Primary school kid knew Arsenal's problem talkless of avid adult gunner and its amazing nothing has been done. SAME OL.

@ Slim

I don't condone it, but I do understand Folly's frustrations. . . .we all express ourselves in different ways.

I still back AW 100%, but it's becoming more and more difficult to do with glaring gaps not being filled season after season. There is a heck of a lot of good work by the gaffer, but he does himself a disservice when these gaps are left in the side.

FOLLYPIMPI IS RIGHT !!!  

Why all these inane sermons ? what has AW done to erase that tag ?

who gives a flaming Bleep about what he did in the past ? what he does NOW is most important . . .yes he did well in the past . . . .for how long does he need to bask in PAST GLORY ?

Majority of u sermon preachers dont even have a clue what y'all are talking about . . .on the www, anyone can be called a BUFFOON !

Wenger being called a buffoon is even a compliment, he is worse !   u can imagine the heart ache he doles out yearly all in the name of youth policy and one rubbish sustainability model ? for fcking crying out loud, I had restrained myself from being that vocal this season but I get pissed off when peeps cant freely express their due angst at the folly of a puerile-ly opinionated de-actions of a proud gaffer  

season in season out, we turn out to be almost-rans yet u all come here tryna make all look well so that the likes of DK wont yab u, or the most consistent irritant ever Sauron ?

i[b]nterestingly SAURON HAS CALLED FERGIE WORSE NAMES THAN ANY GUNNER HAS, THIS DESPITE WHAT HE WON DURING THE PERIOD, CANT U GUYS GET IT ? [/b]

@DEBOSKY

No point trying to prove anything to Duduspace that feels/believes/believed/felt SILVESTRE WASNT WASHED UP B4 JOINING US . . .the evidence is there, yet he claims peeps suggested I would have been miffed at the decision   if given a gun I would have shot AW dead at that point thank God, I didnt have a gun then and thank God for Christianity    

@Slimshay

Quit sermonising and get a mail across to AW to flipping do the right thing and stop thinking this thread is a worship zone for AW and the foolish and greedy stakeholders who have abandoned footballing interests for their own money-raking interests !

@KAY_PUMPIN

are u ready for another trophyless season ?  

cursing AW isnt gonna solve no problem, but pray tell do u have his GSM number ?  

@HNIC

U seem to be towing Debosky's line by saying Almunia would be a good 2nd keeper . . , no ?

if so please remember to give him due credits by adding "like Debosky posited . . .''    

and then again . . .

we see the bad things these days, just like when we see the good things AW achieves we will gloat . . .the reason why we are even being taken any seriously was cos we did some good things in the past . . .no ?

Trophies man . . .trophies !!!  

Schwatzer, Friedel, Hart/Given. There's a whole lot of goalkeepers Arsene can buy. I actually really do believe he will bring in a CB. What kind is what I don't know. And I don't want him coming in November telling us 'we tried to sign, ' or 'we almost signed, '

I'm trying not to be bothered though at least till September 1. As it is, Im looking forward to sunday's game. with the boys coming back from internationals and with Cesc and RVP ruled out from starting the game, I expect to see one of Frimpong/Wilshere in the starting 11 (more likely Frimpong).

We should see:

Almunia
Sagna, TV, LK, Clichy
Frimpong
Rosicky, Nasri
Theo Walcott, Chamakh, Arshavin

follypimpi:

For crying out loud Arsenal is one of the top ten best team in the whole world yet we can't boast of an outstanding topclass Goalie,always have to settle for a keeper who turns ball into his own net,under slight pressure fumbles (flappyiaski + Alumni) or even a worldclass CB(we have to settle for Djourou who can't stay fit to save his own life).Am telling you today if AW quit the only players any top team would bid for are FAB4,Sagna,Song,RVP,A23,Nasri & lastly maybe Eboue.This explains alot about the quality we have in our squad.

You've just killed Jesus

Y'all should relax. . . .while there is a lot of frustration in the house, the window hasn't closed YET.

We need these things to happen, but at the same time, we must support our club and gaffer as we go into the new season.

We want trophies, we've been patient for 5 years and I feel our usual excuses don't apply now - we now have cash to spend and don't really need to break the bank to get in suitable quality. We just need to go out there and get it done.

