Written by Harry
Well, as the summer transfer window widens and the pace hots up with Arsenal supposedly just about hanging on the tailcoats of the rest as they build super squads that we cannot hope to compete with….. What will Wenger do?
Both Arsene and Ivan Gazidis have more than hinted that there will be a good turnover of players: At the recent Q&A with the Arsenal Fans Forum, Big Ivan said:
“It is very clear we had some shortcomings and in this close season we are going to see some turnover of players. Some new signings will be coming in and some of our existing squad will be going out. As Arsène has said, it will be a busy close season for the Club.”
In the article I waffled through last week, I ran the rule over the squad and came up with my list of goners, these players have been identified by me {IMHO} as on their way, most agreed, some wanted others to join the list…….
“Almunia, Clichy, Squillaci, Denilson, Bendtner, Eastmond and sadly Fabregas”
But we have to be pragmatic and realise that a greater turnover of players, more than say 7 / 8 would cause too much disruption…….And of the 7 above, only 2 are first team starters…..So for me that would be enough……..
The biggest issue we have currently is the Nasri-Fabregas situations, as I have said before we have to be careful that we don’t lose both of these world class players. Should we concentrate on one? And the let the other leave?
Even though Fabregas said he won’t ask to leave and that it’s all down to the boss, he might as well have said and spoke the truth, reading in between the lines, his inner desire is to play for his boyhood team, which we all can understand. All I want is a committed player; will he be if he stays? Ok injuries affected him last season, but was he totally focused?
For me he is off…….I’d be stunned if he stays…
So in that case, lets give Samir a new contract (long term) and bring some new players in to compliment what we have……..
So what do we need?
Goalkeepers:
Personally for me I would start with Wojciech as Number 1 with Lukasz pushing him all the way. With Almunia off, Vito Mannone would come back in as number 3. So we don’t need a new one……..Maybe a big call, but truly what’s out there at the moment? Reina is now committed to Liverpool, so lets go with our young poles, competition between them will be good for them and us……..
Defenders:
The priority for me is replacing Clichy, I would bust a gut to get hold of Leighton Baines from Everton. Positionally sound, has pace, can cross, solid tackler and fighter. Cracking free kicks and penalties as well….
The rumour this week has been that Wenger wants Samba and Cahill, that would be a massive surprise, Squillaci must move on, so there is only one place, unless Wenger sees either Koscielny or Vermaelen moving positions, both are capable of holding the midfield anchor slot, so Cahill would add real depth, just cannot see both coming in…..
Out of the two, I really want Samba, has real grit and strength, a powerful dominant beast of a defender, who puts his body on the line, this would be his big chance and I feel he would give his all, would really be a leader when needed…….
And we have brought in already young Carl Jenkinson from Charlton, Wenger sees him as a very good player who is making big strides, so I see him as an understudy to Sagna, with cup games surely his aim for this season.
Baines would be perfect at Left Back……..
Midfield:
Well hopefully, Gervinho is finally signed this week, like most of us, don’t really know alot about him, but the highlights and reports I have seen lately look promising, he seems to be a typical Arsène signing. Importantly he has an eye for goal, with incisive movement, tends to cut in from the right, and has strength to hold players off, pace with ability to hold onto the ball……
Matuidi has been mentioned again as previous seasons, as has Willian from Donetsk. Both would be interesting signings, but just don’t see that we need them that much, surely we have enough in Midfield, as long as we only lose one of Fabregas or Nasri.
I really want Lansbury to break into the squad this season, the other one would be Ryo, but he still has issues with the permits, so will have wait. Ramsey has a big season ahead of him, really looking forward to him getting back to his best…..
Oxlade-Chamberlain supposedly was close to signing in the mid-season TW, but Southampton refused to let him go. He seems to want to come and his Dad is in favour. I would like to see him come in and would be disappointed if we lost out just by a few pounds……
Attack:
I would give Chamakh another season and let the Danish Pele with his pink boots move on, he might turn into a star at some stage, but I just feel he has run out of chances at the Emirates, although he has been played out of position a lot……
So for me we need a goal scorer, Defoe has been muted this week, unlikely to happen, would be interesting if on form and consistent, but generally he is not.
I would love to see a true superstar to come in, like Falcao from Porto or Vucinic from Roma as more of a statement of intent in a way, but would also be happy if we managed to nab hold of Connor Wickham from Ipswich, he was such a handful in the Carling Cup Semi last season, powerful pacy and a good energy about him, he would be an excellent signing and RVP remains my main man so would a true superstar be too much?
So to sum up the players who should come in:
Baines, Samba, Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wickham. If Wenger did surprise us and pick up Cahill as well happy days, but that lot would be seen as some cracking business if all tied up…..would it not?
My starting 11:
Wojciech
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelen Baines
Song
Wilshere Nasri
Walcott Arshavin
RVP
Bench: Gervinho, Ramsey, O-C, Wickham, Djourou, Samba and Fabianski…….
I would be well happy with that……………….
And just think of the players I haven’t mentioned yet still in the squad……….Chamakh, Jenkinson, Frimpong, Lansbury, Diaby, Eboue, Gibbs, Miquel, Bartley, amongst many others…
Would that keep Nasri and the rest of the Gooner’s out there happy?
Written by Harry
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Enrique could be another option instead of Baines, has very good pace…
so ur startin 11 has basically 1 new player in baines??
apart from him and TV tats basically the team tat bottled the last 10 games.samba r cahill bside TV gervinho in for arshavin and if song cant play like a proper DM then find sum1 who can.you cant be serious with tat starting 11 after last season???????
and i for 1 dont want any players for the future we hav plenty.we need 3 or 4 proven players to come in and do a job now.not in 2 r 3 years.cos if not we goin to struggle for a champs league place.u really tink tat team u picked can win the league?tink bout it
Wickham is just a poor mans Bendtner. I don’t see it at all, he’s lumbering and that doesn’t suit arsenal at all.
RVP is our star striker, Chamakh was signed to hold up play and be a danger in the air, I think he’ll improve his consistency this season.
