The Arsenal Thread
- Thread starter Joss
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These all come under your 10 year plan.. Gibbs has played 57 games that means he is ready to take LB spot.. This was all planned many years back..
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Still I think £7m isn't much at all for a world class LB. I mean we could have pushed for a little more but I guess we have Gibbs who needs to pull his socks up and Traore who could do with a little bit of improving.These all come under your 10 year plan.. Gibbs has played 57 games that means he is ready to take LB spot.. This was all planned many years back..
Only if we could get rid of some dead weight like Denilson.
Cesc Fábregas' departure should be seen as an opportunity not a curse
Arsenal could be better off without their captain if Arsène Wenger lives up to his promise of being an 'active manager'
Cesc Fábregas' departure should be seen as an opportunity not a curse | Football | The Guardian
As Cesc Fábregas was billeted at London Colney during his team-mates' expedition to Asia on Saturday, the captain's exit from Arsenal took on a sense of inevitability.
However, though Barcelona's courtship of the Catalan will inflict more turmoil on a club supposedly in terminal decline, it should be regarded more as an opportunity than a curse. Even if Fábregas were not pining for his homeland or blighted with frequent hamstring injuries, the time is ripe for his departure.
The World Cup winner is like a one-man Gerrard-Lampard partnership: thrusting, creative and with a threat of goals from midfield. But he, like that pairing, cannot play in the middle of a 4-4-2. Arsène Wenger's pact with Fábregas has been to construct a continental 4-2-3-1, with the little Catalan ghosting around and threading balls between adversaries or lifting passes over defences for forwards to chase. It worked, up to a point. Last season Arsenal were the only team to enjoy on average 60% of the possession – thus they consistently spent 50% more time on the ball than their opponents – while completing more passes than any other.
This comfort with the ball meant Arsenal alone last season were capable of going toe to toe with Barcelona in a meaningful match. However, time has proved the system Fábregas's skills demanded to be ill-suited to English football. When lesser teams arrived at the Emirates they were content to concede all the territory and all the possession, congesting the area around their own goal. Although Arsenal were generating data highly prized by football statisticians – a league-leading 75% of their passes in the final third of the pitch were successful – they could not translate possession into goals. Damagingly, six Premier League teams scored more goals at home than Arsenal last season.
Moreover visitors were playing an Arsenal team that conceded more than half its goals from set pieces, and knew that even by playing ultra-conservatively they could stay in the game. Six teams also lost fewer times at home last season than the Gunners.
With Fábregas in the team Wenger was forced to persevere with the same tactical template: there could be no Plan B of an open and counterattacking 4-4-2. Now, provided he receives a fair price for the only player in the world capable of improving Barcelona's midfield, Wenger is entirely reconciled to losing his captain and will not seek to replace him. Instead Wenger is showing signs that the continental experiment will be discarded in favour of England's atavistic 4-4-2.
Fábregas's sale should generate £35m for Arsenal. If Samir Nasri's departure is reluctantly sanctioned – Wenger does not wish to lose a player whose shooting accuracy is the Premier League's best – it will add £22m more. Although Gervinho's arrival cost £11m, that was offset by the £7m received from Gaël Clichy's departure.
The £53m net transfer income would all be used to strengthen the first team, and across a number of areas. Reports linking Stewart Downing with a £15m move to the Emirates Stadium are entirely plausible. His ability to cross the ball has no replica at Arsenal and would draw more headed goals from Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh, whose dangerous aerial ability has not been greatly exploited at the Emirates.
The goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has not travelled to Asia, and Sunderland's £6m Craig Gordon is viewed as a possible replacement. Stoke City's 35-year-old Thomas Sorensen has also been considered to provide meaningful competition to Wojciech Szczesny in what would be an inexpensive trade, provided the Dane does not extend his contract beyond its current 12 months.
An imposing centre-half is an equally urgent requirement. Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka are favoured because they, like Downing, would help satisfy Uefa and Premier League requirements for homegrown players. But Per Mertesacker, a 75-times capped, 26-year-old Germany international, excites Wenger due to his leadership qualities and his seven-figure price. Take note that Nicklas Bendtner, another left behind as his team tour Asia, is highly regarded at Mertesacker's Werder Bremen and could be used in a swap deal.
