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.
MK Gould wrote:Just to bring us back down to earth for a few mins.....today's issue of The Fiver courtesy of the Guardian:
It was a great weekend for the Arsenal, who scored two goals at Manchester United in the league for the first time since 1985 and were a Robin van Persie penalty away from the heady heights of notching three, a feat not achieved since 1971. A season-defining performance, and one that allowed Arsene Wenger to slip into a post-match state of serenity: according to reports, he sat in the Old Trafford dressing room after the game in total silence, lost in the moment, staring blankly at the walls, no doubt letting wave after blissful wave of satisfaction crash over him, his wholesale commitment to progressive attacking football having once again been completely vindicated.
This pioneer refuses to stand still, though. Like all the great managers, Wenger can spot minor flaws which the untrained eye of the average punter misses, and to this end is about to improve on perfection with the £10m capture of Per Mertesacker. The 6ft 6in German international is a class act: the captain of Werder Bremen, he was the senior figure in a defence that was one of only four to concede 60 or more goals in last season's Bundesliga. But that's not really the point.
Most important, of course, is Mertesacker's attacking potency: dangerous at set pieces, he's scored 19 Bundesliga goals since his top-flight debut for Hanover in 2003. At nearly 2.4 goals per season, that's a rate not far off established top-class strikers such as Marouanne Chamakh or Nicklas Bendtner. A couple of training sessions with Wenger and this guy will be the new Gerd Muller for sure (although even better, one would assume, as Muller shoddily insisted on taking shots at goal without pausing to consider aesthetics, or whether an attempt could be made to slowly walk the ball into the net instead).
Mertesacker is due to have a medical late this afternoon, though getting an appointment with Arsenal's quack might prove tricky, as most of the squad are camped out in his waiting room hoping to get some of those special boxes of Nurofen Plus that really take the edge off the old central nervous system. The feelgood factor at the Emirates doesn't stop there, either. Striker Park Chu-young of newly-relegated Monaco has already joined today, as will Brazilian full-back Andre Santos, who is all about bombing down the wing and scoring goals and leaving acres of grass behind him, and will be fresh and raring to go having come from Fenerbahce, where he won't have played a competitive game in quite a while. It's a great time to be a Gunner, and it's going to get even better!
arsenalmorris wrote:Per Mertesacker is the 1st transfer in a while i have genuinely been excited about, someone really needed,
i was excited about mata and look where that got us,
now i think that left back and a realistic bid for Benayoun and some injury / suspensions back and we may have a realistic chance of getting 4th spot,
not to overconfident though
What a shit state of affairs when we are all excited about signings that will get us 4th
yes i no but i am sure after this start to the season and where we aere now every1 would snap the hands of if could take 4th, were certaintly aint getting on higher
Flash imo we've upgraded our back 4 from last season, in fact the whole defence has been upgraded in general and the fact that Almunia is no longer part of the squad means the goalkeeping situation has improved too.
However, we've downgraded in midfield sadly. Had we kept Cesc and Nasri, we'd be looking at a potentially title winning squad.
but very, very true 
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