Simply put, by Wenger himself, our aims for this season are clear:

"What will be success is to improve from last year, which is to win the league - that is the only benchmark"

debosky:

Y'all should relax. . . .while there is a lot of frustration in the house, the window hasn't closed YET.

We need these things to happen, but at the same time, we must support our club and gaffer as we go into the new season.

We want trophies, we've been patient for 5 years and I feel our usual excuses don't apply now - we now have cash to spend and don't really need to break the bank to get in suitable quality. We just need to go out there and get it done.

Tell that to that Ijebu **censored**  called AW who gets a paperweight defender, who refuses to get a good/decent goalie

There's REALLY som'n mysterious going on at Arsenal, if we are in a healthy financial position as we claim. . and AW preaches that 'he gets calls from players begging to play for us' and OUT OF THE BLUE, we hear. . 'We couldn't find quality'. ^{*scratches bia bia*}.

Let's see how it goes. . but i'm with Folly and Kit on this one

follypimpi:


Thank you jare.Who goes into a new season losing Gallas + Senderos + Sylv 3 CB's who are EPL experienced bearing in mind we have FA CUP,UEFA,Carling Cup with just 2 CB's,Djourou can't stay fit thats a FACT.

Bros,
Delete Senderos from that list.
He has hardly kicked a ball for Arsenal in 2-3 years and he's out for 6 months with a hamstring
Am sure, if he hadn't been sold, you would have also listed him as a perpetually injured soul

Dr Kitaun:

[@HNIC

U seem to be towing Debosky's line by saying Almunia would be a good 2nd keeper . . , no ?

if so please remember to give him due credits by adding "like Debosky posited . . .''    

and then again . . .

we see the bad things these days, just like when we see the good things AW achieves we will gloat . . .the reason why we are even being taken any seriously was cos we did some good things in the past . . .no ?

Trophies man . . .trophies !!!  

@Kit
I dare you to name any goalie that is 2nd choice in the EPL that isn't at par with Almunia(apart from Hart/Given)
Almunia was brought in as a 2nd goalie, which meant he was not supposed to be  1st choice.
The mistake AW made was not getting a good 1st choice goalie when Jens lost his postion to him in the 07/08 season.
That should have been a priority when that season ended.
I am not sure we have ever been faced with such Goalie crisis at Arsenal.
If you asked me today to still pick a number 1 for Arsenal,I will rather Almunia than all the others.
Not sensible to bring in a new goalie and let Almunia go,if the new goalie gets injured,Fabianski again
no way. . . .
A striker can let my B.P rise (I will just look away when he's about to shoot)
But I can't be watching a back pass to a Goalie and be shaking!

Kit,

I only addressed Folly's case cos he is my bro,any other person has a go like that and it's water off duck's back. . . . We all are exasperated,agitated,frustrated and petrified,but what will cursing Wenger change?Plus if na Folly papa no give am wetin hin want,hin go curse am?

As per this season,i wouldn't go gaga till the transfer window rounds off. . . even if NOTHING happens,i still wouldn't express my agitation via www vituperation.I have learnt the art of masochism when it comes to this team and Wenger.

One thing  though,Almunia MAY not even be our achilles heel this season,i fear for Cesc's state of mind and contribution.

Let see how things pan out. . . 10 matches into the season and we should know our direction/status this season.

debosky:


Realism tells me that we have only two fit CBs, one of them was playing in Ligue 2 18 months ago; while our competitors have at 3+ seasoned EPL performers. Realism points out that our GKs have issues and none can be really relied upon; our competitors and even teams below us have far better options. Even within that situation, realism suggests that Wenger prefers the hopeless Fabianski over Almunia who can at least beat his chest about winning games for us with his saves.

Realism tells me that we have only one recognised DM in Song, (Denilson is a 'link-player' and can't really be termed a DM) and the others who tackle in midfield are also injured.

Realism tells me we have improved upfront, but sorely lacking at the back and will likely fall apart due to our defensive shortcomings.

There can be no right track in selling off players and not replacing them. That is just unreasonable.

