Arsenal

[spork]

I can't believe disciple has found the sub forum. Its been great this summer without him. Rip sports

[Silent Runner]

I thought I’d be more pissed off than I am but once he’d made that ridiculous statement leaving was an inevitability. 24M is a good price. Sadly I’m sure the boss is well used to this kind of behaviour now – like the rest of us.

[Guest]

Go easy on Disciple, I'd be a bit soft in the head if I'd shagged Sandra Richards too.

Hey! She turned me down. It still burns

[SeanR]

Henry, Anelka, Overmars, Petit, Viera, Cole, Hleb, Fabregas, Nasri, Toure, Adebayor, Clichy, Flamini....

[hobo]

I don't understand why we can't start the season with Giroud and Chamakh? Podolski can play there, and Gervinho has been used there in pre season too to interesting effect. Of course if Giroud gets seriously injured that'd be a problem, but every team bar Man City would have that issue with their squad.

Giroud isn't going to get 30 goals a season, but the idea seems to be to spread the load around the team. We should be less one-dimensional in theory and less reliant on one guy.

I also don't think we need someone like Gilberto. I'm not sure he'd fit in as well with the way we play these days.

Anyone but Giroud up front looks to me like papering over cracks with playing players out of position (actually maybe Podolski is the exception) like when we had to have Arshavin playing up front. I thought for just the one season we were preparing to not have to do that.

I still believe a defensive wall style midfielder with defending the back four their first consideration would be really useful. I don't see how this wont fit, doesn't have to mean they are shit on the ball.

Chamakh is absolutely hopeless though. I really would be astonished if he could turn things around at the club. Even when we were in the deepest of shit last season he wouldn't get off the bench. Relying on Giroud to hit the ground running and Gervinho to pick up the slack sounds optimistic to me. Seems like we're making do.

Exactly making do again. Hope i'm wrong and Giroud and Chamakh both step up. I have no doubts about Giroud.

I also believe Wenger wont buy though, maybe Sahin on loan.

[Daley]

Sahin is off to Liverpool. To be announced shortly.

I can't see why people are getting their knickers in a twist about who can play where. Since when has AW been interested in where people have played previously? He plays them where he wants. Henry don't forget was a winger at Juve. Wiltord was a goal poacher. Wide left please. Even when RvP was played as a lone striker at the start people complained and said he is not a goalscoring forward. I 100% expect to see Podolski through the middle this season. And knowing Arsene it will work like fuck.

Granted it don't always work 100% of the time (AA up front? Bendtner wide left? Jury still out on Walcott.) but I believe in Arsene. We always sell players (or have done for the past what, 7-8 years) and AW always keeps it together. BELIEVE.

[phresh]

I'm not sure the talk of where Van Persie fits in at United makes much sense as Ferguson rotates the squad so heavily anyway. I think people have misinterpreted Ferguson's comments about playing at a higher tempo as referring to raw speed when in fact it's all about having players who will move the ball around quicker, something Berbatov has never really done (and Hernandez is unlikely to do). Van Persie fits into that nicely, especially having spent so much time at Arsenal. As long as the team are tactically clever a front 3 of Van Persie, Rooney and Nani should be pretty devastating.

For all the talk of the forwards at Arsenal though I still think the only way your league position/points total will improve is if Bould is 1) a decent defensive coach and 2) can convince Wenger to do it in the first place. Even if you exclude half the goals in the 8-2 it was still just better than a mid-table defense and improving that is the only way Arsenal will improve beyond the last few seasons (in my opinion of course).

[toythatkills]

Sahin is off to Liverpool. To be announced shortly.

Shame, but it's not like we needed him, midfield's pretty crowded right now. Would just have been a nice luxury

[Sealflap]

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/s720x720/264949_10150961963242624_40058983_n.jpg?dl=1

[Stagger Lee]

Nah, he's still the biggest one around.

[Rev]

I've been thinking that Liverpool could do with a central midfielder, so Sahin going there makes sense.

No, wait, that other thing.

[SeanR]

[Rev]

I liked the person who linked to that on the last page more.

