RealGunner wrote:Suarez is injured and may miss Liverpool's final friendlies [Guardian]

That's Rooney, Bale and Suarez injured now.

Pre Season

Suarez is traveling with the squad to Norway for the friendly against Valerenga. He will be assessed before the match.

First of all, I dont want you to concede any argument. Im not here to battle. Im just saying my opinion and it really wont change and I expect the same from you. Im just putting my position out there.

As for who to sign...whoever. You think Wenger doesnt have like 50 players out there many people havent heard of he thinks would be a good signing?

Theres nobody left? You mean there are no flashy big names left.

We are thinking in different terms here clearly.

In Wenger's mind, there is a 18 year old out there who in 3 years will be better than overpriced, high wage having forward who barely improved the team. (not a reference to Suarez btw)

Will that win them the title this year? Heck no.

But nobody thinks about the alternative. Bid 30m for Higuain? Why would he want to do that? He aint worth that...and even if he was, you think Higuain takes from 4th position to better than City and Utd? No chance it does.

If Liverpool can hang onto Suarez and Bale does leave while Arsenal still does nothing I can seriously see them pushing hard up the ladder.

The best opportunity to get a top 4 spot if such a scenario does indeed happen.

I have to admit, I have to agree with Franchise - why are people here only looking for "big names" all the time? I bet with some proper scouting you should be able to find not overpriced gems, just possibly not in the usual leagues.

Ok, then we're looking at different goals for the team. If I were an Arsenal fan, I would want my team trying to strengthen for next year to attempt a title push, and another 18 year old won't do that. Another 18 year old will help contribute to keeping 4th place in another three years, and in the meantime they will keep battling to retain the same position in the table.

Now, does Higuain or Suarez alone catapult Arsenal above ManU or Man City? Of course not. But it's a much bigger step in that direction than taking a gamble on an unestablished bargain, and combined with a few other moves might make that happen. Even if that were the only move they made right now, they'd be better positioned next year to strengthen in other departments and make that same title push, while the gem in the rough you're talking about would not.

The question for me is whether Arsenal is trying to push forward or maintain their league position. And with the way the market is right now, the only way to push forward would be to pay a little extra to land your man and truly improve the starting 11. The youngster or gem in the rough could do that with a lot of luck, but more than likely will have the same results as in the past.

rwo power wrote:I have to admit, I have to agree with Franchise - why are people here only looking for "big names" all the time? I bet with some proper scouting you should be able to find not overpriced gems, just possibly not in the usual leagues.

I think probably because of the risk attached, it wasn't as great in Wenger's early days as Arsenal manager where he could afford to be adventurous with signings.

Suarez is a proven goal scorer and in that Arsenal side would bag them at least 25 league goals.

There may well be some relatively unknown gems out there, Michu for example, but putting faith in a unproven £2m striker to bag the goals needed to finish top 4 is dangerous.

Crimson wrote:If Liverpool can hang onto Suarez and Bale does leave while Arsenal still does nothing I can seriously see them pushing hard up the ladder.

The best opportunity to get a top 4 spot if such a scenario does indeed happen.

I'll drink to that. Cheers

rwo power wrote:I have to admit, I have to agree with Franchise - why are people here only looking for "big names" all the time? I bet with some proper scouting you should be able to find not overpriced gems, just possibly not in the usual leagues.

Not to mention that these 'low risk-high reward' deals can really be effective, you can save yourself a whole lot there ^^

Valencia reach agreement to sign Real Zaragoza striker Helder Postiga for €3m, according to Cadena Ser.

Yohan Modric wrote:Valencia reach agreement to sign Real Zaragoza striker Helder Postiga for €3m, according to Cadena Ser.

poor Valencia

Didnt say they shouldnt push for a title.

But you cannot buy your way to a guaranteed title, especially not with one single signing.

If you can sign a player who you think can get you there, then great. But I just dont think you should overspend to do it, because if you dont win..what do you have?

Higuain doesnt catapult them anywhere, in fact I dont think they finish any higher than 3rd with him...I think the first thing you need to do is seperate him and Suarez because they are two different level of player.

You speak as if Wenger is a idiot. You really think he doesnt want to improve? He is just being cheap for the sake of it...Like he doesnt know they could do with players to improve their team to challange for the title. But for like the 5th time, he believe you dont have to overspend to do it. They dont have Roman and Shieks to bail their fail transfers out...they gotta think before they actually make a move.

I bet a ton of people felt, why didnt Arsenal try for Torres instead of Chelsea. Well look how they went.

There are many many many clubs out there, who do great things spending a reasonable amount of money on players. Wenger just trying to do the very same thing.

He's only just turned 31  

Thought he was like 35

That's just embarrassing for them.

Yeh can't see him being a starter though. They'll probably sign another striker too.

Unless of course he did well last year with Zaragoza.

Tomorrow could be the decisive day for Ljajic as his father is coming to Firenze, according to Sky.

Postiga, Portugal NT legend

hahah postiga  

He has scored a lot for the NT, I wouldn't be surprised if he was up there with Figo, Rui Costa, etc in the all time scoring ranks for Portugal. Probably below Pauleta, Eusebio and Ronaldo.

Postiga lmfao oh dear.

The_Badger wrote:

rwo power wrote:I have to admit, I have to agree with Franchise - why are people here only looking for "big names" all the time? I bet with some proper scouting you should be able to find not overpriced gems, just possibly not in the usual leagues.

I think probably because of the risk attached, it wasn't as great in Wenger's early days as Arsenal manager where he could afford to be adventurous with signings.

Suarez is a proven goal scorer and in that Arsenal side would bag them at least 25 league goals.

