their attention to Juan Mata. I love those Spanish names Mata comes from the verb to kill (Matar) so he is Juan the Killer. It all stems from the expulsion of the Moors there are still names like Matamoros (Moor killer). In fact, if anyone is still reading this, the Patron Saint of Spain is called Santiago (Saint James) but his full name is Santiago Matamoros……..really I’m trying to kill some time before the game or mata some time before the game. Lol
Talking of Fabregas, I detected a less than ecstatic greeting followed by an unconvincing slap of the hands when Cesc came on for Xavi against Hondurus.
Good points London – the Moor influence is all too obvious in the southern half of the country – I’m ”listening”/still reading.
This Indian friend of mine was in latin america and they always referred to him as “El Moreno” there.
I’m ‘still reading’ too. Interesting stuff London. Cheers.
I wonder if ‘I am moron’ has anything to add on the topic..??
Fascinating. That’s why I love this blog 🙂
Can I respectfully second that Raddy !!
S Sure, I said “Moreno” not “Moron.”
I am ambivalent about the next two hours. I love my country and it’s football, but hate this team. Only decent ones are Upson and James.
Come on England
Radders, did you read that blog, no not THAT other blog, that explained why that particular English arsenal fan could not support England the other week?
I agree with a lot of what that guy said.
No Chary…. link?
This is the first game where the fans are louder than the vuvuzelas.
Well played the England fans
chary, is that a mixed metaphor.
Barry is lucky not to have been booked, and Johnson looks mighty vunerable.
I can’t get excited with this team
I think you may not have been around when I put it up the other day Radders, it’s here : http://gingersforlimpar.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-england-lost-me-why-this-gooner.html
Yeah Kelsey, sort of, but also intentionally misunderstanding S Sure for a cheap gag.
Good cross by Milner and run by Defoe for the goal. Upson is looking a bit shaky and Rooney is still a yard off the pace. If we get a second, I can see it being 3 or four. We don’t want to go into the last 20 minutes just 1 up.
Did anyone see the interview with Souness on Irish TV where he described the effect that the altitude would have on the players and that they would lose energy for the first month or so. Apparently they will be at their weakest around today and then begin to get stronger again.
All of our players look a yard slow on pace compared to the opposition.
No woories rasp ;). but what does it prove.We couldn’t have been much worse in the opening games,and qualification to the knock out stage, will only prelong the agony,unless we really play better as a team. I would take rooney off after 60 minutes and bring on crouch.
Hi kelsey,
This game is made for Crouch. I don’t think Capello wil take Rooney off though, more likely Defoe.
I came accross this gem of a quote from 2008 and i thought about you London.
Enjoy
“Also, I believed and still believe in (Abou) Diaby, Song and Denilson. People have reproached me for not having bought Barry or Xabi Alonso but I am a prisoner of my policies – buying Barry or Alonso is to kill Song, Diaby and Denilson.”
“I believe I have been strong because I’ve continued to believe in this team when nobody else believed in it,” he added.
“I stayed loyal to my principles when everyone was saying to me that I was going wrong.
The only reason why we didnt get Alonso was because of Arsene’s Policy.
Thats from the Horses mouth.
What is amking a huge difference is the refereeing. This is the first ref who lets a tough tackle go and the game is better for it.
You just know that when Lamps gets a similar opportunity against us he will bury it !
This game has some twists ahead I fear. Slovenia cannot be that slovenly (!) in the 2nd half
Chary Thanks. That was a super read and summed up my feelings.
Afternoon all,
Glad the post sparked a bit of debate, although i was lost in some of the comments ha ha
Sorry, I forgot who said it above that I made a knee jerk reaction based on the World Cup regarding Lloris. I didn’t – prior to this season’s Champions League and the World Cup I had made a knee jerk reaction based on the hype. He is a very good keeper but very dodgy under crosses.
As for the England game – really should be 2/3 ahead by now. England are in control but really need a second.
No worries Radders – I think I hate Stoke fans almost as much as Manks now.
Phew….
LOL @ Gabby Logan “The shackles are off” 😆 England were crap again and scraped through against a shite side in Slovenia. Damn, a bout of realism is needed – one goal away from going out….that’s what it was in the E-A-S-Y group..
