Benzema is the only striker Arsenal ‘might’ buy

July 14, 2015

The rumours surrounding Arsene’s admiration for Benzema have been around for several years now. He ticks all the boxes for a striker – big, strong, quick, good finisher and at 27 just reaching his peak, although the sell-on price in 4 years would represent a loss.

Any player who can score 87 goals in 188 games for Real Madrid playing alongside greedyguts me me me Ronaldo must have some quality. Benzema also provides plenty of assists and works hard for the team. He’s no Prima Donna, he doesn’t dive or spend ages lying on the floor pleading to the ref when he’s tackled. He’s a good honest footballer.

I think we all know that Cavani is out of our reach (even if we want him in the first place), Higuain apparently has a ridiculously high buy-out clause, so I reckon if we do sign a big name striker then there is only one candidate out there.

The question of course is whether he is any better than Giroud. My answer would be that he is as much an improvement on Giroud as Petr Cech is on Szczesny, and if we want to go to the next level we will be dealing in smaller incremental improvements. Szczesny is 8 years younger than Cech and may be prepared to bide his time whereas Giroud is a year older than Benzema.

Benzema is more mobile than Giroud, he is quicker and more effective in tight spaces and a better finisher. He tracks back for Real more than Giroud does for Arsenal but maybe wouldn’t be required to do so if playing up top in a 4:5:1 for us.

Is he too much like Giroud? – maybe. What would we do with Giroud if we signed Benzema considering we have Sanchez to score the goals? – good question, I have no answer for that.

Personally I’d like to see Benzema at Arsenal, but I can only see that making sense if we sell Giroud and I think that is unlikely.

 Rasp

267 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

The Rime of the Ancient Gooner (With apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

July 13, 2015

I saw the old fellow sitting hunched against the wind on a bench in Finsbury Park. He wore a long brown raincoat with a red and white knitted scarf knotted snugly against his scrawny neck, a well worn and faded Arsenal base ball cap, pulled down to protect his balding skull, left only a few stray grey hairs protruding from around the edges.

His faded blue eyes gazed vacantly in the direction of the magnificent Emirates Arena, the weathered and wrinkled skin of his face bore testament to the years spent on the old open terraces of the long gone Highbury Stadium watching, sometimes with joy sometimes with despair but always with hope, his beloved Arsenal.

His fists suddenly clenched convulsively he half rose from his seat, his right arm raising before slumping back on the bench, a single tear appeared in his eye as he relived a missed scoring chance in some long gone long forgotten First Division game. He shivered as the February wind gusted around him and he stuffed his hands deep in his pockets.

I sat down beside him and said “it’s cold today” he jerked and stared around him as if waking from a dream, he looked blankly at me for a moment and then mentally shook himself and returned to the present, “Oh”, he said “I’ve known it colder and at least it’s dry”. I offered him the cup of coffee I’d just bought, he took it gratefully and sipped some of the hot liquid, a hint of colour crept into his pale face.

I asked what he was doing here on such a lousy day, “what else is there to do, I can’t sit about all day at home and there’s no football today”. “No mates” I asked. He gave a mournful sigh and replied “most of them have gone and those not dead are in some bloody care home or another”. “I got chucked out of one last week, me and an old Barney were having a right good laugh when the old dragon who runs the place told us to keep the noise down because we were disturbing the other clients”. “Disturbing this lot” I said, It would need a doodlebug dropping to wake some of them up”. “Well” she said “this facility is only open to my clients and you’re a disruptive influence so I must ask you to leave”.

He lapsed into silence and sipped his coffee. “How long have you been going to Arsenal matches?” I asked. “ About as long as I can remember” he said as a far away look came into his eyes. “My dad used to hide me under his mac and smuggle me in, must have been when I was about five I suppose” he said. “if there was a real crowd in I’d get passed overhead right down to the front. You were only a few feet away from the players boots. It was smashing”. His face lit up briefly at the memory but the smile quickly faded as he went on “Course the war put a stop to that, it put a stop to my dad too, he never came home from Dunkirk”.

