***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

[rsnomar05]

Arsenlog said a couple of weeks on the RVP injury, which is not too bad considering we have an international break upon us.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Arsenlog said a couple of weeks on the RVP injury, which is not too bad considering we have an international break upon us.

Very true. Plus, as he said, we have someone who can step right in.

It just sucks to see RVP out, when we got to see just what he can bring with that outstanding pass to Walcott.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

With Shay Given staying at Man City, our chances of getting Schwarzer before the deadline tomorrow keep decreasing, which means our chances of having to sit through another season of Almunia and Fabianski keep increasing. Yikes.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

With Shay Given staying at Man City, our chances of getting Schwarzer before the deadline tomorrow keep decreasing, which means our chances of having to sit through another season of Almunia and Fabianski keep increasing. Yikes.

The inevitable news of no new keeper is bad enough. Combine that with news that RVP is now out for four weeks, not two, and everything gets even worse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/30/arsenal-robin-van-persie-ankle

[goonertaff]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

The inevitable news of no new keeper is bad enough. Combine that with news that RVP is now out for four weeks, not two, and everything gets even worse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...n-persie-ankle

cant believe Wenger has nt signed a keeper- if we miss out on some silverware this year because of a blunder im going postal

as too RVP it's not the end of the world looks like we have a back up striker who can score a few

what a great game on saturday a game last year we would have drawn or possibly lost we looked solid and compact towards the end of the game and has theo taken a giant step forward- decent first touch an end product and not so much of the headless chicken

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

We had one glaring need. One huge weakness. And it wasn't a new need or weakness. No, this had been a long problem, one that so obviously needed remedying it would baffle the mind if nothing was done to fix it, like if the government knew the Golden Gate Bridge was going to collapse but let cars continue to drive on it. So Arsenal saw this weakness, this need for a keeper, saw the goalkeeping howlers and blunders from Almunia and Fabianski and did absolutely nothing to rectify the situation.

They had a bid in for Schwarzer 2 mil. which was rejected. So Schwarzer handed in a transfer request and Arsenal went back with the exact same bid, 2 mil., which was rejected, and now Fulham says Wenger never increased his offer. Seriously? Never increased the offer over 2 million, despite the fact that back in May Fulham said the offer wasn't high enough? Wenger probably thought Fulham would cave, that they would have to sell, but now wasn't the time to get cute with transfer offers.

Wenger went after a 37 yr. old keeper would have been an upgrade over Almunia and Fabianski, but Schwarzer wouldn't exactly have been a transfer signing to drool over. We know Akinfeev wanted to play for Arsenal, because he admitted as much, but all we heard about was Schwarzer, how Man City wouldn't sell Given to a rival, how Fulhman rejected Arsenal's initial bid back in May and Arsenal never upped the offer, despite the fact that a new goalkeeper was such a huge need. There were rumors yesterday that Arsenal had increased their bid to 4 mil, but Fulham just said those rumors were false.

Sow what we have here is a manager who was confronted with a glaring weakness at goalkeeper, had money to spend, had players interested in joining Arsenal who were upgrades over our present keepers (and in the case of Akinfeev, a huge upgrade), and wound up not signing anyone. Great job, Arsene.

Wenger has said he believes our current team can win the league. But he's also said that every year since the invincibles season, and he's been wrong every time. This time, I hope I'm wrong. I hope Arsenal finally wins trophies. I believe Arsenal will compete, and if a few breaks go their way, if they can stay healthy, then maybe they can mount a title challenge. But when lose points on goalkeeping blunders, those points may cost us a trophy. And if that happens, we will complain like we do every year about the need to spend money to get a better keeper, preparing ourselves to get disappointed by Wenger's refusal to offer more than 2 million for a keeper that could be the difference between a trophy and simply settling for CL qualification.

[Laffer]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Sow what we have here is a manager who was confronted with a glaring weakness at goalkeeper, had money to spend, had players interested in joining Arsenal who were upgrades over our present keepers (and in the case of Akinfeev, a huge upgrade), and wound up not signing anyone. Great job, Arsene.

