http://www.onlinegooner.com/editorial/index.php?id=117
usual thread starter… Can we read too much into a pre-season match? What worries me is that two high balls pumped into the area resulted in two goals against. Winning second balls is so often a problem for Arsenal these days. A defensive coach wouldn’t go amiss along with a new defender. The beautiful game will only take Arsenal so far. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.
William Gallas’ mind is elsewhere (9/8)
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doublegooner
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Gallas is the worst captain this club has had in nearly 20 years. The club is currently leaderless. He defends like he's in a trance & never seen Toure before.
Last night just exposes how weak a squad we are becoming each season. We'll be fighting a losing battle with this midfield.
Wenger now seems to be towing the party line. The lack of 'now' investment is ridiculous. Still at least selling Hoyte will add to the Bentley money subsidising another part of The Arsenal Property Company.
Fiszman & Co have really been caught out with this whole over fancy stadium project. The team should have come before their ego to have the most expensive/lavish club stadium in the world.
Last night just exposes how weak a squad we are becoming each season. We'll be fighting a losing battle with this midfield.
Wenger now seems to be towing the party line. The lack of 'now' investment is ridiculous. Still at least selling Hoyte will add to the Bentley money subsidising another part of The Arsenal Property Company.
Fiszman & Co have really been caught out with this whole over fancy stadium project. The team should have come before their ego to have the most expensive/lavish club stadium in the world.
gallas and toure seems more of a problem, toure when he was with sol had a strong partner next to him and while gallas is a better footballer they are too similar in style and teams have found us out, we need a leader in there but because the club seem more interested in keeping the banks happy rather then investing in the first team then we are stuck with these two for the coming season, unless we see major improvment in senderos amd djourou then thats that im afraid
[quote="doublegooner"]Gallas is the worst captain this club has had in nearly 20 years. The club is currently leaderless. He defends like he's in a trance & never seen Toure before.
You are 100% wrong! Henry was the worst captain Arsenal has had in the last 20 years! Apart from Cesc, Gallas is the only winner in the squad and whereas I do agree that our defence is shit (it has been for years anyway) Toure is the worst of the two defenders! I would happily drop Toure for a taller experienced CB along side Gallas. As far as captain material goes, I would go as far to say that up until the Birmingham game, Gallas was making a better job of being a captain than even Viera did !!
You are 100% wrong! Henry was the worst captain Arsenal has had in the last 20 years! Apart from Cesc, Gallas is the only winner in the squad and whereas I do agree that our defence is shit (it has been for years anyway) Toure is the worst of the two defenders! I would happily drop Toure for a taller experienced CB along side Gallas. As far as captain material goes, I would go as far to say that up until the Birmingham game, Gallas was making a better job of being a captain than even Viera did !!
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Seven Kings Gooner 1
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I make Ed bang on about the "second ball" that is Sunday morning basics but also the distance between the centre backs is a concern, Gallas drifts to the left and Kolo to the right leaving us so vulnerable to that big ball into the box. The thing with Gallas and Kolo is that they have to tackle to break up attacks, if you watch any big mobile centre back they keep their body between the ball and the goal and then with their strength force players wide. The best centre back I have ever seen was Paul McGrath I saw him at Villa Park against Blackburn and Shearer broke away 40 yards out directly in front of the Villa goal and by the time Shearer covered those 40 yards he was nearer the corner flag, McGrath lent into him and steered him away from the danger area without making a tackle. Campbell can do this as could Adams and Bould but our current two just do not have the physical strength to handle powerful forwards like Torres or Drogba.
It means they have to win the majority of their tackles, you can get away with our two providing you have a quality "anchorman" to pick up that "second ball" however I suspect Arsene is going to use Denilson with Cesc, judging by the increased amount of tackles the Brazilian has been putting in in the latest games and the too high a price being asked for Barry & Alonso.
If that is the combination then we must buy a "brick sh*thouse" centre back because left as last nights line up we will be in trouble away from home. I, like most Gooners expected a genuine quality midfielder was going to be signed but if not I would prefer "Swiss Tony" to line up with William or Kolo and then perhaps move Gallas into the anchor role, f*ck it I am getting desperate!
It means they have to win the majority of their tackles, you can get away with our two providing you have a quality "anchorman" to pick up that "second ball" however I suspect Arsene is going to use Denilson with Cesc, judging by the increased amount of tackles the Brazilian has been putting in in the latest games and the too high a price being asked for Barry & Alonso.
If that is the combination then we must buy a "brick sh*thouse" centre back because left as last nights line up we will be in trouble away from home. I, like most Gooners expected a genuine quality midfielder was going to be signed but if not I would prefer "Swiss Tony" to line up with William or Kolo and then perhaps move Gallas into the anchor role, f*ck it I am getting desperate!
