Arsenal Thread

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Going from the super 7-0 win to this is very weird. Never expected them to lose today, look forward to seeing the highlights tonight.

When is this new striker guy going to debut? As well as the other two new guys Arsenal brought in?

[Guest Zeus]

I doubt Theo Walcott will play at all this season, Emmanuel Adebayor wont be playing for another month as he is playing in the African nations cup and Vassiriki Abou Diaby i dont think we will be seeing too much of him or at least starting any games this season.

I like wenger dont get me wrong i think he's one of our best ever managers but i have to question him sometimes and its getting to the point were i think just once can we sign a proven midfield battller or goal scorer with experience, instead of continuosly buying for the future which he is doing of late, please Arsene think about the situation now we are not performing on a consistent basis, its time to think about now not 5 years from now! We need to get in the champions league and im starting to doubt that we will make it there.

[TheArsenal]

Wenger said Theo Walcott could easily challenge for a first team place, but he is having around ten days to settle in to the club so won't be playing for a couple of weeks.

Diaby was on the bench today, didn't see whether he got on or not but he's scouted as "the next Vieira" so hopefully Wenger will give him his chance.

Adebayor is at the African Cup of Nations, and so won't be around for about a month, and with Bergkamp retiring in the summer, and van Persie's injury problems, I could see him playing a fair bit.

[Cortez]

Can't belive we can beat Middlesbrough Seven Nil one week, and then lose to Everton. Think it kind sums are season up, and were still in 5th place Looking forward to watching Theo Walcott in action, him and Henry up front could be very promising. And imo we still need to sign a new defender. What is it weve signed, two strikers and a midfileder.

[CarlitoJay]

Can't belive we can beat Middlesbrough Seven Nil one week, and then lose to Everton. Think it kind sums are season up, and were still in 5th place Looking forward to watching Theo Walcott in action, him and Henry up front could be very promising. And imo we still need to sign a new defender. What is it weve signed, two strikers and a midfileder.

[supergrass]

I got to watch today's game at work (as in my bookies we have a subscription to Sky that includes Prem Plus) and Everton deserved to beat us. We had a good few chances, like Ljungberg having his shot cleared off the line and onto the post before Everton scored. But they clearly wanted it more and it told.

Senderos did his best but he's still not a good enough player yet. Beattie muscled him off the ball, maybe a fully fit Campbell (I assume he can't have been 100% coming back today) might have helped a bit. We needed someone in the middle of the pitch to get stuck in today, I really thought Gilberto was going to step up to the challenge with Vieira gone but he hasn't, nor do I think he ever will now. I wish we could've held on to Edu, having him and Gilberto could've bridged the gap.

Defender still needed, a goalkeeper has got to come in sooner rather than later (I can't see Lehmann lasting much longer than another season after this one), and depending on how Diaby gets on we could still need a midfielder to tighten things up.

Edited January 21, 2006 by supergrass

[therockbox]

Just seen on Sky Sports News that Adebayor has quit the Togo squad after a row with the manager, so he should be available quite soon.

[supergrass]

As I recall he left Metz (I think it was Metz) and Monaco under the same circumstances. Hopefully Wenger can calm him down a little.

[TheArsenal]

I think Wenger will be able to do that.

He managed to cool Vieira down some what. Although there was that issue with Anelka.....

[therockbox]

Anelka's a twat, I'd love Newcastle to buy him just because it'll only be a matter of time before he kicks off with Souness.

[TheArsenal]

I doubt Souness will be there long enough for him to buy Anelka. Although I love the way Anelka keeps getting pissed off and walking out on clubs. At least it wasn't just us.

Anyway......once again it's clear our defence needs strengthening. This has ben an urgent requirement since the old back for was broken up with the departure of Winterburn when Silvinho and then Cole broke into the squad. Thankfully Cole has come good, but we are still lacking acorss the rest of the back line, and Campbell is starting to be a shadow of his former self.

As for a keeper, well we need to replace Seaman quicker than it took MAn Utd to replace Schmeical (sp?).