In an effort to break the spell I asked “do you still go to matches?” “Well” he said “I still go to the ground and I wander around and watch the crowds enjoying themselves but I can’t afford a ticket and I’m too big to hide under anyone’s coat now” he shrugged resignedly. “so I go and sit in the pub and watch it on tele but it’s not the same somehow”.

It was starting to rain, the wind was getting stronger the old boy shivered. “Look” I said “meet me here at one o’clock next Saturday, I’ll have a spare ticket that you can have and we can watch the game together, how will that be?” His face lit up, a broad smile seemed to sweep away the wrinkles and the years with them. “Do you mean it? Really? He said. “Yes” I replied “I do mean it, we’ll go and watch Arsenal together” The rain was getting heavier, “alright I’ll meet you one o’clock next Saturday on this bench” he said as he got up and walked away in the rain, he looked back smiled brightly and waved, I gave him a thumbs up and turned away.

I got to the bench at a quarter to one, I waited till fifteen minutes to kick off, I watched the game with an empty seat beside me.

Written by Norfolk Gooner

61 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

The history of Arsenal’s grounds through the ages

July 9, 2015

Arsenal’s Ground’s

(From 1887 to present))

I thought it would interesting to go back to our roots and take a look at the various grounds that we have played on from our inception in 1887 to the present day.

Let’s start with our very first games which were played on Plumstead Common –

Plumbstead Common

From January 8th, 1887 to June 30th, 1887

(No League games were played)

The Royal Artillery exercised their horses on the common which left the playing surface badly rutted and almost unplayable. The changing rooms were located in several local Pubs and the teams goal posts were stored in a neighbouring back garden and had to be erected for every game. They only played 5 games on the common before looking for another location.

Sportman’s Ground

From September 30th, 1887 to February 12th, 1888

(No League games were played)

The Sportman’s ground was located close to Manor Field and was previously a pig farm. The ground was also located on the edges of Plumstead Marshes and was constantly water logged. Arsenal was beginning to attract hundred if not thousands of fans and that created a problem due to the soggy grounds and inadequate facilities.

Manor Field

From August 1st, 1888 to June 30th, 1889

(No League games were played)

This was another ground that did not fit the team’s needs, they used the Railway Tavern as a dressing room and they borrowed wagons, to create elevation, for the fans to stand on. It became obvious that they had to move when an estimated 10,000 fans turned up for the London Charity Cup final.

Invicta Ground

From September 1st, 1890 to May 31st, 1893

(No League games were played)

This ground was perhaps the best in Southern England as it had a grandstand and a half decent pitch. Although they were shunned by other Southern clubs they went ahead and applied for membership in the league and their application proved to be successful.

In 1891 Arsenal became the first Southern club to turn professional. When the landlord of the Invicta Ground decided to increase the rent Arsenal took the opportunity to move on and they made the decision to purchase Manor Field. Their final game at Invicta was a 0-1 loss to Stoke City on April 29th, 1893.

Manor Field

From August 1st, 1893 to April 27th, 1913

(343 League games were played)

10, 000 fans were in attendance at the first game played here; it was against Newcastle United on September 2nd, 1893 and ended in a 2-2 draw. Their highest attendance was 32,850 against Aston Villa on October 8th, 1904. Their biggest win at Manor Field (which was also their highest all time league victory) was 12-0 against Loughborough on March 12th, 1900; it was also proved to be their lowest crowd when only 600 fans showed up.

In 1893 the club now known as Woolwich Arsenal FC was elected into the Football League Division 2. Due to a crowd disturbance against Burton Wanderers the ground at Manor Field was closed for 5 games; during this period Arsenal played 1 game at Priestfield Stadium and 1 game at Lyttleton Ground.

Sir Henry Norris purchased a plot of land 10 miles away in Islington and Arsenal started to build Highbury Stadium.

Highbury

From September 6th, 1913 to May 7th, 2006

(1,691 League games were played)

The first match at Highbury was 2-1 victory against Leicester Fosse and was watched by a crowd of 20,000. The final match against Wigan Athletic resulted in a 4-2 win and 38,359 people were in attendance.