Arsenal may have lost out to Juventus in their pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen's £15m Chile international midfielder, Arturo Vidal. However, it shows Wenger is open to strengthening central midfield despite his faith in Emmanuel Frimpong, who must recover from the knee ligament injury he suffered last season.
That leaves the centre-forward position, and the £27m link with Real Madrid's Karim Benzema should not be dismissed. The 23-year-old was off-colour for much of last season, with only one goal in his first 18 La Liga appearances. But with 15 goals in his last 17 starts he proved what a decisive player he still is.
And so Gordon, Downing, Vidal, Gervinho, Mertesacker and Benzema could arrive at a £10m net cost following the departures of Fábregas, Nasri, Clichy and Bendtner. If Wenger can achieve this within his club's existing wage structure – by moving on a number of fringe players – he will have been true to his word as a "very active" manager this summer. Arsenal's spine would be stronger and they would be more of a goal threat. But for all these benefits, with Fábregas gone, the biggest asset Wenger would have added to his side is tactical flexibility.
Arsenal's changing face?
Current 4-2-3-1 Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Frimpong; Nasri, Wilshere, Arshavin; Van Persie.
Possible 4-2-3-1 Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Wilshere, Vidal; Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho; Benzema.
Current 4-4-2 Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Walcott, Wilshere, Frimpong, Nasri; Chamakh, Van Persie.
Possible 4-4-2 Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Walcott, Vidal, Wilshere, Downing; Van Persie, Benzema.
Arsenal could be better off without their captain if Arsène Wenger lives up to his promise of being an 'active manager'
Cesc Fábregas' departure should be seen as an opportunity not a curse | Football | The Guardian
As Cesc Fábregas was billeted at London Colney during his team-mates' expedition to Asia on Saturday, the captain's exit from Arsenal took on a sense of inevitability.
However, though Barcelona's courtship of the Catalan will inflict more turmoil on a club supposedly in terminal decline, it should be regarded more as an opportunity than a curse. Even if Fábregas were not pining for his homeland or blighted with frequent hamstring injuries, the time is ripe for his departure.
The World Cup winner is like a one-man Gerrard-Lampard partnership: thrusting, creative and with a threat of goals from midfield. But he, like that pairing, cannot play in the middle of a 4-4-2. Arsène Wenger's pact with Fábregas has been to construct a continental 4-2-3-1, with the little Catalan ghosting around and threading balls between adversaries or lifting passes over defences for forwards to chase. It worked, up to a point. Last season Arsenal were the only team to enjoy on average 60% of the possession – thus they consistently spent 50% more time on the ball than their opponents – while completing more passes than any other.
This comfort with the ball meant Arsenal alone last season were capable of going toe to toe with Barcelona in a meaningful match. However, time has proved the system Fábregas's skills demanded to be ill-suited to English football. When lesser teams arrived at the Emirates they were content to concede all the territory and all the possession, congesting the area around their own goal. Although Arsenal were generating data highly prized by football statisticians – a league-leading 75% of their passes in the final third of the pitch were successful – they could not translate possession into goals. Damagingly, six Premier League teams scored more goals at home than Arsenal last season.
Moreover visitors were playing an Arsenal team that conceded more than half its goals from set pieces, and knew that even by playing ultra-conservatively they could stay in the game. Six teams also lost fewer times at home last season than the Gunners.
With Fábregas in the team Wenger was forced to persevere with the same tactical template: there could be no Plan B of an open and counterattacking 4-4-2. Now, provided he receives a fair price for the only player in the world capable of improving Barcelona's midfield, Wenger is entirely reconciled to losing his captain and will not seek to replace him. Instead Wenger is showing signs that the continental experiment will be discarded in favour of England's atavistic 4-4-2.
Fábregas's sale should generate £35m for Arsenal. If Samir Nasri's departure is reluctantly sanctioned – Wenger does not wish to lose a player whose shooting accuracy is the Premier League's best – it will add £22m more. Although Gervinho's arrival cost £11m, that was offset by the £7m received from Gaël Clichy's departure.
