Arsenal

[toythatkills]

From the BBC:

Toure played for Arsenal on Monday night in a pre-season friendly in Hungary, but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: "We will see what's happening in the next 24 hours, nothing is decided yet.

"We have seven centre-backs and I am in the position where I have to play some in midfield but of course Kolo is a very good player and we will see what will happen in the next 24 hours."

1) do we?

2) doesn't sound like Wenger's interested in replacing Toure with another CB.

[Rev]

Senderos, Silvestre, Gallas, Vermalean, Djourou, Song

Is all I can do but if he is counting Toure, which the wording suggests, that is it.

[mop]

Gallas, Djourou, Senderos, Vermaelen, Silvestre and Song.

That makes 6.

I guess he was including Toure when he siad 7, because, you know, that would make so much sense.

Edit: Damn my slow typing

[Rev]

Win.

[Art Vandelay]

We had an utterly piss poor squad of players last year that failed to seriously challenge for anything, which is now weaker. They'll be no chance we'll be in the running for anything. If you think Wenger will go out and buy any of these players you're talking about for this money you're talking about, you've taken leave of your senses.

[vincenzo]

On the plus side, the Emirates will be hosting rugby

[Lucas]

If Toure does go for 15mill or so, we should still get rid of Sendreos and Silvestre too by the way, it wouldn't be so bad as long as we bought a god CB, someone like Hangeland, bought a top DMF, don't quite know who, and bought a striker, Huntelar maybe.

If we had about 5mill left to spend after buying Vermalean, plus 25mill we got for that muppet, plus 15mill for Toure and about 6 or 7 mill at least for Senderos, oh and about £20 for Silvestre, that makes about £50million.

17mill for Huntelar, 10-15mill for Hangeland and that still leaves about 20mill to spend on a top DCM. If Wenger does something like this then I'd say this was all good business.

We'd have Gallas, Vermalean, Hangeland, Djourou and even Song at CB, not bad at all.

LOLOLOL!

Are you typing out some sort of dream you had where Wenger spent some money?

[Lucky]

LOLOLOL!

Are you typing out some sort of dream you had where Wenger spent some money?

I suppose so, but it sounds pretty good though hey?

[FATEone]

I can't understand why you all want rid of Sylvestre so much!!?? It's not like you'll get money for him, and in terms of experience and versatility he's a valuable member of any squad!?

[SeanR]

Is Huntelaar the 'fox in the box' Thierry always wanted? He's the perfect fit for Arsenal I think. RVP, Eduardo, Hunter & Bendtner as the physical guy to chuck on. Has Wenger given up playing Theo as a striker?

I don't see Arsenal as that much weaker if you lose Toure.

very much so.

he's between the sticks next season...

[Art Vandelay]

I can't understand why you all want rid of Sylvestre so much!!?? It's not like you'll get money for him, and in terms of experience and versatility he's a valuable member of any squad!?

He is amongst Wenger's worse signings. What's worst of all is apart from being completely clapped out and shit, he signalled that what was no longer good enough for our rivals was quite alright for us thanks. We called him up when he was having talks with Man City and Sunderland. If that wasn't a red flag I don't know what is.

[Steve007]

On the plus side, the Emirates will be hosting rugby

FFS. The club has always prided itself on the state of the playing surface. We've had concerts on the pitch & now Rugby?! Are we really that hard up????

[Steve007]

I can't understand why you all want rid of Sylvestre so much!!?? It's not like you'll get money for him, and in terms of experience and versatility he's a valuable member of any squad!?

My gran is better than Silvestre and she's 83 & has Parkinson's.

[Lucky]

It's official

Oh, and Cesc has scored in our friendly

[FATEone]

My gran is better than Silvestre and she's 83 & has Parkinson's.

But for the pitance you paid for him, how can it be a bad signing!? He is there as cover at centre or left back, and has a vast amount of experience of what it takes to win trophies and defend against the best attackers in the world, something all the 10 year olds at Arsenal could benefit a lot from.

[Art Vandelay]

He was never that good at Utd and has stayed at this level for as long as he has because of his versatility. He's geriatric and was shown up numerous times last year. Whatever we paid for him was too much.

[phresh]

He was actually pretty good at United for a while and was always a decent player to have for covering along the back 4. It's Wenger who should take the slating for thinking he was still good enough.

[redbloodcell]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Toure was the last player you had left who had actually played in a season where you won the league wasn't he?

[phresh]

Clichy won a title too I think.

[redbloodcell]

So he did, played 12 games in the 03-04 season according to Wiki.

[The Grand Pursuivant]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Toure was the last player you had left who had actually played in a season where you won the league wasn't he?