The highest attendance at Highbury was when 73,295 watched a 0-0 draw against Sunderland on March 9th, 1935. The lowest attendance was when only 4,554 watched Arsenal lose 0-3 to Leeds United on May 5th, 1966.

The biggest home win was a 9-1 victory against Grimsby Town before 15,751 people on January 28th, 1931. The biggest defeat was a 2-6 loss watched by 30,000 against Sheffield United on March 26th, 1921.

Emirates Stadium

From August 19th, 2006 to post GunnerN5

( League games played TBD )

The move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium enabled the club to increase the capacity from 38,419 attendees at Highbury to 60,432 at the Emirates. The increased revenue was needed to allow Arsenal to become more competitive in the transfer market.

The first league goal at the Emirates Stadium was scored by Olof Mellburg of Aston Villa the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Emirates story is in progress and will not be completed for many more seasons.

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Compliments of Arsenal.com here are some famous home and away Firsts…

First competitive match (as Woolwich Arsenal):
v Newcastle Utd (h) – Manor Ground Plumstead 2 Sept 1893 – League (Second Divison) Drew 2-2 (W Shaw, A Elliott)

First competitive match at Highbury (as Woolwich Arsenal):
v Leicester Fosse 6 Sept 1913 – League (Second Division) Won 2-1 (Jobey, Devine pen)

First competitive match as Arsenal:
v Bristol City (h) 4 April 1914 – League drew 1-1 (Winship)

First league match at ‘home’:
v Newcastle Utd (h) – Manor Ground Plumstead 2 Sept 1893 – League (Second Divison) Drew 2-2 (W Shaw, A Elliott)

First league match away:
v Notts County (a) 9 Sept 1893 Lost 2-3 (A Elliott, W Shaw)

First Premier League match:
v Norwich City (h)15 Aug 1992 Lost 2-4 (Bould, Campbell)

First FA Cup match (Played at Manor Ground, Plumstead):
v Ashford United (h) 14 Oct 1893 – FA Cup (1)) Won 12-0 (Elliott 3, Henderson 3, Booth 2, Heath 2, Crawford, Powell)

First League Cup match:
v Gillingham (h) 13 Sept 1966 (Round 2) drew 1-1 (Baldwin)

First home match in European competition:
v Staevnet (Denmark) 22 Oct 1963 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Lost 2-3 (Skirton, Barnwell)

First away match in European competition:
v Staevnet (Denmark) 25 Sept 1963 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Won 7-1 (Strong 3, Baker 3, MacLeod)

First match in UEFA Champions League:
v RC Lens (a) 16 Sept 1998 Drew 1-1 (Overmars)

First match in Charity/Community Shield:
v Sheff Wed at Stamford Bridge. Oct 8 1931, Won 2-1 (Joe Hulme, David Jack)

First match at Emirates Stadium:
v Ajax (Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial) 22 July 2006. Arsenal 2 (Henry 55, Kanu 80) Ajax 1 (Huntelaar 37)

First competitive match at Emirates Stadium:
v Aston Villa 19 August 2006. Arsenal 1 (Gilberto 83) Aston Villa (Mellberg 54)

First player to be sent off at Emirates Stadium:
Ivan Campo (Bolton) (2 yellows) 14 April 2007 (Lge) (won 2-1)

First Arsenal player to be sent off at Emirates Stadium:
Philippe Senderos (v Portsmouth (Lge) 2 Sept 2007 won 3-1)

(Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source 8 Jul 2008)

GunnerN5

276 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Miscellaneous Monday morning musings

July 6, 2015

Good morning AAers, it’s the dog days of summer, the 2014/15 season is just a distant memory, our second FA Cup is safely locked away in the Emirates trophy cabinet.

Chile have won the Copa Americas, the England Ladies secured an historic first ever win over Germany to take the bronze medal in the Women’s World Cup and there is just the final between The USA and Japan to look forward to. Although, by the time you read this the result will be in one way or another.

