Arsenal Debate: If Wenger goes, who do we bring in? by Spendah.
Some of you may notice me lingering around on this site. I post some comments every now and then but this is my first article so please don't be too harsh. Many of you gooners have been calling for Wenger's head (me included), but if he does leave, then who do we bring in?
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.
Behind the scenes at Arsenal must be a place where a less than firm handshake could spell disaster. If Theo Walcott thought that he was involved in the sort of bargaining where you name a price double what you want and walk away offended when you know all along that you will accept much less. then he is in for a shock.
Former legend says that Giroud will shine by AM Former Arsenal great Robert Pires has said that,
with time, Giroud will shine through. The Frenchman said that, even though Arsenal have lost some
important players, Wenger will replace them eventually. Pires said – "It takes time to adapt, and
it is especially hard for attacking [.
WE CANNOT BLAME RVP! AND HERES WHY: by (a very angry!) VP COMMON OPINION AMONGST THE FANS IS THAT
THE NEW SIGNINGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TO CONVINCE RVP THAT THE CLUB WERE SERIOUS ABOUT
CHALLENGING. THIS NO LONGER HOLDS TRUE AFTER WENGER ADMITTING TODAY THAT PODOLSKI AND GIROUD WERE
BROUGHT IN AS PROSPECTIVE REPLACEMENTS.
There is obviously going to be a lot of anger from Arsenal fans after the news that Van Persie has
moved to our biggest historical rivals Manchester United, after inferring that there was no way he
would move to another Premiership club. But what really annoys me is that just THREE days ago
Wenger stated [.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has made it known that he won't let the transfer speculation
surrounding the future of skipper Robin van Persie hurt the team's pre-season preparations,
insisting that he doesn't have any new updates on the forward.
Wenger's Gunners completed their tour of Asia with a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Premier League
champions Manchester City yesterday but as they prepared for a return, the boss was once again
confronted with questions over the status of his captain.
The Robin van Persie story took another twist today as Arsenal's second largest shareholders, Â
Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri,  accused Arsenal's board and owner Stan Kroenke of selling
the club's best players and replacing them with cheaper ones.
Usmanov and Moshiri own just under 30% of Arsenal through the investment company Red & White,
but they have not been allowed by Kroenke to join the board.
The Robin van Persie story took another twist today as Arsenal's second largest shareholders, Â
Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri,  accused Arsenal's board and owner Stan Kroenke of selling
the club's best players and replacing them with cheaper ones.
Usmanov and Moshiri own just under 30% of Arsenal through the investment company Red & White,
but they have not been allowed by Kroenke to join the board.
"What's got two thumbs, three chins and don't give a crap?"
Arsenal's second biggest shareholders (the jokes write themselves), Russian billionaire Alisher
Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri, have written an open letter  - obtained by the AP to openly criticise
owner Stan Kroenke's running of the club after it was made public yesterday that Robin van Persie
is to effectively be released back into the wild this summer.
Let me start off by saying that I would love to see Robin van Persie stay at Arsenal. He's a
leader, he's our captain and his ability to score goals is second to none. When fit and on-form,
there are not many better strikers around at the moment.
Our skipper managed to stay fit last season, and in the process, he picked up an impressive 30
Premier League goals; an achievement that paved the club's path to a 3rd-place finish sitting above
mega-spenders Chelsea and arch-rivals Tottenham in the league.
I asked the question earlier this week whether whether Harry Redknapp On His Way Out Of Spurs?
and the answer is Yes as news has came out that Redknapp has left Spurs after four years in charge
of the club.
Redknapp and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy met on Wednesday to see if they could work out a new
deal for Redknapp, who had just one year left on his current deal.
When I started to run ideas past fellow tyrant, Felegy, I had thought we would do a two part
player review to kick off our first "real" posts. After some thought, I felt I'd first put a few
words down to review our season as a whole in a two part series. The time has come (albeit a little
late) to take a step back, a sigh of relief if you will, and reflect on the season that was.
So, it's time for the last part of my mammoth season review. Have a look round the site, and you'll
find parts I, II, III, where I graded the defence, midfield and attack. Now it's time to grade the
season as a whole.
***
I suppose this season was fundamentally one where we met lowered expectations.
Tottenham have been linked with moves for many players over the course of this summer but when a
new name crops up it seems worthy of mention. Roma's Bosnian international Miralem Pjanic is that
name and although this may well be more paper talk, there have been worse players mentioned as
possible replacements for Luka Modric.
As far as the press are concerned, it's been pretty much accepted that Luka Modric will be
heading out of Spurs this summer and their subsequent role has been to link the club with a choice
of possible replacements.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was one name but as the rumour claiming that Real Madrid are moving into pole
position gains momentum, it's widely being suggested that the La Liga giants will be weighing up a
player plus cash bid.
Young Liverpool winger, Raheem Sterling scored his debut goal for Liverpool after just 3 minutes at
Anfield on Sunday. Brendan Rodger's new side have embraced the possession and attacking game
readily. John Joe Shelvey, in particular, has flourished under the new manager's philosophy of pass
and move with the ball.
Inter Milan are reportedly planning a bid for Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, who remains a transfer
target for Liverpool.
The England international has less than 12 months remaining on his current contract at the Emirates
Stadium and little progress has been made in negotiations about an extension.
