Up the Arse! Goons thread. :)

[lion_gooner]

yeah he looks awesome

looks like wenger has finnaly picked a good keeper

 

[DB10]

I thought he did alright with the last one he bought too.

Jens'll be an Arsenal legend.

 

[Dipper]

yeah he looks awesome

looks like wenger has finnaly picked a good keeper

Jens!

Although he did cost us the CL that year with his inability to save Lampard's shot properly.

And for that I will never forgive him.

 

[giantroo]

I thought he did alright with the last one he bought too.

Jens'll be an Arsenal legend.

Always has, always will be a legend!

 

[lion_gooner]

yeah lehmann is a top goalkeeper

but what about wright,taylor,warmuz and shaaban?

 

[beatlesmith]

Lehmann=legend!
He single handedly won us an FA Cup!

 

[giantroo]

Wenger - I will bide my time over naming new captain



By Richard Clarke

Arsène Wenger is in no hurry to name his new captain.

The departure of Thierry Henry has created a vacancy to lead out the side. Gilberto is probably the favourite after filling the role in the Frenchman’s lengthy absence last season.

However, somewhat surprisingly, William Gallas wore the armband at Salzburg on Wednesday less than a year after signing from Chelsea. Afterwards Wenger explained his reasoning.

“In every game you need a captain,” he said. “William has all the ingredients needed to be a captain along with Kolo and Gilberto. He has a lot of experience.

“Also centre back is the best position to captain the team because you are in a position to see all the problems on the pitch. It is a better position than a centre forward or a wide player.

“But we go game by game right now. At the moment the captain problem is not the biggest one. The biggest problem is to be fit.”

 

[DB10]

yeah lehmann is a top goalkeeper

but what about wright,taylor,warmuz and shaaban?

They were all bought before Lehmann was.

And what was wrong with Rami Shaaban? I thought he played quite well when he filled in for Seaman, till he broke his leg, anyway.

 

[lion_gooner]

shaaban was alright i suppose

any highlights on arsenal salzberg on youtube?

 

[lion_gooner]

Benfica have acted quickly in an attempt to appease angry fans after the sale of Simao Sabrosa to Atletico Madrid by announcing the capture of Argentinians, Angel Di Maria and Andres Diaz from Rosario Central.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

shaaban was alright i suppose

any highlights on arsenal salzberg on youtube?

Not Youtube's fault, gooner. There was just no highlights.

 

[lion_gooner]

yeah but still i would have liked to have seen how good eduardo was

 

[giantroo]

Arsenal won 2-1


Wenger on the PSG win, new signings and Anelka

Arsenal 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain





On the performance...
"We had many players out today- Eduardo, Rosicky, Adabayor, Djourou - and I also left some on the bench. Overall against a very good Paris team, it was a good hardworking performance.We took control in the second half and won the game normally."
On the lessons from a pre-season friendly like this...
"You can learn about the different associations in your teams. Does Denilson work with Diaby, can Eboue play in right midfield. You can risk things you can’t in the Premiership or at least risk things all at the same time when you can only risk one or two in the Premiership."
On signing more players...
"We have the potential to do it. If I find the right player, I will take him. If I find two, I will do it. But it is not compulsory. If we do not get them, we do not get them. We have enough quality. That will not be an excuse if I do not get a player, not to compete with the top teams."
On stories about targetting Nicolas Anelka...

"At the moment I have not made any offer for Anelka. I felt we had the strikers we needed, and also I wanted a player like Eduardo, who can play on the flanks and with Adebayor, or with van Persie. That is why we have gone for Eduardo. It was more a question of choice rather than the quality of Anelka, because I rate him very very highly. It was just we have Adebayor, Bendtner and Eduardo who play in the same position."
On his ability to sign players...
"I can bring in who I want and the board do not interfere in that, unless there is a compulsory financial situation that we cannot afford."
On contingiencies over Eduardo's work permit application...
"We sign our contracts subject to work permits, so we have not been negligent. If the work permit does not happen, we are not in a position where we are obliged to keep the player."


Very interesting

 

[giantroo]

Match Report

Emirates Cup
Emirates Stadium
Saturday, July 28, 2007, 4.15pm

Arsenal

2

Flamini 45, Bendtner 70

Paris Saint-Germain

1

Luyindula 80



By Richard Clarke

Arsenal gave themselves a great chance of winning the inaugural Emirates Cup with a 2-1 win over Paris St-Germain on Saturday.

