The Curious Case of Nicklas Bendtner
Yes, Nick, we're crying too.
In my continuing review of players with promise, I give you the curious case of Nicklas Bendtner. Nicky B to his fans (or detractors).
Nicky B burst onto the football scene in 1998 playing for the your orgainzation of Danish football club B.93. He also featured for FC Copenahgen’s feeder club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB). During his time at KB he also played for the Danish national youth side – scoring four goals in six matches.
Finally in 2004 he was signed by Arsenal and formed a prolofic strike duo on the reserves with Arturo Lupoli. Then in 2005 he made his first team debut, coming on in the League Cup for 3 matches.
His Arsenal career has been one of promise and frustration, much like our earlier subject Theo Walcott. In 81 appearances for Arsenal from 2005 to now, the dane has 20 goals. At the start of last season, I, one of his biggest critics, was impressed that he seemed to be taking on a new direction. He attacked defenders well and when aggressive set up himself and his teammates well.
As a sub he was good. But when Robin Van Persie went down and he was called on to be an everyday striker – well – that’s the problem. He’s not an everday striker. At least not yet. He doesn’t really have a first touch and he is more prone to missing the net then hitting it.
The lad then came out and boasted he could be one of the best strikers in the globe. The key problem there was his lack lustre performances failed to convince anyone that it was nothing more than bravado of the young.
Like Theo, Nicky B, has tremendous potential. He is tall, plays big and is physically strong player. There are times when he gets on a ball in the air and completely understands how to use that to his advantage. He’s not quick but if he learns to use his size to his advantage he could be a powerful presence in the box.
Right now, though Nicklas fails to deliver on a consistent basis. He doesn’t command the box and when it looks like he does, he either holds the ball too long or his shots are mostly off target.
Additionally, he hasn’t shown himself to be able to get out of a jam when pressed by more than one defender. Finally, I don;t think we need to discuss that poor first touch do we? It is what infuriates me the most about him.
I have less patience for Nicky B then I do Theo. Maybe its because Nicky does a lot more talking about himself then Arsenal. Theo at least defers to the team and focuses on the team and what he can do to improve. Nicky well, he’s just Nicky the Danish wunderkind.
Bendtner needs to decide which player he is going to be, the player he was when on the reserves and showed so much promise. Or the flash in the pan who only delivers on an irregular basis. Either way, Arsenal need him to either step up and show he deserves to be part of the attack that features Chamakh and Robin Van Persie or he should be sold.
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There won’t be a bidding war for Cesc Fabregas. He, like Henry, are only willing to leave Arsenal for one club. If Cesc can’t go to Barcelona, then he’s not leaving Arsenal.
Most of you know how strongly I was opposed to Wenger making Henry captain. As far as Gallas and Fabregas, there simply was no one else. With the emergence of Flamini, Gilberto wasn’t assured a starting place. Kolo Toure was too high strung and lacked proper composure in tense situations. Gallas was the best choice. However, after his meltdown, there were no more big dogs left to lead the pups. Fabregas, like Gallas, was not necessarily the right choice but the best of a whole bunch of bad choices.
For me, a captain has to understand the intent of the coach and back up that intent on the pitch and off 100%. They’ve got to be loyal to the coach and loyal to the club. They’ve got to have the respect of the players. They’ve got to be in a position to effectivley communicate with the team. Lastly, they’ve got to have enough experience to lead the team to victory in tough games. Fabregas is developing into a fantastic captain. If Wenger can get him to focus on Arsenal again, he can become a legendary captain.
guys – the new article will be out tonight.
I would have it out today but I am heading to the Philadelphia Union match vs Toronto FC today.
Sorry for the week delay.
I have a feeling that when Cesc is sold, be it next year or after, his selling price would be much less than the current asking price. He might go for less than 30 million, somewhere near mid 20s. At the same time, Man City would pay more for a 34 year old on the last legs of his career, and Spurs would pay more to re-sign another ex-player.
on another note…
Both Cole and Henry were given staying bonuses the season before they left, right? Wasn’t Cesc given a recent bonus?
It is the same thing repeating all over again.
Captain is not sold, gives less than 100% and is then sold for around half the value of the previous year.
Only difference is that without Cesc this year, we may lose out on the CL, while with Henry, there was no such fear.
I wondered would Cesc go for half next year? Probably not for half as he is still young and not reaching Wenger’s discard age bracket. But I am certain he would be sold for far less.
Not necessarily Sachin, he still will have 4 years left on his contract and is still one of the top AM’s in the world.
Open up the bidding to Inter, RM and City and let Barca determine (by their transfer fee offer) if they really want him or not.
good point CK..Didn’t think of that. PV was sold to Juventus in the end, so yes there is the possibility of some other team getting him. That depends on if the fatherly relationship between Wenger and Cesc would continue.
I disagree. Cesc wants to go to Barca alone. He won’t go to Real or Man Shitty. So there will be no bidding war. Even if he has 4 years left on his contract, it will be one less than this summer, so the value will depreciate. It is simple maths.
Barca are clever.
They don’t need Cesc this coming season.
Indeed, he’d likely be a bit of a hassle, their midfield is well stocked and their star midfielders are at their peak.
So…. better to unsettle Cesc and break the bond he has with Arsenal, then pick him up next season when he’s more needed.
Same thing they did with Henry. He then went on to have a dismal year then they snatched him.
PS. Just to be clear, if Vermaelen was made captain I’d be happy for Fabregas to stay, even for just a year. If he can’t re-adjust in this time and rediscover his love for Arsenal then sell him to Barca for top dollar or if they refuse to pay a premium price sell him to ManC or some other flush club.
There is no room for sentimentality when you’re competing at the top level in sport with multi-million dollar contracts.
Wenger’s last three choices of Captain has been woeful.
Henry, as great a servant as he has been to club and country, was way too soft spoken and neber really directed his team on the field a la Viera.
Gallas as captain instead of Viera? Enough has been said about that.
Cesc, too young and again, not experienced and vocal enough to lead the team.
We have had three captains in 4 years and next year we will have yet another one after Cesc leaves for the sunny climes of Barca.
The Arsenal captaincy almost seems to have been cursed the past few years.
Forgive the caps – only used for highlighting. :-)
The poison is the creation of a legacy of foreign captains who do not see Arsenal as the zenith of their careers. Roy Keane didn’t dance with Real Madrid or Barca or AC Milan nor did Tony Adams. Both Keane and Adams saw their clubs as THEIR clubs. Arsenal need that attitude in their captain not a 23 year old who clearly is admiring a move to his hometown club.
Both the Vieira and the Henry situations were different. Vieira started dancing with Real Madrid DURING Arsenal’s great period under Wenger when he was 25, Henry was different he truly was committed and only had an affair when success seemed far off and he was at the tipping point of his career. I feel a real empathy for Henry and what happened – not so much with Vieira. Vieira had a touch of mercenary about him – albeit he was a fantastic player (at his peak unparalled imo) and a fearless leader.
So…. every situation plays out a little differently, yet the negative impact on Arsenal is the same when they are your captain and super-star. All our eggs in one unstable basket.
If you added up the number of off-seasons we’ve had to endure this nonsense of will-he-won’t-he with our captain post-Adams it’s a poor reflection on Wenger’s ability to select the right man. I have never understood his rationale for selecting captains it just seems so damn stupid. He treats it like a carrot to keep the player at the club. Putting his 3-4 year affair aside Vieira was clearly a leader onfield and in the dressing room. Yet Henry, Gallas and Fabregas?
We’d be better with a more modest player (in the super-star stakes) like Vermaelen whose lack of glamour is actually an advantage. Give Vermaelen the captaincy. Sit Fabregas down and explain that the club captain needs to be 100% committed and not in 2 minds. What a signal that would send to the squad. Purge the affair scourge of Vieira, Cole, Henry and Fabregas in one go. If Fabregas under-performs – who cares? If he’s as professional as many think then he’ll come around and play competently. The rub is his intention – and at this stage it seems likely that he’ll leave The Emirates if not now then in the next 2 transfer windows. Once you play the ‘affair card’ you’ve played it and doubt will forever be in the back of your mind.
For me there are no downsides to giving the captaincy to Vermaelen. He looks a captain, he was Ajax captain, he fights every game, as a CB he’s inspirational whether cover tackling or scoring goals. He has that steel about him.
I think the one foreign captain who would have bled for Arsenal would have been Gilberto but even I was critical of his dip in form, yet only after he left and listening to his post Arsenal comments did I realize that he would have been very loyal to Arsenal. To read that Wenger never told him personally on his face that he was not going to be captain annoys me.
To me whoever becomes the captain for arsenal is the most likely candidate to leave the club. On the other hand, if the club was solid on field and achieving results, then I think things would have been different.
I had also thought that maybe Vermaelen should be made captain but given the horrible trend of captains at this club, I fear that if he were made captain, his form would dip and then there will be calls for him to be sold and he would become another Senderos. I know Vermaelen was captain at Ajax but Arsenal has this jinxed situation associated with a captaincy around it. Although if Arsenal had a good goal keeper, then making him captain would have been best.
You know..I miss the world cup. Atleast I didn’t have to think about Arsenal and now that I have to, it seems all the old issues are coming back and more misery awaits, not for the board members though who will be ready to roll in dough. The profit league and fair play trophy are already waiting to reunite with Arsenal.
Cesc could play unmotivated this season if the Barca move falls through. Luckily for him however, the squad is chock full of lazy drips like Diaby so he’ll still look tuned in regardless. In Vieira’s time, the likes of Keown were around, so he wasn’t afforded such a luxury.
Agreed, things are inter-related. The culture and composition of the current squad is not strong in a winning sense.
We need to reinstill that – yet I doubt it will happen. Ultimately Wenger is part of the problem.
Cesc will be sold when he least expects it. He will have had a great season, be on top of the world and would have just scored the winning goal (or penalty kick) to lead Arsenal to the F.A Cup. And then just a day into his vacation, he would learn that he would finally be united with his Barca mates. In the meantime, he would be replaced at Arsenal by a 19 year old who would have emerged as a future Cesc after having spent 2 years at Arsenal. The project for future building would go on forever.
If Escher were alive, he would really be proud of how Wenger has taken his ideas and created a closed loop where the young keep getting replaced by younger players, and the younger players with even younger. Infinity = Wenger project.
Rings true Sachin, like the much-maligned Myles says we’re forever being sold the future.
oh yes, I forgot he had said that :)
Vibe,
Cesc has been a model professional for Arsenal imo.
Yet we’ve been here before. Henry was a model professional too, alongside Bergkamp the best foreigner I’ve seen at AFC, and yet Henry got the barca itch. Vieira started scratching the RM bug when he was in his mid-20’s.
Cesc’s early age for me only highlights the new era we’re now in, whereby our lack of success means even the ‘models’ get the itch sooner.
Both Vieira and Henry had very poor last seasons, hence my reasoning that they are better sold. You might remember that AFC paid Henry an exorbitant amount to keep him and the return was pathetic and he still left.
If Fabregas wasn’t the club captain then the Ronaldo comparison would be well made. However like Vieira and Henry he is the club captain AND the club super-star. Being club captain changes everything and is the reason I used the admittedly inflamatory word poison. We need to appoint a loyal club captain and stop putting all our eggs in the one basket. Why does the best (foreign) player have to be the captain?
Arsesession,
The players are never transparent in these affairs. They say one thing whilst allowing their agents to work in the background. So you won’t get a clear statement – indeed you’ll get the opposite. They want to keep the existing door open (and why not?). I’ve read enough, we’ve been here before. With both Vieira and Henry there were those supporters who steadfastly refused to believe anything was amiss until the captain walked out the door. Cesc has served us well, no doubt, if Wenger wants him to stay for ‘one more season’ then ok, remove the captaincy, a club of our standing deserves a committed captain.
while I agree with what you are saying Kiwi, removing the Captaincy would be a SLAP in Cesc’s face, and he’d be asked about that ALL SEASON LONG, adding more fuel to the fire about him leaving for Barcelona… ad nauseum.
Agreed. If this isn’t going to happen, the emphasis needs to be bringing Cesc back into the fold, not rubbing salt in his wounds.
Tick, tick, tick.
