Arsenal 2014-2015: Ugh. Your banter stinks.

Nick Kaufman · Jun 12, 2014

soxfan121 said:
Bob says Michael wanted to go to Arsenal but:

So yeah. Kim Kallstrom. Y'all probably don't win the league with a healthy, in-form Michael Bradley instead of an injured, out-of-shape Kim Kallstrom...but you probably finish higher than fourth.

Ok, Arsenal did not have an eye on talent. Did all other european teams lack that eye and he ended up in Toronto FC?

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 12, 2014

Cesc to Chelsea is a done deal. It will suck to see him line up in blue but whatever. I won't hate him like Van Persie. He wanted to come back to the Emirates, we didn't want him, and he didn't have many other options if he wanted to keep playing at a top club.

Hopefully, this increases the pressure on Wenger to make some big moves to really improve the squad.

Conigliaro's Potential · Jun 12, 2014

I absolutely hate this signing as an Arsenal fan...but I have a sneaky feeling Cesc won't enjoy playing for Mourinho, and that Mourinho will be frustrated by the type of player he now has in Cesc. (Here's hoping, anyway.)

mikeford · Jun 12, 2014

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Cesc to Chelsea is a done deal. It will suck to see him line up in blue but whatever. I won't hate him like Van Persie. He wanted to come back to the Emirates, we didn't want him, and he didn't have many other options if he wanted to keep playing at a top club.

Hopefully, this increases the pressure on Wenger to make some big moves to really improve the squad.

He quit on Arsenal and forced his way out of the club in the first place. You should've hated him all along.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 13, 2014

mikeford said:
He quit on Arsenal and forced his way out of the club in the first place. You should've hated him all along.

Meh. I can't hate every player who decides he wants to play elsewhere at some point.

coremiller · Jun 15, 2014

Cesc confirms suspicions that Arsenal had a right of first refusal and chose to pass because Wenger felt he already had Ozil for that spot.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/15/cesc-fabregas-arsene-wenger-arsenal-chelsea?CMP=twt_gu

mikeford · Jun 18, 2014

Whole bunch of shit in the papers today about Santi Cazorla wanting out to go to Atletico Madrid and Arsenal possibly offering 180k/week for BALLERTELLI.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 18, 2014

Silly season.

The other player we're being linked to a lot right now is Alexis Sanchez. I'd love that move.

mikeford · Jun 19, 2014

No clue why barca would ever sell him but if he's on the table fuckin dewwwwwww itttttttt

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 24, 2014

Our agreement with Sociedad regarding Vela is now official. We'll receive £12M for agreeing not to trigger the buy back clause, so its sort of like we sold him to Sociedad for £16M, which is not all that bad given that he clearly no part of coming back.

Many people out there claiming that Wenger met with Alexis Sanchez's agent the other day. What that means, however, is totally unclear. They're not really substitutes and we could get both but overall I'd rather have Sanchez than Balotelli. Lots of teams have shown that if you have enough quality and dynamism on the wings supplied by a strong enough midfield then you can get away with a largely functional center forward. Give me Sanchez and a great defensive midfielder to pair with Ramsey and I'd be happy (OK not happy, but not supremely pissed either) to go to war with Giroud, Campbell, and Sanogo playing striker next year.

mikeford · Jun 24, 2014

Hopefully they loan Yaya out but yeah I'd rather have Sanchez than Baller

Also supposedly Falcao is going to Real so that could mean Benzema is available. Looked pretty good paired with Giroud against the Swiss.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 24, 2014

mikeford said:
Hopefully they loan Yaya out but yeah I'd rather have Sanchez than Baller

Also supposedly Falcao is going to Real so that could mean Benzema is available. Looked pretty good paired with Giroud against the Swiss.

Yeah, Sanogo really needs a sustained run of first team football more than anything. I would think several lower table Premier League clubs would be interested given his potential and physicality. I'd love Benzema but he seems happy in Madrid and Ancellotti has nothing but good things to say about him apparently so I don't know.

mikeford · Jun 25, 2014

Above all CDM is probably the most important hole to fill after replacing Sagna, which hopefully we can do now that CIV is out of the World Cup

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 25, 2014

mikeford said:
Above all CDM is probably the most important hole to fill after replacing Sagna, which hopefully we can do now that CIV is out of the World Cup

This France game is a good opportunity to take a look at Morgan Schneiderlin, who is playing the CDM and doing a lot of the things that Wenger likes from the position - dropping deep between the CBs and collecting the ball in possession, starting attacks and switching the ball around the field, etc.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jun 25, 2014

Loved Schneiderlin today - very disciplined with his positioning, not afraid to tackle, covers a ton of ground, and really comfortable on the ball in possession, bringing the ball forward to start attacks from deep and occasionally hitting diagonals to the wings.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jul 2, 2014

Podolski just tweeted this pic of him, Ozil, Khedira, and Boateng working Sanchez's short shorts look. Lets hope they know something we don't, and if Pod and Ozil are whispering in Khedira's ear as well, even better.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jul 2, 2014

Tons of stuff all over twitter and elsewhere right now about Sanchez preferring the Arsenal move, the sides having agreed personal terms, Wenger/Gazidis haggling with Barca over the price, and Barca seemingly intending to just buy Sanchez outright from Liverpool.

