Annoying.
I guess that's why we signed all the shiny new players.
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Annoying.
I guess that's why we signed all the shiny new players.
That's about a month away. Was expecting at least that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
The injury curse hasn't gone away, it has just shifted from hamstrings to knees :-(
Whilst looking this up on newsnow arsenal I was most amused by a story regarding our pending acquisition of Real Madrid's latest young star.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Apparently someone named Arda Guler has played almost every game for Real Madrid this year and has had a 'fantastic' start and been really 'exceptional'.
Kroenke has approved a 130mil bid for him. :hehe:
Time for Eze to steal the place.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Shame as Odegaard has been quite good
He's an amazing player. Not sure if he can play on the left though... so it is his Turkish counterpart in Yildiz that I would most like to see here. A bit of talk that it could see Gabi Jesus going the other way too.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Uh Rich, the point really was that rising young stars at Real Madrid rarely decide to leave for the Arsenal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
So the 130mil bid is somewhat ambitious, and almost certainly utter nonsense :rolleyes:
Yes I am aware of that, thank you. Yildiz has actually been linked by some moderately credible sources so it may have legs.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Surely we have enough players now.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Well, quite. We've certainly got enough tricky midgets, in any case. Thankfully we are past that stage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
R is right, the Turk from Germany who plays in Italy seems far more serious though he may kill Kai Havertz.
Very annoying, poor bugger.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
More that he might kill Trossard or Martinelli or Jesus.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
I think we've already killed poor Kai :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
Don't be so silly. He cannot come back fast enough imho.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Before the middle of last season he's virtually never missed a professional game - hopefully he can do that again.
Martinelli is not going anywhere, I think; he'll be mopping up the tail for us (so to speak) for many years to come.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
The other two stalwarts are "of a certain age", so .. Leo is at least fit most of the time.
But now he's had two big injuries back-to-back. Troubling.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
As you suggest though, that's what a bigger squad is for.
By the time he comes back he will have been out for almost a year.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
So he'd hardly missed a game previously and has now had two big injuries punctuated by about half an hour's football and will have been out for almost a year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Yeah, you've really proved your point :hehe::hehe:
Of course we haven't literally killed him. But it has to be a bit of a concern.
Saw some nonsense that Madrid are sniffing around Dowman. Need a lot of sniffing, can't do anything until he's 17.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Yes, that was almost as stupid as the Guler rumour they had created out of nothing.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
I think they justified the rumour by something like, 'once Bellingham returns from injury his minutes will go down so they may have to sell him'
Yeah, course they will :hehe:
Surely we will pay Max whatever he wants to stay here long term?Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Possibly. But we also need to get into the habit of selling players on, even when they're in their peak years and at their highest value.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Maybe we've been spoiled too long, on that score.
MA loves Kai, as do I. If he stays fit, he will be major part of MA's plans. He'll rotate Kai and Vik as required, and also sometimes when needed, will play both with Kai either as a left-8 in a 4-1-4-1 or as the 2nd striker with 2 up top.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
After that first half season when we were trying a completely new MF and working out how to deal with them doubling up on B, Kai has been far, far better than I expected. He's a bit like Ozzy was for Ars?ne - a shy but technically sublime German no.10, but one who follows instructions and presses and works in MF just as the gaffer wants.
He can win duels, he's good in the air, he can hold the ball up, but as well as having Ozzy's creativity, he can scores when put through to end up 1 on 1 with the 'keeper. He finishes those like a pwoppa old skool no.9.
And while I think you can never have enough tricky, midget no.10s, do we actually have any midgets? Odin and B are both 5'10" and Zubi, who looks small, is actually 5'11". Even among our defenders, the two who look small, JT and MLS, are also both 5'10".
So when you say we have enough tricky midgets, who do you mean? The young Doctor is 6', so I guess we only have Ethan and Leo at 5'9" and 5'8" respectively. That's hardly Jack or AA23 levels of midgetry.
Maybe we should buy a real tricky midget just for old times' sake?
