Thank God Sagna is back. Maybe we can rotate the LB position between Coquelin and Miguel and the CB position between Per, Kos and TV5 depending on opposition.

BTW, I feel so sorry for Park. Why we buy that guy if we are not going to use him? Today, we could have brought him in instead of Titi TBH. Na real ridicule we dey ridicule the guy. Chamakh will be back soon meaning no space for Park in the team.

ritchboy:

When Duduspace and I were clamoring for OX to be given a run in the side, Debo was yarning anti-sense.

Now in just the last two games(plus his few cameos early in the season), we've seen he's better a Walcott-Arshavin hybrid. . . What a player!!!

Dudu is obsessed by our youth team that's why noone (maybe except me  ) listens to him whenever he suggests someone from the youth team.

BTW @dudu, there's a one time fav youth player of mine who's now scoring like no man biz for Celtic - Anthony Stokes. His case like that of JET is one I really don't get. At 18 he was banging in the goals at Falkirk scoring 16 in 18 games and then we sold him the following year. He is 24 now and scoring for Scottish Champions, Celtics, 17 in 31 games already this season. I admit that you win some and lose some but it seems we hardly get it right with the strikers in the youth team.

The first day I watched Oxlade in an U21 game, I knew immediately that he was better than Theo Wankott

ritchboy:

When Duduspace and I were clamoring for OX to be given a run in the side, Debo was yarning anti-sense.

Now in just the last two games(plus his few cameos early in the season), we've seen he's better a Walcott-Arshavin hybrid. . . What a player!!!

Hehehe

I never said Ox wasn't good enough, I said you shouldn't take TW14 out to play him and I stand by that. Walcott's contribution y'day was as clear as day (even with the Lampard-esque goal ) so my anti-sense still makes sense.

I know all this rose-tinted ish will become the fad of the day, but y'all shouldn't forget that the roasting JD got against Utd was partly because Ox is still shyte at tracking back. Just let the boy develop at a normal pace and keep the expectation under control.

Better than Theo+Arshavin? Maybe in the future - but not right now.

Po Deep:

Who is this tool? After ur Chelsea whores went thru via a dodgy penalty yday?

must u insult the whole of chelsea fc and fan because of someone

proudly9ja:

Thank God Sagna is back. Maybe we can rotate the LB position between Coquelin and Miguel and the CB position between Per, Kos and TV5 depending on opposition.

BTW, I feel so sorry for Park. Why we buy that guy if we are not going to use him? Today, we could have brought him in instead of Titi TBH. Na real ridicule we dey ridicule the guy. Chamakh will be back soon meaning no space for Park in the team.
Dudu is obsessed by our youth team that's why noone (maybe except me  ) listens to him whenever he suggests someone from the youth team.

BTW @dudu, there's a one time fav youth player of mine who's now scoring like no man biz for Celtic - Anthony Stokes. His case like that of JET is one I really don't get. At 18 he was banging in the goals at Falkirk scoring 16 in 18 games and then we sold him the following year. He is 24 now and scoring for Scottish Champions, Celtics, 17 in 31 games already this season. I admit that you win some and lose some but it seems we hardly get it right with the strikers in the youth team.

I don't know about obsession o, but that is the strategy the club has embarked upon, but Debo is too blind to see it.  . I can see it and I've embraced it. I said it on here 2 years ago that Arsenal became a selling club right about the end of the Invincibles era but they said I was lying.  
That is why the board will want Arsene around for a while cos he is the one with a good track record at doing it. Only a dumbo  would kill the goose laying the golden egg (from the board's perspective and not most fans).

Stokes is not as good as Bendtner, even right now will at best be a backup striker, do you honestly believe he is better than Park? don't forget requirements are really high at Arsenal (except for favoured people like Theo) who is one of the few ones I disagree with Arsene over. We will still lose a lot of good players because the level of quality the Academy is producing now has gone up a notch. I see players like Ozyakup and Ebecilio and I wonder where they will end up.

The generation that got fast tracked at Arsenal was the Cesc/Denilson/Diaby/Clichy generation and most of them got burnt badly cos too much was expected of them by fans at an early age due to no fault of theirs. Arsene is trying so hard not to repeat that same problem so he is trying to bring in younger players more gradually and that is the reason why he still wants to keep the likes of Rosicky and Arshavin around.

We will still lose a good number of them cos the 25 man squad rule further limits who we can keep.

By the way, did anyone see that Aubmeyang guy who plays for Gabon in the ANC? anyone want to wager that chap won't end up in a UCL club within the next 2 years?  

