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Post #480401  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:33 pm 
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The Frenchman was placed in the press box, surrounded by assorted journalists, throughout the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg stalemate.

The game was a low-key affair, characterised by more missed chances for Chelsea, as in their 2-2 Premier League draw earlier this month.

Morata was once more guilty of missing opportunities, but Wenger was more eager to point out his propensity for winning cheap free-kicks.

Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail provided an insight into Wenger’s thoughts and actions throughout the match, and says the manager was overheard swearing at the Spaniard in the second half.

“Every time he [Alvaro Morata] goes down it’s a f***ing free-kick,” he is claimed to have said.

http://www.football365.com/news/wenger- ... -a-fing-fk

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Post #480402  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:40 pm 
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Francis Coquelin departs

Arsenal have sold 26-year old French midfielder Francis Coquelin to Valencia for a £12.4m initial fee.
He becomes player number 13 to leave the club this season, taking Arsenal's net spend to £34.9m so far.


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Post #480403  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:42 pm 
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tomc wrote:
Niall wrote:
If Wenger had a proper quality squad - and I mean quality- then I would be OK with him having a go with it. So, a batch of new quality players throughout the team would be enough for me to get excited again.

But Niall, Wenger is the man responsible for bringing this quality in and then managing it. He is no longer capable of doing either.

He has to go before we can move on and become contenders again. He has become bigger than the club, which I suspect is just the way he likes it.

Don't worry Tom, he'd have to buy at least 10 players so it ain't gonna happen.

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Post #480404  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:23 pm 
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Hazuki wrote:
Ash wrote:
Hands up who thinks we will..

A year ago I would probably have been more pessimistic, but now I actually wouldn’t rule it out. Even if Wenger does stay, there seems to be a bit of a power shift going on with regards to transfers. Wenger commented on how he first wanted to loan Mavropanos somewhere, but the first signs were so encouraging that he now wants to keep him until May – it’s clearly a player Wenger wasn’t familiar with at all, and how many Arsenal players have we been able to say that about in the last 20 years?


Perhaps, I see and agree with your chain of reasoning, but what seems more likely is the players that come in are offset by better players leaving and we carry on from where we left off quality wise. Which has been the story of our transfers, more or less, for the last 10 years.

I don’t doubt the desire to bring in the quality the club needs, but I suspect that we might be beaten by the market again. And I’m not sure what the strategy is although, as you say, it seems like that has changed with different people in charge.

But I couldn’t tell you really what it was before, the Mbappe and Lemar stuff was just so bizarre. 180m potential spend!! And when that’s thwarted “Ok, a transfer profit that’ll do!” :25surprise:

But I’m with Niall, win the Europa cup (not a given) and exciting squad building and I’m gearing up to look forward to Arsene’s farewell season.


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Post #480405  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:37 pm 
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Sorry but while not impossible, I think it's highly unlikely we'll win the Europa League under Wenger, a manager who has never won a European trophy.


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Post #480406  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:03 pm 
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warrior wrote:
Francis Coquelin departs

Arsenal have sold 26-year old French midfielder Francis Coquelin to Valencia for a £12.4m initial fee.
He becomes player number 13 to leave the club this season, taking Arsenal's net spend to £34.9m so far.

Should that be a net spend of negative £34.9m so far this season?


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Post #480407  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 9:54 pm 

Goonie wrote:
We need an Arshavin-like Jan signing.

Arshavin was fabulously gifted but taking into account what he cost was in my view one of Wenger's worst two signings for Arsenal. I accept he started very well and played a big part in getting us into the top four his first season after arriving in January. Maybe that's what you're thinking of for this year. But remember, after that things went seriously downhill with Arshavin and I think the only other real candidate for his worst signing was Jeffers.

I don't know if you're thinking of Mkhitaryan but unfortunately if Wenger does sign him I can see things going the same way as it went with Arshavin.


  
 
 
Post #480408  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:09 pm 
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Interesting who the forum thinks is wengers worst ever signing?
You’d have to weight up the cost, wages, performances, expectation v reality. It’s tough.

For example I had great expectations when we signed Baptista, albeit on loan, I thought he was exactly what we needed, pace, power, goals. Such a disappointment - but then it was a one year loan so very little damage done.

