By Tony Attwood, at the computer, Great Oakley.
So there it was, there you have it, makes you think, this is it.
It wouldn’t have surprised me if Stewart Robson, co-commentator extraordinary had said any of that. He is a man who although he was a fine footballer, has never quite mastered the finer points of the English language – which is a trifle sad for a commentator.
Such as…
- Four is not the maximum number of words that can be had in an English sentence
- Nouns and adjectives are allowed
- Inflections upwards at the end of a sentence are not de rigour in English and by and large should be reserved for questions.
Anyway, we played, we won, it was a saunter, and JET, Nordveit, and Nasri all done great (remember that one Mr Robson – don’t think you said “done great”. It’s a verb… I done great, you done great, the boy Nasri done great…”)
The pictures were rubbish. Now I know this is mostly due to my computer which only has 5 furlongs of RAM and a fortnights worth ROM, but even so, can’t they do something better? It looked half the time as if it was pouring with rain. Although maybe it was. But for one pound I suppose I can’t complain. (Actually I just did).
Any way, the fact is that the kiddies we have watched over the past years are coming good and the older timers are limbering up for the episodes ahead…
- is simmering nicely – not putting himself out too much you understand, but getting into the swing of things
- is coming along too, played the whole game, while showing the promise so cruelly cut short by the morons of international car thievery
- is calm quiet and composed and can play central midfield as well as the next man who happens to be
- JET is the player we all knew he could be, sauntering around looking too big to be a player and then with seemingly no effort he just meanders pass players who stand there thinking, “where did that bloody great tree come from and what is it doing running with the ball?”
- Lansbury scored with aplomb and then seemed to lose interest having done his thing
- Nasri was great once again which shows what he can do in the middle and
- Nordtveit played masterfully and is certainly ready for the first team squad.
- Gibbs is the fine player we knew him to be before his injury.
- Unless my eyes deceived me Traore played full back went off at half time and came on as a second half sub in midfield and did rather well.
- And our Jack showed he hasn’t completely got the hang of the laws and got booked for a rather nasty looking studs up which he then denied.
- Once more, Algenon Fitzgibbon-Beater, the new Mongolian signing from Ulan Bator Carpets failed to play. Rumour is that he is demanding a new yak.
So that was that – it all went rather well and it shows that without any of our players who were foolish enough to play in the bent world cup we have a decent squad and a half.
Sorry to see Eduardo go, but such things happen, and once again Almunia was not there, so we had two Polish keepers called Zxschzchazyz, who had nothing to do so we couldn’t really say too much about them.
S Robson managed later on to venture into the world of new pronunciations with Peeeeeeenas (a player for Zarg) and Giles Suuuuuuuuuunu who apparently plays for us. At any minute I expected to find out that we had a player called Walcottttttttttttttttttttt on the wing (who worked hard but just doesn’t have it at the moment, although “it” will undoubtedly turn up tomorrow.)
We won by 13 shots to 6 and 3 goals to nuffink.
Next match is next tuesday by which time we will have all the men who fraternised with the car thieves back at their desks. I hope they feel “up for it” as the journalists say.
Tottenham must be playing their Champs League qualifier soon, aren’t they? Wouldn’t it be rather droll if they lost.
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Life, don’t talk to me about life
My mind is made up. I do it each morning after I get out of it.
If not actually gruntled, he was certainly not disgruntled.
Umm, reposted comments here, as it seems more appropriate.
Just finished watching the match today, 3-0 is good but based on the fact the Graz seemed to stop really trying in the last 15mins I expected more goals.
Focusing on the midfield first I thought in the first half Nasri looked on fire and ready for the start of the league. Frimpong looked composed and a clean tough tackler that will add something different to the squad (Stoke/Blackburn here we come!), Arsharvin’s passing could of been a bit better, and seemed to overall play well with Wiltshire. Jack went a bit quiet in second half after Arsharvin’s departure. Though neither of them were able to really bring Chamakh into the game.
As football is a game of two halves….Nasri would have man of the match for the 1st and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas would get it for the second! I want to see more of this player he looks like a sleeping giant of a player that is being woken. He has a lightening quick football brain. He knew when to let the ball run on to a different player, created space for himself, had pace, shook of defenders, was a constant threat, accurately passed the ball around and set up Lansbury’s goal.
