Arsenal

[The Fox]

Fenton's new four year contract has been sorted, and Cazorla has signed an extension too. I still think Santi will go back to Spain next summer but at least this way we might get a few quid for him.

edit: £140k/week for Fenton. I'm glad he's signed but I'm a bit mystified about how he's pulled that off to be honest. I can only assume when we do Ozil's renewal, which should happen in the next 12 months, that there's a good chance he'll become our first £200k/week player.

[gooner4life]

Based on what?

[The Fox]

Ozil? Well maybe £200k is an exaggeration but that's just the way things are going innit. He's our highest profile player, always front and centre in all the marketing stuff etc. Was probably our best player in the second half of last season too so hopefully he can stay fit and keep the on-pitch stuff going as well.

If we're now at the stage where we're giving £140k/week to someone who couldn't even get in the side for the most part, I don't reckon it's outlandish that Ozil and Alexis would want a fair wedge more than that when they have to renew.

edit: some reports that Monreal has agreed a new deal as well

[Jonathan_Kerr]

£140k per week is the new £100k per week.

I'm fine with that for Walcott, despite not playing much lately -- 9 years with the club is nothing to sniff at, especially when you consider some of the other Judas' we've had. And, if he doesn't have a great season, we could still get a decent wedge for him.

Still think we've got one major signing to come, but not sure where.

[Timmo]

Unknown French striker.

[hauk]

Given Theo's injury record the past 2 years $140 a week does seem a lot and it's obvious his agents were pushing for more money. Letting him go to a rival (or Liverpool) only to see him stay fit and score a bunch would have been bad. If he can stay fit and reproduce his 2012-13 form he's worth the money.

[Dude Ranch]

He needs to up his game now, no excuses. Senior pro on big(!) money. Needs to bring his best game a lot more often than not.

[hercules]

Glad we have signed them up. It's good to keep the squad together.

Also seems Akpom is going to Hull on loan. Hopefully that goes better than forest last season

[gooner4life]

What Theo Walcott have you lot been watching? the one I watch has end product and makes a difference pretty much everytime he plays which sadly due to injury hasn't been that often, but with a full pre-season under his belt I expect him to be a key player again.

[The Fox]

Frustrating at times and limited against certain setups but yeah in terms of end product he's always been excellent. Good big game player, homegrown. I'm pleased we're keeping him.

[pinholestar]

I'm thrilled he's signed a new contract. I have a real soft spot for the guy & although it's very true that his threat can be blunted & nullified by a smartly set-up opposition, I've always felt that he could be a key player for us in the coming seasons. I was almost certain he was on his way out so it's reassuring to see him stay. Keep him fit & he routinely performs in the big games.

I haven't been this excited for our prospects going into a new season for a very long time. We've got a squad that's had a full pre-season, a tight-knit group of players that have developed together nicely, some genuine world-beaters in the ranks, finally a grade-A keeper & have got some long-clinging monkeys off our backs. It's time to mount a proper title challenge now & consolidate all the progress we've made in the last few years.

Chelsea are still the team to beat, that much is evident, but if anyone can & should knock them off their perch it's us. My faith in Wenger wavered considerably at times last season but the second half of it really showed what he'd been working towards & if that can be built upon then we could be in for a treat. The 9th of August can't come soon enough. (And yes, I know we'll do an Arsenal at some point....)

[gooner4life]

Walcott is a big player defensively as well, he stops the opposition full backs from getting forward because they know they cant catch him if the ball turns over and he even keeps wingers back to try and double up on him, offensively he's the biggest threat we have, European sides hate playing against him, the Barcelona players tagged him as the biggest threat to them in all our meetings, he's a big player, and one who will also bring out the best in Ozil in an Arsenal shirt.

[Gotters]

I know its not a given but I think a fit Fenton is the difference for us between a good league place and a proper title challenge - he just changes how we can play and how the opponents play against us. I don't like him through the middle but rather out wide and coming in, Giroud is smart enough positionally to compensate.

I know Fenton still has frequently lousy decision making and misses golden chances, thing is with him to banish those from memory and look at what he does well - his scoring and assist rate is pretty high, in the same games he's usually screwed up too. He makes stuff happen and I'd rather have him in the team than not.

Our midfield is looking pretty creatively stacked for the start of the season with everybody fit - the holder role is still a problem is Coq isn't there, Arteta isn't a starter anymore in that position (or any position of that matter) and Ramsey lacks the discipline to stay put for a whole game (and its not a role he should be asked to play).

[toythatkills]

Walcott did this so will always be worth £140k for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwt0cczndh8

Pretty poor goalkeeping though, sucks to be Chelsea having that guy between the sticks!

[carlito]

What Theo Walcott have you lot been watching? the one I watch has end product and makes a difference pretty much everytime he plays

It would be hard for me to disagree more with a statement than this.

[hercules]

I've always had a soft spot for Theo and have had to defend him a on numerous occasions. He's not perfect but he's very effective and as people have stated, he is a big game player for us. Like quite a few of our players it's all about keeping him fit. We have enough attacking talent to hopefully not burn out anyone.