What we need is a rapid striker with poaching instincts. We could sign, or we could give Afobe a chance.
I much rather see Benik given a chance than sign Wickham.
We would implode once again in March with that team. How would you cope with the inevitable 6 month injury to VanPersie? – rely on Gervinho.
Personally I’d be looking to replace Koscielny, Theo and Arshavin from the starting 11.
The team choice u suggested is shit
@dumacent He assumes fab is gonna leave.
Harry. Nice work once again.
Jez. I agree about Wickham. Hard worker, good touch for a big man, doesn’t score enough, as you say a poor man’s NB.
& I would like to see a pacy left sided player signed. And Eto’o
Watching the U-21’s the other night. When Lansbury came on he lifted the whole team and looked a future star. This could be his year.
Harry. I do not agree about Cesc. I believe he will stay.
DONTWORRY,
I assume you are new to this site, please take the time to read ‘About AA’ at the top of the page. We encourage friendly polite debate, one line condemnation of a post that offers no well expressed alternative view is not welcome.
Anto – manners maketh the man!!
Well done anton, thank you for reminding us why we set up this site in the first place – so we’d have the power to filter out offensive characters like yourself. You will never appear on this site again.
I think joey barton would be a great signing he has more ability than parker and would come a lot cheaper as he only got a year left on his contract , as for cesc i think he has gone its getting boring now just let him go and use the money to rebuild the squad
Bye Anton! Back to school to learn some manners, literacy skills and guile.
i honestly don’t think we are far away with the squad we have now, we have 2 keepers that are capable and growing in confidence and if we get samba we have in him Koscielny Vermaelen and johan 4 decent centre halfs, i would go with samba over kos just for the similarities to the good old days of a beast at the back next to a ball player,(adams and keown,people forget the pass foreward that martin could do) left back could be a problem if clichy goes but he ain’t been the best for a while now and looks like a man in need if a challenge again,enrique from the toon could be the replayement,good engine good pass and not afraid to tackle.
midfield is gonna be mad this season, personally i think fab and nasri will stay, jack is getting better and better and ramsey is big strong has a eye for goal and will run all day, this could be the season walcott gets pushed foreward a bit more van persie WILL get injured again and when that happens we need a sharpshooter in the team,who i just don’t know,thats the managers job but i really do have faith in him!
more then 3 players in and they won’t win a thing this year, it is too much to blood in but ill he happy with a starting 11 of
chesney
sagna
vermaelen
samba
enqirue
walcott
jack
fab
nasri
rvp/gervinho
arshavin//gervinho
and a bench with
fab
koscienly
ramsey
gibbs
lansbury-serious star in the making
chamack
wickham
we have deadwood to get rid of, denilson,bentdner a few from the reserves filling spots, i think we need to get enrique,samba,wickham,i think we willl lose clichy to italy which is a shame
wenger will always spot the good young players and i hope he will continue to do so, the arsenal need that side of our club, young lads learning the game together,but he needs just 2 or 3 seasoned pros to make us champions!
apart from the collapse at the end of the season which should never happen with a few old heads in there we beat united barca chelsea and looked good for the league until well into the spring!
have faith in the arsenal 🙂
Unfortunately I havent time to stay and chat, I have a family get together….
Thanks all for the great comments, especially Anto, top bloke, real conversationalist……
Raddy, thanks, I hope he stays as well, just cannot see it this time……
I would love also Parker, Villa, Eto, Reina, Aguero and maybe lets go for Ramos……think with your heads not your hearts……..
Come on lets be realistic and also pragmatic, we cannot make 5or6 changes, that starting line up is two changes in realsitic terms from the main used one from last season, with a new LB and TV5 back fully fit…………..Will we implode again? who knows, but we werent that far away………
So to Alan and others who dont like the starting line up, wenger wont make 4 or 5 changes, the new ones would have to play their way into the starting 11, the cnanges I have suggested, cover all the bases and wont cost the earth……I expect Gervinho to replace someone pretty soon into the season……..
Yes the risk is with RVP is a 6month injury lay off, Chamakh, Wickham, Walcott, Arshavin, Gervinho give enough options for me…..
Enrique is an interesting one instead of Baines, both are an improvement on Gael…….so either or for me……..
Lansbury is the one reason why I havent cited getting Parker or god forbid , Barton……Ramsey and Lansbury give us some real talent pushing to get in there……..
Anto, have a good day mate and don’t stress too much pal…………
Hiya Harry
Good analysis, I almost agree 🙂
I’d much rather Nic than Andrey, and Theo on the bench. Other than this, yeah, we have pretty decent squad. Well, maybe one more solid defender and a striker in case Robin is injured again.
I had to read the title of your blog again – why has is attracked so many arse*oles??? Seems pretty benign to me…
Paul, thanks some great comments there mate, thats what it is all about… nice one…..
Hi paul and welcome,
That’s an excellent upbeat analysis of our current situation, thank you for reasserting the Yin Yang balance to anton’s moronic comments.
I have to admit that I am strugglig to see Theo as a strong first teamer whilst he is not being played in a way that exploits his obvious strengths. I’d like to see him take on full backs more oftenand to cut in and shoot when the opportunity arises. I can’t see how we could play him centrally when we have RvP, Chamakh (and Gervinho?) in the squad.
GLee. I have to disagree most strongly. Wenger his spent his Arsenal career taking us away form the type of football played by Barton. Though IBarton would have fitted brilliantly into a George Graham team
Micky says: ‘Joey Barton? Wow, haven’t we Gooners all been rather rude about him in the past? ‘
NO, Mickey, I have always like Joey and I’m sure Peaches and Irish would agree with me about his backside – very cute:)
Morning Harry,
Sorry I haven’t taken the opportunity to commend you on another great post thus far – I feel like a Bouncer for Mothercare 😦
GiE – your last comment for yesterday’s post was very moving, let’s read it again:
‘Actually ten minutes of my Arsenal existence to relive I think I would now change.
I’ve probably mentioned before that my brother was once mascot at Arsenal, Coventry home. We went into the players lounge after to get autographs. Altho I got a few I only really remember the dark wood walls. My memory is so vague of those moments as I was all too nervous and shy to enjoy it (and probably only 8 or 9 years old). How I would have loved to have been a couple of years older and taken it all in.’
