Arsenal-Related News & Developments - 2014/2015 Season

[kajifu]

Ok let us see how they do this season.
Starting from next week against Chelsea and hopefully they contribute but this are kids that are not yet there

[kajifu]

I still miss this thread oooh.
Arsenal for life

[kajifu]

The good news is, despite Mourinho's best efforts so far, it is really looking like Petr Cech is Arsenal bound. Rumour is, they demanded we offer them the Ox and they give us £20m before they sell. Arsenal have declined, making a bid of £5m for Cech. Jose it is said cannot contain his anger at the real possibility of Cech joining Arsenal. Rumour is, Jose has claimed Chelski allowing Cech join Arsenal is effectively giving Arsenal the league title. This one will drag on and Roman will eventually have to agree to Cech's wishes. When that time comes, I hope it is still Arsenal.

Cech is a family man who has lived in London for 11 years. It is said, he and his young family do not want to move away from London. It is also rumoured Arsenal have a deal in place for Cech, it is now up the Roman, who makes the decision to let the player leave and agree a fee.

Rocisky gave a very good hint about his NT mate possibility of joining him at Arsenal. I hope we pull this off, Cech has at least 4 good years left in him.

My Brother, this one I no agree with you maybe 2 4 plenty when he starts making errors na we we go take mouth finish am....but we need his experience to straighten that kolo boy Szczesny ( I think he is a great keeper ) ..so I will take 2 years of Cech keeping and mentoring Wojciech if he agrees to be mentored.

If Cech comes in then Szczesny is done as an Arsenal GK...I think he will be the odd one out. Ospina is here to stay even if as a backup...

Chei you get winch?Everyone was talking about Ospina gone and bobo is the one to stay.

[Coach]

In front of the watching England manager Roy Hodgson, Kane scored his 25th and 26th goals of the season in all competitions. Only Wolves striker Benik Afobe has scored as many in either the Premier League or Football League.

Again, if Afobe isn't plating in the Premiership for Wolves or for new employers, one will be more than surprised. This year's Championship offered a curriculum Akpom should never have turned down. Another season of shorter cameos than Cleveland in Quahog. Should've moved.

Bournemouth have agreed a fee, reported to be about £10m, for the signing of Wolves striker Benik Afobe.

The 22-year-old has scored 23 goals in 48 games for the Championship side since signing from Arsenal in 2015.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe warned there were still "hurdles" to clear, but added Afobe would "bring strength, power and hopefully goals".

Afobe would be Howe's second signing of the transfer window after Roma forward Juan Iturbe arrived on loan.

Bournemouth lost attackers Callum Wilson and Max Gradel to long-term injuries early this season.

thebeeb.co.uk

Meanwhile Akpom is wasting time. Should've left permanently, established himself in the Championship, by now he'd be on his way back. What does he believe will happen to him at Arsenal? First team football? Should've turned down the contract, left and made a name for himself.

[kajifu]

Haba what is all this?

[Coach]

Posted in wrong thread. Mods, send this one back to the archives.

[kajifu]

The good news is, despite Mourinho's best efforts so far, it is really looking like Petr Cech is Arsenal bound. Rumour is, they demanded we offer them the Ox and they give us £20m before they sell. Arsenal have declined, making a bid of £5m for Cech. Jose it is said cannot contain his anger at the real possibility of Cech joining Arsenal. Rumour is, Jose has claimed Chelski allowing Cech join Arsenal is effectively giving Arsenal the league title. This one will drag on and Roman will eventually have to agree to Cech's wishes. When that time comes, I hope it is still Arsenal.

Cech is a family man who has lived in London for 11 years. It is said, he and his young family do not want to move away from London. It is also rumoured Arsenal have a deal in place for Cech, it is now up the Roman, who makes the decision to let the player leave and agree a fee.

Rocisky gave a very good hint about his NT mate possibility of joining him at Arsenal. I hope we pull this off, Cech has at least 4 good years left in him.

My Brother, this one I no agree with you maybe 2 4 plenty when he starts making errors na we we go take mouth finish am....but we need his experience to straighten that kolo boy Szczesny ( I think he is a great keeper ) ..so I will take 2 years of Cech keeping and mentoring Wojciech if he agrees to be mentored.

you were doing well until you said the highlighted!

