Quote :

"Pretty good day to have Rooney (cpt) and Young in the fantasy lineup. Pretttyyyy Prettttyyy good."

8/28/2011 12:54:34 PM

Top of the table with goal differential now. Citeh please.

8/28/2011 12:55:08 PM

Gary Cahill ignoring Wenger's calls now. I'd rather stay at Bolton.

8/28/2011 12:57:26 PM

Wenger should be fired

8/28/2011 1:04:33 PM

I wonder how Young's stat line stacks up from a historical perspective.

8/28/2011 1:06:34 PM

Where'd you hear that about Cahill? Last I read this morning Arsenal offered £12 million for him and the talks are on. I wouldn't blame him though if he is ignoring calls, it looks like Arsenal might as well go ahead and call this a "rebuilding" year and focus on getting some decent form going later in the season.

Saw this too:

Quote :

"First time Arsenal had conceded eight goals in a league match since 1896."

8/28/2011 1:21:57 PM

^ I was joking. Wenger really has no choice but to stump up whatever cash Coyle wants for Cahill, and also throw the 35m pounds for Hazard.

8/28/2011 1:29:26 PM

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/950207/owen-coyle-reaffirms-bolton's-gary-cahill-stance?cc=5901

Status today.

8/28/2011 1:29:34 PM

lille isnt selling hazard this year, they've already been offered more than whatever arsenal will offer for him, and said no.

8/28/2011 1:31:57 PM

Honestly, after today Coyle can probably name his own price for Cahill. Arsenal are a shambles right now, and should rightly be desperate for defensive help, and midfield creativity.

8/28/2011 1:34:09 PM

Not sure why Wenger didn't jump at Parker. I know it's not like him to go after older English players but with the gap in midfield he needs to do something different. No time to bring up a youth player and wait 2-3 seasons for him to take form. Parker is proven: Player of the Year, capped for England and club captain. He would have been a bargain earlier in the transfer window since West Ham were relegated and I'm sure need cash, especially with all the Olympic Stadium crap happening in the background.

Now he's more than likely going down the street to Tottenham where he will be the next Van Der Vaart-bargain-of-the-year player.

8/28/2011 2:39:11 PM

Quote :

"First time Arsenal had conceded eight goals in a league match since 1896."

And what's important about that is that the only reason they conceded 9 goals in that match was because they were forced to play a league match and an FA Cup match on the same day, so the first team went to the FA Cup match while the reserves played the league match.

8/28/2011 2:39:51 PM

i came to post

8/28/2011 2:56:56 PM

Ouch.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/950482/tottenham-midfielder-rafael-van-der-vaart-suffers-hamstring-tear?cc=5901

8/28/2011 4:15:53 PM

Fuck. van der Vaart tore his hamstring.

EDIT: ^ That's what I get for over analyzing my posts

8/28/2011 4:16:29 PM

Congrats so far to Tim Krul and Michel Vorm: two Dutch keepers with two clean sheets each.

8/28/2011 5:09:08 PM

As a Netherlands fan that sucks to hear about Rafa. Luckily he will only miss the qualifiers against easy to beat countries.

8/28/2011 6:46:29 PM

Really good write-up on Wenger. I was just thinking about this yesterday, about how short sighted it is to want him fired over a dozen or so games of under-performance. I'm guilty of complaining about his transfer policy this season, but then you think about the alternatives out there, the managers who jump from club to club year after year, and realize what a special manager Wenger is. He can put together squads with half the budget of other clubs that can compete in Europe.

http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/fanseyeview/archive/2011/08/26/arsenal-must-continue-to-trust-wenger-a-victim-of-his-own-success.aspx

Quote :

"If Wenger’s biggest sins are to persevere with a beautiful brand of football, to selflessly manage the club’s budget and to look at the bigger picture instead of mindlessly spending for short-term gain, then a sense of perspective is needed by all. "

Man City & Chelsea have taken an impatient approach. It worked for Chelsea and seems to be working for Man City. How long is it sustainable though? What happens to their model if UEFA does the unlikely and actually starts cracking down on finances? Chelsea's lone stellar youth talent, Josh McEachran, is begging to go out on loan because he is constantly being bumped down the bench by big money signings. On the other hand you have Wenger who has built a massive youth system (Wilshere, Gibbs, Frimpong, Lansbury, etc) that he has faith in to the point that he calls them into first team action instead of blowing the club's budget on players at the whims of the fans.

