₦airaland Forum

Is it me or was Theo incorrectly flagged offside there?

The English have been making noise about foreign players taking over the league and hindering the progress of young English players but they will stupidly allow people like Frimpong go and play for Ghana. The only English player who can be better than Frimpong as a holding midfielder is probably Jack Rodwell.
Imagine Tom Cruise being the holding MF for the U19s when he can't even aspire for such in our Academy? even the likes of Chuks Aneke are ahead of him and they are still U17? England has a long way to go.

Dr Kit,

You know how it is with DK's selective astigmatism.

ahonohai:
Wilshere's booked and I just noticed his tattoo. . . na who dash am hehehehe
Half Time

Jack is a fiery character and I'm sure he won't improve our fair play table standing in any way, but in that squad of gentlemen, I think we need more of such characters also he is still young and a bit petulant.

dayokanu:
He is still young isnt he? Ozil, Muller and co and metuselahs compared to theo.

I'm sure the germans have their own version of Theo in their ranks.

Theo is not looking good, Chamakh is yet to gel with this team, Frimpong is a warrior, Nasri and Wilshere are shining and under no circumstances should Nordtveit go out on loan, this chap is looking good in RB.

Nasri seems up for it this season, I hope he gets more gametime in a central position. Ahonohai, did you see that beatiful piece of control by Traore?

Bye-Bye Edu, the handwriting was on the wall immediately Chamakh was bought. All the best at Shaktar.

@Sauron

When did dog poo become corn flakes in your diet? it is Man Utd you should be worried about not Arsenal, you havent reinforced this season and I predicted it. Chelsea also hasn't reinforced as they've only swapped Benayoun for Joe Cole. Everyone is now running after Small boys apart from Man City (the new money miss road merchants), Liverpool (and their Last big Payday Free agent contingent) and surprise, surprise Arsenal (buying proven players from other leagues and the PL too if Schwarzer's move goes through).

The only thing we have to fear is not ending our trophyless streak, I can assure of one thing, come end of May next year Arsenal will definitely be in the top 4, any bet you put on that is a sure banker.

Only god knows how this Liverpool experiment will turn out, something has gone badly wrong with this club. To sell the likes of Benayoun and Insua is mind boggling.

Liverpool now has an association of Free Agents who came to the club for a last big paycheck.

Maxi Rodriguez (29)
Milan Jovanovic (29)
Joe Cole (28)

Something tells me this will end very badly, except Hodgson has some serious magical trick up his sleeves.

[quote author=~Sauron~ link=topic=439183.msg6424087#msg6424087 date=1279712370]I disagree. . . .
Arsenal will win the Premier League this season.[/quote] Am I dreamin? when did Sauron see the light?

@Dr. Kit
I think Chamakh will surprise a lot of people with his goal return for Arsenal this season, with the way Bordeaux play, he must have been very good to be getting into double digits. That chap is a born lone striker.

We are not looking too bad on the transfer front, it is easy to just list the number of players who have left and those we've bought and form hasty conclusions.

A look at the players who have left and the number of games they played last season:

Gallas                      35
Silvestre                  20   
Senderos                 2         (in the league cup)
Campbell                 14

If you count the number of games the 4 played, yu'll see that the other 3 efffectively played only 1 game more than Gallas (who nevertheless had his own injury issues during the season) this suggests that effectively 2CBs  fit for the length of time Gallas was fit would cover that number of games. We've got Djorou back from a long term injury and Nordtveit back from loan (who might not be experienced enough to rely on for a whole season but should be getting some games), 1 more CB coming in would be more than adequate cover for a possible recurrence of JD's injury, infact that player might not get many games depending on how fit JD remains. You also need to remember there is now a cap on the squad size (max 25 players over 21).

The one thing I think Arsene needs to do a better job on next season is his rotation policy earlier on at the beginning of the season, this is something Fergie seems to excel in, I'm not sure if Arsene has been hampered by the quality of the squad so far but there should be no excuses for next season because this season's squad should be strong enough.

As to the GK position, bringing in an old experienced No 1 who wouldn't stand in the way of our emerging GKs looks appealing to me, Schwarzer was good enough to get a mid-table Fulham side to the final of the Europa league last season and should be good enough as a stop gap while Szczesney and Mannone develop for the long term, but we need to get him in quickly with pre-season underway.