I was all for Henry leaving a year before he did, and it would have spared me the blot that his sulking around his final year left on otherwise beautiful memories.
But I think you dismiss relative ages and accomplishment too easily.
Henry and Viera had come off unbeatable, literally, achievements. They were the definition of jaded veterans.
Cesc has no Arsenal laurels to rest on. He’s young, hungry and just had a taste of big winning. Will he continue to disappear in some matches, having no one to push him to raise the level of his game? Yeah, probably. But poison? I see no reason to believe that.
Don’t get me wrong. I hate this situation that Wenger has created. Whether Cesc stays or goes the fate of the season won’t be on his shoulders, armband or not.
I totally agree with your observation, ‘we need a committed captain’.
From my life experiences, what you worry about the most, ‘RARELY’ comes to fruition. Anything can happen to change circumstances at Arsenal and with Barcelona. ANYTHING.
Based on what I’ve read since the end of May, Arsenal are in the driver’s seat for this situation.
Our manager is not a fool AND has planned well – even if the inevitable is that Cesc will leave. There is the matter of the long-term contract. This will cost any team significant funds to turn Arsenal heads. I have always admired the spirit and character of Cesc and as our captain, he will not let the club down. Here is a young man that loves the game and owes much gratitude to club and manager.
He will give maximum effort for whatever club he plays – that is his character.
Arsene has handled this entire spectacle in a manner befitting the stature of our Club – unlike the clowns running Barcelona.
All I know for sure is that our season starts in about 1 month and I’m anxious to see how our roster takes shape by the end of the transfer deadline.
The City of Madrid is just like its club, willing to sign anyone even if it is an octopus: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=808971&sec=transfers&cc=5901
sorry if I offended anyone seeing Paul is no ordinary octopus :)
Although the news is a perfect template for any transfer segment associated with Madrid or Barca, just replace animal with a player’s name.
“We hope that within the next few days we will be able to confirm news that the admirable Paul will be part of the club of the most loved and charismatic animals of the Madrid Zoo.”
“We are not in contact with Madrid Zoo. And we know nothing about swapping Paul for another animal or him going to Madrid Zoo for a transfer sum,”
If Aliens ever landed on earth, then the first thing Real Madrid would try to do it sign one of them so they can sell more shirts :) Ofcourse, Barca might claim that the alien has Barca DNA. I hope Puyol & Pique rush to put a shirt on the alien only to be gobbled up. The Alien may look human like something out of “V” but if alien looked like something out of Simpsons, then Madrid would want to sign it as a keeper for sure.
its terrible that they want to sign good players!
I don’t think that’s what Sachin is suggesting. I think (and correct me if I’m wrong here Sachin) that he’s criticizing the manner in which they conduct their pursuit of good players.
Once again you are putting words into someone else’s mouth, satirizing an argument that they never made, just one that you are implying they made by twisting their words.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with Barcelona or Madrid going after players. They have the money, they want to win, they don’t mind (over)spending.
you do it your way, they’ll do it their way…
at the end of the day, its about WINNING TITLES for those teams.
for Arsenal, it is more about financial stability… that’s wonderful too, but just because you don’t like how Barcelona does business, doesn’t make it wrong or bad.
Yeah you are right. The manner which they go about doing their trades is annoying.
how do you know the landed aliens will be good players? :)
Nobody will sign E.T. before Wenger. Small, never won anything, always crying for home…
:) True. If it was proved that E.T was french, then he would have been an Arsenal player before his feet touched down on the planet.
I don’t know. The French hate illegal aliens even more than Arizonans. ;-)
Unless they are footballers, then they would be heroes, right?
“If Aliens ever landed on earth, then the first thing Real Madrid would try to do it sign one of them so they can sell more shirts :) Ofcourse, Barca might claim that the alien has Barca DNA.”
LOL, Sach that’s funny :-)
Thanks.
desperately seeking a new thread!
;)
Barca are now saying that they may not get
Fabregas this Summer, because Arsenal won’t even
talk to them… they won’t be held ransom, etc etc
I still think its about MONEY.
I agree with what Kiwi just said above, that Cesc
HAS to be 100% committed to the Arsenal cause, or he’s a detriment
to the team. He hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory with his
commentary… I MIGHT be back at Arsenal? No kidding? You have no choice!
And, with August less than 2 weeks away, we have done what we
always do… alot of talk and speculation.
Why would the Schwarzer signing take all Summer? 3.5 Million or even 4, and …. thank you, move on the to the next issue.
Sol Campbell. Surely, he wants to be signed at the club, so make it
happen or come out publicly and say, he won’t be back.
I know I know, these negotiations are always a long drawn out
affair… FOR ARSENAL, just not most other teams.
On the WC final. I was neutral. I truly didn’t care who won. I felt for the ref who was on a loser no matter what he did. The Dutch were simply horrid. What a terrible spectacle for the watching world and the (b)millions of casual spectators. I sat and thought yikes these are supposed to be two real A-grade footballing teams and this is what they serve up at the zenith of the game. Spain at least played football. The Dutch were more cynical than the Italians and more nasty than the Argentines. The Dutch team deserved to lose – they insulted the legacy of Dutch football – Cryuff and Bergkamp.
Fabregas showed his class, he was class, and has been class for several years with AFC. Van Persie showed again that his reputation is bigger than his achievements. Wenger talked him (RvP) up in typically ridiculous fashion – comparing him to the greats of the game. I find such nonsense embarrassing – Robin has achieved NOTHING at club or international level to merit that.
It feels a bit like eternity yet nothing much has happened.
The Fabregas saga rolls on, just another iteration on a theme started by Vieira and developed by Henry. The common thread is they are Wenger’s fawn-boys and the club captain. There is ZERO benefit in keeping Cesc Fabregas at the club next season if he’s wanting to move. His presence will poison the club. We need to rid ourselves of this curse. I called it with Vieira – yet understandably his service and trophies clouded the reality for most. A club simply can’t afford to have a captain that fratenises with the enemy. It’s poison. It’s no surprise that the ‘self’ baton has passed from Vieira to Henry to Fabregas (throw in Cole too). Your club captain needs to portray a steely commitment to the club – if he doesn’t it’s a bad joke.
We’ve had almost a 100% turnover in CB’s in 1 season. Whow, unbelievable. Is there a serious CB signing to come? How can you release 4 – Gallas, Sly, Senderos and Campbell – and only sign one unknown from the French league? I have no problem with a cleanout – the issue is re-stocking.
I read Wenger’s comments on Eduardo affirming how important he is bla bla bla. Utter nonsense. By the end of the season no one was fooled. When I read Wenger’s comments I knew for sure, nothing’s changed for Arsenal supporters. Wenger (like Nero) preened himself commentating at the WC and wasted yet another off-season. This happened 2 years ago at the Euro’s.
On captain – Vermaelen looks the only option in the current roster. RvP for skipper? LOL :-)
I’m sorry, I must have missed Cesc’s quote that he’s wanting to move. Would you post the article.
Did you actually expect him to change?
I didn’t.
In this rare, narrow instance I’m going to disagree with you, Kiwi. Cesc’s situation is nothing like Viera or Henry.
For starters, Cesc is closer to 20 with a lot left to prove. Both Viera and Henry were closer to 30, legacies cemented, having already achieved everything they possibly could at Arsenal.
Additionally with Viera, he was feeling the heat of, hey there, a young Cesc Fabregas on his heels. Cesc has no reason to feel anything but loved and, most definitely, needed.
Cesc as ‘poison’ I see no justification for. These Summertime quotes are meaningless. As I’ve said several times before, this saga runs closer to that of Ronaldo at United. He was supposed to be out the door to Real Madrid, ‘I want to be there’ quotes and all. Then he stayed at United one more year, and poisoned them to the tune of 26 goals that helped them win the League.
Cesc has likely lost faith in the club winning anything, for reasons we have long agreed on. Can’t blame him for being tired of that. But if he stays, he’ll be our best player for one more year. And hopefully help us cling to a fourth place spot, before rightfully, finally leaving for Barca.
And when he does, expect he’ll still say of Wenger “He’s been my father in sport, one of the most important factors and most influential in my career.” (Also borrowing from Ronaldo, who said this of Fergie on his way to RM).
:)
gotta love Thierry Henry.
in an interview regarding “coming to America”…
and his first appearance for the Red Bulls…
“I won’t even mention the name of that team we are playing,
that’s how big a rivalry it is to me”.
priceless.
:)
Argentina offer Maradona contract till 2014.
Domenech mark II ?
Thanks DAG for all the hard work at YAMA !
Looking forward to the t-shirt.
I am definitely up for a YAMA fantasy league.
I was only reading AA for some 4 months, with some infrequent posting, before AA lost their sense of humor
and reality for a blog site.
Their future is in the past and DAG has honored us with a 1st Class Upgrade. Many thanks!
When reading the posts & replies (here), I must pinch myself to remember that we all ‘love’ our Arsenal.
When Arsenal squeak out a close win, rhetoric is limited and refrained. However, posting becomes frantic and emotions peak when certain players are in the line- up and whether they are the cause of losing points, they are placed in the spotlight of criticism.
We owe a debt of gratitude to players like Ade (previous misunderstood cult striker), Denilson (can we start a birther check to see if he is really Brazilian), Diaby (you either love him or hate him – during same match);
and of course Almunia and Fabianski, both sending (in May) their DVD training video to Rob Greene.
Yes, we owe much to these players for giving many at this site a vehicle for emotional release.
Criticize our manager, the board, the players, staff, etc. but we have a well respected club that plays (sometimes) really beautiful music on the pitch.
Now if we can just add an experienced GK and another CB, we should really kick some butts this year.
Guys, its about this time last year we got BOOTED out of Arsenal America like stray dogs or hobos living under a bridge – despite our 9 year loyalty to AA.
The one year hasnt been too bad has it? ;-)
The few attempts at Arsenal related discussion at AA have been embarrasing for them really. At least they get to keep their tickets ;-)
The only sad part of the entire episode was that we were even “begging” them to let us stay!! :-D
I actually started YAMA when it all started to go down with AA.
There was still some movement there but for about a month I was quiet with Arsession being my first real commenter. Than like a swarm you suddenly showed up.
its only a matter of time before Arsenal’s USA site renders their ticket allocation useless.
Why have AA make money … as they charge $25 per membership, offering NOTHING on their site, that gets almost ZERO visits, and all they can do for you is give you a chance to get tickets to a match.
Screw’em.
I am sure they are happy to have done the site in.
YAMA is just fine thank you.
Amen
Preach on, brother.
I remember the doctor posting a link to YAMA. It didn’t feel like he was intending to be helpful. More like ‘Stop your bitching, here’s the exit.’
But a year later, I like this place so much more. I suppose because AA felt like a place I originally went out of necessity, and where I was chatting with a bunch of strangers. But this feels more like a place me and some guys I know chose to hang out.
So thanks again, DAG.
oh yeah, I remember the suggestion of having the discussions kept off the main page of AA.
it took me a while but I managed to get AA out of my system completely. Almost 5 years spent there.
Henry in NY!
Regular trips from Upstate NY to watch Red Bull might just be on the cards! He might not be able to cut it among the European elite anymore but he is still several levels above the dross we have here.
He might have to do more Bergkamp type work though, cos I doubt he can outrun some of the MLS players. Here in the States we do fitness and hardwork better than anyone!
———————————–
I really hope the Schwarzer deal falls through. Just like Koscielny, we CAN DO BETTER!
Schwarzer or Almunia & Fabianski?
I know what I am rooting for.
If we don’t bring a keeper in, we’re f*cked again.
I don’t need to watch another season of that shit.
There are better and younger keepers than Schwarzer.
true, but not CHEAPER…
and I have a feeling Wenger believes in Mannone /and/or/ Szezxzy!
so he wants a short term stop gap.
Schwarzer is better than both Fabianski and Almunia… I’ll take an upgrade over doing nothing any day.
and you don’t know if we can do better than Koscielny, the guy has NOT PLAYED A MINUTE YET for the club.
Its hope and pray. There were definitely more “certain” defenders we could have bought for cheaper. But Wenger needs an unknown player who he hopes will shine so the masses will praise him for being a “genius”.