No, but he was our longest serving player, by quite a hefty way if I remember correctly.

I think it moves to Van Persie now. Or possibly Almunia.

God, that's depressing.

[redbloodcell]

Accoding to Wiki Clichy and Fabregas have been there longest - both since 2003 (although Fabregas played no league games in 2003-2004)

Not as bad, surely. I mean, at least one of them is your captain...

[The Grand Pursuivant]

Accoding to Wiki Clichy and Fabregas have been there longest - both since 2003 (although Fabregas played no league games in 2003-2004)

Not as bad, surely. I mean, at least one of them is your captain...

It is, but not much.

I should stop being so pessimistic though. Wenger has 40mil to spend now. Surely he can't go the whole summer without signing another player.

[Lost and Found]

How can you say you're pessimistic with such an audacious statement following soon afterwards? Of course Arsene could go the rest of summer without plunging his hand in his pocket. It's what we do best as a club: frustrating our fans to the point of distraction before throwing them a tiny morsel of hope in the shape of a Middle Europe dreamboat. And then we settle for fourth.

Kolo for £15mil though? It's not a Gareth Barry bargain, but I am looking forward to Man City's B team now.

[Hass]

So, rumours abound that Vieira's coming back then? We could definitely use his experience but I'm not sure what he's capable of these days.

Could definitely do a job coming on when we're a goal up to steady the boat.

[The Fox]

Juve are virtually trying to give Christian Poulsen away at the moment. Surely he could do a good job for l'Arse? He's a right nasty fucker but he can also pass well, and Arsenal need to get some of that red-card-every-week steel back!

I don't really think you need another striker. Just a steely midfield enforcer and a tall centre back, then offload Eboue for a bit of money and you're sorted.

[redbloodcell]

So, rumours abound that Vieira's coming back then? We could definitely use his experience but I'm not sure what he's capable of these days.

Could definitely do a job coming on when we're a goal up to steady the boat.

He's not capable of anything, he has been shit for 4 years. I've been tearing my hair out about Harry trying to sign him, not because he's ex-Arsenal but because he's so over the hill he's effectively in Holland.

[tyler]

Wenger Says Arsenal are Strong Enough

Arsène Wenger claims his Arsenal squad are "strong enough" without any more new signings but he insists there is cash available for transfers. Arsenal, who are reportedly preparing a pay-as-you-play offer for their former captain Patrick Vieira, are £30m up on their transfer deals so far this summer, having made just one signing, the defender Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax, and sold both Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City.

"I feel we are strong enough but if we can add then we will do it," said Wenger on Arsenal's official website. "In England people think that all the problems can be sorted out by buying players. I believe the biggest target is to work hard in training, improve what we can improve and have confidence in the players that we have.

"If we need to add then we will. We have money available so for us it is now [important] to spend it in the right way when we do it or if we do it."

SSN were saying Rosicky was injured aswell. Would one defensive midfielder be enough to complete your squad?

[Lucky]

Not sure about this Vieira stuff, he's a legend and all but he is definitely way past his best and not by any stretch the answer to our DCM problem.

I hope Wenger's just talking bollocks about not needing any new signings, I mean he said recently he just wants to keep the current squad together then sells Ade and Toure, neither one bad business by the way, so he might just be saying stuff rather than coming out and being honest and saying "now we've got some money I'm in the market for a defender, midfielder and forward etc.." and inflating prices. (I hope this is the case anyway)

[Art Vandelay]

You could say that selling Adebyaor to City to add to their pile of strikers probably won't strengthen them too much, but their defence is shaky as. Giving probably our nearest rivals for 4th our most seasoned centre back borders on negligence. If you look at Everton, yes £18m is outrageous money for Lescott, but what do they do if they sell him? I find it unlikely they'll be able to get someone to fit in and perform as well across the back 4 as him. You can stare at all that money in the bank like Scrooge McDuck all day, but what have you actually achieved?

Wheeling and dealing to keep us afloat is all very clever, I'm sure, but getting rid of players who are going to aid others whilst weakening us is madness. You can say these players were unhappy. Would they be quite so unhappy had we won something or looked like we were on the cusp of doing so? Probably not. It's absolute hogwash that frustration leads to desire for success. It leads to frustrating performances and players becoming disenchanted. We can all repeat the tired rhetoric about what a super bunch of lads we have and they're all still young and honest and young and still learning. The cold hard facts are we have achieved nothing in 4 years and made no progress. If I were Wenger I'd blow every last penny and make this season a decent one. As much as I adore and respect him, a repeat of last year will unsure this is his last hurrah.