Arsenal Thread

[supergrass]

I've been pretty impressed by what I've seen of Hleb. He is going to take time to settle in but I think he'll make an impact straight away, his passing has created a lot of pre-season goals.

And there's no way Pires will play in centre midfield. It's plain to see he's awful and it looks like he's just there to get his fitness back, not play in that role. Flamini is doing quite well, but he'll need another player like Gilberto next to him to help him out.

[FLiam]

Pires was shocking in central midfield, he has zero presence when he plays there.

Looks like the German fans were right about Hleb, he does like to run with the ball for too long for a long time, he will need to cut down on that a bit I think, but he does look quality.

Bit annoyed that Bentley didn't play well, I really want him to prove himself, I don't want another young English player walking out. He has the potential for sure, he just needs to fill it soon.

According to several sources, we have signed Viera , that goalkeeper. I am excited if it is true, people say he is in the Casillas mould, very agile, and can make amazing saves. Around £4m is the figure rumoured.

Might see something in the morning.

Already have a song for him if he joins:

Viera, whooooah,

Viera, whooooah,

He comes from Uruguay,

He's only got one 'i'.

But, thing is, might all turn out to be bullshit, just like the Carini story a few years back. But this one seems more likely.

Edited August 1, 2005 by Gooner4Life

[TheArsenal]

Viera, whooooah,

Viera, whooooah,

He comes from Uruguay,

He's only got one 'i'.

That is genius.....He meant to be cover for Lehmann, but I'd like to see him get a chance. If nothing else it will make Lehmann improve a la last season.

[supergrass]

Everyone here seems to be full of hope and optimism for David Bentley. Although I'd like him to become a big player for us, I'm not sure if it's going to happen. Obviously it isn't fair to judge him just yet, particularly as he was playing out on the right for us against Ajax, but of what I've seen of him he seems to be just ok.

This season is going to be a great chance for youngsters to get a game, but by that I think Wenger means the young players who are already ready to step in and play (the likes of Senderos, Fabregas and Flamini). Those players still have a bit to learn but are good players as it is. I'm just worried Bentley isn't going to have the time this season to settle in and learn as he plays with Vieira gone. It's the kind of thing that could work really well for us or cost us important points.

I'd like to be wrong about Bentley, but I'm worried he could end up like Sidwell and a whole host of others - good players that just won't get the chance or time to take their time and develop in the first team.

[TheArsenal]

Fabregas, Senderos and van Persie are going to do really well this season, building on last year. All three really impressed last year and will only get better. Reyes was fairly good, but for me personally, he didn't live up to expections.

I don't think I saw enough of Flamini last year, but from what I did see he played well. I think this coming season for him will be what last season was for Fabregas. That being said, with Gilberto, Hleb and Fabregas ahead of him, games could end up being few and far between.

As for Bentley. Before he left us for Norwich, he had a couple of good games and got that AWESOME goal....(against 'Boro?). At Norwich he played well, but he was injured for more of his loan that would have been desired. With Henry, Bergkamp, van Persie and Reyes ahead of him, he could fins this season in the Reserves. Now Lupoli. Fresh out of the Reserves, he'll be behind Bentley in the picking list. Will a 6th choice striker get any chance to shine?

[supergrass]

I'm a pretty big fan of Flamini already. He's nothing spectacluar in the way he plays, but he works hard for the full 90 minutes and just keeps things safe. That's all we need a holding midfielder to do. With Gilberto's injury record I think there'll be plenty of opportunities for him to play

[lazy_arse]

I've always quite liked Bentley actually and after seeing him for England U21s I thought he could have a real future, and still can, but I feel that like Upson he will have to go to another team. With Wenger always buying other young foreigners I don't think he'll get a look in. I could see him playing somewhere like Birmingham, don't know why, but maybe because I put Bentley in the same bracket as Pennant, a promising player but not given the opportunity to shine.

While I'm at it I'll give my opinions on some of the other young players. I've been pretty unimpressed by Reyes. For the amount of money spent on him I just can't see what he's added to the side. Had a bright start to the season, but then I heard little about him.

Senderos looks like a competent enough defender, but his inexperience does cause him to make mistakes sometimes. Right now I'd say he's good enough cover for Campbell and Toure. Fabregas has a lot of potential and even though he is very young, he showed he can handle it in the Premiership although I wouldn't put him in the Vieira role yet. Van Persie I think is the pick of the bunch. I can definitely see him playing a bigger role in the team this year. He'll be a great replacement for Bergkamp. So far I've been really impressed by him.

[TheArsenal]

I think Senderos (who is 20) and Fabregas (still only 18) will be amazing players, and at the end of this season will have improved a hell of a lot again.

I was impressed with Senderos at Euro 2004, and think he will end up a world class defender.

[FLiam]

Senderos didn't play at Euro 2004, I am 99% sure of that.

Anyway, he will be captain for us after Thierry imo. The Swiss Tony.

I still think Reyes needs to prove something this year, we all know what he can do as he did it for us in the first 7 or 8 games of last season and for Sevilla previously. Now he is contracted until 2011, so he needs to start showing he can handle it in England. The thing that worries me sometimes is that if he isn't playing brilliant, he is playing shit. He can't seem to just have a good game week after week, always brilliant one game and then non existent the next and it is quite frustrating.

