We all need a boost I think. It's hardly like we're in a spiralling downfall, but very little of positive note seems to be occurring at the moment.
Firstly, we're being forced to fly out to Croatia in the peak of the mid-summer heat to try and win what may be a difficult game with either a) few of our world cup stars or b) some of our world cup players who have barely recovered from last season. And if we don't win, while it won't be the end of the world, it'll hardly be encouraging for the rest of the season.
Players seem to be slipping out with alarming alacrity. Gunnerblog's excellent article on Muamba shows what a great prospect this guy is - maybe he'd be worth having around this season? Larsson and Smith have also gone, while Derby look on covetously as Lupoli, who may or may not prove his potential this year. And, most painfully, the interminable exit of Ashley Cole continues. One wonders how long he's known- or thought he'd known - that he'd been leaving, while protesting his loyalty to the club. Chelsea's original offer - if only a mooted one - seems to have fallen short of our rapidly escalating valuation. Personally I'd be willing to miss out on a few million, [no less than 20 mind] just to get shot of the entire situation. In many ways, I've been thinking recently, the departure of Cole reminds me of Beckham's departure from ManU. A youth player groomed by his manager, who marries into showbiz, believes the hype about his own life, and then makes a glamour move elsewhere. Cole may not have had the spectacular falling out with Wenger that Becks had with Ferguson, but Cole certainly hates David Dein's guts. All i'll say about Ashley for now is that he could have become captain of our club. As it is, his good moments will be forgotten, and he'll be remembered as nothing less than a traitor.
And i suppose the issue which is depressing most Gooners is our complete inertia in the incoming transfer market. Bryan Robson has completed his superb job at keeping our mitts off Curtis Davies, as it was announced he's signed a new four year deal at West Brom today. So much for that transfer then. Aside from Davies, rien, absolutement rien. I know that Arsene is 'operating under the radar' , but some news would be nice.
July, it seems, has been the cruellest month. [not April].
But, like I always say, it's important to keep the faith when the chips seem down. If there's one thing that Arsene has shown pretty consistently, it's that he knows what he's doing. And, lest we forget, we've just opened the best stadium in the UK. Maybe we should be grateful for what we have. Still, hopefully we'll announce some incredible transfer coup this week.
Gb
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Good points aplenty here, I'm sure a lot of Gooners feel much the same right now. We should hang onto what Arsene has said though (one or two quality players in before the start of the season) and be patient. That could still be a while away...
I saw Muamba quite a few times for the reserves last season, he does look promising (as much so at centre-half as in midfield interestingly) but he's no way near ready for the first team yet. People tend to get a bit over-excited because he looks like Paddy. The year at Birmingham should do him a lot of good though. I'd be happy to see Lupoli go out on loan at least until Christmas too. He's got nothing left to prove in the reserves and some Championship football could beef up his game a bit. Him and Bendtner are both proper prospects and should get chances in time.
The unfashionable fact, by the way is that Song is far and away the best midfielder in the reserve side. Not to say he's ready for the Premiership yet, just don't judge him too soon. It's sad to see him getting so much stick online at the moment, people are giving him a lot of shit for a very few, at worst indifferent performances in the first team.
Don't read too much into Curtis Davies signing a new contract at West Brom. All it means is that the club guarantee themselves a massive fee when he finally goes (not a chance he'll see out the four years) and Davies gets more money while he's waiting. It's an arrangement of mutual convenience, nothing else.
Ok, I get your point that we could do with some good news, most obviously in the form of a quality signing or 2, but I really wish people would stop saying we're missing out on players when their only link to us is through media led speculation. Take your own example of Davies, of course Wenger says he likes him as a player when asked about him, what else is he going to say about a young fairly good English player. He never made a bid him, however, & from everything I've seen of Davies so far he's only a right sided centre back anyway, a position we're more than adequately covered in.
So, if someone has got any sensible suggestions for left-sided CBs who are a) Good enough to play for Arsenal, b) Affordable & available & c)Willing to spend a considerable amount of time behind Senderos in the pecking order then I will only then start to get suitably depressed about Arsenal dragging their heels & not signing him up. I'm not expecting too many suggestions, though, & that may also go some way to highlighting why the Club haven't found anyone yet either.
"We are a club in need of some good news"
No. "You are a supporter in need of some good news." A supporter that starts to moan like a spoilt kid in a toy shop when it doesn't get what it wants.