Stokes is not as good as Bendtner, even right now will at best be a backup striker, do you honestly believe he is better than Park? don't forget requirements are really high at Arsenal (except for favoured people like Theo) who is one of the few ones I disagree with Arsene over. We will still lose a lot of good players because the level of quality the Academy is producing now has gone up a notch. I see players like Ozyakup and Ebecilio and I wonder where they will end up.

The generation that got fast tracked at Arsenal was the Cesc/Denilson/Diaby/Clichy generation and most of them got burnt badly cos too much was expected of them by fans at an early age due to no fault of theirs. Arsene is trying so hard not to repeat that same problem so he is trying to bring in younger players more gradually and that is the reason why he still wants to keep the likes of Rosicky and Arshavin around.

First off, I don't think Bendtner's problem is his quality, its his attitude that's killing him (that's my opinion). Secondly, I can't say anything about Park because Ive not seen him play for us. I can't guage him on the few mins we've seen him on the field. I'm not saying we should go and buy Stokes, Im only wondering why we let him go inspite of his goal scoring records at age 18. Even Bendtner didn't perform that well on loan. Coming on to the present crop, why keep Sanchez Watt and then go on to sell Freeman? At the mo, we have no quality striker in the reserves although Freeman used to play from both wings ala Arshavin.

As for the current crop, from what Ive seen, I only expect Bartley on loan at Rangers, Lansbury on loan at WestHam to make it i the nearest future ( Im even scared for Lansbury). There's only one player in the U18s and Reserves I can use the word exceptional for and that is Kristoffer Olsson. Ive mentioned it here before. The boy has vision. Waiting for him to break into the reserves. As for the others, some of them are good but not Wilshere like exceptional. The goalkeepers are also good but because Szczesny, Manone and Fabianski are still young, Im not sure anyone of them will be patient enough to wait to get that no 1 position.

If you say Arsene is trying to bring in the players slowly, then why sell a very good player like that dutch guy we had at RB at preseason (cant remember his name) only to go and bring in Jenkinson a 19 yr old? If we didn't have this injury crisis, very few would know about Yennaris or even Coquelin.

duduspace:

I don't know about obsession o, but that is the strategy the club has embarked upon, but Debo is too blind to see it.  .

If that is the so called 'strategy' then it is a strategy for failure and I will never accept it.

In my understanding, it was only supposed to be a TEMPORARY strategy, pending when property development funds and subsequent better financial deals came in thus enabling us to spend a reasonable amount on bringing in top class talent. However, the club foolishly wants people to believe there are funds while at the same time preaching a message that we can't compete financially as an excuse for not spending.

Such double speak has worn out its usefulness and will ultimately result in loss of supporters. Anyone who supports such a strategy is content with mediocrity and I'm not one of those.

Like I said previously, the club needs to come clean with fans so they can set expectations accordingly. If they refuse to do that, then expect more of the same divisions and enmity amongst the pro and anti Wenger brigade  - a house divided against itself ultimately will fail.

As for Tony Stokes - good player, but if he was very good wouldn't he be in an English club by now?

Some players come at the wrong time Proudly and Arsene still values experience a lot, just that he is hamstrung financially.

He had to let Nordtveit go ultimately because he couldn't hang around for one more year. Last season, Arsene believed he had a good enough team to win things (and they weren't far away). He probably felt it was better to keep Eboue than to put the pressure on Nordtveit last season particularly when Nordtveit is actually a CB in the making, with hindsight maybe he should have gone with youth. After Eboue left, the space opened up for an understudy hence why Jenkinson was bought.

Lansbury will likely be sold. The 3 young players planned for transitioning into the first team this season are Coquelin/Ox/Jenkinson and probably Ryo and Benik. Frimpong/Miquel/Yennaris have only come in due to injury and were earmarked for loans and fleeting appearances. Coquelin and Frimpong have always been preferred to Lansbury centrally (even in the double winning youth team) despite being a bit younger.

Frimpong might still go for yet another loan spell but he will get an opportunity to stake a claim next season when the usual round of injury hits.  
Benik might have missed his opportunity this season as Joel Campbell will get International Clearance next season and those 2 look to be in the same mould.

The Under 18s don't count at all for now, except there is a Cesc/Wilshere class talent in there who just can't be held back. I like Olsson, but he is pretty light weight and hasn't even clocked 17 yet.

Did y'all notice that wonderkid (Bannan or so) that came on for Villa towards the end of yesterday's FA cup game? The kid launched some long balls into our defence that really send shivers down.

dipo+:

Did y'all notice that wonderkid (Bannan or so) that came on for Villa towards the end of yesterday's FA cup game? The kid launched some long balls into our defence that really send shivers down.