Lots of the disasters have been quite cheap. Silvestre, park etc.

I wonder where the current squad would rank?


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Post #480409  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:17 pm 
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If Sanchez leaves this January we will likely finish outside the top 4. Its as close to a guarantee as you can get. The only way that doesn't happen if he goes is if others step up. Maybe one of the younger players who look so good exceed expectations and have a break out season.

Walcott can go, even if we get a player exchange, a good player, for Sanchez it won't equal his contribution. Perhaps we have no financial choice, either he goes or we lose him for free and if he stays and we end up outside the top 4, very possible if not likely, then its all for nought in keeping him.

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Post #480410  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:28 pm 
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David Ornstein is tweeting that arsenal have accepted Sanchez will go in jan. city are at £20m but he thinks somewhere between £25-30m will seal it. Arsenal want the Brazilian Malcolm to replace him. He’s also said saints and Everton are in for Walcott, arsenal will only sell or keep no loan option even though lots of clubs interested in a loan.


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Post #480411  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:45 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Interesting who the forum thinks is wengers worst ever signing?
You’d have to weight up the cost, wages, performances, expectation v reality. It’s tough.

For example I had great expectations when we signed Baptista, albeit on loan, I thought he was exactly what we needed, pace, power, goals. Such a disappointment - but then it was a one year loan so very little damage done.

Lots of the disasters have been quite cheap. Silvestre, park etc.

I wonder where the current squad would rank?


I think Wengers worst signing is Granit Xhaka. If you consider his positive qualities but also remember his fee was 35 million quid and what that buys in the market. I mean at the time wanyama was 11 million and Kante was 32 and I would take either of those 2 instead in a heartbeat instead of Xhaka.

He was supposed to fix a pretty major flaw in the team and considering the size of fee, the importance of the role he was due to fill at the time he edges it. Also we won't get a decent chunk of that money back when he inevitably gets moved on.

2nd place goes to Andre Santos who at 7 million quid was a disasterous signing and nowhere near good enough to play for arsenal. A signing that stemmed from pure desperation and panic. The club couldn't have scouted him when we signed him as one look at him would have showed he wasnt good enough. He must have been bought off the back of you tube clips

Further honourable mentions go to Jeffers who came close but showed great form for Everton prior to joining, Chamakh who was free but cost huge wages and we waited for 2 seasons for him to run his contract down at Bordeaux only to find out he was *%^@.


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Post #480412  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:51 pm 
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Bernard wrote:
Goonie wrote:
We need an Arshavin-like Jan signing.

Arshavin was fabulously gifted but taking into account what he cost was in my view one of Wenger's worst two signings for Arsenal. I accept he started very well and played a big part in getting us into the top four his first season after arriving in January. Maybe that's what you're thinking of for this year. But remember, after that things went seriously downhill with Arshavin and I think the only other real candidate for his worst signing was Jeffers.

I don't know if you're thinking of Mkhitaryan but unfortunately if Wenger does sign him I can see things going the same way as it went with Arshavin.


Whilst not being a great signing I can't really count Arshavin because he clearly had talent and if I recall correctly Wenger kept playing him on the left hand side in a 4 4 2 .Wenger's reluctance to play him in his preferred position, as a classic No10 was confusing and never made sense.


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Post #480413  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:57 pm 
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bubblechris wrote:
VAR gets a thumbs up from me. Gives the ref more reason not to favour one side or the other as evry decision he now makes could be looked at.

Atkinson coped very well.


Agree on both counts. A couple of minor crap home team calls, but no more than you'd expect in most games on most grounds. He handled a potentially tricky game rather well (though took longer than the last 3 refs vs Chavski this season to work out that Morata is willing to drop to the floor with the merest provocation).

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Post #480414  Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:58 pm 
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Hazuki wrote:
Holding, Mustafi, Chambers and Xhaka really good today. They've been rightfully criticised a lot this season, so they deserve to be recognized when they play well.


Agreed. Great bounce back games from Chambers and Holding particularly after recent struggles.

