Arteta has done his calf in training, no great loss

[PSRB]

[Pat Vegas]

I feel we are working on something but who knows.

Alaba is one I would like to see but don't believe it for a minute.
Wouldn't mind signing this Rugani from Juve though. Wenger will need to start thinking long term about a replacement for big Per. I am not sure how Gabriel will turn out.

[7evens]

Another Benayoun type utility signing, wasn't he ?
A very good player in his day but is he really the stuff of top 4 sides with his alarming lack of pace.

[Billy Goat Sverige]

[Rich]

Hopefully with Arteta injured again we can sign a proper DM.

Lars Bender?

[Pat Vegas]

because of the nacho gossip and an old story about him saying he'd love to play for arsenal

[Billy Goat Sverige]

[Ashberto]

during the late austerity years. Now Le Boss seemingly likes him about the place for his influence and experience.

[Monty91]

[PSRB]

sneaking suspicion we'll get Benzema, based on nothing at all, just a feeling

[Ashberto]

[Rich]

As if he would want to go to Liverpool :hehe:

[Rich]

Alaba takes a mean free kick too. Free kick taking left backs :cloud9:

[Peter]

[Berni]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Not sure why I have asked this as there would be no definitive link between the injuries.

[PSRB]

[Luis Anaconda]

[Luis Anaconda]

[Classic Jorge]

[PSRB]

[Billy Goat Sverige]

Yes he's good in lots of positions but that's his best imo.

[Peter]

:hehe:

[Rich]

He's a legacy - should get him to do some coaching now he's injured (again).

[Peter]

And we desperately needed him.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Even then it is difficult to pick holes in the decision, unless you believe that it is solely the awarding of a new deal for MA that has stopped a new signing in midfield.

His captaincy has been sound and arguably he was the perfect appointment at the time and since.

[Rich]

I'd have said thanks but goodbye this summer. No point being sentimental about players.

[Classic Jorge]

you know, a touch of the Bob Wilsons, the McLintocks, the Steve Boulds.

[Peter]

If he gave arteta a new deal i am sure it is because he thinks he is worth it.

You seem more bothered about us spending bucket loads on somebody.

[PSRB]

just never really taken to him

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

So yes, I would imagine he would jump at the chance of a move to Liverpool.

Would he go there given a choice between N5 and Anfield? Different question altogether.

[Peter]

The basics of his game are.

[Rich]

We deployed him in a new defensive role (a transition which Wenger has also experimented with Wilshere) which he has excelled at. This says a lot for him as a player and a man.

All I'm saying is that I don't believe he is at the peak of his powers now. And we are not in a position where we need to rely on players so obviously past their best.

Still, I wish him well this season and really do hope he proves me wrong.

[Luis Anaconda]

full back. Has played all his games for Austria in cm and wants to play there

[Classic Jorge]

We've definitely stepped up an echelon in the last couple of years, in as much as we're now being talked about by agents as in the same league as city and chelsea in terms of attractiveness.

That said, a step *up* to being in the same bracket as city and chelsea :puke: I hate football

[PSRB]

I've said for ages that he's adequate at it, even good against the lesser sides but almost always looks way out of his depth against the top sides

Lovely footballer though (TM Sir C)

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

We’re different from those you mention due to how we run our business and afford these deals, but in the world of transfers we are not different.

See how we all, you and I included probably, would have urged the signing of a Schneiderlinn (for example) at > 20m in order to just offer competition in a specific role in the side. A transfer fee not long ago unheard of at the club is now almost a starting point.

[Billy Goat Sverige]

6.5m euro salary.

Quite the deal.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

There was an insight into how Bayern do transfers a while back in the Guardian/Observer.

Essentially they identify the specific resource they need to strengthen an area they have already identified as being ‘weak’. Once the resource is identified they get him, they may ultimately have to pay over what they thought was correct but they know who they want and that is their driving decision maker.

Oddly enough the above was based on Javi Martinez who they identified as being the player they needed after losing the CL final to Chelsea. They admitted they had paid over the odds / more than they wanted.

I like this kind of aggressive attitude.

[Ashberto]

Might make a decent manager one day.

[redgunamo]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

I am happily married however.

[7evens]

I'm not saying he wasn't a good player and it's not a major issue to give him another year. But at 33 and evidently on the way down, just how many utility players do we really need.
I'd be amazed if AW failed to bring in another defensive mid, which would only push him further dwon the order. :shrug:

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

He may have played a deeper lying role in any of our sides than any of his team-mates but he was essentially a conduit from defence to attack, a player to receive and give the ball and to keep us moving. His short to medium range passing ability here was key. His role was never to ‘destroy’, to use a term which many may align to the much fabled DM monster.

He’s like Carrick, who nobody would ever call a DM.

Coquelin’s movement and speed of movement were qualities which stood out last year, not movement as in that of a striker but that of a DM to read the game and be in the right place at the right time quite often to break opposition play and get rid as quick as possible. He knew his place and his limitations and was happy with it.


When he wasn’t in the right place he had the speed to get there, which Arteta has never had. Coquelin showed how good we can be with that type of player in that role, not specifically him but that type of player, which is why many acknowledged this but still sought an upgrade this summer. No disrespect to FC but he possibly could be upgraded on, we shall see.

[Classic Jorge]

I knew you'd like that, sw

[Luis Anaconda]

[Luis Anaconda]

[Snin]

[7evens]

http://www.awimb.com/fudforum/index.php?t=tree&th=578310 &mid=3962755&rid=513&S=ca59541f98634fabcedaeeb4c c1011a6&rev=&reveal= (http://www.awimb.com/fudforum/index.php?t=tree&th=578310&mid=3962755&rid=513&S=ca59541f98634fabcedaeeb4cc1011a6&rev=&reveal=)

[redgunamo]

In a word, just tell any c**t who isn't intending to score any goals to stay in their own half or we will suffer the consequences :shrug:

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

I have always recognised and known the potential is there to be a top class midfielder.

That opinion was not swayed in any way when he had his goal scoring purple patch of 2 seasons ago, nor was it swayed when his form dipped and many called for his head (or at least for him to be dropped).

I think what is key for AR is to remember what he is, primarily a midfield footballer, and what the primary expectancy is in that position. I think he at times got confused thinking his role was to score goals, which it isn't. Goals from midfield are a bonus though a necessary bonus in any succesful side.

I think what is key for Arsenal is somehow AW working out how to get the best from him and Wilshere at the same time, by a country mile the two best midfield talents the UK has produced in perhaps 10 years.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

The bassist never gets any.


Sorry A.

[Ashberto]

The smart girls know that the bassist has the best rhythm.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

[redgunamo]