(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 1)

It's interesting looking at the Press over here but partciularly the vibe from Arsenal fans on Twitter. The 'prominent' Arsenal accounts have all taken a turn following the weekend, most of them (I follow anyway) have been pretty pro-Wegner but have sensed a real turn in the last week or two. Even more since Saturday. We're two quiet weeks away from absolute open-revolt, I reckon.

I'll be at the home Fernebache tie which would be absolutely vital in terms of Wegners future and the mood within the fans. Will be very interesting to see.

There is certainly more people distancing themselves from Wenger.

A hardcase (but spot on) video on Arsenal fan tv:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSFEaI4HdA 

Here's the official squad list (according to arsenal.com) and their status

Goal Keepers

Szy - Available

Fabianski - Available

Defenders

Sagna - 50/50

Monreal - Injured

Jenkinson - Available

Mertesacker - Available

Vermaelen - Injured

Gibbs - 50/50

Koscielny - Suspended

Midfielders

Rosicky - injured

Cazorla - Available

Arteta - injured

Diaby - injured

Wilshere - Available

Ramsey - Available

Frimpong - Available

Myiachi - Injured (last I heard)

Forwards

Podolski - Available

Giroud - Available

Walcott - Available

Oxlaide-Chamberlain - Injured

Sanogo - Available

Bendtner - Available (but not really)

Park - MIA

Out of a squad of 24, we currently have 13 on that list available, 15 if you include Gibbs and Sagna.

This is just insane, WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY UP TO!

The scariest thing is the most group we have available are the strikers/wingers.

Midfield and Defence are threadbare!

Gareth Barry might be allowed to leave City

For someone embarking on their mid 30's he is unlike a lot of our players and actually stays fit and plays 40+ games per season. He could fill the DMF slot

Mamadou Sakho wants out of PSG?

Sakho, Barry, Michu, plus another wide player (Poldi/Theo/Cazorla) only fit options at the moment - possibly Sanchez if he still wants out of Barca? Or their dutch winger Afellay?

Sky saying we have bid for Yohan Cabaye. Just saw a tweet from someone which was exceedingly fair - Williams and Michu (The Swansea kind) would be decent signings, but they would have been decent signings at the start of the window and a hell of a lot cheaper as well.

Whoever we get now, we are going to have to pay serious bucks for. Not exactly a secret that we're desperate.

So now we're in crisis and talking about Gareth Barry. My goodness. 

Ashley Williams, I don't get that. I just don't rate him. Swansea hardly keep a tight ship at the back, and they were so so easily broken down by ManU long-ball on Sat. Ferdinand etc were pumping balls in the box from 50 yards and van Persie had all the time in the world to bring them down and get shots off. That is not what I want in our box. He can distribute, yay, that's why Swansea have him, but he aint got f*ck all else. He'd be our next Squillaci I fear. 

Barry, in a moment of crisis, I'll take him - because we need someone, anyone in that slot. And he's proven at high levels. That deep role just doesn't suit Wilshere or Ramsey. 

And why the f*ck are we bidding on Cabaye? For me he plays that middle of the three - the role set up in our team for Wilshere, Ramsey etc.

Here we are with no defenders and no defensive midfielders, and we're putting in a laughable bid for Cabaye. Seriously, we have no f*cking idea what we're doing in the transfer market it seems. We've spent the summer lowballing clubs and being rejected, and this is where it has bought us. 

Looking at the silver lining, it's better we find ourselves in this situation with the transfer window open, than things going rosey until 4 weeks time when the wheels fall off and January is a LONG way away.

If we don't sign another midfielder we have to recall coquellin. I reckon he's got more game and is calmer than pingpong, and should have started Saturday.

Agree with Paul on Cabaye, I like him a lot, however Wilshire/Ramsay own that spot and all in sundry agree on that.

Cabaye, Rosicky and Arteta are cute from the same cloth, we need a point of difference and Barry would bring some defensive steel. Also on a point of difference I would be nudging Fellaini, he gets some stick but he is totally different to what we have and would be fantastic at breaking some of the 1 dimensional play we have.

I think Barry would be an excellent signing positionally and for his attitude, however it seems likely we will get Cabaye and not Barry.

By the way for all this money, we are back to maximum bids/signings of 10 mil lol

A thought as well on Cabaye, I hope we have a good medical team to check him out, he suffered depression was pretty open about it and good on him, just from a very selfish point of view I hope he has the right tools and people around him.

Begovic looked more like what we need, with a calm head between the sticks

Get Rooney, Get Fellaini, Get Cesar.

Williams? Meh.

Linked with a 6 mil bid for Japanese RB Uchida playing at Schalke, this smells of a panic buy...

If we're shopping for a RB then I reckon Sagna is being groomed as a permanent CB.

Good choice in my opinion - rather have Sagna as a CB than buy Williams. 

I am not sure Sagna will like that, am sure he doesn't mind being back up but he really enjoys getting forward to put crosses in, so how would he feel permanently stuck at the very back?

Sagna is one of the best RB's in the league and has been for many years. He's also one of the most consistent and stable performers in our squad. Converting him to CB at this point in his career would be simply ridiculous. 

So, based on recent evidence that's likely exactly what'll happen.

Man crush?

That doesn't make sense. If a fullback ever gets converted to CB it is at precisely this point in his career - when the pace starts to go, but the tactical awareness is peaking due to the player's experience. 

And that sits perfectly with me regarding Sagna - he's broken his leg twice in the past 2 years. He's 31 now. Plus he's awesome at CB, and Jenkinson is a very good RB. It just fits well for me. Still our first choice RB, no doubt, but I'm saying he should also be our 4th choice CB. Regardless of our opinions, I think that is what is happening going from Arsene's comments during pre-season. I'd sure as hell be happier with that than Williams, who I do not rate at all. 

Only very good defenders are equally adept at CB and FB, and I think Sagna can fall into that - think Thuram, Abidal, Ramos etc

Agreed Paulm. 

Good write up here about Cabaye:

https://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/arsenal/id/2092?cc=3436

That list is pretty much in priority order, maybe swapping holding midfielder and keeper around.

Hope Wenger stays on

If it makes anyone feel better, the ref from our game has been dropped.... bit late now though! 

should never have been selected in the first place - at least there is some accountability, either way we shouldn't have let the ref have that much effect.

I've been a Wenger supporter/apologist for years but it's clearly gone beyond that. We have serious problems somewhere between the board, upper management and him. We're a laughing stock. If nothing changes we'll be another Liverpool.

SpendSomeFudgeingMoneyStan.

Sorry I was really only saying that the bit that didnt make sense was the 'at this point in his career' bit. I took it out of context from our current squad situation.

Ignoring that, we're pretty much in agreement. 

A DM who can also operate as a handy CB would be perfect for us right now. Someone like, ooh, I don't know, Gustavo? FFS!

If we're willing to splash stupid money on Suarez then why don't we splash that on Fellaini instead??? Would be worth more to our squad in my opinion. He can play anywhere on the pitch in times of injury-crisis too. He can even do a job at striker which wouldn't go amiss in our current squad. 30 - 35mil would be enough if we were willing. Why the f*ck not? It would get the fans onside pretty quickly if nothing else.

13 days and counting.....

Season before last we had a tipping competition of the result and any scorers, keen for that again?

Yup!

something's gotta give in chelsea's squad, too many talented players for too few spots, wonder if someone's available in there