I still want a quick and skillful wide player as Theo just isn't convincing and any one of Arda Turan or Eden Hazard would be ideal, but I reckon the chances of gettin any of the 2 is slim with neither of them not being available for anything less than £15m.

That makes 1CB + 1GK + 1AM and I would go into this season with all optimism that we can win the PL at the least.

@v3

I heard Nic has been doing 1 night with Her Royal Highness and 7 nights with Madame Kova. I hope he gets some rest now that HRH is finallly pregnant.

Dont read much into Eduardo's absence just yet even though its likely he is on his way out, Denilson also didn't make that list. I always knew there was something wrong with Denilson's back though and we all know Bendtner's groin has gone to pieces since he started making a baby.

dayokanu:
I havent seen any of them but going from wengers antecedents with players, I dont expect their fate to be different from Aliadiere, Hoyte, Senderos, Djorou, Owusu-Abeyie and Lupoli

Don't be biased DK, some of those yu've mentioned can't be considered failures yet and there are a lot more that you haven't mentioned who are going strong. Senderos was bought at an older age than Cesc and injury has not helped Aliadere and Djorou in any way.

dayokanu:
England lack the genius to do it like Brazilians and Argentines, They cant even teach the kids how to do it right like they do in Spain, Holland, Germany and France. They just think you can run your way through the whole field

It seems this 2010 debacle has shocked them a bit, one can only hope they've learnt their lesson from it.

dayokanu:
Thats where you get it all wrong. Young players should be trained to develop the football intelligence and not a win at all cost attitude. Winning should be a bonus

The "At least we won" attitude is the problem England is facing right now, The young players should be taught the basics that include intelligent run off the ball passing and other intricate things.

I have never been a believer in Win at all cost, and that is what the Arsenal youth ranks preach about developing young players but there is a balance to be found here because Germany was somehow able to do both during their golden years of the past 4 years where they won all the prizes available from U17 to U21 and were able to transfer gems from that sustained period into their world cup team in 2010.

The problem with England is their footballing culture, I don't think what happened with Ramsey/Shawcross would happen in any other top footballing nation where someone got a National call up after rashly breaking a fellow footballer's leg the previous day or where everyone would be happy to encourage playing rough against Arsenal (because in their warped thinking, Arsenal are not english and don't play the english way).

In any other English club, Theo would be top dog, scoring goals with pace (just like Owen was at Liverpool) and being praised for it with everyone overlooking all his other deficiencies but not at Arsenal. Lampard and Gerrard are all rated higher than Cesc in the PL because they can always use their physical attributes to overcome other clubs in the PL or even atimes in europe (just like Istanbul) but then collapse when they face Germany who can match them physically and then beat them on technique.

I follow the Arsenal academy and I can see what Arsene has transformed that academy into, you need to see the young players breaking through now, the very first thing being developed now is technique. Jack Wilshere was the one of the first set of players to be brought in at age 9 (in 2001) and developed within the club, all those coming after him are also good technical players like Henderson, Afobe and Aneke (who were both members of the Euro U17 winning team who played good football enroute to beating Spain in the final)

Arsenal can only do their part, it is left to the English football establishment to change their mentality, it is one of the problems they have with Arsene and why they don't like him, he was the very first person to show by his actions in the transfer market that the quality of players being developed in England wasn't up to scratch.

Dr Kitaun:
So we have admitted that we are 'so unsuccessful' or that FAB4 doesnt see us winning trophies soonest ?

What Cesc thinks of us is irrelevant, he has a contract and should respect it, all he owes us is to give his best on the pitch, in the alternative if Barcelona meet our valuation of him then 'maybe' a deal can be done.

Dr Kitaun:
Why are our best players always desperate to leave us ?

Because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, Ribery also agitated to go to Madrid last season but we all know who got to the final of the UCL and where Madrid ended up. We also know that he ultimately signed a new contract.

Dr Kitaun:
Who is going to be our next Bergkamp ?

Maybe Chamakh, he is obviously excited to be with Arsenal.