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Flaminal Planet
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Gallas a better captain than Henry??? What are you talking about mate. Henry loved Arsenal and without question had the respect of every player and fan in the stadium. Can that be said about Gallas? The two players cant even be said in the same sentence for their contribution to Arsenal.
He hasnt looked right to me in an Arsenal shirts since we got him after sulking his was out of Chelsea. I agree with the author that he defends in a trance and loses players in the box. Plus he is prone to embarrasing sulking on the pitch and gives ridicolous TV interviews. Its almost a reason not to re-new my season ticket that Gallas is captain again (that and Ebou looks set to retain his place on the right wing). Its plain embarrasing that a man with no proven leaderhip or love for the club is our captain. Gallas is his own man and plays for his own ego and reputation not Arsenal's. Its only because Wenger has made him the man at Arsenal and there is no competition at the back for him that he stays. That and i dont see any other club interested in him - wonder why that is!?
As a fan watching from the stand id endear more to Toure as captain from the current squad than i do Gallas screaming and blaming players around him.
Stixx id like to know exactly why you think Gallas is a better captain than Henry??
He hasnt looked right to me in an Arsenal shirts since we got him after sulking his was out of Chelsea. I agree with the author that he defends in a trance and loses players in the box. Plus he is prone to embarrasing sulking on the pitch and gives ridicolous TV interviews. Its almost a reason not to re-new my season ticket that Gallas is captain again (that and Ebou looks set to retain his place on the right wing). Its plain embarrasing that a man with no proven leaderhip or love for the club is our captain. Gallas is his own man and plays for his own ego and reputation not Arsenal's. Its only because Wenger has made him the man at Arsenal and there is no competition at the back for him that he stays. That and i dont see any other club interested in him - wonder why that is!?
As a fan watching from the stand id endear more to Toure as captain from the current squad than i do Gallas screaming and blaming players around him.
Stixx id like to know exactly why you think Gallas is a better captain than Henry??
Lets be realistic. Arsene does not have money to spend, well not much anyway. If he did do you really think he wouldn't have strengthened the side and improved the squad? He isn't daft, he can see all too well where we are weak and he is hoping/praying we are lucky with injuries and gambling that some of the youngsters come good ahead of time.
Arsene fully signed up the Emirates project so is loyal to the clubs corporate line of "there is money but we won't waste it". The Boards favourite line is "We have never said no to answer over buying a player". Very clever guys, but that is because you have made it to clear to him not to bother asking!!
Either the money isn't there or our manager is stupid. We all know too well that Arsene is far from that.
Arsene fully signed up the Emirates project so is loyal to the clubs corporate line of "there is money but we won't waste it". The Boards favourite line is "We have never said no to answer over buying a player". Very clever guys, but that is because you have made it to clear to him not to bother asking!!
Either the money isn't there or our manager is stupid. We all know too well that Arsene is far from that.
so why treat the support as mugsTrevheff wrote:
Either the money isn't there or our manager is stupid. We all know too well that Arsene is far from that.
we know wenger is not a stupid man but would it kill the board to stop the lies and bullshit about our so called war chest, and for once tell the truth, all there doing is fattening up there share price so when they do sell it will be for maximum profit
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gooner.ed
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if wenger genuinely does not have money to spend then something has gone seriously awry. very very seriously. the club release accounts figures every six months and the last set indicated that of the £70m cash balance, £25 was - theoretically - available for investment in new players and their first year wages. that was in november 2007. add the diarra money to that and in theory £30 million.
and this before the extra profits generated in the first few months of 2008. another set of figures (revealing the situation at the end of may 2008) are due at the end of september. the club cannot lie there. the question many are asking is whether or not edelman's sacking was linked to use of some of the nov 2007 £30m for the highbury square project.
the other thing that gets my goat is the figure of £50 million declared as 'other costs' but not broken down. what the hell is this money for - 25% of the club's turnover?
however, part of me thinks the money is there and wenger is trying to prove a point by doing it the hard way. i believe he can afford two more players. good ones at that. if he chooses not to buy them and fails in the coming season, he will face the wrath of the supporters. and on this occasion it will be justified.
if he was being messed around with by the board i believe he would have walked by now. there's only so much anyone can tolerate. the next few weeks will make the picture a hell of a lot clearer.
and this before the extra profits generated in the first few months of 2008. another set of figures (revealing the situation at the end of may 2008) are due at the end of september. the club cannot lie there. the question many are asking is whether or not edelman's sacking was linked to use of some of the nov 2007 £30m for the highbury square project.
the other thing that gets my goat is the figure of £50 million declared as 'other costs' but not broken down. what the hell is this money for - 25% of the club's turnover?
however, part of me thinks the money is there and wenger is trying to prove a point by doing it the hard way. i believe he can afford two more players. good ones at that. if he chooses not to buy them and fails in the coming season, he will face the wrath of the supporters. and on this occasion it will be justified.
if he was being messed around with by the board i believe he would have walked by now. there's only so much anyone can tolerate. the next few weeks will make the picture a hell of a lot clearer.