Sky Sports understands Liverpool is considering selling Manchester City target Daniel Agger to
raise funds for other signings.
As revealed by skysports.com last week, City has seen two bids rebuffed by Liverpool for Denmark
international Agger.
City is expected to come back with a third bid with Roberto Mancini keen to bring the central
defender to the Etihad Stadium.
Liverpool are exploring the possibility of signing France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as Pepe Reina
continues to interest AC Milan, according to reports in France.
Reina, who has been at Liverpool since 2005, is on the radar of AC Milan, who are looking to
replace the ageing Christian Abbiati.
New Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is thought to be scouting potential replacements in the instance
that the Spaniard leaves for the San Siro, and French newspaper Le 10 Sport believe he has his
sights on Lloris.
Former Rangers director Gordon Smith has formally withdrawn his interest in becoming Liverpool's
new director of football.
The Anfield club's structure is set to be altered in the coming weeks and the Merseysiders'
American owners are keen to introduce three sporting directors to work above new manager Brendan
Rodgers.
After seeing their massive bid for Germany international Andre Schurrle rejected by Bayer
Leverkusen earlier this week, Chelsea have not been told to end their interest in the starlet
altogether.
Bayer Leverkusen CEO Wolfgang Holzhauser has maintained that the Bundesliga outfit previously
ruled out the sale of their promising winger for around €20 million due to uncertainty regarding
the availability of appropriate replacements.
For the sixth time, England have been knocked out of a major tournament on penalties, losing 3-2
to Italy tonight in the Euro quarterfinals after 120 minutes.
Other than an opening 20 minutes when England almost scored twice, Italy totally dominated this
game, especially in the second half and extra time.
Juventus has pulled out of a high-profile preseason tour of the Canada and the U.S. this summer
citing scheduling issues as the reason for the cancellation.
Juventus had agreed to three games in North America, the biggest would have been a clash of
Spanish and Italian champions on August 5th in Las Vegas where they were supposed to play Real
Madrid.
Former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is the early favorite to take over the manager's job at
White Hart Lane. The job is open after Harry Redknapp and the club failed to agree on a contract
extension (one year was remaining). The other possible replacements include Everton manager David
Moyes and Wigan manger Roberto Martinez.
This does not look good for Roberto Di Matteo's chances of staying on at Chelsea, at least as
manager. Days after winning the most coveted prize a European club can hope to get and adding the
oldest football trophy in the world to that bag, the club owner and the technical director are the
ones calling the shots on the transfers.
Chelsea's 2012 UEFA Champions League title was a storybook finish, and after looking back on the
epic instant classic, the result seems even more Disney-esque.
Looking at the teams on paper, you would figure that it would be a contrast of two very different
styles - knowing that Bayern Munich would come out and press Chelsea offensively, while Chelsea
would have to absorb pressure and play off the counter.
Newcastle have already identified a number of replacements should some of their top stars leave
this summer. Luuk de Jong Newcastle top striker target The player most likely to leave, and we
think he will, is Demba Ba, and he will leave for peanuts, if the release clause in his contract of
£7M, is activated over [.
Newcastle have already identified a number of replacements should some of their top stars leave
this summer. Luuk de Jong Newcastle top striker target The player most likely to leave, and we
think he will, is Demba Ba, and he will leave for peanuts, if the release clause in his contract of
£7M, is activated over [.
Not sure when the new Indonesia Super League will start, recent suggestions are November, but
Persib, as ever, are doing their planning early.
Out go four of their five foreigners. Singaporean Noh Alam Shah, currently on a short loan with
Tampines Rovers, Brazilian Marcio Souza, Aussie Robbie Gaspar and Miljan Radovic will have to find
new clubs.
Yeah, so there was this game last night at the Cage. Two teams entered. One team left bloody,
battered, and bruised...but only their ego. Although, one might believe NYRB's Lade is likely to be
two of the three physically as well. The other team left with sole possession of first place in the
Eastern Conference of MLS.
Peter Nowak's departure from the Philadelphia Union appeared to have a limited impact beyond
whatever interim head coach John Hackworth could affect on-and-off the field, but recent events,
and internal developments, have shown that it may be a domino effect.
In addition to Nowak leaving, so have Diego Gutierrez, former the team's Sporting Director, and
Alecko Eskandarian, Youth Technical Director for a year, left the club by decision of Hackworth,
according to the team manager at his conference call today.
Images: AFP/Getty. Even more players are crocked since we last touched this topic, so this is the
last time we're going to touch it (yes, really). We'll give you the names of players recently
injured in action, as well as the names of their replacements, and we ask that you tell us who you
think [...
Ledley King Is Dead (well, released), Long Live The King!
After missing out on a Champions League spot thanks to their pesky fellow Londoners Chelsea,
Tottenham have decided to have a bit of a clear-out in preparation for next season's title
assault/battle for fourth place (the choice is yours).
Today, Jurgen Klinsmann named the rest of his US national team camp roster ahead of their upcoming
friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. Sporting KC midfielder, Graham Zusi was one of 11 players
today named to the team to round out the 27 man camp roster. Twenty-three of the players on the
camp roster will make the rosters for friendlies against Scotland (5/26), Brazil (5/30), Canada
(6/3), and World Cup qualifiers against Antigua (6/8) and Guatemala (6/12).
