Tag: adebayor

Five Of The Best 2007/2008

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

Five of our best players this season. Love them or hate them I think most people would agree!

1. Fabregas

The centre of our team, we rely on his creativity and passing, he is arguably our biggest player.

2. Flamini

He has left Arsenal for a fat contract at the San Siro. He was most improved player in the squad.

He is like a crazy dog who doesnt stop running! He covers a huge amount of ground every match. Constantly winning the ball for us in midfield and redistributing. He is also an excellent passer of the ball, although his technical abilities are overshadowed by Cesc.

At the beginning of the season was a squad player, he became an integral part of the squad. We will have to replace him now!

3. Clichy

Amazing in defence and attack. His runs and crosses provide a huge source of attacking creativity. Tireless, pacy and always back to cover the defence.

4. Sagna

Our other full back, newly signed this season, fitted in seamlessly and made right-back his own.

He adds attacking pace down the right, and can cross well. He is like Clicky in that he is very good defensively, but fast and attack-minded.

5. Adebayor

A striker who sometimes comes under criticism. He is our top goalscorer, leads the line, holds the ball and can head the ball or shoot, he has allowed us to diversify our game and has flourished since Henry left. You can argue with a 30 goal season!

I could mention almost any of our players, with a few exceptions, but these are the pick of the bunch for me!

Arsenal’s Season: The highs and lows

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

I’ve pulled an all nighter writing a huge report thats due a few hours from now, so I won’t be posting toady just sleeping!

I thought I’d leave you this video to enjoy, a few highlights and a few lowlights of the season, just remember, theres always next year! Remember Cesc in Milan, Walcott at Anfield? Here you go!

Speak soon Gooners!

Hleb’s Future In Doubt, Calderon Mumurs About Fabregas

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers3 Comments

The Times thinks that Hleb is on his way out of the club. They claim that his ‘representatives’ have agreed a four-year deal with Inter, and that he has told team mates that he will join Inter.

Again this seems speculative, with no quotes and nothing official, but it may happen. Hleb could leave, and we would be in a bit of transfer trouble were this to happen. Wenger would have a bit of a midfield crisis. I’m waiting to hear more on this one.

A player who is linked with a transfer is Fabregas, and this is one I’m sure won’t happen (bar something totally crazy occuring in the next few months).

Ramon Calderon, the Real president has Fabregas as one of his main transfer targets, and said:

“Something nice about Cesc is that he is Spanish and this is one of my objectives – to make Real Madrid more Spanish.”

Only two weeks ago Fabregas said that he was totally comitted to Arsenal though:

“My future belongs to Arsenal, and it is the truth.”

“I have always said I want to play for Arsenal, it is the best team I can be at, the best club for me.”

So I doubt Calderon’s wishes will come true at this point!

Meanwhile, Sagna is set to sign a new contract after only a season at the club, maybe Wenger is getting wary after the situations with Flamini and Hleb.

Wenger also said that Adebayor needs to keep improving:

“I believe if Ade keeps his work ethic, there is still 20% more to come from him. Does he want it enough – to get this extra 20% out?

“Well that is where his future lies. If you lose that desire, you quickly become a nobody.”

Adebayor should be able to keep up his form next season, I don’t see any reason why not, Wenger just wants to stop him getting too comfortable!

I hope we can hold onto Hleb at least, because otherwise we will start the transfer season weakened, rather than ready to strengthen the squad. I think it is more likely he will stay than Flamini, but if he does leave we might have a confidence problem on our hands.

Flamini, Adebayor’s Agent and Potential Transfer Targets

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

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We haven’t heard anything official about Flamini, but if he hasn’t signed by now he is as good as gone. There are unsupported rumours from the Corriere Dello Sport that he has told the team he has chosen Milan. Who knows?

GilbertoSilver thinks that we might have a perfect replacement for Flamini in Kolo Toure. Arguably our most versatile player, I saw huim play up front in his early days! I think he could do a job for us there, it would be convienent because his partnership with Gallas seems a little shaky at times.

I would quite like to see Michael Johnson, the England Under-21 midfield player signed up. We have been linked to him as well as Gareth Barry to replace Flamini. Man Citeh are in turmoil at the moment as their owner, Thaksin Sinawatra has decided to sack Sven, because he didn’t do well enough this year (wait, we are talking about City here right??), a valuble lesson against outright foreign ownership.

Anyway it seems Flamini may start against Everton on Sunday, no matter what his status is.

Adebayor’s agent has also been worrying Wenger by fueling transfer speculation about Ade:

“Today he is happy at Arsenal, he showed it on Monday. But you know football, everything goes very quickly.”

Just money grabbing in my opinion, there’s no reason Ade would leave Arsenal, so don’t listen.

Also, Van Persie is going to miss the Everton game:

“We don’t want to gamble at this stage of the season on a muscular problem. We had a little alert but it is not big at all.”

Fair enough, RVP has struggled badly with injuries these last few years. Maybe a rest will help him recover, I hope Holland get knocked out of Euro 2008 early!!