The format of this new tournament awards three points for a win, one for a draw and one for each goal scored. Valencia took five points from the first game of the afternoon with a 2-0 win over Inter. Arsenal victory’s in the second game mirrors that tally however they are second in the table on goal difference.

Arsène Wenger’s side play the Italians on Sunday in the final game of the tournament so they will have the luxury of knowing exactly what is required to lift this trophy for the first time.

In all honesty, PSG bossed the game in the first half and were unfortunate to find themselves trailing when Mathieu Flamini crashed home a close-range effort on the whistle. Arsenal were much improved after the break and doubled their advantage in the 70th minute when Nicklas Bendtner’s scored from Denilson’s corner.

Peguy Luyindula reduced the arrears with 10 minutes to go but Bendtner’s late penalty could have put Arsenal top of the midway table. Unfortunately it was easily saved.

Though, as it stands, Wenger will be content with a decent performance and a win. An impressive crowd of 55,106 certainly seemed to be happy with their afternoon’s entertainment.

Emirates Stadium filled up nicely for the arrival of the hosts. Nine days hard work in Austria had cost Arsenal the services of Emmanuel Adebayor, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky for the weekend. Meanwhile Eduardo was still awaiting his work permit.

It meant Wenger had little choice but to pair Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner up front. Bacary Sagna got his first run-out at Emirates and, for once, Arsenal played without a proper wide man. Denilson and Cesc Fabregas patrolled the middle with Abou Diaby on the left and Mathieu Flamini on the right.

The lack of genuine pace down the flanks did nothing to help Arsenal settle in the opening stages. In fact it took 15 minutes for either side to carve out a chance worthy of note and then it was the visitors who took the initiative. Luyindula found space on the right and crossed low for Pierre-Alain Frau to thump a low shot past Almunia’s right-hand post.

Seven minutes later, Sylvain Armand cut the ball inside to Jeremy Clement on the edge of the area. He neatly played the ball into the path of Luyindula, who wastefully clipped the ball past the far post. Up to this point, Arsenal had offered precious little going forward. Their most incisive attacker had been left back Gael Clichy, who had rampaged into the area on a couple of occasions.

In the 24th minute Arsenal got themselves on the chance-sheet if not the score-sheet. Van Persie’s electrifying run was abruptly halted by Armand and the Dutchman picked himself up to crack the free-kick just over the bar.

Pauleta weaved in from the right and thumped a shot into Almunia’s chest. Then seven minutes before the break Jerome Rothen sent a free kick to the far post and Didier Disgard’s spectacular effort had to be tipped over the bar by Almunia. From the corner Zoumana Camara flicked a header wide of the far post.

Arsenal were still struggling to find any kind of attacking rhythm while PSG were carving out by far the better chances.

But on the stroke of half time, Arsenal scored. Clichy floated a ball into the area, Bendtner chested it down and the stumbling Flamini hooked the ball home off the upright.

There was a delicious irony about the goal. All last term Arsenal had dominated teams at Emirates Stadium only to concede sucker-punch strike. Yet in the first home game of this season, the had inflicted exactly that on their opponents.

Wenger changed five players at half time. Perhaps the most interesting move saw Emmanuel Eboue stationed in front of full back Justin Hoyte on the right. Alex Hleb replaced Van Persie and was pushed into a more attacking role through the centre as Arsenal moved from a traditional 4-4-2 to a 4-4-1-1.

For once the plethora of changes seemed to settle Arsenal. They enjoyed their first spell of sustained pressure in the opening quarter of the second half, creating a couple of half-chances along the way.

Frau’s burst into the area just before the hour suggested PSG might have something left. But William Gallas snuffed out the danger. Shortly afterwards Bendtner latched on to Clichy’s ball through, outpaced Camara but could only steer his shot past the far post.

The Dane would make amends midway through the second half. PSG defender Sammy Traore deflected a low cross past his own post with Bendtner breathing down his neck. Denilson swung over the corner and the 19-year-old met the ball with a towering downward header. It hit Traore and rebounded for Bendtner to stab home from close range. He celebrated Shearer-like with one arm raised. It was the perfect way to announce his return from a successful year on loan at Birmingham.

Almost immediately, Almunia made a fine low save from Pauleta at the far post. After a sluggish start both sides seemed determined to put on a show in the latter stages.

Therefore it was no surprise when Frau reached the byline with 10 minutes left and crossed low for Luyindula to convert at the near post.

