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.
[quote="All_Arsenal_1886"]At the end of last season the premier league teams were told how they would be getting £50m cach injection each, so this is why we have seen mega spending in pre-season
So far teams have spent an estimated
Aston Villa £9m
Birmingham £7m
Chelsea £14m
Derby £7m
Everton £5m
Fulham £11m
Liverpool £30m
Man utd £50m
Newcastle £10m
Suderland £8m
Sp*rs £30m
West Ham £22m
Wigan £9m
The reason im bringing this up is we have spent less than £15m we have sold Henry for £17m where is our £50m ?????
The figures don't add up i know we have bills to pay but so do Fulham and they have spent over £10m and haven't finished yet
I know we look like there are more signings coming but i still believe us fans are being cheated somewhere
maybe the board don't want to spend money because they know they are about to sell up ?????[/quote]
sign me up, i won't go as far as sweeping the floor (allergies) but i can make the tea and or the sandwiches. or if you wanted to give me the responsibility treasurer perhaps?
also does anyone know how much dudu actually cost, i've heard every integer (in millions) between 10 and 16
Don't get me wrong despite my earlier comments about areas of the squad I still think Arsene needs to address, I do think things are a lot rosier that the media will have people believe.
I like the look of Eduardo a lot. Having viewed the YouTube clips he looks like your all round striker and, fingers crossed, could be a steal. I felt we had a weakness at right back which Arsene appears to have sorted with Sagna. This could also give us another option wide by pushing Eboue forward where I think he could be very useful. I also believe that both Walcott and Diaby could be like new signings next season both fresh from injury, both with a full pre season behind them and both having learnt what's required from their time in the side last season. Add Bendtner into the mix, a young player who has already proved his worth at International level, a fully fit and refreshed RVP, a new young hungry keeper and suddenly the squad has a very different feel to last season.
But I do feel we need to address the centre back position if it's not to undermine our season. Obvioulsy Gallas needs to shut up and hopefully Arsene will deal with that. On the basis he remains, I agree that as individuals you'll do well to find two better centre backs in World football than Toure and Gallas. However I'm not convinced they compliment each other very well. I have this theory that Kolo has been a revelation at Arsenal where for the most part he has had a big dominating player alongside him (Campbell) who has dominated in the air meaning for the most part Kolo has used his pace and mobility to sweep up around him. Similarly Gallas flourished at Chelsea alongside the dominating Terry. Now that Kolo and Gallas have been thrown together neither seems to have taken on the mantle of leader. Both look great on the floor and very comfortable when players run at them, but we conceded an alarming number of goals last season when simple balls were just thrown into our box. Neither Toure or Gallas fill me with confidence in the air as a Terry, Vidic or Campbell of old do/did. Granted their partnership was stop start due to injuries and suspension, but I have seen nothing to tell me that they can gel. Does Arsene need to be ruthless and discard one (Gallas) in favour of a less technical but more physical player who will provide us with greater aerial strength?? That aside Toure is off to the ANC as we know, Senderos in my opnion is not good enough at this level and Djourou is promising but can't be relied on week in week out at this stage of his career. We therefore as a minimum require a new signing as cover.
I think we're one or two players away from being very strong next season. The comforting thought, as we all know, is that Arsene Knows!!
I still dont see this centre half needed business!
As stated before our obvious pair is Gallas and Kolo! After that we have an outstanding talent in Djouro and if needs must Swiss Phil!
Even after that Bert is more than capable of playing there! Yes I agree when he played CB last season it took away something from the middle of the park but have we forgotten Diaby! A fit confident raring to go Diaby is Viera mark 2 in my eyes! Almost a bloody clone!
If we want to win the league fire power is our need! Not just strikers but midfielders who will chip in 10 to 15 goals a season ala Bobby/Freddie in title winning campaigns
We have the elegance and the artistry to unlock any defence as we all know and have seen! What we also know is that all that pretty football counts for jack if you just play across the front of the opposistion back four and midfield. Penetration like Fred provided is the key here! Hleb cant do it, Rosicky Im not sure so leaves me thinking Theo. Hes stil a big gamble!
Toure and Gallas are both good defenders but are not a good partnership.they both need to play beside a commanding centre half.It cant not be ignored how many goals we conceded from crosses into the box last season.When we signed Gallas i was delighted because he is world class but he has been a hugh disappointment.And is he up for a fight when things are not going our way.Djourou is miles better than Senderos and if i had my way Swiss Phil would be on his bike.
The art of good defending is stopping the person trying to cross in the 1st place the same as goalkeeping is mot saving the shot its stopping them having the oppurtunity!
You look how many goals came from the opposistion left wing last year! Someone spring to mind! Eboue's positioning is awful. Whe he actually stands up that is!