@Debosky

I don't understand some of our supporters anymore, how can someone be held responsible for statement made by others I don't understand this kind of "Joint Enterprise" liability some people are attaching to this. Let anyone quote a statement or action from Cesc which disrespects the club.
Is it impossible for a man to love 2 women? why is infidelity rampant all over the place? Cesc loves and respects Arsenal for what we've done for him he also loves Barcelona because that is where he was brought up.
If the Barcelona hierarchy aren't being unreasonable and resorting to underhand tactics, there would be no problem here at all. Right now he is contracted to Arsenal and he respects that, the boy has always said he doesn't want to talk about tomorrow, only live in the present. What is so hard to understand in all these? I tire for people joo.

@DK

Alaba was exceptional no doubt (only someone who is being economical with the truth wouldn't acknowledge as much) but I wouldn't read much into that high rating because the English press have now descended into some sort of masochism in ridiculing their players as opposed to the previous hype. The fact is that as good as Alaba was, Austria still got beat.

Even from my previous post I did say that the Austrians moved the ball around better than the English and the failings of English soccer were still very much evident in that team depending on their physical advantage to overcome the Austrians, but it is interesting to note that the only Arsenal player in the English squad played as a midfielder despite that fact that he was a left back in our academy team that should show you the quality of young players coming through our academy now and he did get the winning goal.

As to your question about our players, Tom Cruise did beat Austria yesterday and did you see Le Coq's performance yesterday for France? he even won a penalty for France despite playing so deep and putting in such a fine DM display when they beat the Netherlands yesterday, he will be on loan with Lorient in France for this season, know that name well cos yu'll be hearing about him for sure.


I think the French team will win this year's under 19s though I'm yet to see any Group B match and they will likely do very well in next year's FIFA U20s, that squad is strong and that Kakuta chap from Chelsea is also very good.

proudly9ja:
I personally think Cesc should be stripped of the captain's arm band.
While I understand his wish to go back and play for Barca, I think he has not shown enough respect for the club.

There is no reason to, he has never said anything disrespectful to the club and even dedicated his world cup win to the club, he has never even handed in a transfer request, the poor lad is a pawn in all this. Even Nigerians want to play for Barcelona, how much more someone whose grandfather is a Barca season ticket holder?

The Barcelona hierarchy were the ones who muddied the waters and made the situation an impossible one.
It is so bad now that I seriously doubt that Arsenal would accept even 80m because its become a matter of pride and prestige, Barcelona showed Arsenal no respect at all in this matter.

To offer 29m for our captain, a 23 year old Spanish international and European cup winner is insulting enough and even disrespectful to Cesc himself, to conduct all that in the public was the height of stupidity, and to do all these when you don't even have the financial muscle to force a move is nigh imbecilic. Laporta is really a buffon.

Let those who want to make noise continue with their noise, you can't win with people, if we had sold him some people will still make noise that Arsenal don't keep their best players and that we are a selling club. All we know is that for now he is an Arsenal player, let those who want to worry about 2 years time worry about it.
If Barca are not ready to put up the cash let them keep shut.

Even if he wants to leave, no one forced him to sign a contract and people need to learn to keep the agreement they make with others, you can't always get what you want in life and that is reality, like Arsene said a while ago, what then is the meaning of a contract and why do people make them? how can a club plan for any length of time if they have to let go of a player at the first sign of home sickness?

This is why we have laws in society, if Cesc knows he really wants to leave, he can always hand in a transfer request without Barca coming into the picture at all, Barca's authorities have handled this issue very irresponsibly and in an immatured manner because this is not the first player they've wanted from Arsenal but this bigoted belief that Cesc somehow belongs to them is enough reason for us to give them a black eye with this particularly when their idle boasts is not even built on any solid financial foundation. I might hate Madrid's spendthrift culture but at least they put their money where their mouth was with their chase of CR9.

Serious rumors are emanating of Eduardo moving to Shaktar for 7.5m, if this is true, that is some good business yet again by Arsene, a bit of a pity Eduardo couldn't get to his pre-injury levels.
European U19s is on Eurosport and Tom Cruise is playing as a holding MF for England against Austria who have DK's much touted David Alaba in their team, I must say that they've been moving the ball better than England who've just scored thru Frank Nouble (formerly of West Ham)

agabaI23:
He has 4 years left in his 5 years contract.