P.S. Not busting bubbles – knew ye must be delighted to get through but that was awful again. Slovenia could barely pass the ball to each other. Just saying is all.
Slightly mean I would say irish 😳
The telling goal could be the late winner by the USA which may mean we meet Germany next 😦
The panel ” big us up” because they get one million a year each from auntie.
Rooney is really an arsehole.He couldn’t even applaud the English fans.Maybe he’s going through a mid life crisis.
irish, spot on, we were marginally better than the previous 2 games against another bunch of minnows.Anyway,football is a funny old game, so perhaps a beter opposition may make us play better.I wager that Rooney is out for Saturday.
I’m only judging England according to the standards that are expected of them (by me mind, not the meeja).
I am a bit peeved too cos Rooney isn’t scoring goals and he’s ruining my bets ha ha
Hi Ghost Face
You are going to have to do better than that: firstly we need a link for that comment to give it any credibility and even then the obvious question that any right minded person will ask is why would we make an offer for Alonso in the first place if Wenger felt that he would kill the development of Denilson, Diaby and Song.
Alonso never came to Arsenal because he wanted to return to Spain and it makes no difference that he staid for another season before finally getting his dream move. Come on Ghost Face you are making it too easy for me.
Kelsey – spot on comment.
Like I said the other day, I take sides if I’m watching a kickabout in the park, so I’m supporting England whilst Arsenal are dormant. Won’t you feel a bit disingenuous kelsey if a miracle happens and England get to the final?
I’d assume Kelsey would enjoy it as much as you if ye win Rasp. Just because he’s giving an honest assessment about how cack England have been doesn’t make him disingenuous in my opinion.
We’ve ripped Arsenal to shreds before on this blog but that wouldn’t make us disingenuous if we won the EPL would it?
😆 I also noted you said “get to the final” and not “win”. Sorry 😕
irish,
Try to imagine how you would feel if Ireland had played like England and scraped through to the next round and one of your fellow countrymen had come on and slagged them off?
Have a look on SFH’s site and watch the interview with Souness re: training at altitude.
Actually England didn’t play that badly today. It was a marked impropvement on the previous two games and not quite as bad as you painted them.
Ah yeah Rasp I appreciate that you are far more wrapped in the World Cup than me – I’m not arsed at all who wins it. If Ireland were in it I’d be very different and have a far different attitude – I do appreciate that 100%.
I do stick by my opinion that they were bad against a terrible Slovenia side though – the Slovenians could barely pass 2 yards to each other but anyways that counts for little now.
Rasp, call me whatever you like 😉 but i am a realist and what i have seen against three other nations doesn’t impress me . none of those teams are world forces in football, and I still believe that as a squad we aren’t that strong and the way the commentators reacted,one would have thought we had won the cup itself.
Of course I am pleased we got through, but things will get harder, and as I said before, we will have to up our game once more, which of course is feasable, but generally i am disappointed in our genereal performance.
it’s just an honest opinion as I see it.
I think England could get a result against the Germans. They play a PL style game.
And I want England to do well. Much as I hate to say it – Ashley was superb again today. He really is a fantastic player and a deeply unpleasant person. Why couldn’t his talent have been given to a decent man?
At nearly 40, james is by far the best we have at the moment.our defence looks shaky, as does argentina’s, so who knows,at least it keeps the interest alive.There have been so many shock results and the England that played so well in qualifying are not the same team that we see today.
I am sure capello knows more about altitude training than Souness, or at the least,just as much.I put it down that some of our players are truly knackered after a very long season as much as the theory put forward by Souness.
Tonight’s performance would tend to disagree with the knackered theory. They didn’t stop pressing for the 90 minutes.
Fear and ego is why England haven’t won the group (and Robert Green)
Raddy,
I can’t agree.They were playing a team of near part timers.Their best player was released by WBA.Though I agree Cole has been our best player .
Kelsey. I didn’t say they are a good side, just that I think they can beat Germany, who I believe are well suited to England’s style of play.
but I thought we would beat Sunderland and Stoke
maybe a bit harsh to say we were knackered,but I think the all round opinion is of relief that we won.