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Post #480415  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:00 am 
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bubblechris wrote:
Can't wait for Monreal or Kolasinac to come back. Give Ainsley a chance to show what he can do in a midfield role.


Gotta be why Wenger was willing to let le Coq go. Hodd's boy could be a real star for us if he can keep fit and keep the focus and humility he has shown to date.

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Post #480416  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:04 am 
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Hazuki wrote:
Would've liked to say Iwobi was really good as well because I thought he did a lot of positive things, but his final ball is just shockingly bad. Both when finishing and trying to pass it. Most important thing to improve if he wants to make it at this level.


He just needs to find that confidence and focus he had when breaking into the squad or that he has with Nigeria in those key moments. His ability to break the lines and hold his own physically are both impressive. Also, worth noting that prior to the last 2 matches, he has actually created chances in his previous games, but they have been squandered. The finishing thing is bizarre though...he's capable of brilliant finishing, but is sometimes so poor in those situations. His career could go either way, but I still hope he can suddenly develop a calmness in front of goal as per Cesc or Rambo when they suddenly started scoring.

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Post #480417  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:04 am 
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Gaz from Oz wrote:
bubblechris wrote:
West Ham make Javier Hernandez avaiable, worth a punt?

Yes, I think there is some hidden talent there.

At £6-7M back in 2010, a few thought he was worth it. Then Fergie got his mitts on him. He's 29. Good for 3 more years maybe somewhere.

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Post #480418  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:07 am 
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.
Here's my New Year wish list ......... For once I'm more eager to see people f*** off than us make new signings because any new signing would soon be programmed to play the same insipid Wengerball .

Have a major clean out Walcott , Sanchez , Bellerin , Özil , Coquelin , Čech , Ospina , Mertesacker , Cazorla , Wilshere

Promote the kids have a mediocre season , finish eighth ...Wenger f****s off ...... doesn't hang on as a scout , manager , director , advisor , tea boy ....... nothing ......and the new season we get a new manager , who makes his own signings , adopts much more direct style , learn to defend cohesively and I can get back to liking Arsenal Football Club .

If Walcott goes I'll be drunk for a week .


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Post #480419  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:11 am 
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Gaz from Oz wrote:
socrates wrote:
Excellent result with so many players missing. We lacked any real quality but battled well. Mustafi sums that up really, a real trier who is aggressive and committed but makes too many rash challenges and basic errors to be considered top class.

Why do we get so many injuries, are our players made of balsa wood?

The more I see of Lacazette the less convinced I am by him. Not much service but he really struggles to get into games. You can see why so many big teams haven't been able to make up their minds about signing him.

In my opinion to have a hope of top four we need at least two big first eleven signings and to keep either Özil or Sanchez. I'd say a CB and a central midfielder (especially if Coq goes) at the very least and probably a wideman too but I won't be holding my breath.

Regarding Lacazette I also share some concerns. When we purchased him I recall that a female on one of the podcasts I listen to had watched him a lot. She said he had been prone to really struggling when not scoring. However she indicated that in the last 2 years he had been a lot better and did not suffer from the problem. However I am starting to see a player whose head drops when he misses a chance and especially when he is subbed off around the 65-70 minute. The other day I saw the first moment of real doubt in a game when he took too long to shoot. He was second guessing himself. He is starting to look like Chamakh rather than Henry.


Well, he'll never be as bad as Chamakh or as good as Henry, but its worth remembering that Chamakh had the best first 3 1/2 months as an Arsenal striker since Ian Wright, and that Thierry had scored 5 goals by this date in his first season.

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Post #480420  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:12 am 
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Goonie wrote:
Rich wrote:
If we sold Coq, Theo and Sanchez this window without any replacements I think the team would struggle to win the Europa League and thus qualify for the champions league. The lack of champions league again next season would hamper any new signings. On the flip side, Wenger makes some signings, using up the budget for the next man - or he goes on to win the Europa League and uses it to convince himself that he is still relevant and stays for a while longer.
Do you get much worse to get better? The top table is so competitive that a few season out of the champions league (without limitless money from the owner) could lead to a stagnant team for a long time even with a new manager.
Catch 22 for Arsenal fans


Don't mind Wenger staying if we win the Europa League.

