Category: Arsenal

How many of Arsenal’s team would make it into Manchester United’s starting eleven?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Transfers35 Comments

As much as the end to the current season could be extremely exciting and successful for Arsenal, they are still not quite where they used to be as a club. There was a time, of course, when they were unbeatable. There was a time when it was only the Gunners and Manchester United fighting it out for the league title.

So, what has happened in the last few years which has prevented Arsenal being one of the ‘big two’? For eight seasons in a row, Arsenal finished no lower than second in the Premier League. This was until the last three when their final positions have been 4th, 4th and 3rd.

One way to see just how far away Arsenal are from being Manchester United’s main challengers again could be to see how the individual players compare. How does Arsenal’s full strength team match up to the best team the Champions can put out?

This is something I would like your opinion on, so without too much analysis, let’s take a look at my views:

Edwin Van der Sar v Manuel Almunia – Has to be Van der Sar unfortunately.

Gary Neville v Bakari Sagna – Personally, I’d rather have Sagna in my team.

Patrice Evra v Gael Clichy – For consistency purposes, it has to be Evra.

Rio Ferdinand v William Gallas – This is a close one, but I think the odds would be in favour of Ferdinand.

Nemanja Vidic v Kolo Toure – For similar reasons that Evra won, Vidic is the winner.

Cristiano Ronaldo v Theo Walcott – For what he has achieved in the last couple of years, it’s going to be Ronaldo.Ask me again this time next year though.

Ryan Giggs v Andrei Arshavin – Giggs is still a decent player, but for creativity and variation the Russian wins this one for me.

Michael Carrick v Cesc Fabregas – No competition, Fabregas all the way.

Paul Scholes v Denilson – A number of players could fill this position for Arsenal and all of them will be as good as/better than Scholes at some point, but for now, the former England man has to get the nod.

Wayne Rooney v Robin van Persie – For me, this is the closest one of the lot. In fact, I can’t choose between them. This one is a draw.

Dimitar Berbatov v Emmanuel Adebayor – Neither have been fantastic this season. However, the Manchester United man (and Carlos Tevez) has produced the goods more often.

The end result for this ‘experiment’ is Manchester United 7.5 v 3.5 Arsenal. Whether this means much, I’m not sure. However, it does suggest that Arsenal are just two or three established high quality players short of challenging for the Premier League again.

This could happen in the next couple of years when the likes of Walcott, Clichy and Denilson really kick on as players – you never know. It certainly makes a change from the days of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires, or Tony Adams and Ian Wright and co when Arsenal would have been much closer to Manchester United in this type of analysis.

Something to think about isn’t it? Let me know your thoughts.

By Thomas Rooney

Fabregas was tapped up by Real, but Ivan says it doesn’t matter!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Transfers3 Comments

It turns out that Fabregas really was tapped up by Real Madrid in the summer, the tide of transfer rumours is rising and it’s only the beginning of April! There are rumours over RVPs contract, Clichy, and of course Fabregas. So Ivan Gazidis has stepped in to put the record straight:

“I can’t marry the stories that I read with reality,” “We are very confident that this team will stay together, progress together and achieve success together.”

He went on to firmly state Cesc’s commitment to Arsenal:

“Cesc is extremely happy at Arsenal and totally committed to the club, and that’s every message that Arsene Wenger or I have ever received from him or his representatives,”

“Arsenal offers good money..It offers a great development programme and a superb environment so it is difficult for me to imagine why players would want to leave.”

Some people will raise the old arguments that we don’t spend as much as the other big teams, but Gazidis went over some of the sound economic principles behind our policies:

“Arsenal is not a gambling club, it is a very conservatively-run club… The revenue levels to service the contracts are levels we are comfortable with and those players’ contracts are at levels that are sustainable to us.”

Basically, stay sustainable and prosper is the rule.

Fabregas and Van Persie will be here for a while longer, but don’t expect them to stay at Arsenal forever – the call for them to leave will get stronger every year we go without a major trophy.

