SUMMER TRANSFERS - Your thoughts on who did and did not sign

[the playing mantis]

Sorry cannot agree with one word of that. Ramsey is about the same level as most of them and worse than a few, but he's certainly not better than all or most of them. He would not make Manure's first team. Cleverley is not a game winner or even a game changer by any means but he makes far fewer avoidable mistakes and loses less posession than Ramsey. Ramsey is an average PL player but probably would be a very good championship player, so I'd agree with Swifty that he is championship level.

Ramsey has flashes of talent but absolutely no consistency. How long can we accept the "recovering from a terrible injury" excuse? If he isn't fully recovered by now he never will be. It's harsh, sure, but it's true. But more worryingly is the fact he makes the wrong decision so often when in posession, and loses the ball mostly through his own bad decisions. He doesn't have the level of footballing intelligence needed to play midfield. He always tries the difficult thing, the hollywood pass, the flick and the backheel, when the best midfielders tend to keep it simple. Ramsey seems desperate to impress but he hasn't the brain to realise that he is just making things worse for himself and the team. Look at how many times his own team mates were seen giving out to him on the pitch last season after every unforced cock-up and every wrong pass. That says everything. Pro players very seldom mouth off at team mates like that publicly, and it's indicative of how they view Ramsey and the fact they are sick of his errors.

We all wanted him to succeed after he chose us ahead of the filth and because he is a genuine honest nice guy, but we have to accept he is a very average player at best. Would things have been different without the injury? Maybe, but a footballing brain is not something you can learn really, it's something the best players are born with. Yes, you can make players better but only to a certain point. You'll never make Ramsey into Xavi. A shame but there you have it.

spot on db10, red gunners post is very much a case of we all have the prettiest wife at home and favouring our own. he is avergae, should be in the lower reached of the PL as a workaday seb larrson type or at a top end championship club

[the playing mantis]

Should I read anything into this or should I know better?!

Liverpool make £21.8m bid for Atlético Madrid striker Diego Costa
http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... ico-madrid

Suarez is definitely off. They wouldn't be spending that much money on a new striker if he wasn't, think about it. They've also signed Aspas, another striker, already this summer, to join Sturridge who signed in January.

They also have Alberto and Borini who are strikers.

If we offer £50m for Suarez he's ours. £45m + £5m add-ons would get him too imo.

maybe they are doing what we used to do ad what most ambitious clubs do, and having 4 good strikers for once, instead of years of relying on one main man /torres/suarez, backed up by the likes of ngog. borini seems to play out wide more than striker, and he doesnt actually score, not sure who alberto is. but its not beyond the realms of possibility to think liverpool are finally fixing some issues to advance them up the league and building a strong strikeforce who can cope when suarez is suspended, so suarez, sturridge, aspas, costa as there 4 strikers, with 2 of which unkwown/unproven.

even if you are right, i cannot see suarez coming here.

[foxinthebox2001]

Regarding Ramsey.
Isn't the point we want to be better than just top 4 or 5?, so we need more players who will get into any top 5 team.

[the playing mantis]

And so our glorious fool of a manager thinks and says thus:

"Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the Gunners will be stronger this season - even if he fails to land Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, 26, or improve his squad."

(Source BBC Sports Page)

Yes, BUT stronger than what?

Gnats piss (ie: the poor excuse for alcohol they sell at the e*****es)?

A wet fart in a thunder storm?

F.F.S !

im sure he holds us in such contempt, that he does it just to wind us up. we have dared boo him, and he gets his own back with BS like this that makes not 1 iota of sense. he always has though. id love it if one of the assembled media, when he states this, ask "how Arsene?" and gets him to try and justify his ridiculous statement, id love to see him taken to task on this.

if hes not saying it just to wind us up, he truly is missing his marbles.

[Red Gunner]

I think Ramsey is Championship level...

Seriously? Ramsey can walk into any side that is outside the top five.