“a bouncer for Mothercare” 🙂
Thanks Rasp, must go now 150miles to do, late leaving………..
Cheers Evonne, yeah I know everyone wont agree, but some commnets are ridiculous, as Rasp says like mothercare at times……..
Will check into tonite, no blood please peoples……..
i think theo could be the player he is hyped to be, he has pace,knows where the goal is and contrary to popular belief has skill, what i do think need to be done this year is change back to a 4-4-2, with the back 5 i said earlier and fab/jack in the petit/vieria spot and nasri arshavin walcott and ramsey playing as wingers,giving it a few matches to see who does it best(not really believing for andrei but remember the 4 against the scousers) and rvp and gervinho up top., thats pace vision aggression eyes for goal target men and you wont need your left right backs leaving the defence exposed,imagine being in a back line facing that lot!!
as a kid i remember watching wright and bergkamp anelka parlour and overmars tear teams apart,we are not far from it….
sodding crappy keyboard with missing buttons, its making my typing and spelling terrible! 🙂
big raddy i no what your saying about wenger and barton not fitting into his style of football but he has a lot more ability than you give him credit for and would fit in perfectly to arsenals midfield,and giving us that nasty streak we have been missing since PV has gone could you see a arsenal side with barton in going 4 0 up then drawing 4 4 i cant then add samba to the backline we would be going for the title
Paul 11.35. Fine comment. I would like us to be flexible enough to move to 4-4-2 at will.
Hi gooner lee,
I agree that Barton is a gifted footballer and he is excellent at the long diagonal pass onto the winger’s chest – something we rarely display, but I thi nk his character is too flawed and we must not forget the negative effect he could have in the dressing room.
GLee. Thanks for the reply.
I see your point but do not accept Barton is the man to give us some “bite”.
As to the Newcastle game. Watch it again. It was not Arsenal capitulating, it was a refereeing performance which defies description that cost us 2 points.
Rasp. How about the negative affect on the fans?!
If we are to believe the press about Gervinho (?) almost at the Grove, this would be my starting eleven, together with two more signings =
Szczesny
Sagna Samba Cahill Vermaelen
Song
Nasri Fabregas Wilshere
Van Persie
Gervinho.
With Subs =
Fabianski
Koscielny
Gibbs
Ramsey
Walcott
Arshavin
big raddy, i don’t think its the players that need to be flexible its the manager, this aint having a go at wenger but for certain teams and just for the confusion level we need to play 4-3-3or 4-4-2 at different times and in different games, the players are professionals who practice every day since they were 12 or 13 years old,they can all move around at will but they get told where to play and how to, thats what needs to change, if we played united 4-4-2 one week and the next game was qpr, then change and confuse the new boys or vice versa, dont make it easy. and the onle thing that really winds me up is always but always waiting till the 70th min for subs, fergie morinho and the rest of the “great” managers make changes as soon as necessary, if the opposition know they have the same time in every game to mark someone or kill a match its handing them a advantage.
barton is not a arsenal player,the business with diaby and the crap over the years will remind wenger too much of dressing room grief with anelka,gallas and the french team,he respects unity in his dressing room too much besides he is not a better option even now then ramsey or wilshere,its just paper talk
at v.c.c do you really think that vermaelan should play left back, he can play there and has played there but there are better dedicated left backs who do the job better, he is a quality arsenal cente half destined to be captain one day.i think bringing in one monster to play along side him is the way to go,the less disruption to the squad the better.
Yes, that too Raddy, I can’t see myself cheering Barton’s surname when invitied to in the pre-match ritual.
I have to agree it would keep me happy, although with this talk of Cahill that would make me even more happy
At Paul… Totally agree about square pins in round holes, but being realistic on the amount I think Wenger will spend we will be limited on the purchases. My reasoning is….I have for some time now been critical of Clichy, he cannot cross a ball and CANNOT defend properlly, fine he has pace but thats it for me I prefer Gibbs in that position but I would buy Samba/Cahill so this means I simply HAVE to include TV as he is such an accomplished player, also he used to play at left back with his previous club. Also if he adapts to the position just look at that back line…WOW to me it would be somewhat close to the famous boys in red led by Tony.
My holding player would be Song, who hopefully will get back to his best. Then we would have Fabregas/Nasri/Wilshere….again show me a better mid three in the premiership?????? Followed by the proven Van Persie ( injury free I hope) IMHO world class….. that leaves the vacant position up front, I have not seen enough of Gervinho so I cannot comment, but this is a position we have not filled for some time, although lets be fair its probably the most difficult position to get right, I’m sure Wenger is racking his brain as to who to get in. Again in my opinion we lost out on what I think would have been a perfect replacement in Suarez, but alas we missed the boat and he is now with Liverpool.
To sum up with the addition of three players I feel the guys who lost their way a little at the end of the season would renew their enthusiasm., because to be frank I would have lost patience playing with some of the”Lesser” players we had in our side last year.
September at the Emirates. First Champions League Group game- 6 minutes-ridiculous challenge from behind-yellow card Barton. 15minutes-similar offence-red card Barton. After match interview- I’ve gotten away with these type of tackles before here-referee was too fussy
.Intelligent player I don’t think so. We should take pride in the knowledge that Arsenal are most fans’ second favourite team, based on the type of football we try to play. Wenger signing Barton would dissipate that in a second and turn us into another Stoke or Blackburn, teams we generally despise.
At £1.5 million he’s certainly cheap as a player, but he’s cheap as a person also. Could it be that Newcastle’s desire to see the back of him is masking more unsavoury publicity yet to see the light of day.
Wenger is far too shrewd a man and a manager to go down this road.
I’m sure if Joey Barton was to sign for the Arsenal, he would show more pride in the shirt that some of the foreign sub-standard players who are currently shoehorned into side when injuries strike.
