Arsenal FC @ Emirates All Gunner fans fall in

[aLinux]

what a comeback by Wigan,stunning Arsenal.
Wigan came back from 0-2 down,to win 3-2
letting a good chance slips away.

[chucky69]

Tell the sour Frenchman to stop complaining about injuries and the team is not matured enough.... Top teams have good squads....Maybe Arse Wenger should go and buy back Lehmann (GK), Viera back from MC, bring Tony Adams (after all he was a lousy manager) to partner Sol Campbell. Then he will complain his players are too old.

Look at the list of injuries from the other top teams....For one, Spurs have Lennon, King, Woodgate, Kranjcar, Corluka, Jenas, Cudicini with injuries, Palacios suspended, Crouch down with illness but still played, Keane and Hutton on loan. If all these were fit and available, they can still beat Arsenal these days.

[loverboy789]

Hi guys, I am new to this thread, but has been a gooner for over 20 years, since the time of Tony Woodcock, Charlie Nicholas (hope you know who they are). Was previously only in sleazy thread, but looking forward to start contributing to this thread.

To begin, let me say that there has been no doubt in my mind that Wenger is the greatest manager Arsenal ever had (forget about Herbert Chapman, I was not born yet). Other than the last 5 years, his initial 7-8 years is pretty trophy laden. What impresses me about him is his philosophy of football. The beautiful game. Arsenal used to be damn boring. Remember the days of players like Selley, Hillier, Caesar, Morrow, Helder etc.

Starting with the acquisition of Bergkamp (by Davin Dein, I believe), Wenger retained and prolonged the career of veterans like Adams, Seaman, Keown, Bould, Dixon, Winterburn and added fantastically talented players like Vieira, Henry, Anelka, Overmars, Pires, Ljungberg, Petit etc. To replace the veterans, he added no nonsense (but flair) players like Campbell, Lauren, Cole (yes, he was good), Lehmann, Toure. The "invincible" squad was the ultimate result and it is very likely that no other manager can achieve the same feat. Looking at the way Barcelona play today reminds me a lot of the "invincibles". Winning with lots of flairs. Boy, I really miss those days.

The building of the Emirates Stadium cost us more than we think. Arsenal today may be financially sound (despite the huge debts) with a viable business plan. The club do not depend on sugar daddies (Chelsea, Man City) nor huge exposure in global advertising (Man Utd). In this respect, the hindsight of the present board in preventing funding from foreign entities seems wise. To be honest, I beg to differ.

I am a strong supporter of the Wenger & Dein combination that brought us much footballing joy between 1997-2005. First and foremost, Wenger is brought in by Dein. Wenger mentioned that he will identify a player and Dein will take charge of negotiations, thus freeing Wenger for the footballing aspects of the squad. The massively profitable transfers of players like Anelka, Overmars, Petit, etc were all during Dein's time.

With Arsenal doing so well on the field and being held back by a much smaller global supporters (as compared to Man Utd, Real Madrid) as well as a stadium that cannot be expanded, it makes logical sense to build a new stadium to bring in additional fundings. However, planning and building a new stadium in a city like London is amazingly troublesome. I was previously subscribed to the Arsenal Supporters Mailing List and I can assure you that it was a nightmare spanning over a period of about 2-3 years. There were constant changing, approval, rejection by authorities after authorities. Even the local residents also gets into the act and protested against the building of the stadium at Islington. To cut the story short, the budget sky rocketed and length of time to build the stadium was delayed a few times.

For those of you who knows Dutch soccer in the nineties, the domineering team is Ajax Amsterdam. They embark on a new stadium project that went over budget and the end result is it became a mid table team for a few seasons. So you can imagine what's going on in the mind of Dein during this period. He wants to bring in fundings in 2 ways. (1 way is diluting present shareholders holding, the other way is a sugar daddy). The ultra conservative Arsenal board will not have any of that. It is amazing that people like Peter Hill-Wood can still sit on the board today and boast of sound financial management.

The truth, for me, is that Wenger is a victim of his own success. Tell me which other manager in the Premier League spend the equivalent of him and achieve a better results over the last 7-8 years. Now, Wenger may appear to be stingy to you guys, but he wasn't exactly like that in the earlier days. He was shrewd, but not stingy. Funding wasn't exactly available to him between 2003-2008. I understand from certain reports that the budget was a mere 10-15 million pounds a season for player transfer. Imagine asking Benitez and Mourinho to work with that!