I find it very hard not to be pessimistic about the coming season, but I still hope AW will do the needful and buy a CB and GK. Without those additions, we might as well settle for 4th right now.

True enough, if we suffered for any reason last season it was because we lacked in the GK and target man areas and our defending was beyond poor. There is a difference between identifying and issue, fixing it and fixing it within your means

The target man issue has been fixed with Chamakh (and Arsene did want to fix it even before then but wouldn't due to financial constraints), it is now clear to everyone that Arsene is trying to fix the GK issue but is meeting a brick wall with Fulham so far (had actually put in an offer as early as May). We have lost 4 CBs (of which only 2 made any meaningful contribution all season) bought Koscielny and Arsene has repeatedly pointed out he is on the lookout for another while we have a good prospect coming through in Nordtveit? most people are making noise over Manure's signing of Smalling but why should we go out and shell out 12m for a prospect who is yet to prove himself while we have 2 prospects coming through the ranks very close to the level Smalling is at?

It is right to question Arsene's judgement, and I do understand your concern about Spahic but at least you can see the man is working to plug the deficiencies he's identified from the last campaign no one is beyond questioning IMO but it is also wrong to denigrate every good thing the man is doing all because of this mantra of 'We've not won anything for the past 5 years'.

The core of the strength in this team will not come from any signings we are just about to make but from the improvement from within. I told you of this youth policy last season and the financial constraint that brought it about, I believe it will yield fruit but even if it does not, I don't believe it would have been due to any one signing Arsene did or did not make, it would have been due to the fact that the club's financial prudence ultimately could not overcome the financial doping in the league.  If that is what some people define as delusion, then yes I'm deluded.

History has NEVER favored Arsenal in terms of goalkeepers over the past couple of years.

David Seaman
Jens Lehman (poor decision)
Almunia/Fabianski (siamese twins. . they share one brain)

@Debosky

no bother is getting worked up, if any definitely not me . . . siddon look option is better in this case as I dont want to get carried with the fact that that our winning the EPL is not only dependent on the quality of our squad, nor even the quantity . . .

we gifted away the EPL last season and this season I can bet anybody the EPL would strongly be between ARSENAL, MAN CITY and MANURE CITY . . . with Man Cteh holding the ace as the balancing outsider, I REFUSE TO LOOK THE SPURS way !

if AW can balance the side by buying a GK in Schwarzer's frame, Wojciech should be given a vital role in that team, regardless of whether Almunia remains no 2 or not . . .who cares ? _{I have always said ALMUNIA and SILVESTRE are bad-luck harbingers}  

get a cover for SONG,

refresh and recreate the attack,

allow upcoming players like JET, Wilshere, Frimpong and Nordvedt playing time

allow the strongest players in the team play at crucial stages of competitions,

re-define training methods of the team to ascertain why injuries are always prevalent in the team,

make the boys SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT !!!

Be ready to slap the hell outta the boys when they dont perform or he should even 'konk' himself on the publicly to show penitence  

So it seems its gonna be Schwazer, Arsene says he hasn't moved for Hart or Given

lol, Wenger says 'I believe we have goalkeepers who have quality and class, ' lol

15 Sun Add to Calendar Barclays Premier League A Liverpool
21 Sat Add to Calendar Barclays Premier League H Blackpool
28 Sat Add to Calendar Barclays Premier League A Blackburn Rovers

Those are the games we will probably play before a new signing(s) come in. I think I can be confident about doing well in those games (win all) with the team we have now.

PS: Ramsey has started running, good news!

proudly9ja:

lol, Wenger says 'I believe we have goalkeepers who have quality and class, ' lol

I don't know which one is funnier
Fabianski saying he wants/deserves to be number 1

proudly9ja:

15 Sun Add to Calendar Barclays Premier League A Liverpool
21 Sat Add to Calendar Barclays Premier League H Blackpool
28 Sat Add to Calendar Barclays Premier League A Blackburn Rovers

Those are the games we will probably play before a new signing(s) come in. I think I can be confident about doing well in those games (win all) with the team we have now.