Chei this chief be don see Cech long ago oooh.Why do we even buy this guy?

[kajifu]

The most damning thing for Arsene Wenger is that this is a catastrophe of his making.



The Champions League draw offers no excuse. Injuries cannot be blamed. Refereeing decisions did not go against them.

It can only reflect terribly on Wenger that the Gunners continue to be trapped in a cyclical failure with characteristics that do not change regardless of playing staff or opposition.

Monaco executed their gameplan superbly but it was not one that was difficult to predict beforehand. This is a team that conceded once in the group stage while goalkeeper Danijel Subasic recently went 842 minutes in Ligue 1 without picking the ball out of his net.

They counter-attacked with pace and guile. Dimitar Berbatov is a stranger to nobody in England. And yet Arsenal unravelled in chaotic fashion once more, ill-equipped to handle the variables in a big game.

Wenger is right to declare a naivety in his team’s play and the lack of in-game intelligence was truly startling in the second half but is it not the manager’s job to guard against this? Or at least minimise the margin for player error?

Tactical nuance has become more subtle and often successful sides are those that meticulously study an opponent’s weaknesses and tailor their gameplan accordingly.

Not Arsenal. It is a familiar refrain in press conferences to hear Wenger respond to any question of another team’s shortcomings with: “Let’s not speculate on an opponent’s weakness and focus on our own game.”

Often, it feels an easy putdown designed to sidestep controversy but performances like this suggest he literally adopts that stance behind the scenes: before the 2006 Champions League Final, Wenger admitted the team only looked at Barcelona’s shape in depth on the evening prior to the game. The very best sides can play how they want, wherever they want but Arsenal are simply not in that class, mentally or technically.

This Arsenal team is fundamentally imbalanced and it has been for too long to point fingers at anyone other than the manager.

They never found the right balance against Monaco. They rarely do in big games. Arsenal had conceded at least two goals in the home leg of their last-16 tie for three consecutive seasons and were mindful of that record with full-back Kieran Gibbs and Hector Bellerin, recalled after missing last weekend’s win at Crystal Palace, reluctant to push on with their usual freedom.

Wenger was also wary of Monaco’s threat on the break but combined with Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez’s preference to drift infield, Arsenal lacked the requisite intent or width to break the visitors down.

There was conservatism in their play and a lack of sparkle in the final third. But once Geoffrey Kondogbia struck to give Monaco the lead, Arsenal’s response was to attack with overt abandon, prompting defending Wenger later described as “suicidal”. The balance had shifted too far the other way, as if manically bombing forward would somehow solve the situation.
Per Mertesacker tried to win the ball in a ludicrous position to compound the regularity with which Monaco were now threatening on the counter-attack and when he failed, Dimitar Berbatov doubled the visitors’ advantage.

And even when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave Arsenal a lifeline in stoppage time, out came the noose again. There is nothing wrong with pushing for an equaliser but to do so in such a kamikaze style allowed Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco to restore Monaco’s two-goal advantage and leave Arsenal with barely a prayer in the principality.

“The balance wasn’t right because we always had to attack and when we lost the ball we were exposed,” said Wenger. “Physically we dropped in the second half in midfield and we were more exposed. At the back it wasn’t one of our best nights.”

Wenger was left to rue Olivier Giroud’s profligacy and there is no accounting for his terrible second half in front of goal, nor Welbeck hitting Theo Walcott rather than the back of the net with Subasic floundering.

But Giroud is the striker Wenger hailed as a completely transformed player and one he deemed good enough to lead the line in the biggest competitions.He signed Welbeck on deadline day last summer for nights like this.

Mesut Ozil is Wenger’s all-time record purchase yet his contribution was minimal in another big game. Francis Coquelin found himself overwhelmed with the task of balancing this Arsenal team against experienced opposition yet he was on loan at Charlton in December and is yet to prove his pedigree at this level while Kondogbia, an Arsenal target Wenger did not pursue, utterly outshone him.

This was Bellerin’s third Champions League game. David Ospina made his first ever start in the competition. All of these occurrences are as a result of decisions Wenger has made.

It should sadden any genuine football fan to ask this of such a genial footballing luminary but the question is this: how many more times will Wenger be given the chance to get it right?

throw back