Lansbury looks comfortable on the ball and Nordveit looks like he’s coming on nicely in defence. Gibbs was best player in defence line in the 2nd half but over all I thought defence was shakey. 1st half players looked as dodgy as second & the defensive players need to develop understanding quickly.
I don’t want to be hard on Rosicky but he was the player I thought could of done better. He put in a competent performance, but that isn’t enough for me. He didn’t pass the ball to JET and seemed to be looking for Theo too much (even though theo was being marked by 2 players) was too deep in our half at times (forcing Gibbs to make runs down the flank), often badly positioned and did not link up well with Eastmond or Lansbury. I think its time to sell him or use him in the cups.
This was of course only 1 match but Wenger has alot to do in midfield and defense.
JET done good – so confident and composed, not afraid to take players on. He was t’rific up front holding up the ball and bringing others in, or going out wide and breezing past players as if they weren’t there. There ain’t nuffink the boy can’t do!
I was also impressed with Traore. Not defensively of course, he’s always a bit ramshackle in that regard. But going forward he was turning defenders inside out and whipping in some dangerous crosses. Maybe he could turn into a pacey, direct winger a la Eboue?
Nasri was my man of the match, superb throughout his 45 minutes. He was picking the ball up everywhere, making great passes, turning and speeding away from defenders with the ball at his feet, he was involved in everything that was good about us in the first half.
It was all very impressive considering how many first-teamers we still have missing.
Totally agree with that. Wilshire was great as well I thought (apart from nearly snapping a couple of the autrians legs in half, what have they been teaching him at Bolton!) I’d love to see Nasri played alongside Cesc in the centre midfield just ahead of Song in Fabregas’ ‘season long loan’ from barcelona. Seriously though who does Xavi think he is coming out with the rubbish day after day? I’m actually starting to hope Mourino can do something great at Madrid and bring those catalans down a peg or two, and that really is saying something!
Hmm, the result was better than the performance with 1st half the overall better one:
Fabianski: Next to nothing to do but when he intervened, did so quite comfortable
Nordtveit: A very good match. The player outside our 1st team that impressed me the most
Djourou: An OK game, looking forward to having him back. An alternative as DM cover for Song
Vermaelen: Solid performance, looks good with the armband
Traore; An off-on performance, also literally
Wilshere: Strong performance. Let him play whenever the 1st choices get injured/need rest. Needs to be told about rash challenges.
Frimpong: Another solid performance. A keeper.
Nasri: Great effort.
Arshavin: Shows his ability but seemed uninterested.
Walcott: Another on/off performances. Still a work in progress.
Chamakh: Didn’t see enough of him
Gibbs: Disappointed me compared to what he did before his injury last year but it’s still early.
Koscielny: Disappointing performance. Lost possession, wrong positions, etc
Eastmond: I was impressed with him last year but today…
Lansbury: 1 goal, the rest – nothing
Rosicky: A decent performance, shows his skills
JET: Let him start on the bench – every game. His versatility is a great asset.
Szczesny: Nothing to do
You are the best Arsenal blog writer bar none, and I really mean that, but to say “such things happen” concerning poor Eduardo leaving Arsenal is a little surprising coming from someone who always usually writes so well. A little harsh perhaps? No need for a quick “wish him well” or any niceties??
I want to see Nordveit at centre half as surely this is a position we will need to look at. With Sagna and Eboue coming back next week i should get my wish. I think he is looking every inch a first team squad member. Frimpong is looking a better understudy to Song than all his competitors, certainly a more like for like, if only we can change his mind about nailing his allegiances to Ghana, as it will be hard to see both him and Song disappear to ACN duty, still that is a season and a half away so a lot could change by then. With Dudu departing today we now have 4 spaces for foreigners under the 25 rule, this could increase to 5 if Almunia throws his toys out of his pram when he realises he is no longer no.1. However, i am certain that unless, Botelho fails to get his work permit Almunia leaves and Campbell does not re-sign there will be no more signings. I think Wenger will go with a 34 man squad (4 gk’S AND 3 players for each outfield position
4 GK – Fabianski, Almunia, Mannone, Sczcesney
3 RB- Sagna, Eboue, Eastmond
3 LB – Clichy, Gibbs, Traore
6 CH – Vermaelen, Campbell, Koscielny, Djourou, Nordveit, Bartley
3 DM – Song, Frimpong, Denilson
6 AM – Fabregas, Nasri, Diaby, Wilshere, Lansbury, Ramsey/Henderson
9 Attackers – RVP, Chamakh, Arshavin, Walcott, Bendtner, Vela, Rosicky, JET, Botelho
I know that is 35 players but with Ramsey probably out till Xmas, Henderson has been added. If Botelho fails to get his work permit, i think Henderson will nail his spot regardless of Ramsey’s injury and then there might be a late reprieve for Barazite or a move for Remy or Babel
I think we should keep in mind that the players had some hard training sessions yesterday and this could have interfered with play a bit. Also it seemed that the pitch was not an Emirates one and the ball bounced around a bit at times.