A draw at anfield and winning the rest won't be too difficult.
Don't worry about Blackeye rovers,Remember Silvestre is gone
You guys should give AW props for not signing him on another one year deal

follypimpi:


Imagine,to speak with such confidence it's scary  

You should know Wenger by now. . . . till he signs a replacement, he'll never publicly castigate his current players.

duduspace:

The core of the strength in this team will not come from any signings we are just about to make but from the improvement from within. I told you of this youth policy last season and the financial constraint that brought it about, I believe it will yield fruit but even if it does not, I don't believe it would have been due to any one signing Arsene did or did not make, it would have been due to the fact that the club's financial prudence ultimately could not overcome the financial doping in the league.  If that is what some people define as delusion, then yes I'm deluded.

I don't know what 'core strength' is, but the GK is core to any team's success. History has shown us that it is a near impossibility for Wenger to spot a good GK, beyond those already at their peak - none of his buys beyond Lehmann have been the necessary quality. That is definitely ONE area that you MUST buy to get the necessary improvement.

The financial constraints are no longer a real issue so let's set that hymn sheet aside. We've only spent on Koscielny, we've sold Dudu, released Silvestre, Gallas and Sol, so we have wage availability.


If we fail to defend properly this season, that WILL be as a direct result of Wenger's failure to strengthen as required. Don't deceive yourself.

It is not a matter of financial doping for you to sign a competent goalie - Shay Given didn't cost £10m, and even Carvalho with all his experience and fitness only cost £7m. We have NO excuses if we fail to deliver due to our lack of activity in the market.

debosky:

The financial constraints are no longer a real issue so let's set that hymn sheet aside. We've only spent on Koscielny, we've sold Dudu, released Silvestre, Gallas and Sol, so we have wage availability.

Depends on how you look at the issue of wage availability, you can take selling dudu to mean balancing the outflow for Koscielny and we've signed some younger players to longer term contracts, Arsene is still out for Schwarzer as Mark Hughes himself has confirmed and he is still on the lookout for a CB (maybe Spahic) so we should still be active in the transfer window.
We are not privy to the discussions as to the scale of spending involved but with Arsene's track record, I'm confident in him making a right call.

debosky:

It is not a matter of financial doping for you to sign a competent goalie - Shay Given didn't cost £10m, and even Carvalho with all his experience and fitness only cost £7m.  We have NO excuses if we fail to deliver due to our lack of activity in the market.

So its Carvalho you want us to go for now at 33 for 7m? remember what happened with Silvestre at 31 for 750K y'all are still bellyaching, I thank God yu're not the manager. Shay cost 8m in the season after Almunia just took us to within 4 points of the PL without any major gaffes and are you sure city is willing to sell now? and at what cost? even Fulham is stickin to 4m for Schwarzer at 37?

It seems Hughes is trying to get in a GK (I heard somewhere its Friedel) before letting Schwazer go. My suggestion is, why don't we just go for Friedel?

Im beginning to lower my expectations of who and who is coming in. I gave up two seasons ago! If AW brings in a CB and no GK, no worries. Il support the team and wait for the usual AW parables of 'we've got quality, ' on September 1.

Meanwhile back to team talk. Seems like Diaby is fit but as he did not play any pre-season game, will prolly not be available agains Liverpool on Sunday.

Expect to see the youngsters on the bench though. Im not sure Fabianski will be no2 goalkeeper this season.

So its Carvalho you want us to go for now at 33 for 7m? remember what happened with Silvestre at 31 for 750K y'all are still bellyaching, I thank God yu're not the manager. Shay cost 8m in the season after Almunia just took us to within 4 points of the PL without any major gaffes and are you sure city is willing to sell now? and at what cost? even Fulham is stickin to 4m for Schwarzer at 37?

Carvalho was a top CB in Europe and 3-4yrs ago was among the best 4-5 CB in the whole of Europe. Sylvestre has never been a top 100 CB in Europe at any point in time.

For 7m carvalho is a good deal and can offer 2yrs to allow the players grow.

Zidane was 30 when he was bought for the World record of 65milla. I would personally have spent 20m on a 32yr old Maldini, As much as you consider the age you have to put the quality too by the side.

Xavi is 30yrs but many managers would buy him for 70milla in a heartbeat

dayokanu:

Carvalho was a top CB in Europe and 3-4yrs ago was among the best 4-5 CB in the whole of Europe. Sylvestre has never been a top 100 CB in Europe at any point in time.