Yes, but he'll be able to buy off the rest of the contract from next season methinks (not suggesting our captain wants to do anything of the sort or that it is going to be easy to do but its good to keep these things in mind).

I'll be having another look at the Barnet match later today (I was skiving a bit at work yesterday to see some bits and pieces) but early impressions seems to suggest Frimpong was the standout newcomer yesterday (I still continue to rate him and Coquelin ahead of Eastmond). Simpson scored again as he usually does but we might not have a place for him in the team, JET showed his versatility once again playing a RWF role and not doing badly at all, Traore was good bombing forward but still bad in positioning believing he can make up for it with pace, Nordtveit did enough to suggest there is still hope for him he played RB and didn't look bad even though he is a CB(havin a big RB a la Ivanovic of chelsea wouldn't be a bad thing). Koscielny didn't have a stormer as he wasn't really tested but he seems very much like a Vermaelen clone, I think he reads the game and makes timely interceptions more than depending on the physical side of the game (folks say he had a better 1st game than Vermaelen did with this same fixture last season).

Well known youngsters who didn't exactly impress yesterday were Lansbury and Barazite, I thought Theo is still the same ole Theo, he needs the ball into space and not to feet. Wilshere is almost ready but if he's going to be warming the bench this season Arsene, please give him to Owen Coyle, his time at Bolton did him a lot of good.

Ignasi Miquel and Connor Henderson were the relative newcomers yesterday and I find Connor Henderson a very interesting player, another big man like JET with good ball skills while Miquel looked composed at the back despite his young age 17 (albeit with some kiddish moves  that would undo him with more potent opposition)

The GKs were not tested at all (testament to a new found defensive solidity?) but its early days yet.

The older heads were true to type yesterday, Arshavin is still lazy at tracking back but dangerous in the opponent's area, Vermaelen still makes his forward forays and can still shoot, Rosicky looked a different player playing through the middle and so did Nasri who seems to be really up for it this season (hope another early season injury doesn't dampen that enthusiasm). Chamakh looked comfortable in possesion didn't have much opportunities but kept the Barnet defense from stepping up, his bringing of others into play was good and his work ethic was evident even though he basically coasted through the game.

We should have a more complete picture with the next match on Wednesday since the only 2 remaining players who will be absent are RVP and Cesc (fingers crossed Vela doesn't lose his passport again). I think the team should set a target of getting through pre-season without conceding.

Now that the cash flow problem club has gotten the message that we are not selling our captain, lets look forward to Cesc extending his contract later this season.

It seems, some madness bug is adrift at the Kop, why on earth should Liverpool be selling one of their few lively youngsters

eldee:
Hmmn . . .aiite, I'll go with a player from a different team, Djourou will be a major threat while Koko adjusts.

No worry now, I think you have unlimited transfers till the first match. I've already selected my team and I chose Kosomonaa. The guy's stats from the Ligue 1 are quite impressive. That chap is a sure banker to start, he wasn't bought for the bench at all, and DJ's knee is still being held together by some strapping and can't yet be trusted not to fall to pieces sometimes during the season.

follypimpi:

We shall see how thing pans out.I reckon AW should sign Marquez dude was outstanding @ WC,then a goalie and lastly Melo,time dey go the earlier the better so they can all gel together.

I wouldnt mind us going for Melo at all, but e be like say him face dey scare Debo  how about we go for Sessegnon of PSG? that guy is not bad at all, hope no one has forgotten what he did to our Super Chicken when they met?

debosky:
Pre-season starts in earnest with our time-honoured opener to face Barnet.

Yes o, GST starts tomorrow, time is now to be measured in terms of hours to the next Arsenal fixture.

For those thinking of subscribing to ATVO, there is a 12 mnth voucher available in the arsenal store for just £25, I just got mine while buying the new home shirt but I'm yet to figure out how to activate it. 

Anyone planning to show up for the Emirates cup can buzz me, maybe we can meet up. I will definitely be there.

Anyone can read what they want into a group of guys having a laugh, it was an irresponsible act on the part of those who did it, but they can always hide behind the excuse that it wasn't meant for the cameras and that they were just having a laugh. The one thing I can't understand is Pepe Reina's participation in it? what business is it of his where Cesc plays?

