Official Arsenal FC Thread

[jerrod]

awesome game. admittedly, i had become resigned to a draw

[Ong_dynasty]

3 of the last 4 PL games we won with Injury time winners.
That is the type of mentality you want

[Midway Bully]

3 of the last 4 PL games we won with Injury time winners.
That is the type of mentality you want

Gunners definitely made it harder than it had to be. I know Newcastle was playing some great defense, but we wasted a couple of golden chances. Still, a win is a win. Hopefully they get it done against Everton and Aston Villa, 2 games in 4 days. Hope Stoke can at least draw with Spurs.

[Martha39]

I wouldn't mind a Turan signing as Arshavin seems to want Spain but that would be some catch for Wenger.

[kdawg32086]

It seems like every day, there are more and more papers reporting that Jan Vertonghen really really really wants to play for Arsenal. Wenger better find a way to get it done because that would be HUGE for improving our team and adding versatility. Would give us 4 very good center backs, with TV, Kos, and Vertonghen being able to play other positions as well.

[Ong_dynasty]

Wow who would have thought of this a few months ago.

A few things.
I am in a situation where we probably need to /3 first team players max (a few youngsters ofcourse) to contend (yes for the title) next year.
I would be happy with a Podolski and Vergtoghen (for versatiluty), but if a special talent like Goetze or Hazard or M'villa does become availabe, i do not think we will decline that.
One person I can see us taking on loan is Gourcuff, type of player I can see wenger make good again for cheap. (that is just a hunch).

Btw, I really do believe for next year there is a massive importance for us to finish 3rd rather than 4th. The reason being is Wenger is very cautious and if we finish 3rd I think he will make buys early, but if we finish 4th I think he will wait till we are guaranteed of qualification.

Anyways, it looks like St. Totteridge day will come around this year:)

[kdawg32086]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVOlyGvZVC8[/youtube]

[kdawg32086]

I'm sure everyone has already heard about Adrian Clarke's article about how Arsene Wenger needs to begin a culling process to get us back into title form. I completely agree that a house cleaning is much overdue and here is my take on it.

Players Highly Likely to Leave:
Manuel Almunia: This one is obvious. Almunia is awful... Szczesny will soon be wearing the #1 shirt.

Lukasz Fabianski or Vito Mannone: One of these two will be gone and the other will be the #2. Fabianski probably has a higher salary and would net more in transfer value so I think he's the more likely to be sent out.

Sebastien Squillaci: He used to be a good player but he's been horrible since he became a Gunner. I'm not sure what happened there but he'll probably end up in Ligue 1...or Ligue 2.

Denilson: Nobody would take him on a transfer so he was loaned out. Most overrated Brazilian in history. I still don't know how he ended up on our squad in the first place. If Charles Barkley watched soccer, he would say "that's Terrible" anytime Denilson touched the ball.

Andrei Arshavin: He doesn't have a place in the squad anymore but could net 10-15 million as an outgoing transfer. I don't think the EPL is very conducive to his strengths but he's obviously still good enough to have value in the Russian league.

Park Chu-Young: He was beyond bad so he's never going to play for us again. Someone in the French league will probably take him.

Carlos Vela: Hasn't lived up to the hype. Probably better suited in La Liga, back in Mexico, or in MLS.

Nicklas Bendtner: Probably has some outgoing transfer value. A lot of teams like him and he could command up to 10mil as a best case scenario. A team missing out on Olivier Giroud might opt for Bendtner.

Marouane Chamakh: One of the most lethal aerial scorers in the world. Unfortunately it just hasn't translated into goals for us. I was really excited when we got him but he might be better off resurrecting his career in France.


Players who Deserve to be Dumped but Might not:
Johan Djourou: He's the weak link on the back line. With all the talk of Vertonghen coming in, he will be the odd man out. I'm not even sure I would take him over Bartley next season.

Aaron Ramsey: I don't know why people are so high on him. He's been nothing but disappointing on the field.

Other Players Who Could be Leaving:
Abou Diaby: World class player when healthy. Unfortunately, he's ALWAYS injured. We'll see what AW does with him but I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Henri Lansbury: Talented young player but really doesn't have a place in the first team. Will likely have the same fate as players like JET and Justin Hoyte before him.

