Andre Santos arrived in the summer of 2011 and was seen as a panic buy for many people. We had lost Gael Clichy to Manchester City earlier that summer and had failed to find a replacement, leaving us with just the very inexperienced and injury prone Kieran Gibbs at our disposal.
With the transfer window on the verge of shutting and no business being done by Arsene, could it be he is scared to spend Arsenal's money in case he gets it wrong again? Just for a bit of fun I've picked a team of Wenger howlers, if you can add any players please do and of course I know about the good signings he has made as well.
Every Arsenal fan is totally aware that the Gunners have a certain list of players on the wage bill that are simply not good enough to wear the Red & White, and are extremely unlikely to even get another game for the first team ever, but worryingly, Arsene Wenger does not expect any of them to be leaving the Emirates at the moment.
I don't think I will be the first Arsenal supporter to say that Tuesday nights disastrous performance against league 2 Bradford was one of, if not the worst of recent years.
We lacked leadership, technique, pace and above all the will to win the game at any cost.
It was only a friendly game between Arsenal and Chelsea yesterday at London Colney, but it was very important for the Gunners returning stars Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna who both managed to get through the full 90 minutes unscathed.
The big surprise was that they were surrounded by experienced first team players like Emmanuel Frimpong who has also only recently returned from an extended period on the treatment table.
There were not many surprises when Arsenal confirmed their official squads for this season's
Premier League campaign, except for the inclusion of the midfielder Craig Eastmond, who featured in
Arsenal's 3-0 defeat of Everton in the U21 League on Monday. The other surprises for me are
Sebastien Squillaci and Andrei Arshavin, who everyone thought would [.
There will not be many Arsenal fans that will be happy that a certain Sebastien Squillaci is still
in training with the club after the transfer window deadline has come and gone. Arsenal failed to
find buyers for Nicklas Bendtner or Chu-Young Park, but at least they have been sent out on loan to
Juventus [.
Squillaci to Olympiakos? YES PLEASE! by KJ Sky Sports are reporting that Greek champions Olympiakos
have agreed a fee with Arsenal for Frenchman Sebastian Squillaci. This is probably the greatest
transfer news we will hear this summer. It has been extremely hard for Wenger to shift the
Frenchman who has had an extremely torrid time [.
Wenger confirms that Park, Squillaci and Bendtner are on their way out of Arsenal! We've finally
got some confirmation from Wenger on certain players to depart from Arsenal this summer. He's
highlighted that Chu-Young Park, Sebastian Squillaci and Niklas Bendtner are all on their way out
of the Emirates.
SQUILLACI'S MOVE TO BASTIA FALLS THROUGH by AH Sébastien, Sébastien, Sébastien, why on earth do
Arsenal pay you £60,000 a week? There are players like Theo Walcott, Robin Van Persie who are
asking for more money and players like Laurent Koscienly and Alex Song who you'd expect to be on
that kind of wage.
Arsenal set for defensive changes maybe by BA There are various rumours around at the minute
concerning Arsenal and their possible defensive line up in the coming season. After Thomas
Vermaelen was photographed with Barcelona captain Carlos Puyol in a restaurant in Ibiza, it created
a whirlwind of speculation.
Is Kyle Bartley A Failed Experiment? By JG Although Arsenal fans are jubilant over the coming fresh
faces who will be gracing the front lines in the Arsenal attack, most feel that the back line also
needs more quality. This is a reasonable request considering that most sportsbook reviews are
saying that Djourou and [.
Fringe players departing Arsenal P1 by KJ Arsenal have been very positive in the transfer market
already with the signing of Podolski as well as Wenger confirming himself that Giroud to Arsenal is
90% done. There are also strong links with the French defensive midfielder, Yann M'Vila who
confirmed his liking towards Arsenal.
Despite Arsene Wenger being in the Ukraine for the Euros, there are lots of Arsenal transfer
rumours doing the rounds today, and most of them are quite plausible for a change! Now that Olivier
Giroud's Arsenal talks have even been reported on the BBC we are all expecting this to be a done
deal, but [.
The high horse of statistics, context and hindsight by Richard B. Whenever I hear statistics being
thrown around, not just about football but life in general, I am amazed at how little emphasis is
put on the context of the information. Although it is not football related, some of my favourite
statistics are those you [.
The final and most crucial game of the season is coming up this weekend and nothing less than a win
will ensure Arsenal a place in next years Champions League. Arsene Wenger gave an up-to-date
rundown of Arsenal injury news, and things aren't too bad all things considering, and he even
confirmed that Sebastien Squillaci [.
The players that will leave and come in next season Part 1 by KJ An interesting comment by
Travis_Bickle was flagged up by the admin and it looked a good basis to do an article on. His
comment was based on the idea of working out who exactly would leave this season and then [...]
So, who exactly makes up Arsenal's ‘deadwood': by SV It is accepted by almost all Arsenal fans
that there is deadwood in our team that needs clearing out in order to free up space both
financially and in terms of squad size for new, more useful signings. I thought that I'd use
today's [...]