[Gotters]

It would be hard for me to disagree more with a statement than this.

this is similar to the debate I remember from years back about David James - people just remembered the odd gaff, but discredited the saves he made that safer less gaff prone goalies would never make.

You need to look at the net contribution overall for players. Sure Walcott misses the odd chance and makes some bad calls, but he gets into so many good positions and does have end prodcut. I'd rather have a wasteful but creative player like him than a safe option like say Poldi, who had an amazing conversion rate but never could be bothered to get into the positions much to actually convert.

Would you rather have a player with a 75% conversion rate who gets into position once a game or one with a 50% rate who gets into position twice a game ?

[carlito]

Walcott isn't creative. He is a runner and, given space, he's got good end product.

If you let him play he's good if you don't he's anonymous. He doesn't make anything happen on the ball, he's never going to beat a player with guile and his contribution to build up is rarely.more than an undercooked lay off while he guns it forward.

That said with the other players in the team who can pick his runs maybe he doesn't need all that stuff to be effective but comparing his play to the dynamism of Oxlaide Chamberlain and it leaves me feeling pretty cold when it comes to paypackets.

Plus he's a cunt.

[gooner4life]

You're a cunt, and a cunt who knows fuck all about football, my least favourite of all cunts.

Congratulations Cunt.

[carlito]

Ha, you're an odd little chap aren't you sweetheart?

[gizmo1990]

Genuine question, why do you think he's a cunt? Walcott that is? Everything I've read and seen about the guy says he's a very grounded decent chap.

[carlito]

It's just contract stuff every time. Specifically post Nasri exit when he held us to ransom when the club was reeling and Wenger had to bench him for half a season.

It just doesn't have to be that way and it isn't with most of our other players.

[gooner4life]

you're a typical know nothing football fan, live off Match of the Day highlights and don't understand what you're watching.

He never held the club to ransom and was never benched for half the season due to it, why would Wenger bench Walcott for half a season and not do the same to the likes of Adebayor, Fabregas, Ashley Cole, Sagna?

You're talking utter bullshit.

As for only being good when given space, go back and look at some of his goals for us, the guys got everything in his locker to be a top striker, and will be.

This season he will join the Arsenal 100 club providing he stays free of major injuries.

[The Fox]

He is always hard work when it comes to contract renewals, more so than anyone else. That said you have to say he's done well to get a 40% increase despite not really being in the first XI. Hopefully he can stay fit and be a key player this season. He won't play every week but he's somewhat of a specialist in a squad of all rounders and that's a good asset to have.

Re: midfield, I think we might see Santi and Ramsey against weaker teams. There were a few games last season where Coquelin was a bit of a spare part when the opposition weren't really looking to attack, and obviously Wenger is an inherently attacking coach. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see it against Chelsea as a test, seeing as it's the only chance we'll get to trial its effectiveness against a top side in a game that doesn't really matter.

[gooner4life]

You're wrong about him not really being in the first XI, he didn't play much because he was out injured/rehabilitating for a Year, Wenger wouldn't stress him too much too soon after that.

Wenger starting him in the Cup final was a clear nod to the fact Wenger see's him in his first XI.

[The Fox]

I didn't comment on the reasons why he wasn't playing, I simply said I'm surprised he managed to wangle such an increase when he hadn't done much on the pitch last season and, with Alexis' arrival, his status had diminished a little.

I don't think we'll often, if ever, see him and Alexis both wide as we'd turn over possession too often, but it's good to have depth and options.

[AlwaysBeClosing]

Anyone going tomorrow? Tempted if there are any tickets fairly cheap. Likely at all?

[hercules]

Not likely ABC. I am going though

[carlito]

I mean I could try and enter into some kind of discussion with you here Gooner4Life but I feel, perhaps, the better option is to accept that you appreciate and process the various elements of the game differently to me and that's absolutely fine.

I am reminded of playing Hungry Hippos with my niece and deliberating over the various tactical options at my disposal to succeed. Do I hammer the plungers as fast as possible and play the percentage game? Do I wait for the maximum sub-hippo mouth marble coverage before striking? Do I analyse potential natural advantages between the Green Hippo and the Pink Hippo? As you can imagine there was an awful lot going on in my head pre-game. Anyway I look over to my three year old opponent to try and gauge which path she was choosing and prepare for a counter strategy and to my surprise I found her feeding pudgy handfuls of marbles directly from the Hippo Arena directly into her grinning mouth. Initially I was appalled at her lack of respect for the sanctity of the time honoured Hungry Hippos code of conduct but then I came to the realisation it's just a different way of enjoying the same game and let go of her throat. Her way was not better, nor worse, just different from mine.

And I think that's the situation here so rather than try and hook those marbles out of your drooling maw, I really should just let you get on with it and choke them down as you wait for the next most tactically opportune moment to shit yourself.

Night pet.

[gooner4life]

I don't even have to check what soppy pricks have pos'd that, but read it back to yourself, then have a good look in the mirror and come to terms with why you have no friends and got bullied in school "Pet"