8/28/2011 9:32:55 PM

What I don't get about Wenger is why he wouldn't just make a few big buys here and there if he could. Is he that stubborn that he'll keep playing young players until it works? Or is he taking a lot of unnecessary heat that should be directed towards Kroenke and Co. for not giving him the money for big name purchases?

8/28/2011 10:04:55 PM

I'm unimpressed by the manU win. Yeah, you beat a bunch of 16 year olds, good job. And I know you might retort that Liverpool struggled to beat that Arse team last week, but in cause you didnt watch, Nasri and Frimpong were by far Arsenal's best players that game.

The 2 Ashley Young goals were nice and that was it. The rest of the goals were dogshit defending, dogshit offsides traps, dogshit setpiece walls, dogshit penalties. It was just a joke really. ManU fans think they have a treble-winning side. Let me remind you, your midfield still consists of Anderson and Cleverley. So calm the fuck down.

8/28/2011 10:15:43 PM

It seems odd to me that fans grouse about an owner being too greedy and tight with the pursestrings. Then when an owner actually cares about rolling out a top-quality product and spending money to improve the quality of a squad, people disparage him and call the team mercenaries. I'm a Man City fan, I was before Sheik Mansour, I suffered through the lean years with owners who didn't give a shit about the average fan. I suppose its hard to see things from a different perspective when it isn't your team. But, it's just football after all.

[Edited on August 28, 2011 at 10:24 PM. Reason : sorry, I've held my tongue long enough]

[Edited on August 28, 2011 at 10:25 PM. Reason : oh, and fuck Heelfan]

8/28/2011 10:23:39 PM

^^
MAD!

8/28/2011 10:33:27 PM

Quote :

"I'm unimpressed by the manU win."

Arsenal haven't conceded 8 goals in over 100 years. If you don't think 8 goals is a big deal then you don't know shit about football.

Nice troll attempt though.

8/28/2011 10:46:47 PM

lol, nice try, douche.

8/28/2011 10:55:27 PM

Quote :

" Let me remind you, your midfield still consists of Anderson and Cleverley."

one of whom just got called up to the England side


so......

8/28/2011 11:04:34 PM

That was a good article, Opstand. I do, however, wish Wenger would make the occasional big signing. I definitely don't want to see him fired.

8/28/2011 11:16:31 PM

It's rly not a troll attempt. If I'm proven wrong and manU finishes top of the table then I'll be the first to issue a mea culpa. We shall see...

8/28/2011 11:52:18 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, you beat a bunch of 16 year olds, good job."

Don't feel like doing the math this late at night, but did see it posted on Twitter that the average age of ManU and Arsenal's line-ups in today's game were essentially the same. No Rio helps lower it for Man U but SAF fielded a fairly young team. The difference is that his has experience while Arsenal's did not. I mean Jenkinson has been thrown to the wolves, dude was playing non-league football last season.

No excuses really though. Check out the RvP post game interview, he summed it up well. Man U was missing several regular starters too, not as many as Arsenal, but enough to have easily affected the outcome.

It's still really early in the season, too early to tell who is going to win the league. Obviously the city of Manchester fairs well, but Chelsea and Liverpool are looking decent too.

All this coming from an Arsenal fan...

8/29/2011 12:03:12 AM

Yeah, I'm not sure what's unimpressive about an 8-2 thrashing where you control start to finish and 8-2 is actually flattering to the losers.

I don't care if you're playing Blackburn, the way they thoroughly dominated was very impressive.


also, fuck United

8/29/2011 8:36:44 AM

Arsenal is going to pay for a future game ticket for any traveling fans who went to see the beatdown at OT yesterday.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-thanks

8/29/2011 12:59:07 PM

If come November or so and Arsenal is still shitting the bed and Wenger gets canned, who do you Gooners want to replace him?

8/29/2011 7:10:49 PM

Rafa Benitez



MARK IT DOWN

8/29/2011 7:53:21 PM

Looks like Wenger finally signed a defender - Andre Santos. Brazilian national but only 2 years in Europe (and Turkey at that). Looks like it could be a good signing, don't know much about him though.

I don't think Wenger is going to get fired. If he does, possibly Benitez as a replacement but it won't be him. It will be Dragan Stojkovic who Wenger himself has named as his successor...assuming the timing works out.


Ha kiljadn I just typed up the above and walked away for 30 minutes before posting it, come back and you posted ^. I think Benitez is a good manager, they sure wanted him back at Anfield after Woy took over. He got screwed at Inter, don't think it was all his fault there, but I don't know if he would be a good fit for Arsenal either.

8/29/2011 8:32:19 PM

If they're forced to fire Wenger I don't think they'd go with the replacement that he-himself picked.