Lots of it is probably just echo chamber and bullshit, but there are some real journalists reporting this as well. We've seen other deals fall apart after similarly massive amounts of buzz (ex: Higuain) but there's clearly at least something substantial here. The most likely scenario seems to be that Wenger is still trying to nickle and dime Barca while Barca wants to at least get as much as they would get from another club like Pool. A variety of amounts have been reported regarding the bid and the ask but its all in the neighborhood of £27-32M.

Bottom line: If Wenger fucks this up (still obviously possible) he'll have really outdone himself this time.

Conigliaro's Potential · Jul 2, 2014

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Bottom line: If Wenger fucks this up (still obviously possible) he'll have really outdone himself this time.

If you're a Wenger supporter and still want to see him manage the club until he no longer wants to - a perfectly defensible position for an Arsenal fan to take - then I think you have to go into every transfer window with your eyes wide open and, until he proves otherwise, accept that screwing transfers up like this is simply part of the Wenger package. He rarely buys anyone early in a window, almost always places his bids incrementally in a penny-wise/pound-foolish way, never moves quickly and decisively with a high bid to deter other clubs from sniffing around the players he wants, and usually ends each window with at least one obvious item on every Arsenal fan's pre-window shopping list un-bought. That's how he rolls.

Luis Taint · Jul 2, 2014

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Podolski just tweeted this pic of him, Ozil, Khedira, and Boateng working Sanchez's short shorts look. Lets hope they know something we don't, and if Pod and Ozil are whispering in Khedira's ear as well, even better.

Holy Shit, Ozil knows how to smile.

soxfan121 · Jul 2, 2014

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Podolski just tweeted this pic of him, Ozil, Khedira, and Boateng working Sanchez's short shorts look. Lets hope they know something we don't, and if Pod and Ozil are whispering in Khedira's ear as well, even better.

3, 1, 4, 2

Luis Taint · Jul 3, 2014

http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20140703/real-madrid/el-arsenal-a-por-khedira_54410682346.html

This link says that Arsenal has made a bid 30ish bid on Khedira. I don't know how good he is.

mikeford · Jul 3, 2014

Metro UK says we've signed Newcastle RB Mathieu Debuchy for £12m and will announce after the World Cup.

a journo from sky sports Italy reports we've bid 32m euro for Alexis Sanchez.

The Gray Eagle · Jul 4, 2014

Debuchy looks like it's going to happen, for 8 million plus bonuses. At least he starts ahead of Sagna for France, for watever that's worth.

Transfer rumors are usually garbage, so you never know, but supposedly Barcelona want cash ASAP for Alexis Sanchez so they can buy Suarez, and Alexis does not want to go to Liverpool. Arsenal supposedly have agreed to a salary with Alexis but not a transfer fee yet. And have the cash to give to Real right away. Alexis would be a fantastic signing.

Another rumor: Arsenal have bid around 24 million for Khedira. If we can't get him, Schniderlin would be the next choice. Either would be great, but in the end we'll probably end up neither.

it's been over a year since Arsenal have sold their captain, and now Vermaeln to United looks likely. He likes to give the ball to Van Persie no matter which team they play for, so I guess it's fitting.

There are reports that Arsenal are interested in 20-year-old Irish defender Brian Lenihan, but he's not ready to start or play much for the first team, so if it's true he might be coming in if Jenkinson goes out on loan. A central defender would be neded if Vermaelen goes, but Lenihan is inexperienced and considered more of a fullback in the long term, so a more experienced central defender would need to be brought in anyway. Also, these are just transfer rumors and 90% of them are made up nonsense.

Oh yeah, Arsenal signed a keeper, but he's a 16-year-old Norwegian who will be with the Under 21s for like 5 seasons. No impact on the first team, so we still need another keeper. Wenger supposedly called up Iker Casillas to see if he'd be interested in coming to Arsenal, but that one is really, really, really unlikely.

mascho · Jul 5, 2014

sachmoney said:
For the record, my problem with Debuchy is that I've never been impressed with anything he's done. He's a fine player, just it seems like a squad type addition or a place holder. I hope that this means that Arsene feels good about Bellerín's development. You're not getting that much younger from Sagna to Debuchy. Aurier seemed like a better option, but is probably more expensive and sort of quashes any right backs that you have in the pipeline (until the inevitable move to Spain, am I right?).

