Re: The Official Arsenal Winter Transfers/Rumours Thread

[SUPERCARTTS]

James McCarthy's name on the team sheet isn't exactly going to strike fear into our opponents is it?! With the kind of money we've got in the bank - I think the fans deserve a better 'name'. One could argues nor is the signing of Yann M'Vila going to make teams frightened. I know who I'd rather and a player in the mould of M'Vila is who we need. McCarthy is industrious like Ramsey - maybe slightly tidier - but, I wouldn't refer to him signing as 'added steel' we so crave right now!

*waits for someone to mention M'Vila's temperament*

I don't disagree about McCarthy not being the sort of player we need at this moment in time, but is it really important to get a big name? Why do we deserve a big name, as fans? For moaning a lot for the last few years?

What we fans deserve to have is good, committed players. We could quite easily sign a big name only for the big name to be disappointing and not work hard enough, like Arshavin. A few years after his signing and he quite clearly has a love-hate relationship with the fans.

Contrast that with Benayoun, who many thought was a very underwhelming addition, but by the end of his spell at Arsenal he was one of the more popular and appreciated players, because he showed commitment and quality.

Ultimately, I feel it's irrelevant if the guy we sign strikes fear into opponents or gets the fans excited. We just need good players willing to fight for the cause. The fans would be quality won over if any new signing had those qualities.

I have to disagree with most of what you said besides the Benayoun stuff.

That's actually something Wenger wound say, you know. Our ethos over the last 5 years has actually been an exact mirror of your post. Do you think the top clubs in the world have a compiled list of "commited" potentials that they look to sign? What player, during a sit down with another manager, would turn round and say 'I cant promise you commitment - but I'll be happy to accept your offer of £80k a week'.

Commitment can only be gauged by the effort given over a fair period of time - once the 'settling in' period has passed. To use Arshavin as an example of a big name failing is weak! Ramsey is a commited player who isnt exactly putting 'bums in seats' (playing out of position isnt helping, of course) We could've had Villa or Arshavin at one point; a poll would've shown, conclusively, who the fans would've rather 99.9% of the time - not to mention, one of the aforementioned went public about Arsenal, while the other moaned about taxation,

Right now, fans aren't interested in 'Long term projects and players with potential'. That dead horse has suffered years of beating. Bizarrely, if City, Chelsea or Utd were link/signed McCarthy, we wouldn't hear a peep from them, as they're successful in their own right and in recent times. The fact we've been selling our best players and replacing them isn't assisting fans in comprehending Arsenal being linked to players like McCarthy.

Do you see where I'm coming from?

[Amar]

This window has been ridiculous so far.

I understand its hard to make big moves in the Winter window, but I did expect something to be done early considering we're entering a period which will define our season. Its blatantly obvious we desperately need a DM and a winger to actually make a push.

And I disagree jay, what we fans deserve IS big name signings, considering how much of our own money, faith, and time we put into this club every year despite them not making signficant steps to improve as a football club. We're constantly misled and have to see prized assets sold to our rivals.

And we need players to fight for the cause? What cause is that? Fighting for 4th every year and not challenging for the league or CL? If the boards not willing to show some ambition, then some of our key players are going to start heading to other clubs (RVP, and soon Sagna)

[Jay29]

That's actually something Wenger wound say, you know. Our ethos over the last 5 years has actually been an exact mirror of your post. Do you think the top clubs in the world have a compiled list of "commited" potentials that they look to sign? What player, during a sit down with another manager, would turn round and say 'I cant promise you commitment - but I'll be happy to accept your offer of £80k a week'.

Commitment can only be gauged by the effort given over a fair period of time - once the 'settling in' period has passed. To use Arshavin as an example of a big name failing is weak! Ramsey is a commited player who isnt exactly putting 'bums in seats' (playing out of position isnt helping, of course) We could've had Villa or Arshavin at one point; a poll would've shown, conclusively, who the fans would've rather 99.9% of the time - not to mention, one of the aforementioned went public about Arsenal, while the other moaned about taxation,

Why is using Arshavin as an example of a big name failing "weak"? It's what he is. He came in, gave us about six month of world class stuff, then declined over the next couple of seasons to the point where he's not even involved in the first team squad any more. Despite being a big name when he arrived, he did not remain one for longer than a season and a half at most.