Also keep in mind this was for most part a team that we only will see in the PL when we are hit by the normal and big injury crisis.
And we controlled 80% of the game and had most possession. We could have scored a few more and Sturm Graz only looked like scoring only once in the 90 minutes.
Well you know I am an optimist and when you can dominate with half a Carling Cup team away from home against a team that ended in 4th place in the Austrian league it isn’t bad at all.
Why is everyone taking it all so seriously?
Always a good giggle when you write like this Mr Attwood, especially the sentence regarding jet. wonderful stuff.
Walter, I agree the pitch didn’t look good, but then neither will some of those lower team’s in the Carling cup, FA cup or dare I say clubs like Wigan. Okay fair point about the training sessions though.
Based on recent history I am looking at the squad strength in depth, we need to have players that can adequately fill in, in the event of injury crisis. I don’t think the performances today would of been good enough against a midtable organised team.
There was no pressure today, this will not be the case in the cups or league and that’s why I am not satisfied.
I agree with you Tony, some people are reading too much into these early friendlies. The players go through difficult strength and power training during the Austria camp and won’t be at their best in these matches, while some will also be weary of picking up an injury so won’t push themselves too hard (wisely in my view). They are not a good indication of their true quality.
The best thing about these games is seeing youngsters like Nordtveit, Frimpong, Lansbury and JET looking so at ease alongside the first team players, and looking forward to seeing them break into the squad during the season.
Great to see a plan begin to come together. That’s kids for you eh? one minute they’re just a bunch of little yappers all chasing a ball and hoping to be the next Ian Wright,Patrick Vieira or Tony Adams, next thing you know they’re in the first teamm and beating grown up men. Who’d have ever guessed? Eh, Arsene must have been a tad right after all then?
Absolutely gutted that Algenon didn’t show up though. Ski news are reporting that he asked Carlos to mind his passport for him yesterday and the rest as they say is…the rest.
Hopefully all will be right eventually for the Gardener’s favourite export.
Roll on August ’til we get a real game of footie.
I believe just like putting on a play if people don’t know their lines, its a clear indication how likely they are going to get it right when its time to perform. The season start is not that far away and team doesn’t look ready or right in my opinion.
Indeed a friendly game. Like a couple of friends kicking a ball around in the park. When given this much time on the ball and no players not even trying to tackle you, it won’t tell us much about how these players will perform in the EPL. I wonder what plan Wenger has for Traore. He lacks intelligence when in defense and he lacks end product when in midfield. He can’t really pick out a pass or hit someone with a cross. He’s a good atlete, I’ll give him that. With the stiff competition at the left side of the pitch, he can only hope for the competiton to get injured (don’t think he needs to hold his breath). JET looks like and interesting prospect, anyone who’s not a midget and can play the beautiful game is welcome. I hope Djourou has grown a pair of cojones, for someone with his stature, he’s to friendly. He must get the opposition to fear him.
Gooner Gal – just a thought, but we didn’t have Fabregas, Van Persie, Bendtner, Vela, Eboue, Song, Sagna, Denilson, Clichy, Diaby, and several others who I haven’t seen for so long I’ve forgotten who they are. I know we have injuries, but some of those guys are going to play some of the time. You could make quite a team out of those 10.
For some it never will be good I think. We win 4-0 with this team against Barnett: oh it is only Barnet.
We win 0-3 away from home in Austria against one of their top teams (4th last season) : oh it is only an Austrian team
And we have got these results with, like Tony tells us, some 10 players who one can call regular first teamers and some of the best players in the world and still: oh well we are not good enough.