The whole DM thing is interesting. If Khedira makes Özil happier, then that's my top choice. It seems like it would and yes, I'd cater to getting the best out of Öz. However, it seems like going for a double swoop for Schneiderlein and Lovren would be the best move. I love both of those players and if you're selling Vermaelen, you're going to need cover at CB. I liked what I saw from Lovren at Southampton this year and I'd be pissed if he ended up at Spurs or Liverpool.

Sanchez needs to happen.

Come on. That's impressive. Are you not entertained?

Thanks for the memory(ies), Mathieu!

blueguitar322 · Jul 5, 2014

Debuchy vs Sagna IMHO
- Debuchy is a better on-the-ball defender (3.3 tackles and 2.4 interceptions per game vs. 1.7 and 1.5 respectively)
- Debuchy is far more aggressive, fouling people twice as often as Sagna
- Sagna has better defensive positioning - both in terms of containing runners (Debuchy was beaten on the dribble twice as often as Sagna) and playing people offsides (0.4 offsides won per game for Sagna vs. 0.1 for Debuchy)
- Debuchy is quicker to cut inside and take a shot on goal
- Debuchy is more likely to take on defenders with the dribble (0.6 dribbles per game vs 0.2) and slightly less likely to be dispossessed, but more likely to turn the ball over

In essence, Sagna is much more likely to play it safe - keep his positioning, pass the ball to a teammate, not push the tempo. Debuchy is significantly more aggressive. Towards the end of the season, Wenger mentioned the disparity in goals scored between Arsenal (68 goals) and City/Liverpool (102/101 goals). It appears that he's comfortable trading Sagna's more defensive mindset for Debuchy's more offensive one. We'll see how he meshes with the rest of the team.

mikeford · Jul 5, 2014

mascho said:
Come on. That's impressive. Are you not entertained?

Thanks for the memory(ies), Mathieu!

Eh, not that impressive. Not a lot of height on that dropkick. He's gotta get more elevation if the crowd is gonna buy his offense.

Shit, wrong thread

Zomp · Jul 5, 2014

sachmoney said:
Sanchez needs to happen.

From what I'm reading on twitter, two very respected Chilean journos are reporting he's said his goodbyes to Barca teammates and wants to go to Arsenal.

Conigliaro's Potential · Jul 5, 2014

I'm happy with Debuchy. Main issue is that he can't cover at center back like Sagna could, which means Wenger really needs to buy more depth there as well - particularly if Vermaelen goes to Man Utd as has been rumored. (Which I hope won't happen, but if I were Vermaelen I'd be itching for a move, and if I were Wenger I'd be inclined to let him go if for the right price.)

The Sanchez rumors are strong...but we were here with Higuain last summer, and we all remember how that turned out. At this point I'm rooting for Debuchy + Sanchez + Schneiderlin (as the anchorman) + center back cover + goalkeeping cover at a bare minimum for this transfer window; I'd like to see another striker as well, but if Sanchez can split time between left wing and central striker - a sort of Podolski-plus - and Campbell remains part of the first-team squad, I won't be greedy.

FWIW, this is where I go for my fix of Arsenal transfer gossip:

http://arsenal-mania.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4

Lots of chaff amongst the wheat, but literally ever rumor out there gets posted here at some point.

mikeford · Jul 5, 2014

The Sanchez situation is basically a mirror image of the Higuain situation from last year, right down to "they've agreed to person terms but the clubs have yet to agree on a fee"

Thats what submarined the Higuain transfer last year and until he's in that ugly ass Puma kit, I won't believe he's an Arsenal man

mikeford · Jul 6, 2014

So the internet/twitterverse is reporting that we've signed Debuchy, Sanchez and Lars Bender for a total of 60m euros

I'll believe this when I see it but it would be VERY exciting if that was all true.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jul 7, 2014

Lots of rumors about Juve as a real competitor for Sanchez now. That would be a kick in the balls but we'll see.

Luis Taint · Jul 7, 2014

Debuchy is done, per @darrenarsenal

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jul 8, 2014

Tons of media reports and twitterati saying that Alexis signing is imminent - on the plane to London for a medical, will sign within hours, etc. Final figures are in the 28-43M euro (£30-34M) range. This would not only be a great signing but I think actually very good value.