As you say, commitment can only be judged over a period of time. It's the same when judging how good the signing has been. This renders the name and reputation of a player completely irrelevant. A big name could come in and prove to be not as good as thought and no where near as interested as people want him to be. A unknown player could come in and prove to be quality and hard working on the pitch. It could be the other way around. The point is, you can only judge players for the skills they possess and whether they can apply those skills for your club. The name or reputation, in the end, means nothing.

Right now, fans aren't interested in 'Long term projects and players with potential'. That dead horse has suffered years of beating. Bizarrely, if City, Chelsea or Utd were link/signed McCarthy, we wouldn't hear a peep from them, as they're successful in their own right and in recent times. The fact we've been selling our best players and replacing them isn't assisting fans in comprehending Arsenal being linked to players like McCarthy.

I haven't mentioned long term projects and players with potential at all.

My point is, we could sign James McCarthy. You could moan about how he's not a big name and what-have-you, but for all you know, he could prove to be a very good player. For all I know, he may not be. You're not going to know until he signs and plays in an Arsenal shirt.

There are benefits to big names arriving, but they're short-lived.

And I disagree jay, what we fans deserve IS big name signings, considering how much of our own money, faith, and time we put into this club every year despite them not making signficant steps to improve as a football club. We're constantly misled and have to see prized assets sold to our rivals.

Fans pay their money and faith so they can see good players take their club forward. Players who can do that are not exclusively big name players.

The Invincibles were assembled of players who people had largely not heard of, but they gave us the best season the club has ever had. The players that Wenger signed were relatively unknown, but they gave us what we wanted: Champions League football and domestic titles.

And we need players to fight for the cause? What cause is that? Fighting for 4th every year and not challenging for the league or CL? If the boards not willing to show some ambition, then some of our key players are going to start heading to other clubs (RVP, and soon Sagna)

The cause of playing for Arsenal FC.

Look, I'm not saying we should ignore big name players for lesser-known players. I'm saying that we shouldn't ignore lesser-known players in favour of big name players because of his name. If a big name is affordable and has the necessary qualities, then by all means, bring him in. I'm not against that at all.

[6unner]

Looks like Diaby will be transferring from the injury list to the pre-injury list and could be named on the squad for the man chitty game.

[Chumlum]

Look, I'm not saying we should ignore big name players for lesser-known players. I'm saying that we shouldn't ignore lesser-known players in favour of big name players because of his name. If a big name is affordable and has the necessary qualities, then by all means, bring him in. I'm not against that at all.

Preach!

[Artilleristen]

That's actually something Wenger wound say, you know. Our ethos over the last 5 years has actually been an exact mirror of your post. Do you think the top clubs in the world have a compiled list of "commited" potentials that they look to sign? What player, during a sit down with another manager, would turn round and say 'I cant promise you commitment - but I'll be happy to accept your offer of £80k a week'.

Commitment can only be gauged by the effort given over a fair period of time - once the 'settling in' period has passed. To use Arshavin as an example of a big name failing is weak! Ramsey is a commited player who isnt exactly putting 'bums in seats' (playing out of position isnt helping, of course) We could've had Villa or Arshavin at one point; a poll would've shown, conclusively, who the fans would've rather 99.9% of the time - not to mention, one of the aforementioned went public about Arsenal, while the other moaned about taxation,

Why is using Arshavin as an example of a big name failing "weak"? It's what he is. He came in, gave us about six month of world class stuff, then declined over the next couple of seasons to the point where he's not even involved in the first team squad any more. Despite being a big name when he arrived, he did not remain one for longer than a season and a half at most.

As you say, commitment can only be judged over a period of time. It's the same when judging how good the signing has been. This renders the name and reputation of a player completely irrelevant. A big name could come in and prove to be not as good as thought and no where near as interested as people want him to be. A unknown player could come in and prove to be quality and hard working on the pitch. It could be the other way around. The point is, you can only judge players for the skills they possess and whether they can apply those skills for your club. The name or reputation, in the end, means nothing.

Right now, fans aren't interested in 'Long term projects and players with potential'. That dead horse has suffered years of beating. Bizarrely, if City, Chelsea or Utd were link/signed McCarthy, we wouldn't hear a peep from them, as they're successful in their own right and in recent times. The fact we've been selling our best players and replacing them isn't assisting fans in comprehending Arsenal being linked to players like McCarthy.