The back pages have been taken over by Le Tour, Henley and Wimbledon, no not the Crazy Gang, but the genteel game of Lawn Tennis.

Ah Tennis! The game where the players clothing must be predominately white. Audible obscenities, nothing so crude as swearing, are penalised by a one point deduction and smashing your racket over the head of a dilatory ball boy brings a gentle rebuke from the umpire. While out on court young ladies with immaculate make-up and the longest legs known to mankind scream with orgasmic ecstasy when delivering the ball and gentlemen capable of holding two balls in one hand while furiously swinging a racket grunt their way to yet another boring final set.

In football we are left only with the ludicrous transfer speculation of the media and the few tit bits of actual news. Such as Lukas Podolski’s transfer to Galatasary and Sepp Blatter’s refusal to attend his own disgraced organisation’s Women’s World Cup Final in Canada.

One oddity to come out of the Women’s England Germany game, was that Alexandra Popp, one of the German substitutes, came onto the pitch wearing a helmet. Now we all know that our own ‘keeper, Petr Cech, wears a head guard but heading the ball is a very rare event for a goalie but Popp is an outfield player and heading is an integral part of an outfield player’s game. Isn’t the wearing of a helmet gaining an unfair advantage?

Now I know that this hasn’t been a very Arsenaly, or even footbally, sort of post but there really isn’t too much of that sort of thing going on at the moment, so feel free to chat about anything you like.

You usually do any way.

Written by Norfolk Gooner

 

130 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Will Petr Cech make a significant difference?

July 1, 2015

I think we can all agree that Arsenal have been lacking a truly top class ’keeper since “Mad” Jens left. Some would say that the lack goes back further to David “Safe Hands” Seaman’s departure.

We’ve seen a few come and go, Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone, while a few more have stayed, Szczesny, Ospina and Martinez. All have been given a chance to make the Number One shirt their own. None of them have been entirely successful.

The signing of David Ospina during last summer’s transfer window came as a bit of a surprise to most Gooners, he had had a good World Cup, was one of two first team ‘keepers at French Ligue 1 side Nice but was not happy to share the gloves with the young Joris Delle and so signed for Arsenal for around £3 million. He had a good but not spectacular first season and now seems likely to leave for pastures new.

So we come to our latest recruit Petr Cech, one of the rocks that Abramovich’s Chelsea were built on and a mainstay of the side since he joined in 2004, his 333 appearances say a lot about his consistency as well as his talent. There can be no doubt that he played an enormous part in the many successes that Chelsea have enjoyed since Abramovich injected his roubles into the then ailing West London club.

I don’t think there can be any doubt that Arsene Wenger has signed one of the best goalies in the world. I believe that Cech will bring an air of calmness into our defence and will give some confidence to our defenders. My personal belief is that he will certainly make a significant difference to our team and it’s prospects in the coming seasons.

What do other Gooners think?

Written by Norfolk Gooner.

32 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Benzema for Koscielny anyone?

June 29, 2015

Just a little poser with a twist to follow on from Micky’s post.

I feel we need a top striker but am scratching my head as to who we can get that is :-

1 Top class and able to bring that class to the more robust EPL.

2 Potentially available (i.e current employers are willing to consider selling).

3 Their price is not over-inflated and represents true market value.

4 Their wage expectation is not over-inflated.

5 The player has an interest in joining us.

Most of the viable options have some question mark hanging over them with one of these questions. I have ruled out Suarez and Aguero as we will just not get them from those clubs, even though they tick every other box. Looking at some of the other candidates (that I like) my observation would be as follows:-

Cavani – Likely to be able to adapt to the EPL as he is a reasonable physical specimen. However he is over-priced by PSG due to over-paying for him. Unsure of any real player interest in joining us. Is he still one of the world’s best or has he slipped down a notch? Most likely factor to prevent transfer is PSG’s and his unrealistic expectation with transfer fee and wages respectively.

Lewandowski – Seems top grade and will likely adapt to the EPL due to his physical attributes. However he doesn’t seem surplus to requirements at Bayern and I have not heard of any interest on his behalf, so an unlikely option due to this.