Stixx id like to know exactly why you think Gallas is a better captain than Henry??[/quote]
Appreciated everyone has the right to their opinion...but loving the club etc has got NOTHING to do with making a good captain AND leadership. I loved Henry as a player as much as the next fan (the best player that Arsenal has ever had...BUT) AW giving him the captaincy was just to bribe him into staying. The year odd that Henry was captain, was his worst in an Arsenal shirt (and it would have still have been the same irrespective of injuries etc). All Henry did as captain was ponce about, sulk and berate everyone else who didn't give him a perfect pass & 'luving up to Adebeyor'!
Ultimately it was no surprise to me that the team would do better without him (and most of the youngsters felt they were playing in his shadow so they felt intimidated!), this DOES NOT make for a good leader. When Henry was 'just' an out and out striker/ creator of assists as he was before the captaincy, that benefited the team, but as soon as he had the captaincy it brought the team down.
Now as for Gallas, I did not originally think that he was a good choice for captain when Gilberto had it for part of the prev season, BUT up until the Birmingham game he proved me and many others (even Wenger) wrong!
When we were under the cosh and coming from behind against United at home, HE drove the team forward, even scoring the most important goal. He did this many times up till and even including the Birmingham game. Even though his actions at the Birmingham game were incorrect (sitting in the centre circle on his own and kicking the hoardings etc), I certainly don't blame him for berating Clichy for giving away the penalty (its irrelevant whether the penalty decision was wrong or not) if he had stayed switched on, it would never have happened!
Irrespective of what you think of Gallas, he IS a winner both with Chelski & France and there are no others of that calibre in the team (excluding Cesc), if there was we would have won things by now (don't even think about Toure, because I think he is the one that should make way for a better quality CB, he has been rubbish since coming back from the ACN).
You know the thing that I cheered for most during this off season (no, it wasnt any of our relatively poor signings!) it was AW, giving Gallas back the captaincy, because generally AW gives out the captaincy as a means of a bribe to either keep a player (ie Viera & Henry) rather than who would actually do the best job for the team and my fear was that he would have given the captaincy to Cesc and totally fucked up his game like he did with Henry
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Now I know you may not completely agree with me but, these days I could care less whether a player loves the club or not (I'm being a realist here) If they perform and do what they are asked to do then thats enough for me, at least we will stand a chance of winning something, I mean I'm sure that players like Justin Hoyte loves Arsenal, especially as he was brought up here BUT who gives a shit, hes a crap player and should have been shown the door years ago, if Borough or Villa are stupid enough to buy him then let him go !
Appreciated everyone has the right to their opinion...but loving the club etc has got NOTHING to do with making a good captain AND leadership. I loved Henry as a player as much as the next fan (the best player that Arsenal has ever had...BUT) AW giving him the captaincy was just to bribe him into staying. The year odd that Henry was captain, was his worst in an Arsenal shirt (and it would have still have been the same irrespective of injuries etc). All Henry did as captain was ponce about, sulk and berate everyone else who didn't give him a perfect pass & 'luving up to Adebeyor'!
Ultimately it was no surprise to me that the team would do better without him (and most of the youngsters felt they were playing in his shadow so they felt intimidated!), this DOES NOT make for a good leader. When Henry was 'just' an out and out striker/ creator of assists as he was before the captaincy, that benefited the team, but as soon as he had the captaincy it brought the team down.
Now as for Gallas, I did not originally think that he was a good choice for captain when Gilberto had it for part of the prev season, BUT up until the Birmingham game he proved me and many others (even Wenger) wrong!
When we were under the cosh and coming from behind against United at home, HE drove the team forward, even scoring the most important goal. He did this many times up till and even including the Birmingham game. Even though his actions at the Birmingham game were incorrect (sitting in the centre circle on his own and kicking the hoardings etc), I certainly don't blame him for berating Clichy for giving away the penalty (its irrelevant whether the penalty decision was wrong or not) if he had stayed switched on, it would never have happened!
Irrespective of what you think of Gallas, he IS a winner both with Chelski & France and there are no others of that calibre in the team (excluding Cesc), if there was we would have won things by now (don't even think about Toure, because I think he is the one that should make way for a better quality CB, he has been rubbish since coming back from the ACN).