Arsenal will be soon be Kroenke’s club

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal5 Comments

Stan Kroenke is manouvering his way to the top of the pecking order in the Arsenal board. Since his introduction to the club in 2007 we have seen him steadily accumulate shares, and this culminated him being invited to join the Board as a non-executive director in September 2008.

He has now taken a 20% stake – buying 8% from Danny Fiszman, and becoming second largest shareholder after Usmanov – spending £42 million – he is serious about this.

Kroenke took an 11.26% share off ITV in April 2007, and the Board were initally hostile – it was the beginning of a period of turbulence which saw Dein lose his position on the Board, and is still having repercussions today. Dein then sold his stake to Usmanov and suddenly Kroenke seemed like the good guy. The Board invited him in and is now setting him up as the defence against Usmanov and Dein.

This sale has come at a very important time – April 2009 is the end of the lock-down agreement set by the Board – they may now sell their shares to whoever they want. By increasing Stan’s share they are effectively blocking Usmanov. The situation was dangerous as Lady Nina is known to be unsettled and may sell her shares very soon.

Share in Arsenal

  • 25.0% Alisher Usmanov
  • 20.5% Stan Kroenke
  • 16.1% Danny Fiszman
  • 15.9% Lady Nina

Fiszman has given up his position as the second biggest holder, but still wields considerable clout. Usmanov seems unlikely to increase his stake; owning 30% would mean that he would have to launch a take-over bid – not likely at a time when his personal wealth is dwindling.

The lockdown agreement allowed Board members to trade between themselves – and this is the important part – it allows them to leave Usmanov in the cold. This is why Kroenke was invited onto the Board; to allow him to acquire shares. Kroenke is the Board’s choice to lead Arsenal.

The fact that Gazidis was appointed in January 2009, a man who has had contact with Kroenke in the MLS, is important. He may well have been Stan’s choice and hints further at the large scale shift in power within the club. The partnership with Colorado Rapids – Stan’s US football team also points to closer ties.

Personally I would prefer the Board to stay in the hands of the ‘old guard’, but Kroenke has made some promising comments:

“I will continue to work closely with my board colleagues to maintain the stable environment in which the club operates and to preserve the self-sustaining business model enjoyed by the club.”

This makes me hopeful that Stan is the right man for us. It seems inevitable that Arsenal will be in foreign hands in the near future, but Stan has experience in sports clubs and is a proven stable investor.

If he really is interested in maintaing Arsenal as a sustainable club then I am all for him.

Internationals throw up three more injuries + Rocky7 Anniversary

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, History, Injuries7 Comments

As expected the first round of international matches have provided us with an extended injury list. It doesn’t make for good reading:

  • Robin Van Persie – Groin
  • Abou Diaby – Hip
  • Nicklas Bendtner – Knee

Bendtner’s injury may be serious enough to make him return to London, but Denmark seem to be trying their best to rush him into Wednesday’s game with Albania. Denmark assistant coach Peter Bonde:

“If he is ready then he is ready. We cannot be thinking about Arsenal. We treat players well, but we will play them if they are fit.”

So basically it doesn’t matter who owns the player – we need him to play against such top quality teams as Malta and Albania. This is a joke – for players to be injured playing games of such little quality, and returned to their clubs crocked.

We have seen this many times, and now Diaby has been withdrawn with the hip injury and RVP – our best striker this season is out too. The teams they were playing – Lithuania and Scotland.

There will be no end to this saga – international football is at the centre of FIFA and UEFA’s plans – I don’t mind internationals – but when they interrupt the club season at random intervals and cause injuries it doesn’t make sense.

It would be better to introduce a winter break in the UK like in many European countries – and play internationals then.

At least one player has returned from injury – Adebayor – after several weeks on the sidelines, during which we have regained our form. Ade got a goal for Togo against Cameroon, and although he is unpopular he is a dangerous player when on form. If he comes back into the squad plaing well then we may not miss Van Persie.