Aubemayeng – Not yet a top proven striker but I feel there is a bit of the “Thierry- convert from decent winger to top striker – Henry’s” about him so would be a very good punt. Wages and transfer fee likely to be reasonable, however recent statements from Dortmund seem to be telling us to do one so this is looking less likely.

Higuain – Seems top class but maybe will not cut it in the EPL, and was considered second to Benzema when at Real so is he truly world class? Recent Napoli chairmen statements will likely make his transfer unlikely.

Benzema – Not without its difficulties but I still feel our best bet. Real seem to be looking for a shiny new toy so he could become surplus and may feel he doesn’t want to play second fiddle. I feel the club willingness and player desire may possibly be there. Players deemed surplus at Real, (and Barca for that matter…Aleeeexiiis 🙂 ), are often still top players but are just victims of the Galactico recycling project. Is a physical specimen so should cut it in the EPL and has excellent link up play to fit with our (well Micky’s and my J ) desire to play with a fluid front 3.

Here is the twist……….

Real seem interested in Kos. Now if Kos said to AW no thanks I love it here then stop it right there and then and move forwards based on him staying. But if Kos expresses a slight interest that shows his head may have been slightly turned then maybe AW should say to Real “You only get him if Benzema is part of the deal”.

I love Kos but in my mind there are maybe 2-3 excellent alternatives to him at a reasonable price out there. The top striker position seems to be scarce and hard to fill at present, more so than the CD position IMO. Is it easier to replace Kos than it is to get a top striker in a straight off deal? Maybe this is our best, if not only, chance of getting that top striker in a reasonable deal.

So what do you guys think?

Written by GoonerB

100 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal Transfer System Solution

June 26, 2015

The diary says Rant Friday, the mind says relax, all is cool and smokey dopey Glasto weekend.

On the transfer front, I suspect the real action will begin once the Copa America ends, and then the endless haggling will rumble on and on and on.

The really good news is that I have a solution.

Let’s look at the evidence. How many of our 1st XI would get in to the current Champions League winning Barcelona side? You guessed it. None. Maybe two if you are being nice and elastic. In other words, out there somewhere is a player better than we have in any one position. So, here’s the plan and like all great ideas, it is very simple.

Allocate your transfer budget. Say £70M (you’d recoup maybe 30 by flogging players with bad hair and so on). Ok, next step, allocation of funds. Don’t need defenders, so one midfielder, and one forward. Tidy so far.

Attackers are better than midfielders, so 40 on the front boy, and 30 on the other fella.

List all players who may be an upgrade. Reus, Draxler, Benzema, Cavani etc

Ditto midfielders. Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Bender, Vidal, Cavalho and so on.

Then take out a sodding great Ad. in SHOOT jobs section:

AFC OFFER £40M + 160k wages to …… (list potential applicants eligible to apply)

AFC OFFER £30M + 120k wages to …… (list potential applicants eligible to apply)

NO OFFERS. NO NEGOTIATION. FIRST COME GETS JOB.

No buggering about over the numbers. In budget. Get two serious upgrades. We’ll make a system to fit later.

Written by mickydidit89

 

150 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

The (Curious?) cases of Joel Campbell, Akpom and Sanogo

June 24, 2015

Here are three relatively young players that AW rates highly…

Joel Campbell had an outstanding WC2014 and then had some decent appearances but he was never really outstanding when playing for us or when going out on loan. Clearly, he is a talented player and he is highly viewed by many. The question is – what shall we do with him? Keep him, loan him or sell him?

Akpom has got the pace and a decent eye for goal. AW rates him and he has had a good career with your youth system like Afobe. Again what shall we do with him? Keep him, loan him or sell him?

Then comes the case (maybe the most curious) of Sanogo. A touted French striker that unfortunately suffered a horrific injury early on in his career…He then recovered and joined us on a free…He has again some potential but he is clearly not ready for Arsenal yet…So what shall we do with him? Keep him, loan him or sell him?