Hi Goonie,
That EL is just about all AW has left now to win, unless he makes the Carabao win a possibility. Oh Yeah, good luck with that. 4th place is still a remote chance. :laughing7:

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Post #480421  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:13 am 
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Goonie wrote:
Hazuki wrote:
As long as we're doing rumours: Telegraph are reporting Everton are willing to pay £20m for Walcott, and according to Guardian Man Utd have bid £25m for Sanchez and are willing to include Mkhitaryan in the deal.


We need an Arshavin-like Jan signing.

:laughing7: :laughing7: are you kidding in his last couple of years that pasty faced Russian warming up on the sidelines filled me with as much gloom as Walcott does these days .


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Post #480422  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:18 am 
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Rich wrote:
Bernard wrote:
Morning Rich. I accept your point about new signings offering excitement to fans. They also offer hope that they will bring improvement. But I'm perhaps being over-cynical, but regardless of that I simply can't stop myself from viewing new signings with suspicion.

First, might not Wenger be able to use new signings that he is improving things, at least potentially? Moreover, could he use that to convince Kroenke he should get another contract so he can work towards the realisation of his changed side's potential? I honestly think Wenger is selfish enough to use the pontential of new players (the new signings) to do that.

Secondly, any new signings will eat into the transfer budget available to a new manager if we're lucky enough for Wenger to go. Do we really want that? A budget which, with the money to be lost over Sanchez and Özil, might not be particularly generous. Surely a new manger wouldn't want to have his transfer budget spent by Wenger, nor would he want the new signings chosen by Wenger?

If we sold Coq, Theo and Sanchez this window without any replacements I think the team would struggle to win the Europa League and thus qualify for the champions league. The lack of champions league again next season would hamper any new signings. On the flip side, Wenger makes some signings, using up the budget for the next man - or he goes on to win the Europa League and uses it to convince himself that he is still relevant and stays for a while longer.
Do you get much worse to get better? The top table is so competitive that a few season out of the champions league (without limitless money from the owner) could lead to a stagnant team for a long time even with a new manager.
Catch 22 for Arsenal fans


Not really...because although Wenger's coaching is suspect as hell in certain aspects, and his signings of defensive players uncertain, how many attackers has he actually spend money on and got wrong? We can complain about Chamakh & Bendtner, but they only cost signing on fees, gervinho was a punt who got us our money back, jeffers had glass ankles and a penchent for the marching powder which are both difficult to legislate for, Diawara made us a profit despite being pony....who else has he bought as an attacker that hasn't been very good or from the comparative bargain bucket? (sure I'm missing someone, but the point stands)

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Post #480423  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:19 am 
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Goonie wrote:
Rich wrote:
If we sold Coq, Theo and Sanchez this window without any replacements I think the team would struggle to win the Europa League and thus qualify for the champions league. The lack of champions league again next season would hamper any new signings. On the flip side, Wenger makes some signings, using up the budget for the next man - or he goes on to win the Europa League and uses it to convince himself that he is still relevant and stays for a while longer.
Do you get much worse to get better? The top table is so competitive that a few season out of the champions league (without limitless money from the owner) could lead to a stagnant team for a long time even with a new manager.
Catch 22 for Arsenal fans


Don't mind Wenger staying if we win the Europa League.


It would be rather hard to justify sacking him if he does! Gazidis wants him gone though, so it will be interesting...

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Post #480424  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:25 am 
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Bernard wrote:
Goonie wrote:
We need an Arshavin-like Jan signing.

Arshavin was fabulously gifted but taking into account what he cost was in my view one of Wenger's worst two signings for Arsenal. I accept he started very well and played a big part in getting us into the top four his first season after arriving in January. Maybe that's what you're thinking of for this year. But remember, after that things went seriously downhill with Arshavin and I think the only other real candidate for his worst signing was Jeffers.

I don't know if you're thinking of Mkhitaryan but unfortunately if Wenger does sign him I can see things going the same way as it went with Arshavin.


At £15m Arshavin wasn't even that expensive by the transfers of the time. By playing a big part in getting us top 4 he repayed his transfer fee immediately. It ended badly, but for a couple of years he was rather good.