Craig Eastmond: Eastmond has no chance of ever playing as a defensive midfielder in the first team. If he can play right back exclusively, he's a better backup for Sagna than Jenkinson is. I'm hoping we keep him and loan out Jenkinson.

[Mr Grant Hill]

Confirmed by Cologne: Podolski will be a gunner next season
http://www.fc-koeln.de/news/

[jerrod]

cool

move on to the next target

[kdawg32086]

YESSSSSSSS! Now to re-sign Walcott and bring in Vertonghen and M'Vila.

My predictions are that we sign Podolski, Vertonghen, and Gourcuff but we lose Walcott and M'Vila goes to La Liga.

[Brt19]

YESSSSSSSS! Now to re-sign Walcott and bring in Vertonghen and M'Vila.

My predictions are that we sign Podolski, Vertonghen, and Gourcuff but we lose Walcott and M'Vila goes to La Liga.

Nice. I'd be extremely happy with that squad. Of course with Walcott or van Persie.

[kdawg32086]

I know Wenger said he needs to sell players before he can buy any more and he wasn't kidding. Counting Podolski and the guys returning from loan, we've got 36 players on the squad, including the guys like Jenkinson(Next February), Coquelin(Today), Frimpong(Next January), Wilshere (Next January), and Bartley (May 22nd) who won't qualify for the youth exemption once they're 21.

Ox and Ryodinho won't count towards the 21 player limit.

Looks like we are going to see A LOT of outgoing transfers and loans with no more than 2 more players coming in.

[MaliBrah]

we have to somehow get rid of all the dead weight , there is whole lot of players that arent exactly needed, have to sell or let off on free if out of contract most of these following players, denilson, park , squillaci , almunia, arshavin , bendter ,vela , and chamakh

Then some of our loanees can return like ryo , and wilshere , podolski and say 1-2 more signings could join the club , would love to solidify our defence with the signing of a new defender and a defensive midfielder.

Hope for good health, walcott and rvp extending their contracts and silverware in 2012/2013

[kdawg32086]

With Song, Wilshere, Arteta, Diaby, Frimpong, and Coquelin I'm not sure we really need a defensive or box to box midfielder. What are the odds that 4/6's of them are going to be injured at the same time again?

I think we desperately need a starting caliber center back. Djourou and Squillaci aren't good enough to be playing for top 4 clubs. I'd rather see us keep Bartley and make him the 5th center back, with Ignasi Miquel as the 6th. Then bring in Jan Vertonghen, Mapou Yanga-M'Biwa, or Mamadou Sakho to be our 2nd center back. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being someone like Gael Givet since Wenger lives aging french center backs (see Silvestre and Squillaci).

Also, I think we should dump Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone this summer and bring in Craig Gordon on a free transfer to be the backup. Then, we can use James Shea as the #3.

[IronChef]

25 Man Squad:

GK- Szczesney, Fabianksi
RB- Sagna, Jenkinson
LB- Santos, Gibbs
CB- Vermaelen, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Djourou
Mid- Wilshere, Arteta, M'Vila, Rosicky, Ramsey, Song, Coquelin, Diaby
Fwd- RvP, Walcott, Gervinho, Podolski

That's 22 including M'Vila. Can't think of any other players we have worth the shirt that wouldn't qualify as an under-21. Use Emi Martinez as 3rd keeper, Chamberlain on the wings. Frimpong should probably go on loan. Henderson may grab a spot, but will more than likely see a loan, same with Bartley and Lansbury, or they may be on there way out of the club.

[the91ser]

call me crazy....if it wasnt impossible to do, id take a chance on landon donovan. i can see him flying down the wings, sending in pinpoint passes to RVP all day long. he can play in the midfield and on the wings and take playing time away from the aaron ramseys and gervinhos of the world

[Boognish]

call me crazy....if it wasnt impossible to do, id take a chance on landon donovan. i can see him flying down the wings, sending in pinpoint passes to RVP all day long. he can play in the midfield and on the wings and take playing time away from the aaron ramseys and gervinhos of the world

I think Donovan is worth more to the MLS than other clubs are willing to pay. I think the Galaxy wanted like 10m from Everton for him. Assuming Arsenal wanted him, would they pay that much for a 30 year old winger?

[Slava]

Donovan will not be flying down the wings in England, not when you are comparing him to Valencia, Nani, Walcott and Bale's speed.

[kdawg32086]

Landon Donovan is the most overrated American soccer player in history...just putting that out there.