Arsenal Players Look to The Future As Theo’s Girl Slags Off WAGs

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

Cesc rues the dropping of points here

“For us, it is already next season now”

He said we would come back stronger:

“because we are young, because we want to play, because we are hungry for titles”.

I can see where he’s coming from, you can see in the desire we showed the season that next year we will be raring to go, I am sure the team will want to put this disappointment out of their minds.

Adebayor echoes his sentiments here:

“What was also important is that we sent out a message to our rivals that despite all the disappointments we have had in the past couple of months we are sticking together and showing that we are getting better and better.

“This season we may end up with nothing – but it will not look the same this time next year.”

Meanwhile Wenger believes we were “one game away” from being champions this year:

“I feel we were one game away in this championship. If we win at Old Trafford, we are champions. It’s just one game, and in that game we were 1-0 up and we had two or three chances to score the second goal, so you cannot say we had a bad season. We have 77 points and we have won championships with 78.”

This is so true, we are only 4 points off the leaders, and if we had won at Old Trafford then that would put us on 80 and Man U on 78. Anyway, no point thinking of missed chances, just take the desire into next season and unleash our amazing football on the Premiership!

Wenger was pleased with Adebayor’s performance against Derby, and had this to say on his 30 goal man:

“There is more in the locker than what he is doing at the moment, but how much I don’t know. If he repeats that year in, year out, that’s a mark of class.”

Adebayor deserves the praise a top class striker, he is young and in his first big season he has been excellent. If you agree then say so, because Ade gets a bit of stick on the web!

He had a less positive comment about the Flamster, who is probably going,

“I’m waiting for him to come back to me and tell me whether he’s going”

In other news, Theo Walcott’s bird, Melanie Slade, has criticised the so-called WAGs:

“I hate the stereotype – the shopping all day long, the short dresses and massive sunglasses.

“The wannabes who are so desperate to sleep with a footballer have no respect for themselves, no ambition, nothing.”

Apparently Theo calls her “waggy” when he wants to insult her! Haha, very good, nice to see some sensible comments about people like Cheryl Cole…

Thats all from me!

Let me know what you think about Adebayor and his 30 goals!

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Derby Highlights: Six Goals and Third Place is Ours

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

An easy win at Pride Park saw Adebayor grab a second half hattrick, taking him to 30 goals this season, to secure at least a third place finish for the Arse.

Derby 2-6
(HT 1-2)		 Arsenal
McEveley 31
Earnshaw 77		 Bendtner 25
Van Persie 39
Adebayor 59
Walcott 78
Adebayor 81
Adebayor 90

The game was enjoyable, unless you were a Derby fan, we played well without ever really moving out of second gear.

For highlights click here.

Derby came at us in the first half but the game didn’t start at a great pace, neither side had much to play for. We rested players, Denilson starting in midfield, and Walcott on the left, with Bendtner and RVP upfront.

Went 1-0 up through a defensive mistake allowed RVP to set up Bendtner, but Derby equalised soon after through a knock down from a free kick crossed into the box.

Another defensive error from Derby, saw Van Persie leave his marker, and chest down a lovely ball from Toure in the penalty area and place the ball in the top right at close range.

Van Persie strained his thigh, so was taken off for Adebayor at half time.

Van Persie just keeps struggling to recover. He has been out for most of this season. He is an amazing player, just never seems fit for us.. I hope he can get over it for next year, because with him in the side we are much much more dangerous in attack.

Ade scored his first after half time, only for Derby to sneak one back through Rob Earnshaw. We immediately stepped up the gears and scored 2 more, a lovely goal from Walcott, and Ade’s second. We were just toying with Derby creating numerous chances and passing excellently.

Adebayor got his hattrick in extra time after a defence splitting pass from Fabregas allowed him to take it past Carroll and put it in the net.

Wenger had this to say:

“This team has a great future, I believe we were really unlucky not to win something this year.

“It is always a problem not to win trophies but I love this team, love the way they behave and the way they play.

“This was a typical Arsenal display, we were always dangerous and were good technically. They all impressed me.”

Here’s to the future..

Cesc, Clichy, Sagna And Ade Do Well At PFA. Derby Preview

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

Well done to Cesc Fabregas, who last night won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award. He had this to say:

“To win a personal award reflects the season we have had as a team,” he said. “Everyone said that it is disappointing not to win anything but we have made a big step forward in experience, physically and mentally. One of us deserved to win something because we played some very good football.

“What matters at the end of the day is a trophy. We didn’t win one this season but we will be up for it next season. I think we will win something, of course.”

 That’s what we want to hear Cesc! He also gave his support to Gallas:

“You have to respect William for what he has done in football and what he is doing now, for me he is doing a good job. For me, the most important thing is giving everything on the pitch”

I think that is a fair statement, Gallas has done a good job on the pitch apart from a few slip ups, although I’m not sure he’ll be captain next year.

Cesc Fabregas, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy & Emmanuel Adebayor were also named in the Premier League Team of the Year, the most from any team. Wenger reacted to the praise here saying:

“If you ask any Arsenal fan what they think of Clichy and Sagna I think you will have unanimous praise.”