There may well be some relatively unknown gems out there, Michu for example, but putting faith in a unproven £2m striker to bag the goals needed to finish top 4 is dangerous.

Well, proven goal scorer in one team doesn't equal prolific goal scorer in another team. I think it might be more worthwhile to thoroughly assess the squad you have and then select one player according to how he would best be able to work together with the players that are already there.

I think if you look at Dortmund, Kloppo obviously selected the players he buys to fit his team like a glove (or as he said in German "passt wie Arsch auf Eimer" XD). Even though he had to take some more  money in hand now for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, it is not as if he for example was already a household name among fans already. Same with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Kloppo goes for what is best for the team, even though most of the fans usually have three question marks floating over their heads at first. (Who knew Lucas Barrios or Robert Lewandowski oder Shinji Kagawa beforehand either? And they were not exactly high priced when they were originally signed either.)

That's true, although I'd be genuinely surprised if Suarez couldn't repeat his Liverpool form for Arsenal.

The_Badger wrote:That's true, although I'd be genuinely surprised if Suarez couldn't repeat his Liverpool form for Arsenal.

Well, it always has to do with the tactics the coach employs, too. Of course a more expensive player usually will have more likely the team set up to support him, so if he gets bought by Arsenal he might get lucky in that respect.

Vidal set to extend his contact up until 2018 and will become Serie a's highest-paid player.

The Franchise wrote:Didnt say they shouldnt push for a title.

But you cannot buy your way to a guaranteed title, especially not with one single signing.

If you can sign a player who you think can get you there, then great. But I just dont think you should overspend to do it, because if you dont win..what do you have?

Higuain doesnt catapult them anywhere, in fact I dont think they finish any higher than 3rd with him...I think the first thing you need to do is seperate him and Suarez because they are two different level of player.

You speak as if Wenger is a idiot. You really think he doesnt want to improve? He is just being cheap for the sake of it...Like he doesnt know they could do with players to improve their team to challange for the title. But for like the 5th time, he believe you dont have to overspend to do it. They dont have Roman and Shieks to bail their fail transfers out...they gotta think before they actually make a move.

I bet a ton of people felt, why didnt Arsenal try for Torres instead of Chelsea. Well look how they went.

There are many many many clubs out there, who do great things spending a reasonable amount of money on players. Wenger just trying to do the very same thing.

I definitely understand your argument and what you want to say.

But buying youngsters and unproven players, and grooming them hasn't entirely worked for Arsenal, has it?

I mean, sure they were consistently getting placed in the CL, and did in fact pay off their debts so you can say it was some what of a success.

But on the other hand, they haven't exactly won anything for 6 (or 7?) years now and their reputation is getting attacked. Not by just fans, but footballers too. How many players in Europe would genuinely want to play for Arsenal if they're already a CL team? I can't think of many that will make that jump. I mean, it won't be long before the Cazorla's and Kos' leave them to go on to fight for titles, just like RvP, Nasri, Clichy and Song have done in the past. They're not showing any ambition towards anyone, really. You can only sell a project for so long.

There has to be a point where you need to stop being arrogant and adapt to the modern times. The market is inflated, yes. But is there anything to suggest that the market will drop? There are definitely bargains out there if you look right, but who's going to be sold in August now that will genuinely improve their starting XI? This is after all, the first time Wenger has money to spend.

Arsenal really could of fought for the league if they made 2-3 top signings instead of trying to "groom" talents. Firstly, his side has no leadership in it what so ever. And not many of them have a winning mentality at the club. If they don't solve those 2 problems they won't win the league. Or win trophies. Or advance past the quarters in the CL... they need experience. Experience cost money. Wenger won't spend money. That's the problem.


I mean, look at City. Yes they did overspend and had a massive budget. But look at who they signed. They went for players with the winning mentality, players that genuinely improved the side, and most of the City players still have time on their hands. They have a somewhat young mature list now. Yaya is old, sure. But I can't think of too many players in their starting XI that are older than 30. Zabaleta maybe? Anyway, not saying they should go out and overpay for a whole new starting XI, but they need experience, someone to genuinely improve the starting XI, they need a leader, and they need someone with a winning mentality. So I guess you can see why they want Luis Suarez...

They also really need a DM. Have they been linked to one at all? Luiz Gustavo is rumoured to be transfer listed at Bayern. He's one of the best DMs in the world if he plays consistently. (Nothing on Leiva, though. ) They need signings this summer. Arsenal should be all over that. Not only to impress the fans, but to show players around Europe that they want to start winning things.

That all sounds like a dig at Wenger, and to be fair, I do rate the guy. He's a great coach, arguably the best in the league. He's shown what he can do in the past decade, and that's no fluke. You can't question his loyalty either. Which manager today would consistently get Arsenal in the CL with Arsenal's current squad, and at the same time have a tight budget paying off stadium debt. I do feel he's in a harsh position having total control at Arsenal. It's hard to negotiate with different teams to acquire players and at the same time manage your current squad. But he's been wasting his time for what feels like a month now (it's only been what, a week or two?) with Luis Suarez, he's not exactly done anything to improve the starting XI, and he's shown nothing to suggest he'll be making any signings soon.

Napoli interested in Matri http://www.football-italia.net/37568/napoli-targeting-matri-report

McAgger wrote:He has scored a lot for the NT, I wouldn't be surprised if he was up there with Figo, Rui Costa, etc in the all time scoring ranks for Portugal. Probably below Pauleta, Eusebio and Ronaldo.

26 in 61, good for joint 6th with Rui Costa.

Better goals to game ratio than anyone other than Pauleta and Eusebio.