I didn't watch the game but apparently City were never in it, despite spawning 2 goals against the run of play. I guess, by all accounts, the team played poorly and were punished by a well-drilled and more-than-capable opponent with actual ideas and the skill to execute them. City unable to park the bus and defend a 2-0, despite being classed as a "Defensive" side. Piss poor.
SAF >> Mancini, even in the bluest of private mindgardens. But if the back four coalesce into something firmer, and the key forwards are on the pitch, we should still be up there with a shout come May.
yaya takes too many chances but comes back in the nick of time (just not always)
but with karatekid they'll be aight
city looks better this year with silva reaching top form and if they can get aguero pouncing they will be a contender
however sturridge is proving the hype to be real...fucking torres though
His head is fashioned out of Bakelite, Lewis Hamilton's coiffurista did his hair, and them bags under his eyes are mighty suspect, bearing witness (as they doubtless do) to late night on-line Xbox shenanigans and that.
Pound to a penny he's outed, in whatever passes as the Screws substitute these days, as a philanderer, serial baby-Dada and cyber-bully on an epic scale.
Apparently the slapper who Rooney did the do with got a kicking on Sunday night in Bolton.
A source told Mail Online: ???She was in the pub having a drink with Ian Dowie (former footballer and manager) and they were all over each other at the bar.
Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that Ryo Miyaichi has been granted the work permit he requires to play first-team football for the Club this season.
The 18-year-old arrived in January and spent last season on loan at Dutch club Feyenoord in order to help his adjustment to European football, while awaiting the clearance needed to represent Arsenal in the UK.
An FA panel met on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium to decide the case and heard from Ars??ne Wenger, who was in attendance, before granting the work permit on the grounds that Ryo is an ???exceptional talent???. Supporting testimonials were also sent by the Japan Football Association, which significantly helped the process.
Miyaichi has impressed greatly during pre-season and featured in all matches played outside the UK, but now he has been authorised a work permit which means that he is free to play for Arsenal in the UK.
Upon hearing the news, Ars??ne Wenger said: ???We are absolutely delighted that Ryo has been granted a work permit. This is almost like a new signing for us, as we weren???t completely sure we would be given the authorisation. Ryo has worked extremely hard in pre-season and performed very well during the matches in Asia, Germany and Portugal.
Wenger continued: ???Ryo has natural technical ability. He has good balance and phenomenal pace, and his passing and crossing is consistently of a high quality. He is a very exciting player. He had a successful time with Feyenoord in the Netherlands last season, who gave him the opportunity to play regularly, and we???re looking forward to his contribution this coming season with Arsenal.???
Miyaichi will be eligible to play for the first team as soon as the formalities of the paperwork are completed.
now where is that defender??
b/w
apologies to non gooners who'll will have no interest in this news at all.
The pre-season just gets worse and worse for Arsenal.
Guardian suggests that both Nasri & Cesc will leave by the weekend for around ??55 million, and Wenger's only targets are Bolton's Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba from Blackburn Rovers?
This stinks as much as Man U selling Ronaldo for ??80 million and buying Bebe for ??7mil.
Finishing in the top four this year will be a miracle at this rate.
The pre-season just gets worse and worse for Arsenal.
Guardian suggests that both Nasri & Cesc will leave by the weekend for around ??55 million, and Wenger's only targets are Bolton's Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba from Blackburn Rovers?
This stinks as much as Man U selling Ronaldo for ??80 million and buying Bebe for ??7mil.
Finishing in the top four this year will be a miracle at this rate.
Skipping over the Bebe comment, can't say it's looking too great for Arsenal right now, particularly considering how close it is to the start of the season. Even if the deals fall through and both stay it's far from the ideal way to prepare for the campaign.
The pre-season just gets worse and worse for Arsenal.
Guardian suggests that both Nasri & Cesc will leave by the weekend for around ??55 million, and Wenger's only targets are Bolton's Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba from Blackburn Rovers?