Nothing is done until its on arsenal.com but this is way past Higuain at this point.

soxfan121 · Jul 8, 2014

Why, exactly, are y'all happy about adding yet another attacking midfielder? Don't you have, like, eight of them already?

What happened to a holding midfielder or a defender or a striker?

SHINY NEW TOY

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jul 8, 2014

soxfan121 said:
Why, exactly, are y'all happy about adding yet another attacking midfielder? Don't you have, like, eight of them already?

What happened to a holding midfielder or a defender or a striker?

SHINY NEW TOY

Meh. Sanchez has both quality and versatility, able to play as a wing forward, second striker, or center forward in a more fluid system. My guess is that we'll play an unbalanced 4-2-3-1, featuring a right winger that is more of a wing forward playing a little behind and to the right of the striker and a left "winger" that is more of a shuttler and/or ball player. One lineup would have Giroud (or Sanogo) up top, Sanchez at RW, Ozil as CAM, and Cazorla/Ox/Wilshere at LW. Another kind of lineup would have Walcott (or Campbell, if he sticks) in for Giroud and interchanging with Sanchez more fluidly in the CF/RW roles. Some will argue that we still need to improve on Giroud but, in the absence of a world class center forward to buy for non-insane money (hint: that guy doesn't seem to exist) then adding Sanchez is just about the best possible outcome this summer in terms of strengthening our attack. The man can score and create goals at a world class level.

We still obviously need a defensive midfielder and some depth at CB, especially if Vermaelen leaves. But there's lots of reason to suspect those signings are coming too. If the Sanchez and Debuchy deals go through as reported, our net spend for the summer will be around £25M and Wenger is supposed to have much more than that to play with. This club spent 10 years in the financial wilderness due to financing the Emirates and now we're finally out. There's really nothing to dislike about this deal and its a very good time to be an Arsenal fan in general. So go shit in somebody else's punch bowl, like Liverpool's. :bahgawd:

Of course, Roman could always decide to give Barca 50M and Sanchez his own personal yacht at the 11th hour, in which case we'll all go on suicide watch.

soxfan121 · Jul 8, 2014

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
So go shit in somebody else's punch bowl, like Liverpool's. :bahgawd:

Tuesday is shit in Arsenal's punch bowl day. I shit in the Liverpool punch bowl on Fridays or Saturdays. Spurs is scheduled for tomorrow.

ManU is on an as-needed basis.

Snakebauer007 · Jul 8, 2014

soxfan121 said:
Tuesday is shit in Arsenal's punch bowl day. I shit in the Liverpool punch bowl on Fridays or Saturdays. Spurs is scheduled for tomorrow.

ManU is on an as-needed basis.

http://nimg.sulekha.com/sports/original700/jose-mourinho-2010-3-27-13-55-25.jpg

soxfan121 · Jul 8, 2014

Snakebauer007 said:
http://nimg.sulekha.com/sports/original700/jose-mourinho-2010-3-27-13-55-25.jpg

Yeah, I just took a dump in your punchbowl Bluesy. Scurry back and find me some more PR puff pieces to shit upon.

Morgan's Magic Snowplow · Jul 8, 2014

Stan Collymore @StanCollymore · 5m
We just spoke to Wenger here, deal is as good as done with Sanchez! From the horses mouth! @talkSPORT ON AIR LIVE Follow #AFC @SportsYapper

Guillem Balague @GuillemBalague · 11m
All agreed for Alexis. Will be anounced soon, possibly tomorrow.Arsenal will pay FCB £27.5 plus £2.3 for objectives. 4 years plus 1 optional

Maybe not arsenal.com, but that's good enough for me. Incredible deal in a market where Lallana cost £25M and Herrera £30M.

OilCanMDS · Jul 8, 2014

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Stan Collymore @StanCollymore · 5m
We just spoke to Wenger here, deal is as good as done with Sanchez! From the horses mouth! @talkSPORT ON AIR LIVE Follow #AFC @SportsYapper

Guillem Balague @GuillemBalague · 11m
All agreed for Alexis. Will be anounced soon, possibly tomorrow.Arsenal will pay FCB £27.5 plus £2.3 for objectives. 4 years plus 1 optional

Maybe not arsenal.com, but that's good enough for me. Incredible deal in a market where Lallana cost £25M and Herrera £30M.

Guillem is an excellent source for Barcelona news. If he says it is a done deal, then it is safe to safe to assume it is done.

Conigliaro's Potential · Jul 8, 2014

I'll happily admit I was wrong - Arsene Wenger apparently *can* close deals in July. Hallelujah!

Arsenal 2014-2015: Ugh. Your banter stinks.

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