For 7m carvalho is a good deal and can offer 2yrs to allow the players grow.

According to DK's manual of concocted statistics abi.

Tell me the season he was top 20 and I can point to 15CB in England that are better than him.

Playing in man Utd would make Oshea a top 50 defender

@ Dudu

You are being disingenuous with the comparison with Silvestre. Silvestre had been injured for a full season and was virtually being released to play for LOWER RUNG clubs like Sunderland before we decided we were interested.

Carvalho won the EPL LAST SEASON playing a major role, and is clearly still at the top level. For JM and Real Madrid to be in for him, he is obviously still class, so that is in every sense a better buy than Silvestre could ever be.

duduspace:

Depends on how you look at the issue of wage availability, you can take selling dudu to mean balancing the outflow for Koscielny and we've signed some younger players to longer term contracts, Arsene is still out for Schwarzer as Mark Hughes himself has confirmed and he is still on the lookout for a CB (maybe Spahic) so we should still be active in the transfer window.

There is no reason why we should be going into the first game in the position we are - Wenger almost ALWAYS leaves things late and it costs us. It cost us when we failed to bring in Xabi Alonso, it cost us when he left it late in January to try to sign a GK or striker and he is doing it again. The stubbornness over price is costing us dearly.

Wenger has made claims before, only to turn around to claim we are ok. . . .if care isn't taken, we are being set up for the same story.

We are not privy to the discussions as to the scale of spending involved but with Arsene's track record, I'm confident in him making a right call.

Track record? In failing to buy a striker or keeper in January? In failing to strengthen the DM position last summer? I am not confident at all - time and time again, we've heard the myriad of unbelievable excuses the manager can produce, so apologies if I don't share your confidence.

So its Carvalho you want us to go for now at 33 for 7m? remember what happened with Silvestre at 31 for 750K y'all are still bellyaching, I thank God yu're not the manager. Shay cost 8m in the season after Almunia just took us to within 4 points of the PL without any major gaffes and are you sure city is willing to sell now? and at what cost? even Fulham is stickin to 4m for Schwarzer at 37?

Even in that season Almunia wasn't perfect - the fact that a player does OK doesn't mean you won't sign a better player if available. This bare bones policy is what continuously costs us, we are way too conservative in the market and it shows.

debosky:

@ Dudu
You are being disingenuous with the comparison with Silvestre. Silvestre had been injured for a full season and was virtually being released to play for LOWER RUNG clubs like Sunderland before we decided we were interested.
Carvalho won the EPL LAST SEASON playing a major role, and is clearly still at the top level. For JM and Real Madrid to be in for him, he is obviously still class, so that is in every sense a better buy than Silvestre could ever be.

To be honest, I'm not passing any judgement on Carvalho's competence but with our recent experience with old players (apart from with Sol and that didn't bring us the PL by the way at the end of the day), I can understand an unwillingness to shell out 7.5m for a backup CB who will be 33 at his next birthday. If he was available on a free now, that would have been a different story.
Besides I wasn't aware Carvalho was available anyway, Mourinho must have made the move with his knowledge of Carvalho and basically made Chelsea an offer they couldn't refuse.

debosky:

There is no reason why we should be going into the first game in the position we are - Wenger almost ALWAYS leaves things late and it costs us. It cost us when we failed to bring in Xabi Alonso, it cost us when he left it late in January to try to sign a GK or striker and he is doing it again. The stubbornness over price is costing us dearly.
Wenger has made claims before, only to turn around to claim we are ok. . . .if care isn't taken, we are being set up for the same story.

The obvious question is why leave things late? I usually read between the lines, Arsenal made the move for Schwarzer immediately the transfer window opened (Hill-Wood was the first to go public with it) but that hasn't been resolved till now, we also moved for Kos almost immediately but that took time to be sorted out. He held on to sign Sol on a free but Sol didn't stay (also due to wage issues if you read his explanation though I thought he could have shown some magnanimity considering we helped bring him back from the brink but so is life, that was exactly how Flamini stabbed us in the back too) and then made a move for Spahic (which I think has also hit a snag due to money issues).