Also, van Persie scored two tonight against Beveren and Lupoli got one too.

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

Bentley before Lupoli in the pecking order? I'd rather ship Bentley out and move Lupoli up to get a chance, I'm not sure I like Bentleys attitude much, he might be English but that doesn't mean he deserves more of a chance than younger players who are actually more talented.

I don't rate him too highly, he'd make a good sub for us, but he doesn't have the mindset to deal with that.

[lafunky xxvii]

I don't like Pires playing centre mid, I'd prefer Freddie in there. He's more of a battler, plus with Hleb we finally have another right sided midfielder. Also, Pires could always switch to the right.

I don't really rate Bentley. He looks like one of those players who dominates The Championship, but I don't think he's a Premiership player, definately not an Arsenal first teamer. He didn't seem to do much at Norwich last season, whereas another up and comer in the same sort of place as Bentley, Keiron Richardson made an impact. I'm not a big fan of Richardson either, but he put in some good performances whilst on loan and there just didn't seem to be the same hype about Bentley.

[TMM]

Exclusive: Wenger - I’m going to buy a keeper by Friday

By Richard Clarke

Arsène Wenger intends to sign a goalkeeper before the weekend.

The departures of Stuart Taylor to Aston Villa and Graham Stack on loan over the summer has left the Frenchman with only Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia as his recognised keepers.

On Sunday Wenger admitted that Uruguayan international Sebastian Viera was among his options. Speaking exclusively to Arsenal.com this afternoon, the Frenchman did not name names but he did reveal the deal would be concluded quickly and the new keeper would challenge the present incumbents for their spots in the first team squad.

“Certainly I will bring in another goalkeeper,” said Wenger. “That should be decided tomorrow or Friday.

“You don’t take a goalkeeper to sit on the bench, you take them to challenge everybody. That is what we intend to do. It is fair competition.

“At the moment Lehmann is No 1 in my opinion but we live in a competitive world and everybody accepts that you are only as good as your last game. You always have to prove yourself again.”

Source: Arsenal.com

Yay! I think that one word sums it up don't you? Well, that is unless he buys another Almunia of course...

[FLiam]

Jose Mourinho has dismissed claims by Arsene Wenger that Chelsea paid too much for winger Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Arsenal were interested in signing Wright-Phillips but found themselves priced out of the market with Chelsea landing the England international from Manchester City for £21million.

Wenger stated on Thursday that he felt a more realistic price for the 23-year-old would have been closer to £10million and claimed a player’s value doubles as soon as Chelsea enter the bidding.

But Mourinho said: “Wenger has his opinion. I think the English market is a special market.

“The fee between English clubs is always very, very high - not because of Chelsea but because of the English market.

“It’s not just Shaun - every player who moves from an English club to another English club is too expensive, but that’s the market.

“We could buy cheaper if we wanted to but we want English players not foreign ones.

“If we are to have a core of English players, we have to buy at least one English player every season and that’s not easy - it’s expensive.

“Unlike some teams, we don’t want to put out a side made up entirely of foreign players.”

source: premierleague.com

Another reason I hate Mourinho. He is clearly moaning that we have a team made up for overseas players, when earlier in the interview he states that English players are very expensive, for fucks sake you cock, why do you think we can't buy many then? For example, Jenas having a £20m price tag on his head.[/rant]

And surely more people think SWP was too much, he is worth £14m maximum imo. He isn't a player who can dramatically change your team like a real £20m should do.

[botchedpiledriver]

Isn't Jenas going to Spurs for 10m?

[FLiam]

Not that I know of.

He has been linked with us, Utd and Tottenham though.

Do Tottenham need another midfielder?

[fineintent]

No. Certainly one who's no better than either Carrick or Davids, if Lampard became available I'd be happy for the club to persue him.

[public enemy]

Not that I know of.

He has been linked with us, Utd and Tottenham though.

Do Tottenham need another midfielder?

←

[fineintent]

I heard he deserves to be viewed as one of the best. That's pretty vague; it could mean on of the best today.

Even so, he's won so much in such a short space of time - he won the Champions League in his second full season, something Wenger has failed to do and Ferguson has done once.

[lafunky xxvii]

So what did everyone think of our performance today? Despite losing I was pretty encouraged. I thought we played some really good football, we looked solid all round the park, Fabregas and Flamini looked good in the middle and Gilberto added that little extra when he came on. Hleb looked pretty decent too, another good signing I think. I thought Henry was quite disappointing. In the final third we didn't have that spark, but hopefully that will come with a few more games under the belt. Looking good for this season though.

Also, the atmosphere in the Millenium Stadium is awesome. We were up in the nosebleeds and we had a great view of the match. I recommend it to everyone, even if it's just the Community Shield you're going to see, plus a night out in Cardiff is definately a good 'un.

[botchedpiledriver]

If you're judging Mourinho as being 'one of the best' managers around based on the things he's won, don't forget to mention Benitez in the same breath. Benitez steering Liverpool to European glory is a minor miracle, similiar to what Mourinho did with Porto.

Edited August 8, 2005 by botchedpiledriver