The emergence of the Emirates Stadium marks us out as one of the (or even the) most ambitious clubs in Europe. Yes, it affects our transfer budget. But who cares? We've got a big fuck off stadium, which marks us out as one of the biggest clubs in the future. I don't care one bit if we don't sign big this summer. I trust Wenger, and unlike you, I'm quite proud of our team already and I have all the confidence in the world in our youngsters.
Gelbs: book him now. Ideal for funerals, wakes, natural disasters...
Cheer up everyone. It could be worse. We could be Man Utd. fans...
If Muamba were that good he'd be in our squad, no?
When Wenger loans a player out it usually signals the closing credits on his Arsenal career.
On the Wenger thing, never underestimate the role he plays in a player's exit. Word would have got to him that Cole wanted 60k or nothing and he either
1) advised Dein to negotiate lower
2) remained neutral and thus approved of continued negotiations
He is a major player in the Cole fallout because he silently sanctioned this drama in my opinion. It is rare for an Arsenal player to have money issues in their negotiations. It's always about years not dollars.
For some reason the Club believed Cole was not worth 60k yet they believe he is worth 30 million. Go figure!
And to top it all off as I keep reminding you lot they rewarded Ljungberg with 68k and five years.
If you were Cole and you saw that what would you think.
I'd feel a mite undone
Well, that's you and Girls Aloud we can put down as the only other people in the country who feel sorry for Cole then Anti...
I don't feel sorry for Cole. He has a 70k contract, a huge bonus waiting for him after his sale, and a wife with a flat stomach.
I feel sorry for the Club.
Dude what the HELL are you talking about. It's articles like this that make me HATE the internet. We need censorship because there are so many numbskulls that will read articles like this and take it to heart.
Dude you're overreacting a huge amount. Everything's fine. We didn't sign the overpriced, overrated Curtis Davies - oh boo hoo. By your logic we'd never have any of the good players we have now because we'd have wet out pants instead at the sign of every reasonable player (like Benitez).
Muamba who? Damn dude he's not going to solve our problems.
Trust Wenger.
and anti u too
Gelbs - how can you not trust Wenger. Without Wenger we wouldn't have our new stadium. The only reason we have that is because all the players and the board trusted him. But you don't? What more do you want!?
'Dude what the HELL are you talking about. It's articles like this that make me HATE the internet. We need censorship because there are so many numbskulls that will read articles like this and take it to heart.'
Ok Stalin. I agree.
Man, I wrote in the last paragraph how we should be proud of where the club is with the new stadium and all. It just seems like we're two players short of a defence, and Gilberto - who can't actually tackle - will continue to play the holding midfielder role, and I worry the added width of the Emirates might expose his abilities. I do trust Wenger - but I also remember thinking we needed new signings last summer and none came.
I do have more faith than, say, Gelbs and Anti seem to show(!).
The question I'm really asking in the article, I suppose, is that, say we lose Cole, and we don't sign anyone else, what are our realistic chances of winning the title next season?
I think we can really challenge for second however - Liverpool and ManU don't have a real goalscorer between them - but I worry about our squad being exposed in the games up North again.
We still look very lightweight in CM and also, at the present time, the left side of our defence only has Cygan and Flamini to rely on (with Campbell and Cole - almost -gone and Sendoros/Clichy injured).I sincerely hope that Wenger will be allowed to use the Cole transfer money (if we get rid of the little shit this week)to stengthen this part of our squad in the very near future!!
By the way I'm "Stalin".
I do share some of your doubt, but that's what being a gooner is all about. We've never been one of these huge clubs and we've been punching above our weight and have inflated expectations because of one man - Wenger.
It's just his style. The downside to his amazing managerial skills is that he's incredibly picky and will only buy someone if they're going to be world class. We have to live with the stress that comes with it. If he reacted excitedly in the transfer market we'd be much worse off.
I do agree that we need a cover for Gilberto. Someone like Yaya Toure or even Appiah would be perfect IMO.
We'll have to wait and see....
Gelbs, dude, you need to be more positive. Arsene, for the amounts he's spent has been phenomenol. Sure, we get the odd duff buy - but look at Fabregas, Toure, RvP, Eboue, and in the past, Anelka, etc. I'd rather we did things his way than just piss money against the wall. Look at Ferguson at United - when did his best success come? Youth or money?
