Comments on: Arsenal: The Missing Link

By: Jazbo

Jazbo — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:08:08 +0000

I think we have always had the team to win silverware unfortunatley due to Toure and Adebayor the players never had the belife that they could, since the sale of those two players the change in the team has been unbelivable, you only have to look at the changes in Bentner and Eboue, these two are like reborn players.
I would also like to suggest that the return of Rosicky has been the most significant addition to the team, Rosicky is class, pure and simple, it gives the whole team a massive boost to see this man play the beautifull game of Wengerball and not be afraid to get stuck in where it hurts, even after being out for so long that we all thought he was finished, one can only speculate as to the level of football that will be played by the team after the return of Samir Nasri, champions league ? maybe but is not out of our reach.

The only think i fear can go wrong is the loss of players to the international games and those same players coming back injured.

By: don't believe the hype

don't believe the hype — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:26:14 +0000

Cape Gooner – Arsene bought Arshavin because Rosicky and Eduardo were still injured and he didn’t know whether one or both would ever return. When Cesc got injured he recognised that was one creative loss too many. The team were in the doldrums and struggling to create or finish – hence all the 0 – 0 draws. A special talent was available at a price we could afford and he was willing to spend. It gave the team the lift they needed to get us into a CL spot. I don’t see what is wrong with that.

By: Finsbury

Finsbury — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:45:47 +0000

LRV:

Yes, maybe I’m being a bit too optimistic about seeing Coquelin this season. I’m sure Le Gaffer has some ideas about who’ll cover for Song. No need to worry about the transfer policy, our last three senior signings:

Vermaelan.
Arshavin.
Nasri.

Perhaps the growing pains of the younger players and the arrival of the new older players can be construed as a missing link, but Vermaelan is just pure quality, as is Arshavin, and surely would be a great addition to any squad. Any team would be improved by such players. Fortunately we got them!

By: LRV

LRV — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:08:01 +0000

Finsbury: Though I cannot find the Euro 2008 interview, I recollect that he had delightful admiration in his expression. Who wouldn’t?

In a few years, coquelin will definitely make the DM position his own just like Song has done. He is however still too young, and needs to build his strenght & stamina to be able to withstand the rigours of the premiership, especially, the bone crushers who call themselves footballers.

By: Finsbury

Finsbury — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:00:47 +0000

Cape Gooner:

Try and find if you can interviews if you can of interviews with Arsene Wenger during Euro 2008, when he’s asked what he thinks about Arshavin.
The expression on Wenger’s face when talking about Arshavin can be described as ‘gushing’.

Clearly, he just thinks Arshavin is a fantastic player, and the dogged & determined transfer saga, that must have started during the Euro’s, is proof of that. Not very logical a reason, but it doesn’t have to be does it?
Maybe Coquelin will get the DM role, I doubt it seeing as he has only played a handful of 1st XI games, but he does look an amazing prospect.

By: Cape Gooner

Cape Gooner — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:45:48 +0000

Stuartlondon: I do not think that Arshavin is not a great player, an automatic first XI choice. I am just a little puzzled as to why the Lord Wenger chose to strengthen there, when we are thin in other areas. Defensive mid-field will be a big problem if Song gets injured or if Denilson or Djourou are not recovered in January. The DM problem goes down a level. The best midfielders on display against WBA were Ramsey, Wilshere and Randall. Will he start with them against Liverpool?

LRV: I am sorry that I was unclear. I meant to offer a possible logical alternative.

By: bobby pliers

bobby pliers — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:58:47 +0000

If the media are to be believed we are always about 3 or 4 players short, quite where these 4 players would fit in they don’t bother to go that far into detail. I think with this team and has never been about numbers more about actual belief and team spirit. Wenger offloaded Toure and Adebayor not because of their ability but because of the negative effect they had on team morale. Gallas is a player reborn because he obviously has a better relationship (albeit formative) with Vermaelen and now that we now play 4-3-3 the need for a player in the style of Adebayor is lessened somewhat. For me the 2 defeats we have suffered so far actually fill me with more confidence that we will be ok this year, and although Arsene might not want to admit it publicly we might have just stumbled across a better choice in goal and this is no knee jerk reaction to a couple of good performances, there is something in Mannone’s manner that just screams quality! And just think we haven’t even seen Walcott, Nasri or the emergence of Wilshere yet and behind these the reserves and the youth keep winning and winning, happy days!