6. Everton have Leon Osman (36 starts) and Darron Gibson (22 starts). Ramsey is better than both.
7. Liverpool have Joe Allen (21 starts) and Jordan Henderson (16 starts). Ramsey is as good as both, if not better.
8. West Brom have James Morrison (33 starts). He is not better than Ramsey.
9. Swansea have Leon Britton (30 starts) and have signed Jonjo Shelvey. Ramsey is better than both.
10. West Ham have Kevin Nolan (35 starts) and Mark Noble (25 starts). Ramsey could their job in Big Sam's side.
11. Norwich... No comment needed.
12. Fulham have Steve Sidwell (24 starts) and Karagounis (20 starts). Ramsey easily better than both.
13. Stoke City... Glenn Whelan (31 starts) and Charlie Adam (22 starts)
14. Southampton... No comment needed.
15. Aston Villa... No comment needed.
16. Newcastle have Yohan Cabaye (25 starts) and Moussa Sissoko (12 starts). It'd be a bit hard for Ramsey to start in this midfield but I think he could get into the side.
17. Sunderland... Bendtner

Ramsey would be the star player in Cardiff, Hull and Crystal Palace. You can even argue he's good enough for Man Utd's first team, they had Cleverley (18 starts) in their midfield last season.

Sorry cannot agree with one word of that. Ramsey is about the same level as most of them and worse than a few, but he's certainly not better than all or most of them. He would not make Manure's first team. Cleverley is not a game winner or even a game changer by any means but he makes far fewer avoidable mistakes and loses less posession than Ramsey. Ramsey is an average PL player but probably would be a very good championship player, so I'd agree with Swifty that he is championship level.

Ramsey has flashes of talent but absolutely no consistency. How long can we accept the "recovering from a terrible injury" excuse? If he isn't fully recovered by now he never will be. It's harsh, sure, but it's true. But more worryingly is the fact he makes the wrong decision so often when in posession, and loses the ball mostly through his own bad decisions. He doesn't have the level of footballing intelligence needed to play midfield. He always tries the difficult thing, the hollywood pass, the flick and the backheel, when the best midfielders tend to keep it simple. Ramsey seems desperate to impress but he hasn't the brain to realise that he is just making things worse for himself and the team. Look at how many times his own team mates were seen giving out to him on the pitch last season after every unforced cock-up and every wrong pass. That says everything. Pro players very seldom mouth off at team mates like that publicly, and it's indicative of how they view Ramsey and the fact they are sick of his errors.

We all wanted him to succeed after he chose us ahead of the filth and because he is a genuine honest nice guy, but we have to accept he is a very average player at best. Would things have been different without the injury? Maybe, but a footballing brain is not something you can learn really, it's something the best players are born with. Yes, you can make players better but only to a certain point. You'll never make Ramsey into Xavi. A shame but there you have it.

Good post but I stand by my words. I've previously said that we need to get a DM so I don't believe that Ramsey should be a regular. But I do think Ramsey is already a decent midfielder, he is only 22 too so I hope he proves me right. There have been many players who were criticised when younger but then proved themselves. I and many others criticised Barca's Biscuits when he was younger, I didn't get what the point of him was but now he is one of the best holding midfielders in the world. Not saying Ramsey will become a world-class player but he has the potential to become a very good one.

what have you been smoking?

Ley's Whitebeam... Only found in Wales

Regarding Ramsey.
Isn't the point we want to be better than just top 4 or 5?, so we need more players who will get into any top 5 team.

Correct. But I think Ramsey should be a squad player. We can't have 20 great players.

[kiwomya]

And so our glorious fool of a manager thinks and says thus:

"Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the Gunners will be stronger this season - even if he fails to land Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, 26, or improve his squad."

(Source BBC Sports Page)

Yes, BUT stronger than what?

Gnats piss (ie: the poor excuse for alcohol they sell at the e*****es)?

A wet fart in a thunder storm?

F.F.S !

That's not a quote from Wenger though is it? That's just the thoughts of someone trying to fill a void in what's been a poor few weeks for football news. Unless he's started referring to himself as "Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger".....

[g88ner]

And so our glorious fool of a manager thinks and says thus:

"Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the Gunners will be stronger this season - even if he fails to land Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, 26, or improve his squad."

(Source BBC Sports Page)

Yes, BUT stronger than what?

Gnats piss (ie: the poor excuse for alcohol they sell at the e*****es)?