Finally, a mention for David Rocastle, a true Arsenal legend, who played for Arsenal from 1984 – 1992, winning the League Cup and two League championship medals, including the famous 1989 season. Today marks the 8th anniversary of his death, RIP Rocky. Arsenal Insider has a great tribute and interview with his sister Karen here.

Image Courtesy of wonker

Rocky7 Website

Let’s show Chelsea what real fans are like at Wembley

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, FA Cup, History, Video11 Comments

I’ve got my ticket for the Arsenal Chelsea FA Cup semi final at Wembley and I guess that many of you reading will have too. It is going to be an interesting game – but one of the things that these big stadium occasions can lack is a real atmosphere.

Arsenal aren’t renowned for having the most noisy or active fans in the world, and Ashburton Grove is not the hive of activity that some football stadia are, but with a bit of effort we can out do the Chelsea lot at Wembley.

This follows the Red Action plea to ‘turn Wembley red‘ on the official site which says:

Let’s see those colours, let’s hear those songs, and really get behind the boys on our day out at Wembley. It’s not Liverpool, it’s not Manchester Utd, it’s not………Swindon Town, so no danger of a colour clash and the need for away kits, so lets turn our end of Wembley RED RED RED on the 18th and show our support.

Wear Red, bring a scarf, bring your AFC flags, shout and scream for the Cannon on our chests, and show our passions in the right way. Get right behind the Red and White, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be back in May for another day out.

So lets do it – flags and banners and noise always create an intimidating atmosphere, how do you think Turkish clubs play so well at home? We need to turn Wembley into a cauldron of noise, and cheer on the team – because this time it is serious – if we want to see a bit of silverware this season we are going to have to work for it.

We might even see something like this:

Read more about Red Action here.

Hull submit their Spit-gate accounts – what will come of it?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, FA Cup, Video66 Comments

Phil Brown and his chums at Hull have finally submitted their accounts of the alledged Cesc Fabregas spitting incident after being given an extension for submission by the FA. This follows the disapperance abroad of all witnesses – just the one – Brian Horton.

Phil Brown was decidedly shifty when interviewed the morning after the game (read here), and didn’t seem to clearly remember all of his accusations – many of which seemed to stem from a blinding case of bitterness at Hull’s season collapsing in front of his eyes.

Since the original allegations it has become clear that Brown suffers from some sort of memory loss applying to handshakes, and post-match comments, but is a good northern lad, who calls all women ‘darling’ and has very strict dress codes.

Cesc Fabregas has vehemently denied all allegations, and has never spat at anyone in his career, contrary to claims that he spat at Michael Ballack in 2005, which was ruled by UEFA as untrue.

The ‘fake tan man’, as he is known in Hull, has commented:

“We really just want the truth to come out. If the truth comes out then we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Good for you Phil – you don’t need to worry about any of the disrepute you have brought upon Hull City – a team who before this were high in most Arsenal fans’ estimations.

I can’t see that much will come of this, but if the FA do rule that there was no spitting incident then Hull will be left very red-faced indeed.

ArseSpeak is changing!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal16 Comments

Running ArseSpeak has become a big job, the site has expanded and more and more of you readers are using the site and communicating.

As part of the expansion of ArseSpeak we have now moved to our own domain -at http://arsespeak.com.

This has been a few months in the making, but I decided that now is the time to make the change!

The old address https://arsespeak.wordpress.com will redirect you, but if you want to update your bookmarks then feel free!

The feeds should all work, as should links, but please let me know if there are any problems – email arsespeak{at}gmail.com

A big thank you to everyone who has been involved in the making of this site, and all the people who have read our articles on the way.

You can get our news feed here

Van Persie has his say on remainder of season ahead of International weekend

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League, FA Cup, Injuries3 Comments

There are several ways to look at it, but many believe that the International weekend has come at the wrong time for Arsenal. There is a chance that the momentum of 16 games unbeaten in the league could be hindered and there is a chance that several important players could come back injured.