Derby preview here. Fabianski will start and we may see some other younger faces, Bendtner might start, and Walcott will too I guess. Eboue has said he wants to repay Wenger’s faith in him, maybe we will see him tonight too.

There Are Some Positives? Wenger, Adebayor, Toure

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal1 Comment

Morning all,

Thursday, and I’m still really pissed off about the Liverpool result, and the way that wonder run from Walcott counted for nothing!

Clichy thought it was ridiculous..

I guess that’s just football. The reaction has been a little extreme from some fans.

There’s no way Wenger should go, and the players we have are very good, we just need a few more, that’s all.

I’ve read a lot about people calling for Wenger’s head, saying we should get rid of the team etc etc etc, what a load of crap.

Look, at the beginning of the season we were all saying that following from last year this year would probably be similar, the final phase of the ‘transition’. It’s been better than we would have hoped then, just not as good as it was looking a few weeks ago!

Lets look at it this way:

  1. The team has performed amazingly and we have been much more successful than many critics suspected.
  2. We are only 6 points behind Man Utd in the League so maybe we should push on and try and be optimistic!
  3. We know we are good enough to challenge for everything next year.

Wenger:

“We cannot lose our belief now – let’s not forget we played a very good game at Anfield. And if there is a lesson, it must be that we have to concentrate to the very end.”

Good words Arsene. We did play well, and the players know that, but I think they are probably pretty down right now.

Adebayor knows Wenger can put them on the right track:

“He has more experience than anyone here, and he knows the words to use so that we can come back on the pitch, be more successful and want it more.

Toure:

“We still have the chance for the Premier League and we will try to take it. We know it is not over – we just have to look at the next game and try to win.”

Exactly Kolo!

Injury News

Flamini is probably going to miss the Man U game after the ankle injury he picked up, but I don’t think it’s serious.

Almunia & Should Arsene Invest In A Striker?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

Two men have signed a new contract at Arsenal.. No Flamini isn’t one.. It’s Manuel and Fran Merida. The man who has taken Lehmann’s spot this season and performed well as the new ‘No.1’ or at least I think so, and our young Spanish prodigy currently on loan in Spain with Real Sociedad.

I said earlier in the season that I wasn’t sure if Almunia was a long term option in goal but the more he plays the more I feel he is a solid part of the team. His deal is long term and Almunia himself said:

“I talked to my wife and I said I did not want to go back to Spain to play. Hopefully I can finish my career here”

Most goals we concede are due to defensive errors and generally this season I think he has done a sterling job. Well done Manny!

Injury news ahead of Saturday is that, Van Persie is only 20% certain to play, and Adebayor also has a slight knock which Wenger will review today.

Recently while reading some forum posts, I came across an interesting post about our strikers, basically saying that we need the chequebook out this summer to sign some strikers. I thought I’d give my own opinions and find out yours.

Adebayor: Works hard all over the pitch, sometimes a little too hard. Has definitely got the talent to perform at the highest level. Scored 19 league goals this season, but has come in for a bit of stick recently. I think it’s undeserved, he has had many different partners this year and has often had to lead the attack on his own. He’s a versatile, pacy player who has a great future.

Van Persie: Well, a man with a lethal left foot and bags of talent, but hasn’t had the chance to shine due to terrible injury problems. I saw his appearance stats and he has only played about as many games as Justin Hoyte, not really a first-team player, in his time here. Flashes of brilliance i.e. volley against Charlton last season, but needs to be injury-free to really be useful.

Walcott: Great potential for the future, pacy, intelligent and able to score goals. He got off the mark, in the League , against Birmingham in that 2-2 draw this year and is certainly a bright hope. I think he has warranted a starting position, at least on the right wing for his recent performances. Maybe not ready for the pressure of being a first choice striker?

Bendtner: Another one with great potential, but he hasn’t lived up to it, occasionally we have seen great things, his aerial ability, great control and touch and a good ability to make space, but he is still young and needs to mature.

Eduardo: He was starting to get into his goalscoring role before his injury and looked like the goalscorer we have been looking for, out for 9 months now after his horrific leg-break, hopefully he will come back with goals, but you can never be certain he will be the same player.

So in summary, Ade, a great player – needs a good partner up front. RVP, injury prone, but could perform. Walcott and Bendtner – great potential but need more experience, and Eduardo is out injured for a long period.

It seems to me that Arsene should consider making an investment in the summer… What do you think? Feel free to get involved, just leave a comment!

Arsenal Injury Injury, now on to Old Trafford

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, FA Cup

So, Man Utd at Old Trafford tomorrow, 5.15pm.

It looks like we have quite a big list of injuries to contend with, Kerrea Gilbert was on the bench against Blackburn, that shows how little coverage we have at the moment. Traore may start tomorrow, against Ronaldo, which doesn’t bode well.

In the end it is not the first priority, and I would rather have the Premiership than the FA Cup, As much I’d like to win everything the league is 38 games of consistent form and the cup is one off ties, so anything could happen tomorrow, whether we have a stronger team or not. As long as we keep winning I don’t mind!!

Adebayor is cool, so is Willy Gallas, against Blackburn it was so satisfying to see Adebayor get the goal he deserves and for him and Gallas to celebrate together.

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