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Post #480425  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:31 am 
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Rich wrote:
Interesting who the forum thinks is wengers worst ever signing?
You’d have to weight up the cost, wages, performances, expectation v reality. It’s tough.

For example I had great expectations when we signed Baptista, albeit on loan, I thought he was exactly what we needed, pace, power, goals. Such a disappointment - but then it was a one year loan so very little damage done.

Lots of the disasters have been quite cheap. Silvestre, park etc.

I wonder where the current squad would rank?


Jeffers. Barely played due to injury, only scored a couple of goals of any importance, and then had to be sold at a big loss. In terms of people who actually impacted significantly in the team, probably Kaba Diawara...the guy hit the post about 7 times without scoring, when any of the last 3 going in would have won us the title in '99, stopped Utd winning the treble and probably hastened Fergie's departure....

In more recent years, Silvestre was free so with limited expectations and Park was just too weird to even be bad. Played 3 times, scored one great goal, sold a lot of merchandise.

Wenger perseveres too long with mediocre players, but he seldom spends big bucks on bad ones.

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Post #480426  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:38 am 
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TOP GUN wrote:
Rich wrote:
Interesting who the forum thinks is wengers worst ever signing?
You’d have to weight up the cost, wages, performances, expectation v reality. It’s tough.

For example I had great expectations when we signed Baptista, albeit on loan, I thought he was exactly what we needed, pace, power, goals. Such a disappointment - but then it was a one year loan so very little damage done.

Lots of the disasters have been quite cheap. Silvestre, park etc.

I wonder where the current squad would rank?


I think Wengers worst signing is Granit Xhaka. If you consider his positive qualities but also remember his fee was 35 million quid and what that buys in the market. I mean at the time wanyama was 11 million and Kante was 32 and I would take either of those 2 instead in a heartbeat instead of Xhaka.

He was supposed to fix a pretty major flaw in the team and considering the size of fee, the importance of the role he was due to fill at the time he edges it. Also we won't get a decent chunk of that money back when he inevitably gets moved on.

2nd place goes to Andre Santos who at 7 million quid was a disasterous signing and nowhere near good enough to play for arsenal. A signing that stemmed from pure desperation and panic. The club couldn't have scouted him when we signed him as one look at him would have showed he wasnt good enough. He must have been bought off the back of you tube clips

Further honourable mentions go to Jeffers who came close but showed great form for Everton prior to joining, Chamakh who was free but cost huge wages and we waited for 2 seasons for him to run his contract down at Bordeaux only to find out he was *%^@.


Wanyama is a brick outhouse, but can barely pass more than 15 yards and is a totally different player, who without Dembele or Ericsson looks ordinary as hell. Kante? Very good at certain things, but has only won 1 game against Arsenal since coming to England, and has generally been outmanouvered by our midfield. Would probably be a very good partner for Xhaka. Xhaka is defensively suspect and not mobile. Kante is mobile, defensively great but has a very limited passing range.

Xhaka may not be Petit 2.0 as he was advertised, but he's a lot better than people realise. There is a reason Bayern were looking at him before Vidal became available.

Santos is a good shout. One of those guys who was never really what we needed and whose game dropped off a cliff about half way through his first year. But £7m wasn't really a big expenditure even then.

As for Chamakh, he probably would have been ok as a back up, but that whole blackmail thing seemed to break his head completely.

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Post #480427  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:09 am 

lomekian wrote:
At £15m Arshavin wasn't even that expensive by the transfers of the time. By playing a big part in getting us top 4 he repayed his transfer fee immediately. It ended badly, but for a couple of years he was rather good.

Arshavin was our record signing at the time so he was expensive by Arsenal standards. He had a good first half a season but in my view, relative to his ability, cost, reputation and reasonable expectations, largely stunk the place out. So my memory of his first two years is diffesent to yours.


  
 
 
Post #480428  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:04 am 
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Zed wrote:
Gaz from Oz wrote:
Yes, I think there is some hidden talent there.

At £6-7M back in 2010, a few thought he was worth it. Then Fergie got his mitts on him. He's 29. Good for 3 more years maybe somewhere.