We could have done better.
time will tell whether we could have done better…
nothing is certain in sports or life…
and yes, Wenger likes to make unknowns into stars…
Couple of things –
I wasn’t planning on doing a preview for Barnet as I did not do previews for the pre-season last year. I may do a hot or not in terms of the title contenders. but given the fact the transfer window hasn’t closed it’s a little premature.
Also I’d like to gauge the interest of people participating in YAMA EPL Fantasy League – First prize a new Arsenal Home Jersey (with player name).
Secondly, I am still working on the first anniversary YAMA T Shirt. I didn’t like the one my designer friend did, so I have taken it on. I hope to design it this weekend and have it ready for you guys to review – early next week. I PROMISE.
The software for the YAMA Gooner Store has been installed but I am having some issues. As soon as I can get that sorted out and sign the Nike Apparel contract I will be offering Arsenal Gear via the Web site. That is probably still some time off.
And I am playng around with my own design for the site but that is way way way way off. (I am not so good with CSS)
all over the YAMA Fantasy LEague. nice!
Would love a YAMA Fantasy League…
There are many out there, some better than others, some cost, some don’t.
Fantasy League . com is great, but it does cost money, and you can create your own league(s) within the site.
which FL are we looking at?
i’ve always done stuff on fantasy league classic for ~$15 it is cheap entertainment and i’ve gotten “close” a few times to winning a prize… :)
That’s the one jroybower.
its a really good fantasy league, and I too have played for years…
I got a gold mousepad for winning my league of 20 teams!
but that’s about it in terms of prizes!
I won a silver mouse pad (x2). I’ve had decent runs in the knock-out competetions. I think the first year I played (beginners luck!) I made it to the final 16 or 32 of the Champions League, I ran out of subs :(.
I tried the FSC one a few years ago too, came in 3rd one week and was leading until a few guys picked up points on a Monday game.
As with al gambling and golf, it the “almosts” that keep you coming back for more…
LOL.
exactly.
but I agree, I’ve played a handful of fantasy leagues, but I think FL Classic is the best.
So Henry completes his move to New York Red Bulls. Both reports I read said it was a “multi-year deal” but neither said how many years or for how much money. I think it’s both funny and awesome that his first game for them will be an exhibition against who else but our north London neighbors. I hope he puts 2 or 3 past the Spuds for old time’s sake.
he loves NY, and being able to move around freely… without being a spectacle!
I think he has a few years left of good football, sort of a shame he’s already in NY, but good for MLS if he plays well.
I just purchased tickets for the Union/Red Bulls game in PPL park in October.
Woo Hoo.
I think Henry could actually do for MLS what Beckham was supposed to do.
figures, the Red Bulls aren’t @ New England again this season.
that sucks.
Now Barca have been forced to take out a 155-million Euro loan to ease their financial troubles.
According to the report, “The loan, announced last week but signed on Wednesday, will be lent jointly by a host of banks, led by La Caixa and Banco Santander. Caja Madrid BBVA, Banesto, Banco Popular, Banco Sabadell, Caixa Catalunya, CAM and Cajamar are the others. ”
This is why these types of big clubs will never go broke and bite the dust. A whole consortium of Spanish banks will pool their resources to bail them out. Something tells me FC Barcelona will get a much better interest rate than those banks would give to the rest of their clients.
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6260320,00.html
Not sure why so many people are so concerned about Barcelona’s finances.
who really cares?
it doesn’t effect the team much… I didn’t read the players worried about a late payment, and they all want new signings.
Cesc said the Barcelona shirt put on him was IN FUN, not a big deal, and that in regard to moving to Barcelona, “the less said the better”.
He’s SMART ENOUGH not to come out and say “I want to go”. He has other players and his Father to do that.
“I may come back to Arsenal” is NOT a ringing endorsement of his wishes.
But whatever… like he says, what happens – will happen, can’t worry too much about it.
Good Luck in NYC THIERRY HENRY!
I hope I see him walking down the street, virtually anon!
I didn’t mention Cesc. I just thought it was an interesting story.
I mentioned Cesc, because Barcelona’s FINANCES will have little to do with him going or staying… they will have the money to pay… i think they believe we will let him go for less than he’s worth to Arsenal, because he wants to be at Barca.
Spain are capable of playing better than they did on Sunday. However, when you come into the World Cup as favorites, there’s quite a bit of pressure. That pressure is made even greater when you lose your opener. At the end of the day, Spain played well enough to win, which is the whole point of the World Cup. If winning means they have to curtail a bit of their natural attacking game, then so be it. What’s most important is making sure their name goes into the history books as champion.
I’m not worried about van Persie. He’s a slow starter. I remember how slowly he started last season and was worried then, as everyone except him was scoring. I hoped it wouldn’t wreck his confidence and it didn’t. I’ve said it a million times that it’s tough to play as a lone striker. It took Robin a while to find the right balance between creating, scoring, and defending. Sometimes, this takes time.
In the Spain game, Sneijder was forced to do a lot of defending and RvP was isolated; just like when Hleb left, Adebayor was isolated. It’s even worse when Robin does make a run but Robben is on the ball so RvP will never see it in time (similar to Nasri holding the ball too long as opposed to Hleb releasing it quickly before the defense gets set). It’s hard enough being a lone striker and you really don’t need that added ballhog nonsense.
As far as Spain’s lateral passing, sometimes the forward pass isn’t on so you have to play keep-ball until it is. It takes a mature player to have that kind of patience. Sometimes, it takes 116 minutes to find the break through; especially when your CF is only 5’7″. It’s a much better option than relinquishing the initiative. Chamakh will give us a similar aerial threat to Adebayor; hence another way to play the ball forward. That will make us more dynamic. I have a lot of confidence in Sagna’s ability to put the ball on his head. Chamakh will pose a threat.
The first pre-season game is Saturday. I’m looking forward to seeing the boys back in action; especially Chamakh. We’ll see how it goes.
According to Sky (who own Football365), Fulham have rejected Arsenal’s initial bid for Mark Schwarzer:
ARSENAL`S SCHWARZER BID REJECTED – REPORTS
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6258628,00.html
Fulham have rejected a bid for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from Arsenal, according to reports.
Sky Sports News claim that the Gunners have lodged a formal offer for the Australian as they belatedly search for a replacement for Manuel Almunia.
However, despite rubbishing reports that Schwarzer has already completed a medical at the Emirates, the station claims that the 37-year-old ‘would jump at the chance’ of joining Arsenal.
what if Fulham aren’t interested in selling him?
we’ll just move on, and we won’t up the bid and try to convince them.
so Schwarzer wants to go to Arsenal. oh well.
I don’t see Cesc leaving now, or even next year.
Barca has serious debt and deadline payments, in the present. Banks are tightening the screws on ‘EVERY’ type customer. Who is Barca going to unload ? Ibrahimovic? Not many clubs can afford? MOST CLUBS can’t afford to spend $20-30 mil in transfer fees and then commit to the demands of a high weekly wage.
I’m anxious to see if our manager will add to the roster or sit tight. It would be nice to see us talking about a new goalkeeper arriving…….Sol staying on……..and another versatile defensive player.
of course you don’t!
why would any player want to play for ANY other team except the wonder team, Arsenal!
LOL
DAG:
Are you already working on the first preview for Saturday’s Opening Match!
Arsenal v Barnet
Look, they aren’t just putting a shirt on Cesc because they
think its funny or amusing.
They KNOW he wants to be at… play for Barcelona…
and its possible that the deal might not get done, because
Barcelona won’t pay what they will have to, to get Arsenal to sell.
So, you have Cesc, having said he would like to go to Barcelona, his
Father saying he WILL be at Barca, and now… they probably told him,
we won’t spend the 50 Million Euros they request, so now he has to
go back to Arsenal.
Is that the worst thing? back to Arsenal for another year?
No, perhaps its not, BUT… you know its going to be a tug-o-war
in the media until the season starts… AND again around the January
Transfer window, and we will go down this exact same road again
next Summer.
Is this what Arsenal want? to play this over and over again.
I am torn because he is such a big piece to the Arsenal puzzle, but
I don’t think he wants to be at Arsenal, and if he doesn’t 100% want to be here, then I would NOT WANT HIM at the club.
We’ll see what happens, it will SUCK either way. Frankly.
Lose / Lose for Arsenal.
So far, at least on YAMA, most of the stuff I’ve seen saying that he wants to go has been speculation. Where as there has been actual evidence (mostly provided courtesy of DAG) indicating that he wants to stay at Arsenal.
Personally, I don’t think it’s black-and-white/either-or. I’m sure Cesc can see lots of pros and cons on both a professional and personal level when he looks at playing for either club. I’m sure he would love to play for Barcelona: he grew up in Catalonia, his father and grandfather are Barca supporters, he was integral in their youth side, etc.
But just b/c he would like to play for Barca doesn’t necessarily mean that he absolutely does not want to play for Arsenal. I wouldn’t be surprised if his thought process is something along the lines of, “If Arsenal and Barca can work this out, that would be awesome, but if not I’ll have (at least) another year in London to hone my skills and increase my chances of getting into the first XI when I do go back to Barca.”
It’s your energy to waste, but Cesc is a competitor and a professional. If he’s in Arsenal colors next season, he will give us his all. (Ronaldo still scored 26 goals his last season at United, and the situations are pretty similar.)
Whenever he leaves, we’ll have $50 million in the bank and you can capitalize the word PROFITS for another year’s worth of posts, and sing about the joys of clinging to a top four spot.
Fear not, for you, it could still be a win/win.
LOL.
its a financial WIN for the club, but without Cesc in the team, or the money we get for him spent to improve the team… the task of staying Top 4… and maintaining THE PLAN, becomes all the more difficult for Arsenal Football Club.
It’s all good as long as we’re Top 4.
If that acheivement goes, so goes THE PLAN.
I vividly remember the look of mischievous content on the smug face of Arsene Wenger when he snagged Fabregas seven years ago. Am sure he figured himself a genius. That was when he probably decided to go down the route of stealing prospects from other clubs. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, we are seeing what could go wrong with the whole Fabregas issue.
If any of us were solely Barca fans we would probably be looking at Fabregas as Barca property!
Its like the whole Suarez thing, legal, but still causes the victim to feel cheated.
I really hope this Barca folks could get City to buy Ibra, so they can be able to offer 50 m for Cesc and we can get the whole issue resolved ASAP. There would be nothing worse than if this dragged out till the end of August!
PS: We need to LIMIT buying FOREIGN kids! Its pointless.
I was thinking the other day when I heard Barca couldn’t pay their players that they should get rid of Ibrahimovic. There are several good reasons to offload him:
1. They’d likely get a big transfer fee for him (esp. if it’s City), plus they wouldn’t have to pay that huge salary. At Inter he was the highest-paid player in the world, before Ronaldo and Kaka went to RM. I’m sure he still makes a boatload of money if that was the case.
2. He didn’t play that well for them last year anyways. It was a decent season for him, but decent doesn’t cut it for a player or a club of that caliber.
3. They just bought David Villa, possibly the most clinical finisher in the game today.
Pepe Reina’s actions concerning Cesc and Barca have got to piss of Liverpool supporters as well. If he’s going to be an assclown in front of a major audience like that, you’d think it was to woo a player to the club he plays for- not one he only made 30 appearances for some 8 years ago.
As for the debate on how good Spain is: Results tell you everything you need to know. Maybe they don’t finish games with dominant score lines, but as far as I’m concerned anyone who becomes back-to-back European and World champs is a juggernaut. They are just the third team to every accomplish that feat. The others are Germany (’72 Euro and ’74 WC) and France (’98 WC and ’00 Euro). Ya can’t argue with results.
Well said ‘cago I was saying he same thing to Fredrick earlier only I missed out the German achievement of the 70s
As those guys, they are just clowning around, I doubt if respecting or disrespecting AFC crossed their minds but they put Cesc in a bad position though.
I was wondering about the reasons for Reina’ involvement as well, clown.
As I was saying in GDC; from Total Football to Anti-Football, it was a shame to watch the Dutch attempt to wreck the greatest sporting event in the world.
I wanted the perennial underachievers to succeed before the game then 10 mins in I changed my mind, there was no way I could have backed a team other than my own whilst they were playing with such a nasty attitude. They have played boring football throughout anyway and I wish they’d lost to Brazil in retrospect because we would have had a proper game then.