And I know they count for nothing these results but the fact that we won these games with the players available is just showing how much dept we have in our squad.
Jay Emmanuel Thomas has to be in 1st team squad next season, he’s a big, strong and athletic midfielded/striker/defender and possibly goalkeeper! and we need versatility like this in our squad, plus it would mean we can buy a STANDARD defender, instead of Jagielka (for whom i think Everton count as 3 £5 million players, rather than a single £15 million defender, only reason i can see for the heafty price tag).
Either way we still need to add! its nearing the end of july, Emirates Cup is in 10 days so it’d be nice to see all signings done BEFORE then so we can break them into the team and Home pitch. Who do we need and who we bring in is the question!? As sometimes even the obvious seems to pass by Mr.Wenger. We’ve needed a top keeper for 3 seasons and the need is less so now with Sczcesney showing how talented he is, (for those who havent seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brPWeQIc4Eo) and defender needed since Gallas decided to throw a strop and more so when Toure left! Yet we’re still left frustrated today with the lack of both. Will we be left feeling this way in 41 days?? And with Dudu gone, i think we need something else up front tho not buying a striker might be the positive energy we need to wish van Persie well for a entire season!! But i still hope for a new attacking option, Remy? don’t know! maybe Charlton Cole or Behrami(who is never less than 2 inches away from scoring) from the hammers, or if rumors are to believed then maybe Rodallega is the prefered option, and tho its a questionable decision to most fans, i think he’d do well for us he’s Drogba like and if played more direct(not heskey direct but more through the centre ball to feet kinda direct)then he could be the different kind of animal we need up front!!
But 41 days, in Cesc/Barca terms is a very LONG time, yet in the we need to buy terms is CLOSING IN QUICKLY!!!
why does someone as fast as theo find it so hard beating opponents 1on1? jet was amazing. seemed alot more intelligent than theo. after that performance i think theo has real competition at last. every time theo gets the ball im like- go on son prove em all wrong, but its often followed up with a huge sigh. got to admit my faith with him is decreasing ever so slightly. nordveit-defo ready for first team, well impressed with the two games so far. didnt realise he was so quick! and th tackle that followed as he chased back got me off my seat! effing an blinding.
Tony – yes we do have a number of first players out and we are unlikely as Walter pointed out to ever field the exact team combinations put out today in a competitive match, however the phrase ‘we are only as strong as our weakest member’ sums up what I am thinking. I remember when Cygan played for Arsenal, opposition would target him because they knew he wasn’t the best player in the team.
Robbie – agree 100% about Traore, he is my least favorite squad member. I wouldn’t mind if it was his last season with us.
Jason – I agree with some of what you said, but what do you mean when you say Wenger cannot see the obvious? Sorry Wenger is the best manager at spotting nuances and adjusting accordingly. Chez is NOT ready for No.1 shirt and should go out on loan if we don’t win the Carling Cup, I’d prefer Almunia right now but do agree that there are better keepers out there. But with shake up of the goalkeeping coaching set-up, the current crop of keepers might come good. I know Fabianski still has a lot of potential.
Carlton Cole? Behrami? Rodallega? Don’t you want to win something this coming season? If so they are not what Arsenal needs.
I wish someone could write a piece about Almunia. I would like to see his stats compared to the other keepers in the EPL. I have been made to believe that he is rubbish. I have read so many comments about him beeing rubbish, that I’ve started believing it. It’s like Almunia is our scapegoat whenever we lose. Arsenal must be the least favourable team to be a goalkeeper at. I don’t think Wenger spend a lot of time having his players practice defensive set pieces and such. I don’t know enough about the goalkeepers game to analyze it. If anyone knows anything about goalkeeping, then maybe that person can in detail explain why Almunia is rubbish (or good). I really want to know.
Gooner Gal-the obvious was the point of us needing a keeper 3 seasons ago and Wenger ignoring this, and yes i’m i too am one of these wenger knows best people, but on certain occasions he does turn a blind eye to certain things be it a need for a keeper or the need to take a player off when having a bad game, mainly Denilson.
As for ‘Chez’ he is more than capable of taking over as no 1 and as we haven’t signed a keeper yet, Wenger must know he’s capable, and his age will NOT concern Wenger, nor should it Atletico Madrids keeper David De Gea is 19 yrs old, Iker Casillas widely thought to be the best keeper in the world, and currently is a world champ, was 17 when he began on goal for Real, so to say he is not ready is wrong. He shows far better awareness, agility, speed, reflexes and presence than Almunia has ever shown! So if I and many others had the choice between all our current keepers then ‘Chez’ would be no 1, but we do need to sign a keeper.
