Arsenal Lobby

well, debuchy and ospina are exactly the kind of transfers that we should be doing at first. we replaced sagna and fab swiftly with equal or better quality. all we need to do 1st is push giroud and arteta to 2nd choice, thats our 1st 11 complete and then go for whoever might be available to improve squad quality. there were quality DMs available all summer for slightly above what we paid for chambers, there is no excuse for going for a CD cum DM now, a compromise. just like quality strikers were available last summer.

Who do you refer to when you say quality strikers were available, who would be an upgrade on Giroud? Cavani or Suarez at 70m? Benzema? Lewandowski? Ibra? And frankly, I doubt any other striker would have been an upgrade. Seeing Higuain at the World Cup, I'm glad we didn't get sucked into paying 40m for him, that money was much better spent on Özil.

There are a lot of good DMs and CBs out there. But it is not as simple as picking up a name and lodging a high enough bid! More than the position that a player currently plays in, it's about the attributes he has and how they can complement the current squad.

Here's an example: Both Vermaelen and Koscienly are individually very good defenders. But we suffered when they both played together. We did better when we had Mertesacker playing with one of them. Individually, despite my love for Per, I would admit that Thomas and Laurent are better defenders. But as a partnership at the back, Per brings in so much more.

Anyway, I agree with you that we are short at the back. But we have 2 weeks, so let's not jump to conclusions already.

Maybe we could have brought in a striker. But atleast where attack is concerned, we have enough quality options, so no regrets. If Sanogo steps up a bit this season, and it does look like he will, nobody would be talking about the striker purchase again.

i'd say gettin higuain for 40 woulda been wiser than 42 on ozil, no matter how underwhelming both have been. not to mention the suarez blunder. all i am sayin is we are making the same mistakes this year. and ozil was an unnecessary luxury signing! thats all

I don't agree, I think Özil was making the best out of an opportunity when it presented itself. People always have extreme views when it comes to him, because he isn't one of those flashy ones who's impact is all about what he does with the ball at his feet. Fact is, the club admitted to having worked on the deal for months, it was not an overnight signing. A lot of hard work was done behind the scenes and then we waited for the opportunity, which came just after Daniel Levy sanctioned the sale of Bale.

And doing a deal of that magnitude was crucial for the people working behind the scenes. It was experience. It was a statement. It gave players, fans and the management belief that we are out of the tunnel now. The off-field impact of that deal has been immense! The deal made Mou shizz his pants about giving us Demba effin' Ba on loan.

Higuain at 25m was a good deal. Then Napoli got involved and Madrid moved the price up. We were right in not dropping more on that. No regrets.

And HOW was Suarez a blunder? If anything, I am glad we didn't sign him! For all his talent, we can do without more key players missing chunks of the season. We have enough players doing that being injured.. And Liverpool didn't want to sell us. They admitted to not honoring his release clause when we hit it. Simple. You can't force somebody to sell if they don't want to.

Deals are complicated because there are two clubs and a player who have to come to a consensus, not to forget all the external factors including the player's family and personal life and agents and what not. It's not as simple as it looks on FIFA 2004 or something, and I know for a fact that many many many people have simplistic views on transfer dealings. :/

srigooner wrote:
And HOW was Suarez a blunder? :/

40m+1?

anyways its in the past... i just hope we don't pass on the likes scniederlin, benders, khedira, gustavo etc. for being overpriced while dropping 16 mils on a project like chambers... who as impressive as he has been is unproven while our other needs are urgent!

our starting 11 was/is still 2 players short!

40m+1 was already hitting his release clause. We needn't spend 80m if someone ois available at 40m. And if the club isn't willing to sell, then 40m+1 or 50m or 60m doesn't make any difference. No blunder there.

Each of the last 4 summers, we have been linked with a host of defensive players. This summer has been no different. It wouldn't be the end of the world if we didn't address the position, but it would be very good if we did. Neither Bender is available, Gustavo has a 35m tag on him, journos and AW himself have confirmed that we have never been in for Khedira (who isn't a DM in the first place). That leaves Schneiderlein in you list, but he isn't a world class player - just a really good one who is the spine of what's left of Soton = they don't want to sell him.