He’d play for the badge rather than just come for the £50k a week. Is he better than Eboue….perhaps that’s the question people should be asking? Barton can play right wing, centre mid (holding or attacking), and right back. He has great deadball delivery, can cross the ball and leadership qualities….I can just see him bawling Arshavin out as he walks back after losing possession. He respects performance NOT name or salary.
People may not like him, but he has so many sides to his game that we, as a squad, are lacking at the moment. I know I’d prefer to see him with the captain’s armband than someone like Almunia.
Once those first couple of crunching tackles go in, I’m sure people would see that he is exactly what we have been missing for the last few seasons.
We need his bite; we are too nice.
Pretty much spot on in my view.
I do think we can make the defence stronger by losing Clichey and not signing a replacment. I would like baines, however, Vamalaen could play thier, with Samba or Cahil coming in if not both the defence would be a lot tougher and stronger in the air.
I would like a top striker though, if you add another top stiker to that team it becomes so strong.
v.c.c…. is 10 or 11 mil on samba and around 10 on enrique out of his budget esp if we get the bones of 10 back on clichy? we should not be adapting at this stage, a back line of sagna verm samba and enrique has height strength and pace going foreward where its needed, samba ain’t the quickest but he can hold the back when verm goes bombing up, the right-left back can run all day..im of the belief use song when you play 4-3-3 as we have been and have occasion to use 4-4-2 with him dropped and jack playing just behing fab with 2 of walcott arshavin nasri ramsey as wingers depending on the opposition,ie do we need pure speed, tricks and aggression or a engine and the ability to track back and play as according.. up front 2 out of van p, walcott gervinho or chamack again depending on the opposition
the holding mid is a great notion but we can play with speed and power everywhere and not just channel it through one guy.the more i think about it the more i like this
chesney
sagna verm samba enrique
walcott jack fab arshavin
van p gervinho
not too many changes but steel and bite where its needed,have song,ramsey gibbs,kos,chamack and lansbury on the bench to shake things up and change speed/formation/direction at any point in a game,ramsey and jack are not afraid to tackle and neither is nasri,and who would want to face into those 2 at centre half?
we dont need parker although it would be nice, we dont need barton because what we have is better and we dont need to fork o ut nearly 30 mil on 2 centre halves, thats nearly fantasy eto land!!
Big Raddy
left sided player? Perhaps Henderson? He’s left footed, we just haven’t seen much of him.
Vela might make a break through if he stays. Kozzer would be good in DM if we bought Cahill & Samba.
With regards to the formation change, 4-4-2, one of the commentators said they think AW doesn’t trust Fab4 in that system (defensively).
Overall our team is very close to winning something major, too many changes might take us a few steps back instead of forward.
In Arsene We Trust!!!
Harry, well done – another great football-post. Let’s hope at least 50% of your wish-list/ predictions will become reality. Fab will stay though, and will be rewarded for his loyalty with some well-earned silverware. The future is bright, the future is red & white 😉 😉 😉
Paul…. We are almost singing from the same song sheet. I agree spending approx £20 mil would be about right but I would go that extra £5mil and get BOTH Samba and Cahill (Exactly what I said on another site GunnerTalk, you can see my rant on film at the last game of the season versus Villa, I’m the Bald headed, bespectacled, Good looking guy LOL). I have been banging this drum for several seasons now, we are not too far away from a title winning team BUT we need steel and bite at the back together with a poacher/striker/SHOOT merchant up front. I love Wenger but feel he has been stubborn and not admitted he is NOT always right with his youth policy. The money spent could easily be recouped on the sales of deadwood…Bendtner/Denilson/Squilacci/Clichy/Diaby/Vela/Rosicky. Our youth/back up of Bartley/Lansbury/Ramsey/Gibbs/Djourou/Koscielny/Walcott/Arshavin/Eboue/Chamakh/JET can more than cover for the above loses.
My take on the Sagna/Samba/Cahill/Vermaelen/ …..Song defence is this leaves Nasri/Fabregas/Wilshere/Van Persie/Gervinho to run riot and switch/change positions. I would hate to face that bunch coming at all angles, would even trouble Ferdinand/Vidic (arguably the best Centre back pair in the Prem) By the way your team does not include Nasri? are you preparred to sell him?
Unfortunately for Walcott I see him as an explosive sub to come on in the last 20-30 mins to try and change things if we are struggling, ala Fairclough of Liverpool. Sad to say for Walcott but this I feel is his best role in an Arsenal shirt.
GunGunn. My wish for a left sided player is as an effective cover for Arshavin who clearly ran out of steam by February.
I do not want to see Chamakh or Nik B playing over on the left wing. It is a waste of resources and neither player has the imagination of AA. Trouble is that Ryo is so young. Had he been 20 and not 18, he would be ideal, so I guess we will wait a season until Ryo is ready to join the first team squad.
Harry, 🙂
A really good Post and has certainly created interest if the comments today are anything to go by. 🙂
I actually cannot see why some others cannot see the merit in your very good analysis. For myself, I find my lips are smacking at the list of so many good players we already have, and I am sure we will sign one or two more class players this summer to make it even more formidable.
Hi Rasp,
Unfortunately I let my temper get the better of me a while ago, when I responded badly to a fairly innocuous reminder you gave me to refrain from being too sarcastic to new bloggers on this site.
You have every right to keep an eye on transgressions on AA, and I apologise for my outburst, which was unacceptable.
I will, in future, kick the cat instead, all tho’ that will require me to acquire a cat first, as I do not own one. 🙂 Just kidding, I am an animal lover first and foremost ……. where’s 26, he will have to do! 🙂
nasri is a great player who seems to have a problem finding his right position,fab will stay im sure of it and that kinda is where he wants to play, he plays on the wing but sometimes i think his head is bigger then his ability,i honestly don’t think we will get much for denilson squid vela or rozza or if he would sell that many “seniors” in one go, he would get ripped for letting experience go damned if you do damned if you dont kinda thing,i think we need more invention and tactical chopping and changing in the squad, we can have any of ramsey,arshavin,nasri on the left, walcott nasri and eboue on the rightalmost two many to count in the middle, dont let the opposition know whats gonna happen! start a match with
arshavin fab jack walcott
van p and gervinho
laterasrhavin gervinho and jack off and
ramsey fab diaby/song nasri
van p walcott
whoever you played would be tired and facing a whole new ball game, there are so many goals in this team if we can unlock it,
course thats if we dont have our normal 12-15 injuries 🙂
no-one should be a automatic starter,thats a large part of the problem, song knows he will play so he aint raising his game, same with nasri and fab to a extent ,if they dont know the formation and team every week they will bust a gut every week to be in it!, remember when wright was near the end and bergkamp, or parlour in and out of the team, or linigan or rocky? they came in and played like it was their last match cuz if they were crap they were dropped, that needs to come back
Well played RA.