With that said the 3 place play off was fantastic. The first time in my life I have supported the German’s in anything. Urgay deserved nothing this WC and that is what they got. They played some good football against the Germans though and their attitude made the game so entertaining.
I must say the beauty of the South American football has been impressive throughout with the little guys showing us they have the flair and ability of some of their illustrious neighbours. Paraguay, Chile were particularly impressive to me as I knew little about them. I would have been nice to have a South American team in the final I think it would have been a lot more entertaining than watching a typical European game of chess.
Overall a good WC for South Africa considering the prophecies of woe from the Doom Mongers.
This video explains why I hate Spain –
During their national celebration of the World Cup win – Pepe Reina pulls Fabregas on stage – Puyol and Pique rush on stage and put a Barca jersey on him. Fabregas looks suitably embarrased or uncomfortable take your pick.
Reina calls him future Barca player.
Of course Reina wants him Spain. So Reina has now officially joined the twat brigade along with Puyol and Pique. Meanwhile look for Xavi, I think he pulled Cesc’s pants down to check his Barca DNA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kj01g5WGJg
Absloute lack of respect for Arsenal from the spanish cunts.
Why does something like that have to happen during a national celebration.
I certainly hope on match day one of the EPL season we put 5 or 6 past that twat (edited because Art is right) Reina.
Aaaish! Easy DAG that is such a nasty word to use.
I know I know. But look stay or leave – I cannot stand the impudence and absolute disregard for a club a I love.
DAG, so it’s like that ? :-o
I wish you’d chew out those Mongers more though I am always accusing them of “impudence and absolute disregard” ;-)
lol Fred. How many times do Spain have to outclass sides before you concede they are a class side deserving of very high praise?
I know you hate Xavi/Iniesta and the ‘non-serious’ technically airy fairy stuff, but credit where credit it due, it’s damn effective. Their ability to control the ball and have the other team running around also is a big help defensively.
They do play lateral sometimes but most of the time they try to be progressive. Not everything has to be black and white. As long as you play possession football high up the pitch, the opposition are strained and that strain catches up with them.
Now us, Arsenal, yes we are the very defination of lateral. Pointless passes in the ‘dead zone’ of the pitch. Halfway line crap in front of both the opposition’s defence AND midfield.
Having said all that, Spain didn’t exactly light things up. They were pedestrian by their standards, but such is their class they can almost cruise to a world cup victory.
Hate Xavi/Iniesta??? Are you freaking kidding me? When Deco was about to move to Chelsea, I was arguing on the old AA site (which should still be availabe) that that was by far the best thing that could happen to Barca, because it would free up Iniesta … (while Stag was arguing that they needed a big-money purchase! :-D )
I have known and been a big fan of the lad since he was a far underrated, and more defensive mid in the early 2000s. Infact the main reason, I wanted Merida to START last season was so that he and Cesc could re-create the Xavi/Iniesta. On Xavi/Iniesta you must be confusing me with someone else.
After your first four paragraphs of nonsense talk, you finally decided to completely agree with what I said in the last! LOL. They had four one-on ones with the Dutch keeper, two of them from aerial balls in the whole 120 minutes. How is that an advertisement of incisive forward play? Holland managed two of their own, and they are far less talented.
In the end all their games were nervy, 1-0s. And in each game they could easily have been sucker punched, and if that had happened they would have been ridiculed “as just another Arsenal”. Come on Mazza, if Arsenal played as many lateral balls as Spain while creating so few you would have blasted them … and I would mostly agree.
As you said, Spain’s pedestrian play is still the best international football has to offer.
i don’t argue for big money signings for Barcelona…
JUST ARSENAL!
Barcelona make them every season…
that’s why they are always among the elite teams in the world, and the Spanish Champion World Cup team – Champion Euro Cup team, any cup you want to play for… is littered with Barcelona players… (and players who want to play there!)
;)
you weren’t exactly a fan of Spain in the WC, Fred… I picked them to win it, you … did not!
me and the Octopus baby!
though he got fed for his predictions, I didn’t get a damned thing!
No, you argued they would get worse because of the sale … especially as Madrid had won the two league titles before and they were just “standing pat”. ;-)
I am not and have never been a fan of Spain.
I have supported Barcelona since Johann Cruijff moved there (hate their new-found arrogance though), Arsenal since Bergkamp moved to London and Ajax is my “home” team.
Basically, I support teams based on their relationship with Cruijff, Bergkamp or any of the other Ajax luminaries. Germany I support because I lived there.
new found arrogance comes with being Euro and World Cup Champions!
Its just the way athletes are, and that will never change.
at the moment, nobody can beat them in a tournament!
the Swiss – the USA
ummm.
what tournament did the Swiss / or / USA win that meant something?
Federations Cup?
yeah, that’s like beating Arsenal at the Arsenal Cup, and saying you beat them.
The Swiss beat them in THIS tournament.
The ONLY time Spain went behind they lost.
I said they don’t lose TOURNAMENTS, not games.
I don’t think we play the same as Spain at the moment. We might TRY to but we don’t. There’s a difference between messing up the final pass or pivotal assist pass 25 yards from goal AND (in our case) aimlessly passing it around 40-50 yards from goal, too scared to play in central vertical lines due to lack of ability/cajones, and choosing to play safe to full backs all the time. That’s how we’ve played for the last two seasons against any side who are relatively well-drilled and press us semi-aggressively.
Two and three years ago we played like Spain. Back then you would incredibly frustrated watching us because everything was there bar the efficiency/ruthlessness in the final fourth of the pitch.
Last two seasons at times I’ve been embarrassed watching us, because we struggle to even penetrate their midfield lines, nevermind mess up an opportunity when ploughing into their back four.
I wish I could criticise us for overplaying or being too indulgent, but that’s rarely the case. Now it’s like we’re full of Aston Villa players trying to do an imitation of Barca. Epic fail!
we attempt to play a similar game, without the talent needed to do so…
and the result is, 3rd or 4th place.
Oh, dont get me wrong, am not saying Arsenal is on Spain’s level technically. The moment I see Denilson, Diaby or Walcott on the team sheet, for me, its all about getting the points without any predictable “mishaps” … I dont even hope for good footie.
But you have got to admit … even the whack ass Arsenal of the last two seasons create as many clear cut chances as the newly crowned gods of Spain. And in spells they actually are quite decent Barca-like immitators. How do you explain that?
This performance (in this WC anyway) isnt any more exciting than France in 98/00 or even Brazil in 2002. And those two were not vintage.
So am trying to understand the overhype by the admittedly Sky, etc punditry.
Its a bit like when Arsenal beat some random side 2 or 3 nil, and the commentators keep on talking about the “great football” we play, even though that was not precisely the case and the opposition had some good opportunities to take us out.
Iniesta goes to ground for bare minimum contact and Heitinga is sent off.
Robben does not go to ground for a foul by Puyol. No foul and no sending off for Puyol.
You can see why players feel the need to go to ground.
+1
All you can hope for (in any match) is that the ref is consistent.
RvP yellow card……I counted at least 4-5 Spainish tackles as bad or worse
and no card shown…….
Like I said, Webb is for sh*t.
And on a lighter World Cup note: http://deadspin.com/5581705/arjen-robben-rolled-into-a-ball-the-photoshop-roundup/gallery/
“Can someone tell me why RvP struggled in the WC? He played in the same position as he does for Arsenal and the Dutch midfield plus support cast is better than Arsenal’s.”
+
“Two, he is bitter enemies with Schneider! Schneider unfortunately is the only Dutch midfielder who can make an “enlightened” pass to release him.
Three, Robben is quite selfish.”
What we saw at this WC (throughout) was not real Dutch football. At this high level of skill and experience, the team displaying the best chemistry wins. Even though the Dutch walked through all of the qualifiers undefeated and on through to the final – they never played to their potential.
As much as I hoped, wanted, wished for the Dutch to win, THIS ASSEMBLY OF PLAYERS had too much going against it. You have fractious personalities of Robin, Wes, and Arjen (Robben) – integral to the Dutch creating chances.
So many times, Wes and Robben could have played the ball to an open RvP, but chose not. It was so obvious throughout the tournament. But, every time RvP did receive the ball – most of his decisions were to find and deliver the ball to an open teammate.
Robben’s play reminded me of Arshavin play (during this past season when RvP and Bendtner were out).
In the final: Wes was a no show and all flowing play ended at Robben. EVERYTIME Robben RECEIVED THE BALL IT WAS ALL ABOUT HIM. How many times did he attempt to run with the ball down the right wing, run out of real estate, find himself with 3 Spaniards marking him…….and he still looked for a way to beat the 3 defenders himself?
For me it was satisfying to see him ‘CHOKE’ on his two goal scoring opportunities.
Spain deserved to be rewarded for their style of play and unselfishness.
Webb is sh*t for an official and how FIFA could rate him to handle the final…………well that’s politics.
i may be in the minority on this, but i thought webb had a very decent game. the players made his job a nightmare. the dutch fouling and the spainairds diving when they weren’t getting hacked.
i know de jong should have been sent off in the 25th minute. i think webb did the right thing not sending him off. too often the refs influences the game. i suspect had that been in the second half, he would have seen red. it would have been awful to watch 65+minutes of 10 against 11. if you thought the dutch were “anti-football” 11 on 11, well. i think for the benefit of the game and spectical as a final he did all he could to let the players try and decide it.
sure he might have called a foul on puyol for pulling down robben, but robben didn’t dive. credit to him, at the time i thought he should have fallen over and made the ref make a decision. he could have booked robben for kicking the ball away and sent him off, van bommel was lucky to stay on the pitch too. had von bommel clutched at his face and rolled around after iniesta “retaliated” after another fould on him, inesta could have gone off. it was a crappy game, although spain did try to rise above.
his most inocuous call that he got wrong ended up deciding the game. missed the dutch corner kick off the free kick, spain goes on to score.
totally agree on NOT sending of De Jong.
he would have been killed for RUINING the World Cup Final.
Not an easy game to officiate, when the world just wants the ref to stay out of the way… and the Dutch are trying to foul and slow down the Spain flow / possession game.
Can someone tell me why RvP struggled in the WC? He played in the same position as he does for Arsenal and the Dutch midfield plus support cast is better than Arsenal’s.
Also, did you see his challenge on Capdevilla which earned him a yellow card? How different was it from Chiellini’s challenge on RvP which led to him missing almost six months?
I got to say that RvP didn’t score and yesterday he did not have a good game but overall I thought he did quite well in the WC.
He did what he does well, holds up the ball, and gives out the assist. A lot of the dutch goals came off of RvP’s play.
In yesterday’s game there was never a time when he didn’t have 2 or 3 players on him when he got around the box. Spain did an effective job of taking his game away from him.
One reason is that he was too isolated from midfield.
Two, he is bitter enemies with Schneider! Schneider unfortunately is the only Dutch midfielder who can make an “enlightened” pass to release him.
Three, Robben is quite selfish.
Four, he isnt physically dynamic enough to make “it” happen on his own.
because the Dutch don’t play as a team or work for each other. they lack chemistry and tend to focus on the individual and not the team. other than watching them foul constantly yesterday, the most annoying thing was watching robben or schneider try and dribble past half of the Spanish defense (and yes i desperately wanted the Dutch to win…ugly or not). the few times they actually passed the ball they were able to unlock the Spainish defense (albeit on the break) and created some chances.
he got lousy or no service and was isolated up top as mentioned earlier. i hope both van persie and cesc realized from their world cup experiences that being the “main man” on a decent team can be individually more rewarding than playing a bit part on a winning team. nothing like riding the pine or not playing with your team when you are out there to open your eyes…
RVP didn’t play a “bit part”. He was a major part of the Dutch team.
Cesc and ANYONE else would rather WIN THE WORLD CUP, and come off the bench … than LOSE and start.