It's official, Mertesacker's season is over by KJ Wenger brought in the big German to shore up
Arsenal's leaky defence for this season. Contrary to popular belief, I actually think the 6ft 6in
centre-back has done a decent job in an ever-changing back-line. Unfortunately, he sustained quite
a heavy injury against Sunderland in the Premier [.
How can some Arsenal fans be so deluded? by KJ My most recent article sticking up for Wenger
received a very mixed reception probably edged out by the ‘Wenger out' brigade. So today I want
to talk about some of the misconceptions that certain fans pro-Wenger and anti-Wenger alike have
about players and [.
This is a guest post from Arsenalbanter.com which is an interesting up-and-coming new Arsenal Blog.
If you like this article take a visit and see what else they have to offer..... TEN PLAYERS THAT
ARSENAL HAVE TO GO IMMEDIATELY Arsene Wenger has got an excellent reputation for nurturing
youngsters from the Arsenal Academy or buying [.
It is being reported in France that the Arsenal outcast defender Sebastien Squillaci is being given
an escape route by Monaco, where he spent eight happy years before being snapped up by Lyon, where
he won a Ligue 1 trophy. He then moved to Spain with Sevilla for two years before arriving in
London with [.
We all knew that things were bad regarding the injuries to the Arsenal defence, but I'm not sure
that everybody knows exactly how bad it is right now. We all knew that Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary
Sagna, Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson were definitely not going to be in the team,
but now it's [.
It seems to be a yearly occurence that Arsenal have a run of injuries to defenders. Last season it
was the centre-backs and now it is the full-backs that have dropped like flies. On the 2nd October
Bacary Sagna was lost to an ankle injury and luckily Wenger had brought in the young Carl Jenkinson
[..
Consider this a 'half season review', but with one game added on. After a terrible start,
followed by an excellent run, followed by a topsy turvy Christmas period, I feel we now have a good
idea of how the season is going to go.
When we beat QPR and Chelsea lost at home to Villa, we leapfrogged them into 4th place.
The 3-1 humbling to Olympiakos is Greece in the last group match of the Champions League was a
match full of frustration for some Arsenal players. It shows that they may have to leave during the
January winter transfer window in 2012 as they just don't look like they are interested in playing
well for [.
It was reported last week that the Russian moneybags Anzhi Makhachkala were keen on rescuing the
Arsenal defender Sebastien Squillaci from his nightmare scenario at the Emirates, and Arsene Wenger
will be pleased to know that the Spanish side Espanyol are also interested in the ex-French
international.
It is being reported today that Arsenal have turned down a request from West Ham Utd to take the 31
year-old French defender Sebastien Squillaci on loan. The Hammers recently had Manuel Almunia at
Upton Park for a month while Robert Green was out injured and Sam Allardyce was hoping for a
similar deal for [.
Oh no, hang on a minute, Arsenal still have Per Mertesacker! He could end up being an inspired
signing for Arsene Wenger as he is the only established centre-back that Asenal have available for
tonights game against Olympiakos. We all know that Thomas Vermaelen is still out and may be for
some time after his [.
Sebastien Squillaci is a player that Gooners love to hate. To say he has not had the best of times
since he arrived at Arsenal is an understatement, and many supporters were glad when he was dropped
from the side with Arsene Wenger claiming he was injured. But was he really injured, or has he
[...]
The magic of the cup, up for the cup, Wemberlee, wearing yellow ribbons – here we are again on third round weekend, and I still love this competition to bits. Wenger Mark I loved it to bits too and was rather good at it – four-times winner of it, and it should have been five given how we were mugged in 2001.
The magic of the cup, up for the cup, Wemberlee, wearing yellow ribbons – here we are again on third round weekend, and I still love this competition to bits. Wenger Mark I loved it to bits too and was rather good at it – four-times winner of it, and it should have been five given how we were mugged in 2001.
So that's the Grove done and dusted for another season, on a day when there were plenty there in
person but not in spirit, and plenty more there in theory but not in reality. 60,023 in the crowd?
That's right up there with ‘great mental strength'.
It's been another fortnight of stewing over Arsenal's weaknesses. The previous international
break came right after the pounding at Old Trafford; this one came after the derby defeat. On each
occasion the fortnight off has been seen as something of a blessed relief a time to lick our wounds
and work on the basics.
Confession: I used the above headline as it's simply too cheesy to let pass, and if I don't use
it now, it will be even later than the too late it already is. [I haven't seen it elsewhere but if
I'm late to the party I'll be happy to admit it].
In brief though: Having sung the praises of the FA Cup and insisted upon the retention of cup
replays, I can have no complaints about the draw at the Orient that forces us to squeeze another
match into the jammed schedule.
Having sailed serenely through the busy shipping lanes of the new year W4, D1, L0 in the league
with just one goal conceded in the process Arsenal were well and truly depth-charged at
Newcastle.
That a team has never before lost a four-goal lead in Premier League history tells you all you
need to know about the second 45 minutes yesterday.
Defeat is generally a painful experience. Defeat in circumstances like yesterday's even more so.
It was late, very late, and pretty much self-inflicted.
It came after what was a pretty good opening 45 minutes from us. We were energetic, good going
forward and while Fulham had their moments I thought we contained them pretty well defensively.