I suppose that demonstrates how time passes me by. I would have guessed he was 26-27yo. He would need to be a give away at 29yo with no great recent history.

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Post #480429  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:08 am 
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lomekian wrote:
Gaz from Oz wrote:
Regarding Lacazette I also share some concerns. When we purchased him I recall that a female on one of the podcasts I listen to had watched him a lot. She said he had been prone to really struggling when not scoring. However she indicated that in the last 2 years he had been a lot better and did not suffer from the problem. However I am starting to see a player whose head drops when he misses a chance and especially when he is subbed off around the 65-70 minute. The other day I saw the first moment of real doubt in a game when he took too long to shoot. He was second guessing himself. He is starting to look like Chamakh rather than Henry.


Well, he'll never be as bad as Chamakh or as good as Henry, but its worth remembering that Chamakh had the best first 3 1/2 months as an Arsenal striker since Ian Wright, and that Thierry had scored 5 goals by this date in his first season.

It is the Chamakh effect I am concerned with. Started well and fades. I am not sure whether this is the way he is trending. A hat trick in under 70 minutes against Bournemouth will cheer him up

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Post #480430  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:27 am 
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lomekian wrote:
TOP GUN wrote:

I think Wengers worst signing is Granit Xhaka. If you consider his positive qualities but also remember his fee was 35 million quid and what that buys in the market. I mean at the time wanyama was 11 million and Kante was 32 and I would take either of those 2 instead in a heartbeat instead of Xhaka.

He was supposed to fix a pretty major flaw in the team and considering the size of fee, the importance of the role he was due to fill at the time he edges it. Also we won't get a decent chunk of that money back when he inevitably gets moved on.

2nd place goes to Andre Santos who at 7 million quid was a disasterous signing and nowhere near good enough to play for arsenal. A signing that stemmed from pure desperation and panic. The club couldn't have scouted him when we signed him as one look at him would have showed he wasnt good enough. He must have been bought off the back of you tube clips

Further honourable mentions go to Jeffers who came close but showed great form for Everton prior to joining, Chamakh who was free but cost huge wages and we waited for 2 seasons for him to run his contract down at Bordeaux only to find out he was *%^@.


Wanyama is a brick outhouse, but can barely pass more than 15 yards and is a totally different player, who without Dembele or Ericsson looks ordinary as hell. Kante? Very good at certain things, but has only won 1 game against Arsenal since coming to England, and has generally been outmanouvered by our midfield. Would probably be a very good partner for Xhaka. Xhaka is defensively suspect and not mobile. Kante is mobile, defensively great but has a very limited passing range.

Xhaka may not be Petit 2.0 as he was advertised, but he's a lot better than people realise. There is a reason Bayern were looking at him before Vidal became available.

.


I wouldn't say Kante has limited passing. Yes wanyama is a destroyer but was always good againest us when playing for saints but I'd still prefer him to Xhaka.

The reason why I would be saying Xhaka is mainly due to the fee and importance of the role on our backbone. I'm not saying he's our worst ever player just signing. If we'd spent 15-18 million on him I wouldn't consider him Wengers biggest mistake in the market at all as we would be able to get most of that back when selling him but it's double that which should ensure we are getting proven quality. He's better than El Nenny for example but was 25 million pounds more expensive, for that 25 million you get some slightly better passing and a little more aggression and that's it.

We really needed him to be good and he's just been largely a liability. It really hasn't been a good piece of business and Wengers inability to restructure our midfield has been a major problem in recent seasons


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Post #480431  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:37 am 
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Bernard wrote:
Goonie wrote:
We need an Arshavin-like Jan signing.

Arshavin was fabulously gifted but taking into account what he cost was in my view one of Wenger's worst two signings for Arsenal. I accept he started very well and played a big part in getting us into the top four his first season after arriving in January. Maybe that's what you're thinking of for this year. But remember, after that things went seriously downhill with Arshavin and I think the only other real candidate for his worst signing was Jeffers.

I don't know if you're thinking of Mkhitaryan but unfortunately if Wenger does sign him I can see things going the same way as it went with Arshavin.


Yes, i was thinking of immediate impact to salvage our season.


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Post #480432  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:38 am 
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Rich wrote:
Interesting who the forum thinks is wengers worst ever signing?