If they don’t, then they are selfish individuals, who only care about their own stats… (see Adebayor or Eto’o)
i didn’t say RVP played a bit part. his teammates treated him as a bit part, they never found a way to get him involved. because he IS a major part of the team they should have found a way to address that during the tournament.
i disagree. players want to play (as well as make money and win things). winning a medal/trophy where you weren’t a part of the action isn’t particularly meaningful (don’t read into this as me diminishing cesc’s contribution as i think he was severly underutilized). perhaps i’m in the wrong, but i’d rather play week-in-week-out for a decent team and be someone the team counts on than the guy who comes in at 92+ min as a “tactical” change. maybe top tier pros are different…
it depends on who you are, and where you are in your career…
Cesc PLAYED at the WC… would he have like to factor in more?
Yes. Definitely.
But he simply doesn’t command the playing time, when surrounded by stars in that National team.
He is THE STAR of Arsenal right now, but how long do you be THE MAN, and not win shit because you are surrounded by mediocrity?
At some point, you’ve made money… you want to WIN, and the chance to win where your heart is, Barcelona, is a massive lure.
He’d have a chance at Barcelona… to break into the team, just would not be installed as THE STARTER or STAR.
I think winning and playing a role can be more gratifying than starting for a medicore team and playing most of the matches.
It depends on player / period of your career / finances.
He struggled because we play better football than the Dutch.
Exactly. Excellent arseblog today. The hypocrisy is incredible. If Webb that wanker, was reffing Arsenal v. Blackburn, he wont have given 90% of those free kicks and the ONLY yellow card he would have given would have been the De Jong tackle. Even then the morons at Sky would have said it was just an accident, and that the tackler is not a respecter of names! Imbeciles the lot of them.
—————————
Spain while the best in the tournament technically, are not the juggernauts the media are hyping them as. Ofcourse the media always need a champion to overhype.
But really, they do a lot of the things Arsenal (at our very best anyway) do that we bitch and complain about. A lot of passing in midfield but a paucity of real clear cut chances. Too much lateral playing for an alleged offensive powerhouse.
The REAL strength of Spain is their improved defense. They are now incredibly better aerially. Both offensively and defensively. Their organization at the back is now also much more tighter than say 6 years ago. And ofcourse their keeper.
If they ever went behind once I doubt they would have been able to come back. But as it was their strong defense (with some luck in there) allowed them to SLOWLY squeeze the life out of the opponent while running down the clock – never ever killing anybody off properly.
The dummy media will try to pass them off as equivalent to the vintage Brazil or Netherlands sides but in truth their games in this tournament havent been any more exciting that Italy’s in 2006.
Maybe I expect too much from international football. :-D
Spain won with DEFENSE.
I believe a few folks on here said… they weren’t good enough defensively to win!
what a laugh.
They scored 9 goals in the entire tournament, and WON… because they didn’t allow ANY in 5 games?
Pretty damned impressive.
Spain play great D by keeping the ball. I think their best trait is that they have become incredibly patient. They hold the ball, tire out the opposition and wait for the opening to come to them. Very mature football. In every game I watched them play, I could see the goal coming – it was just a matter of time.
frankly, it is just like watching Arsenal, ONLY we DON’T HAVE THE SAME TALENT LEVEL.
That is what we try to do, but we don’t have the chess pieces to get the crucial goals.
Also, in the EPL, the opposition is much much more physical, than in the World Cup… and more physical play is accepted and allowed.
So, we need an alternative. A different style for different matches and match-ups.
Wenger hasn’t done that or accepted that rationale.
Fred trying to sound like you know what the eff you are talking about, you can fool Stag ;-) but you can’t fool me dude. I know effing BS when I smell it ;-)
They are the best team in the world simple. They have been only the second team in history to have won a WC after a Euro. They playeyd relatively poor for them in this competition and still won it beating the overhyped Germans and anti-football Dutch. And you have the nerve to talk about “too much lateral football for an offensive powerhouse” The football Spain played two years ago was better than any “vintage” undeachieving, overhyped Dutch team in the past Cruyff & Van Basten included!
And how dear you mention the Dutch alongside the great Brazilian teams of the past :-P
Oh yeah and “The dummy media will try to pass them off as equivalent to the vintage Brazil or Netherlands” but a greater dummy will claim Spain “games in this tournament havent been any more exciting that Italy’s in 2006.”
Just having fun Fred :-D
— You know BS when you smell it?? How? Sniffing Adebayors ass? :-D
— They are not the second team they are the THIRD you twat. Germany did it 72-74.
— Will not bother arguing with you about Netherlands. You have never seen any of it. And now you are talking about Spain in 2008?? LOL!
— Yeah, the 4 goals in 4 matches and the grand total of 11 chances in 4 games is reeeaaaally thrilling …
“You know BS when you smell it?? How? Sniffing Adebayors ass?” LOL
No Fred reading you over a reasonable length of time.
Oh Fred I have seen plenty of the “vintage” Holland in my time, not a patch on Brazil. A bunch of lossers :-D
Yeah I din’t figure the Germany of 72/74 bit before my time shall I say. But who cares apart from you, it’s irrelevant, it cannot belittle Spain’s achievement.
Wasn’t it you that used to go on about stats don’t tell the story or are you the one that constantly throws about inconsequential stats as it pleases you. Either way… guilty :-P
Spain were fantastic in the Euro’s Fred or have you forgotten, played some nice football. None of you inconsequential stats can take a deserved victory from them against the anti fotball Dutch.
End of story….
Euros??? Why are you talking about the Euros? :-D
Moron!
:-D
“All I can say is that this (World Cup victory) is for all the Arsenal players and fans, they are a world-class club,” said Fabregas.
“I am an Arsenal player and proud to be.”
nice of him to say, and he also mentions going over to Van Persie post match.
but what else can he say now, when it looks like Barcelona aren’t going to shell out the money he’s worth?
http://beta.oleole.com/blogs/arseblog/posts/hypocrite-pundits-and-the-world-cup-final
Excellent article by Arseblog on the hypocrisy of the English pundits. They are fine with Stoke/Bolton/Blackburn kicking the shit out of Arsenal, but roundly condemn Holland’s “anti-football” against Spain. And not a comment on the rampant diving by the Spanish players.
I feel for Holland. I have always felt – the worst time to lost in a cup tournament is the final. I would rather going out in the first round.
And the worst match for a professional footballer to lose gotta be the world’s most important competition – World Cup final.
To think of the fact, Holland had lost in a WC final 3 times, their fans must be feeling like hell.
One more point – I have always admired Iniesta. He has always been overshadowed by other Barca and Spain superstars. But what a player he is. Great football awareness, great pass, great dribbling ability (in tight space).
But I gotta say, he is without a doubt one of the football world’s worst DIVERS.
William Hill must hates the Paul the Octopus to gut.
Disappointed that Cesc, of all people, helped Spain beat Holland. :(
But once you look beyond the (mostly Barcelona) players, you got to admire the way they play. They do what Arsenal have aspired to do for ages and not only that, they win trophies with the same style.
I absolutely enjoyed this WC, except for Holland losing in the finals. It was great to watch teams fight it out without having to worry about the result. Stress free football for one whole month. Have to wait two more years before the next one. :(
I did it….7 for 7….Yeah Baby!!!!!!
Spain was the best team, and I knew it….And the mussel was tasty…
Paul, Way to go!!
Spain was the better team. Cesc made the difference, and he did not look injured. Hmmm….Credit to Del Bosque (for keeping Cesc on the bench until absolutely necessary?) and Iker Casillas for his man of the match performance for allowing some Castilian pride to mix with the Catalunyan….
RVP, except for his over-eager (stupid?) challenges early on, was nearly invisible. Of course with Bruce Lee De Jong and Mark Van Damme working the midfield like it was a cage match, and “I should be player of the year” Sneijder hardly touching the ball and preferring to look for “Sorry Batman, I don’t pass,” Robben….he was in for a tough night.
Refusing to give a red card or a yellow for dissent or diving, Howard Webb turned the final into a joke, a fitting coda to England’s shame in this World Cup. To be fair, the Netherlands’ approach was negative in the extreme, and it would have taken a virtuoso performance from the referee to have managed the match. Spain, at first, and later the Dutch stars as well, however, took it to the next level with the diving and surrounding Webb at every opportunity. By the time Robben was finally booked for dissent, the record for yellows had already been set and it was far too late. As one of Iniesta’s dives in extra time (finally) got the Dutch down to 10, it only seemed fitting that he should score the winning goal…
All in all, an extremely disappointing final and a horrible advertisement for the game, capping a reasonably entertaining and exciting tournament, Vuvezelas and all.
Still, sketchy as Arsenal may seem at the moment, I’m looking forward to getting back to it…
you wanted the ref to throw out a red-card early… and “ruin” the World Cup?
Not a chance that was going to happen. What did you expect the Dutch to do, let Spain dance all over them? They came to play physical, and kept it 0-0 for 115 minutes.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the match, but I know I did, as well as the hundreds I watched with.
Not every match is a masterpiece, especially when so much is riding on the game. Nobody wants to make the big mistake.
Van Bommel made a nasty early challenge and De Jong could have done some serious damage to Xavi’s chest. If you don’t clamp down on that stuff early it just continues. If you don’t want a red card, don’t play that way. If you don’t want the ref put in position to have to pull that card, then some blame has to be put on the players too. That said, I thought Webb did a pretty shit job.
Congratulations to Spain.
Well deserved… they were the best team, and won the big matches
when they had to.
It was good to see Cesc come on and be a factor in the match.
He actually had the chance to score the winning goal earlier!
A great World Cup… very enjoyable, and made for a welcome
Summer of Football!
Arsenal are off to training camp in a few days!
Let’s hope Cesc and RVP take some time off before they need to
kick a ball again.
Nice to see Cesc make the winning assist- who else but the top assist-maker in Europe?
Nobody makes the assists like Fabregas. Well, I guess, no non-Barca player makes the assists as consistently as Fabregas. Not even Wesley Schneider or any of the other pretenders.
When he leaves, there is NO point trying to replace him. We have to CHANGE our approach to match the new reality.
We should just go for TWO combative DMs in a 4-4-2.
Our creativity would have to come from the withdrawn striker (Arshavin).
On the wings we can then go for Rosicky, Nasri or someone like Joe Cole. Traditional 4-4-2 also helps protect our wing-backs shoring up our defense.
When adversity comes, thats the time to batten down the hatches and weather the storm out. No point trying to copy Barca with the plank players we have.
Well, well Fred I have caught up with you at last ;-)
So your “highly emotional” call that the Matadors would be thrashed by the Germans was highly unrealistic as I said.
It seems your fabled expansive knowledge of football either doesn’t exist (which I suspect ;-) ) or has badly let you down on such an easy call :-P
There is nothing “highly emotional” about my comment.
Maybe you’ve been f&cking around with Adebayor for so long you arent thinking straight. I don’t blame you. :-D
Your ostrogen filled, highly emotional, cry-baby response to my blasting of the France team was hilarious though ;-)
Calling scores of future games (the job of a psychic) is indicative of football knowledge? LOL! If you really believe that you are far more imbecilic than I thought then :-D
Aaah, why you making up stories Fred. You are so full of BS it’s funny!
I have no feeling for France or the French team what do I have to get “highly emotional” about dude :-D
Up until now you you still have not defended your dumb summise that the French team are only supported by Arabs and Carribeans. That is is some real ignorant shiat, Fred… Real ignorant
Fred almost everyone who voiced an opinion on the Germany Spain game expressed an opinion contrary to the your “highly emotional” prediction of a Spanish thrashing by the Germans. So calling the score is not a indication of football knowledge but going against what is so blatantly obvious is an indiction of utter ignorance or a highly emotional drama queen. Which one of those are you Fred? I tend to believe both ;-) . I say “high emotional” because it could not have been based on knowledge just raw Germanic emotion or simply the blind ignorance of a pesuedo Germanic Donkey, eee oooww, eee ooow :-P
What do you have to be highly emotional and catty about? You tell me! :-D
I have lived for years accumulatively and watch matches in several stadia in France you have been on a one day trip to Calais! Enough said.
Is your last paragraph some sort of Ghanaian insider joke? ;-)
I am not Ghanaian Fred so I can’t be an insider.
The last paragraph is a reference to your Germanic roots being a cause of your highly emotional, non sensical babblings ;-) . And the donkey bit just plain old fashion fun. I laugh as I type.
Why I am I being catty? Because that is how you do it, so that is how I relate to you when I feel like it.