With such limited funding, the only way to go is youth. Wenger spend years cultivating this present crop of players and the last thing on his mind is to abandon them. Having consistently qualify for champions league, finishing among the top in the premier league, Arsenal has managed to still be financially sound. Today, I am sure Wenger has the funding to buy 3-4 top class players and pay them wages in line with the top clubs.

Well, I know I am pretty long winded. Let me just conclude by stating my wish for next season:

1. A new Manager (Wtf!!!!)
Wenger to be promoted to Technical Director and remove the emotional attachment he has with the players (many of them need a kick up their arse).
Bring in Mourinho. (Honestly, I don't like him. But he can deliver) He will start kicking the ass out of them.

2. A new World Class Goalkeeper (this is obvious, no need to explain)
Go for Buffon

3. A new World Class Central Defender
We need a central defender in the mould of John Terry. Influential and inspirational. Wonder who is similiar to him? And available.

4. A new left back
Clichy is weak defensively, he can play on the wing.

5. A new World Class Striker
To partner RVP.

No qualms about the other positions.

Hey guys, please feel free to comment.

[tatata21]

Good post loverboy. But I've some opinions to share too.



1. A new manager? I am not sure about this, Wenger's time is not up, he will still want to be a manager. If not in Arsenal, it'll be elsewhere, and I say we keep him.

Mourinho has his own style, he will deliver for almost any teams. But what Wenger did is extraordinary. Where and what is Arsenal before he took over, I am sure you know it very well... the word "boring" has the same meaning as Arsenal.

We're able to compete in this league, and still stay at TOP4 is a wonderful achievement as we are the only elite team with an upward transfer market curve. Our investment in Stadium is a good move, look where we are, top 3 most valuable team in the world despite our squad, billionaires hoping to takeover the team.

But it has finally come to a point that we need big-name transfers, rather than ONLY youngstes which Wenger has been doing. He needs to spend, or be forced to spend this summer, 30m kitty is a good stack of cash.

Conclusion: "In Arsene, We Trust."



2. World glass GK, which team wouldn't want. But a more realistic target will be Joe Hart. He has been performing well and could come at a price of about 10m pounds. He's the future of England. No matter what, we definitely need to put Almunia no.2.




3. World class defender again... if we can find somebody of Vermaelen standards I am more than happy. But surely this is a position we need to invest in other than GK.



4. I agree for a new LB only if Clichy is sold. We got midfielders at the front like Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin, Diaby... there is no room for Clichy there. He still deserve the LB position in Arsenal. He's a good player, and what we failed this season and the couple of last is... weak defence as a whole and poor gk (the only individual i'm singling out).



5. Striker. Our main target is Chamakh, he can come for $0 transfer fee, which means we can spend our cash on other areas. He's world class too. Highly potent in aerial challenge and good striking ability. Pairing up with RVP will make them 1 of the most fearsome strikeforce in Europe. Nice to share same sentiments with you, GK DF & FW.

[loverboy789]

1. I actually feel that Wenger is better at the top of the hierarchy. Something like chairman, CEO, Technical Director. He has more than just a footballing brain. It is quite unlikely that he will ever leave Arsenal. More likely he will be "promoted" to the board. Basically he is "untouchable" at Arsenal now. That is not necessarily a good sign for any organisation, but I gladly accept it for what he has achieve so far.

2. Joe Hart! Honestly speaking, didn't follow his progress. I would prefer an established international goalie. If we want to be a team challenging for league title and champions' league, this position is too important to be neglected. A top-notch player like Buffon will instill tremendous confidence into the defence. Something which has been lacking for the last few years.

3. If only Sol Campbell is 10 years younger. His physical presence in defence is what we lack for some time now. Vermaelen, imho, is world class. But he do not possess the physical presence which Campbell have. Size (with pace) do matters in defence. The verminator will be a good compliment, though.

4. Regarding Clichy, my idea about moving him into the wing means someone has to be sold. I like this chap. He is very committed and always fight hard. But, and it is a big BUT, his defensive play is erratic. Perhaps he is really not cut out to be a defender. I have a sneaky feeling that Arshavin may leave. Rosicky is also better off in a less physical league like the French, Italian or German.

