Transfer Rumours Thread

As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
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donaldo
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Post by donaldo »

QuartzGooner wrote:Cannot get excited about Samba.

Has power and height, but has usually looked un-agile and slow.

If we sign him hope I am proved wrong.
56% of the goals we conceded came from set pieces.

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Gunnersaurus
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Post by Gunnersaurus »

QuartzGooner wrote:
Gunnersaurus wrote:We have plenty of agile, quick and tippy tappy technical players, some power, height and a clubbing un elegant hoof is what is severely missing.
Height, power and aggression are needed, but if the player is deficient in technical ability and pace he can be just as much a liabality as technical defenders.

Would it be too much to ask that an Adams type defender is signed who combines the physical and technical and leadership qualities needed, not to mention a point Lee Dixon made on Arseblog about being first to an incoming ball?
I don't think you've watched Blackburn much as Samba is no snail or Danny Shitu, he is also one of those that is first to the ball as you say, by your description it sounds like you want the total package, unfortunately they cost more than £5.99

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QuartzGooner
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Post by QuartzGooner »

Gunnersaurus wrote:
QuartzGooner wrote:
Gunnersaurus wrote:We have plenty of agile, quick and tippy tappy technical players, some power, height and a clubbing un elegant hoof is what is severely missing.
Height, power and aggression are needed, but if the player is deficient in technical ability and pace he can be just as much a liabality as technical defenders.

Would it be too much to ask that an Adams type defender is signed who combines the physical and technical and leadership qualities needed, not to mention a point Lee Dixon made on Arseblog about being first to an incoming ball?
I don't think you've watched Blackburn much as Samba is no snail or Danny Shitu, he is also one of those that is first to the ball as you say, by your description it sounds like you want the total package, unfortunately they cost more than £5.99
Have seen Samba beaten for pace too often.

But yes, I do want the complete defender, and seeing as we have a lot of money in the bank, and will get more from offloading Cesc and Bendtner, there is no reason we should not go out and spend what it takes to get our defence into shape.
Or else we risk finishing outside the top four.

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Gunnersaurus
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Post by Gunnersaurus »

QuartzGooner wrote:
Gunnersaurus wrote:
QuartzGooner wrote:
Gunnersaurus wrote:We have plenty of agile, quick and tippy tappy technical players, some power, height and a clubbing un elegant hoof is what is severely missing.
Height, power and aggression are needed, but if the player is deficient in technical ability and pace he can be just as much a liabality as technical defenders.

Would it be too much to ask that an Adams type defender is signed who combines the physical and technical and leadership qualities needed, not to mention a point Lee Dixon made on Arseblog about being first to an incoming ball?
I don't think you've watched Blackburn much as Samba is no snail or Danny Shitu, he is also one of those that is first to the ball as you say, by your description it sounds like you want the total package, unfortunately they cost more than £5.99
Have seen Samba beaten for pace too often.

But yes, I do want the complete defender, and seeing as we have a lot of money in the bank, and will get more from offloading Cesc and Bendtner, there is no reason we should not go out and spend what it takes to get our defence into shape.
Or else we risk finishing outside the top four.
Mate Arsene doesn't play football manager, he will never satisfy your expectations, may aswell accept it now.

Re pace, he won't be in the team to catch the whippets, this is why are defence is so shit, too many players with the same tidy qualities, unfortunately for us is that the rest of the league do not follow Wenger on how football should be played so you need more then one style of centre half/defender, we can't defend corners, we can't defend set pieces, obviously something is missing, ain't hard to see what.

1989
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Post by 1989 »

donaldo wrote:
QuartzGooner wrote:Cannot get excited about Samba.

Has power and height, but has usually looked un-agile and slow.

If we sign him hope I am proved wrong.
56% of the goals we conceded came from set pieces.
Has been the case for the last 4 years and with every summer that goes by Wanker does exactly fuck all about it.

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Gunnersaurus
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Post by Gunnersaurus »

Can't even put it down to set pieces, last year against Spurs in the 3-3 the whole game they just hit diagonal balls to Crouch, our comfy technical defenders got raped all game, we have no one in the squad that can deal with situations like that.

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augie
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Post by augie »

Gunnersaurus wrote:Can't even put it down to set pieces, last year against Spurs in the 3-3 the whole game they just hit diagonal balls to Crouch, our comfy technical defenders got raped all game, we have no one in the squad that can deal with situations like that.

Are you saying that a centre back must be big and physically commanding or have pace but cant have both ? Would you not accept that vidic would have ample amounts of both ? Kompany would also have an acceptable level of both so why should we just accept samba cos he is very good at one aspect but is likely to be murdered on the other aspect ? As quartz has already said, if there has been an unused transfer kitty for the past few seasons and this kitty is likely to be boosted by at least 3 departures then cos this position is so crucial why shouldnt we spend big bucks to buy a top quality centre half ?

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Gunnersaurus
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Post by Gunnersaurus »

No, I'm saying that complete players like Kompany or Vidic don't go unnoticed by the clubs willing to pay top dollar for them, we are buying the scraps that they don't want and allow us to buy simply because regardless of what you think we should spend....we won't spend.

I am also saying that Samba possesses a quality we don't have, nothing more, nothing less, if you want the perfect centre half as Quartz suggests then you ain't gonna get one that wants to come for 9m which is why we ended up with Koscienly and Squillaci as that is what our money can buy.

We would all love him to go out and buy our shopping lists but you know and I know that's not how it works, right now we need a few defenders that can defend and that knows the league, Samba is a good option, I doubt he will spend 17m on Cahill with a year left on his contract so would rather a Samba then a Sol Campbell or free agent Upson which is what we have become, if he's gonna spend big then its looking more likely that he will look to replace Nasri or Cesc with Hazard but don't see him blowing his budget in defence.

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QuartzGooner
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Post by QuartzGooner »

Gunnersaurus wrote: if you want the perfect centre half as Quartz suggests then you ain't gonna get one that wants to come for 9m which is why we ended up with Koscienly and Squillaci as that is what our money can buy.
We have been buying mid priced players since 2005.
There was some need for caution when the new stadium was being finished.

BUT

We now have enough in the bank to buy that top quality centre back we so badly need, one as Augie says, with power, height, experience, technical skills and pace.
The failure to spend on our poorly organised defence is no longer justifiable.

Especially as a top four finish looks less likely with each passing season.

mcdowell42
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Post by mcdowell42 »

All good points but where do we get this defender we need that has all the attributes quartz has mentioned and who is he :?:

Its Up 4 Grabs Now
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Post by Its Up 4 Grabs Now »

donaldo wrote:
QuartzGooner wrote:Cannot get excited about Samba.

Has power and height, but has usually looked un-agile and slow.

If we sign him hope I am proved wrong.
56% of the goals we conceded came from set pieces.
True, but as much as I agree we need to address the height issue I don’t think we should be suckered into thinking that’s the sole, or even main, cause of the problem. Complete and utter lack of organisation, know-how and communication is a bigger issue imo. I don’t think most of the goals we concede from set-pieces are a straight-forward case of being beaten in the air by taller players. Half the time we end up without someone even in the same postcode as the scorer (e.g. West Brom’s 1st goal at the Hawthorns) or we get dragged all over the shop, react too slowly & barely get off the ground before the ball hits the net (e.g. Stoke’s opener at the Shittania).

Unless Wenger gets a visit from the 3 Christmas ghosts, swallows his pride & overhauls our approach to defensive coaching/preparation we’d probably still be fucked with a back 4 of Andre The Giants. If I’m honest I’m not sure if Samba is the signing we need or not, but unless we were talking about a top-class experienced CB who could effectively coach on the pitch, I honestly think I’d prefer a quality defensive coach and no new defensive signings than buying Johnny Centreback and sticking with Wenger’s conceding-is-the-best-form-of-defence free-for-all. :shock: :(

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Post by Its Up 4 Grabs Now »

Gunnersaurus wrote:Can't even put it down to set pieces, last year against Spurs in the 3-3 the whole game they just hit diagonal balls to Crouch, our comfy technical defenders got raped all game, we have no one in the squad that can deal with situations like that.
Tbf, you’re always gonna struggle to beat Crouch to that diagonal ball cos he’s a 6ft7 half-giraffe freak of nature. But even then it’s not a straight-forward buy-a-big-CB answer. It’s a diagonal ball cos he pulls out wide, dragging the CB out with him, creating a gap for the other striker or midfield runner to move into for the knock-down. Even if you had say a 6ft5 Samba, Crouch would most likely position himself on the other CB - so either Samba gets dragged around man-marking Crouch (creating chaos between your CBs & a Jodie Marsh-sized hole in your defence) or you end up facing the same problem anyway. It’s more about winning the 2nd ball cos it’s the player who picks up the knock-down that does the damage, and that’s more about reading the game & preparation etc than height.

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safcftm
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Post by safcftm »

See you've been linked with that Phil Jones lad today, not too sure why he's being valued as highly as he is like, but he's a canny prospect. Strange if you have bid for him since Wenger seems so reluctant to spend big on the players you really need

AFC1886
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Post by AFC1886 »

safcftm wrote:See you've been linked with that Phil Jones lad today, not too sure why he's being valued as highly as he is like, but he's a canny prospect. Strange if you have bid for him since Wenger seems so reluctant to spend big on the players you really need
He's going to united!!

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safcftm
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Post by safcftm »

AFC1886 wrote:
safcftm wrote:See you've been linked with that Phil Jones lad today, not too sure why he's being valued as highly as he is like, but he's a canny prospect. Strange if you have bid for him since Wenger seems so reluctant to spend big on the players you really need
He's going to united!!
:? you sure? This (admittedly from a shite source) thinks the blackburn owners dont want him to go there, and have other bids from liverpool and arsenal to consider
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... swoop.html

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