We certainly don't want to get into the habit of paying people whatever they want. Aside from the costs, and the virus spreading across the squad, it makes everyone but the very best impossible to sell. And those two we lost to United are evidence that we wont be held to ransom by kids not old enough to drink.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
If we've brought them up right, they'll stay. If we haven't, I don't want them.
In football, anything 5'10'' or under is effectively a midget. Which is fine, as long as they are tricky....Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Also, I am perfect evidence that you can be tall and ****ing useless in the air :-)
If Madueke stays for 5 years, he'd be 28 at the end of that and the Doctor still only 20. If we can get B to sign another new long term deal, we don't have to worry about the right wing at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
And if chasing a goal, I like the idea of B/Noni at RW/RB and Odin at inside right. B cutting inside with Noni on the overlap and Odin to knit it all together. And Vik at 9 and Kai at inside left to get on the end of passes and crosses from any of them.
If I remember correctly, Peter Crouch was never great in the air. Good feet for a big man though. Kanu is another.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
So, if all goes to plan, we'll have four top class, left footed right wingers :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
This is a great example of what red is saying. That is where you sell one of them. Preferably the one you can get good money for. Even if it is Saka......
Wash your mouth out with soap, P. Saka embodies the project - no way do we sell him - I suspect he'll stay at The Arsenal for his entire career (or very close to)Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Just scored a nice goal for Brazil against Japan.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
And I suspect he will be crocked by the age of 27 or so. We shall see.... at this stage, selling him is unthinkable. Doesn't mean that will always be the case......Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Very nice, even though his boys did take a hell of a beating.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Maybe. If we win everything. Or if we don't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
It's complicated :-\
John Hartson, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Btw: "So, if all goes to plan, we'll have four top class, left footed right wingers"
B, Noni and the Doctor. Who's the fourth? Oh, I guess you mean Ethan - I thought he was great there but it seems MA wants him at inside right. He was fine in both roles in the second half of last season. Ridiculously so for someone who'd just turned 18. But he then sees us spending ?120m on players to cover both roles.
We really do have to make sure we keep Ethan and MLS happy. At 17/18 they had B levels of talent. Yet we realised after one season of Willian he should be given the place in the team. Big Willy went on loan for 3 years and then straight into the team. I just don't know how this is gonna work unless we go to playing a squad game the whole time. Rotate them all. I'd rather like that but would the players come the final? If everyone is fit, we have a squad of 25 players {if we count Jeez and the Doctor.} With 9 different front three players. XI plus 8 subs is 19. So we could have great players not even making the bench.
But anyway, under 5'10" isn't a real midget like JW or AA. Or Maradona. MA wants his team of "basketball players" [(c) MnM] who all have the skill of midget no.10s. Dec's really skilful, though his main thing is his drive, stamina and energy. But that's why I think Kai is such an MA player. A skilful no.10 who's 6'3".
Me too. Though selling him for two hundred million quid would embody the project too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
If you're very tall, you don't actually need to be good in the air; just because at a casual glance, everyone will presume you are. You never need to really work on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by PSRB
Small goalkeepers have similar, though opposite, issues. They are all mostly excellent at catching high balls and crosses because everyone's always told them they can't.
Being good in the air with either head or hand is not really about height so much as anticipation and aggression. The goalkeepers who are best at reaching high balls and crosses are the ones who attack them with everything. Jens was the best example. He threw everything at it and took out everything in his way.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
Raya is extremely clever and knows how to use his reach and leap. That and magnificent hands.
Jens would occasionally patty-cake the ball back into the danger area to give himself something to do, especially when was bored. I loved the mad KrautQuote:
Originally Posted by Peter
And he shooed away a squirrel in front of the North Bank while the game was still being played.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
Yes. Agreed. But we've got to keep the *******s fit! All of them! :banghead:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
We don't need to keep all of them fit. Just the vast majority of them, and particularly the good ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by redgunamo
A small number of injuries is actually fairly healthy in a squad. It shows people are putting the effort in :-)