Being linked with a bucketload of players doesn't mean we are in a position to sign any of them. Media knows frak all. Remember M'Vila being 99% done?

And I don't get why you are not happy about Chambers. We have always looked to build from the youth, just because we can afford to throw some money around shouldn't mean we can ignore the domestic players. He is also important to keep our homegrown quota in place. He's young, he's British => add 10m to what you'd otherwise pay. United bought a 'project' at LB for 30m quid, don't see people crying about it. Then why the fuss about signing a seemingly quality player at about half that price?

Our starting 11 is 1 Quality holding player short? Yes.
Our squad is 1-2 defensive players short? Yes.
Am I concerned about it just yet? No. We still have 2 weeks. Let's see how the market goes and just enjoy the games in the meantime

Chambers is excellent deal, we misses out Jones who I was big fan of, I dont want to lose another one. What I like about Chambers deal is how quiet it got done, no hype, no fuss, it woulf help him to settle in.

as for WC players, fee is half story, the other is wage. Right now only Barca, Real and oil clubs could break the bank for those kinda wages and in reality, top 10 CF are playing for them. I never think we could sign elite CF, maybe Benz when he's unhappy at Real but now not a chance.

There is report of Tiote and lol, one of those Mvila, Diame, Capoue, Biliga, Wanyama again. I made up mind, Arsenal wont sign DM, CB is more urgent now and i hope we will bring someone in soon.

well, arteta's legs r truly f*ked, its painfully visible now, we r going to be exposed big time. a midfield 3 containing arteta + ozil is a defensive liability. i pray agnst hope we get a CD and a decent DM. (2 separate players)

Hector Bellerin has beat Theo Walcott's spring record apparently


Enjoyable read

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140812/members-day-qandas

Isn't Robben the fastest now?

'Finally, after recent analysis we are no longer sending a weekly manager's e-mail. To read Arsene Wenger's post-match comments visit Arsenal.com after each game.'


FFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those aren't actually written by Arsene lol

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140812/europcar-becomes-official-club-partner

MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR!!!!


Arsenal welcome Europcar UK as partner

Named as Arsenal’s official car and van rental partner, Europcar will promote its partnership with the club in a large number of territories around the world including South Africa, the United States, and selected countries in Asia and Latin America and throughout Europe.

The three-year partnership will afford Europcar branding at all domestic fixtures played at Emirates Stadium, with digital marketing rights also extended throughout Arsenal’s many online and social media channels.



Vinai Venkatesham, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Europcar for the next three years. We are already working closely together to develop engaging marketing campaigns targeted at football fans all around the world.”

Ken McCall, managing director of Europcar UK Group, said: “This is a tremendously exciting partnership for Europcar. It gives us fantastic branding opportunities within the UK, and also reaching millions of football fans who follow the Premier League throughout the world. As well as promoting the Europcar global brand message, ‘Moving Your Way’, the partnership also gives us access to the players and player imagery for our own promotional activity.

RealGunner wrote:Those aren't actually written by Arsene lol

Ofcourse not, but it was always nice to have a mail from the Boss in the inbox. I barely ever read it, because the post match comments were already on GL. But I always looked forward to receiving a mail with Arsene's signature for the last 10 years or something. It was my ritual. You have no idea how disturbing this is for me. (I have a slight case of self-prognosed OCD).

srigooner wrote:http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140812/europcar-becomes-official-club-partner

MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR MOAR!!!!


Arsenal welcome Europcar UK as partner

Named as Arsenal’s official car and van rental partner, Europcar will promote its partnership with the club in a large number of territories around the world including South Africa, the United States, and selected countries in Asia and Latin America and throughout Europe.

The three-year partnership will afford Europcar branding at all domestic fixtures played at Emirates Stadium, with digital marketing rights also extended throughout Arsenal’s many online and social media channels.



Vinai Venkatesham, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Europcar for the next three years. We are already working closely together to develop engaging marketing campaigns targeted at football fans all around the world.”

Ken McCall, managing director of Europcar UK Group, said: “This is a tremendously exciting partnership for Europcar. It gives us fantastic branding opportunities within the UK, and also reaching millions of football fans who follow the Premier League throughout the world. As well as promoting the Europcar global brand message, ‘Moving Your Way’, the partnership also gives us access to the players and player imagery for our own promotional activity.

