The Arsenal Thread

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philly said:
Arsenal Bid For Jagielka Rejected | wearethenorthbank.com | wearethenorthbank.com

Hopefully if we are bidding that much for him, then Wenger will be willing to up the Samba offer a little more. Or maybe even just pay the 17mill for Cahill.
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I'd rather we upped our Jagielka bid. Pay max. £15m for any of those players - none of them are worth more IMO.

GodCubed said:
17 mil for Gary Cahill? Am I the only one who thinks that's AT LEAST 7 mil too much? Sure, Cahill's a decent young English defender, but he makes mistakes and whilst he's a threat from set-pieces at the opposition end he's hardly brilliant defending corners in his own area.
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I've never been overly convinced by the excitement surrounding the Cahill - Arsenal rumours tbh. He's a good player, but I still think he's too similar to Vermaelen, and what we really need is a covering CB (the no nonsense type if we must, but I just want someone good in the air, with plenty of PL experience and more pace than Squillaci.) Like Sol Campbell in his day.
 
GodCubed said:
17 mil for Gary Cahill? Am I the only one who thinks that's AT LEAST 7 mil too much? Sure, Cahill's a decent young English defender, but he makes mistakes and whilst he's a threat from set-pieces at the opposition end he's hardly brilliant defending corners in his own area.
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It is too much, but if teams want him now thats what they are going to have to pay.
 
We are hearing the prisoner #Cesc will be released into the custody of #Barca for an undisclosed ransom shortly #ShipOfFools #AFC #FCB

- Special 1 TV.
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lol.

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17m for someone who has 1 year left is evil, in this case a CB. so its either down to samba ***** or .........
 
vlad-the-impaling-gunner said:
Read this crazy crazy rumour:

Arsenal Reported To Have Signed Franck Ribery | Football News | Football Insight

What a bunch of bullcrap.....although I would be pretty happy if he was signed for real.
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I think it's an old rumour which is actually partially true.

We had a bid accepted, so that we could talk personal terms with Ribery and see if he would take a pay-cut. Essentially, he wouldn't and he wanted something like £125k/week +, so we pulled out. That was a couple of months ago, though and I don't know how genuine our interest was - as far as I know, we just wanted to check in some optimistic hope that he would take a significant wage-cut. If he did - great, and if he didn't, so be it.
 
Wenger Looking to Trio of English Defensive Alternatives

Wenger Looking to Trio of English Defensive Alternatives - WhoScored.com
by Martin Laurence at Thursday, Jul 21 2011 14:36

Having entrusted his fellow French compatriots to hold the fort in Arsenal's back-line before now, Arsene Wenger looks to be keen on adding an English influence into his centre-back pairing.

Last season, the Gunners boss had the option to line-up with a back four comprising entirely of Frenchman. However, following the sale of Gael Clichy and the inability to fill the boots of the injured Thomas Vermaelen from the likes of Koscielny and Squillaci last term, the experienced manager is desperate to bolster his defensive ranks.

The return to fitness of Vermaelen could not come soon enough for Arsenal last season but by the time it did, the title was already lost. Assuming the Belgian stays injury free in the next campaign, Wenger is on the lookout for a permanent partner for the talismanic centre-back.

Wenger has long been credited with an interest in the likes of Chris Samba at Blackburn but he now looks set to opt for an English alternative, with three names believed to be topping his wish list.

Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill and more recently Everton's Phil Jagielka are both believed to have been subject to bids from the London club, while Birmingham's Scott Dann is the most likely of the trio to leave his current club following their relegation from the Premier League last season.

In this article we compare how the three targets fare with the current centre-halves at the Emirates as well as each other, and discuss which of them is best suited to a transfer to the Gunners.

Jagielka vs Cahill vs Dann

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Arsene Wenger has shown a keen interest in England international Phil Jagielka for a number of seasons now, and came in with a bid of around £10m for the Everton defender in recent times. This amount was rejected by the Toffees who are thought to be holding out for closer to £20m for their key centre-back. Of the three prospective targets Jagielka picked up the best WhoScored.com rating with 7.05. This figure was helped in part due to an impressive combined figure of 4.4 tackles and interceptions per game, also the best of the trio.