The £53m net transfer income would all be used to strengthen the first team, and across a number of areas. Reports linking Stewart Downing with a £15m move to the Emirates Stadium are entirely plausible. His ability to cross the ball has no replica at Arsenal and would draw more headed goals from Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh, whose dangerous aerial ability has not been greatly exploited at the Emirates.
The goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has not travelled to Asia, and Sunderland's £6m Craig Gordon is viewed as a possible replacement. Stoke City's 35-year-old Thomas Sorensen has also been considered to provide meaningful competition to Wojciech Szczesny in what would be an inexpensive trade, provided the Dane does not extend his contract beyond its current 12 months.
An imposing centre-half is an equally urgent requirement. Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka are favoured because they, like Downing, would help satisfy Uefa and Premier League requirements for homegrown players. But Per Mertesacker, a 75-times capped, 26-year-old Germany international, excites Wenger due to his leadership qualities and his seven-figure price. Take note that Nicklas Bendtner, another left behind as his team tour Asia, is highly regarded at Mertesacker's Werder Bremen and could be used in a swap deal.
Arsenal may have lost out to Juventus in their pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen's £15m Chile international midfielder, Arturo Vidal. However, it shows Wenger is open to strengthening central midfield despite his faith in Emmanuel Frimpong, who must recover from the knee ligament injury he suffered last season.
That leaves the centre-forward position, and the £27m link with Real Madrid's Karim Benzema should not be dismissed. The 23-year-old was off-colour for much of last season, with only one goal in his first 18 La Liga appearances. But with 15 goals in his last 17 starts he proved what a decisive player he still is.
And so Gordon, Downing, Vidal, Gervinho, Mertesacker and Benzema could arrive at a £10m net cost following the departures of Fábregas, Nasri, Clichy and Bendtner. If Wenger can achieve this within his club's existing wage structure – by moving on a number of fringe players – he will have been true to his word as a "very active" manager this summer. Arsenal's spine would be stronger and they would be more of a goal threat. But for all these benefits, with Fábregas gone, the biggest asset Wenger would have added to his side is tactical flexibility.
Arsenal's changing face?
Current 4-2-3-1 Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Frimpong; Nasri, Wilshere, Arshavin; Van Persie.
Possible 4-2-3-1 Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Wilshere, Vidal; Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho; Benzema.
Current 4-4-2 Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Walcott, Wilshere, Frimpong, Nasri; Chamakh, Van Persie.
Possible 4-4-2 Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Walcott, Vidal, Wilshere, Downing; Van Persie, Benzema.
BBC Sport - Criticism of Arsene Wenger unfair - Johan Djourou
---------- Post added at 09:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------
another signing?!
Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Swedish teenager Kristoffer Olsson, according to the midfielder's current club.
The 16-year-old has had two trails with Arsene Wenger's outfit, the first coming back in February, and has impressed.
IFK Norrkopings starlet Olsson is now set to make a permanent move to England for an undisclosed fee.
"I can confirm that the transfer is close to being sealed. I won't comment on any sums, but of course we are happy with the deal," IFK Norrkopings sporting director Tony Martinsson told Fotbolldirekt.se.
"We are pleased, but of course we would have preferred to have seen Kristoffer stay in Norrkoping and evolve to a first-team player.
"He wanted to take this chance and we will not stand in the way."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...031338,00.html
---------- Post added at 09:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------
another signing?!
Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Swedish teenager Kristoffer Olsson, according to the midfielder's current club.
The 16-year-old has had two trails with Arsene Wenger's outfit, the first coming back in February, and has impressed.
IFK Norrkopings starlet Olsson is now set to make a permanent move to England for an undisclosed fee.
"I can confirm that the transfer is close to being sealed. I won't comment on any sums, but of course we are happy with the deal," IFK Norrkopings sporting director Tony Martinsson told Fotbolldirekt.se.
"We are pleased, but of course we would have preferred to have seen Kristoffer stay in Norrkoping and evolve to a first-team player.
"He wanted to take this chance and we will not stand in the way."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...031338,00.html
Please don't tell me you're suggesting Clichy is World Class.
Mm, that team would be awesomesauce. RVP and Benzema would be an amazing partnership imo. I'd take Lavezzi over Downing on the left though. Probably wouldn't cost too much more either.
