Arsenal FC Thread

[AriseForLife]

Originally Posted by 7_Robert_Pires

I'm torn on Benzema, he has quality undoubtedly, but he has a massive ego and thinks he is alot better than he really is. He could easily be another Wiltord, who whilst successful was also very disruptive and apparently had shouting matches with Wenger. According to players he's the only player that they've ever seen Wenger get that angry at.

Massive ego according to who? People are so fast to label players as having egos or being conceited etc when they really don't know. I have seen reports that Benzema is actually very hard on himself ot the point that it effects his game. I can't see Benzema being disruptive from all the research I have done on him over the last year and a half.

And on the issue of money, we did spend £13 million on Wiltord back in 2000, which was a record fee for us until Arshavin. Us spending big isn't unheard of, we just don't always do it. Wenger has admitted that we just don't have as much money as the other teams, however if we get £25 million for Ade I can't see a reason the board wouldn't make up the difference for Benzema. I do however feel that we probably won't get Benzema and a holding midfielder. I think it's either a cheaper striker and a holding midfielder, or Benzema, and I'd prefer the former. Considering Wenger has gone on record saying we don't have that much cash, I can't see him having been giving a transfer kitty of £28 Million (Ade+5 for Benzema, 11 for Vermaelen and 12 for Toulalan).

The board wouldn't have to make up the difference. Hell our two largest shareholders are certified billionaires and one of them has already offered the cash to buy players so we have the money regardless of what Arsene says. I am more inclined to believe the men behind the money than Arsene on this matter because he always says the same thing, but when he needs something we always have the money to buy what he wants. I have never believed Arsene when it comes to money issues because even David Dein once said we had the money but Arsene didn't want to spend it.

If Milan offer £25.45M for Adebayor I think it would be fine to turn around and spend it on Benzema for two reasons. Reason #1, if he ends up fulfilling his potential we would have stolen a player that could have easily been valued higher and #2, even if he bombed, hes so young that we can easily recoup all of what would be spent on him if Wenger decided to give up on him and sell him, but that would never happen. Wenger is a teacher and if he had Karim as a student we could have arguably the best striker on the planet in a couple years time and if Bendtner keeps improving that could be 2 of the best young strikers on the planet.

I would much rather have Benzema than a cheap striker and a holding midfielder. Toure can play holding midfielder with great effect and it would allow us to get Vermaelen up to speed a lot faster so that when Gallas is gone in two years or sooner he can be ready to lead our backline.

I think the way to go would be to just let Ade go. Spend the money on a good holding player, we really don't need the extra striker. We have 6 player capable of playing up top without Ade; Arshavin, Vela, Walcott, Eduardo, Van Persie, Bendtner. I personally think a top two of Van Persie and Eduardo would be great, although I'd also like to see Dudu play with Bendtner. Even if Dudu and Van Persie both got injured we could play Arshavin and Bendtner up top and still have a midfielder four of Fabregas, Nasri, Holding Player, Rosicky.

I agree we should let him go, but our current strikeforce with out him is not capable of leading us to glory. All championship contenders have a high quality striker and we do not have that right now. Vela and Walcott are not ready to be deployed as strikers, Eduardo is not back to speed yet, and Van Persie is way too inconsistent as is Bendtner, but at least Nicklas is getting better.

I refuse to count on Tomas Rosicky for anything. He will get hurt again that is for certain. I don't think Eduardo will be back to his pre-injury form until after December, possibly mid January.

Originally Posted by mikahel

I don't undersand why everyone wants Benzema instead of Adebayor so much, they are both just as good as each other and Adebayor is probably stronger and better in the air. I wouldn't mind Benzema coming if Adebayor leaves however, I think it is unrealsitic for Arsene Wenger to splash out so much money on a player. Especially because Manchester UTD have been linked with him for such a while and Manchester UTD have over £80million to spend, it is very unlikely Arsenal would be able to compete with that. If Adebayor goes and Arsenal can't get Benzema, then I would really love Obafemi Martins to come Arsenal who we can get for a much cheaper price and similar quality. You may think he's not that good or better than Benzema or Adebayor, however when you have the likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin and Van persie assisting him, he would be a very dangerous striker. To be honest, I would really love to see Martins coming to Arsenal.

Oba isn't coming to Arsenal. He has already said he would prefer to stay at Newcastle if they can afford to keep him and even though Arsene has coveted him in the past, I don't another player that we can lose for the African Cup of Nations.

The reason I would like to see Sheyi gone is because he is to wishy washy with his commitment to Arsenal. One moment he is infatuated with a team that has taken interest in him and the next moment he is ready to commit to Arsenal. I want a player that wants to be at the club, not a 50/50 player.

Just because Manchester United want Benzema doesn't mean that Benzema wants Manchester United so who cares if we could compete with the money they get from the Cristiano Ronaldo sale. Its widely known that just about all French players want to change to play under Arsene Wenger and according to news reports Karim has always wanted to learn from Wenger so that plays in our favor.

Right now its nothing but rumors and speculation, but if the oppurtinity to sign another up and coming world class youngsters presents itself I say we take it because it wouldn't hurt us in the long run, it woudl only make us better.

[Anathematic]

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

Massive ego according to who? People are so fast to label players as having egos or being conceited etc when they really don't know. I have seen reports that Benzema is actually very hard on himself ot the point that it effects his game. I can't see Benzema being disruptive from all the research I have done on him over the last year and a half.

According to the interviews I've seen with him and the constant comments he makes about the France squad. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the guy is hard on himself, but he also has a massive opinion of himself. Ask any Lyon fan and they'll tell you the same. He's come out and said before that he's better than Titi and Anelka and should be starting for France, which for me, is a joke. I don't expect you to change your opinion around purely based on my word, but find a few Lyon fans to have a word with, I'm willing to be they'll tell you what I just have.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

The board wouldn't have to make up the difference. Hell our two largest shareholders are certified billionaires and one of them has already offered the cash to buy players so we have the money regardless of what Arsene says. I am more inclined to believe the men behind the money than Arsene on this matter because he always says the same thing, but when he needs something we always have the money to buy what he wants. I have never believed Arsene when it comes to money issues because even David Dein once said we had the money but Arsene didn't want to spend it.

I have to believe Wenger on this one. Why would he come out and say we don't have the money if there is money available? The club can't and won't ever come out and say "Our finances are terrible, we've got massive debts and we can't afford new signings". It just wouldn't happen. I'd imagine the first person you would tell, assuming there were plenty of people willing to just give us money, would be Arsene, and if that is the case why would he say we don't have the money? I don't think if you said "Here's £100 million Wenger, go strengthen the squad" he'd go off and buy 50 young obscure French players, I think he'd go out there and sign more Arshavin's, Nasri's and Rosicky's. These are all players who whilst perhaps not World Class in anyones eyes were well known quality players. Don't get me wrong, I don't always understand how Wenger decides who to sign, for instance, I can't understand paying £11 million for Vermaelen, when in the same summer Raul Albiol moves for £13 million. However I do think it's safe to say when the man has money, he'll spend it.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

If Milan offer £25.45M for Adebayor I think it would be fine to turn around and spend it on Benzema for two reasons. Reason #1, if he ends up fulfilling his potential we would have stolen a player that could have easily been valued higher and #2, even if he bombed, hes so young that we can easily recoup all of what would be spent on him if Wenger decided to give up on him and sell him, but that would never happen. Wenger is a teacher and if he had Karim as a student we could have arguably the best striker on the planet in a couple years time and if Bendtner keeps improving that could be 2 of the best young strikers on the planet.

The problem for me is this. Robin and Dudu are 25 and 26 respectively. In an ideal world, they'll both stay here forever and be very successful. I'd imagine both could play at the top of their games till at least 30. That means we are tying up our first choice strikers for the next 5 years or so. That means you are asking Vela, Walcott and Bendtner, who all have the potential to be World Class to wait for their opportunity to play regular first team football until they are 25 or 26 aswell. I can envisage Vela being willing to wait. Possibly even Nicklas, but I don't see Theo being overly keen on having to wait about 9 years from the date he first joined us to be first choice in his favoured position. It isn't actually reasonable to expect that of him or Bendtner who have both been playing some good football for us. You add Karim into the situation and then you have those 3 young players, aswell as one older player all sitting around and waiting for their chance. They won't do it. They wouldn't be willing to, and I don't blame them. If you've got two first choice strikers, two very promising strikers and a squad player, then you might be alright. However Dudu should be on the team sheet for me without a doubt when he is fully fit. I prefer him to Robin to be completely honest. So if he and Karim play, then Van Persie is on the bench. That means that Bendtner moves down to fourth choice, Walcott is fifth at best and Vela is sixth in line to start a game.
Bottom line? Realistically we have an unsustainable amount of Strikers. We can't keep them all happy, so someone has to go at some point, and of our current crop, I want to keep hold of Carlos, Nicklas and Dudu more than any of the others. Theo is young, so could improve, but for my money, we should be offloading either Shey or Robin and not looking for a direct replacement.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I would much rather have Benzema than a cheap striker and a holding midfielder. Toure can play holding midfielder with great effect and it would allow us to get Vermaelen up to speed a lot faster so that when Gallas is gone in two years or sooner he can be ready to lead our backline.

We are speculating about Touré. He has the ability to play holding midfielder, but since he arrived he's been a centre half. We can't rely on him being able to play that position at the top level. He's a class player, and whilst I think it could work, I simply think that if Wenger was going to do it, he might have tried it more often before now.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I agree we should let him go, but our current strikeforce with out him is not capable of leading us to glory. All championship contenders have a high quality striker and we do not have that right now. Vela and Walcott are not ready to be deployed as strikers, Eduardo is not back to speed yet, and Van Persie is way too inconsistent as is Bendtner, but at least Nicklas is getting better.

I disagree. I think that Eduardo by the time the season starts will be ready. He's been fit for a while now and in the games he's played post injury he's looked sharp. He's got pre-season to prepare, and I genuinely think he'll be ready. I'm not a massive Robin fan, but I think Nicklas can do a job for us. I think he and Dudu up front could form a great partnership. I think that in a setup like that Nicklas actually wouldn't have too much pressure on him to score goals, he'd be needed to hold the ball up and knock aerial balls down. I'm not saying he doesn't need to be scoring the odd goal, but I can see Dudu scoring 25 goals in the league alone easily. He's the new Suker for me.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I refuse to count on Tomas Rosicky for anything. He will get hurt again that is for certain. I don't think Eduardo will be back to his pre-injury form until after December, possibly mid January.

He might do, he might not. He's apparently been fit for a couple of months now, but Wenger didn't want to risk him in games that didn't mean anything. I believe it was you that told me not to worry about the "what ifs". Just have faith he's a good player and hope for the best. If Rocky can't play then we have adequate cover in Theo, Denilson, Gibbs and Wilshere.

[AriseForLife]

Originally Posted by 7_Robert_Pires

According to the interviews I've seen with him and the constant comments he makes about the France squad. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the guy is hard on himself, but he also has a massive opinion of himself. Ask any Lyon fan and they'll tell you the same. He's come out and said before that he's better than Titi and Anelka and should be starting for France, which for me, is a joke. I don't expect you to change your opinion around purely based on my word, but find a few Lyon fans to have a word with, I'm willing to be they'll tell you what I just have.

Hmm, if he does have a huge ego I guess thats what happens when you are the best striker in the French league and your club treats you like a king. I think he would be humbled coming to Arsenal and having a huge ego.

I have to believe Wenger on this one. Why would he come out and say we don't have the money if there is money available? The club can't and won't ever come out and say "Our finances are terrible, we've got massive debts and we can't afford new signings". It just wouldn't happen. I'd imagine the first person you would tell, assuming there were plenty of people willing to just give us money, would be Arsene, and if that is the case why would he say we don't have the money? I don't think if you said "Here's £100 million Wenger, go strengthen the squad" he'd go off and buy 50 young obscure French players, I think he'd go out there and sign more Arshavin's, Nasri's and Rosicky's. These are all players who whilst perhaps not World Class in anyones eyes were well known quality players. Don't get me wrong, I don't always understand how Wenger decides who to sign, for instance, I can't understand paying £11 million for Vermaelen, when in the same summer Raul Albiol moves for £13 million. However I do think it's safe to say when the man has money, he'll spend it.

All you have to do is look at the our end of year turnover to tell we have more money that Arsene is leading on. For the last 4 years we have posted over £200M+ year after year. The club has £238M in debt with approximately £32.6M in interest paid on that debt yearly according to 2008 financial statements. With as much money that we have coming in its easy to see we have money to spend.

The problem for me is this. Robin and Dudu are 25 and 26 respectively. In an ideal world, they'll both stay here forever and be very successful. I'd imagine both could play at the top of their games till at least 30. That means we are tying up our first choice strikers for the next 5 years or so. That means you are asking Vela, Walcott and Bendtner, who all have the potential to be World Class to wait for their opportunity to play regular first team football until they are 25 or 26 aswell. I can envisage Vela being willing to wait. Possibly even Nicklas, but I don't see Theo being overly keen on having to wait about 9 years from the date he first joined us to be first choice in his favoured position. It isn't actually reasonable to expect that of him or Bendtner who have both been playing some good football for us. You add Karim into the situation and then you have those 3 young players, aswell as one older player all sitting around and waiting for their chance. They won't do it. They wouldn't be willing to, and I don't blame them. If you've got two first choice strikers, two very promising strikers and a squad player, then you might be alright. However Dudu should be on the team sheet for me without a doubt when he is fully fit. I prefer him to Robin to be completely honest. So if he and Karim play, then Van Persie is on the bench. That means that Bendtner moves down to fourth choice, Walcott is fifth at best and Vela is sixth in line to start a game.

Vela and Walcott will not be starting as strikers for Arsenal anytime in the next 4 years in my opinion so you can cross those two names off in the striker order. Van Persie and Eduardo when healthy could play together easily and with Nicklas constantly improving he is defintely pushing for a starting spot and even if he doesn't start he can come of the bench. If Benzema is added then he will start as the main striker with Van Persie playing off him and Eduardo on the bench with Bendtner in my opinion. I am not worrying about who will leave until they are actually gone.

Bottom line? Realistically we have an unsustainable amount of Strikers. We can't keep them all happy, so someone has to go at some point, and of our current crop, I want to keep hold of Carlos, Nicklas and Dudu more than any of the others. Theo is young, so could improve, but for my money, we should be offloading either Shey or Robin and not looking for a direct replacement.

Offload Sheyi, loan out Vela or sell him and keep grooming Theo as a winger because he isn't a PL striker in my opinion, he's too frail and needs to improve his touching and ball control.

We are speculating about Touré. He has the ability to play holding midfielder, but since he arrived he's been a centre half. We can't rely on him being able to play that position at the top level. He's a class player, and whilst I think it could work, I simply think that if Wenger was going to do it, he might have tried it more often before now.

I think he would easily play as an anchor in the middle because he's done it before earlier in his Arsenal career.

I disagree. I think that Eduardo by the time the season starts will be ready. He's been fit for a while now and in the games he's played post injury he's looked sharp. He's got pre-season to prepare, and I genuinely think he'll be ready. I'm not a massive Robin fan, but I think Nicklas can do a job for us. I think he and Dudu up front could form a great partnership. I think that in a setup like that Nicklas actually wouldn't have too much pressure on him to score goals, he'd be needed to hold the ball up and knock aerial balls down. I'm not saying he doesn't need to be scoring the odd goal, but I can see Dudu scoring 25 goals in the league alone easily. He's the new Suker for me.

You have a lot more faith in Eduardo than I do. I can't see him hitting 25 league goals anytime soon.

He might do, he might not. He's apparently been fit for a couple of months now, but Wenger didn't want to risk him in games that didn't mean anything. I believe it was you that told me not to worry about the "what ifs". Just have faith he's a good player and hope for the best. If Rocky can't play then we have adequate cover in Theo, Denilson, Gibbs and Wilshere.

Yeah that was me that said that, but I am not worrying about what if's. Rosicky is a guaranteed injury so I am just stating what will happen. I haven't had faith in Rosicky for a long long time and until he can show me he can stay healthy I won't have faith in him.

[Anathematic]

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

All you have to do is look at the our end of year turnover to tell we have more money that Arsene is leading on. For the last 4 years we have posted over £200M+ year after year. The club has £238M in debt with approximately £32.6M in interest paid on that debt yearly according to 2008 financial statements. With as much money that we have coming in its easy to see we have money to spend.

I just don't see why Arsene would lie to be honest...

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

Vela and Walcott will not be starting as strikers for Arsenal anytime in the next 4 years in my opinion so you can cross those two names off in the striker order. Van Persie and Eduardo when healthy could play together easily and with Nicklas constantly improving he is defintely pushing for a starting spot and even if he doesn't start he can come of the bench. If Benzema is added then he will start as the main striker with Van Persie playing off him and Eduardo on the bench with Bendtner in my opinion. I am not worrying about who will leave until they are actually gone.

Vela is a better player than Theo for me. Theo doesn't impress me at all if I'm perfectly honest. All he has is pace. He doesn't think half the time and just runs at people then loses the ball / takes a terrible shot / finds himself with no options. I think our best option with Theo would be find a team to loan him to and get them to play him as a striker. I can guarantee if you offered him to Burnley on loan on the condition he was played as a striker they'd bite your hand off. For me that'd give him a chance to develop his skills as a front man, and if it doesn't work, maybe he can go...

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I think he would easily play as an anchor in the middle because he's done it before earlier in his Arsenal career.

He had a season of pretty much just being played wherever he was needed. He wasn't particularly stunning playing in midfield, I'm not saying he couldn't play there now, but we don't know how well it'd work.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

You have a lot more faith in Eduardo than I do. I can't see him hitting 25 league goals anytime soon.

Has the potential to be absolutely World Class in my opinion. If he hadn't have gotten injured I reckon people would be rating him up there with Drogba and Torres as one of the best in the league. Time will tell though.

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

Yeah that was me that said that, but I am not worrying about what if's. Rosicky is a guaranteed injury so I am just stating what will happen. I haven't had faith in Rosicky for a long long time and until he can show me he can stay healthy I won't have faith in him.

You can't say he's a "guaranteed injury". The lad was quality for us when fit, and has played a fair few games for us. He's been out a while, we'll just have to wait and see.

[FifaFreaky]

I think Adebayor should stay for you guys, but he shouldn't get a haircut otherwise he's not going to find the net for a while.

Adebayor, Van Persie, Arshavin, Walcott(In good form/shape), Nasri and Fabregas = Goals Guarenteed imo.

[Anathematic]

Na, that's cool, we'll take Benzema instead.

[Anathematic]

Sky Sports | Football News | Premier League | Arsenal | Former Gunner advises Melo

Former Gunner advises Melo
Gilberto suggests compatriot should join Arsenal

Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva has advised Felipe Melo to jump at the chance of signing for the Gunners.
Melo has been linked with a move from Fiorentina to Emirates Stadium this summer, but last week his spokesman told skysports.com the player is settled in Italy.
However, rumours of interest from Arsenal continue to linger, with the powerful midfielder capping off a fine domestic campaign with success at the 2009 Confederations Cup.
Brazil international Gilberto, who left the Gunners for Panathinaikos last summer, has spoken with his compatriot Melo and suggested he should sign for Arsenal.
"We heard rumours and he asked me. I said it's a fantastic club and if he's interested he should go without thinking," said Gilberto.
"He is exactly what they need - a powerful player with quality.
"If they got him it would be great because he is a player they need at the moment.
"I'm sure if they got him it would be a good signing. I have told him Arsenal is a great club and I am sure next season they will improve.

The fact that Melo was actually talking to Gilberto about it makes me believe there must actually be some substance to the story. I don't imagine that players ask team mates for advice about every single rumour that's printed...


Still don't think it will happen, but if we get Melo and Karim in (since he's the only striker we've been linked with since Ade's news surfaced.) I could see us winning the league next year.

[AriseForLife]

I have to admit, before the Confed Cup I never never seen Melo play and only heard things about him. After seeing him play I think he would be a good addition for us because he does have a commanding presence in midfield.

I think a line up of:

Almunia

Sagna----------Toure----------Gallas----------Clichy

Melo

Arshavin--------------Fabregas-----------------Nasri

---------Van Persie

Benzema

Would definitely be prime to challenge for the title.

In response to Eduardo. I do have faith in him and think he was defintely proving that he was a steal for £10M, but I just think he needs a full season under his belt to get back to his best. I think with a full season he could be a possible 20 goals scorer, but I do see it happening this season.

I would agree with you about Theo. He has moments of class in my opinion, but there are far more bad moments than good. I don't really rate Vela because I haven't see him play enough in an Arsenal shirt. As sad as it sounds, I have seen more games of him at Osasuna than I have for Arsenal.

[Anathematic]

I can't see many teams being able to stop that formation that you've put out, I'll always have question marks over Van Persie, and would love to see Arshavin in his more favoured central role, but he does the business out wide for us and we aren't blessed with any players who actually want to play there (Theo, Arshavin, Nasri and Rosicky all prefer central roles).
I've seen Vela in a few reserve games and the lad looked sharp. He's in no way the finished article, but he could be a really good little player. World Class? I'm not sure, but at the very least he'll be an outstanding squad player.
I agree entirely on Theo, do you remember that run against Liverpool a few years back? When I saw that I just thought to myself "This lad's going places", but he's gone nowhere to be honest. I can't honestly say that I think Theo is a much better player now than he was at the begininning of the year. I think he's pretty much the same. Still shows glimpses of absolute class (although they are fairly rare), but makes stupid mistakes like running into corners and occasionally his dribbling is appauling and he struggles to keep the ball due to his pace.
The jury is out on Theo for me, keep the lad a couple more years, but if in the next couple of seasons he doesn't start to improve, and improve alot, I think it could be a case of showing him the door.
I don't think Eduardo would come out firing on all cylinders or anything, but I do think that with regular football by November he could be banging them in for fun. We'll see though, I don't get the impression Wenger rates him as highly as I do, and I suppose Wenger sees more of him...
Anyway, back to playing some Madden 09! Got drafted by the Ravens, was hoping for the Lions, but seems they're happy with Kitna

[MaschPotato]

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I have to admit, before the Confed Cup I never never seen Melo play and only heard things about him. After seeing him play I think he would be a good addition for us because he does have a commanding presence in midfield.

I think a line up of:

Almunia

Sagna----------Toure----------Gallas----------Clichy

Melo

Arshavin--------------Fabregas-----------------Nasri

---------Van Persie

Benzema

Would definitely be prime to challenge for the title.

In response to Eduardo. I do have faith in him and think he was defintely proving that he was a steal for £10M, but I just think he needs a full season under his belt to get back to his best. I think with a full season he could be a possible 20 goals scorer, but I do see it happening this season.

I would agree with you about Theo. He has moments of class in my opinion, but there are far more bad moments than good. I don't really rate Vela because I haven't see him play enough in an Arsenal shirt. As sad as it sounds, I have seen more games of him at Osasuna than I have for Arsenal.

Somebodies dreaming again

[Giampinho]

i dont think anyone will get benzema... but if anybody does, i think it will be arsenal

[Anathematic]

What part of that is dreaming?

Do you really have nothing better to do than make glib comments like that? If you want to debate something I'm always up for that, but coming in here and just making stupid statements like that is just plain boring...

[Anathematic]

Originally Posted by Giampinho

i dont think anyone will get benzema... but if anybody does, i think it will be arsenal

I'd agree with that, I'd imagine he'll still be at Lyon come the end of the window.

[B0dunrin]

I think this team would be able to compete with the very best.

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Melo
Walcott---Fabregas-----Nasri
Arshavin
Adebayor

To be honest, I'd rather sell van Persie than Adebayor as he is a more potent force up front and I reckon he is a better and more capable goalscorer. People will obviously say that van Persie is creative, but we already have creativity from Arshavin, Nasri and Fabregas. And I've put Arshavin in a more central role so he can be more effective.

[Anathematic]

As much as I do like Adebayor, he doesn't look interested. If he'd been injured, or had another reason for performing so poorly recently then fine, but he doesn't. He even gave that interview which basically said things would never be the same for him at Arsenal, so it's time he left.

Both on form who would I take, Shey or Robin? Adebayor every time. However it's time for him to go.

[Giampinho]

Originally Posted by B0dunrin

I think this team would be able to compete with the very best.

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Melo
Walcott---Fabregas-----Nasri
Arshavin
Adebayor

To be honest, I'd rather sell van Persie than Adebayor as he is a more potent force up front and I reckon he is a better and more capable goalscorer. People will obviously say that van Persie is creative, but we already have creativity from Arshavin, Nasri and Fabregas. And I've put Arshavin in a more central role so he can be more effective.

why start walcott when/if rosicky is fit? why even start rosicky when arshavin can play wide, which will mean u can indeed start persie...

I'd rather keep persie than adebayor just because persie has given up on doubting trophy chances... i think hes got the plot right for arsenal's initiative, moreso than adebayor... reckn adebayor should go replace boriello at AC and u lot focus on melo and with any luck u will have a balance of money to maybe get another scoring midfielder, but i dont think u need to worry about replacing adebayor if he were to leave this yr.... repalce him AFTER you replace Almunia (with Frey, imo).... i think u should let the midfield control the play of arsenal's force both defensive and offensive... once the midfield has that fluidity, (maybe by january) i would go on to replace adebayor's role...

fluidity in the midfield:
- a scoring midfielder, (someone exactly like fabregas, but with more scoring incentives.)

- a defense midfielder, who is likely to be Melo if things go well...

^ with both of these, you can sell adebayor, and save that money for another ST during the winter transfer.. (point is/fact is, if you lot can go through the ranks in the Uefa competition, without someone like adebayor, then i reclalalay winter transfer when u replace him (in my example), the new ST will make a true difference. (more difference than if u replaced him this summer me thinks)

[DBond5]

Originally Posted by B0dunrin

I think this team would be able to compete with the very best.

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Toure-Clichy
Melo
Walcott---Fabregas-----Nasri
Arshavin
Adebayor

To be honest, I'd rather sell van Persie than Adebayor as he is a more potent force up front and I reckon he is a better and more capable goalscorer. People will obviously say that van Persie is creative, but we already have creativity from Arshavin, Nasri and Fabregas. And I've put Arshavin in a more central role so he can be more effective.

Why do we need to sell anyone.

[mikahel]

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I have to admit, before the Confed Cup I never never seen Melo play and only heard things about him. After seeing him play I think he would be a good addition for us because he does have a commanding presence in midfield.

I think a line up of:

Almunia

Sagna----------Toure----------Gallas----------Clichy

Melo

Arshavin--------------Fabregas-----------------Nasri

---------Van Persie

Benzema

Would definitely be prime to challenge for the title.

In response to Eduardo. I do have faith in him and think he was defintely proving that he was a steal for £10M, but I just think he needs a full season under his belt to get back to his best. I think with a full season he could be a possible 20 goals scorer, but I do see it happening this season.

I would agree with you about Theo. He has moments of class in my opinion, but there are far more bad moments than good. I don't really rate Vela because I haven't see him play enough in an Arsenal shirt. As sad as it sounds, I have seen more games of him at Osasuna than I have for Arsenal.

What's wrong with you people, I'm 100% sure Benzema will not come to Arsenal. Besides, it's just a rumour that we are linked with him and his agent even said that he wants to stay at Lyon. You can keep dreaming but the fact is that he will never come.

[Anathematic]

Originally Posted by mikahel

What's wrong with you people, I'm 100% sure Benzema will not come to Arsenal. Besides, it's just a rumour that we are linked with him and his agent even said that he wants to stay at Lyon. You can keep dreaming but the fact is that he will never come.

We were talking hypothetically, if you'd read the entire discussion you'd know that....
Here:

Originally Posted by 7_Robert_Pires

Still don't think it will happen, but if we get Melo and Karim in (since he's the only striker we've been linked with since Ade's news surfaced.) I could see us winning the league next year.

That's my post just before Arise says...

Originally Posted by AriseForLife

I have to admit, before the Confed Cup I never never seen Melo play and only heard things about him. After seeing him play I think he would be a good addition for us because he does have a commanding presence in midfield.

I think a line up of:

Almunia

Sagna----------Toure----------Gallas----------Clichy

Melo

Arshavin--------------Fabregas-----------------Nasri

---------Van Persie

Benzema

Would definitely be prime to challenge for the title.

In response to Eduardo. I do have faith in him and think he was defintely proving that he was a steal for £10M, but I just think he needs a full season under his belt to get back to his best. I think with a full season he could be a possible 20 goals scorer, but I do see it happening this season.

I would agree with you about Theo. He has moments of class in my opinion, but there are far more bad moments than good. I don't really rate Vela because I haven't see him play enough in an Arsenal shirt. As sad as it sounds, I have seen more games of him at Osasuna than I have for Arsenal.

[Giampinho]

Originally Posted by DBond5

Why do we need to sell anyone.

if the man isnt up for it then may as well offload him whilst u can still get a strong pent for him isnt it... I always like to see players shift on a positive note, but if he needs to leave, then he quite frankly needs to leave.

Originally Posted by mikahel

What's wrong with you people, I'm 100% sure Benzema will not come to Arsenal. Besides, it's just a rumour that we are linked with him and his agent even said that he wants to stay at Lyon. You can keep dreaming but the fact is that he will never come.

how are you 100%? summer only started last week.....

i have always been saying that he wont leave the ligue until after WC... but that is not 100%.. its not like either of us train with him every week to have small chats about his future...

[mikahel]

Originally Posted by MaschPotato

Somebodies dreaming again

I totally agree, the only player I can see Arsenal getting at the moment is Felipe Melo and I would be very satisfied if we got him. Arsenal have an even bigger chance of getting now that Gilberto is persuading him. Good old Gilberto, I didn't want him to go at all, I even thought he should become Arsenal captain.

[mikahel]

Originally Posted by Giampinho

if the man isnt up for it then may as well offload him whilst u can still get a strong pent for him isnt it... I always like to see players shift on a positive note, but if he needs to leave, then he quite frankly needs to leave.



how are you 100%? summer only started last week.....

i have always been saying that he wont leave the ligue until after WC... but that is not 100%.. its not like either of us train with him every week to have small chats about his future...

Like I said before, I don't see Arsene Wenger spending big money on a player. If you think about it, our record transfer is about £15million for either Wiltord or Arshavin.

[Giampinho]

Originally Posted by mikahel

Like I said before, I don't see Arsene Wenger spending big money on a player. If you think about it, our record transfer is about £15million for either Wiltord or Arshavin.

nah, this summer hes got to do a big signing... if not, hes got to accumulate "big signing" type of money to fix wots needed...

If adebayor leaves i think he will make one more addition, sure.

if he stays, he (wenger) could stop after Melo, but u never know.. he needs to imply interest in Frey before the likes of us(utd) do... we'll need to replace VDS after winter for sure, and i have a feeling we will have a balance remaining after this summer's spendings. Almunia does not look as if he will improve much more... Frey > Almunia imo... and atleast Frey could be a realistic transfer...

[Anathematic]

Frey has just signed a new deal with Fio.

[Giampinho]

Originally Posted by 7_Robert_Pires

Frey has just signed a new deal with Fio.

i give him 2 more seasons at most with them....