As for the 3 signings Wenger is known to like all 3, and Wigan did turn down an offer for Hugo. And they are realistic cover players! Who would you like to see at the club?? I doubt anyone like Agbonlahor or Luis Alberto Suárez, would like to come to Arsenal to warm the bench? They can all play football but are also capable of being more direct so would add a new dimension to the team, granted they are not the highest goal scorers at their current club, but they have potential to be goal machines upfront for us. It’d have to be a signing that knows they are 5th in line yet still capable, but Wenger is unlikely to sign anyone up front, with Van Persie, Walcott, Chamakh, Bendtner, Vela and Diaby and Nasri as alternatives maybe he’ll think we’ll have enough fire power. But if we do then it’ll possibly be Remy for £12 million or so,which is to much.
I would like to see Affellay come our way tho we’ve been linked to him a few times and he is a top player can finish with both feet and has the skill and pace to pass defenders.
Gooner Gal- ya sorry, read your other posts above and due to your negativity and blatant mis-spelling of our players names, I’ve decided it pointless arguing points to you when you clearly haven’t got much understanding of how football works. Pre season is warm up time, get players back into the swing of things and avoid injury, so to say ‘I believe just like putting on a play if people don’t know their lines, its a clear indication how likely they are going to get it right when its time to perform. The season start is not that far away and team doesn’t look ready or right in my opinion.’ is the most stupid comparison you could have used! And if you were using ‘a play’ as a metaphor, then even plays have rehearsals!! and as the wise Tony pointed out 10 of our senior players were missing, so its pointless even judging the team at the minute, especially chamakh who will have better service from our new no 10 the dutch master Van Persie and Cesc (if he returns).
I appreciate you taking time out to read my comments Gooner Gal but i’d like to add that in future i’m going to skip past your opinion (like i do with Liverpool fans) to someones that actually counts, Thank you 😉
It’s all about context – within the context of the article I was writing I felt it would inappropriate to write about my feelings about Eduardo – and we do have an article about him ready to roll.
preseasons mean nothing they are not competitive matches, the players wont have their adrenaline going because it doesn’t matter. #they will not be playing at their very best. There are some players who look fantastic in preseason but when it comes to the real match they choke, I prefer a player to look average in prseason but great in the real matches.
One key issue you are over looking gooner gal is that no one wants to get injured remember Nasri last year? Le BOSS has probably told them not to go full throttle but just work on certain areas he wants to address
it is mere tinkering where you try things that you can not try in a competitive match
***************I am surprised at you GOONER GAL************
especially since you have a go at others for being negative
Tony
Spurs are preparing for their ECL qualifier by ensuring they will experience jet lag: earning the US shilling playing New York Red Bulls in the Big Apple.
As I had money on < 4.5 goals, to all of you who said Arsenal should score more, shame on you!!!!
Finally Tony, as Wenger's early success at Arsenal was entirely associated with preferential access to the French 98 World Cup squad, which will certainly be part of the reason for the exorbitant fee he got for Petit and maybe Anelka as well, both of which were essential to fund the 2002 – 2005 success on a 36,000 crowd, so it might be sensible to stop harping on about bent world cups.
And for those who claim, fictitiously, that Arsenal players only get injuries playing for the national side:
1. Robin – injured in 2007 celebrating a goal against MUFC. No-one was near him, he jumped up and landed on the Emirates turf. So shut down Emirates Stadium, as it's clearly far too dangerous for Arsenal players to play on. Assuming of course that the EPL isn't totally bent and that Robin was imprisoned for 4 months to assuage Sir Alex' anger. I didn't say he was, you understand……….
2. Walcott and Gallas both getting a few months worth of injury walking back from the pitch to the shower at London Colney. Shut down the training centre, it's got something in the ground which attacks knees when you walk. Assuming Arsene didn't pull them to either punish them or to weaken the squad to fix matches. I didn't say he did, you understand………
3. Rosicky – quite how many injuries he got through Wenger bringing back too fast I don't know, but it wasn't due to the World Cup, the Diddly Cup or anything other than Arsenal's rehabilitation programmes not being world class. Unless the whole thing was an 18 month jail sentence for dealing. You'll note I didn't say it was……….