Benzema, wtf? didnt he say he wont leave real madird
Possible 4-2-3-1 Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Wilshere, Vidal; Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho; Benzema
wheres the att centre mid ?
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why take Song out of them?
Because he's off to jail according to the sun.
Posted this in the comments section... Really pretty ****** off with the Guardian at the moment. What the **** are they playing at? Basing this article entirely on largely false/outdated speculation and making completely illogical conclusions from incorrect myths.
Anyway:
Rather late to this all, but why is the Guardian's financial/corruption expert and "digger" writing an article about a subject he, in all probability, knows nothing about?
Anyway - back to the point:
Or Gerrard, even. Is he off to Barcelona too?
Right. Are we just going ahead and ignoring the 2007/08 season (13 goals, 23 assists from 44 starts), when he and Flamini played so well in the middle of the park that bar a horrific injury to Eduardo da Silva, Arsenal were almost guaranteed the title?
Admittedly, that season's statistics are matched (in terms of total contribution) by only one - the 2009/10 season when he racked up 19 goals and 15 assists in Arsene Wenger's new 4-3-3 formation - but is it not just conceivable that, while being given a freer, more advanced role in the side, he was simply an improved player in 2009/10?
3 years at Premier League level can do a lot for a player's talent - especially when it's the difference between being 20 with just 150 appearances to your name, and being 23 with 227 appearances.
So surely there's an argument that had Eduardo's leg not been broken in February 2008, Arsenal's form may well have continued and Fabregas may well have helped lead the side to the title (in a 4-4-2; that's the crucial bit) and scored at least 6 goals more in 11 possible more appearances. Certainly he could have racked up more assists had one of the most clinical strikers in the league that season not had a broken fibula.
The truth is that 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 does make a difference, but the argument that Fabregas is somehow "unable" to play in a 4-4-2 is ludicrous at best. I suggest you do your research properly next time, or at least stick to what your job entails - exposing corruption in FIFA, not writing bull-**** articles on why Fabregas leaving is a good thing for Arsenal.
To clarify - it could well be a financially solid move for Arsenal, although we're unlikely to spend all of the rumoured £50m budget because we have to have some left over for any emergency deals that may need to go through.
By the way - again - you haven't done your research: the budget Arsenal have includes wages for the first year of new signings' contracts too, so Gervinho's transfer will actually cost closer to £15m than £11m and Cahill would approach the £25m mark and Benezema - well, let's just say it would cost us a fair few pennies).
Thankyou, goodnight.
There's your hint.
I really doubt it. Even if he has done something, it'll just be sensationalism like usual.---------- Post added at 11:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:38 PM ----------
So Joss, would you prefer to go back to 4-4-2 should Fabregas leave? And who would you want to partner RVP?
There's your hint.
Exactly, it was mixed sarcasm but yeah whatever.
Sorry then, sarcasm detector was off.
na, it was mostly my fault haha, wasn't very clear. ^_^
thought you would have a rant
Loved the Fabregas cant play 4-4-2 part. He made a few good points, largely undermined by poor research
There's your hint.
---------- Post added at 11:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:38 PM ----------
So Joss, would you prefer to go back to 4-4-2 should Fabregas leave? And who would you want to partner RVP?
Not really. Maybe short-term if he goes this season, because I feel that Ramsey may need to be slowly brought back into the team after his injury and not just thrown in at the deep-end to see if his fitness etc. can handle it and so may only be able to fill the 'Cesc role' that he's clearly signed to do in the long-term. (from minute one we could see he was Cesc's natural replacement if he fulfilled his potential).
But in the long-term, if a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 is best suited to a player like Cesc Fabregas (I believe it is, but saying he's actually UNABLE to play in a 4-4-2 is just ridiculous) then clearly we need to keep that up in the long-term in order to have both Wilshere and Ramsey playing alongside each other, rather than having to take turns.
I couldn't help it. Such a terrible article and why on earth is he writing it anyway? If his contacts are so ****** good why didn't he do his research properly? It's all there in the public domain ffs. It took me 10 minutes to check his goals/assists/apps tally on ESPN and add it all up.
The Guardian published 8 articles in the last week on Fabregas ffs. They seem to be as much under pressure to get stuff out as the ****** NOTW journos.