Hey, we're all frustrated. But buying players for more money than they are worth isn't the Arsenal way. And overpaying for aging players isn't either. If you want to follow a team that can overspend on a whim, and teams that have huge player turnover every year, I can think of two in blue that would be right up your alley.

And frankly, if our luck had been different, I really believe we could have won two trophies last year. But Cesc and RVP, our two best players went down, and not many- if any- team could recover from that.

If you want to criticize Arse, that is your prerogative, but keep in mind that you are insulting the way he has run the team since '96, and the Arsenal way of soccer that we're all so fond of.

Lets at least wait for an Almunia blunder before piling on anymore.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Lets not kid ourselves, we weren't winning anything last year. The last month of the season proved that.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Hey, we're all frustrated. But buying players for more money than they are worth isn't the Arsenal way. And overpaying for aging players isn't either. If you want to follow a team that can overspend on a whim, and teams that have huge player turnover every year, I can think of two in blue that would be right up your alley.

And frankly, if our luck had been different, I really believe we could have won two trophies last year. But Cesc and RVP, our two best players went down, and not many- if any- team could recover from that.

If you want to criticize Arse, that is your prerogative, but keep in mind that you are insulting the way he has run the team since '96, and the Arsenal way of soccer that we're all so fond of.

Lets at least wait for an Almunia blunder before piling on anymore.

So as an Arsenal fan I should just blindly accept what Wenger is doing because that is the Arsenal way?

The fact is we needed a keeper and we didn't get one. It's plain and simple. We needed one position in the transfer market above all else and Wenger didn't deliver. You had keepers like Akinfeev declaring interest in the club, but no moves were made. This isn't about overspending or throwing cash around wildly. It's about addressing a weakness, which should be the Arsenal way. The Gunners eliminated their debt and are making money, so it wasn't as if Wenger didn't have any money to spend. We are one Almunia injury away from having Fabianski starting in important games, and Fabianski has been nothing but dreadful in his Arsenal starts.

I think Arsenal has the quality to be a contender this year, and I really hope they win trophies, but GK howlers cost us points last year, and with no changes to the GK situation, they'll likely cost us points this year. The question will be whether or not the other additions can make up for our deficiencies in net. I was hoping I wouldn't have to hold my breath on every opponent set piece, fearing for the worst. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be doing just that.

[Laffer]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

This isn't about overspending or throwing cash around wildly. It's about addressing a weakness, which should be the Arsenal way.

It would have been overspending and throwing cash around though. That's my point- Arse has never done that, his Arsenal is one that never overpays for a player. And I'm thankful for that, and support that.

Lets not kid ourselves, we weren't winning anything last year. The last month of the season proved that.

I know we weren't likely to win anything, but we did lose our two best players (and 2 of the best 10 outfielders in the Prem) in that last month. If both RVP and Cesc had stayed healthy, we could have had a chance at some silverware imo.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

It would have been overspending and throwing cash around though. That's my point- Arse has never done that, his Arsenal is one that never overpays for a player. And I'm thankful for that, and support that.

I understand Arsenal doesn't overspend, but it's not about Schwarzer, it's about the fact that we needed a keeper and didn't get one, when keepers were interested. That's what frustrates me. They had all summer (they've had two years, really) to find a better keeper. It's frustrating that they didn't.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

So, now Theo is injured. Yet another reason for me to seriously dislike international football.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

So, now Theo is injured. Yet another reason for me to seriously dislike international football.

At least his injury will only be 2 weeks at the very worst. I'm more concerned with RVP, since I do not want to see Chamakh get hurt and us have to play Arshavin at striker like last year which didn't go so well.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

At least his injury will only be 2 weeks at the very worst. I'm more concerned with RVP, since I do not want to see Chamakh get hurt and us have to play Arshavin at striker like last year which didn't go so well.

Very true. The word is mid October on RVP, which really is a shame.

In terms of good news, Nasri is back in training and could be in the squad this weekend.

[Laffer]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

At least his injury will only be 2 weeks at the very worst. I'm more concerned with RVP, since I do not want to see Chamakh get hurt and us have to play Arshavin at striker like last year which didn't go so well.

Did our team doctors confirm this timeframe already?