In light of this week's exodus by Roy Keane from Sunderland, I wonder what's the ...
In light of this week's exodus by Roy Keane from Sunderland, I wonder what's the betting that another ex-Utd midfielder Paul Ince might be the next to be shown the door. And what chances Sparky Hughes sees out his contract with Man C until the end of the season...... At the moment, only Steve Bruce seems to be secure, of the ex-Utd players in Premier League management.
A new signing in the Paddy mould who can bag a few extra goals a season is essential - giv...
A new signing in the Paddy mould who can bag a few extra goals a season is essential - given that Gilberto couldn't hit the proverbial barn door. Fingers crossed that Baptista's stalling will end soon, and that a deal will be done be4 the weekend.... any other name popping out of the hat at this late stage, such as Dacourt, would smack a bit of desperation.
Ever since our unbeaten run ended with an unruly pizza fight involving some Chelsea player...
Ever since our unbeaten run ended with an unruly pizza fight involving some Chelsea player a few years ago, much has been made of the fact that Arsene's Arsenal don't appear to have a Plan B, if the deft and incisive pinball passing into the opponents net isn't coming off. And last season there was every evidence that we could be both out-muscled and out-fought, if the opposition were prepared to put the boot in early and hard, and give Jose Antonio, amongst others, a thing or two to think about. Well, it looks to me as though the latest additions to our squad indicate that AW has been working for that alternate strategy - the arrival of Adebeyor last Christmas being one strand of it, and now the signings of Gallas and Baptista being further key pieces to the jigsaw. Anyone who watched with horror our first two matches of the season, at City and against Villa will have been horrified at how ineffectual we were at set pieces (even though we had a huge number of them) - either TH or R v P score a killer goal from the dead ball, or we may as well forget about it. I've just been watching some footage of J.Baptista, and, amongst other things, was struck by how strong, powerful and effective he was in the air. Gallas always seems to come up with a goal of two from set pieces too, so suddenly we have options from corners which frankly we didn't appear to have with TH, Dennis and Jose Antonio in the past. And as for being 'outmuscled' at Blackburn, Bolton or even at Old Trafford, I feel that that too will become a thing of the past - as Cesc has become remarkably strong over the last 12 months, Hleb has demonstrated that he can hold up the ball and hold off his opponents, while even R v P has shown that he can put up a good old scrap, without feeling the need to kick his opponent in the throat. So, lets hope that the new arrivals all bed in quickly, and that the fear factor which came when we fell behind in some of those tricky away games becomes a thing of the past.
All you say is true - after 5 games I'd be singing a different song, because we were,...
All you say is true - after 5 games I'd be singing a different song, because we were, er, winning. When you win you cheer, and when you lose, you...... I don't know how to put it - you moan, you wail, you cry, you complain, you shout, you curse, you rage, you spew, you vomit (if you're Arsene that is), and you feel less happier than when you had won. It's really very very simple - there's no 'hidden agenda' here.
Does anyone out there know - is there likely to be any particularly adverse financial fall...
Does anyone out there know - is there likely to be any particularly adverse financial fall out for Arsenal from the impending collapse of Setanta Sports. I know that the club's own TV channel has some link with Setanta, and that quite a few of their games were broadcast on the channel during the 2008-9 season. Obviously if Setanta does collapse then all premier league clubs will lose - but are The Arse more exposed than others to others, in this scenario ??
Injury to RVP is certainly an issue. But how much bad luck can one club have (Eduardo, Ce...
Injury to RVP is certainly an issue. But how much bad luck can one club have (Eduardo, Cesc, Adebeyor, Rosicky, Gallas - long term injuries last year or RVP, Rosicky, Toure, etc the year before).
We also have Arshavin as a 2nd striker option - he could play with RVP, Bendtner or Eduardo, IMO
Don't play him at home against Bolton for chrissakes... they'ill kick him up in th...
Don't play him at home against Bolton for chrissakes... they'ill kick him up in the air and he will be out until the Spring. The game against Braga is perfect for his reintroduction, IMO.
... you're probably right about 'character' - particularly at the business end...
... you're probably right about 'character' - particularly at the business end of the season - but frankly I think our three departees (or prospective departees) Clichy, Nasri and Cesc were as culpable as any of the rest in that regard - as key, senior squad members, they failed as much as anyone else in showing leadership and character when the chips were down. Maybe Wilshere and Ramsay will grow balls, and give us the bottle that we have lacked, but its a big ask. TV might also be the man...
AW in his China press conference today spoke of Arsenal being 'an offensive team' ...
AW in his China press conference today spoke of Arsenal being 'an offensive team' (in a good sense), and that this left our defence more exposed than others. Clichy got some stick last year for poor defending, but in my view he was left exposed by Arshavin time and again, and just simply couldn't cope when opponents doubled up against him. More worrying however was the number of chances opponents created from dead ball situations. We need to figure out some way to present this happening or we will always concede goals - particularly in the EPL.
Okay, a bit of clarity there.
I agree that AW might have too much control/power/responsibi...
Okay, a bit of clarity there. I agree that AW might have too much control/power/responsibility - and that he'd be better in identifying his targets, and leaving it to the business side of the club after that. His problem is that as well as being a coach, he is a businessman - and there is no arguing that he has done a lot for the business of Arsenal Football Club. A post on one of these blogs yesterday provided a full spread sheet of the transfer business that AW has done since his arrival. If memory serves me correctly he has spent a NETT amount of under £20 million in that time - which is truly incredible (and particularly when you consider that non-achievers like Liverpool have spent upwards of £400m over the same period). The trouble is that in the past 6-7 years the 'business model' that AW was applying has been skewed entirely by the 'financial doping' (his words) at Chelsea, Man City, and also at clubs who are happy to live way beyond their means - Spurs, Liverpool, Newcastle, etc... Allied to that he has managed during the transition to a massively costly new stadium - but with this has come an assured and invaluable revenue stream which should make us one of the most financially powerful clubs for decades to come. The problem now is that the old business model no longer works - and with insane transfer fees and ludicrous wages now the norm for 'top' players (ie. players who Man City, Utd, Barca, Real and Chelsea want to sign), its hard for guys like Nasri not to have their heads turned. We are trying to work within a wage structure - to keep everyone happy - but it remains to be seen how long we can dine with the big boys, while paying just a fraction of the costs incurred by our competitors for their seats at the top table.