This doesn't change anything at all, if they like let them decorate his family house in spain with Barcelona jerseys. If they want Cesc, they've still got to make us an offer we can't refuse, until they do that Cesc stays. SIMPLES.

proudly9ja:
Yes I agree Arsene shouldn't be a testing a teenage goalkeeper right now but I totally disagree Sczezny won't make that grade in less than 4 years.[b] By the way, who knew of Joe Hart a few years ago? If at all there was any goalkeeper being tipped at City, it was Schmeichel who went some matches without conceeding a goal unil Cesc scored at the Emirates.[/b]So who knows?

And I personally think Kasper Schmeichel is a better keeper than Joe Hart to be honest (but he will need to be at least 50% better than Hart to get the same hype the English will give their own), they lost interest in him when he said he would only play for Denmark. The lad is gradually coming through the ranks and will keep for Leeds in the Championship next season.

debosky:
Precisely - we don't want another Song type incident which doesn't help the player. Arsenal FC is too big a ground to be 'testing' goalkeepers, not after a run of 5 years with no trophies- that luxury is one we cannot afford.

I agree with you totally on this point, but not to the point of losing a player like Szczesney, my future does not depend on this decision like Arsene's future does, if he feels it is not worth the gamble I will totally understand that.

debosky:
Well said - give him room to develop, then when he's sturdy enough he can take on the mantle.
I have nothing against Chez - I am all too aware of how many players are destroyed when an unreasonable weight of expectation is placed on their shoulders.

Fair enough, the burden of expectation is less at Brentford than it is at Arsenal, infact he was a sort of saviour at Brentford, personally I think the lad can cope but I agree it isn't fair to lay the burden of 5 seasons of under achievement on the shoulder of one so young and so inexperienced. Which is why going for some experience to bed him in gently seems a nice compromise to me.

debosky:
So much for ability - if he is that good, let a championship or premiership team request him on loan and then we’ll see. For all the hype, he has the same exact flaws as Fabianski - good shot stopper, but terrible at decision making elsewhere.

They are already queueing up to take him on loan, and Arsene is hedging his bets not to put him in too quickly at Arsenal, even one of Arsenal's GK legends Bob Wilson kept going to Brentford to watch him during this season and has said he is definitely a future No 1.

debosky:
I can be quoted any day any time - Cesc coming into the team at a young age and making the grade is an extremely rare occurrence - the number of flops we’ve seen - from Aliadiere, Gilbert, Merida, Owusu, Senderos amongst others, it FAILS far more often than succeeds. To think you can do the same thing with goalkeepers is foolishness.

Where exactly did I say it was an every day occurence

debosky:
If Wenger makes Szczesney No 1 this season, I will personally start a petition for his sack and remand in a mental home. Some of y’all just can’t see wood for trees. Since Casillas emerged nearly 15 years ago, how many young goalies have taken on the mantle at a top club at a young age?

That's your prerogative, I'm sure some people also recommended a mental institution for the coach who put Casillas in at such a young age, so yu're not saying anything new.

debosky:
I repeat, there is NOTHING exceptional about this lad to merit a No 1 - given the atrocious record Wenger has with inexperienced keepers - Almunia, Fabianski, Taylor, Manninger, I won’t be surprised if he screws up on this one as well. Stick to what you’re good at - get experienced goalies and stop fooling around.

Nobody says put him in as number 1, he however deserves an opportunity to compete for the gloves. The manager who has a board and fans to answer to believes the boy is good enough to be considered, most people who have seen him keep feel he deserves the opportunity and here you are stating categorically that he "CANNOT" be considered for the next 4 years?? why 4 and not 10 I ask?

debosky:
PS - your friend is full of BS if he thinks Navas had anything to do with Spain’s win y’day - it was a pass from Cesc to Iniesta for the goal, and the best chance in extra time was Cesc running on goal and not Navas, who did NOTHING in that game.

You are the one full of BS with your nit picking, Out of 10 things, you can only pick on one point and all you can say is that he is full of BS? besides, did you see the run from his half that carried the ball into the final third? hadn't they been passing all day without success? do you watch the game at all or only turn up when the ball goes into the net?
The point he was making was the effect of pacy players in the game, surely you can understand that?
Even if you feel Navas had no part to play in Spain's goal, surely you can see the impact Robben's runs had in creating chances for the Netherlands?