Thanks RA, no need to apologise, we all get carried away once in a while and as we know, blogging is a great release valve to let off steam when the frustrations of football overwhelm us 😛
dave fairclough! i was 10 when he quit the scousers 🙂
I would be very surprised if Arsenal don’t sign at least one premiership centre back Cahill or Samba. I hope they might buy Scott Parker too as there is only one defensive midfielder at the club. Gervinho is a certainty, though am not convinced they are the end of it. There could be five in five out here. I hope Fabregas doesnt go but that is 50:50 I think. Haines would be ok if Clichy goes. Wouldnt mind buying two centre back and putting Vermarlen at left back, he can’t be less effective going forward than Clichy. Hoping for spine and maturity to prop up a talented young team.
Joey Barton rumour is gathering pace! Wonderful, I’d be delighted to see the little Hitler kicking some arses at the Emirates. Bring him on, make him a captain!
He is a recovering alcoholic, like TA and Merson; they seem to have an edge an a point to prove. I know, I know, Viera and TH are t-totals and have an edge too, but they are past it, whereas Joey aint
Having exhaustively read all the Sunday papers, well 4 of them, there is really no interest to an Arsenal fan in them, regarding transfers.
I think there should be a law requiring at least one juicy positive item, every Sunday, about Arsenal or else I am going to stop buying the stupid papers.
So there! 🙂
I’d rather eat my own face than have barton in an Arsenal shirt.
I’d start Gervinho on the right and leave theo on the bench. TV can play left back. I want Samba rather than Cahill.
GM – who is that Gervinho??
Hi Evonne,
Gervinho is the Ivorian striker/wide player from Lille who we have been strongly linked with
Hi Evonne,
Gervinho is the Ivorian striker/wide player from Lille who we have been strongly linked with
It’s very brave to put your starting team up Harry, I admire you for it.
It also happens to be a game I love playing.
This is my guess at the team for Newcastle away:
—————Sczezney
Sagna,Koscielny,Vermaelen,Clichy
————–Song
———-Fabregas,Wlshere.
———Walcott,RvP,Nasri
And this is the team I would prefer to see:
—————Sczezney
Sagna,Koscielny,Vermaelen,Clichy
————–Song
———-Fabregas,Wlshere.
———Nasri,RvP,Gervino
London you kept Little Jack in there……you honestly surprised me..
Anyway in spirit of the early responses my team for that game would be:
……………………Buffon/Cech…………….
Sagna……Vidic………..Pique……..Cole
……………………Essien…………………..
………….Fabregas……….Iniesta……..
Messi……………………………..Nasri
…………………RVP…………………………..
Thats only 7 changes from last year and shouldn’t hurt the transfer kitty too much 🙄
Hi GM,
Did not get the chance to thank you for amending my Palindrome; ‘able was I ere I saw elba’. It must have been a Freudian slip. Rather Napoleon than me, I guess! 🙂
Anyway, well spotted!
GIE, you old Romantic! 🙂
My Team:
Szcezeny
Sagna
Cahill
TV
Baines
Nasri
Song
Jack
RVP
Gervinho
Chamakh
It’s not that easy to decide, is it? 🙂
That includes 3 ‘newbies’, which is probably the max we can expect.
hmmm, fantasy but almost believable team
casillas
sagna vermaelen pique sergio ramos
sneijder fab jack nasri
van persie villa
still sticking with my 4-4-2 though 🙂
Oh damn this is not good…….formal contact made by Barcelona, confirmed by Hill-Wood.
RA, that looks like a great team: I would sign up for that now 😆 The prospect of RvP, Gervinho and Chamakh upfront is mouth-wateringly juicy.
London’s team is more realistic, but I can get excited about that as well.
My team would be
Szczesny
Sagna – Djourou/Cahill – Vermaelen – Koscielny
Song – Wilshire
Gervinho – Cesc/RvP – Nasri
RvP/Chamakh
TA
Bearing in mind that Koscielny is right footed why do you put him there?
London, because I would like him in our team, and although he is not left-footed, I still think he would be fantastic (just like Flamini was a few years ago in that position, and he was/is right-footed as well). Vermaelen and Koscielny as CB’s would mean a lack of height – Vermaelen is my first choice ‘less tall CB’, but if he is injured/suspended Koscielny would be a great replacement (which would mean that Gibbs would become LB). I know it is controversial, but this defence would mean business imo.
I have just had a quick look at El Mundo Deportivo to see if they were getting excited about all things Cesc. Of course, there is an article on our captain going to Barcelona the main thrust of it being if completed it will be the longest negotiation in their club’s history, yeh, yeh, yeh we have heard all that before but there was one interesting point and that is that Arsenal start their preseason on the 5th July and so if there is a natural date for this to be concluded by it will before then. Roll on July 6th after hopefully a non eventful previous day.
Don’t like to read official confirmation of Barca’s interest this summer. I was hoping they would wait for two seasons .
It makes the signing of Nasri’s contract imperative. Just pay him the money….