When we do make great signings hardly anyone realises because they're usually unknowns. That's the frustrating, but also great thing about supporting Arsenal with Arsene as manager. Arsene won't waste huge amounts of money on semi-decent players - ahem, ManU and Carrick - he buys seeds that grow into great players. It's just hard to recognise this sometimes. Having said that, it might be worth him, sometimes, getting a few journeymen experienced player in - i.e. a new Grimandi - to help the youngsters through.
I'm just feeling a little down at the mo because I'm a little concerned about our game in Zagreb; and the whole Cole situation is so sad. I think we can all pretend that we're glad he's going, and it is for the best he's going, but when he runs out in a Chelsea shirt next season, and you watch him on MOTD, or even when comes to the Grove, it will be a little heartbreaking.
Oh, and anon.5.44 please start signing in as 'Stalinist Gooner'.
Stalin - much respect.
Flamini needs to give up as a midfielder and re-train completely as a left-back. He's not good enough to be anything but a squad player at c-m. Although Aaron Lennon did skin him repeatedly when Spurs played us at Highbury.
Wenger took arsenal from a midtable team to the top 2. We have this new stadium because of him. And still gelbs you have the gall to write such crap about him.
He also took us from unbeatable to 2nd to fourth.
What's done is done.
It's a new season we'll see how it goes
God! Some of you are so lucky for not being Gooners in the 80s... or even pre-Wenger. Some people forget that when we finished fifth in 1996, under Bruce Rioch, we were happy. David Dein was probably the only one not content with that position, and his ambition led to us bringing Wenger. From then on, although we had a small stadium and a medium-sized budget, we were able to fight for trophies every season - especially because of Wenger's brilliance in the transfer market and his ability to improve players. Our current position in England and Europe is mostly due to Dein's and Wenger's good work. However, Rome wasn't built in one day, so be patient and be glad that our club is in good hands.
P.S The comparison to Leeds and Blackburn is shocking. How can you compare teams who have for a couple of seasons spent much more than they had to Arsenal, who is consistently working within a budget and consistently staying at the top of English and European football? Even our Emirates Stadium debt shouldn't be a problem, since it was budgeted using pessimistic evaluations.
P.P.S Although I do think we should strengthen our defense and defensive midfield, we're not in such a bad position. Our younger players should be even better and stronger than last season, and our few older players shouldn't be down like last season after Vieira's departure. Our team play should be better too, since the youngsters and Hleb should be more comfortable within the team's system. I'm not a dreamer - I think it will be hard to compete with Chelski in the coming season, but I believe we'll be much closer.
We're a sad, obsessive bunch of bastards aren't we. Roll on the start of the season when we have something concrete to talk about...
I forgot to add - not every player Wenger loans out does not make the first team. Cashley ****ing Cole was loaned out , to Brighton I think, before getting a place in the team.
You're right.
I would like to ask a serious question.
With all this back-and-forth between AW devotees who are going to stay confident and proud v Gelbs and his Arsene-is-shit theories, something has gotten lost.
We're all just fans (not sure about Gelbs), and the club represents our hopes, dreams, aspirations and the rest of it. We're in it through thick and thin.
So my question is this: Would you rather that Abramovich had bought Arsenal?
We'd have all the money and players in the world without doing anything whatsoever to scout or develop them. We could have nice civilized off-season chats because we'd already have splashed out whatever it took for Ballack, Shevy, Mikel and probably Ashley Cole.
We could be discussing whether we (in other words, Roman's mob money) had assembled the greatest team in history. Or perhaps whether we will ever lose another game. Or where all the trophies will be stored. And so forth.
Can anybody honestly say there's any fun in that?
I'm SO glad it's fucking Chelsea now despised by everyone in the world.
Part of the enjoyment of being a Gooner, or any other non-Chelsea fan, is talking about which midfielder would help, whether so-and-so really is a prospect, all of it.
(Quick aside: It DOES irk me to see people trashing Wenger when he's worked utter miracles with this club. Talk about what-have-you-done-for-me-lately. People like Gelbs actually are saying they know MORE about constructing a football club than Arsene Wenger. Did Gelbs spot young cast-offs like Henry and Vieira, or find Kolo Toure when nobody'd every heard of him? What utter, total nonsense. Great managers do NOT just become idiots overnight after 10 years of tremendous success. That does NOT happen. End of rant...)
