I think Wenger is the ultimate developer of talent.
He is a very good spotter of talent in the first place, and in that sense I don't think even Ferguson comes close.
Developing a young talent takes a lot of man-management skills and in this area as well, I must say Wenger has excelled greatly.
Flamini, Djourou, Hoyte, Pennant, to name a few.
Not to mention the likes of Henry, Cesc, Vieira, whohave become accomplished in their own rights.

In the pipeline, you have the likes of Fran Merida, Ryan Smith, Arturo Lupoli, Armand Traore and the precocious Theo Walcott.

Maybe I'm biased, but I do believe that Wenger has proven himself in the area of youth development. With all due respect, Ferguson comes a cloase second.

Thanks guys, I'm back for real this time.

Hi everyone.
Wazzup, Kola my man?

If Ivory Coast get out of this deadly group, they are going very far in this tournament.

That said, ARGENTINA didn't play like potential cup winners today. Let's hope they improve.

Anyways, let me start with Argentina.

Complete Squad list:

1 ABBONDANZIERI Roberto (GK)
2 AYALA Roberto
3 SORIN Juan
4 COLOCCINI Fabricio
5 CAMBIASSO Esteban
6 HEINZE Gabriel
7 SAVIOLA Javier
8 MASCHERANO Javier
9 CRESPO Hernan
10 RIQUELME Juan
11 TEVEZ Carlos
12 FRANCO Leonardo (GK)
13 SCALONI Lionel
14 PALACIO Rodrigo
15 MILITO Gabriel
16 AIMAR Pablo
17 CUFRE Leandro
18 RODRIGUEZ Maxi
19 MESSI Lionel
20 CRUZ Julio
21 BURDISSO Nicolas
22 GONZALEZ Luis
23 USTARI Oscar (GK)
_{Source: FIFA}

This looks like a squad of potential World Cup wiiners to me. If I was to choose a formation for these guys, I'd go with a 3-3-1-3 (which could actually be a 3-4-3) formation.

That'd have:

Defenders : Collocini Milito/Ayala Heinze
Midfielders: Rodriguez Mascherano Sorin
Riquelme
Attackers: Messi Crespo Tevez

Subs: Cruz, Aimar, Milito, Gonzalez, Cambiasso and Saviola.

Given the fact that Argentina have the best midfeild [in terms of passing the ball around], this team would be too hot to handle.

The only downside for me and something I can not understand, is Pekerman's decision to leave out Zanetti. That guy deserves to be there more than anyone else.

I must aplogise Akolawole, for not responding on this thread earlier than this. I haven't been too frequent on here lately and I've just come across this thread.

Thanks for your choice of teams, BTW - Makes it a whole lot easier to analyse.

Ok, I have to eat humble pie and accept Dreamweaver as the king of wysiwyg.
Just switched to Dreamweaver recently and I must say, it's a great software for that purpose.

BTW, anyone used Nvu successfully?

Hey guys. I just started this new Blog.
Peterinyang.com

I'd appreciate it if you put my link on your blogroll.

Hurcarson
I really like reading conspiracy theories, but that's all they will ever be. You do not have a single proof to back up your comments but that has always been the case with conspiracy theorists, anyway.

Manchester Utd. Chief executive David Gill has been appointed to take over the position, right?
Let's wait and see how he performs. Talk about Conflicting interesting

Going back to the analysis of the African qualifiers, I don't believe Angola stand any realistic chance even against Iran. I'll look at their opposition.

The mexicans play a very compact game, and they also play as a unit. Not the most stylish team in the world, but very efficient. I don't see Angola beating them or even drawing with them.

Portugal - A more technically and tactically superior team to the other teams in the group, except maybe Mexico. Angola don't really stand a chance against.

Iran - I've got to admit, I don't know much about them. But I'd expect that Angola should be able to give them a run for the meagre money. Might be able to come off with a win or draw.

Verdict - Angola are definitely not going beyond the group stages. Best position they can get is 3rd. That's assuming they beat Iran and Iran lose their two other matches.

Brazil are obviously the overwhelming favourites to win it, but I'm not over-looking the dangerous threat posed by both Germany and Argentina.

Top three favourites to win the World cup, for me:

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Germany.

England were not going to win the cup before, even with a fully-fit Rooney.

I love Africa.

Coachless 7-man Nigerian team lose to 12-man South African team on dubious last-minute penalty decision.
And this is happening in a country that will be hosting the next world cup.
God save us.

So we lost.
Well, Congrats to Barcelona. They tried but very little things here and there, cost us this match. Henry was really annoying tonight, I must say.
Lehman, I'm not blaming him.

But if I had my way, I would advice Almunia to look for another profession. Until he decided to return to his mediocre level, we actually looked like we were capable of locking out Barca.
But never mind, there's always next time. I'm so proud of this young group of players.

Long live the Arsenal.

Been busy lately, Bro.
How you doin'?

Greatest FA Cup Final I have seen in years.
Stevie Gerrard is definitely one hell of a player. Definitely among the top four players in the world.

Congrats to Liverpool.

@Bolaoni

I don't see the point arguing our loss to Man. Utd. They clearly deserved to have won the game, seeing as we apporached the game with laxity, even resting our most potent weapon, Thierry Henry.