This stinks as much as Man U selling Ronaldo for ??80 million and buying Bebe for ??7mil.
Finishing in the top four this year will be a miracle at this rate.
Skipping over the Bebe comment, can't say it's looking too great for Arsenal right now, particularly considering how close it is to the start of the season. Even if the deals fall through and both stay it's far from the ideal way to prepare for the campaign.
I think I'm now of the opinion that I want both of them gone - but Arsene HAS to spend big. I'm talking Sneijder big, or players of that calibre.
But with our wage structure, I don't think we even attract any top names.
I'm sure this Japanese kid is good, and I'm sure that Wilshire & Ramsey really is the midfield of the future. But our first test of the season is an away game in the Champs league qualifyers, and if we get knocked out, it'll cost ??25 mill in cash up front, but in the long term will cost even more as our standing as a top club diminshes even further - a feeder club for Barcelona and Man City. The Invincibles squad only ever sold players on our terms. Now players want to leave, and top players won't want to come. We will rely on developing kids for cheap, but after a certain point they too will be lured away for success. Last year seemed make or break, and we broke big time. This is now Wenger's biggest challenge. The club he inherited had spirit. Right now, we're like a sucker-punched fighter who's been on the ropes, the bell is about to ring for the start of the next round, and we need to see if there's anything left in the tank. Wilshire is unlikely to have the same impact this year as he did last year, but that's because other teams know all about him now. Ramsey needs to show that his leg-break hasn't changed him a la Eduardo. Van Percy needs to stay fit. Same for Vermalen. And Arshavin needs to be moved central where he can be more involved, and he needs to show commitment and leadership. Gervinho does look good. Not Henry good, but a similar, pacey outlet that can stretch play and take some pressure off the midfield, and give the team time and space to unlock defences.
But most importantly they have to believe they can win things without Fabregas, and to a lesser extent Nasri.
Stinks like when you sold Thierry Henry and replaced him with Nicklas Bendtner.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,913 Posts
I note that Kenny has switched the emphasis from overloading the squad with central midfielders and back to that old Anfield favourite, overloading the squad with central defenders. We're supposedly in for Per Mertesacker, who's still only 26 and in his final year at Werder Bremen. This, I feel, is a good thing, as we've lacked the kind of assured physical presence at the back that peak-era Sami gave the team, and Mertesacker is a good player. I think we may have snagged Jose Enrique at just the right time too.
Stinks like when you sold Thierry Henry and replaced him with Nicklas Bendtner.
Adebayor was brought in as his long term replacement. Bendtner had already been on our books for years and on loan at Birmingham (oh how they were to repay us for his help in getting the Zulu b*stards back into the Prem). And in retrospect, compared to how Nasri & Cesc are behaving, when Adebayor did one to Citeh he was crucified by many fans (me included), but he was more up front about things than Nasri or Cesc have been.
Who thinks the presence of thousands of men with some attachment to material possessions, jobs, and a certain respect for property on the streets might actually be beneficial?*
Or has llittle changed since the '70s-'80s?
* this assumption going on the price of Premiership football tickets.
Replacements: Mata to come in if Valencia agree to sell (we can't pull that DNA crap unfortunately), and some bloke called Jada that I've never heard of.
?
Not good enough.
Cesc is the biggest loss, not just for Arse but the Prem. World class talent.
I think Arsenal fans now have to admit that we're a second-tier club, and no longer a top club that's just going through a transitional stage. As long as money dominates football, we can't compete. Wenger won't spend big money, and Arsenal won't pay big wages.
Glad that Van Percy gets that captaincy, as he has never bitched or held out for cash and genuinely seems to show a sense of belonging. At least that's the impression I get, he could be looking for a move now this has happened :smirk:
Replacements: Mata to come in if Valencia agree to sell (we can't pull that DNA crap unfortunately), and some bloke called Jada that I've never heard of.
?
Not good enough.
Cesc is the biggest loss, not just for Arse but the Prem. World class talent.