I never noticed how Calums eyes sparkle.. til now.

RedMamba wrote:

srigooner wrote:
And HOW was Suarez a blunder? :/

40m+1?

anyways its in the past... i just hope we don't pass on the likes scniederlin, benders, khedira, gustavo etc. for being overpriced while dropping 16 mils on a project like chambers... who as impressive as he has been is unproven while our other needs are urgent!

our starting 11 was/is still 2 players short!

What if I told u, 40m + 1 was a smoke screen, what if I told u, the approach for both Suarez and Higuain was a smoke screen while Arsene worked on Ozil???

Mathieu Debuchy has absolutely no regrets about joining Arsenal. (Moal pls dont be offensed)

“It was the right time for me to make this big step forward and this big move,” he told the Arsenal Magazine.

“I have learnt a lot in the last two years from playing at Euro 2012 and the World Cup this summer, by discovering the Premier League as well.

“I am much more experienced. This was the perfect move for me to continue to improve and to win trophies too.

“When my agents told me Arsenal were interested, I said yes straight away! There was no question, no debate, no doubt, nothing! You don’t turn down a club like Arsenal. A lot of players would like to be in my shoes right now.

“This is another dimension. If you compare the training grounds for example, nothing at Lille or Newcastle can match the Arsenal one. It is another world.

“Everything here is made to optimise your preparation and you as a player. So you can be in the best condition to play and win football games.”

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140813/debuchy-it-is-another-dimension-here

The Wenger weekly email stopped?! Hmm, odd.

SamuelJayC wrote:The Wenger weekly email stopped?! Hmm, odd.

‘They had a good result against City in the Community Shield,’ he says, ‘but I look at the spine of the team and think: goalkeeper, good but not great, centre backs, good but not great. Arteta, holding midfield player and captain, good but not great. Same with the strikers. The spine comes up short. They spent more time at the top than any other team last season but still came up short.

‘Why has Arsene Wenger not done what Mourinho has done? Why has he not bought a top goalkeeper? I wish Wenger would go out and buy a big goalkeeper, a strong centre back, a big midfielder and a decent striker and go for it.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2723816/Arsenal-t-win-title-without-great-goalkeeper-striker-Chelsea-team-beat-Jose-Mourinho-s-transfer-business.html#ixzz3AMlFH27B
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I think somebody gotta remind ol' Jamie that the good but not great lad had a league highest of 16 clean sheets last season.

EDIT: Some interesting stats here:



Cech, Reina and Hart have three each. Reina and Hart have won 3 consecutive ones.
This was our first ever PLGG and unsurprisingly with the improved attacking quality in the league, this was the least number of clean sheets winning the PLGG.

Source: Wiki, if itsn't already obv.

According to Kicker, Per Mertesacker could follow in the footsteps of Phillip Lahm and Miroslav Klose by retiring from international football due to his commitment to Arsenal and his family (just had 2nd child this summer)

It's going from bad to worse for Germany

But I'd be happy for him, he's had a great int. career. 104 caps, 8th all time.

He turns 30 next month. Would probably prolong his domestic career if he retired now too.

MJ wrote:
It's going from bad to worse for Germany

I'm actually happy for all of them, they are going out on a high and giving the next gen a chance early to step up in time for the Euros. And we're well covered at the back, we played half the world cup with 4 CBs at the back ffs

I knew Klose was gone, for sure. Who's going to step up there? I don't think Volland is good enough and playing Gotze as a false nine won't work all the time. We need genuine CFs and I'm not counting on Gomez to make some sensational return

But Lahm? I would have hoped he'd at least be around until Euro 2016. I just don't see clear replacements for either of them atm.

Per has had a great career with the NT, would be a valuable piece to lose.

I'm very happy for all 2 or 3 of them, of course, can't imagine a better way for them to call an end to their int. careers.

"Centre backs good but not great"

Yeah, Lahm was a surprise to me as well. I'm sure Jogi will find new pieces to fit the puzzle. Or he'll boldly rejig the whole thing on the basis of what he has to choose from. Anyway, let's discuss this elsewhere - not in the Arsenal Lobby.


OT: I am waiting Saturday so eagerly! It's such a pain without regular footbal FFS!
Who/when will the preview be online?