Ancelotti (if he's still unemployed) would be your ideal. Martin O'Neill worked wonders with Aston Villa when he was given money to spend is another good option.

8/29/2011 8:49:29 PM

Santos is a fantastic signing if it goes through. If we can get Cahill (or another good CB) and a strong midfielder, then Wenger has done his job signings wise for me (just waited WAY too late to do it).

8/29/2011 8:49:56 PM

Enrique > Santos, according to most British writers I follow on twitter. Wenger definitely deserves blame for taking so long to sign players in positions that were obviously needed

8/29/2011 8:58:21 PM

Carlo would be ok but I'd rather see Benitez over Carlo. I think a Spanish manager would fit Arsenal's style better than one from Italy. Pretty sure Wenger's job is safe though, just saw this confirmation:

Quote :

"An Arsenal source said: "The club is very much behind Arsène Wenger from Stan Kroenke to the board, downwards and sideways. There is absolutely no suggestion of any conversations about his future. We are right behind the manager who has led us to such great success for 15 years.""

He will make a couple signings this week, some youngsters from the reserve squad will step up, a few will get health or come back from suspensions, and Arsenal will end the season in decent form.

^ Agreed. Wish he would have picked up Enrique, he's solid, still young and knows the English game well. Liverpool got a great deal for him.

[Edited on August 29, 2011 at 9:02 PM. Reason : .]

8/29/2011 9:00:58 PM

I need some credible sites to follow for these transfer updates/rumors. Sucks that Kaka wanted to stay at Madrid although he supposedly won't be a regular starter there.

8/30/2011 12:24:08 AM

just follow legit writers on twitter. They just informed me that Owen fucking Hargreaves had a medical at Man City today, hahahah

http://twitter.com/#!/bensmith_Times/status/108510678452678656

[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 8:14 AM. Reason : .]

8/30/2011 8:14:00 AM

Watch Hargreaves recover his form from a few years ago and play 40 games.

We shoulda let him play for free like he wanted.

8/30/2011 8:59:07 AM

Mertesacker to Arsenal for €9m. The deal I think most Arsenal fans have been waiting for since before the transfer window opened.

8/30/2011 9:01:34 AM

I've been reading a lot of Dempsey to Sevilla rumors. Fulham want around 8m. If they sell Dempsey and don't replace him asap, they'll be in a relegation battle

8/30/2011 9:07:14 AM

^^ if true that is a fantastic buy

8/30/2011 9:08:51 AM

I don't know why Dempsey isn't a more attractive option for clubs looking for an attacking midfielder. Arsenal could do worse and if ^ is all they want for him, it'd be a steal.

8/30/2011 9:14:20 AM

Quote :

"Mertesacker to Arsenal for €9m."

Could be good, but that's contingent upon a couple things. Mertesacker has almost no pace, and last year he didn't show the same positional awareness he did 4-5 years ago, but he got almost no help from Frings, his defensive shield, so he was left alone to deal with pacy attackers. So if Song can stay healthy, and not suspended, and Vermaelen can stay healthy then Mertesacker could be a monster as a cover defender if he recovers his form. Maybe a change of scenery is all he needs.

Either way he should at least be a improvement over Koscielny who's been out of his depth in the prem.

8/30/2011 9:22:28 AM

^^ I like Dempsey and all but 8 mil for somebody that's probably just a squad player at a top team in the prem who is also 28 and entering the last few years of his prime isn't the best value. I mean, I think Benayoun is a similar player and he only went for 5 mil to Chelsea from Liverpool.

8/30/2011 9:32:30 AM

Websites talkin' some shit about the Sneijder deal being a possibility again. I can't wait for the window to shut so these sites will stop playing with my emotions.

8/30/2011 11:01:20 AM

Can't see United adding him after seeing what their current squad is capable of already. Why spend the money if you don't need him?

8/30/2011 11:04:09 AM

We don't need him to win the prem, but we would need him to win the CL.

edit...At the very least we need a healthy Darren Fletcher, otherwise a team like Barca would pass circles around us, or a team like Real Madrid would overrun us. Even ManCity could overrun us in midfield without a DM worth his salt.



[Edited on August 30, 2011 at 11:15 AM. Reason : .]

8/30/2011 11:11:37 AM

^ I wouldn't argue against signing a DM but Sneijder obviously isn't that. Seems like a waste when you've got plenty of attacking power.

If anything, I'd want some defensive backup in case Evra goes down or Rio/Vidic can't stay healthy.

8/30/2011 11:21:05 AM