I think Arsenal fans now have to admit that we're a second-tier club, and no longer a top club that's just going through a transitional stage. As long as money dominates football, we can't compete. Wenger won't spend big money, and Arsenal won't pay big wages.
Glad that Van Percy gets that captaincy, as he has never bitched or held out for cash and genuinely seems to show a sense of belonging. At least that's the impression I get, he could be looking for a move now this has happened :smirk:
Not official already, though, is it?
Cesc is of course a great loss to England's footie. A team like Arsenal needs a very specific type of central midfielder so he'll prove hard to replace. They bought two Cadetes (youth team members) from FC Barcelona, but there's no short term replacement...
On the other (and most important ) side, Cesc coming back home will be a great buzz to Bar??a players and fans. And the long term project is guaranteed. Fourth La Liga in a row? Second consecutive Champions League? Let's hope so!
Re: Arsenal as second tier team. Winning or loosing, Arsenal is by far my favorite team in the Premier right now. Let's hope they can mantain the quality after Cesc's departure.
Realheadz plaes to recognise Spuds / Toffees game is deffo off. No Baines action in your back four this week.
If I was a Gooner I would not hit the Kleenex too hard. Cesc was always out injured for spells and Nasri was invisible for large parts of the last season. And who at Barca is going to make way for Cesc? Xavi? He's the oldest IIRC but, Messi included, the font through which they all must flow.
Yeah, maybe I'm being melodramatic. Sensationalist. Pessimistic.
It's a shame to see great players leave your club, and yeah, the club is bigger than the players, but unless there's some serious investment in the squad I don't see Arsenal challenging for much this season.
A few key injuries and we're Tottenham* standard.
*speaking of scum, I might have to change my first-manager-to-get-sacked prediction to 'Arry Rednapp:
In 2007, then Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie was arrested ??? along with then manager Harry Redknapp, then club owner Milan Mandaric (now owner of Sheffield Wednesday), agent Willie McKay and former Portsmouth player Amdy Faye ??? over allegations of corruption. The five men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.
Last year Redknapp, who is the current manager at Tottenham, was charged with ???two counts of cheating the public revenue of an estimated ??40,000 after voluntarily attending London???s Bishopsgate police station???. Redknapp has been touted as a successor to Fabio Capello as England football manager. According to The Independent:
Charges concerned two payments, totalling 295,000 US dollars, alleged to have been made from Mandaric to Redknapp via a bank account in Monaco, evading the tax and National Insurance contributions due between April 1, 2002 and November 28, 2007.
Mandaric, now chairman of Leicester, was charged with tax evasion relating to the payment of 295,000 US dollars to another person via a Monaco bank account, evading tax and National Insurance.
Storrie was charged with concealing a signing-on fee for ex-Portsmouth player Amdy Faye by paying it into the midfielder???s bank account.
The allegation related to the transfer of Faye from Auxerre to Fratton Park for ??1.5million in August 2003.
For his part, Redknapp sought to have the case against him dismissed in November last year.
But according to these court documents, the Crown Prosecution Service sought the assistance of the US Department of Justice in September 2010 relating to the transfer of $295,000 from the Florida bank account of a company called First Star International to an account held by Redknapp in Monaco.
I think Gervinho will be more effective over the course of a whole season than Nasri has been, i'm not too sad about him leaving at the prices they're talking about. It's a bit odd we still keep being linked with wingers as replacements for both of them though, we've already got a bunch of good ones.
I think i'm the only Arsenal supporter who is optimistic about this season, we conceded less goals in open play than any other team last season and with the signing of a more organised central defender and finally promoting Szcesny to number 1 that should help, especially with the increasingly bad Clichy sold. RVP was on fire when he came back from injury too so if there's a miracle and we finally get a whole season out of him we'll score a bunch of goals.
