Official Arsenal FC Thread

[BC_]

Arsenal 2010-11 with Song starting: 23-6-6
Arsenal 2010-11 w/o Song starting: 4-4-5

There's only one Arsene Wenger.

[J.Kim]

Can Arsenal hire the entirety of the Phoenix Suns' training staff? They seem to have done wonders for Steve Nash and Grant Hill... so maybe they can fix Arsenal's many injury woes year in and year out.

[IronChef]

I can never understand media spin. Reading articles today about how Man U showed the heart of Champions and that's why the win and will win. Yeah, they played great at the end. But, they wouldn't have had a chance if the ref had done is job.

[IronChef]

I don’t know. I want to finish the season and then we’ll see. At the moment, we are more concerned by the short term. I don’t think it’s time to talk about the decisions I will have to make about players. It’s not the moment.

Wenger, when asked if his current squad has gone as far as they can.

At least he seems to realize that some of the squad haven't fulfilled their potential, or regressed to the point that they need to be moved out. Hopefully we'll see a change of 3-4 players this summer.

[IronChef]

Any thoughts on moves for the squad?

My best case scenario is:

Out: Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Almunia, Bentdner, Clichy, maybe Arshavin

In: Eden Hazard
Sime Vrsaljko- Back-up and future RB
Aly Cissohko or Taiwo- Compete with Gibbs for LB
Moussa Sissoko, Yann M'Villa- A quality, strong, defensive mid to provide cover for Song, or extra muscle when needed
CB- Gary Cahill, Brede Hangeland
CF- Someone with pace, and finishing ability- Lissandro Lopez, Kevin Gameiro, someone other than Van Persie who can finish

[jerrod]

i'm on board wit your out list although i'd be fine with clichy sticking around. arshavin is still one of the better finishers on the team though, so to give him up without a guaranteed replacement is a little scary.

i started reading soccernomics last night and one of their big keys to transfer success is to already have a player's replacement before you sell them to avoid any kind of panic induced purchasing

[IronChef]

Clichy walked out on contract extension talks last week, and has been linked with a move away for a while. With only one year left on his current deal, I expect him to be sold this summer, so we don't lose him for nothing the year after.

Arshavin looks sharply on the downturn of his career. He could still be a useful player for one more year, but his value will continue to drop. With only one year left n his deal, and Wengers policy of only giving one year extensions to those 30 or older, which Arshavin will be., this summer will probably be the chance for best value in return.

However, we do need more creativity on the wing, and if we don't sign a ready to go winger this year, we can't really sell Arshavin. I'm personally very tired of seeing Bendtner or Chamakh on the wing, so we need to bring in someone now, especially if they're at all serious about putting Walcott upfront at times.

My hope is for Eden Hazard, but, I think we might have waited a year too long for him. Unless Wenger has a serious transfer kitty this year, Hazard has probably garnered to much interest from other top clubs now, and we can't win a bidding match with any of Chelsea, Barca, Real, or either of the teams from Manchester.

[BC_]

Desired:

Out:
Almunia
Squillaci
Denilson
Arshavin
Lehmann

In:
backup hard-man DM (most important) (cannot be from reserves)
backup LB
backup RB
backup CB
backup LWF
latter four could be from youth reserves if good enough.

Expected:

Out:
Almunia
Denilson
Arshavin
Lehmann

In:
Bartley
Coquelin
JET

If Clichy goes I want a starting LB that will definitely be as good as Clichy and probably be better.

[IronChef]

I expect Frimpong, Lansbury, and Bartley to move into the first team next year. Coquelin might as well. JET is a possibility, his pace, power, and finishing are inspiring, but it'll depend on what happens with Vela and Bendtner.

[BC_]

Sagna in doubt

Potential back 5:

Almunia
Eboue-Kos-Squid-Clichy

[IronChef]

Word on the street is Stan Kroenke has purchased Danny Fizsmans remaining shares, and Nina Bracewell-Smith's and well be taking over the club. Will be announced tomorrow morning apparently. Big news.

[jerrod]

whoa

so do you think that's a good thing or a bad thing? or an inconsequential thing i guess?

[IronChef]

It's hard to say. In theory I prefer the club being owned by the board as opposed to one man. Especially an American, given how clubs like Liverpool and United were saddled by debt by their American owners.

Stan Kroenke is a fair bit different though. He is extremely wealthy, both he and his wife are independently on world's richest people list, with each having a worth of around $3 billion, so he wouldn't be saddling the club with any debt, especially if the rumours are true and he's selling the St. Louis Rams for $900 million. There also are indication he would be wanting to invest more money into the club, which is always good.

I am hoping that if this is true it will lead to some changes in the Arsenal boardroom, namely Peter Hill-Wood and Danny Fizsman out as chairman and director. If you remember the person who brought Stan Kroenke into the club as a minority shareholder was David Dein in hopes of the American investing more money into the club so they could compete with the Barcelonas and Real Madrids. Dein was unfairly ousted from the board by Fizsman and H-W for bringing Kroenke in, even though they're both on good terms with Kroenke now.

I would like it if in someway led to David Dein coming back as director of the club. His loyalty, knowledge, and ambition is something that has been lacking in the boardroom since he left.

[IronChef]

It seems it also gives Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal's second leading shareholder, a chance to bid more than Kroenke for the remaining shares, and takeover. Usmanov has recently taken over as the richest man in Russia (Abramovich is 3rd) with a personal wealth of $20 billion.

[Slava]

Doesn't Korenke also own the Denver Nuggets? That's quite a portfolio.

[IronChef]

He owns the Nuggets, Rams, and Colorado Rapids of MLS. He loves the sports teams apparently. As fars owners go, doesn't seem half bad. Certainly better him than Usmanov.

[jerrod]

cool,

yeah,those seem to be fairly well run teams so this sounds good to me

[Slava]

Rams have been a colossal failure with multiple relocations and just suddenly lucked into a good #1 pick in Sam Bradford. I know the Rapids are good and Denver were nothing to observe before Melo. They are all debt free though and no big strain on the ticket buying public.

People in St Louis don't identify with the Rams because they rarely ever get involved with the community and act like they are just nomads who planted a tent in the area for now.

[IronChef]

I think that's why he is selling the Rams, he only purchased them when they moved to St. Louis in 1995, and I think he realized it's not a sustainable brand. The thing I like his group is he's never gone into debt to buy a club, or put debt on the club, which is great.

I think I'd still prefer the board owning the club, or the Arsenal Supporters Trust taking over full control, but it seems Kroenke is willing to give the AST a voice on the board, which is great. I'm really hoping it brings David Dein back into the picture, but there are no signs as of yet that it will.

[BC_]

Certainly better him than Usmanov.