Arsenal run a tight ship financially and that much should be obvious to anyone now, how much of it is down to Arsene or the board is the only matter in dispute and that is something we won't know until some peeps write their memoirs so I don't bother my head much about it. It is the way Arsenal roll these days.
Can I change the board? no I couldn't even if I wanted to. Can I change the manager? no I couldn't and I wouldn't want to. Can Arsenal fans frustrate Arsene out? yes they can but at what cost? to end up with a manager like Martin O'Neill who will walk out because the club doesn't release the money made from sellin a player? I love my club's culture as it is and won't jump in a river because our ideals don't seem to be working.

debosky:

Track record? In failing to buy a striker or keeper in January? In failing to strengthen the DM position last summer? I am not confident at all - time and time again, we've heard the myriad of unbelievable excuses the manager can produce, so apologies if I don't share your confidence.

Track record in buying quality players for reasonable prices that make an impact in our team is what I meant, you can't accuse Arsene of not having done that.

debosky:

Even in that season Almunia wasn't perfect - the fact that a player does OK doesn't mean you won't sign a better player if available. This bare bones policy is what continuously costs us, we are way too conservative in the market and it shows.

The question is why go for a bare bones policy as you call it? Arsene will pay for quality if he sees it as he has shown with (Vieira and Henry in the past and with Vermaelen and Arshavin recently) why has a manager who broke a wage record to sign a CB like Sol at that time gone frugal? whatever reasons that may be, I see our frugality is about to start bearing fruit.

Even if it was an 'offer they can't refuse' an experienced 32 year old, a seasoned campaigner at the highest level who retain his fitness level is a better 'gamble' than some Spahic dude.

duduspace:

The obvious question is why leave things late? I usually read between the lines, Arsenal made the move for Schwarzer immediately the transfer window opened (Hill-Wood was the first to go public with it) but that hasn't been resolved till now, we also moved for Kos almost immediately but that took time to be sorted out. He held on to sign Sol on a free but Sol didn't stay (also due to wage issues if you read his explanation though I thought he could have shown some magnanimity considering we helped bring him back from the brink but so is life, that was exactly how Flamini stabbed us in the back too) and then made a move for Spahic (which I think has also hit a snag due to money issues).

We are not the only club in the EPL to have moves turned down, so I don't buy all these stories. Even if Schwarzer was proving difficult (and still is) why not move on to other options? That's how we waited forever for Xabi and nothing happened. If Flamini stabbed us in the back as you call it, why haven't we learned and corrected the problem? Do you see players leaving Chelski on a free unless they aren't wanted anymore? Does it happen with Utd? Wenger is not managing things properly.

Signing Kos is good, but not good enough when you've released THREE CBs.

Arsenal run a tight ship financially and that much should be obvious to anyone now, how much of it is down to Arsene or the board is the only matter in dispute and that is something we won't know until some peeps write their memoirs so I don't bother my head much about it. It is the way Arsenal roll these days.

It is down to Arsene because he is the one who makes the decisions. With due respect, even though I like Chamakh's arrival, that was NOT our main problem - defence is and he has still refused to remedy that. GK has been a problem now since the beginning of last season and it cannot be impossible to secure a better goal keeper than the shambles we have. Arsene has control of the transfer budget so it is clearly his fault.

Track record in buying quality players for reasonable prices that make an impact in our team is what I meant, you can't accuse Arsene of not having done that.

He has a terrible track record in certain areas and that is the focus here - he is very poor in buying non-established keepers and CBs. Apart from Sol and Vermaelen, his other signings of recent have been terrible - Senderos, Djourou, Silvestre, Stepanovs. Ditto with GKs.

The question is why go for a bare bones policy as you call it? why has a manager who broke a wage record to sign a CB like Sol at that time gone frugal? whatever reasons that may be, I see our frugality is about to start bearing fruit.

There is no sense in going for a bare bones policy - we keep hoping things will turn out differently, but they DON'T. Do you know what that is called?

We keep getting injuries yet we don't remedy that, we keep selling of en-masse (why on earth should you lose 3 PLAYERS in the same position in one fell swoop??) and failing to replace - that goes beyond even a bare bones policy, it is an abysmal lack of forward thinking.