Uhmm, not sure I'd go that far, but I read somewhere that Pat Rice is too much of a Yes Man. Apparently Keown was the defensive coach in 2006 (year we got to the Champ League final), and had things running well, but Wenger got funny about him being there. Control freakery, insecurity, I dunno. Maybe just internet rumours.
Comments
SAF >> Mancini, even in the bluest of private mindgardens. But if the back four coalesce into something firmer, and the key forwards are on the pitch, we should still be up there with a shout come May.
+
Man dem got Lute.
Theo 2.0
Enough with the bloody midfielders already. Buy some defenders.
He seems like a potentially decent human being.
::breakplasticface::
but with karatekid they'll be aight
city looks better this year with silva reaching top form and if they can get aguero pouncing they will be a contender
however sturridge is proving the hype to be real...fucking torres though
His head is fashioned out of Bakelite, Lewis Hamilton's coiffurista did his hair, and them bags under his eyes are mighty suspect, bearing witness (as they doubtless do) to late night on-line Xbox shenanigans and that.
Pound to a penny he's outed, in whatever passes as the Screws substitute these days, as a philanderer, serial baby-Dada and cyber-bully on an epic scale.
Stay classy.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/miyaichi-granted-work-permit-to-play-for-club
now where is that defender??
b/w
apologies to non gooners who'll will have no interest in this news at all.
.....no good?
The pre-season just gets worse and worse for Arsenal.
Guardian suggests that both Nasri & Cesc will leave by the weekend for around ??55 million, and Wenger's only targets are Bolton's Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba from Blackburn Rovers?
This stinks as much as Man U selling Ronaldo for ??80 million and buying Bebe for ??7mil.
Finishing in the top four this year will be a miracle at this rate.
Skipping over the Bebe comment, can't say it's looking too great for Arsenal right now, particularly considering how close it is to the start of the season. Even if the deals fall through and both stay it's far from the ideal way to prepare for the campaign.
I think I'm now of the opinion that I want both of them gone - but Arsene HAS to spend big. I'm talking Sneijder big, or players of that calibre.
But with our wage structure, I don't think we even attract any top names.
I'm sure this Japanese kid is good, and I'm sure that Wilshire & Ramsey really is the midfield of the future. But our first test of the season is an away game in the Champs league qualifyers, and if we get knocked out, it'll cost ??25 mill in cash up front, but in the long term will cost even more as our standing as a top club diminshes even further - a feeder club for Barcelona and Man City. The Invincibles squad only ever sold players on our terms. Now players want to leave, and top players won't want to come. We will rely on developing kids for cheap, but after a certain point they too will be lured away for success. Last year seemed make or break, and we broke big time. This is now Wenger's biggest challenge. The club he inherited had spirit. Right now, we're like a sucker-punched fighter who's been on the ropes, the bell is about to ring for the start of the next round, and we need to see if there's anything left in the tank. Wilshire is unlikely to have the same impact this year as he did last year, but that's because other teams know all about him now. Ramsey needs to show that his leg-break hasn't changed him a la Eduardo. Van Percy needs to stay fit. Same for Vermalen. And Arshavin needs to be moved central where he can be more involved, and he needs to show commitment and leadership. Gervinho does look good. Not Henry good, but a similar, pacey outlet that can stretch play and take some pressure off the midfield, and give the team time and space to unlock defences.
But most importantly they have to believe they can win things without Fabregas, and to a lesser extent Nasri.
Adebayor was brought in as his long term replacement. Bendtner had already been on our books for years and on loan at Birmingham (oh how they were to repay us for his help in getting the Zulu b*stards back into the Prem). And in retrospect, compared to how Nasri & Cesc are behaving, when Adebayor did one to Citeh he was crucified by many fans (me included), but he was more up front about things than Nasri or Cesc have been.
Who thinks the presence of thousands of men with some attachment to material possessions, jobs, and a certain respect for property on the streets might actually be beneficial?*
Or has llittle changed since the '70s-'80s?
* this assumption going on the price of Premiership football tickets.