Looking forward to your answers

Written by RC78

67 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Keep the Corporal

June 22, 2015

It is my belief that we should be looking to retain the services of one Corporal Carl Jenkinson at THOF for the immediate future and I will state my case as to why.

What would be the reasons to let him go? Firstly some would argue he is not good enough. Others would say that we are well covered in his position and that there is no place for him when we have Bellerin, Debuchy and Chambers who can all play there.

Out of all our British players the corporal is still playing catch up. He doesn’t yet have the experience of being a regular senior international player and is arguably not yet able to put in performances at the highest level on a consistent basis, as you would expect from the likes of Jack, Ramsey, AOC, Gibbs.

That doesn’t mean though that he will not reach this level and, as with many of our youngsters, it is too early to say whether he will cut it at the top level or not. There have been glimpses that he has that level of performance in him. His recent performances at U21 level have seen him looking like one of the best of the young England players participating. The one game though that above others sticks in my mind was his performance against Bayern Munich in our 2-0 away victory. I believe it was Robben and Muller that were changing flanks to have a go at our young rookie, but he managed to keep both of them quiet for more or less the whole game, which is no easy feat. If that kind of performance is in there and can be replicated consistently then we have a player.

What about the competition?

Bellerin is a fine player and would currently get the nod as first choice but I have 2 things in my mind where this is concerned. Firstly it might be nice to have the option of playing Bellerin as a speedy right winger at times with Jenks behind him. Secondly is the dreaded Barca DNA. I would say there is a good chance that we will lose Bellerin to Spain at some point in the future, and also while he is still in his prime, if not at his peak. If Jenks has developed into that consistent top level player the impact will be lessened, rather than facing the situation scrambling around trying to recruit a new top level player who may need to bed in.

Debuchy? Well he is over 30 so has a limited period that he can provide us with top level cover in this role anyway. Debuchy’s ability to cover at CD and possibly even for Le Coq, (according to RC he played there for Lille which I found an interesting option), means for me that we can keep all 3 with Jenks easing into a more regular role as Debuchy fades / moves on. If Jenks is not as likely to get that playing time right now then I would suggest we get another loan season going while making sure we have him secured on a decent contract term. Chambers can also cover the role but my preference would be to develop him as a CD.

Finally, and perhaps the most important of the lot is the home grown quota rules. This consideration really extends beyond Jenks to all our quality young home grown players. The home grown quota rule may start to bite on some top teams as much as FFP. The team with the greatest amount of high quality home grown players could hold a significant advantage in the next few seasons to come, and we are, in my opinion, in one of the strongest (if not the strongest) positions in this sense relative to our top table rivals. For me it is a hands off to the Chavvies and Northern Oilers with Jenks, Jack, Aaron, Kieron, Calum e.t.c

As always over to you guys for your opinions.

Written by GoonerB

112 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Is it Cech Mate against The Pole in Goal?

June 18, 2015

It is with a heavy heart today that I delve into the defensive side of our game. The Goal Keeper.

The blog world is alive with stories of the imminent arrival of Petr Cech for an apparent £14M.

Sz had an absolute stinker against Southampton for sure. Maybe he was hungover from New Year’s celebrations. The game was on January 1st after all.  Who knows. Then, of all times, he chose post match to have a fag in the shower when he was already in the dog house. Got demoted to Cup Keeper, and in came Ospina as No 1.

Thing is Arsene played Szczesny in the final. You can read that as a “thanks and goodbye” or Arsene effectively re-instating him as No1 (it’s not true AW always sticks with the Cup Keeper in the final). Either way you read that choice, a fairly substantial level of forgiveness had to be in the air.

My personal thoughts are that Szczesny still has everything to be a top keeper. He needs to grow up fast. To my mind, there are strong similarities between him and Nic Bendtner in terms of a casual professional attitude, but that is very much my own guesswork. Even top keepers make mistakes, and take away the shocker of the Southampton game, and I think our Pole had a very good season.

Would Cech coming in help, or hinder (he’ll want first team football) our own current keepers, and more importantly, the overall strength of the defence?

written by Micky Didit

 

80 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Rasp

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »