By Walter Broeckx
So it’s final now Squillaci was the last player this transfer season to join Arsenal. Now you all can be happy or unhappy about the signing but I will tell you that I am furious.
I’ve had enough of it. For years I have been supporting Arsenal and our manager Wenger with all my heart and passion but now it is over. For years I have written articles and supported his vision but how was I supposed to know he doesn’t care about me and what I think and have to live with. So really I cannot keep my mouth shut any more and I must tell Wenger that before he does another signing he should ask me for my blessing.
For the past few years every signing of Wenger made it go from bad to worse. Rosicky, well okay. Nasri was an exception and I don’t have any problems with that. But with Arshavin whose first name is Andrey of all names it began. Vermaelen didn’t cause me problems but that is just because I knew him as he is from my country. But I know that some of you also have problems with him.
But this season, I mean really, it looks as if he is just doing it to pester us. Marouane Chamakh, no problem for you? It is for me. And what to think about Laurent Koscielny? What was Wenger thinking when he bought him? And now of all people Wenger has brought in Sébastian Squillaci. I think he is doing this just to make us mad at him.
For those who have learned to know me the last year on Untold and you might ask yourself, “What has got in to Walter” or “is this the same Walter that is writing about refs?” The same Walter that is supporting the team with a lot of passion? The Walter that has only just had an article over here to thank Wenger for staying for another few years? Yes, it is me.
Is this Walter now joining the AAA forces? Is Walter going to shout: Wenger out! In every article? Is Walter going to give names to Wenger? Walter who has always been so angry whenever someone was giving Wenger or the players names.
So I guess by now you might be tempted to go scrolling down to the comment section and start writing comments and ask Tony to ban me from the Untold articles for ever and even never let me comment on this site ever again. But please wait one moment before you do this.
The fact is that I have nothing against Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh, Koscielny or Squillaci as a player. No I am glad that they have joined us. But the thing I do hate about all these new players is the fact that they have such difficult names.
Have you ever tried to write the name Wojciech Szczesny? No, you lucky guys only have to try to read his name. But okay I could live with that. He was bought as a young goalkeeper and no one ever really cared. But as no one was protesting Wenger thought he could do whatever he wanted and so he only bought players with difficult names.
Really do you think it is funny when you are typing your match report watching the game and then suddenly you have to think: how do you spell Koscielny? Was it with a Z or with a double ss or with an I at the back. In the mean time we have almost missed 3 chances, and scored a goal by Chamakh and then you have to find out if his name ends with a h at the back or is the h in front of the k so it could be Chamahk.
And now I will have to face the same thing with Squillaci. Can you imagine Koscielny and Squillaci playing at the back together?
Can you imagine in a game Szczesny making a wonderful safe, Koscielny hooking it out of danger playing it on to Squillaci who is playing it forward to Rosicky, who at his turn plays it in to the path of Arshavin who gives a cross to Chamakh who scores a goal for Arsenal. I bet you can imagine it on the field but you just try to write it down. Then it isn’t that pretty any more.
So I’m not happy with our manager as he is spoiling the business for us poor match commentators on the internet. He only is looking at the interest of Arsenal and the team and doesn’t care about me and the rest of us poor writers in blogs.
Therefore if Wenger really wants me to be writing articles in support for his great vision and for all the good things he has brought us, he better take care that the next signing he does is not Pjotr Dszjeprtrsjka from wherever and from whatever team in the world but please let it be someone with a name with only 3 letters in it. I don’t care if he can play football or not. I don’t care if he is a goalkeeper, a defender an attacker. I don’t care at all. Just a short and easy name please.
It would make my life and many other bloggers in the Arsenal blogosphere much easier.
Coming up next: What makes a good supporter.
Names which only an English speaker will find silly.
Walter, maybe the armoury asked Wenger what they should do with all the spare Zs, Ls, Ks,Ys and Ws. His reply was “Give me 6 months, not a problem”.
GET THE STUBBORN FOOL OUT NOW
I think you should shut up and leave arsene alone hes a good manager and your just a bad gooner
hahahahahahahaah
Great article! Maybe while writing your report you should do as all other journalists do and use a little short hand. You could write AA – Fro Arshavin, CK for Chamakh etc. But while writing this comment I had to scroll up to double check that I had spelt Chamakh right. And to my horror I had spelt it Chamack – lol
Great article as ever. My fav Arsenal site
Moss
as you can tell by my name im not happy at all….clearly we all know we need a keeper, even wenger himself knows or he wouldnt have gone for schwarzer. so why leave it to the last day to try make something happen and then fail. i have to admit wenger done almost everything arsenal fans wanted(well most of them). he got a decent striker, and he got 2 defenders BUT surely the main priority is to fix our biggest weakness which was almunia. we all no that he is not a world class keeper. which is what we need! i really hope almunia proves me wrong but just wait till a big game and the mistakes will happen.
The handling of the GK situation is nonsense. AW did so much to make us better this summer on defense, but stopped short of what we really needed, a GK. ANd now we’re stuck with a shell-shocked, unconfident Almunia.
Shame on Wenger for what he’s done to Almunia. How can we really expect Almunia to play for us now?!!
This article is epic! I read the first few paragraphs thinking you were pissed cause Wenger didn’t sign a new GK, and that you thought the new signings this season were bad. Made me laugh that your rant was in fact about their names.
ridiculous article
@Kix it was a funny article eh? haha
Hilarious, lol..Sad though we couldn’t get mark schwarzer..hmmn..bad spelling.. 😀
what does everyone think about us not signing a new GK? can we still win the league? thanks
You really shouldn’t be writing if you find ‘Squillaci’ difficult to spell. Simpleton, peon, cretin.
Haha, that was funny. The thing is, i think all of the names are quite easy to remember. Well, except for Szczesny, but if Arsenal names were like Super Mario Bros., the name of Wojciech Szczesny would be Bowser in World 8-4.
Wait and see, there will be a whole host of players unhappy with their situations come tomorrow morning. Players will be demanding to be released or buying out their contracts as they will not be named in their clubs 25. Once they are released they will be free to sign for whoever they want hen they want. For example Juventus have 10 Goalkeepers in their squad, 3 have already made loan moves but can they keep 7 happy?
I still believe Wenger has something up his sleeve, but if he does not so be it. Almunia is no worse than Schwarzer, so i am not worried that he didnt sign him, roll on January many of the keepers we have looked at are in their last year and if their clubs are out of one or two competitions the whole picture will be completely different. We must get behind Wenger, the keepers and the team and give it our best shot to stay in all competitions till January, then review things.
Hi Wally,funny name too not to talk of having Umunegbu as an Arsenal player! The commentators will really get tongue twisted. But really lets get one thing straight, there is no such thing as AAA. Just a bunch of die-hard gooners who wants the best for the club. I am not saying Wenger should go, yet. As a club we are nearly there (Many including yourself probably said that last season, and the season before that, and the season…OK)! But the goalkeeping situation? In my 40 years of supporting Arsenal, we might just have the worst pair of goalkeepers since then…and we are the 5th / 6th richest football club in Europe ?
I am not saying Wenger has completely lost it, but 5 years without a trophy + 2 not very confident keepers = ? Oh well! let the professorial one do the maths.
Adam, I think you are right. 😉 I never thought of that….
awesome
i hope with us not signing a keeper we havent just thron the league away..i say Szczesny for number 1!!!!! who cares about his age at the end of the day wenger was quick enough to throw younger players into the first team so i think its only fair to give him a chance
The names ar enot difficult to remember.
Walter, u are a true gooner. i find it difficult too to prounuce their names. i watch arsenal match with well polished interpreter. The names are great depicting how great players, the will be.signing out. Thanks for your write-upmit.
Gunner71 , Arsenal is the 3rd richest FOOTBALL club in the world and 8th richest SPORTS club in the world.Get your facts right !
@Filip he made a mistake calm down
aint it a pity then he didnt buy schwartzer
Thank god it was supposed to be funny…lol.. Just like u or for dat matter.. any Arsenal fan.. I cant take anyone giving names to Wenger.. 🙂 🙂
ridiculously epic article! 😀 🙂
Great article. I was thinking about the names before you mentioned them, so I guessed right what you were complaning.
Just think if Arsenal had sign the Finnish keeper from Bolton. Jussi Jääskeläinen, oh in case you can’t see those 3 letter they are a with 2 dots, Letter from Finnish ABC that are not in English (when you type it in English according pronounciation it would be Jaeaeskelaenen;) or then again what most English press use Jaaskelainen (but that is spelling it wrong).
Maybe Arsenal players should change their names when they join. I mean honestly I get annoyed with Van Persie sometimes, that is because (even he when talking to English media) pronounce his name wrong (at least compared to what I remember from my few Dutch lessons).
haha brilliant
I cant believe we have not purchased a goalkeeper??!! Fabianski is shocking, Almunia is a good NO2.
All jokes aside, the fact remains that we hav had a gaping wound between the posts for several seasons (I won’t get on Almunia for the 2007-2008 season, he was quite good), coming to a crescendo of goalkeeping impotence last season. Yet despite being linked with every keeper in Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Africa and Antarctica, the deadline comes and goes without a single move to correct the deficiency. I’m not AAA by any stretch, but leaving this situation as “well enough” is footballing madness. I’m sorry, but I cannot defend the manager/board in this instance, they are wrong.
Good stuff Walter. Thank heavens for the end of the doldrum summer and a new 10 months of Footie.
You write all of your articles the same sarcastic way. I do not see why we did not add a world class keeper to our squad, when we all know that is what we need. You can keep loving everything our Manager does and just agree with it all, but for gods sake.. Do you have a will of your own? Do you have a favorite player you would like to see in the team? Maybe you should apply for a job as his personal assistant instead of writing about Arsenal. I love Wenger to death, but for you to think that we did something good by keeping Almunia in goal this season is mistaken.
dont know y ppl r finding this article so funny.. i know it is sarcasticly funny to ppl who find these names difficult to pronounce but to those who can name these easily find this article pretty weird n not very enjoyable.. cud b just me .. peace : )
Well, I am an Arsenal SUPPORTER and will support the club AND the decisions made. Would I’ve liked to see other players – sure, but now is the time for any true ARSENAL SUPPORTER to stand by the team and all the players.
Arsenal for glory this season!!!
Wow another great transfer window from the so called professor. He had one major job this summer and it was to address the keeper situation. But the great one decided to go to the world cup and broadcast for french TV. Our biggest signing this summer was wait hold on…. Arsene Wenger Great!!!!
Sorry Walter, can you just remind me how to spell your last name……!
Silly article. These names are not too hard to remember. You should be writing about the fact that Wenger has not signed a GK and cover for Song or maybe another defender!
Personally, I didn’t think Schwarzer was any better than Almunia. To those who don’t like Almunia, you can’t do anything about it except support him till January at least. Come January, who knows, you’d all might eat your words and be glad with not buying a new keeper. Almunia might just do a Walcott and keep a clean sheets in the rest of the season.
Love the article Walter! I’ve always hadta go double check on the actual spelling whenever i have to write a comment with names in them. It is ever so annoying!
Arsenal 5th this season.behind Chelsea man u man city and the spuds all because we will lose at least 12 points due to goalkeeping errors and the rest maybe 6 at the most. Arsene I officially hate u!!!! Am now a member of the AAA
For me Arsène should sign Evgeniy Oleksandrovich Cheberyachko from ukrain side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk! 😉
*more than half of the matches in the rest of the season
Just realized i missed that out..
how can you possibly call for wenger to be sacked 3 games in…. like T2T i am an arsenal supporter, from the acadamy right up to the first team, which includes both players and management!! i think if you should start supporting the team, instead of critisizing, a true fan will support his/her team win, lose or draw instead of pointing fingers!!
Can you imagine Walter’s chagrin if Fabianski was not the only Polish player on the team.
Really funny article.
I was honestly wishing AW did NOT get Shwarzer. I am not convinced he is any better than our current No.1. If Wenger was going for a Lloris/Akinfeev/Stekelenburg(now those are tongue-twisters for you), then I can wet my pants. In effect, I have total confidence in the manager’s decision, he has taken us this far, in spite of what all the armchair managers have to say.
Oh please be quiet……whats this AAA stuf anyway its all nonsence….grow a set of balls…..Almunia isnt terrible he had 1 bad season and you slate him for it….also the names are not hard to say or spell……ur just thick…..face it..half of u were all saying i whant him, him and him…its not FIFA or Football manager u dont just bid and offer money he accepts…. u think the likes of Buffon….Lloris…and shay given Transfers arnt easy..if u dont like it change Team u glory supporting hags go support Chelski or Man city because ur not wanted…
hey timmy the gunner. you can speak for yourself. samir nasri is my favourite player and was at marseille is well
so you may use that argument, but my favourite player is in the squad. facking injured… but that’s something else entirely
Overall that was a damp squib of a last week in the transfer window overall, not just for Arsenal. With the exception of Maschareno and the guy to Sunderland there was very little in the way of movement except where clubs were actively trying to get rid of players for squad triming purposes.
Is Steckelenberg any good? All the times I have seen the guy play he has looked distinctly average. Am I missing something? Akinfeev looks VERY shaky against the high ball, and makes poor decisions. Lloris is the only one that seems to be of a really high quality of the ‘keepers constantly mentioned and Lyon made it clear he wasnt for sale.
I really dont see anybody else out there that is obviously better than Almunia. Schwarzer would have been a good option because he is 6ft 5inches and controls his area. Given is shorter than Almunia and has made it his career goal to never claim a high ball. I dont see Given as an answer either.
Almunia was having some personal issues last season. Now that the transfer window is over let’s give him support and hope he plays like he did two seasons ago, which would be just fine.
Names are not a problem to me. My great grandfather was Irish (like everyone elses) my great grandmother came from the Ukrane. Grandfather was born in the Gongo and married a chick from the Swaheli tribe (or something)they had six kids three white, three black (they were ahead of their time).They then moved to Russia. With the outbreak of war they reckoned England was a safer bet, thats where I was born, in Bradford just so I`d fall into the backdrop (good thinking dad). Dad of course was white with two black brothers, two white sisters and one who spent her young years putting talc all over her face.
So, I`m a bit of each and I have no problem with my name Wzyballoyanzkka (Ted for short) nor should you, after all we`re all British. Must confess I struggle a bit with Arse Venga.
Wojciech Szczesny is the most amazing of the names. Its like when you pick some tiles in a scrabble game that you have to figure out what to do with them. It is amazing how we have been destined to grapple with these kind of names. I hope we do not land a Pjotr Dszjeprtrsjka soon. However, if a player arrives with such a name and gives us something special on the field of play, then he is welcome!
ON the issue of a goal keeper, our inability to sign is not due to lack of intent but because the one we wanted was not released by his club. Wenger will not spend over the odds to buy a keeper. We have to live with that. Secondly, we are sure to find a suitable solution from the understudies in a year or two. Thirdly, with the defense sorted out, Almunia might not be as bad as he is perceived to be. A good defense will inspire confidence in the keeper and that might just happen over this season. Fourthly, supporting Arsenal is not a short term issue for me. I must be willing to support the team even if I do not get what I want in the short term. If we are true Arsenal fans, let us leave transfer issues behind us and support our team enthusiastically.
I read the beginning of the article, double checked to see who had written it, saw it was Walter and then disregarded the rest of it. I know he wouldn’t disparage Arsene Wenger like that.
I have to admit I was disappointed that we didn’t sign a keeper. Almunia is a decent keeper (but not world class) and we can be successful with him in goal. But I am terrified of him getting injured.
Fabianski is seen as being weak and that puts pressure on us every time he plays. The great keepers can have a great game without touching the ball as they get in the strikers’ heads. When immense keepers like Shilton, Seaman, Schmeichel were in goal, opponents would believe they would need something special to beat them – and would in trying to attempt something special would normally miss. If a keeper is seen as weak opponents shoot more and inevitably there is more chance of conceding. Fabianski may be a good keeper but he needs a year away on loan to build up his confidence.
As always I trust in Wenger’s judgement (maybe Mannone or Szczesny are ready) and but the goalkeeping situation does make me nervous.
Very disappointed Wenger has bought no goal-keeper. I fear his stubborness over persisting with Almunia and Fabianski will not only cost us a major trophy which is long overdue but ultimately his legacy at Arsenal which started gloriously but is now petering out. I hope I’m wrong.
Here, here to all of you who have come on here and said that despite the keeping situation not being ideal we should get behind the players/team/squad/club anyway.
Just waiting for le Groves next article using the same title as this one but not in jest.
I hope next home game the Emirates rings with Almunias name…he is ours, he is all we have got for the time being and as an Arsenal supporter I want to see him succeed.
He needs our support more than any other in the team right now….so pick your boats up and get behind him, whether you love him or hate him, we need him to perform!
I would loved to have seen Lloris in the team, wasnt to be…as for Schwarzer, wasnt the right choice in my eyes.
How many other clubs have signed top class keepers this transfer window…..None. That is not a coincidence.
Gooner til I die!
I have to say when I first came to publish the article from Walter I stopped and did a double take, thinking that maybe someone from the Anti-Arsenal Arsenal had actually broken the password system and put in an article using Walter’s name.
I thought it was great fun, and really enjoyed it.
And for everyone who feels annoyed or upset about the lack of transfers today, I think you will enjoy tomorrow morning’s piece, even if you couldn’t raise a smile at this one.
We’ve had a few “dead” players come back before:
Alex Song and Theo being the most recent. Thomas Rosicky also seems to be playing himself back into form. Schwartzer is not that much better that Almunia. In fact he was crap against us in the last game of the season, and didn’t cover himself in glory in the world cup.
Things aint too bad at the Emirates
I sympathize with journalists and writers who struggle with names they can`t pronounce or even spell, so change them , the movie industry has been doing it for years.
Asa Yoelson became Al Jolson and Archie Leech known as Cary Grant so why not have them adopt a professional name and not something that sounds like a chemical formula, it would be in the interest of the player, the club and the commentators.
I’ve been a gunner fan since 1969 so have seen many ups and downs up to this point.We have been blessed with great keepers even when the rest of the team weren’t.Is there a secret formula for being a great keeper? Yes. A brilliant defence would help, especially when the opposition attacks are reduced and there are fewer shots on target. Mind boggling it aint. Why cant arsne replace clichy with Gibbs and use wilshere to stiffen up the midfield.Also not impressed with sagna as a defensive right back and you all thought we had problems with our keeper. Keep on hating almunia and i’m pretty sure he’ll respond with even more awful performances. Get behind our beloved team please because the opposition love to see our weaknesses exposed like an open wound, then picked at by the supporters( these wounds are always slow to heal).
OK, let’s think of goalkeepers. Arsenal’s fifth choice goalkeeper is James Shea.
Today, following injuries to England’s goalkeepers, he was asked to train with England. Of course it doesn’t mean he will be called up for the game, but even so…
I got mad at first…. for a sec I thought I was on spuds fansite….so funny
As some of you know I write a match report for the Benelux site (in Dutch) live during the game and this goes on our site within minutes after the final whistle. So people who could only see the score somewhere and not could get any video stream can see what happened.
In fact the things with the names came from the fact that until last season I could write all the names without having to look them up. But now in the 3 first games as I want to write the names correct I have to look them up. So I got the idea and thought to write it in a way that some would not recognise me even with my own difficult name on top. 😉 If AW would buy me some would put my name in the same category like Koscielny, Squillaci and the others I mentioned. Like a very attentive commenter noticed. 🙂
And about the keeper thing. As I was a keeper myself in my younger days and if I had to make a choice in which team I would play I would pick a team like Fulham or Blackburn or Bolton. Because in those teams almost every keeper looks great.
I have been in goal in a team that was going down the league as a 17 year old. We lost a lot of games (1-0) and after most of the games I was praised for keeping the score down to that 1-0. But in fact it was easy because when as a keeper you get a lot of work it is very easy to shine because you will normally save more balls than you will let in. This can be checked if you look at most of the statistics.
But when you stand still for 85 minutes with nothing to do and then that only ball comes you have to save it is much more difficult. And yes I have had those games and in those games it is very difficult to keep the concentration level at 100% or more. Damned could have put it in an article…. 😉
stop calling fans ANTI-ARSENAL, YOU ARE NO MORE A FAN THAN ANYONE ELSE BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE IN FABIANSKI!
Dear Walter Brooks er Brocks, Brucks, Bruckxzz!- Oh b*gger, I give up!
I believe in every player that is in the Arsenal squad and every player will get my support when he is on the field defending our team.
I will not go on blogs using names like “Flapmunia” or “Flappianski’ (just did it and I spit on myself) no matter what they do wrong. I believe they will never make a mistake deliberate because I think they will hate themselve more than we can imagine when they make a mistake.
I have made terrible mistakes in goal and sometimes got punished and believe me this is the worst feeling you can experience as player. When I played in the attack sometimes in the youth teams and I missed a chance it was from: bad luck, good try, next time better. When you make a mistake as a goalkeeper you feel the loniest player in the world and you need all the help you can get from your teammates, your manager and also from your supporters.
So whatever happens: get behind them when they are on the field. And don’t behave like some do with sarcastic applaus when Fabianski catched a ball like in the last game of the season against Fulham.
Dats, if one of the players I mentionned would read this they would say: hey my name isn’t dat difficult. Just like I find my own name the most normal thing on earth.
But I have realised that in fact my name although it is pronounced just like “Brooks” in English is looking very strange to not Dutch people. But to be honest I didn’t realised this untill I went to meat Tony who asked my how on earth he should pronounce my name.
And Ted, I will just say Ted if you don’t mind. I hope you or your kids will never play for Arsenal as long as I write match reports for our website. 🙂 And if they would play I just call them Ted jr. 🙂
Does the 25 squad rule extend all over Europe or just the EPL?
How will clubs keep the non selected players happy?
Will players do a Bosman esque departure if they don’t get their 10% playing time?
Does the transfer window effect out of contract players?
Interesting times ahead…….
I reckon Arsene knows….
Personally, I am relieved because I think Almunia is just as good as Schwarzer, but do we really expect someone that old to make improvement in their game (speaking of Almunia)?
What worries me the most is that Wenger, in the face of his undying loyalty to HIS players, came out himself and said that a change at GK might be in order. Now if Harry said that we’d all just assume he forget to turn off his big faucet again, but for Arsene to come out and say something like that…it’s HUGE. Wenger excels in giving his players the utmost support and never produces waves that may rock the Arsenal ship, and here he is desperately trying to make a deal work for a keeper and only being turned away because the other team couldn’t find a replacement.
This is NOT fans coming out and saying “We need a keeper” this is Wenger himself trying to get a new number 1. So the argument that Wenger shouldn’t listen to us is bollocks because he shared the fans’ feeling in this case.
@GoonerVance-100% agree with you there mate.
@kiwigooner-it’s only in the EPL, no where else is this rule imposed, at least none that i know of. I reckon anyone can sign an out of contract player? Not to sure about that to be honest. To the rest of your questions, only time will tell.
There is no doubt everyone will be supporting the team whole heartedly the same as every other season.
I just hope late on Almunia doesnt go and do something silly obviously we tried and failed to improve the situation BUT almunia on his day can be as good as anyone, here is hoping he has 38 good ones for us this season.
People just trot out a list of supposedly superior keepers they have seen maybe once or twice.
Honestly, how many people have seen Akifeev play regularly? How many,Marchetti? Stekelenburg? He is AVERAGE. He was considered the weak link of the Dutch WC, and actually had a mixed WC. Have a look at his shocker for Forlan’s goal. If that was Almunia he would be crucified.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/30/carlos-queiroz-portugal-coach-ban
I was wondering, any connection between this and Nani being sent home during worldcup? Why dont they introduce drug test in EPL? i guess half of the M**U team ll be disqualified.
Hopefully you are right walter..
almunia better than schwarzer? really??are you guys sure? then how come AW really wants him and if i’m not mistaken even offer him as a GK coach…
A song to Arsenal..
`Rose-tinted view
And satellites that compromise the truth
But I wanted more
With the cuts and the bruises
Touch my face
A hopeless embrace
Faith, it drives me away
But it turns me on
Like a strangers love
It rockets through the universe
It fuels the lies, it feeds the curse
And we too could be
Glorious..
Muse-Glorious
Almunia is just as good a shot-stopper as Schwarzer, is more vocal when organising the defence, has a stronger mind and a better more positive attitude to dealing with setbacks, and was patient enough to hang around waiting for Mad Jens to stop telling him he was never going to be good enough, without complaining until he became no1 himself.
Now he has had a single not so good season, and seems to be returning to his form of 06/07 and 07/08 with an improved defence behind him. Seemingly more confident and less inclined to rush out in a panic and flap around for aerial balls – what more can you ask of a keeper who is constantly hounded by the fans and media alike?
No I am sorry, if nobody agrees I will still not change my mind … Almunia is a better option than ANY of the keepers we were considering on the forums, and all the league stoppers mentioned on Sky since day 1 of the window –
Apart from the ORIGINAL keeper that Arsene admitted to wanting and honestly came out and made a bid for. It was Joe Hart, who Mancini decided to suddenly keep when we showed an interest in him. Hence whhy we resorted to other keepers like Lloris, Buffon and Schwarzer.
Given was never approached because he is the wrong type of player for Arsenal, and would upset the balance of the team that has taken us nearly 5 years of chopping changing wheeling and dealing!
I can see it now, constant long kicks from hands avoiding our half of the pitch altogether and surrendering posssession ala Man City and asking to be out-scored!
No Almunia is by far the best option we could have taken, he is a good solid keeper who had one bad season! I say he is stuck with us, and never complains that we slag him off after any game where we don’t score 2 or 3 more than the opponent.
So we are also stuck with him now (at least until January) so we may as well get used to this fact, get behind him and make sure the defence and Manuel himself feel more confident against team’s who look dangerous or score an early goal or two!
Besides people said that Eboue was rubbish and he got booed every week – now look at him go!
Also Cesc was thought to be too thin and weak for the prem, look at HIM go last season was one of his greatest ever!
Walcott was ‘never going to improve’ or score any goals – according to fans and punters alike he should have been sold, and now he has suddenly weighed in with 4 goals in 3 games people are saying ‘I knew he would come good’ 🙂 Poor Arsenal playeres imagine being supported by that type of person!?
With fans like that who needs enemies?
Disappointed? Yes. Puzzled? A bit. Mad? Come on. The club has been doing the business on the cheap since moving from Highbury and taking on the new stadium debt. They methodically unloaded the Untouchables–the best Gunner team in a generation or more–and since have been putting up smoke screens that there’s a big transfer kitty at Wenger’s disposal. Absolute BS. It’s young guns or bust, fellow Gooners. Personally I’d like a takeover but too few share that view. But Arsenal is my club and with them, I sink or swim.
Almunia was made to look bad. Arsenal have always looked to score more than the opposition, and a clean sheet is seen as a bonus. Let’s be fair, Bendtner missing a sitter is the same as Almunia conceding, yet many people are ready to live with missed chances yet massacre Almunia for making the odd mistake
Nice one Walter. Had me going for a moment. 😮
The Kos, Squelch, Chesney, no problems there! Pronouncing Rosicky more difficult. I heard it should be Ros-its-kee but I keep hearing commentators, who should know, pronounce it as it’s spelt, Ros-chickee, Ros-issky…you name it, someone has a pronunciation. Anyone know for a fact?
I remember when Wenger had come to Arsenal. All the papers read- ‘ARSENE WHO??’ and he turned out to be a gem. In the same way, we have now some hidden Gems in Szczesny, Squillaci and Koscielny.
greate article, it really made me laugh!!, after such a boring transfer deadline day, this really cheered me up, lol~~~~
We need a top class keeper to challenge for the two trophies Arsene Wenger thinks are worth bothering with. Wenger knows it, the board know it, the players know it and the fans know it. Opposing teams also know it. There is no doubt that the money is there and there was talk yesterday that the club had offered 14 million euros plus Almunia for Hugo Lloris, the French international shotstopper. And the attempt to secure Mark Schwarzer has been a running story for weeks.Why did Arsenal fail to secure either? Because although they have a big club turnover and big club admission prices, they sure don’t have big club pretentions on the football field. And the manager has unquestionably developed a small club mentality when it comes to buying players. Sometimes, you just need to pay the asking price and be done with it. Manchester United don’t mess around trying to save the last penny on a transfer deal. Their target is identified, they bargain hard and they make a decision. If the price is too high they move damn quick to secure an alternative and don’t worry about counting the pennies. United have won a number of trophies since Arsenal last managed one.Ever heard of speculating to accumulate? Wenger told shareholders in May 2009 that he would use all the resources at his disposal to improve his team’s chances of success. I am afraid that, as of September 1st 2010, that answer has to be filed under bullsh*t. Because he hasn’t. Arsenal have money in the bank and a nice guy in goal. That combination isn’t going to win you anything. Wenger will face shareholders again in a couple of weeks’ time, but this time, questions must be pre-submitted. Let’s face it, we can’t have an open exchange in which honest and frank views are expressed by those that are part-owners of the club, and hence Wenger’s employers. They might just be unfavourable and in the land of Arsene, nothing at all is wrong and the players beyond criticism. London Colney is football’s version of The Big Rock Candy Mountain.It isn’t good enough, and sadly, when it begins to collapse, the fans will turn on Almunia, and the manager too. I have a little sympathy for the player. He is attempting to do his job as instructed by his employers, he simply isn’t quite good enough at it. But he doesn’t decide whether to buy a better replacement. He seemed to be saying his goodbyes after the Blackburn game and was conscientious to sign every autograph that was asked of him for fans waiting in the rain by the team coach. It’s just a shame that he will become the fall guy once again as Arsenal drop key points. The signing of Lloris would have made perfect sense with a French-speaking back four in front of him, and two further Frenchmen in the holding midfield positions to boot.Instead we have an experiment that has failed too often. A keeper who is weak at set pieces and easily intimidated. Arsenal managed to keep Blackburn at bay from free kicks on Saturday with the offside trap. But corners and long throw-ins presented problems and what was required was a clear the decks keeper who will take out all and sundry as he claims the ball. Wenger’s side were a shade fortunate in the first half as Rovers missed a couple of headers that would have gone in on another day. So Almunia will be targeted and he will eventually cost points as he so often does. Arsenal will fall short again and that will make it six years without a trophy.The bank balance, however, is looking particularly healthy. Someone has calculated the team’s net spend this summer in the transfer market as around £3 million. The equivalent of the takings for a single matchday. When you add the savings made from not paying William Gallas anymore (his wages probably equal to the combined amount being paid to the three new arrivals) then it’s a valid question to ask about the manager’s ambitions. The football will probably be good enough to keep the team in the top four, but the glass ceiling that is a consequence of the lack of squad depth in key positions won’t be broken. Maybe the quarter finals once again in Europe and the predictable exits in the domestic cups. It’s same old same old, as indeed are the weaknesses in the team, and as with every year, the manager has not addressed them fully. Presumably Fabianski comes in if Almunia gets injured. What a joke Arsenal have become. No wonder Cesc Fabregas can’t wait to get out.But for a million or two, Mark Schwarzer could have been here in July. You have to wonder where all the money saved over the years by not buying sufficiently will end up. Will it ever be spent or is it just being siphoned off by directors using some clever accountancy techniques? Self-sufficiency is all well and good, but at least reap the rewards of what you sew. Arsenal have made serious profit over the last 12 months. If it’s all about self-sufficiency can someone give Arsene Wenger and the board an allotment to tend and hand over the decision making at the club to someone who knows what is required to win a trophy?
Now the window shut all dead, what came in? Just a single defender out of necessity then ops forgot the backup defender spends more time off the pitch than on it then dragged in a pair of creaky legs from Sevilla not bad! What was expected wanted; new keepers, take out the trash and sweet talk Fab the main man this was not done did not come round to do it by the way did not have time and money to do it hmmm? Now the team is more or less in the same hapless state as last season. The question will be how bad will it get now until January. This manager sure loves this team and especially Almunia?If Wenger had been prepared to ante up 4M pounds a couple of months ago then Schwartzer would have been ours. There is NO excuse for penny pinching and dragging this out to literally the last minute which put pressure on Fulham to find a replacement which in the end they were unable to do. We can agree or disagree as to whether Schwartzer is worth 4M but in the big picture if he had been able to help us win the EPL and go deep into the CL then it would have been money well spent and money that would be recouped many times over. I worry about Almunia but I worry more about what happens when he gets injured and the uber unreliable Flappy comes in! I admire much of what Wenger has done during his tenure but in this instance he has done Arsenal a grave disservice and must be held accountable if goalkeeping errors cost us championships. As a final comment Schwartzer should have been our fallback option – we should have gone after a younger better keeper – we all know who they are and most of them would have bit your hand off to join a club like Arsenal. i just knew wenger would not bring in a keeper. Expect to see him on Sky in the next 48 hours with a huge grin on his face. The idea of transfers is to strengthen the squad and improve the team, are Chamakh, Koscielny and Squillaci going to turn us into PL and CL winners? Of course they aren’t and as for the keepers, 6 years he has had to sort out our poor defending and he has done nothing. As I have always maintained with Wenger, the more he is pressed to bring someone in the more determined he is not to. He will never change, and he will never learn. I dont know what the Wenger Zombies going to say now that hes failed to address the most obvious and weakest link in our team? He had the whole summer to address it but failed miserably. It doesn’t matter how many good runs we put together or how many teams we spank in the next few months, if we don’t win any silverware then thats it for me – Wenger has promised much and not delivered, he will have to go.I know people follow Wenger blindly but if they think that our GKs are really good enough then they have a screw loose. Almunia was 18th in the shots to saves ratio and made many mistakes where he wasn’t punished e.g. flapping at crosses. Wenger penny pinches and gambles every year and he is rewarded with a new contract. I noticed that there wasn’t too much messing around and he signed quickly. Who wouldn’t – A 20% rise, no pressure and praise for getting into the top four each year with the board paying off the debt faster so that their share price goes up. SICKENING!!! I bet AW must be a relieved man now the window as shut.as usual our manager as left us short with quality and numbers. he can now come out with is usual comments the clubs would not sell.wanted too much m oney,no better than what we have got. i said on here many times he wont spend in case he upsets the progress of some of is average players,schwarzer 2 offers in may and aug both for 2 mill,its a joke but he only went for him as is age would not prov ide is other gks a threat for more than 2 yrs. so no gk thats a disgrace,no other defender so we have to rely on djourous fitness,wait and see,lk on sat was outpaced and out muscled by diouf,how is going to get on with drogba etc.no def midf so we only have one on the books. no striker i said last season we were short in that area but he did nothing now we have 2 strikers out for weeks its a joke. but to aw it dont matter hes had a substantial wage increase spent peanuts and dont bother about us fans who pay your wages and exhorbitant season ticket prices.i am desparate for my club to be in with a shout for the prem and cl but once again our comfort zone manager as disappointed me again.
FYI – kkieran is a tottenham fan trying to engineer discontent among the fanbase – I’ve seen this all before.
Don’t bite!
Don’t know about KKieran and whanot, but I must say I am a tad dissapointed for not getting a new GK – mostly for the same reason as Vance – Arsene said he was in the market for a new goalie. True, he made some comments about having good keepers @ the club, etc. – but the message was quite clear. A goalie needs – most of all – confidence. Almunia’s confidence is low. It was obvious in the last few games, plus it doesn’t help that our defence needs time to settle in and generally has recent difficulties in defending set pieces and aerial threats. Maybe shcwarzer was not the best solution, maybe Wojeich is going to be SO good that Arsene did not want to impede his development – but still, I am dissapointed, as one thing is for sure – history proves that succeeding and winning, without a great goalkeeper, is virtually impossible. And since Jens, we haven’t had one.
whydomostwengerhatersnotknowthereisaspaceandenterkeyonakeyboard?
lol – the exclamation mark usually is a bit sticky too.
Whaa whaaa, I want a trophy… whaaa – sell the family silver and buy me a trophy, whaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why did the English national team call of Shea if he has already declared for Ireland?? not complaining it could help his game develop form saving Rooney and Bent shots in training. We have a glut of quality young keepers at the club and that should pressure Almunia to keep his spot
We can come up with list of players Arsene should get. But lets not forget, the players may not want to come or are stopped from coming. Schwarzer is not coming because without him Fulham do not have enough keepers. I can understand that, if I were Hughes, what good is a few extra million more in the bank if it means the club will end up relegated or performing poorly. Hughes has to please Fulham fans, right?
We must stand up to Le Grove and break them!
Those fools are responsible for all the anti-Arsene nonsense.
All hail Lord Wenger and God save the Arsenal
We’ve got Almunia, we’ve got Almunia…
C’mon guys sing it.
We all know that the club was in for another ‘keeper and a lot of us are dissapointed that they couldnt get one. But just because you want something doesnt mean you can get it. Lyon were not selling Lloris. Fulham were not selling Schwarzer. Liverpool were not selling Reina. What should AW do? Should he do a “Dr Frankenstein” and try to create his own super monster ‘keeper in a lab underground somewhere? If there are not ‘keepers of the appropriate quality out there than that is the way things are. We wait until a ‘keeper of the appropriate quality is available.
Utd need a quality creativce midfielder to replace Scholes. They are still looking. Liverpool need all kinds of players. They are still looking. Unless you have the money that City and Chelsea have (and have had) then building a squad is difficult, especially when economic circumstances are tough and clubs dont want to sell.
Senderos, Silvestre, Campbell & Gallas out – two centre-backs in. Eduardo out, one forward in. So a deficit of two players this summer. I thought Wenger said he would strengthen? One midfield injury away from a crisis all season now, as there is no cover for Song. Who will play defensive midfield, Denilson?! I think we’ve seen how effective he is defensively for the past three years & I for one have had enough of his sideways passing and jogging back for the sake of it alongside swift opposition attacks. I don’t think Almunia is an awful keeper at all but once it was made public that a bid for Schwarzer had been made it was ESSENTIAL that a GK was signed, as Almunia now knows he wasn’t wanted as first choice, as do the rest of the team and opposition teams. How on earth is that supposed to give confidence to our team? How is that not going to give confidence to other teams we play? If Wenger’s tight-fistedness results in us going another season without a trophy (while Tottenham strengthen every year) then I want necessary action taken. I put a lot of money into this club and I deserve it to be spent properly. I’m not one for frivolous spending, but I expect the necessities to be brought in – Wenger’s ego is not bigger than my beloved club.
Dear Arsenal fan
the window are closed now as what i mention earlier here that wenger are doing bullshit in the market . when arseal buying cheap product and what else we as a fan could hope ? winning the BPL this years forget it and wenger will give hope and hope but when come to december the will put million of list player he want to buy actually he is rubbish not like the other manager doing the window in market. bye bye arsenal i dun believe this will be urs years …still take man.utd , chealse are champion and everyone can see arsenal kid will be in the medical hospital during the BPL climax ….take my words …..
we need player but he screw up the window …..we will see another scapegoat of mr.wenger
kkieran – your points have been debated over and over and generally your stand has been shown to be false. Senderos played ZERO times for us last season. So he cannot be suddenly included in a count of squad memebers in and out. Silvestre was called, by people like you, the worst footballer ever to play for Arsenal, and suddenly he is a valued member of the squad whose replacement is essential? Djourou was out injured all season and is back now. So we are starting this season with TV, Kos, Djourou, and Squillacci at CB. That is way, way, way better than this time last season. We are hugely better than last year so AW has done his job.
In case you hadnt noticed Song didnt play in midfield the first two games of the season. Diaby did and he did absolutely fine. Denilson can also play there. So can Eastmond. It would appear as if there is LOADS of cover for Song.
All of us wanted a new ‘keeper. The manager couldnt find one. Obviously you had knowledge of one that was available, at the right price, and wanted to play for Arsenal. We all believe that you did as well. We are dissapointed and have said so.
And what is that stuff about Tottenham strengthening each year? Ha ha!!!! My goodness, if you want us to believe that you are a real Arsenal supporter dismayed at our club then compare our activities to Chelsea and Utd, our real competitors, not to Tottenham. Once Spurs finish above us in the League for two or three years in a row then we can worry about them. Until then however…….
Enjoyed this article!
i think its time for walcott to think otherwise because he is now mature mentally and physically so its time to show the world that is capable
Am eager to see how Arsenal will be this season without a new goal keeper may be its goin to be a dissaster .
Walter, this is why we didn’t get a new keeper! Schwarzer is easy to spell, and after all the rumors, too many fans were already comfortable with names like Akinfeev. And of course Reina, Lloris, Frey, all are too simple for us.
Are we likely to Arsenal beciming looser pool this season
to fail even to qualify for champions league due to lack of players
cracking good yarn, what?
the article was funny, but some of the comments were side splitting. i swear that some people wouldn’t know irony if it was explained in full to them.
as for our GK situation, Arsene has motivated Almunia by hinting that he could be in the market for a new keeper, Almunia has responded well to this motivation, job done.
Swarzer would only have been a sideways move anyway and there were no real world class keepers available anyway.
i’m off to legrove for another laugh.
@Paulc: At the end of last season, AW said we would address areas that needed improving and experience. I just dont see how replacing Gallas, Campbell, Senderos, Silvestre etc with Koscielny and Squillaci is doing that. Obviously our ambition as fans is not in sync with the ambitions and goals set by the board. Why then do we pay such high prices for season tickets? And when they set out to only achieve top 4, one season, it will backfire, and at some stage it is bound to all go wrong. All I can think of right now, is us at Birmingham last season, and Almunia palming the ball into the path of the goalscorer, when it would have just been easier to save the original shot. I think the next player out the door is definately Fabregas. Next window he will request to leave for Barca because again Wenger has refused to spend big to secure the players who could help us win silverware, and therefore we can hope for 3rd place and only a few injuries at best. It amazes me that there are still fans out there who are happy with Wenger’s managerial style. Chamakh appears to be a top buy, so I will give Wenger some credit there, but I will say this again: We scored only 3 less goals than Manure and conceded 13 more. HOW IS IT NOT OBVIOUS THAT WE NEED A BETTER KEEPER AND SOME DEFENSIVE MUSCLE!!! He let 4 defenders go (5 if you count Traore who probably wont come back) and brought in only 2. Koscielny already looks as though he will struggle and he doesnt have the height or weight to push the likes of Drogba and Rooney around. Song is getting there but we cant wait on him to reach his full potential if we want to win most of our games, let alone anything else. To all of the Wenger lovers out there, if he is such a great manager, how is it that he cant see such obvious problems? I dont want to hear any rubbish about how the right players werent available or that finances werent good enough, because that is a lie. If you offer a stubborn club a decent sum (which we definately had) they will sell. Wenger’s outrageous ego is creating a barrier which prevents us from climbing any higher than 3rd and I can guarantee you that our current squad will fall apart through injury again, and you will all still take his word as gospel. His only purpose is to make sure that his bank account remains healthy so that he can retire to his quiet little vineyard in the south of France. There is no love for the club left in his heart
kkeiran – sorry, but your obvious prejudices are making you irrational and preculde having any kind of debate with you. You are blind to reason and just want to vent your spleen towards Arsenal, Arsene Wenger and anyone that doesnt see your point of view. You make up facts to suit yourself and dont listen to anyone with different views, even when they present facts for your perusal.
Just to show how silly your whole argument is, you say “If you offer a stubborn club a decent sum (which we definately had) they will sell”. Well, you have constantly said that AW is stubborn, and so if that is the case then surely 29million for Fabregas was a “decent” amount and therefore we should have sold. Right? Right? Uh, no.
You have very little idea what you are talking about and every one of your posts makes you look and more like a spoiled little child not getting what they want, or expect, out of life. You will not get much support on this board for your views. There are plenty of other websites where you will find people that think just like you, equally robotic and spouting out the usual dricvel without any thought or intelligence. You should probably go there instead of making yourself look more of a fool on this site.
I only read the responses by everyone to Kkeiran, and Kkeiran’s last post and I said to myself, im not gonna be bothered to respond to this argument again. The uncountable times i’ve seen myself and other people responding to them yet still not getting it.
This is one of the times I am exasperated to the point where I’d rather just avoid talking to these people at all..
I think Arsene Wenger should be given a prize-the top manager who spends the least in the transfer market prize. Personally I am not disappointed we did not sign Schwarzer. Arsenals dealing in the transfer market this summer has further reduced the costs of the team.
Two things are more apparent than ever-that Arsenal aim to achieve success without buying even moderately expensive players in the transfer market and secondly, Arsenal are prepared to wait for success and are not too worried if it does not happen again this season.
It just adds interest to see how we fare against the teams who have invested in players through the transfer market.