Has to be Jeffers for me. Arshavin is a good shout, but he at least had a good first year or so before he fell off a cliff. Jeffers was pretty expensive at the time, and made absolutely no positive contribution at all. Baptista is a candidate based on expectations, but as it was only a year-long loan it didn’t really matter all that much. Stepanovs has to be mentioned for sheer uselessness as a footballer.

Reyes would be another one for me – like Arshavin he had a great first year or so but then completely fell off. Considering transfer fee, expectations etc he’s definitely up there, and I think him not panning out really hurt us. Watched him sometimes for Atletico and later for Sevilla and he could still completely take over a game when he wanted to (which was usually once or twice per season). Infuriating player.


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Post #480433  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:49 am 
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Sanchez and Walcott out with Malcom (not Malcolm!) and Lemar in would be a great transfer window for me. Would be kind of fun to see Sanchez go to United and still not win any big titles (they’re going nowhere with Mourinho) but I hope we do not want Mkhitaryan in an exchange deal. Just the money will do.


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Post #480434  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:29 am 
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Bernard wrote:
lomekian wrote:
At £15m Arshavin wasn't even that expensive by the transfers of the time. By playing a big part in getting us top 4 he repayed his transfer fee immediately. It ended badly, but for a couple of years he was rather good.

Arshavin was our record signing at the time so he was expensive by Arsenal standards. He had a good first half a season but in my view, relative to his ability, cost, reputation and reasonable expectations, largely stunk the place out. So my memory of his first two years is diffesent to yours.

I honestly think there's a link between Arshavin's form whilst playing in a country where state sponsored doping was rife and encouraged and his form dropping off after a few months in a new country where it's not.

Ain't rocket science.

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Post #480435  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:32 am 
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Seems like the new Greek lad has impressed in training. Let's hope he's finally found a decent defender.


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Post #480436  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:35 am 
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As regards's Wenger's buys I think some of his odd last ditch signings have been the most frustrating in that we've tended to be linked with quality for weeks only to end up with some watered down cheap and cheerful version or some has-been panic buy.


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Post #480437  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:38 am 
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socrates wrote:
As regards's Wenger's buys I think some of his odd last ditch signings have been the most frustrating in that we've tended to be linked with quality for weeks only to end up with some watered down cheap and cheerful version or some has-been panic buy.

Agree, although as a caveat I would say that one or two, Arteta & Mertesacker for example, have been some of the most solid characters we've had for a while. Not world beaters but really good, professional men who got what it meant to play for The Arsenal and may well go on to become fine coaches.

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Post #480438  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:40 am 
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Oh and not forgetting Monreal who signed on the January deadline day of 2013. Another of Wenger's better signings.

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Post #480439  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:43 am 
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Darren wrote:
Bernard wrote:
Arshavin was our record signing at the time so he was expensive by Arsenal standards. He had a good first half a season but in my view, relative to his ability, cost, reputation and reasonable expectations, largely stunk the place out. So my memory of his first two years is diffesent to yours.

I honestly think there's a link between Arshavin's form whilst playing in a country where state sponsored doping was rife and encouraged and his form dropping off after a few months in a new country where it's not.

Ain't rocket science.


Are you saying he was on drugs. Maybe all our players are, would explain stuff. Horse tranquillisers possibly.

More plausible that simply the premier league is a different kettle of fish to Russian football


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Post #480440  Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:45 am 
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Darren wrote:
socrates wrote:
As regards's Wenger's buys I think some of his odd last ditch signings have been the most frustrating in that we've tended to be linked with quality for weeks only to end up with some watered down cheap and cheerful version or some has-been panic buy.

Agree, although as a caveat I would say that one or two, Arteta & Mertesacker for example, have been some of the most solid characters we've had for a while. Not world beaters but really good, professional men who got what it meant to play for The Arsenal and may well go on to become fine coaches.


I think there is two ways to looks at those kind of signings.............good solid pros with great character but on the other hand not really good enough to elevate us to where we wanted to be in terms of improving the team.

A bit like putting a very good quality sticking plaster over a bleeding wound knowing that what's really needed is some stitches.


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