Some quick premier league stats on the desired signings and the existing squad (I have tried most usual avenues to get headers won (which I think is quite key to rating the defenders) but in terms of passing and tackle success here goes:
P = Pass Success, T = Tackle Success, PTOT=Total Passes, TTOT = Total Tackles
Left Back
Clichy T – 81.08%, TTOT – 111, P – 79.50%, PTOT – 1785
Baines T – 73.81%, TTOT – 84, P – 72.80%, PTOT – 1467
Enrique T – 81.97%, TTOT – 61, P – 75.09%, PTOT – 1662
Centre Back
Koscielny T – 78.33%, TTOT – 60, P – 85.21% PTOT – 1136
Djourou T – 73.91%, TTOT – 23, P – 90.1% PTOT – 879
Squillacci T – 59.46%, TTOT – 37, P – 87.29%, PTOT – 881
Samba T – 74%, TTOT – 50, P – 64.05%, PTOT – 701
Cahill T – 75.38%, TTOT – 65, P – 71.59%, PTOT – 996
Midfielders
Song T – 76.7%, TTOT – 103, P – 86.06%, PTOT – 1887
Wilshere T – 72.41%, TTOT – 58, P – 85.52%, PTOT – 1906
Barton T – 79.01%, TTOT – 81, P – 69.76%, PTOT – 1617
Parker T – 76.86%, TTOT – 121, P – 82.62%, PTOT – 1444
Now I know numbers do not mean everything, and we have to question balance, height etc etc, and the one number I have been unable to produce is headers.
But on the strength of the above (and really thats all I have to go on as I do not watch any player from another team play 90 minutes regularly enough) which of those would you sign on balance.
Tackling would be the one area where most criticise the Arsenal squad, but on those numbers (excluding the squid) there is not much in it at Centre Back, and with Vermaelen back does anyone think Cahill or Samba would come to Arsenal to play second fiddle, Djourou is happy at the club so let him stay and fight it out with TV and Kozzer. Would either player be happy being used when we are about to be subjected to an aerial bombardment from Stoke or the like?
At Left Back it appears Enrique is a better option than Baines, but he is not English so does not get the plaudits of Baines in the press.
In midfield both Parker and Barton would offer more bite than Song and Wilshere but only Parkers passing would come close to the required standard, and unfortunately he would not replace Song (height reasons) so would fans be happy to see Wilshere on the sidelines to bring in Parker.
Like I said numbers don’t mean everything but they do give some indication of a players value to the cause. I still struggle to see apart from height what Samba brings, Cahill in my opinion offers nothing more than what we already have. I think Clichy is very hard done by the Arsenal fans, he is actually 4th highest in tackles won in the PL, and at 111 tackles (most at Arsenal, and in this group of players) he will appear to lose more than other players and is criticised.
Football is all about opinion and mine is …… i don’t know more than Wenger when it comes to what is best for this squad and I certainly wouldn’t want to be the voice that brings a dud to the club.
If Wenger gives in to the calls to sign Samba, Cahill and rids us of the apparent duffers and we still don’t win a trophy next year will the fans that have said the manager should have made these transfers last year still be calling for his head?
Fair enough TA it was meant innocently.
I do not like to see players leave their natural starting positions though AW obviously does. When we had Gallas playing LB for half a season we were decidedly shaky and looked much better when he returned to the centre.
I
London. Did you take a trip to Brighton today?
Thanks London, and that’s exactly the spirit in which I read/understood your question.
GIE. That should have been a post- Very interesting and well researched.
GiE, agree with BR – great stuff.
I think there is far less chance of Nasri leaving than Cesc.
When I try and evaluate the chances of Cesc leaving I can’t help think that if his sale is part of the club’s plan then they are purposely holding the signature of Nasri back so they can use it as a sop to placate us when we learn that Cesc is definitely going, well that is what I would do if I ran Arsenal’s PR.
Raddy I was thinking of doing it but as Harry was always going to give us his ins at some point I knew I would have a chance to air it. Only just did numbers though and had no idea what they would say.
Hi BR
Too many people and impossible to get the train back if needed, no I went to Cambridge today.
London what if Cesc going means Nasri will leave too? That is my fear, rather than seeing them as individuals I think the deal is for them as a pair, I would also worry about RvP being unsettled by the departure of Cesc too.
Thats with my gloomy hat on obviously…..
Imagine RvP at home Arsene phones up
AW: “bad news good news Robin”
RvP : “go on”
AW: “Cesc is going”
RvP: “crap whats the good news”
AW: “I’ve signed Joey Barton”
…..click………
RvP: “Hello, its time”
Agent : “I’m on it, where do you want to go?”
GIE
There is obviously some milage in Cesc leaving but I cannot think of a single reason why Nasri would want to go.
I don’t take the idea of Barton coming to Arsenal seriously at all. It’s funny on so many levels.
Formal contact made by barcelona…my arse.This whole thing has been scripted for over 4 months and the only thing stopping the deal going through is the transfer fee.
Nasri’s situation has nothing to do with Cesc, it’s an entirel different proposition .he just wants more wages than he is worth and whoever pays him the most he will go to. I don’t like it, for if a deal is done to pcify Nasri, who knows he won’t do the same next year.(I know his contract runs down, but it’s a bit like Adebayor making huge demands after one season, getting double wages and then whoring himself off.)
Three changes made to the U21s side but Lansbury, one of only two decent players vs Ukraine, is still on the bench. Stuart Pearce, top manager…..
London is of course absolutely right, the chances of Barton becoming an Arsenal player are less than zero.
But as others have observed, Barton has quality. Were it not for his rep and being a PR man’s nightmare, he’d have won more than one England cap. But it’s not just hs bad image that’s the problem, he has a real dark side on the pitch too. But for all that, the fact he’s taken steps to face up to his behavioural problems, in my opinion, deserves respect he doesn’t always get because he’s a hate figure.
And I also like his candour: who could disagree with his slagging of the complacent elite in the England side (Lampard, Gerrard etc)? Bad politics maybe, but honest and correct.
Nice post Harry.
I always find it hard to choose players I would like to see come to the Arsenal as I find it just leads to frustration. Selecting those I would prefer to depart, also leaves me nowhere to go if I end up having to support them next season.
This kind of attitude doesn’t make for very stimulating blogging though (!), so I applaud you. 🙂
Great stats at 6.30, GIE.
Denilson was always king of the stats, so I’ve been a bit dubious ever since! The Brazilian always has a better pass completion rate than Cesc, but it’s difficult to see what that tells us. AW seems to take great store by the Castrol stats, so they have to be taken into account.