I don’t get ‘catty’ with Andez, Sachin, Ozi cause they don’t get ‘catty’ with me.
I will take the piss when I feel you deserve it. You can give some and I know you can take. I have not got too personal with you though. So take it like it is fun :-D
Oh yeah I forgot. You know who I like to answer your shiat point by point right :-) when I can be bothered that is :-D.
The point I was making some threads back was that I have been over Europe it does not impress me, I didn’t go to any of those countries for pleasure, again underlining it does not impress me. If I want to go to France I can catch a flipping train it is that easy. I went to France on a day trip to Calais when I was a boy, I have had no desire to go back, again my refrence to Calais was intended to underline I have no interest in going to France, learning French, French women, French Wine, French cuisine. Do you get it now? Obviously you didn’t get it in my first reference.
All that said to let you know I am was impressed by your knowledge of France. It doesn’t impress me neither does your visits to French Stadia, and it is all irrelevant, dude :-)
Your vast knowledge of France and you still come out witha dumb ass calim that the French team are not supported by the French natives or black Africans just by Arabs and Caribbeans :-o
Oops just in case you misunderstood… your Germanic roots being the cause of a BIASED based emotional call. Not Germanic roots being indicative of “highly emotional, non sensical babblings”
Sorry Germany would’t want anyone to believe you are all like Fred ;-)
Germans known for being emotional?? Oooookk then ;-)
I am American by the way.
You went to France on a “day trip” as a “little boy”??
Why would you fly from Africa to France for a “day trip”??
The lies keep on coming.
You are a random Ghanaian or worse Nigerian (hopefully not one of those email scammers!) who has NEVER been to Europe and who goes into arguments he has no standing on. Never been to France yet you argue with someone who actually lived in the country being argued about.
HA HA HA HA HA :-D You are really creasing me now.
This is so funny. Are you trying to entertain me or are you serious?
I will let you continue with your wild assumptions and keep you guessing…. wrongly :-D
Sorry again if I am not making myself clear. I am not intimating Germans are emotional just your “highly emotional” call was based on BIAS.
Keep up the guess work Fred I like it, you are obviously no Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson would turn in his grave :-P
You are an American but isn’t it a bit contradictory to claim you are 1/4 German and 1/4 Dutch and then claim you are ALL American?
Maybe if you were smart like Andez you would not talk so much about your personal life and no one could accuse you of over emotional bias like I just did, sucker ;-)
All my grandparents are American, two of them being twentieth century immigrants, the other two 17th century immigrants … making me very all-American. ;-)
I dont expect you to understand American history or terms given your Ghanaian/Nigerian education.
Tell us more about your “day trip” from Africa to Calais as a “kid”? This was when? :-D
Fred keep that shit up! Please, it is so funny:
“I dont expect you to understand American history or terms given your Ghanaian/Nigerian education.
Tell us more about your “day trip” from Africa to Calais as a “kid”? This was when? :-D ”
I think I will get my wife to read this I think she will laugh too. The day trip from Calais to Africa is particularly funny. But are you serious? or are you trying but failing to wind me up ;-)
As for all American, you mentioned the key word “immigrants” relatively recent immigrants, the all Americans are the native Americans. Europeans weren’t even invited by the natives, now you have the audacity to call yourself all American :-P .
I have also found it funny how you Americans use that term as a badge of honour as if that makes you special in some kind of way.
As I said, I dont expect you to understand American terms given your education level. And yeah, we smoked the natives that stood in our way. Brutal world out there. Live with it.
About that your “day trip” to Calais from either Ghana or Nigeria when you were a “kid” please expatiate … I hope it wasnt a scam scheme or you werent a drug mule! Nigeria is especially notorious for both scamming and drugs. Its ok to say if it was either tho, afterall you were just an innocent “kid” ;-)
get your wife? …
what? u live with dade blue? :-D
sweet deal for u!
As I said, I dont expect you to understand American terms given your education level.
About that your “day trip” to Calais from either Ghana or Nigeria when you were a “kid” please expatiate … :-D
I hope it wasnt a scam scheme or you werent a drug mule! Nigeria is especially notorious for both scamming and drugs. Its ok to say, afterall you were just a “kid” ;-)
LOL! Fred You are funny in the dryest sense of the word, but nonetheless funny.
Hey I have been a kid but I was a child, was you a kid?
A for Calais you bet I went there as a boy, I certainly ain’t going to go there as a man. I have not been to South America or Asia yet, why would I like to go to dry old France. Being born in Europe I have no romantic notions about the place like you Americans do, it does not appeal to me.
Anyhow it is a bit rich calling Nigerians scammers and drug runners coming from a country like America :-P .
“smoked the natives that stood in our way. Brutal world out there. Live with it.”
I wonder if you or your “kids” will be saying the same thing when they put Uncle Sam under marshal law and put y’all in those FEMA camps they are building for you.
The question remains, why go on a day trip from Nigeria???? An approximately 10 hr flight just for a “day trip”. Sounds fishy, man!
A Nigerian dude talking about marshal law … the irony :-D
LOL :-D
On French TV station TF1 in the post match discussion – Arsene Wenger said he met with Barca President Rosell and told him under no certain terms was Cesc Fabregas is for sale.
This also comes at a time when some papers are publishing that Cesc’s people have secured him a £2 million home in the Hertfordshire town of St. Alba’s
John Cross goes on further to say that basically Arsene and Ivan completely blew off the Barca delegation as a way to reiterate their stance.
Sweet! I won my pool! Five guys tied with Spain on the top, but I was the only one who had the Dutch in the Top Three. Drinks are on me!!
Well, that was a not-so-good game to cap off a tournament full of fantastic matches.
Things that have changed:
1. 8 teams have now won sport’s biggest prize.
2. Spain join Brazil as the only nations to win the World Cup outside of their own continent.
3. Europe now leads South America 10-9 in World Cup victories.
PS: are the Dutch the Cubs of international football?
Getting your hands on the Cup is not easy.
http://web19.twitpic.com/img/128409962-c997cb75410256f02dbd1ccdb7c681a3.4c3a1bb8-scaled.jpg
Come on Spain!
Nice ball there, Cesc. ;-)
Only 10 more minutes until the Championship of the World!!
virtuatlly every big team in the world has tapped players up…
I hope Cesc gets his chance to play, and I hope Spain
buries the Dutch.
3-1 Spain.
Every now and then I check in with Myles. When he’s not talking crap about the man who helped him make a name for himself (AW) he can (occasionally) do some decent writing. Today’s piece on Johan Cruyff ahead of the WC final is worth passing along, I think….
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php?mact=News%2Ccntnt01%2Cdetail%2C0&cntnt01articleid=1672&cntnt01returnid=42&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ArsenalNewsReview+%28ANR%3A+Arsenal+News+Review%29
Yes, I thought of posting it here but somehow missed it. ;)
Wonder how the Dutch feel about Cryuff supporting Spain.
According to BBC, he said – “Who am I supporting? I am Dutch but I support the football that Spain is playing.”
He also said – “It is Spain’s game to lose, but I will take intense joy if they win it.”
That was a very interesting read. I’m still surprised that he’s not supporting the Oranje though.
Interesting –
Robin Van Persie has asked to wear the #10 jersey for this season. Says he wants to grow to be considered in the same vain as Bergkamp. Also wants to be talked about like Messi, Ronaldo, and Rooney.
Admits in an interview that he won’t be thought of this way until he can have a season where he isn’t injured for long periods of time.
Also interesting dynamic on the world wide web of Arsenal supporters as to how many people want the Dutch to win tomorrow versus the Spanish. Everyone wants to see RvP win something and want the Spanish to go down because most of the players are from Barca and the fans fury at how Barca has handled the Cesc transfer saga.
Also I am sensing a growing tide of – just let Cesc go – if he doesn’t want to be here we don’t want him here.
I must say I think my next piece is going to be on RvP. He is growing into one of my favourites of the current batch of Arsenal players. He gets it. He is, if healthy a world class player. He may noty be scoring for Holland but he is assisting and helping with the build up play. q
If RvP can have a season where only spends a couple weeks of the season out and has a long consistent run he will be the striker we all envision.
I have no hope of him ever being fit for a whole season.
The best we can wish for is for him to do his usual half-season injury routine from August to December and be fit for the second half. That is much better for us than his current routine of missing the second half of seasons.
I have little hope of RvP having a completely injury free season.
This guy fell on his own during the Brazil game and had to go to hospital for a scan and there was a big injury scare.
Sorry, but it just does not inspire confidence.
Further, it is too early to say that this guy is Arsenal through and through.
If you had to work only half a year and still be the main main in your team and keep getting promotions and salary hikes and be among the top earners, you wouldn’t talk about leaving any time soon, would you?
Fine point there, Nip….and it echos Kiwi’s ongoing ideas about injury troubles and rewarding players who haven’t really produced.
With today’s final one of our “main” players will, at least, put their hand on the greatest prize in the sport….
Unfortunately we really can’t believe in their commitment to Arsenal. I’ll be rooting (like most Arsenal supporters I would guess) for RVP and Holland as I’m sick of the Spain/Barca tapping up, which has morphed into a reasonable belief that our captain is done with us. Like others, I still hold out hope that he will act “professionally” and play hard for us, if Barca play cheap and don’t meet our valuation for their bench-warmer…
RVP will play in the final and, who knows, maybe contribute to a Dutch victory. More likely, Sneijder and Robben will have to carry the Oranje, and if they do, the irony (and anger) in Madrid would be hard to take. Mourinho (I think) would be a fool to try and get RVP to spearhead his offense (given that he’s already got Higuain, Benzema, Kaka, and C.Ronaldo) but you never know….And what a way for RVP (and Arsenal) to cash in as (on) a World Cup winner.
Frankly, (and getting back on topic) I think we’ve got tremendous question marks in attack. Fitness wise with Bendy and RVP, how Chamakh will fit in in a new league and with his new mates, and the perpetual question marks of Theo, Arshavin and Vela. If everybody is healthy and motivated, it’s a formidable bunch and the goals should flow. If not….
Stuart Taylor has resigned with Man City.
We were never going to sign him anyway, so its all good.
What we need to do now is put up ten million quid for Joe Hart.
Stuart Taylor is a below average GK, Almunia is far better.
Al can pull out reall top calss saves even though he makes a few gaffs. Stuart taylor gets rotted to the spot too often, slow reactions.
There is no “what might have been?” withis guy, he clearly was not good enough. have you noticed he has never been first choice GK at any club he has been.
He was very, very promising during his time at Arsenal but got to impatient. He should have waited.
For GKs, being first choice has a lot to do with luck more than anything else.
No he was not promising I know this very well. Maybe you are confusing ST with Richard Wright, he was overrated anyway but was far better than Stuart Taylor.Again it appears your alleged vast football knowledge appears to have failed you.
This is the type of nonsense talk that I cannot resist pulling you up on: “being first choice has a lot to do with luck more than anything else” So luck more than ability right?
No, you fucktard, ability alone is not enough, you need luck just to break through, even as a regular player. There are a lot of potentially great players who never get the right opportunity or are at the wrong place (club at the wrong tme). If Henry had got a knee injury when Wenger wanted to buy him he might never have come to Arsenal and might never have been a great player. LUCK!
For goalkeeers it is even more highlighted because there is only ONE position.
As for Taylor, he played in several Champions League games but missed out completely on two seasons because on injury and thats why Wright was bought. Wright was considered a failure at the club, Taylor was considered the Wocsiezny of that time. He kept getting niggling injuries and when he was fit Almunia and Lehmann were already in.
Keep arguing :-)
“fucktard” LOL! what does that mean anyway? we don’t use that term over here in Nigeria/Ghana ;-)
“As for Taylor, he played in several Champions League games but missed out completely on two seasons because on injury and thats why Wright was bought. Wright was considered a failure at the club, Taylor was considered the Wocsiezny of that time.”
Fred… That is absolute rubbish all of it. No he wasn’t out becuase of injury for two years, where did you get that from?! Part of or most of a season with some issue or other but two years? no way.
Stuart Taylor was never thought of in the game in same regard as Szczesny, never. He was rated and recommended by Bob Wilson, but never got rave reviews until he left the club… nor after.