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:56:31 +0000

LRV, Walter & Cape Gooner: I’m glad you enjoyed the article even if we don’t all agree 100% on the “missing link” theory. However, I think we all agree that the current Arsenal team, just like Tony’s website, is on the verge of greatness!
p.s. Don’t forget to enter the competition on my site – one entry gives you 6 chances of winning one of 3 great books.

By: walter

walter — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:53:18 +0000

I agree himesh. If he ever stops with us he can start as a standup comedian. LOL. Just like the kick the bottle at OT. The way he said: ‘and it was a good kick”. It made me forget we lost that game. Well not completly …

By: himesh

himesh — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:51:21 +0000

His interviews just get funnier.

By: himesh

himesh — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:50:09 +0000

When you look at the players who did not play, you see why we are not desperate [to buy players]. Now that the Club has announced good financial results, people want me to splash it out straight away. At the moment there is no transfer market, you cannot buy anybody; the window is closed. Even if you want to buy the players at Waitrose you cannot. There is no supermarket. It is only during transfer periods that we can buy new players

By: stuartlondon

stuartlondon — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:21:23 +0000

Much more importantly: many thanks to Arsene – 13 more years!

By: diceman

diceman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:08:34 +0000

don’t be shocked by the FA…

Really really want that moron’s team to come and play us at the Ems earlier than April..

You can noticed how he’s surprising quiet after the official ban…I never hate a single footballer this much, his whole existence was considered wasteful to me after the claim about us being fake fans…hope u guys who will be there in April serve him right, if he’s not a coward, well he’s already is, and grant himself injury that is.

By: stuartlondon

stuartlondon — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:31:54 +0000

Also, feel genuinely shocked by the leniency of the Adebayor punishment. Having been at the match, I felt the second incident was at least as serious as the stamping. Apart from the reckless disregard shown by Adebayor for the possible consequences of a pitch invasion, the injured official was laid out on the side of the pitch for a very lengthy period after the incident and clearly had a significant injury.

By: stuartlondon

stuartlondon — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:23:36 +0000

Cape Gooner: To answer your question about Arshavin you might want to watch the highlights from the Olympiacos game and count the number of goal scoring opportunities created by AA for van Persie, Fabregas and Eboue. You can ignore the goal since it was clearly offside. You might also observe the obvious affection with which he is regarded by his team mates. Clearly, they think he is doing something right.

By: LRV

LRV — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:20:12 +0000

A suspended two-match ban and a £25,000 fine for Adebayor’s il-advised celebration.

By: walter

walter — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:17:25 +0000

Thanks diceman for the tip. Read it also and it was a good peace on the arseblog site.

By: diceman

diceman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:27:58 +0000

To me there’s only one reason we haven’t win the league in 4 years:

Injuries

Sure, some argue that wenger should buy to cover those injuries..but in the end all the injuries to our key players always happened right at the focal point into the season.

Our starting 11 is clearly, to me, the best in the league. Keeping them fit is key this year.

Just read Aseblog’s post today which touched me pretty much, it’s a tribute to Wenger’s 13th year in charge. Love the man and could never wish for anyone else better to lead my team.

By: IndianGooner

IndianGooner — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:26:10 +0000

I do believe that there was a missing link last season but that wasnt a player. It was the confidence and the team-spirit. These two were there 2 seasons back until the Eduardo incident and if that hadnt happened, we would have won the PL. This season those two missing link have returned: Players have confidence among each other and there is a sense of unity. There were lots of incidents in the last few weeks which

AA was bought in when AW started to have doubts in Rosicky. Rosicky was being missed a lot by Cesc and others and when his recovery wasn’t going as planned, AW bought AA. Purchase of Vermaelen was as a replacement for Toure.

By: LRV

LRV — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:02:54 +0000

Cape Gooner: I don’t know why you think that Arshavin “does not seem like a logical buy”? Even in your argument, you proved that he is a completely logical buy. You stated that there was pressure that “was having an effect in the dressing room, and Wenger thought that introducing AA was a way of ameliorating the situation”. That statement makes his purchase logical. Anyway, his introduction did wake everyone up, don’t you think?