Arsenal

[Art Vandelay]

I think if you consider that Gilberto, Lehman, Hleb and Flamini are basically nailed on to leave the club over the summer, the chances that anyone else will go too are pretty slim. I'd wager we'll be seeing Eboue, Senderos, Bendtner etc. in some capacity next year.

The problem we have, and seemingly always will do, is that buying some big names will inevitably limit our younger players chances in the first team which is something that Wenger won't be prepared to do. So when Flamini buggers off to Italy we'll have a gaping hole in the centre that needs filling; the obvious answer would be to splash some cash, but where does that leave Diaby or Denilson? They'll not be in any hurry to hang around for another year or so if we get someone to go straight in. The same goes for a centre back - Song and Djourou have deputised really well, so will Wenger think it's fair on them if we get someone else? We've got loan players coming back who'll want a go too.

I'm a massive admirer of the system we have in place, but also the flaws in it are as clear the nose on my face. What's the point in developing a team who all grow up together if they fuck off the second something more immediate comes along? Unless we compliment what we have with some big names and are ruthless with what we have, I'm afraid to say we'll be forever the runners up. It's not a new observation, but after watching Bendtner lumber about all afternoon with quite possibly the worst touch I've ever seen from a professional footballer, and Eboue haplessly give the ball away every time he got it, it bares repeating.

[Mars]

And he's gone...

[Rogue Soul]

Gutted.

Diaby *might* be able to fill his role... but I dunno. I suppose it's wishful thinking to hope for a big, high profile signing as a replacement.

[KRP]

Sad to see the man go, but I don't hold it against him at all, he always looked like he gave 100% in every game, can't ask for more than that.

[SomeNaiveChump]

Diaby is an attacking player, he can't defend for shit.

You're going to need a world-class replacement for losing such a great holding mid or you'll be in trouble.

[DC]

Rumours of Gattuso according to an Arsenal supporting friend. I'd be happy with that if I was a fan (and it happened obviously).

[Hass]

BBC have just confirmed Flamini leaving. If only we could hold onto our experienced players then we might win something

[Peter Hitchens]

BBC have just confirmed Flamini leaving. If only we could hold onto our experienced players then we might win something

The strange thing is, quite a few Arsenal fans/blogs seem to be saying "fair play to him, understandable decision"... I don't understand this. I think he's a complete dick to make that decision... yes Milan are a big club but it's pretty clear that it's all about the money. I hope they fail to qualify for the Champions League and he gets stuck in the reserves.

Having said that, was was Arsene thinking?! In Diarra we had a quality player who could have been a direct replacement for Flamini, and we let him go without ensuring that Flamini was staying first... just ridiculous.

[Mars]

Definitely, a bit of a balls up with that decision - we could have just loaned him!

[Guest]

I don't think Wenger sees Flamini as a long-term prospect. A few years back he was moaning cos he wasn't in the team and almost left then. I believe if Wenger had other options in midfield he'd not have been playing Flamini this season at all.

I don't overly rate him - letting him go now is probably a good thing IMO. You need a really strong CM. Since Viera has left you've had no one to dominate midfield. What have you won since he's gone...

[phresh]

I don't think the modern game requires the slightly old school kind of dominating midfielder. United have done alright the past 2 seasons without one!

If Hleb goes and Rosicky can't stay fit it does mean that Arsenal are going to have to bring in pretty much 3 first-team midfielders to fill the gaps. Eboue will surely go (or at least be relegated to the bench) and Walcott probably needs another season before he can play an influential 90 minutes week-in-week-out.

Will be very interesting to see who Arsene brings in during the summer. Any chance Kolo could have a word with his brother? I reckon he'd be perfect in your team, but probably too expensive.

[Peter Hitchens]

I don't think Wenger sees Flamini as a long-term prospect. A few years back he was moaning cos he wasn't in the team and almost left then. I believe if Wenger had other options in midfield he'd not have been playing Flamini this season at all.

Well, I would have totally understood and respected his decision if he had left last summer. But I think you can't underestimate how impressive he's been this season. I'm sure at the start of the season Wenger intended Gilberto to be first choice again with Diarra waiting to come in; but Flamini made himself undroppable.

I don't overly rate him - letting him go now is probably a good thing IMO. You need a really strong CM. Since Viera has left you've had no one to dominate midfield. What have you won since he's gone...

Well, I think Flamini has been the closest we've had since then. Him and Fabregas have formed a great partnership, and our midfield as a unit has been superb (especially when Hleb and Rosicky were fit), dominating most teams.