Any decent in form side would have been out of sight by half time.
Don’t for one moment think i want the germans to beat us, if in fact we play them, but if we do, I think one can get a better assessment of our team, rather than today.
I don’t think Wenger will worry about replacing Almunia if I’m honest. I think he’s only looking at Schwarzer as he’s cheap, experienced and worked in the Prem for years. Changing subject, Diaby needs to be SOLD. I’ve said before that he’s good going forward but he’s defending is idiotic. He simply has no idea when it comes to defending. Looking at the France game, he didn’t even jump to defend the first goal and as for the second goal he sliced the clearance in to the SA players path for the cross which lead to the goal. He holds the ball far too long and doesn’t tackle like Vieira did…… trust me I could go on. I can see him in the red & white of the Arse and seeing these mistakes repeating themselves. He does my head in.. lots of potential but I fear he will never live up to the legend of PV4.
Johnyr. Name me one DM at the WC who is fit to shine PV4’s boots?
As to Diaby, the first was a clear foul. The giant SA levered Diaby down. Watch it again.
But you are right, Abou is no DM, but AW doesn’t play him as such. If he learns to br consistently at the top of his game, he can be a big player for us. Diaby was France’s best player in the first game.
Just changing the subject for a moment guys – are you watching Wimbledon – 56 all in the 5th set – unbelievable!
Make that 57 all 😉
Unbelievable! How long have they been playing?
Watching Germany and not seen anything to worry us.
59=59 in the fifth set after 10 hours, match suspended.unbelievable.
On reflection we may have been better off playing Ghana. They have very little in attack.
If Germany play like they did in the first game, they will beat us.
Have either of you seen the interview with Souness talking about the negative effect of staying at altitude?
No I haven’t seen it but are ou really taking it seriously?
All I know is London, the US players and the Algerian players all looked a yard faster than the English. Glen Johnson was getting skinned and he’s a pacey player.
Well, I have now but I still don’t understand what he is trying to say.
The one above makes it clearer. It’s probably rubbish but it may partly explain the low level of performance in the first two games
Some if you guys completely neglect the fact that France’s defense were to blame for exposing Lloris. The guy gets thrown in the gutters by his defense for the three WC and all of the sudden he’s at Almunia’s level.
How rubbish! He’s young and vastly superior to Almunia, Fabianski, or Mannone!
Poor GG. Dumped out of the WC, hammered in the cricket, no-one at Wimbledon, humbled at home in the rugby by a very poor England.
Still Oz is God’s own country which must be a boon 🙂
Morning Raddy – don’t be mean to him or he won’t come and chat 😉 Can we use your Eboue post today? Do you want to change anything in it?
Gunnerno1. No-one is arguing with the fact that Lloris is better than what we have, but by your argument one could blame the AFC defence for many of the GK errors.
Doesn’t the mid-field have to take some of the responsibility for exposing the defence before the defence takes responsibility for exposing the keeper?
We’ve upped our offer for Schwarzer; Lloris was never on the cards really. I fully expect our compliment of summer purchases to be complete when we sign Koscielny and Schwarzer with a 50/50 possibility of Joe Cole.
Morning all. Please be kind to London today, he will be in shock when he sees the GK headlines everywhere
Peaches. We defend from the front, so it is the forward line who are responsible ….
Shwarzer would be a fine addition, though I still prefer Sorensen
Morning Rasp. You got your hair shirt on again,LOL Would bet your house that Cole is appy arry bound, and we will sign at least one other
Raddy – so its all Niks fault then 🙄
Morning dandan,
I believe I have been pretty consistent in my assessment of our likely signings. In short, I have expected to be slightly disappointed. The signing of two players on a free and a total spend of less than £12m is about the level of summer activity we’ve had for the last 5 years – hardly a warchest!
If we don’t spend the warchest maybe we’ll get a reduction on ticket prices 😳
Raddy – did you see my comment about todays post?
Dandan,
Do you expect the “at least one other” to be a defender or midfielder; an unknown or top rated player?
New post….