Perhaps it would be interesting to see a statistics team of the season and compare it an overall view team of the season. Though how you would judge the latter, heaven only knows. Watching football is such a subjective activity. Even those collecting the stats, will be using some level of subjectivity.
For instance, is a successful tackle
one where the player wins and keeps the ball,
one where he wins the ball and his team retain the ball,
one where he simply touches the ball regardless of where it ends up,
one where the tackle breaks up the momentum of a dangerous attack but doesn’t result in his team gaining possession.
When I look at the Guardian chalkboards, I’m always surprised by the stats they throw up. Oooops my longest comment ever, I’ll stop now. 🙂
26. You make a good point aboutt Barton facing up to his difficulties which undoubtedly deserves respect but given his value to the football clubs he represents I doubt it is of his own volition.. I would be very upset to see him in the red and white,
As to Gerrard and Lamps. They have given their all for England and it is certainly not lack of determination that has led them to under-perform, it is insulting to both players to make such a suggestion, especially coming from a player who has brought the game into such disrepute. (which is not to say that SG & FL have not had their difficulties).
As you say, Pearce is dreadful and an indication of how clueless the FA are.
Hi Raddy
We’re of one mind about Barton coming to our club – I no more want it than think it’s a possibility.
But I don’t see huge differences between the off-pitch, drunken, violent behaviour of Barton and Gerrard, other than Gerrard had better lawyers, a higher profile and mates who would take the hit for him.
The things Barton said that I liked were his critical comments of England stars bringing out books after lame World Cup performances. He called it right.
To me, Barton’s a scumbag, but he’s a complicated scumbag with underrated footballing ability.
Turgid…..that’s what this U21s match is.
Lansbury set to come on for the £20m Henderson (who was awful).
Walker and Sinclair have impressed me in places.
You have to wonder why they play Muamba, he is 23 will not be a full international regular so why persist with him in these games.
Very good question Exile. And I would say it is evidence of precisely the problem with Pearce’s approach. As was clear from what he said when he wanted to include Jack, Pearce sees the objective as being short-term success in competitions rather than developing the potential in younger players for the longer term benefit of English football.
Nice to see our lot just get a goal though. Let’s see if they can hold on, the Czechs (whose passing game caused significant problems for England’s defence before) will be playing more aggressively now.
Evening Guys, thanks to all the great comments as usual……..
It was a hard post to write and I think the line up was lost on some, first game in you tend not to throw 3 or 4 newbies on………
We arent far away and thats why there is a mix of experience and youth in my thoughts……….
A couple of weeks ago I was all for Parker, but I just cannot see him or Barton fittting in………….Ramsey and Lansbury provide excellent cover and dont start me on the u21 set up…………Liverpool were well caught with their pants down there 20million, roflmao………….
GIE great stats, but have you got one on how many times clichy freezes, apart from that I think he is great, but he just crumbles at times and there is no sign of it wearing off…..
Back to putting up my first 11 obviously this would also be tainted by who performed in pre season, injuries etc, it was more about showing the strength in depth and the various options……………..
Anyway well positive for the season already………I think……………
Hi Harry
Having been late to the party today, I neglected to respond to your great headline post.
Making all sorts of assumptions about the business we do this summer, I wonder if we might start the next season looking at something like this
GK: Szczesny, Fabianski, Mannone
DEF: Vermaelen, Samba, Cahill, Djourou, Koscielny, Sagna, Gibbs, Enrique, Jenkinson
MID: Nasri, Wilshere, Arshavin, Walcott, Ramsey, Song, Diaby, Lansbury, Emmanuel-Thomas, Coquelin
FWD: Chamakh, van Persie, Benzema, Gervinho
From that, I would go for a first choice 11 of:
GK: Szczesny
DEF: Vermaelen, Cahill, Sagna, Enrique
MID: Nasri, Wilshere, Song
FWD: van Persie, Benzema, Gervinho
One factor we should bear in mind in all this is the homegrown rule. A number of the players who could be heading out count as homegrown players, I think including Fabregas, Clichy, Bendtner, Denilson and Traore. That, combined with the fact that Walcott, Vela, Gibbs and Traore will no longer be under 21, will have an impact on the way our recruitment has to be managed over the summer. Wenger will need to take much more care than he has had to do in previous years in order to comply with the rules.
Harry…see I knew you’d trip me up…Opta haven’t monitored that yet 🙂 but seriously we see Clichy play around 4000 minutes of football a season, how many of us can say we’ve seen that much of Baines or any of the potential signings for that matter? There’s only one man who loves Arsenal as much as us and watches that much football and it’s Arsene.
26 that’s exactly what I thought, shame he didn’t let the team play football like we do in the PL, where is the coaching manual that says for international football you must slow the game to a pace you are not use to playing and knock the ball aimlessly around the back four before trying to hit a million dollar pass? That’s one thing that is unfortunately carried up through the ranks.
Oh well they put in an Arsenal like last ten minutes. The one difference between Czech and our lads was the ability to play a one touch pass to feet. Scary how many times an English pass went two or three yards away from the intended receiver and how the need to take a touch before moving the ball again led to the open player being closed down.
Anyone shocked that the England U21 defence failed to hold out? I guess looking at it from a partisan viewpoint, it’s not that upsetting to see United’s future CB pairing get done. Still pretty disappointing to see the U21s fail like that though.
Agree 100% Exile.
I was embarrassed by the passing, Muamba was one of the worst offenders, I had fogotten he was 23, that is a good question, why was he there?
So of the 25 over 21 years old (born after 1 January 1990) 17 can be “foreign”. To be homegrown they need to be trained for three years under the age of 21 by a club in the English and Welsh system.
Only Sczcesney, Ramsay and Wilshere of last years squad are under 21, and all three count as homegrown anyway, plus Lansbury, Emmanuel-Thomas, Jenkinson, Coquelin (all will be homegrown too when over 21)
So of the 19 over 21 only 2 need to be homegrown:
Walcott, Gibbs, Song, Djourou, Mannone and if we got him Cahill are all homegrown under the rules so I don’t think there are any major worries now or for the future.