Bannan na old papa (22 or so) he came through about the same time as Albrighton and Delfouneso in the Villa setup. I remember him well as that Villa set used to beat the Wilshere generation U18s silly in those days.

naijababe:

Dudu, you are not helping o, if i gave my boss your kinda explanation for non performance and not improving my performance, I'd have out of a job a long time ago.

My sweet, but your boss aint sending you to a gunfight with a matchstick like the board is doing to Arsene is he? if he is, just inbox me his address and then stay glued to BBC for Breaking news. 

naijababe:

The board will continue paying Wenger to tell us the stories they want while hiding the truth. If it all falls apart and Wenger gets kicked out or 'forced' to spend the available cash (if any), then we'll see the true situation of things and set our expectations accordingly.

Right now all we have is Wenger's spin - and I've stopped believing that for 4 seasons and the board refuses to come clean either.

Its called marketing Debo, someone somewhere is always spinning something to some other people somewhere to make money. 
But seriously, I laugh when people (mostly english journalists) ask where all the money made at the stadium goes into (as if they don't already know)
The Stadium makes 100m per season, but the wage bill is 124m, I mean are Journalist's understanding of mathematics that bad? 

And the powder is dry but they've got to be careful how and when they use it I think.

duduspace:

Its called marketing Debo, someone somewhere is always spinning something to some other people somewhere to make money. 

It's not marketing - it's making a stick for your own back when things go wrong. Everton is straight with their fans and their support does not dwindle even when players aren't bought - the opposite is happening with Arsenal.

But seriously, I laugh when people (mostly english journalists) ask where all the money made at the stadium goes into (as if they don't already know)
The Stadium makes 100m per season, but the wage bill is 124m, I mean are Journalist's understanding of mathematics that bad? 

It's not a math issue, it's a promise vs expectation issue. The stadium was built to increase funds to compete in the transfer market. If you are NOT competitive/active in the transfer market then there is a valid questioning of where the stadium revenue is going to, especially as that is not the only source of revenue available.

And the powder is dry but they've got to be careful how and when they use it I think.

There you go defending rubbish - they are being careful by ensuring that our season is DEFINITELY finished if RVP cops an injury? Seriously? So there's no striker in the whole of Europe that they could have brought in to take some load off RVP? Is that what being careful means these days? Careful means increasing our chances of NOT qualifying for the CL by failing to sign the necessary players?

OK!

If u placed a bet that arsenal won't sign any player January, then i think u should be counting ur losses.   Arsenal apparently is signing  Dortmund playmaker, not Gotze,   but Thomas Eisfeld for a whooping £500,000,
No.  Its more like 500,000euros compensation

duduspace:

Some players come at the wrong time Proudly and Arsene still values experience a lot, just that he is hamstrung financially.

He had to let Nordtveit go ultimately because he couldn't hang around for one more year. Last season, Arsene believed he had a good enough team to win things (and they weren't far away). He probably felt it was better to keep Eboue than to put the pressure on Nordtveit last season particularly when Nordtveit is actually a CB in the making, with hindsight maybe he should have gone with youth. After Eboue left, the space opened up for an understudy hence why Jenkinson was bought.

Lansbury will likely be sold. The 3 young players planned for transitioning into the first team this season are Coquelin/Ox/Jenkinson and probably Ryo and Benik. Frimpong/Miquel/Yennaris have only come in due to injury and were earmarked for loans and fleeting appearances. Coquelin and Frimpong have always been preferred to Lansbury centrally (even in the double winning youth team) despite being a bit younger.

Frimpong might still go for yet another loan spell but he will get an opportunity to stake a claim next season when the usual round of injury hits.  
Benik might have missed his opportunity this season as Joel Campbell will get International Clearance next season and those 2 look to be in the same mould.

The Under 18s don't count at all for now, except there is a Cesc/Wilshere class talent in there who just can't be held back. I like Olsson, but he is pretty light weight and hasn't even clocked 17 yet.

Ox and Jenkinson did not develop from our youth team. They were bought to play for the first team so they don't count. Frimpong IMO will be back up for Song eventually but Coquelin and Lansbury play a different role to Frimpong. In our 4-3-3 formation, Coq and Lansbury play the same role as Jack although they are more suited to Arteta's direct with no flair kind of football. If we don't buy a midfielder, I expect Lansbury to stay. Coquelin has an edge because he is versatile. He has shown that we can rely on him for LB, RB and midfield positions. I maintain that Ild rather play him at RB ahead of Jenkinson.