A wet fart in a thunder storm?

F.F.S !

That's not a quote from Wenger though is it? That's just the thoughts of someone trying to fill a void in what's been a poor few weeks for football news. Unless he's started referring to himself as "Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger".....

In which case, he really has lost the plot

Wenger's right though - we WILL be stronger even without signings, as I expect Cazorla, Wilshere, Chamberlain, Rosicky, Giroud, Podolski, etc. to improve on what they did last season... but that doesn't mean we don't need signings, because we clearly do!

[DB10GOONER]

And so our glorious fool of a manager thinks and says thus:

"Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says the Gunners will be stronger this season - even if he fails to land Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, 26, or improve his squad."

(Source BBC Sports Page)

Yes, BUT stronger than what?

Gnats piss (ie: the poor excuse for alcohol they sell at the e*****es)?

A wet fart in a thunder storm?

F.F.S !

That's not a quote from Wenger though is it? That's just the thoughts of someone trying to fill a void in what's been a poor few weeks for football news. Unless he's started referring to himself as "Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger".....

In which case, he really has lost the plot

Wenger's right though - we WILL be stronger even without signings, as I expect Cazorla, Wilshere, Chamberlain, Rosicky, Giroud, Podolski, etc. to improve on what they did last season... but that doesn't mean we don't need signings, because we clearly do!

Agreed. We will be stronger. But stronger than piss-weak is not by definition strong, it's just a bit stronger than piss-weak!

[highburyJD]

who do people think is our best player in each position?
Do you think the player picked there will perform better or worse?
Szcz - same
Bac - worst season. I expect a return to excellent normality.
Gibb/Monreal - same
Mertesacker - same
Kos/Vermaelen - I expect both to have better seasons. Think Kos can be leagues best.
Tets - same
Wilshere - arguably our best player. He hardly played expect him to be 100% better.
Santi - 2nd season, expect improvement
Podolski - 2nd season, expect improvement
Giroud - 2nd season, expect improvement
Walcott - had his most productive season. Hope he continues to improve

Don't think when really looked at it's unreasonable to expect improvement.
Would still like to see us sign a goalie, defender, midfielder and, most importantly, a striker.

[Arsenal Till I Die]

The man has no choice but to buy.

The fans EXPECT.
The Board EXPECT - If reports ARE true the Board are demanding he spends and forced him to bid £40m for Suarez.
The players EXPECT.

The man's job is actually more on the line then it ever had been. He HAS to spend big.

[northbank123]

Expecting improvement from 7 of our starting line-up is the kind of misplaced optimism that leads Wenger to declare every season without fail that we are stronger than the last (before usually admitting the next season that actually the prior season we were severely weakened by the departure of so-and-so or whatever).

I wouldn't disagree that we have the right to expect major improvements from a considerable number of players but it's just not realistic to expect 2/3 of your side to massively step up.

[highburyJD]

only another longterm injury prevents a massive Wilshere improvement.
I think he's our best player. That alone will make a huge difference.

[TeeCee]

That's not a quote from Wenger though is it? That's just the thoughts of someone trying to fill a void in what's been a poor few weeks for football news. Unless he's started referring to himself as "Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger".....

Well apart from the fact that Wanger sat in front of TV cameras and said exactly that!!
The man is blind and stupid and shows an arrogance that frankly I have never ever seen anything like it. I hope Stan is watching when our season goes down the shitter by October and his profits start to drop.
I would guarantee that we sell Cazorla or Wilshere next season, it's the only way we will be able to raise any money.

[highburyJD]

hope Stan is watching when our season goes down the shitter by October and his profits start to drop.
I would guarantee that we sell Cazorla or Wilshere next season, it's the only way we will be able to raise any money

how could our season be down the shitter by October?
Say we lose the August CL playoff, that's disastrous.
Whatever else happens we could still qualify for CL and win FA Cup...

[brucegrove]

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/footba ... d-revealed

The man has no choice but to buy.

The fans EXPECT.
The Board EXPECT - If reports ARE true the Board are demanding he spends and forced him to bid £40m for Suarez.
The players EXPECT.

The man's job is actually more on the line then it ever had been. He HAS to spend big.