5. Have yet to really see Chamakh in action. If he is that good, you can be sure we won't be the only top club knocking at his door. But having say that, his physical attribute will be well suited to the EPL. Just hope that if he do join Arsenal, he will be suited to our style of play. I would actually prefer someone like David Villa. He is getting old and won't come cheap. But it will be a sensational signing. We need it right now.

[tatata21]

Wah all you want are fantasy players that will never come lol.. probably in FM still got chance.

Buffon or Villa, i think each will cost an average of 30m, so both being 60m. We're not a club at that budget, even if so, we will not spend more than 20m on a player.

Buffon is worldclass, that will mean a lot of clubs eyeing him from Manutd,City etc... Wenger surely won't but a fully developed player at the peak of his game. Just go watch Joe hart last game, even i am having doubts if City will let us buy him or not. Young but good, England nationality is good too since is EPL and can shut the "foreign french" team thesis.

Villa more likely destination will be utd,city,real,barca... he's a small chap too, we don't want another small guy in the club, at the front somemore. Chamakh is same height as RVP 185-188cm, but i hope we get him, he has expressed interest in Arsenal too, better fix the wages right.

Agree we have to offload some players. Arshavin is just whining about our lack of quality ppl, if we manage to sign a few, we'll be there together with him, if not, he really might leave. Ppl to offload will be... Eduardo, Rosicky, Merida, Silvestre, with some others depending on our procurements.

Wenger can be a manager or a director, in fact, i think he is allow the attend board meetings which is a director level tasks. He is more than a manager/coach like Arshavin says, he can influence the entire club.

Which makes me certain and conclude Arsenal are the BEST CLUB in the world!

[loverboy789]

Hahaha......... let me go play FM then

Btw, who is your favourite Arsenal player now?

I got to admit that since Thierry Henry, I do not have a favourite player.

[tatata21]

Fabregas!

I still like Henry, just that he is no more in Arsenal. Besides this 2 don't have any other Arsenal players I like a lot, the rest are normal only.


Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger Pledges To Splash The Cash In The Summer Apr 26, 2010

Two weeks ago Goal.com UK exclusively revealed that the Gunners will have around £45 million to spend in the transfer market at the end of the season, a result of the maturation of the Emirates Stadium building project, some prudent financial management and the sale of properties built on the old Highbury Stadium site.

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger Pledges To Splash The Cash In The Summer - Goal.com

[loverboy789]

A couple of years ago, when Carlos Vela was on loan in Spain (Osasuna), I thought he was amazing there. Especially when they play Real Madrid. He was torturing Sergio Ramos on the left wing. I saw something special in him at that time and was banking on him to be the next "superstar" at Arsenal. Sadly, it doesn't seems to be the case so far.

The plus point is, he is still very young. Am hoping he can develop rapidly so that I can once again have a favourite player in Arsenal.

[tatata21]

I hope Carlos Vela don't end up becoming a FM only player. Something like Veloso, lol.

He does have something in him, just like Bojan. But the latter only started shining when given more chances...

I guess our youngest and most highly rated star is Jack Wilshere at the moment. If we meet our target of 3 reasonable signings, I see no reason why Arsenal not being the top top player in EPL soon again (right now i feel we're like handicapped 80% to Chelsea and Utd).

[tatata21]

Rejoice to the loyal Gunner fans

Today, we are greeted by two great news.

1. Wenger To Stay Until 2013
This is an affirmation from our manager. Something that will stablise the frantics and calm some nerves. We are already starting to reap benefits from our mega investment, the Emirates. We play good football but that wasn't enough, now, surely we're getting in players to bridge the gap from Chelsea & Man Utd.

2. Chamakh rejects Reds and Spurs for Arsenal
This is the major news I've been waiting for, and I believe many gunners too. He's a top player, have a hard shot, excellent in the air with good height and of course composed. Together with RVP, I can only see what will soon be one of the most feared strikeforce in Europe.

More positives to come I guess... could be even before the world cup. Though we have not been trophy-blinded like some other fans (partly influence by Wenger), some of our fans are already eager to celebrate and cap off our beautiful play with some deserved and long due trophies.