You know the thing that I cheered for most during this off season (no, it wasnt any of our relatively poor signings!) it was AW, giving Gallas back the captaincy, because generally AW gives out the captaincy as a means of a bribe to either keep a player (ie Viera & Henry) rather than who would actually do the best job for the team and my fear was that he would have given the captaincy to Cesc and totally fucked up his game like he did with Henry
.Now I know you may not completely agree with me but, these days I could care less whether a player loves the club or not (I'm being a realist here) If they perform and do what they are asked to do then thats enough for me, at least we will stand a chance of winning something, I mean I'm sure that players like Justin Hoyte loves Arsenal, especially as he was brought up here BUT who gives a shit, hes a crap player and should have been shown the door years ago, if Borough or Villa are stupid enough to buy him then let him go !
The Board are desperate to ward off a foreign takeover. Their cause isn't helped if they admit money is tight and that's there's little available for team strengthening. Especially when Mr Usmanov promises lavish spending on players if he took control. But this does not justify the actions of the Board. With their deceipt they are treating us like mugs.
I don't think Arsene is being messed around by the Board, I believe he knew full well what the financial position would be at the time he supported the ground move. He has accepted the challenge of developing a team rather than buying one as a consequence of moving the club forward in the long term. He also understands the need for 'apparent' unity within the club so supports the corporate message that we have money. Arsene has effectively sacrificed own personal success in favour of leading Arsenal through one of the most critical periods in our history.
That said something was not quite right with the way Edleman left, something funny went on I'm sure. Maybe the rumours are true and the player budget propped up the property accounts.
I fully agree with GoonerEd. If things don't go well this season, and by that I mean we don't finish with some silverware, the wrath of the fans will come knocking on the Boardroom door with some force. And it will be fully deserved.
I don't think Arsene is being messed around by the Board, I believe he knew full well what the financial position would be at the time he supported the ground move. He has accepted the challenge of developing a team rather than buying one as a consequence of moving the club forward in the long term. He also understands the need for 'apparent' unity within the club so supports the corporate message that we have money. Arsene has effectively sacrificed own personal success in favour of leading Arsenal through one of the most critical periods in our history.
That said something was not quite right with the way Edleman left, something funny went on I'm sure. Maybe the rumours are true and the player budget propped up the property accounts.
I fully agree with GoonerEd. If things don't go well this season, and by that I mean we don't finish with some silverware, the wrath of the fans will come knocking on the Boardroom door with some force. And it will be fully deserved.
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doublegooner
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- Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:09 pm
Gooner Ed;
I emailed you last around end of april 07, telling you I had info from somebody connected to the coaching staff. Their concern that we had no money was repeated again this april.
He told us that there was a shortfall in funds needed for the old stadium.
Since then we have fallen into the credit crunch & no one knows for sure the current success/sell/completion rates for the appartments. If you call the sales office as we have done they will welcome you to come & see them.
The board are having to show face. Wenger towes the party line but either way a few of us here are all aware the shit will hit the fan if we wobble.
Each year since 2004 the squad has been culled, it cannot continue at this rate. It's also unfair on the expectations of the youngsters.
I emailed you last around end of april 07, telling you I had info from somebody connected to the coaching staff. Their concern that we had no money was repeated again this april.
He told us that there was a shortfall in funds needed for the old stadium.
Since then we have fallen into the credit crunch & no one knows for sure the current success/sell/completion rates for the appartments. If you call the sales office as we have done they will welcome you to come & see them.
The board are having to show face. Wenger towes the party line but either way a few of us here are all aware the shit will hit the fan if we wobble.
Each year since 2004 the squad has been culled, it cannot continue at this rate. It's also unfair on the expectations of the youngsters.
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QuartzGooner
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- Location: London
Henry was not cut out to be captain.
He was ok as a "Club Captain" off the pitch, as a corporate face, but on the pitch he to often glared at team mates when things went wrong, instead of encouraging them.
Galls we should see how he does this season, but he seems to be a bit remote from the squad...but then again, many of them are very young and probably will not respond well to any captain!
Gallas - Toure does not work well.
I think Djourou could well come in and replace Toure.
I also think Djourou is our best option next to Cesc if Denilson is out, and maybe even in front of Denilson?
The more I look at the team, if we do not buy any more players before September 1st, the more I would like to play 4-5-1 in order to secure the defence.
Song, Toure, Djourou and maybe Gallas coudl all sit in front of the defence, allowing Cesc and Denilson more freedom to get forward and pass.
He was ok as a "Club Captain" off the pitch, as a corporate face, but on the pitch he to often glared at team mates when things went wrong, instead of encouraging them.
Galls we should see how he does this season, but he seems to be a bit remote from the squad...but then again, many of them are very young and probably will not respond well to any captain!
Gallas - Toure does not work well.
I think Djourou could well come in and replace Toure.
I also think Djourou is our best option next to Cesc if Denilson is out, and maybe even in front of Denilson?
The more I look at the team, if we do not buy any more players before September 1st, the more I would like to play 4-5-1 in order to secure the defence.
Song, Toure, Djourou and maybe Gallas coudl all sit in front of the defence, allowing Cesc and Denilson more freedom to get forward and pass.