I have watched Stuart Taylor in probably every first team game he has played for the club one of those live. He is simply not been, ever reckoned to be, will be, for Arsenal or after Arsenal; good enough. He is what 3rd choice at Man City, I think they simply think he is a nice lad so extended his contract. To befair to him he should have improved a lot since i last saw him but what is not even half good enough for City would never have been good enough for us.
Wright was a failure to himself. Never seemed to believe he was good enough it was more mental ability rather than ability that he lacked. However Arsene anted to keep him, he wanted to leave because IMO he couldn’t take the pressure of being at such a big club.
Wright was considered the next England GK he was even selected for England once or twice and played for them more frequently at the junior levels. I always thought he was overrated but he was better than Stuart Taylor that’s why he was bought in the first place. Same with Manninger, another overrated GK but played a lot of games for us because of the the injury to our No1, Stuart taylor could not even compete with him he was his under study.
Fact is ST had plenty of opportunity to shine Arsene always gives his players that, but it is true to say Stuart was, from what I have seen with my own Nigerian eyes…. simply not good enough :-)
He played a lot of matches during the 01/02 season, then missed half of the next season, the whole of the invincible season and half of the 04/05 season. Thats a full TWO seasons, thats FACT, you fucktard! ;-)
You cant even get your basic arguments right.
Fred do you honestly believe that he missed more matches due to injury or more matches because he wasn’t good enough? You claim that he has missed two years due to injury. If you are correct, most often you aren’t :-P then that is only two years out of what a 8/9 year career at the club.
By the way 2001/02 he did not play a lot of games for the club only about 15 because Wenger gave him his chance. That was only because he was ahead of Manninger and Wright in the pecking order, Wright had already been brought in to be the long term understudy for Seaman.
Your basic argument is that it is more to do with luck than ability that a GK gets No1 spot in a team. How ironic for you to tell me to get my basic arguments right :-D
My basic argument is that Staurt Taylor has never been good enough to be an Arsenal number one, I think I am safe to say I called that one right. How did the pot end up calling the kettle black? :-P
Oh, and let me quote you:
“being first choice has a lot to do with luck more than anything else”
I emphasise; “LUCK MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE”
I disagree and reiterate ability more than anything else.
But to be fair to you, like I said before you don’t always mean what you say, you are just being dramatic, Queen Fred ;-)
Being first choice as GK has a lot to do with LUCK more than anything else.
Talent is a basic for every keeper that breaks through, but a huge dollop of luck is a prerequisite for actually being number one.
It holds thru in all works of life, and is amplified for the GK position.
PS: You seem to know a lot about queens considering you are Dade Blue’s. Is he treating you well by the way?
Defending the indefensible, trust you ;-)
You didnt answer my last question … are you being treated well? ;-)
Ha Ha Ha! Nice one Fred :-D
Writing in his column for The Sun Cesc said: “And of course, one of my Arsenal team-mates, Robin van Persie, is in their team.
“I have been texting him and we realised the only way we could face each other here was in the World Cup final. We joked about it after the early games and it is fantastic that it has now actually happened.
“It is great for us and it is great for Arsenal to have two players at the World Cup final.
“It is a little strange too… Arsenal are back in training getting ready for the new season and we are out here still finishing the last season.
“I know where I prefer to be and I’m sure that goes for Robin, too. He’s a great player and very dangerous.”
Couple of things –
1. Does that sound like someone who is leaving or has his heart set on leaving?
2. If he was so set on a switch to Barca – would he even bother to keep writing for the Sun?
Now maybe I am grasping at straws, but I have always said that I thought Cesc was going to stay – at least for this year. I still stick by that. I always said that I thought the attempts were part of Laporta to confirm his legacy as president. He had to know that Arsenal would not sell for anything under £50 million.
Additional, Rosell, wants a “quick” decision made as he flies to South Africa to talk to Wenger and Gazidis. I think the whole story about the money is a way for them to say, Arsenal wanted £XX million and we couldn’t afford him. That way bit Laporta’s management of the club and Arsenal’s decision to not lower its valuation can be blamed for not bringing home the player.
Cesc is class and I think if he stays he will want to be there and not be some petulant young star. I think he will want to prove his value even more.
Cesc is going to to go to Barca. I think Wenger knows it well – it’s just when. I don’t think that is this season.
The latest gk to be linked is Samir Handanovic, who impressed me the most among all gks at the WC.
Rafael Nadal buys a stake in Real Mallorca. Now that is a story!
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=807437&sec=europe&cc=4716&campaign=rss&source=soccernet
I love Rafa and didn’t know that he is the nephew of Barca player Miguel Angel Nadal. I believe Rafa is a huge Real Madrid supporter. :)
Paul the octopus has proven that all of us should stop pretending to know anything about the game of football! Doesn’t matter how long we been watching the game, none of us can even beat an octopus when comes to predicting the outcome of a match!
true. that’s why bookmakers live in big houses, and bettors go broke.
@ Fred,
Before we start slagging our new Frolish CB, it would be good to see him perform first. As for making statements like him “not being dominant in the air” you may want to check out some of his stats.
A good article to read regarding Laurent is posted on Untold Arsenal
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2010/07/welcome-laurent-do-us-another-verminator-act/
“He plays very well with both feet. He is naturally right footed but he mostly played on the left hand side of the centre back position last season and he uses his left foot just like his right. He is a very good header, so it seems, and he has an eye for the right interception at the right time.
He wins a lot of balls and in fact he was the defender who won most balls in the Ligue 1 last year. In average he won 19 balls per game. The average of other defenders in his place was 13 balls won. In his best game he won 36 balls in one game. That means that he won a ball every 2,5 minutes. I must say that looks impressive.
In both this statistics he was the best in the Ligue 1 last season. In the official statistics of the Ligue 1 they named him and they even used his name to advertise for this year review. They said about him that it looks that he monopolizes the spot of the defender who nicks the most balls away. And they go further by saying: “Do we dare to say he was the best defender in the French Ligue 1 last season?”
Yes, he is relatively inexperienced, but let’s give the lad a chance before pronouncing him unworthy.
What I do think is crucial however, is to retain either Gallas or Campbell, preferable Campbell, so we have some experience and leadership at the back.
Sure, go ahead, believe the hippy optimist drivel…. ;-)
Strength is the easiest thing to gain…Remember how skinny Michael Jordan was in college and his early years in the NBA….Likewise, Barry Bonds was pretty slight back when he played for the Pirates…:-O
I’m more concerned with Fred’s report on his pace (or lack thereof, and the dearth of comment on this topic above). The high line we hope to play can lead to intense exposure given route 1 tactics and a speedy striker or two.
Regarding leadership at the back….Though young and predicted to show a “sophomore slump,” and well criticized by the cognescenti on this site, TV5 seems a natural leader, as a player and with his demeanor….If Cesc goes in a year or two or three and TV5 can back up last year’s impressive action and eliminate his (few) mistakes, he seems a natural future candidate for the armband….Of course, World Cup winner RVP might be a fine choice if there’s a vacancy any sooner.
I think giving the armband to RvP would be a similar mistake to giving it to Henry. Forwards usually aren’t captains for a reason – they have to concentrate on one thing, which is scoring goals and this leaves them generally too far away from the action where the leader of the team should be.
IMO, we shouldn’t be giving the captain armband to ANYONE. Let’s make history, to become the first football team in history how has no captain!
The fact is we simply do not have anyone who possess a LEADER quality with the current team.
The past few seasons, our CAPTAIN been too busy trying to jump ship. From what I known, usually the skipper of a ship is the last one to jump and abandon the ship. When u got a skipper who’s the first one trying to jump ship, we got a problem there.
Anyway, if pushed, I’d go for Vermalen as our new captain.
I know Barcelona don’t even have money to pay their players’ wage now. But please, gives us 50 mil and take that Fuckbegas away from us. I don’t wanna spend another season reading news on whether he would leave or not every bloody day.
where Barca could come up with the money? that’s their problem. if they wanna go broke, we can’t stop them.
Andez, you can ‘t have no captain.
I think the league mandates 1 player to wear the armband on the pitch, no?
Vermaelan after 1 season? No. I don’t think so… maybe Song?
I agree somewhat in regard to Cesc. If he wants to go, GOODBYE. I don’t want players who don’t want to be at the club, regardless of how good they are.
If he wants out… SELL HIM, and move on…
I also don’t care about Barca’s funding. They’ll be just fine, I’m sure. They don’t even sell sponsership on their shirts. That in itself will fund the transfer.
pretty impressive stats on Koscielny… as I also stated, lets see him play 10 games or so in an Arsenal shirt before making ANY judgements.
Would very much like to get Sol for another year… depth, experience… familiarity.
Gallas is GONE.
Good riddance.
Go for the most money Willy, unfortunately your door bell isn’t ringing too much.
He’ll probably wind up back in France or in Qatar!
Good riddance :-o ?
Hopefully we do not sorely miss him
miss him fighting with players in the team who don’t want to talk to him any more?
or his demands for 2 year deals, and large raises… when he never plays a full season?
The guy from that blog has NOT actually watched a single match or highlight of the defender … he is basing EVERYTHING on stats.
First, he has won a couple of offensive headers. Defensively, (and that is what matters for Arsenal) he is no better than Kolo Toure heading wise. Make of that what you will.
Notice how his “strengths” are “nicking the ball” and “interception” …. he tallies very well with the strengths of DENILSON … who also had some positive stats for a while back :-D
Good luck trying to nick the ball and “shepherd” the striker away as the Bolton forward headbutts the back of your head, slyly stamps on your ankles and body slams you to the floor during a corner! :-D
Dont we have enough of the smart but physically weak people. Dont we have enough of these sort of players???
Everybody in England knows we are “weak” and we are reinforcing our position as the weakest in the league.
Ah well.
did he say he never watched a match?
OK.
you’re right Fred.
Koscielny SUCKS.
He isn’t what we need. Wenger wasted 10 Million GBP.
He should have talked to you first.
give the fecking guy a chance.
I am not in a position to give him a chance … this is a blog … we are here to discuss Arsenal related topics and Koscielny is the only real thing to talk about right now.
If we sign a second CB, Joe Cole and a new GK, I’ll have something else to talk about.
I have NEVER blasted any of Wenger’s signings before, so it has nothing to do with rep.
I just see a middle aged guy who doesnt like the physical part of the game (in Ligue 1), who seems to have very average pace in France, in a team that plays a deep defensive line (Arsenal plays a high line). Thats what I see.
He will be a great project for a team like Chelsea that has a solid structure and a lot of hard men. Not for a pussy team like ours, that can play but not fight.
Am tired of seeing Arsenal players always the victim. Weak, foreign victims.
And the first thing he says is that his weakness is his physicality. Way to advertise yourself to the Boltons and Blackburns of the world. Now they will really target him.
I do not believe Kosceilny is meant to be the first choice CB. It is why we are linked with older more experienced EPL CBs.
I still think there is one more move in the back four that will happen. I also think that the Scwarzer deal will be announced next week.
If we do that additional signings will be gravy.
I think Kosy WILL be first choice CB, unless Djourou is just very very impressive.
Wenger is going to sign a back-up CB for 10 Million GBP?
How stooopid would that be?
Schwarzer or another established keeper, and Joe Cole… with resigning Sol, and we’ll have done some business this Summer for a pleasant change.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/09/michel-platini-collapses-suspected-heart-attack
Whoa….Maybe he was watching a highlight reel of Howard Webb’s matches….
Geez….I truly wish harm to no one, but I’ve always maintained that spouting BS is unhealthy….(Of course, I also take an aspirin every day)….
Like Matthew Upson, Stuart Taylor is one of those “what if” cases. What if they could’ve been patient for just another year or two. I think both of their careers would’ve gone better and they could’ve been solid contributors to the club. I remember Taylor being very highly rated by the coaching staff. I also remember him showing well in the games he played. Who knows?
For FREE, I’ll take him ASAP. He is unlucky, he made the wrong decision … he used to have Wocjiec type of hype so he figured he couldnt wait 3 to 4 years for Lehmann. Unfortunately for him GKs have far less opportunity than any other position. To break through before age 30 you need to be either extremely lucky or extremely good … or most likely both.