[SeanR]

ah, but I was just pointing out that by removing the part AFTER the ".jpg" in the URL it could have been embedded...

[El Pibe]

I think 24m is a great bit of business by Arsenal for a player at the end of his contract who wanted to leave.

Especially as there's every chance he'll pick up another injury and miss a chunk of the season.

[gizmo1990]

Agree with people feeling for Wenger. A honourable, supportive guy in a dishonourable industry. I hope all the supporters rally around him and the team this season. Sadly it will probably only take a couple of consecutive bad results to condem him as shit.

[KRP]

It's crazy to think the team we could have had if players had stayed on.

[hauk]

Wenger now saying Podolski and Giroud were bought as replacements, not really that surprised about that.

Team actually looks pretty good this year, even if there is no more movement in the transfer market. If we'd have kept Van Persie I think we could have genuinely challenged this year. Without him I think we'll come 3rd, but much closer to the Manchester clubs than last year.

[Daley]

How about if/when Song goes?

[toythatkills]

Seems silly to predict league positions, really. We should come top three easily but we all know that by November we'll only have 12 fit players and Arshavin will be playing in goal.

[Petrousgyre]

How about if/when Song goes?

Rumours circulating that he's refused to play for us again. What the fuck's going on there, easy to imagine that Dein is behind this but that's maybe an oversimplification. A real shame to see Song go, if he goes to Barca he'll work out as well as Hleb I'd have thought.

[Daley]

On the plus side when he fucks off that ends Darren Dein's involvement at Arsenal right? For now anyway...

Although saying that, juicy rumour floating around today is that RvP issued his "Hey Guyz..." statement off his own back and both Dein and his Dutch agent were furious as they knew it was game over at AFC once that was out.

[humdrum]

To be fair there is no way Wenger would come out and state we are looking for a replacement for RVP. The prices quoted would go though the roof, at least by stating that we aren't looking to actively replace RVP if we do enquire about players we can still try and bluff them with the good old line "yes we are interested but we don't NEED another striker, as we have already replaced RVP didn't you see my press conference? " and hope they are silly enough to believe us and offer a fair price.

I don't think I actually believe that myself...

[carlito]

Idiot fans often accuse Wenger of "lying" when he says things like that.

[Liamness]

A real shame to see Song go, if he goes to Barca he'll work out as well as Hleb I'd have thought.

If he leaves, then he's basically their replacement for Keita. I imagine he would play a fair bit, he just wouldn't start in the 'big' games. Hleb barely played at all.

[Gotters]

I like Song as a player and he'll be a loss, though Wenger has said he's trouble for a while I believe, he got a stay of execution when Toure and Adebayor were booted out for being trouble.

The only plus side of him going to Barca is that I bought his Range Rover so get to say I'm driving a Barca first teamers car.

[Pavey]

The Sport? 0000 50NG was on it when I bumped into him.

Any more gossip today of him definitely going? Need to get him out of my Dream Team if so!

[carlito]

We needed Song to contribute to the attack last season which came, not irregularly, at the expense of his defensive duties. It absolutely infuriated me and I found it hard not to blame Song individually, but you have to assume he had Wenger's blessing otherwise he would have been out the team.

If we are willing to get rid of him then surely Wenger believes we no longer need a defensive midfielder who we depend on to contribute going forward in the way he does, perhaps a return to a more traditional defensive minded player in the set-up, which I am all over.

I am not going do the whole Youtube scout bullshit and pretend I know who's had a better season out of Capoue and M'Vila. I don't have a clue, but we're not looking a magician here, just a sturdy player than can read the game, tackle and distribute the ball sensibly.

[Daley]

Wilshere given the 10 shirt and Walcott to sign a new deal soon. Dench, as Frimpong has been heard to remark on occasion.

[The Fox]

Weird that Wilshere seems to be getting No10 when it looked like Podolski was waiting for it. Or perhaps this was on the cards all along and Podolski is just waiting for Park to shuffle off into the sunset so he can take the cursed No9. He did wear it versus Koln.