Kolo and Gallas are fine in the air for modern football! If you over expose then tho you are asking for trouble!
I"m sorry Gus but Gallas and Toure are not a patch on Adams/Bould Adams/Keown and Campbell/Toure.You talk about the art of defending but surely than means both centre halves working as a team.One who attacks the ball the other who sweeps up.At the moment both Gallas and Toure are doing the same job.Dont get me wrong they are both great players but they dont work together.But they are better then Adams and Ceasar i have to admit!!!!!!!!
Adams and Bouldy are legends agrees as is Keown! However the game has moved on significantly since them! The days of centre forwards like Niall Quinn Tony Cascarino Les Ferdinand and other giants have long gone. Hence the art of defending has changed. Pace is now the main attribute of all the top strikers and you have to combat that with pacey centre halves. As mush as we love him Thierry would have made mince meat of Bouldy thro sheer out and out speed.
Yes you still have to be strong and yes you still have to be reasonable in the air but I think Kol and Gallas are fine with that!. Im sure the problem was down to the side being unstettled! Kolo at right back, Gallas at left back, Djouro in and out, Berty playing at the back and add to that the Senderos factor its plain to see why we shipped goals! Communication with the goalkeeper may also have been a factor! Where as Kolo is used to the erratic approach to crosses Jens has maybe Gallas was unsure! It was a learning curve last year which was stop start down to injuries.
I fully agree that we have not seen the best of Gallas and Kolo as a pair yet but its interesting how lots of people are saying it will be fine for Eduardo to take a year to settle in but have not given Gallas the same! Ok hes played in the Premier before but he was adjusting to a system full of inexperienced players!
How about we redo this at the end of next season! Then I think we can make an informed judgement!
Totally disagree that henry would have skinned bouldy - he may have done it once but bouldy would have "sorted him out" before the next chance. Anyone remember david hirst ??
Gus I agree that we need to work on stopping crosses coming into the box in the first place. We certainly allowed too many "free" crosses last season, Eboue being the main culprit. But throughout a whole season despite your best efforts you're naturally going to have to deal with a lot of balls into your box. What alarmed me last season was the ratio of crosses in / goals conceded. We clearly had a weakness. If you look at how many games we drew last year or lost by a single goal, stopping as few as 4 goals by dealing with crosses better could mean an extra 10/12 points even before we address taking more chances at the other end.
I also agree that the game has moved on in recent years and that centre backs are now required to be more mobile. But they still have to be just as adept in the air as before. We lost the Carling Cup final and went out of the Champions League because we couldn't deal with balls into the box. We got taken to extra-time but Sp*rs because we couldn't cope with a cross into our 6 yard area. We got thumped at Anfield because we couldn't handle Crouch. Our season got off to a stuttering start due to a disappointing home draw against an average Villa side on the opening weekend, all because we failed to clear a ball from right underneath our own cross bar. I could go on with examples but I expect you get the point!!
I think we'd all agree that one of the biggest frustrations last season was the amount of times we went 1 nil down at home. Granted it doesn't help when you miss 2 or 3 guilt edged chances to take the lead. But more often than not the goal that put us behind could and should easily have been prevented through basic defending.
Look at our Invincible season. Majestic attacking football from some of the most creative players in our history and backed up by the best defensive record in the League that year. But had we dealt with crosses that season like we did last they'd be no unbeaten record to talk about and I expect no title despite the amount of attacking flare we had.
Gus I hope to be proved wrong on this and maybe a full pre-season of Kolo and Gallas working together will help iron out the floors. Fingers crossed guys!!
I CAN'T REMEMBER THERE EVER BEING A THREAD WITH SO MANY LONG POSTS ON IT!!
DON'T GET ME WRONG, I'M ENJOYING READING IT ALL. BUT WE DO SEEM TO BE GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES NOW.
EXAMINING WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN, I THINK THAT YOU GUYS BASICALLY AGREE ON MOST THINGS. THERE IS JUST A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU ARE HANDLING THE CURRENT UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING THE CLUB.
WE ALL MANAGE THINGS LIKE THIS IN OUR OWN WAY. SOME PEOPLE ARE WORRIERS (LIKE ME!!); OTHERS ARE MUCH MORE RELAXED ABOUT THINGS. THE TRUTH IS, WHATEVER APPROACH WE TAKE - WE CAN'T REALLY AFFECT THINGS AT THE COAL-FACE, SO LET'S NOT TAKE IT OUT ON EACH OTHER.
TO PARAPHRASE (FOR THE BETTER IF YOU ASK ME ) THE SAYING SOMEONE ELSE WROTE ON THIS FORUM:
ONE LIFE; ONE TEAM; ONE ARSENAL!!
Last edited by I Hate Hleb on Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