Almunia is earning 60k per week … am sure Taylor will take half of that.
Again, he is free, he is an Arsenal guy, he will take a low wage. Get him in.
On another point, this whole Fabregas issue should highlight why we should CURB our spending and giving time to all these foreign kids. For those kids, ALL of them “dream” of playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid or Inter or AC Milan, etc.
Take that 17 year old Swiss defender we just overpaid for. Guess what club he supported as a younger kid? BARCELONA!
If he fails to make the grade, we lose. If he comes good, he leaves, and we lose.
getting a 17 year old in, having him blossom and play 7 years, and selling him for a nice profit, is NOT a bad thing… We WIN… not lose.
Arsenal Football Club PLC WINS in that scenario.
How many 17 year olds have “blossomed” at Arsenal?
Apart from Cesc …. none.
I like Bendtner as an option up front. He’s not spectacular, but is certainly capable. Having said that, I think he’d be better in a two striker setup with a partner working off of him.
I understand Fred’s concerns regarding Koscielny, but agree with Stag that we ought to at least give him a chance to play some before getting too freaked out. Besides, at this point I believe Djourou has the edge on the starting job. Wenger seems very high on him. In fact, if he hadn’t gone out last season I believe he would’ve played a prominent role. Hopefully, he’s over the injury bug.
I also agree in that I would like to see us pick up Cole. He’s 28, but hasn’t been overplayed and is better than a lot of our current options out on the wing. He also seems like a creative player who could flourish is Wenger’s less rigid environment. Of course, his wage demands may prohibit the signing. I’ve also read that he wants to go somewhere where he can play more centrally, but I’m not sure if he’d be very effective there.
I am freaked out about Koscielny because we have massive holes in central midfield and in between the goal posts.
If those two positions were solid THEN I would be a bit less worried. Now we are actually taking steps backwards in central defense.
Remember, even the rather good duo of Gallas/Vermaelen was leaking goals … because of no support from midfield and idiot goalkeepers.
Now even our relative strength in CB is gone. AND Diaby/Denilson are still in midfield … AND I have no doubt Fabianski/Almunia will still be at the club next season.
All these considered understand why I am a bit scared. The guy is even scaring me more by admitting the flaws I have already known about.
Anyway, I really hope he turns out well.
At this point, I think it’s likely that we will be bringing in a keeper, even if it’s only a veteren stop-gap like Schwarzer. Haven’t really heard much concrete about bringing in defensive midfield help though. I would love to see us make a statement and sign an impact player there. It’s such a critical position.
Melo for Clichy is what has been rumored.
It is even funnier to read Koscielny say – “Arsene Wenger has taken a gamble on me”.
A MASSIVE gamble.
Wenger saying that we are still in the market for a defender is a smokescreen to me. Ever heard of Arsene spending 10M on a backup defender??? No chance.
If anything, we will sign a 17-18 year old as fourth choice. In fact, we already have (as I reported in the last article) – Sead Hajrovic. In the end, Arsene will say something like – Nordveidt, Bartley and Hajrovic will fight it out for the 4th CB position. And Song can also play there. ;)
Twenty goals in 80 games is more than a lot of first-choice strikers in the league. I can’t complain about that from our young back-up CF. As he matures, he’ll learn to cope better with the stress of finishing some of the easy chances he’s managed to miss. Truly, no worries.
Groin injuries are very difficult injuries to to cope with. The only cure for them is to rest FOR A LONG TIME. I, too, injured my groin because I started knocking long balls before I got a proper warm-up and it affected my ability to cross, shoot, or quickly change direction without pain. I had to have a cortizone injection in my groin. You can imagine how painful that was as the needle had to push through cartilage to be effective and it was only good for about six weeks. Vieira injured his groin and has stopped shooting from distance all together. This injury will affect Bendtner’s game unless he has proper therapy and healing time.
In typical fashion, Wenger has come out and said it’s not a major concern. BULLSHIT! This is not an insignificant injury. You can’t even walk up a few steps without proceeding with great caution. He’s had surgery and been forced back too soon last season because we didn’t have any other strikers. You can still run and play but a striker can’t shoot the ball hard like they need to without trepidation. Good luck, Nicky-B.
What do you guys think of Stuart Taylor? I cant recall him blundering his way through his time at the club. In fact I recall him being rather good but being to impatient to wait behind Lehmann. Anybody recalls any Almunia type episodes?
Anyway, he is available on a FREE. I say lets get him. He is an Arsenal kid, came through the youth system and is DEFINITELY an improvement on the Almunia/Fabianski axis. Plus he is free.
Get Stuart Taylor, Dan Gosling and Joe Cole … ALL FOR FREE!
Buy Gary Cahill for 12 M.
Sell Almunia, Traore and Eduardo for 7 M.
Net effect we spend just 5M and get a player in EACH part of the team, Wenger burnishes his “bargain, spending as little money as possible” reputation and we get four new English folks to add to Gibbs, Walcott, Wilshere and Eastmond.
Then the club can just wait for the Fabregas episode to unfold. If he goes, his transfer fee helps pay for his replacement. He gets sold for 40M (minimum) and his replacement comes in for 20M or more likely less.
Either way there is a great opportunity to both strengthen and make a PROFIT. And we all know the board likes that. The profit part anyway.
Team for next season:
GK: Taylor, Wocjieck, Mannone
LB: Clichy, Gibbs
CB: Vermaelen, Cahill, Koscielny, Djorou
RB: Sagna, Eboue
DM: Song, Diaby, Eastmond, Denilson
AM: Nasri, Wilshere, Gosling, Ramsey
Wings: Arshavin, J. Cole, Rosicky
ST: van Persie, Chamakh, Bendtner
Without Fabregas this team will have to rely strongly on Diaby, Wilshere and Nasri coming good QUICKLY!
Dreams …. ha!
One flaw in your master plan – who would buy Almunia?
Just jack the asking price up to 45 million pounds. Anything with that type of price tag will immediately draw the attention of City’s owners, who will assume that if he’s that expensive, well he must be good. And then they’ll buy him, just like they buy everyone else.
If that’s the case, can we sell the janitor for 10 million pounds? We’ll say he is an up and coming star in the reserves.
There are Spanish division 2 teams that would love to have a keeper with Champions league experience.
Doesn’t he have to agree to it though (not sure how it works to be honest), but if he does I doubt he would want to go back to the 2nd division.
The Schwarzer to Arsenal rumor appears very strong, and I think he is better than Taylor. 3.5 Mill is not that much.
That line-up without Cesc is not making the top 5. It’ll need Ozil or Arteta or something else to be plugged in.
and let’s not tear Kosy apart until he plays a handful of games for the club!
He is who Wenger wanted … so he obviously sees something he likes 10 Mill worth! and that’s like 30 Mill to other managers!
I agree on getting Joe Cole, it would be a very nice pick-up.
That line up CAN make top 5. It would just need to be more defensive and go 4-5-1 rather than Barca style 4-3-3.
Either way, how on earth will Ozil help? Won’t he need time to acclamitize to the England game? The team will simply have to play in a different way.
The exact same way Germany became more direct when Ballack got injured.
When Fabregas leaves, NOBODY can replace him and nobody should try to. Just play TWO DMs and try to be more direct.
Either way with the above team we are still better than Spurs and Liverpool. City havent proven squat yet.
take Cesc out of our team, and we are NOT better than Spurs… or City.
We’d be at least 5 to 7 points worse without Cesc Fabregas… EASILY.
You HAVE to bring someone or a few players in, to change the style or attempt to revive the style if he goes.
No ONE on this board has said we dont have to bring a few players in.
What I am saying is that NOBODY we can buy will replace what Fabregas does in the first season. No chance of that happening.
We would have to CHANGE our style to accommodate the new reality.
PS: We lose 5 to 7 points and we are still in the top four.
It is funny to read that Koscielny states his primary weakness is physical strength.
Yeah….hah, hah….
Oh boy, here comes the excuses even before he has gotten beaten up by the EPL forwards.
From the games I saw of him he does have a very “slender”, “gentlemanly” approach to defending … he doesnt like the physical side of things much and prefers to “sheperd” forwards away. Wow!!
He is not dominant in the air and he is definitely not faster than Senderos AND he is not very strong (even for the French league) … yet he is now a STARTER for a top 4 ENGLISH team. In a league were brutes rule.
Ladies and Gents, we have a CB Denilson!!!!
I really, really, really hope I am wrong on this guy. This guy is the very first Wenger-bought starter that I have a net negative impression of.
The importance of the defensive/holding midfielder.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/columns/story?id=807155&cc=4716&ver=global
All successful teams in the WC have one.
“All successful teams in the WC have one.”
Don’t you mean two….?
In tournament play where losing is death, it makes sense. In situations where a draw is almost as damning, maybe not as much….
I’m struck by two things from the article, that they cited Rafa Marquez as a positive example…I (and my Mexican friends) thought he was pretty poor for (disappointing) Mexico who might’ve had Uruguay’s tasty draw if they could’ve beaten them head to head. I wouldn’t be surprised if Marquez gets off-loaded later this summer by (cash-strapped) Barca, although I think it would be a mistake given their thinness in central defense now that YaYa is gone. Plus, Rafa sells a lot of shirts, at least in my community….
The second, and I think someone else noted it, is that all the holding MFs in England are in Manchester (in light blue). Barry, De Jong, YaYa, (who else?) Maybe City are hoping to beat that streak of draws they had last season….(or maybe they realize that competing well with the top teams is what really matters?)
SuperNick impressed me this past season with his work-rate. Early on, playing on the right, he tracked back admirably and was part of our early season success, even if he looked a bit gangly in doing so (and probably took himself out of a lot of better attacking positions). Long term, he can’t really afford to play like that as his (lack of) pace and mobility mean he just can’t cover the ground.
Overall, I think his height, and his general range of passes and shots is a pretty good combination and presents a threat to opposing defenses. Despite his much publicized ego-issue, which is so easy for the press (including bloggers like us) to glom onto, I think Bendy is working hard to improve himself as a player and also presents a good balance between wanting to hog glory (shoot) and share it with his mates (pass).
The real problem, I think, is that he’s right on the edge of becoming a perma-crock….At this point it appears that he’s going to miss pre-season and the early part of the new season with his on-going and mysterious groin problem. Groin problems are difficult. In my sporting life I was fortunate that I hurt mine in the off-season (in cold weather, when I was poorly stretched?) but then had time to rest and rehab (with weights and then gentle stretching) before moving into full training and competition. Super-Nick, and others, like maybe Fernando Torres, need to take that same time/approach but the rigors of top level football don’t allow it. Experience helps, but I seriously doubt if players, esp. strikers like Bendy and Torres, can adjust their games and produce at the levels we expect if their mobility is off by even as little as 5-10%….
And Howard Webb is confirmed as the ref of the final. Based on Webb’s club allegiances, I predict bookings for Sneijder (rejected Man U’s transfer offer) and Torres (a Liverpool player), if he plays.
Nick Bendtner is a good back-up striker…
or late substitute if we need to change our attack.
I don’t mind him as a squad player, but he is not a top level
striker who can score 20 goals. His misses are comical at times.
(laugh to stop from throwing the TV out the window).
we’ll see if we have enough fire-power up front… what Chamakh
can bring in his first season at the club/league… and the endless
string of injuries that occur to the likes of VanPersie.
Without RVP… we really don’t have a top-flight striker.
NickyB, is not that level … regardless of what he thinks.
Against TOP competition, like in the WC, what’s he done?
Bendtner scored 12 goals (and 6 assists) in 19 starts – and half of those starts had him playing as a right winger.
Bendtner CAN score 20 goals no problem if he plays up to 30 game in the middle.
Leave the Bendt-meister alone!
yawn.
Ooh, good comeback.
There are two thing that frustrate me about Nicky.
1. He does everything right, sometimes things few others can do, but then fails to put away a chance that countless others could put away.
2. Despite the fact he does not (yet) have that goalscorer’s touch, he thinks, acts and talks like he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. He’s still young, and a lot of young striker’s struggle with the kind of thing I mentioned in #1, but they don’t act like they’re above such things like he does.
I guess confidence is the one thing he surely doesn’t lack, which is always good to see from a striker.