Anyway, if Roman had bought Arsenal, we would be in the truly terrifying -- almost sickening -- position where everyone hates us, (for a start) and our world is going to collapse entirely if we don't win every trophy on offer.
Hey, given the resources available, perhaps we should call Mourinho a failure the past two years. He hasn't won the CL or even reached the final. He hasn't done a domestic double. And this is with the deepest, richest, most talented squad on earth. And with The Special One as manager, to boot.
God, Chelsea fans must go home and kick the dog if they only win 1-0 ot 2-0. Poor show for THAT investment.
I just want to put all this nonsense into perspective. We've got a great club with a rich history and now the best stadium in the UK and arguably the best club venue in the world. The manager is pure class, he's done wonders with a minimum of money but lots of smarts. We've developed superstars, won doubles, gone unbeaten in the league, stretched it to 49 fucking games, for God's sake.
Meanwhile, those poor Geordies at Newcastle fill the joint every weekend, spend every penny on new kits and funny hats, support their club one generation to the next without question -- and win shit.
I think we're awfully damn lucky with our lot, whether we need the left-sided centre half or not.
There's a famous quote about the greatest thing in the world is being a Gooner.
We ought not forget it in all these discussions.
Remember, you can always go get a ticket at Chelsea. And cheer for your loyal boy Ashley Cole, who swears he's bleeds blue blood.
Me, I'm going to stare up again at my huge framed picture of Thierry kissing the turf at Highbury after the PK against Wigan and smile again.
Last thought: More than anyone in an Arsenal shirt right now, I want Alexandre Song to become a star -- just so thousands of bloggers will have had it shoved up their ass!
Or better said: Up the Arse!
There is never no fun in winning.
Let me ask you this Steve.
Had Arsenal won the Champions' League because of Eboue's dive and the referee not awarding the goal in the Lehmann incident would you have been desperately unhappy by the manner in which we won?
I'll answer it for you. No!
You would have been parading the fact that Wenger and Arsenal had proven the critics wrong and he was right to sell Vieira, blah blah.
As I said, when you win, everything else is unimportant.
some ppl are never happy. 2 seasons in 9 we are not in top 2 with our SMALL reserves of cash ffs go support chel$ea
the fact that we cant beat the top teams anymore is the most alarming thing
California Steve - totally agree with you mate!
I find it unbelievable that people seem to have such little faith in Wenger's vision. There's a saying you people might appreciate, "you'll never miss the well till the water runs dry."
The board have always been tight. When you look at the players that have left over the past two seasons and the players injured at the moment its is hard to see us winning the title next season. we are playing for third or fourth in the league, a good domestic cup run and hoping to reach the semis/quarters in europe.
If Gilberto or Henry get injured we are in serious trouble. we should have gone for Carrick if he's overated then surely wenger would have helped to make him a better player? The balance of the squad is wrong we need a CM who can tackle or at least scare the oppostion and a CB although in fairness where do you get a good CB these days? in the 80's we had four Toure is class senderos is average and cygan is a joke.
And with regards to the CB position, are we talking about a replacement for Senderos or cover for Sendaros? Some of you seem unclear. I think Wenger should go for Woodgate if we need a good squad CB or even try and get Upson back. A world clas CB is going to cost £2o mil+ and we are not going to spend that on a player. Still could be worse we could be Manure.
The board have always been tight. When you look at the players that have left over the past two seasons and the players injured at the moment its is hard to see us winning the title next season. we are playing for third or fourth in the league, a good domestic cup run and hoping to reach the semis/quarters in europe.
If Gilberto or Henry get injured we are in serious trouble. we should have gone for Carrick if he's overated then surely wenger would have helped to make him a better player? The balance of the squad is wrong we need a CM who can tackle or at least scare the oppostion and a CB although in fairness where do you get a good CB these days? in the 80's we had four Toure is class senderos is average and cygan is a joke.
And with regards to the CB position, are we talking about a replacement for Senderos or cover for Sendaros? Some of you seem unclear. I think Wenger should go for Woodgate if we need a good squad CB or even try and get Upson back. A world clas CB is going to cost £2o mil+ and we are not going to spend that on a player. Still could be worse we could be Manure.
hairy balls mmmmm
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