I haven't mentioned long term projects and players with potential at all.

My point is, we could sign James McCarthy. You could moan about how he's not a big name and what-have-you, but for all you know, he could prove to be a very good player. For all I know, he may not be. You're not going to know until he signs and plays in an Arsenal shirt.

There are benefits to big names arriving, but they're short-lived.

And I disagree jay, what we fans deserve IS big name signings, considering how much of our own money, faith, and time we put into this club every year despite them not making signficant steps to improve as a football club. We're constantly misled and have to see prized assets sold to our rivals.

Fans pay their money and faith so they can see good players take their club forward. Players who can do that are not exclusively big name players.

The Invincibles were assembled of players who people had largely not heard of, but they gave us the best season the club has ever had. The players that Wenger signed were relatively unknown, but they gave us what we wanted: Champions League football and domestic titles.

And we need players to fight for the cause? What cause is that? Fighting for 4th every year and not challenging for the league or CL? If the boards not willing to show some ambition, then some of our key players are going to start heading to other clubs (RVP, and soon Sagna)

The cause of playing for Arsenal FC.

Look, I'm not saying we should ignore big name players for lesser-known players. I'm saying that we shouldn't ignore lesser-known players in favour of big name players because of his name. If a big name is affordable and has the necessary qualities, then by all means, bring him in. I'm not against that at all.

Arshavin could have statyed WC if Wenger would have played him in his actual position, instead of putting him on the wing.
Arsene Does not know best

[Chumlum]

Arshavin could have statyed WC if Wenger would have played him in his actual position, instead of putting him on the wing.
Arsene Does not know best

I too would like to have seen Arshavin given more chances in the CAM role, so I agree that perhaps Wenger didn't manage him as well as he might have, but didn't AA actually play a lot of matches for both Russia and Zenit on the left wing, acting as an inside forward & playmaker? I could be wrong, as I've never really watched the Russian league, but I remember reading that from an Arsenal blogger I respected. (7amkickoff maybe?)

(Remember that League Cup match, I think, when Arshavin played in the number ten role and supported Park, who scored a really nice goal? That has always made me scratch my head as to why Wenger didn't at least try such a combination a few more times ... were the training ground performances really so bad?)

[Jay29]

I can think of a couple of reasons why Arshavin wasn't given more opportunities centrally, the biggest being the presence of Cesc Fabregas, who the whole system was built around. With Cesc being such a valuable source of goals and assists as our CAM, it wasn't really a viable solution to play Arshavin there and Cesc deeper.

I recall Wenger saying that he thought the midfield would lack balance if he played Arshavin centrally. Wenger does like the midfield trio to be quite fluid and Arshavin could only play one midfield role. He wouldn't have offered any defensive cover whatsoever, lacking the work rate to do so.

Arshavin's also the sort of player that disappears for large periods of the game. Dick Advocaat alluded to it once: he's someone that's brilliant for only 30 minutes per game.

He would've been a great raw creative outlet, but there would've been a number of problems playing him as a CAM.

[RealGunner]

Walcott agrees new four-and-a-half-year Arsenal deal according to Goal.com

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2013/01/09/3660650/walcott-agrees-new-four-and-a-half-year-arsenal-deal

[Wilson37]

Arshavin could have statyed WC if Wenger would have played him in his actual position, instead of putting him on the wing.
Arsene Does not know best

I too would like to have seen Arshavin given more chances in the CAM role, so I agree that perhaps Wenger didn't manage him as well as he might have, but didn't AA actually play a lot of matches for both Russia and Zenit on the left wing, acting as an inside forward & playmaker? I could be wrong, as I've never really watched the Russian league, but I remember reading that from an Arsenal blogger I respected. (7amkickoff maybe?)

(Remember that League Cup match, I think, when Arshavin played in the number ten role and supported Park, who scored a really nice goal? That has always made me scratch my head as to why Wenger didn't at least try such a combination a few more times ... were the training ground performances really so bad?)

we had Cesc, Rosicky and Nasri.. So we didnt have to play Arshavin as the CAM.. Although i agree that we could have given him some chances as CAM in the first half of the last season when Rosicky was injured and Ramsey was consistently poor...