Rasp – thank you, so he is not even Brazilian as his name would suggest.
Joey Barton is not a scambag, he had troubled past, but many others with his upbringing would be troubled too
Exile: All fair points about the homegrown rule,and I agree there isn’t an immediate problem. But my point is that managing the squad to comply with the rules is a long term thing, and losing four or five homegrown players in one summer, while at the same time our young squad gets older, brings us closer to the ceilings imposed by the rules more quickly. We started from an incredibly good position when the rules came into play but the level of change in the squad we could see could see problems. Which is one reason Wenger might be more tempted than he has been before to pay the (crazy) premium on English players like Cahill.
Evonne: OK, the word scumbag is harsh, and I agree that Barton had plenty of disadvantages in life which should be borne in mind. But we all have to take responsibility for our actions, and there are plenty of people with Barton’s disadvantages and worse who haven’t stubbed cigars out on people or beaten people in bars.
Exile: You’re right that there’s not an immediate problem on the homegrown rules. But my point is that managing a squad in order to comply with the rule is a long term thing, and the loss of a bunch of homegrown players in one summer is going to accelerate some issues in managing the evolution of the squad. It might even incentivise Wenger to cave in on paying premiums for English/homegrown players.
Evonne: OK, scumbag was a bit harsh. And I agree that Barton had a tough upbringing that did him no favours. But none of that excuses some of his violent excesses, after all not everyone from a tough background falls into the traps Barton has.
26 @9.41, wow, some changes you envisage there! I cannot see it happening myself, but you never know (-:
I know Total, ain’t going to happen like that!
Nice squad 26m, sneaking benzema in as well……..I see you agree that Cesc could be off?
Sorry GIE wasnt trying to catch you out, lol…..I take your point, but I do watch a hell of alot of football, all the goals etc and dont see many do a “Clichy”……….
As for Pearce and the u21’s he is a mug, why leave Lansbury on the bench? He will moan that wilshere didnt go but he doesnt deserve him, mug………..
Harry
I hope he doesn’t but on balance, I reckon Cesc will go this summer. That at least would fund an ambitious signing such as Benzema. But as I think you said, the important thing is that we don’t lose both Cesc and Nasri.
Yep 26M, thats the most important thing right now, securing Nasri on a Long Term deal………
Morning Gooners………………
So there’s a thought that Barca having been active trying to buy a striker are going to sell Villa to fund Cesc purchase…..would we be happy with a swap deal cash?
Morning Harry.
Morning all
GiE – yes, very happy indeed
But he is 30, so chances are that AW would not even consider him
You know when a club target a player to sign and in an attempt to try and bring the price down they put out a rumour that they are interested in another player?
Have any of you thought that Barcelona are aiming to sign a different midfielder. To us Cesc is the best player we have but there are many other players in Spain that match his ability and if you looked at the Spanish newspapers you would realise that Barcelona have many other serious targets.
Does the name Alexis Sánchez mean anything to anyone?
Cesc to Barça is not a done deal.
London – I always admire your lateral thinking and I think you might be right
London,
Excellent point, and something I was thinking about yesterday. We appear to have a new transfer tactic. Instead of targeting one player, say Scwartzer, and waiting until the last minute, we appear to be targeting two. Say we are after Parker. It would kake alot of sense to let it be known we were after a similar British Prem style player, in this case Barton. Similar with Cahill and Samba. Ditto, Cervinho and Hazard.
kake=make
Oh jeepers. Schwartzer.
Eto’o and Benzema.
Most people I am sure would agree that Schwartzer would be an extremely useful addition but he is so similar to what we have in Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott, and Ramsey. For the German to arrive one of those would have to go and I just can’t see that happening, including Nasri who I don’t believe is going anywhere.
Sanchez is a left sided attacking MF who is just 5, 6″.
Ideal Wenger target!
BR – who is Sanchez??
Well Sanchez has announced that he is going to Barcelona.
Micky. Have you exchanged names with yesterday’s abusive child?
26may – I know you didn’t mean ‘scumbag’.
I am truly sad how people cannot see Joey Barton’s progress and fight to improve both as a professional and a human being.
He is fighting his past and alcoholism, and is doing very well. Should he win, he’d be a man that Theo Walcott could never be.
And I wish him the very best.
London Just trying to be humourous,. Interesting that Barca have no big forwards and only Busquets in MF.
Why would Barca sell Villa? Sanchez is not a like for like replacement and with the sale of Bojan, it would leave them without a recognised central striker.
The only place the story of Villa leaving Barcelona is being reported is here in the UK where the journos can link him to Chelsea. I haven’t seen anything is the Spanish press.
evonne. Upon what exactly do you base your comment about Theo? How do you know how Theo would cope with a similar background? Walcott appears to be the very type of man that Barton should emulate.
You are entitled to your opinion about a man who has shown himself to be a violent racist and I admire your charity – it would be marvellous if there was evidence that Barton was capable of such generosity of spirit. Instead we see the spiteful violence of his performance at the Emirates leading to the tackle on Diaby.
Hi Raddy
What evidence is there of Barron being a racist? I know his brother was part of a gang that committed a racist murder, but I don’t recall anything about Barton himself.
I also think there’s a distinction to be drawn between on field and off field behaviour. Barton retains an edge on the pitch and but he has plenty of company (Kevin Davies, Nolan, the entire Stoke team etc). Plus he’s been targeted because of his reputation (the way he was repeatedly assaulted by Wolves last season was appalling and was accepted as being funny just because the victim was Joey Barton).
But the way Barton has sought to address his off field problems is worthy of acknowledgement; I certainly respect him a whole lot more than the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Cole.
26. Perhaps this is a discussion for another place.
Raddy: ok.
I note that none of the potential squads listed on the site over include our friend Eboue.
Does Jenkinson’s signing preface his departure?
I am a bit confused as to why Jenkinson wasn’t playing last night, can someone explain further than Finish mother.
Morning all…….
…..New post…….
Puhket villas for sale…
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