I think Gooner Gal is actually the only poster to get your humour Tony and is writing with such deep and heavy irony that the rest of us struggle to see the joke.
Gooner Gal you are hilarious but your pastiche of the anti Arsene, anti Arsenal supporter is so well realised that some of the jokes are lost on me.
my picture quality was pretty damn good Tony, maybe its time to upgrade from the old 266 mmx. perhaps you should join a quango, i hear they give away free laptops.
Just to show you how great Sky actually is I copied this from their article: “The Gunners recorded a comfortable 3-0 pre-season friendly win over Sturm Graz on Wednesday with the 18-year-old (Jack Wilshere) playing the full match”.
Now even though my quality was a bit like Tony described it I still could see that Traore came back on in the second half to replace Wilshere.
Sky can’t even get their facts correct. Imagine when it comes to rumours how wrong they can be….
Jason @ 3.16 – Clearly it wasn’t obvious that we needed a keeper 3 seasons ago or Wenger would of made this a priority then. Whats clear is that age and experience is important to Wenger or why else would we of considered Mark Swarzer? Wenger is ‘known’ to like Joe Cole and Steven Pienaar but has not signed these players for the club so what your point?…That’t okay if you don’t respond as you skip past this post due to my spelling errors – you win some you loose some.
Gooner80 @8.04 – I have the ability to consider positives and negatives in any game and critically appraise it and I don’t think that this makes me a doom and gloomer.
Steww @9.34 – I do get Tonys (and Billy’s) humour, but I am sure I am sure there are many more out there besides me. The rest of what you have said is lost on me too.
Don’t worry GG. I don’t have any wish to understood by you or your kind. I’m an Arsenal supporter and am happy to chat to similarly minded people instead.
I vote for Rhys Jagger being the funniest guy in the world!!! Anyone agree??
Very nice start to the pre-season.
Could this be the year Nasri starts banging in his share of goals?
How good may Nordtveit be? Is he the reason no further defensive signings will be made?
Where does JET fit into the side? What is his best position?
Some nice questions to ponder.
Shard, I vote for Steww being the second funniest.
Gooner Gal i did read your post, i read them all i’m surprised at the lack of effort and passion, if someone called me out on my love for Arsenal, I’d put alot more effort into my post, rather reiterating your points previous.
My point of the obvious was that it was quite obvious to Arsenal Supporters that we’ve had a need for a keeper but Wenger didn’t buy one therefore he ignored our need for a keeper! As for the age and experience thing do you actually live on this planet?? One of the biggest critisms of Wenger is his Failure to buy players with experience and age, if age wasn’t a concern for him then why the hell would he refuse to offer 30+ yr old players more than a years contract? The schwarzer deal is more first team for short term but is set for a long term coaching as Gerry Peyton current keeping coach is set to leave due to injury and disagreements.
And again i reiterate my point that the 3 signings i said are the realistic options, we can all throw our opinions out to who would be good or who Wenger likes, but Joe Cole and Pienaar are unrealistic as both would want guaranteed starting places and big wages and in Pienaars case a serious tranfer fee, as he was one of the top performers last season. So thats my point and i’m sure the others that read these posts would completely understand the realistic options for bench warming and the unrealistic, but again attacking options are not our main concern.
I watched the game last night, and personally, I thought Arsenal were excellent – considering the team was also lacking 10 or 11 regular 1st teamers.
Granted there were one or two loose passes, casual defending a couple of times (in the 1st half) and the tempo was not yet up to normal speed, but overall I quite enjoyed the performance.
JET was excellent, Nordveit will definitely get games this season if he keeps this form going. (he’s quick as well for a bigish lad, so I hope he gets a game soon at CB so we can see why AW is not panicking when it comes to his back line options – don’t forget he cost Arsenal £2m as well so should be ready now) Traore also looks like he could be about to come good (and tempt AW into cashing in on Glichy perhaps – we also have young Tom Cruise coming through). And the rest of the players didn’t do themselves any harm (we already know what Nasri is capable of so no need to single him out for praise really). It was also good to see Theo once again crop up in one of the other forward positions and his switching with JET, in particular, during the 2nd half was very good. Theo has had his knocks, but everytime I see him, I just keep thinking “Andy Townsend: what a prick” – he’s a quality young player and every team in the country would take him like a shot if they could.
Jason – although I am not defending anyone, I do think your post highlights one of the biggest problems of the internet age where everyone is a critic, and yet only one man (AW) is actually QUALIFIED to make decisions for our club.
“it was quite obvious to Arsenal Supporters that we’ve had a need for a keeper but Wenger didn’t buy one therefore he ignored our need for a keeper!” – that is a “Le Grove” type of statement, as if AW is intentionally, willfully ignoring the super-smart fans who know everything. What do you actually know of AW’s search for a new ‘keeper? Perhaps he has been looking constantly and they just havent been available. We dont know. AW has mentioned Lloris this summer but Lloris confirmed he wants to stay at Lyon for another year. Akinfeev’s club have said he isnt for sale. Who else is there? Where are all these available ‘keepers who AW is “ignoring”?
The same applies to the over 30’s thing and buying new players. You make it sound like you think you know better than AW about these things, which is quite obviously not the case or else you would be managing at some professional level. Now, I doubt that you actually do think you know better, or else I would say you were delusional (like the guys over at Le Grove). But none of this stuff is OBVIOUS, as you are trying to say.
It is not easy to build a Championship winning side. It is especially not easy to build a Championship winning side when you have a fixed budget and are competing against clubs who are financially doped (or simply a financial juggernaut, as MIOU were for the first decade of AW’s management at Arsenal). Sometimes fans make it seem as though all you have to do is sign player, A,B, and C and we’d win the League, easy as pie, no problem, even though we’d have spent 150million less than Chelsea or City are able to. Rafa spent Liverpool into deep debt and he couldnt win the League. Roman spent hundreds of millions and he couldnt get the one trophy he wants above all others. Real Madrid spent 250million in one summer and didnt win La Liga. None of this stuff is OBVIOUS. For example, I fully, 100%, agree with AW’s policy of not offering over-30’s more than a 1-year rolling contract. I simply think the medical and historical evidence supports that view. I also 100% agree with the way AW built through youth and didnt sign older, more experienced, and yet more expensive players recently . Now that he has all these kids coming through, I believe that he would be stupid to sign older players who’d block the kids progress. And yet you say “One of the biggest critisms of Wenger is his Failure to buy players with experience and age” as if your statement showed some kind of certainty, instead of simply a few people’s personal, unqualified opinion.
As fans we try and make it seem to be obvious, to make it seem as if we know what we are talking about. But we dont. We would be disastrous as managers. That is why we are not managers. We know very little. Some, like Tony, are able to write well and have a great sense of humour, therefore they can blog about their complete lack of knowledge.
Dont get mad at me for this post, I am often just as guilty of all the things I rant about in my own thoughts and posts. We, as fans, are ALL guilty of it at one time or another. I simply think it is omething we should try and be aware of when we begin to criticize the Board or Management of our club.
Paul C to be honest i got bored half way through your post and couldn’t be bother to answer your questions but one. I think supporters of a club are more than capable and QUALIFIED to give their opinions, I am not critizing Arsenal, Im giving my opinion on certain things. Fans can have just as much understanding of whats needed or bad performers in a team and to a certain degree it shows who the true fans are, for Wenger its his job, but for fans we pay to watch Arsenal play and take our time out to come on here and give our opinions on matters at hand, you don’t need to be qualified to see a player lose possession, or miss place passes, or to see a keeper unable to tell his defense whats needed or capable of controling his box, no qualification needed for that, nor for being able to spot a player capable of doing the job for the team. I’m not a know it all supporter but i am a positive one and a well informed one, i’m not asking you to read into my post or to take my word for anything, its just nice to come on here with like minded supporters and read their post.
And my saying “One of the biggest critisms of Wenger is his Failure to buy players with experience and age” was not me being critical of how we buy, i actually posted something recently about how i see our buying of younger players or ‘kids’ as people call them, not being us buying younger players but us buying players. I was merely pointing out that OTHERS not me critize Wenger for not buying older experienced players.
to paul c, i actually read the rest of your post and yes i was antially angry at what i read but not so now as i think you mis read my post, or misunderstood it, mainly because of your use of the words critic and critize, the only critism that you could read in my posts are the lack of effort to buy a keeper, and you ask who was available, well given was available and would have filled the void well. And that is my only possible critism of Wenger, who in some terms is the only manager in football, he doesn’t only look at the football side of things, he also is key to the over all developement of the club financially with his buy low sell high, he brings players to the club to broaden our world wide appeal, and was key in the move to the Emirates and the balancing of the books(which is key for now), so i can’t critise Wenger because in many ways he is Arsenal and he’s building Arsenal in a way that eventually we will dominate.
One more for paul c-http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/2010/07/the-philosophy-of-arsene-wenger-and-how-the-north-koreans-dont-get-it/ thats the link to where my comment on Wengers youth policy is.
Don’t shoot the messenger but…in The Telegraph’s Fantasy Football League, Almunia is the 5th most expensive keeper. Admittedly, The Telegraph may not be the best at this sort of thing but…
Jason – Its not that easy to get a rise out of me and very comfortable in the knowledge that I am and always will be a Gooner. Someone called Tony a Spud a while back on this very blog so I am very aware of the strange people out in blogsphere.
Disclaimer: – Before I go on as I am short on time I can’t guarantee I won’t make spelling mistakes…For those who have decided to read on….I think age and experience count for a lot in a goalkeeper, there are exceptions to the rule of course. I have actually been to Brentford games and watched Chez play (not just seen his best bits on youtube) he is indeed a very talented goal keeper but ready No.1 at Arsenal. He won’t be involved so much for long periods of game but will need to alert and mistakes won’t be tolarated, yes Szczesny did make them at Brentford, but to his credit they weren’t the same one over and over again. Wenger still is a little bit uncertain and therefore has not named him No.1. I love against the odds or comeback story, breaking both hands a couple of years ago could of ended his career before it really started so think Chez has got the mental strength to be No.1 in time but not this season.
So you think Calton Cole after bench warming for the best part of his premier league career at Chelski would happily come to Arsenal to be a squad player? You obviously have no idea! He was prepared to go to a small club like Chalton to seekout first team football and then when that didn’t work out move up to the midlands living out of a hotel to try and get first team football.
Rodallega came highly rated from South America and actually may still be finding his feet in EPL but his stats aren’t that great, I haven’t seem anything outstanding from him at Wigan – where it should be easier to shine, he’s not value for money at around £15m and don’t see how he would fit into squad. Look at what Lois Saha did at Fulham, if your a great player it will shine through.
And so we come to Behrami, who you think is another answer to Arsenal’s problems. I would say the silence speaks volumes – after all the two David’s put him up for sale some time ago, but is still there last time I looked, garnering very little interest from anyone not even Man City whom can afford to waste money. Behrami’s inadequate frustrated displays at the world cup got him sent off against Chile and I don’t think he could handle playing for a big club like Arsenal.
I do hope others like Steww or Gooner80 reading your post agree and understand your post because I don’t.
@ GOONER GAL
WHEN YOU READ MY POSTS THEY ARE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE. I didnt call you a doom and Glooomer just meant you are very critical of a friendly game whats there not to understand??
@Gooner80 fair enough then. I don’t think I was being overly critical though.
I also read about the moron who called Tony a Spud that was going way too far.
I think a lot of blame is put on aluminium but he is a bit of a scape goat others have not protected him, he has made mistakes but Lehman easily the best keeper wenger has bought used to make some crazy mistakes its just we defended better and masked some of his outrageous comings and goings.
This one time I am going to say I trust Wenger to make the right decision if he cant get a decent keeper and his to stick of aluminum then please get more protection for the defense, Aluminum was being touted for England a while ago and he is probably the best of a bad bunch who are either not ready or worse. The best keepers are taken and my theory is prevention rather than cure if there is less corners and crosses there is less for him to get wrong and he aint a bad shot stopper just look at him against manu in champs lg semi final at old trafford
“I also read about the moron who called Tony a Spud that was going way too far.”
No, I don’t think distance is an appropriate measure in such a case. There is something so other-worldly about such a comment that it doesn’t travel a distance, it is from a different reality.
Algenon-FB can play in goal if needs be. Honest, heard it on Ski news today. But nobody seems to care.
I think you are wrong about your comments on our tv pundit stewart…. he is the only pundit I can think of on tv or radio who actually understands and talks football…. you should learn a little about the game yourself!