[supergrass]

I think Campbell is still a top defender when fully fit. I think if Toure, Eboue or Cygan were available Campbell would have sat out today. He was just lacking that bit of pace that might've helped him catch Beattie for the goal - he still came close.

With former players, like Anelka, I always think about what my reaction would be if they came back to Arsenal. Though we wouldn't sign Anelka, and we have far better options I believe, I still think with the right manager he could be a big star. I think the worst thing he ever did was leave Arsenal and Arsene Wenger in particular. We made a huge profit and bought a number of players off the back of it so it worked out in the end.

I think Wenger can control Adebayor, but there'll probably be a period of adjustment. Vieira, Petit and van Persie all had to learn to calm their aggression and had some false-starts at the time. Bergkamp's got a bit of a mean-streak in him too when something riles him. As inappropriate as it was, I feel the need to once again say his elbowing of Steve Lomas is one of the best things I've ever seen. Great execution, he barely broke his stride.

Edited January 22, 2006 by supergrass

[therockbox]

With former players, like Anelka, I always think about what my reaction would be if they came back to Arsenal. Though we wouldn't sign Anelka, and we have far better options I believe, I still think with the right manager he could be a big star.

[FLiam]

This Adebayor sounds like a right cunt.

One minute he is moaning at Monaco saying he needs to play for his country, he would die for his country, now he walks out on them like every club he has been with.

Hope Wenger can sort him out. Bit of a silly time to do that too, probably his only chance at ever playing in the World Cup.

[TheArsenal]

This Adebayor sounds like a right cunt.

One minute he is moaning at Monaco saying he needs to play for his country, he would die for his country, now he walks out on them like every club he has been with.

Hope Wenger can sort him out. Bit of a silly time to do that too, probably his only chance at ever playing in the World Cup.

[lafunky xxvii]

He's stayed with the Togo squad and was back in training yesterday. Awesome quote by his coach.

"He wouldn't do it with Wenger, maybe it is because I'm a black coach. If I was white, maybe he would have more respect for me."

[TheArsenal]

Arsenal have on Monday signed Estonian international goalkeeper Mart Poom on a permanent contract.

Poom, 33, initially came to Highbury on loan from Sunderland in August but has now completed a permanent move to the Gunners.

The keeper, who has won over 100 caps for his country, also has vast experience of English football, playing over 200 times for Derby County and Sunderland since he joined The Rams in 1997.

Voted Estonian Footballer of the Year six times, Poom has yet to play for the Arsenal first team, but has featured four times for the Reserves this season.

Poom said: “I’m delighted to have signed a permanent deal with Arsenal and am really pleased that Arsène Wenger and the coaches at the Club have shown faith in me.

"I’m really enjoying it here at Arsenal and will continue to work hard in training, so that I am ready to hopefully feature in the first team in the near future.”

[supergrass]

I can't ever see him playing, but in the unlikely event that both Lehmann and Almunia get injured I'd rather have Poom in goal than a youth team 'keeper.

Regarding Adebayor, there are a lot of rumours and stories going around. I've read that he wasn't fit to play a full 90 minutes for Togo but was told he would start anyway - then apparently he was told he wouldn't play, being chopped and changed like that a few times. Nobody really knows what's going on so it's best to reserve judgement.

And to the Togo manager, maybe Adebayor would respect Wenger more because Wenger would probably talk to the player and solve the problem rather than giving ridiculous quotes to press. The Evening Standard reported tonight that Fabregas is going to be fined two weeks wages for his red card and given a bit of a dressing down. Apparently Cesc is taking it on the chin and learning from it which is good to see.

[TheArsenal]

So......we're in jury time.

Just heard on the radio that it's 14 shots on target each. Man that's intense. Henry scored for us but has since gone off. Probably about 20mins to go before a possible penalty shoot out. Any body else keeping track of this?

[Summers]

I'm watching it. Wigan should have had two clear penalties apparantly, so consider youself lucky.