[Shoes]

Will be very interesting to see who Arsene brings in during the summer. Any chance Kolo could have a word with his brother? I reckon he'd be perfect in your team, but probably too expensive.

I was watching him against Man Utd, and despite not having an amazing game, I thought the same thing.

[Steve007]

But I think you can't underestimate how impressive he's been this season.

Like Edu, he put a good shift in for the last 12 months to earn a move elsewhere as he knew he could negotiate a lucrative free transfer. He was offered good money to stay, but Milan are going to be paying him £3.7m a year which is quite frankly astonishing. We offered him £50k a week

[Lucky]

Gutted that Flamini has gone, and even more gutted than I was at the time that we let Diarra go. A bit confusing that one. Then again, he was at Chelsea and they let him go, he was with us and we let him go, so maybe he's just too moany and too much of a disruption.

I thought we needed a CM when Flamini was still there, I reckon we need 2 now. We need a wide man as well so if Hleb goes make that 2 wide men too.

Gilberto is past it, soin the middle that leaves Cesc, Diaby and Denilson and maybe Song unless Wenger has him marked down as a CB. Two top drawer CM needed for sure.

As for the wide men, Eboue isn't good enough, Rosicky can't be relied upon to be fit all season, Walcott has looked good lately but maybe isn't quite ready to play every game and make an impact week in week out just yet. Anyway surely his future is through the middle.

We need a big fuck off type CB too, a top keeper and a striker.

It's a shame about the Striker really 'cos the type I think we need is the type we already have - Eduardo. But, he'll miss half of next season and how long will he need to get back to where he was before his injury if at all?

RVP should be a key player for us but as he's made of glass how much can we rely on him?

Apart from all that, everything's great and I can't wait for next season as I'm sure we'll win the league and the CL.

On top of that we need a new MD, normally I don't give a shit about boardroom stuff but it seems from stuff in the press and internet that it's very very important that the right person is brought in there too.

[Steve007]

Gutted that Flamini has gone, and even more gutted than I was at the time that we let Diarra go. A bit confusing that one. Then again, he was at Chelsea and they let him go, he was with us and we let him go, so maybe he's just too moany and too much of a disruption.

I thought we needed a CM when Flamini was still there, I reckon we need 2 now. We need a wide man as well so if Hleb goes make that 2 wide men too.

Gilberto is past it, soin the middle that leaves Cesc, Diaby and Denilson and maybe Song unless Wenger has him marked down as a CB. Two top drawer CM needed for sure.

As for the wide men, Eboue isn't good enough, Rosicky can't be relied upon to be fit all season, Walcott has looked good lately but maybe isn't quite ready to play every game and make an impact week in week out just yet. Anyway surely his future is through the middle.

We need a big fuck off type CB too, a top keeper and a striker.

It's a shame about the Striker really 'cos the type I think we need is the type we already have - Eduardo. But, he'll miss half of next season and how long will he need to get back to where he was before his injury if at all?

RVP should be a key player for us but as he's made of glass how much can we rely on him?

Our transfer budget isn't anywhere near what people think it is. I think Wenger will make 3 first team signings, all low-key bargain basement buys

We need a good goalie, we've just let our best one leave so I really hope Wenger brings someone in during the summer! I'd quite like to see Sebastian Frey from Fiorentina although he will be far from cheap.

Rosicky & RVP can never play a a couple of games in a row before getting injured. And who knows what state they will come back from the European Championships in? Eboue has had a shocking season although I'd still like to retain him as he's a good squad player. Denilson isn't 1/10th the players Cesc and Flamini are, so I can never see him cementing a place in the side.

This summer will tell us all about Arsenal's ambition. If the signings come, then the club are aiming to compete. If we have another summer of low-profile signings then it's clear that we are just hoping to scrape 4th. Our squad gets thinner season after season and there's been no serious investment in the squad for 5/6 years. It concerns me.

[Lucky]

I'm sure at the start of this season most of us would have taken just qualifying for the CL, but next season that will not be good enough. This season has been so dissapointing because at one stage we looked like we could really win something big, the league or even the CL.

I know maybe the money isn't there, (even though all we seem to be reading is how much money we are earning from the new stadium and on top of that our wage bill can't be that big) but we need some UTD type signings.

I was talking with Daley recently and he made a good point how they go out and just buy the best.

Hargreaves was the best English player not playing in England, Teves was probably the best player in the world who was available, Anderson and Nani were probably the best players in Portugal, Vidic was the best CB in Eastern Europe so they bought them all. Going a little further back, Ronaldo was the best youngster in Portugal, Carrick was probably the best English player not playing for one of the big 4, Rooney was the best yougster around, Ferdinand was the best CB around...............I hate UTD.