That said, I must also add that I've been very busy lately. Nairaland nor be my house, as you well know.

**All Gunners in the house know that I will not willingly desert them if the need arises to face up to our chicken-hearted opposition fans.

Peace.

*_{All hail the Almighty Arsene Wenger!}*

How have I missed this thread until now?

C'mon all Gunners
Great night for another party.

I hope Jens Lehman wins World player of the year.
Ok seriously, we owe our place to him, big time.

Congrats to all Gunners.

Good stuff.
Even though I couldn't see the match, my joy knows no bounds.

C'mon Arsenal - Let's go and win us the CL trophy.

Classic stuff.

I've read it on the internet and it may or may not be true.
If it happens to be true though, I reckon the asking Price quoted (around £8Million) is too high.

Joseph Yobo is a very good defender but for that amount, Arsenal could get a better defender with a lot more european experience than Yobo.
One of such defenders is the Romanian Christain Chivu.
Another is Urby Emmanuelson - Only 19 years and has played 40 official matches for the Ajax First team.
Another great prospect will be Vincent Kompany, but there are too many people in for his signature.

All these players have better European experience than Yobo. He might be a collosus at Everton (actually he's not), but Arsenal is a whole different ball game entirely.

As an aside, I just learnt from a very un-reliable source that he's going to sign a new contract with Everton.

@ Priscila
Thanks for starting this topic.
We do have some very uninspiring threads on this board.
I can see this is going to be another good debate.

@Akolawole

I don't get your point. If you say Nightrider is being sentimental for picking Henry ahead of Ronny for the award [b]that [/b]year, then your interpretation of "sentiment" must be different to mine.

For crying out loud, Ronaldinho won absolutely NOTHING in the 2003/04 season. Barca finished second in their league, crashing out of Europe and their domestic cup. It wasn't exactly an eventful year for Brazil either.

On the other hand, Henry finished the season in England with a Premiership winners' medal having [b]LED [/b]his team through an unbeaten campaign. Henry finished the season with 30 league goals, winning two domestic individual awards to boot. France also did not have an eventful year, as well.

Bottomline, Henry achieved a lot more than Ronaldinho that season and if the WPOTY award had been given based on achievements and your influence on your team, then there is no way Henry would have come second to Ronaldinho.

As for Rooney, I don't think he has the quality to win the WPOTY award. Not now, not in the next 5-6 years. I don't hate the boy, I just don't believe he's as good as Man Utd. fans and a section of the media would have us believe.

Great game tonight.

G'night to all of you and to the Gunners, we can definitely expect a bigger party next week.

@Vichel

Ditto that.

@ Bagoma

I haven't felt better, to be honest.
It's just great to be a Gunner on a night like this. Long may this feeling continue.

@Kola,
which kind theory you dey bring come so?

Comparisons have been drawn with the Liverpool side of last year, but I must make this clear.

Unlike Liverpool who simply ground out results playing some drab football at times, we are outclassing teams and [b]setting record[/b]s along the way.

By the way, we just equalled Milan's record of 7 consecutive clean sheets.

Can you beat that?

Pires fluffed the chance to make it 3-0 at the end but I'm not complaining. Pires was magnificent tonight.
Did you see that tackle on Vieira that led to Fab's goal?

You won't get a better performance from any team. I tell y'all, Fabregas is one for the future. That guy is class.

And where are those that say Henry does not score in big games? I bet you are all biting your trousers now.

@Akolawole
Yes, I'm here now O! What did you think of the game today?

I tell all you Gunners - That was a masterclass in smooth-flowing football.

This is beginning to look every bit like our year.

When dey say make person support better club, e say na Juventus na im e dey support.

Where are all those loud mouth Juve fans?

C'mon here and show your face.

@Akolawole
Thanks for starting this thread.

Instead of listing world cup achievements, why don't we analyse the chances of the participating teams in the upcoming world cup?

Is there a greater joke in the world than "Tiger" Tim Henman?

This guy is increasingly looking to me like joke itself, the funniest of jokes.

I had to leave the house during his last match (against Greul). At the time I stepped out, Tim was 5-0 up in the first set and was looking like making it 6-0.

I check up on the score few hours later, and Lo! and Behold!, Tim had lost.
I mean, this man beat Safin and Hewitt in earlier rounds and you would expect him to handle the World No. 130 effectively. But No, that's asking too much of Henman.
I know Hewitt and Safin are far from their best but then again, so is Tim Henman.
I think it's time he hangs his racket because he is just embarassing himself.
I was beginning to believe he could make something happen, little did I know it was just a flash in the pan.

Juventus fans, where una confidence dey come from?

It has to be noted that history favours Arsenal in this fixture.

**For one, Arsenal and Juve have played each other four times in Europe, we won twice and drew twice, no losses.

**Also no Italian club has managed to put Arsenal out of a European competition.

I sincerely believe Juventus stand very little chance of kncking out Arsenal based on current conditions/form.

But then again, it's the CL quarter finals and we have been known to shoot ourselves in the foot at this stage of the competition on different occasions.

I'm hoping for a happy ending this year, though.

Enjoy.

I was going to ask if anybody had actually managed to read the joke, but after going round the cycle and coming back to where I started (literally), I "got" it.

Very creative, I must say!