Replacements: Mata to come in if Valencia agree to sell (we can't pull that DNA crap unfortunately), and some bloke called Jada that I've never heard of.
?
Not good enough.
Cesc is the biggest loss, not just for Arse but the Prem. World class talent.
I think Arsenal fans now have to admit that we're a second-tier club, and no longer a top club that's just going through a transitional stage. As long as money dominates football, we can't compete. Wenger won't spend big money, and Arsenal won't pay big wages.
Glad that Van Percy gets that captaincy, as he has never bitched or held out for cash and genuinely seems to show a sense of belonging. At least that's the impression I get, he could be looking for a move now this has happened :smirk:
Not official already, though, is it?
Cesc is of course a great loss to England's footie. A team like Arsenal needs a very specific type of central midfielder so he'll prove hard to replace. They bought two Cadetes (youth team members) from FC Barcelona, but there's no short term replacement...
On the other (and most important
Re: Arsenal as second tier team. Winning or loosing, Arsenal is by far my favorite team in the Premier right now. Let's hope they can mantain the quality after Cesc's departure.
If I was a Gooner I would not hit the Kleenex too hard. Cesc was always out injured for spells and Nasri was invisible for large parts of the last season. And who at Barca is going to make way for Cesc? Xavi? He's the oldest IIRC but, Messi included, the font through which they all must flow.
Both probably spending a lot of time on the bench. Nasri shifted onto the wing to accommodate the 3 defensive mids.
It's a shame to see great players leave your club, and yeah, the club is bigger than the players, but unless there's some serious investment in the squad I don't see Arsenal challenging for much this season.
A few key injuries and we're Tottenham* standard.
*speaking of scum, I might have to change my first-manager-to-get-sacked prediction to 'Arry Rednapp:
http://thestory.ie/2011/08/03/harry-redknapp-tax-evasion-and-mandarics-offshore-account/
In 2007, then Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie was arrested ??? along with then manager Harry Redknapp, then club owner Milan Mandaric (now owner of Sheffield Wednesday), agent Willie McKay and former Portsmouth player Amdy Faye ??? over allegations of corruption. The five men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.
Last year Redknapp, who is the current manager at Tottenham, was charged with ???two counts of cheating the public revenue of an estimated ??40,000 after voluntarily attending London???s Bishopsgate police station???. Redknapp has been touted as a successor to Fabio Capello as England football manager. According to The Independent:
Charges concerned two payments, totalling 295,000 US dollars, alleged to have been made from Mandaric to Redknapp via a bank account in Monaco, evading the tax and National Insurance contributions due between April 1, 2002 and November 28, 2007.
Mandaric, now chairman of Leicester, was charged with tax evasion relating to the payment of 295,000 US dollars to another person via a Monaco bank account, evading tax and National Insurance.
Storrie was charged with concealing a signing-on fee for ex-Portsmouth player Amdy Faye by paying it into the midfielder???s bank account.
The allegation related to the transfer of Faye from Auxerre to Fratton Park for ??1.5million in August 2003.
For his part, Redknapp sought to have the case against him dismissed in November last year.
But according to these court documents, the Crown Prosecution Service sought the assistance of the US Department of Justice in September 2010 relating to the transfer of $295,000 from the Florida bank account of a company called First Star International to an account held by Redknapp in Monaco.
I think i'm the only Arsenal supporter who is optimistic about this season, we conceded less goals in open play than any other team last season and with the signing of a more organised central defender and finally promoting Szcesny to number 1 that should help, especially with the increasingly bad Clichy sold. RVP was on fire when he came back from injury too so if there's a miracle and we finally get a whole season out of him we'll score a bunch of goals.
ARSENE OUT.
Uhmm, not sure I'd go that far, but I read somewhere that Pat Rice is too much of a Yes Man. Apparently Keown was the defensive coach in 2006 (year we got to the Champ League final), and had things running well, but Wenger got funny about him being there. Control freakery, insecurity, I dunno. Maybe just internet rumours.