I've probably still even left a few out but I'm busy this morning, I've just got to go and look for a rope for something.

Sorry for depressing everyone.

[Daley]

I can just see that this summer is going to be the same shit as every other summer as an Arsenal fan.

Flamini has gone.

Hleb will go after a bit of moaning from us about illegal approaches.

Then the inevitable Cesc rumours will start.

And we will buy a player or two to replace those who have left and add nothing to the squad.

EDIT: From Arseblog.

3 league goal return we got from Hleb this season, and his even more pathetic 11 goals in 3 years at the club.

That is fucking disgraceful for a player who seems to have so much ability and plays in a team as attacking as Arsenal. I was coming round to Hleb but if we can get our money back I would bite their hand off. Unfortunately it seems (from the same article):

he’s going to invoke the Webster clause to buy out his contract

so we will get about two years wages for him.

[redbloodcell]

Surely you lot have got quite a bit of money kicking around by now? I mean sure Emirates cost a lot, but if we can come up with about £30mil a season and still remain a profitable club with a venue that holds just over half the capacity then your board should be freeing up at least a decent amount for Wenger to spend.

[Peter Hitchens]

While I agree the stats suggest Hleb is a waste of space... I think you really can't argue with what you see from him on the pitch. He's been brilliant this season. I know you can't argue with stats, but I am, because every time he's not been available we've looked a worse team and I worry that we won't create anything... you only have to look at the Liverpool and Utd matches recently for examples of games where he's been excellent. To make a comparison - Walcott may have scored more (and maybe made more assists, i dunno?) but he's been nowhere near as important for us.

Obviously I'm not saying Hleb's perfect... it IS a very poor goal tally for an attacking player, and I'd be quite happy to see a quality player brought in to compete for his position, but I think we should be doing everything we can to hang onto him. Bear in mind that we're only seeing the best of Hleb after two seasons to settle in - if he leaves Wenger will most probably just buy another similar player who will also take time to settle in.

As for how much money we have to spend... I just don't have a clue really, there always seem to be conflicting rumours. Sometimes there are reports that Wenger chooses not to spend and has plenty of money, but then he points out that the stadium may be built but we still have debts to pay off. We must have a decent amount of money, but maybe still not enough to spend the way Utd and Chelsea do.

[BlinkyBear]

To make a comparison - Walcott may have scored more (and maybe made more assists, i dunno?) but he's been nowhere near as important for us.

Using that justification, how can you say that Hleb is more important? Scores less, sets up less-what's the case for keeping him on a stupid wage then?

I agree that at times this year, his been superb, but the stats speak for themself-when it matters most, he doesn't contribute enough. Simple as for me.

As for Flam, if he wants to go and earn silly money on a bench in Italy, then fuck-you-later Flamster. I'd have been delighted if he'd stayed, but we'll find someone better and his career will probably turn to shit, it usually does for people who leave us too early in their careers.

All we need this summer is 'In Wenger We Trust'. Not that I think we'll need to seek positive reinforcement

[Art Vandelay]

The stats may suggest that Hleb isn't that important, but he's often the key to unlocking teams that sit 10 men behind the ball - which is basically everyone - even if he doesn't get the final assist or whatever. We're a much poorer team when he's not there anyway.

When I read that Krancjer is being linked for £15m, you have to laugh. When was the last time we spent that sort of money? Have we ever spent that kind of money? Debatable. Villa is going for £25m, Barry £15m, we can't afford Gattuso's wages, the list goes on. This summer will be bollocks.

[Benji]

Only time will tell for us, it doesn't look good though

[Steve007]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/ma....internazionale

"Hleb will jump ship to sign for Inter, says agent"

Arsène Wenger's desire to keep his Arsenal squad together encountered another setback yesterday when the agent of Alexander Hleb, the midfielder who has been courted by Internazionale, went public with the Belarusian's desire to leave at the end of the season.

Wenger has been enraged by what he sees as the tapping-up of Hleb by the Italian club and has threatened to report them to Fifa. But according to Hleb's agent, Nikolai Shpilevski, there is nothing the manager can do to prevent the player from moving on. "Alexander is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life," Shpilevski told the Belarus paper Pressball. "He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions. Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there's no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks."