BTW, Frimpong is on loan at Wolves already. Didn't you hear Petrov broke his leg when he kicked Frimpong in the face last week? (jokes)

As for Olsson, Im waiting to see him in the reserves but I have high hopes for him.

dipo+:

If u placed a bet that arsenal won't sign any player January, then i think u should be counting ur losses.   Arsenal apparently is signing  Dortmund playmaker, not Gotze,   but Thomas Eisfeld for a whooping £500,000,
No.  Its more like 500,000euros compensation

Dunno whether to be happy or sad. If its true we are buying this player who tore his cruciate ligament in 2009, then we need to hire more prayer warriors to add to the ones currently praying against injuries to our players.

Plus I don't want to believe we are buying him to fit straight into our first team. Maybe just to make up the numbers now that Jack may not be available till season ends.

Whichever way, not something to be excited about.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/01/30/2875748/arsenal-close-in-on-400000-signing-of-borussia-dortmund

follypimpi:

Thomas Eisfeld there's no video of the dude on utube, na waoo

lemme search fifa 12's ultimate team.
i would check what he's been doing in the last 3 yrs.

brb!

A bid for a Watford defender?

follypimpi:

Thomas Eisfeld there's no video of the dude on utube, na waoo

Let's wait for the Ni[b]german[/b], DayoKanu to tell us something about the Eisfeld guy. I'm sure Dayo knows one or two 'bout him

follypimpi:

Thomas Eisfeld there's no video of the dude on utube, na waoo

http://tv.dfb.de/index.php?view=3879

The number 10 guy for Dortmund is supposedly Eisfield

@dudu This is what Freeman had to say about Arsenal:

“I do feel I have a point to prove,” he said. “I feel there is a lot in me still that didn’t come out at Arsenal and the best way to prove that is by playing games.

“I’m not too sure why it didn’t work out there, it’s how things happen in football. What works against you might help you out in the future. To be only 19 and playing regular first-team football is a good thing for me.

“I learned loads at Arsenal. They develop you technically so I can’t thank Arsenal enough for what they have done for me.

“I didn’t get much feedback from Arsène Wenger though. It is more difficult for English talent to come through at Arsenal at times. They have their favourites and stick with them, but they do bring through quite a few young English lads so you can’t complain.

“The competition there is stiff as they are one of the biggest teams in the world.”

@ Proudly, your baba ijebu no spend 500 kobo talkless of half a million £. Glued to Skysports news and Arsenal no dey gree come up on the news o

^ Cambodia ke? Una no go kill me for here o

Market go soon close, this man still never buy anything. Very soon now people go start ask that question after every game.

naijababe:

@ Proudly, your baba ijebu no spend 500 kobo talkless of half a million £. Glued to Skysports news and Arsenal no dey gree come up on the news o

We have enough boys (sorry men) coming in from the youth team. Buying a player now will stunt the developmen of players like Diaby, Jenkinson, Gibbs, et al. We also have a lot of guys coming back from injury. And it seems you guys have forgotten we still have Denilson on loan at Sao Paulo.

proudly9ja:

Dunno whether to be happy or sad. If its true we are buying this player who tore his cruciate ligament in 2009, then we need to hire more prayer warriors to add to the ones currently praying against injuries to our players.

Don't y'all remember the famous signing of Bischoff a few years ago? Wenger has a deal with the medical staff to get at least one player every year that the medical team can perform experiments on.

They had Rozzi for a while, then moved on to Diaby, then Vermaelen, now Jack so maybe this dude is being prepared as next season's Guinea Pig.

But seriously speaking, I don't mind the occasional punt on a talent that could come good, as long as you get what you need as well.

Look at Utd - they took a punt on Birame Diouf and Manucho, but when it wasn't working out they sold them off. Our problem is that we often speculate far too much, especially on South American kids.

debosky:

Don't y'all remember the famous signing of Bischoff a few years ago? Wenger has a deal with the medical staff to get at least one player every year that the medical team can perform experiments on.

They had Rozzi for a while, then moved on to Diaby, then Vermaelen, now Jack so maybe this dude is being prepared as next season's Guinea Pig.

But seriously speaking, I don't mind the occasional punt on a talent that could come good, as long as you get what you need as well.

Look at Utd - they took a punt on Birame Diouf and Manucho, but when it wasn't working out they sold them off. Our problem is that we often speculate far too much, especially on South American kids.

At Arsenal, we reward such with improved contracts.

Me I feel this is the kind of signing one makes so 'dem no go say I no buy player in January'.

Diouf is still at Man U, no?

sleekcm:

Diouf is still at Man U, no?

Sold, me thinks