This would be the last thing that Arsenal need considering the importance of the remaining few weeks of the season. The Champions League and the FA Cup are still up for grabs and then there is the small matter of making sure that a top four place is achieved in the Premier League.

Referring specifically to just that, Robin van Persie has claimed that Arsenal’s superior experience of handling pressure should ensure that 4th place is achieved ahead of Aston Villa.

The Arsenal striker believes that the team are going from ‘strength to strength’ in terms of their performances, meaning that ‘things are looking good’ for Arsene Wenger’s men at this moment in time.

As for the challenge of Aston Villa, van Persie says that the Arsenal players ‘can handle pressure better’ than Martin O’Neil’s team. This means that he is ‘confident’ that 4th place will be achieved with some to spare.

The Dutchman has even suggested 3rd place could be a realistic option for his team because ‘anything is possible in football’. He pointed out the fact that Arsenal are only six points behind Chelsea. This, combined with the fact that they still have to play them, means it could happen.

Overall, van Persie knows that Arsenal need a ‘really good run’ towards the end of the season to create the best possible chance of success. As for arguably the biggest prize, he seems certain that his team can win the Champions League this season.

The Gunners will face Villarreal in the quarter-finals next month and this is a draw that van Persie admits he was ‘quite happy with’. He then went on to say that Arsenal ‘want to win’ the competition and they won’t be satisfied unless they do.

Quite an optimistic young man isn’t he? It’s really good to hear though as it is clear that he is very happy at the club. He believes in the team’s ability and he is positive about what the future may bring.

If there were more players and characters like van Persie in the Arsenal squad, the ‘unbeatable’ tag would be set for an unprecedented return. Come back injury-free from Holland duty please Robin.

By Thomas Rooney

The greatest Arsenal moment ever?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, History, Video7 Comments

It’s some good clean fun watching this clip. I don’t think it will ever be surpassed as the greatest result in Arsenal’s history.

It never gets old, no matter how many times! If only this season could end the same way, I would be a very happy man.

Should Abou Diaby be played as striker?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal17 Comments

After watching the 3-1 win in Newcastle this weekend I pondered over Diaby’s role in central midfield. Diaby scored in the match and it struck me that he might be a good candidate for conversion to striker.

Image courtesy of Wonker

There is a good case that he should be converted to play as striker. Firstly he has proven that he can find the back of the net – scoring quite a few goals in his time at Arsenal, against Liverpool in last season’s CL QF, and against Fenerbahce this season (image above), as well as many others. Diaby took his goal well at the weekend too, with a powerful and accurate shot.

Another factor is that in central midfield he can be a liability. I know that he has amazing potential for central midfield, but he takes risks with the ball which are unacceptable. His distribution is not quick enough; he doesn’t release the ball, choosing to hold on to it and try to dribble it round 3 players instead. This isn’t saying he can never play there, but merely suggesting we should always consider where we can get the most out of a player.

I know many would like to see him fill the Patrick Vieira mould, I just don’t think he has the defensive nous about him. That isn’t to say I think he is a bad player, just more of an attacking midfielder – if he is playing in midfield. We know that he likes to think of himself as an attacking midfielder, but what if we extended this idea further?

It could be argued that his attributes fit the strikers mould – he is tall and powerful, useful against the tough defences in the Premiership. He also has amazing control and can hold onto the ball in very tight positions – the urge to dribble round players which is so dangerous in central midfield could be very effective in taking on the last line of defence. He can also pass well when he wants to, and as he showed at Newcastle he has pace, and most importantly a great shot.

The state of the squad does pose a problem, as we lack big strong midfielders; Diaby fills a gap there, whilst we have plenty of players who can play up front. So for now it would seem that selection consigns Diaby to stick to learning to play in the centre of midfield. However, if the need existed for a striker then I think he could be a successful conversion. It would be very interesting to see how he would perform if Wenger deployed him up front, but he will always be a central midfielder.

What do you think Diaby’s best position is?