Hleb joined Arsenal from Stuttgart in July 2005 for £11.2m and showed only flickers of talent in his first two seasons, but this time out the 27-year-old has been one of the team's best performers. However, he met up with Claudio Vigorelli, the agent who brokers deals for Inter, in Milan on March 3, the night before Arsenal played Milan in the Champions League. When the meeting was exposed, Vigorelli's associate, Vincenzo Morabito, a leading agent who is well known to Premier League clubs, claimed that the pair had merely gone for an ice-cream. Morabito added: "We are sorry that Mr Wenger took it badly and complained because we have a good relationship with him."

Inter are prepared to offer Hleb a huge increase on his Arsenal salary, leaving Wenger, who only on Wednesday was clinging to the hope that the Belarusian could be talked round, to wring his hands.

Wenger has already seen Mathieu Flamini, the midfielder, join Milan on a Bosman transfer, having refused to sign a new contract at Arsenal, and there are doubts about Gilberto Silva's future. The Brazilian is under contract until 2009 but he does not want to be a fringe player next season as he has this time. Wenger will have talks with him after Arsenal's final match, at Sunderland on Sunday. The goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will also move because his contract, which expires at the end of the season, has not been renewed.

Wenger, though, did receive one piece of good news yesterday when it emerged that Nicklas Bendtner had ignored overtures from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen to declare his continuing faith in Arsenal.

Bayern indicated via an intermediary that they were prepared to pay €10m for the striker and the other two Bundesliga clubs also made their interest known. "I have heard about these offers from Germany but Nicklas will stay at Arsenal," said Thomas Bendtner, his father. "The only way things could be different was if something unexpected should happen, such as him being moved totally outside of the team, but it's difficult to see that happening as he is playing right now."

Bendtner, 20, has made 39 appearances this season, 16 as a starter, and has scored nine goals. "I've always said that Arsenal is my club and that's where I want to play my football," he said. "When you look at my season and the way it has developed, I see no reason why I should want to change Arsenal with any other club."

The season, though, has again ended without a trophy and Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper who is chasing a double, believes that Arsenal's attractive football alone will not cause them to be remembered. "You need to get the trophies because in the end, if you take the last three years of Arsenal, I don't think in 10 years people will remember that between 2004 and 2008 they played brilliant football," he said. "No one will remember because they finished fourth and third. History recognises the winners."

[Daley]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/ma....internazionale

"Hleb will jump ship to sign for Inter, says agent"

Once again I think Arseblog says it best:

it’s a shoddy way for Hleb to treat the manager who showed more faith in him than others might have done.

and

for all his skill and ability on the ball we’re not losing a great deal of end product. Hleb always seemed to be the square peg trying to fit into the round hole - not a winger, he preferred to play behind the striker but wasn’t even close to being good enough to fulfill the ‘number 10′ role.

If we can get our money back or a bit more then take it. Easily replaceable.

[dogsout]

If we can get our money back or a bit more then take it. Easily replaceable.

Will you, though? Is he not able to invoke this Webster clause? I know the big clubs have apparently got an unspoken agreement not to sign players in this manner but if they're not averse to tapping him up then it must be considered a possibility that they'd contemplate shitting on you twice.

[Silent Runner]

If we can get our money back or a bit more then take it. Easily replaceable.

But we won’t get our money back all we’ll get is 2 years wages. So a couple of million at best. So fuck him.

Also:

Wenger, though, did receive one piece of good news yesterday when it emerged that Nicklas Bendtner had ignored overtures from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen to declare his continuing faith in Arsenal.

Bayern indicated via an intermediary that they were prepared to pay €10m for the striker and the other two Bundesliga clubs also made their interest known

€10 mil. Christ alive we should have snapped that up. What next ‘Arsenal knock back €50 million offer for Eboue’.

[Steve007]

Once again I think Arseblog says it best:

and

If we can get our money back or a bit more then take it. Easily replaceable.

If all he is interested in is money, then he can fuck off. But it's a real shame as he's been terrific this season. He does so much more than score goals. When he hit form earlier this season, he was like Bergkamp (playing behind the forward, supplying & creating) - he was fantastic.

Rumour has it that Adebayor wants a massive increase to stay at the club. I'm sure his agent will have been more than happy to talk to various clubs who will have noticed his impressive goal scoring ability this season, and will try to hold the club to ransom.

I have been delighted at the season we have had, but now I'm back to feeling how I did last summer. Depressing...

[SeanR]

isn't the webster ruling free money for the club.

or are wages paid up front now, and all the player is doing, in paying off the last two years of a contract, is giving the money back?

doesn't make sense

[Sinister]

Daily mail (i didnt buy it) says that Adebayor is unhappy and wants 80,000 a week .

Ade-buy-more (sorry)

Iam not amused about these goings on