The 28-year-old's superior defensive attributes are backed up with a decent pass success rate of 74%, again the highest of the three. However, areas in which he is less astute than Cahill include his aerial success of 60%, blocks per game of 1 and clearances per game of 7.6.

The Bolton man is widely believed to be Arsenal's preferred option of the three but in turn appears to be the most expensive. At just 25, Cahill is entering his prime and earned himself a WhoScored.com rating of 7 last season, representing an integral part in Owen Coyle's back-line. He led the way for the trio in terms of aerial success with 63%, blocks per game with 1.1, clearances with 10.7, and also offered the biggest threat in attack with 0.9 shots per game leading to 3 league goals last term.

Despite playing in a weaker team than Jagielka last season, Cahill managed fewer tackles with 1.8 and interceptions with 1.8. His pass accuracy of 72% was all but identical to the other two candidates, but also slightly weaker.

In Scott Dann, Birmingham City pulled off what turned out to be a real coup last year. 20 games into the season and the Blues were eyeing another season of safety along with Carling Cup success before the 24-year-old picked up an injury that would rule him out for the rest of the campaign. Losing Dann alongside defensive partner Roger Johnson proved to be the clubs eventual downfall.

With Johnson and Dann at the back, City won 4, drew 10 and loss just 6 times, keeping 6 clean sheets during this period and conceding just 25 goals, a ratio of 1.25 goals per game. In Dann’s absence, they won 4, drew 5 and lost 9 times, picking up just 3 clean sheets and conceding 33 goals, or 1.83 goals per game.

With regards to his fellow targets for Arsenal, Dann made more tackles than both with 2.7. However, he was weakest in terms of aerial success (54%), interceptions per game (0.9) and blocks per game (0.8). The young defender may prove the most realistic target for Wenger due to his increased availability after Birmingham's relegation, and his stats could well compliment those of Vermaelen.

Arsenal's Current Resources

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Wenger will be as relieved as all the Arsenal fans put together to have Thomas Vermaelen fit again ahead of next season. In his debut Premier League season, the 25-year-old represented a solid core to the side's defence that had been vacant beforehand, but also offered a threat going forward.

It's fair to say that Wenger neither replaced nor partnered the Belgium international with the quality required to last the season, with the likes of Koscielny and Squillaci failing to shine. Young Johan Djourou can no longer be excused as an inexperienced youngster and despite flashes of quality, doesn't look able to hold down a starting berth at a trophy ambitious club.

In just 5 games last season, Vermaelen picked up a WhoScored.com rating of 7.03, far eclipsing his fellow centre-backs at the club, and led the way in terms of aerial success (73%), tackles per game (2.2), interceptions per game (3.6) and shots per game (1.4) by some margin. The former Ajax-man only faltered in terms of blocks per game and clearances per game with 0.4 and 5.8 respectively.

Laurent Koscielny was the most used centre-back last term having signed from Lorient in the summer of 2010. The 25-year-old showed brief glimpses without ever really setting the league alight, with his best stat laying in his team high clearances per game of 6.9. He showed weaknesses in the air having won just 53% of his aerial duels from last season but his other lowest stat for the centre-backs at the club of 85% pass accuracy is still highly respectable.

Sebastien Squillaci was brought to the club due to the injury to Thomas Vermaelen but having failed to lead the way of his fellow defenders in any of the categories analysed, his stay at the club may be short-lived. His lack of standout figures included a weak success rate in the air, matching Koscielny's 53%, along with a fairly meagre score of 4.6 clearances per game. These downfalls coupled with the Frenchman's advanced age of 30 compared to his contenders may suggest the end of an Arsenal career before it even has the chance to begin for Squillaci.

Swiss international Johan Djourou, 24, fared the best of all the centre-backs at the club for blocks per game (0.7) and pass accuracy with a magnificent 90%. He is perhaps the most obvious partner to Vermaelen at Wenger’s disposal due to his advanced blocks per game and clearances per game tallies, and despite making considerably less tackles with just 1 per game, would be covered by Vermaelen's team high of 2.2 in this regard.