Cheers to the Gunners tavern! "In Arsene, We Trust"

[Naka_Timo]

Wenger is surely a good manager, he can groom young gem into stars.

Now have a new striker, let hope for more gd news of a new defender and gk.. tat all.

This is all they need...

[loverboy789]

Good start by Wenger to the player transfer season.

Picking up Chamakh on a free with wages allegedly in the 40-50k pounds a week.

I am yet to be convince that he will be a regular starter. Hope that he can be a 20 goals a season striker.

Waiting for more good news on the transfer front...............

[tatata21]

Found a good source to show Wenger's prowess on transfer markets yet again.

We all know he is the professor in markets even before or after our undefeatables feat, this report is based after the undefeatables and rebuilding the club, while surviving the huge loans made for the stadium and the financial crisis.

This time round, he might be approaching a bend in the transfer window. I got a feeling we'll hear 1-2 more signings before the World Cup.



Arsenal Analysis: How Arsene Wenger Rebuilt His Team - And Made £25m For The Club Too

2004-05
Emmanuel Eboue (£1m), Mathieu Flamini (£1m), Manuel Almunia (£2.5m)

Ins: £4.5m
Outs: £2.9m
Net: -£1.6m


2005-06
Mart Poom (Free), Theo Walcott (£9.1m), Emmanuel Adebayor (£7m), Abou Diaby (£2m), Aliaksandr Hleb (£11.2m), Armand Traore (£250,000), Vito Mannone (£350,000), Nicklas Bendtner (£200,000)

Ins: £36.9m
Outs: £30.12m
Net: -£6.78m


2006-07
Tomas Rosicky (£6.8m), Nacer Barazite (Free), Denilson (£3.4m), William Gallas (swap), Alexandre Song (£1m), Fran Merida (Free), Joe O’Cearuill (Free)

Ins: £11.2m
Outs: £30.9m
Net: £19.7m


2007-08
Eduardo (£7.5m), Luke Freeman (£200,000), Lassana Diarra (£4m), Bakari Sagna (£6m), Lukasz Fabianski (£2m)

Ins: £19.7m
Outs: £17.6m
Net: -£2.1m


2008-09

Samir Nasri (£12.5m), Amaury Bischoff (Undisclosed), Mickael Silvestre (£750,000), Andrey Arshavin (£16.5m), Aaron Ramsey (£5m)

Ins: £34.75
Outs: £15.8m
Net: £-18.95


2009-10
Thomas Vermaelen (£10m), Samuel Galindo (Undisclosed), Sol Campbell (Free)

Ins: £10m
Outs: £41m
Net: £31m



Source from goal.com. I know they got many stupid transfer rumours but facts don't lie.

Arsenal Analysis: How Arsene Wenger Rebuilt His Team - And Made £25m For The Club Too - Goal.com

[tatata21]

Manager Arsène Wenger said: “We are delighted that Marouane Chamakh has joined us. He is a player we have admired for some time now and I know he will provide our squad with great quality. Chamakh has proved he is a great player with his performances for Bordeaux and Morocco in recent seasons and we’re all looking forward to him joining us.

"Chamakh is a striker of real quality and has all the attributes suited to come to England and do very well. He is also a fighter, not only a good football player, but a fighter as well. He is very good in the air and also a good team player. He is a great addition to our squad.”

After completing his move to the Gunners, Chamakh said: “This is a dream come true and a great joy to be joining Arsenal. My goal was always to play in the Premier League and Arsenal was the choice of my heart.

“Without any hesitation, Arsenal was my preferred club. The team and history of Arsenal, they make me dream. My goal was to join Arsenal out of the all the English clubs because it is a club that makes me dream and I have been a fan since I was a child.

“I’m very excited about playing at Emirates Stadium in front of the Arsenal supporters. I have heard many great things about the stadium and I cannot wait to be playing there in an Arsenal shirt.

“I will give my best to this Club, the Club that I used to support. We have many great players at Arsenal and I will be giving everything to help the team win trophies next season.”

Chamakh, who will wear the number 29 shirt for Arsenal, will join up with his new team-mates for pre-season training in July.


Marouane Chamakh completes move to Arsenal | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com