[MJ]

Light 'em up if you got 'em boys

[6unner]

Arshavin could have statyed WC if Wenger would have played him in his actual position, instead of putting him on the wing.
Arsene Does not know best

I too would like to have seen Arshavin given more chances in the CAM role, so I agree that perhaps Wenger didn't manage him as well as he might have, but didn't AA actually play a lot of matches for both Russia and Zenit on the left wing, acting as an inside forward & playmaker? I could be wrong, as I've never really watched the Russian league, but I remember reading that from an Arsenal blogger I respected. (7amkickoff maybe?)

(Remember that League Cup match, I think, when Arshavin played in the number ten role and supported Park, who scored a really nice goal? That has always made me scratch my head as to why Wenger didn't at least try such a combination a few more times ... were the training ground performances really so bad?)

we had Cesc, Rosicky and Nasri.. So we didnt have to play Arshavin as the CAM.. Although i agree that we could have given him some chances as CAM in the first half of the last season when Rosicky was injured and Ramsey was consistently poor...

Tactical Genius. Between Ramsey and Gerv's inability, Wenger decides not to play AA .
I am actually trying to decide between Wenger completely loosing it or if he has decided to demolish the team on his way out.

[Jay29]

@gunnerblog: Tomorrow's Times claims Arsenal are pulling out of the race for Zaha, leaving the way clear for United.

Oh no, I am in despair.

[RealGunner]

I would hate to see him go to united though

Why not stay at palace ffs

[Raptorgunner]

@gunnerblog: Tomorrow's Times claims Arsenal are pulling out of the race for Zaha, leaving the way clear for United.

Oh no, I am in despair.

Theo is singing, Zaha is not coming, the future is bright.

Now if Diaby can stay healthy and Wenger signs a Top Top Top Striker?

[DuringTheWar]

I think Wenger is going to stick with the no defensive midfielder system. In theory he could play like this:

------- arteta----- diaby
------------- wilshere
cazorla

but we know how it goes

it's funny how diaby is always fit during transfer windows

[Jay29]

Diaby/Arteta worked really well earlier in the season, but yeah, what are the chances of Diaby being fit enough to make that set-up worthwhile again?

[SamuelJayC]

Independent: Arsenal considering selling Sagna in summer & replacing him with Montpellier's versatile Yanga-Mbiwa - http://ind.pn/11h8o09

The Times: Manchester United set to sign Wilfried Zaha as Arsenal withdraw from negotations - http://thetim.es/ZsMu4I

[Raptorgunner]

I think Wenger is going to stick with the no defensive midfielder system. In theory he could play like this:

------- arteta----- diaby
------------- wilshere
cazorla

but we know how it goes

it's funny how diaby is always fit during transfer windows

Watch he will play the game of his life, and in 2 weeks Diaby is back to hospital.

[Twoism]

@gunnerblog: Tomorrow's Times claims Arsenal are pulling out of the race for Zaha, leaving the way clear for United.

Oh no, I am in despair.

And MU hasn't had enough winger already. SAF and his winger fetish C'mon mates we fans need not convince ourselves Diaby will be fit; otherwise when will Wenger come to realization

[silver]

Well with Walcott signing and Diaby closer to returning, can we close this thread now? Arsene is clearly not going to bring anyone in now with those two excuses lined up.

[SamuelJayC]

Luke Shaw signs a new long-term deal with Southampton http://bit.ly/XQ3uql

[Jay29]

That's the best move for him. He's still very young and inexperienced and Southampton is a good place to continue his development. He should develop there more before thinking about moving to a bigger club.

Walcott update:

@bbcsport_david: Walcott has not agreed new deal (#afc yet to make offer & no formal talks) but could happen soon.

@bbcsport_david: Walcott wants to stay & football side sorted. If compromise reached on salary & image rights could happen quickly:

Hurry up and get this sorted ffs

[djoe26]

[DuringTheWar]

9 pounds a week?

[Chumlum]

"The Spanish press" (i.e. probably just Twitter?) saying Spurs & Arsenal are interested in Negredo.

As long as Walcott signs a new deal I can't see the club going after an out-and-out central striker this window (at least not one over the age of 21). Either a winger or a versatile forward. Or nobody.

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