Which Target Represents the Best Fit?

On the assumption that any centre-back recruit would play alongside Vermaelen at the Emirates next season, decent figures for blocks and clearances could be required. This would immediately single out Cahill and back up the understanding that he was top of Wenger's wish list having picked up a combined total of 11.8. His tackles per game figure of 1.8 is the lowest of the potential signings analysed but would also be compensated by Vermaelan's strong figures.

If the former Villa-man proves too costly, Wenger may be safest in taking Scott Dann away from the Championship. The youngest of the three targets, Dann made a highly impressive 2.7 tackles per game from the back and chipped in with a combined blocks and clearances per game score of 9.2, above Jagielka's figure of 8.6. His weakness in the air was effectively countered by Johnson's strength in that department for Birmingham last season and could be dealt with to similar effect by Vermaelen.

With Jagielka and Cahill both commanding a fee closer to £20m than £10m, Dann may be the most cost-effective and in turn, risk-free option for Wenger to take to the Emirates.
 
vlad-the-impaling-gunner said:
Just read this rumour too:

Gunners track Nepal starlet | gunnersphere.com
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**** are u serious. i'm from nepal, and it strange to have something like this , like arsenal getting a nepali player. if it a japanese or korean player, im fine wiht that.
i dont see much asians break through epl aside from koreans. other asian players play in beligium or like some small european club.

tell ME im not DREAMING. LOL!!!!!!

Edit: feeling epic Proudness!!
 
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Plus, I think you could do with a Gurkha playing Centre-Half :P
 
Athe~ said:
Plus, I think you could do with a Gurkha playing Centre-Half :P
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yup, just realized. it will be the first time a south asian is in the epl ;P
and he is also the youngest player in the Nepal national team, 20yrs old. spurs interested too, but fingers crossed Chand will consider Arsenal better

---------- Post added at 10:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:06 PM ----------

so scott dann is to only cb we can get. samba not for sale, cahill price is lol, got snubbed by everton on phil Jagielka .

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the only problem if we have to get Chand is WP. its really not easy to apply for these stuffs ;P.
 
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Lol_101 said:
the only problem if we have to get Chand is WP. its really not easy to apply for these stuffs ;P.
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Considering he's a regular for Nepal I don't think a request (or at least the appeal) for a wp would be turned down.
 
Athe~ said:
Considering he's a regular for Nepal I don't think a request (or at least the appeal) for a wp would be turned down.
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well consider this long time back. anil gurung, star play for nepal got eyes on chelsea. came in for 4 month trial and woking fc tried geting him. he failed WP!!

just needs time to settle down.
 
Gervinho scores! 1-0.

Wilshere's pass over the top, Gervinho's move from the left inside and a lovely lob over the 'keeper from the edge of the box.

---------- Post added at 02:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:46 PM ----------

GOAL! 2-0.

Walcott squares and Gervinho taps in for his and Arsenal's second.

Cologne keeper comes off with an injury...
 
Skysports.com understands that a number of Championship clubs have agreed terms with Arsenal for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
The 20-year-old is a graduate of The Gunners' famed academy, but he has played just once for the senior side - spending most of his time away from the club on loan.

He has impressed during spells with Blackpool,
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Doncaster and Cardiff over the last three years - but now he is ready to move on permanently.
Arsenal
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are set to let him move on for around £1million - but with a large sell-on fee.
Skysports.com understands that Ipswich, Burnley
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and Portsmouth
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are amongst the clubs battling to land Emmanuel-Thomas who can play up-front or in midfield.
Emmanuel-Thomas is now set to decide on where his future lies with a decision due early next week.
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sunilvk7 said:
Skysports.com understands that a number of Championship clubs have agreed terms with Arsenal for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
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Not sure that's true. I thought we'd turned down a £1m offer but we're willing to sell/loan at a decent price. Good player - skilful, good finisher, but poor attitude and inconsistent.

---------- Post added at 03:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------

Jenkinson scores a bizarre own-goal - lobbing Szczesny with a sliced clearance.
 
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