Arsenal should have restored their two-goal advantage seven minutes before the end when Hleb was brought down in the area. However Bendtner’s penalty was weak and Mickael Landreau saved easily.

Toure leads the team out

Diaby tumbles with Mulumbu

Flamini scores our opening goal

Our French scorer celebrates

Toure and Fabregas hail Mathieu

Hleb takes on Pauleta

Nicklas Bendtner makes it 2-0

 

[lion_gooner]

good to see bendtner score and also flamini

fly emirates would have loved this mornings game lol

hopefully beat inter in the morning and win the tournament

 

[DonMania#5]

Great win

Let's hope Paris beat Valencia and we beat Inter now and take the trophy home

 

[lion_gooner]

shame fabianski didnt get a go

the new goalkeepers shirt doesnt look to good

 

[Benno_900]

Match Report - First Half:

Our first half was abysmal, I'll try and rank the players (out of 10):

Almunia (7)
Sagna (3), Toure (4), Senderos (7), Clichy (8)
Flamini (6), Fabregas (4), Denilson (4), Diaby (3)
Bendtner (5), Van Persie (5)

Absolutely no width, Diaby was useless (AW, never on the wing again) and Flamini was not threatening enough. Sagna was terrible both offensively and defensively, Clichy was the only wide player who ventured forward and tried to create chances. Fabregas/Denilson were quiet and not creative enough while the two strikers looked dangerous from the few chances we had.

Our goal was extremely lucky and undeserved (long ball bounced off Bendtner to Flamini who did a hammy in the process). PSG were by far the better team but their finishing was worse than ours last season.

Second Half:

Almunia (8)
Hoyte (7), Gallas (8), Senderos (8), Traore (7)
Eboue (8), Diaby (8), Denilson (6), Clichy (7)
Hleb (8)
Bendtner (6)

Sub: Randall (6)

Much better second half, alot more urgency. The defence was rarely troubled, ironically unlucky to concede the goal. Eboue was shit on the wing against Salzburg but looked very dangerous in this game. Hleb was brilliant centrally, wouldn't mind playing him more frequently there. Diaby was also great, the general in the midfield chopping off every PSG pass and tackling well even though his passing didn't always find the target.

As for Bendtner, provided a aerial target which lead to his goal where he crashed into the goalkeeper and tapped in the ball that spilled free. Had 3-4 other chances where he finished terribly though. Hleb dribbled his way past 4 opponents won a penalty at one stage where Bendtner stepped up to literally pass it back to the goalie (truly embarassing penalty). Despite that, liked the look of him and showed some promise.

 

[Dipper]

"and also I wanted a player like Eduardo, who can play on the flanks and with Adebayor, or with van Persie.

After what Eduardo himself said & now this I get the impression that he's bought Eduardo to play more wide than down the middle except when one of RvP or Adebayor are missing.


I don't think he's gonna be the fox in the box.

 

[lion_gooner]

wenger said maybe he could sign 2 more players

i would like to see a winger and a centre back if it is 2

or a winger if its 1

 

[Benno_900]

Inter were poor yesterday by all reports.

Hopefully, we can get at least a 2-0 win tonight but I reckon Valencia could smash PSG.

 

[DonMania#5]

Apparently Arsenal are going to make a $11m bid for Dinamo Zagreb captain Luka Modric. Would be a great signing imo.

Also the Daily Mirror Newspaper reports that Lassana Diarra is set to join Arsenal from Chelsea this week in a £2million deal.

 

[GhostofJimJess]

Match Report - First Half:

Our first half was abysmal, I'll try and rank the players (out of 10):

Almunia (7)
Sagna (3), Toure (4), Senderos (7), Clichy (8)
Flamini (6), Fabregas (4), Denilson (4), Diaby (3)
Bendtner (5), Van Persie (5)

Absolutely no width, Diaby was useless (AW, never on the wing again) and Flamini was not threatening enough. Sagna was terrible both offensively and defensively, Clichy was the only wide player who ventured forward and tried to create chances. Fabregas/Denilson were quiet and not creative enough while the two strikers looked dangerous from the few chances we had.

Our goal was extremely lucky and undeserved (long ball bounced off Bendtner to Flamini who did a hammy in the process). PSG were by far the better team but their finishing was worse than ours last season.

Second Half:

Almunia (8)
Hoyte (7), Gallas (8), Senderos (8), Traore (7)
Eboue (8), Diaby (8), Denilson (6), Clichy (7)
Hleb (8)
Bendtner (6)

Sub: Randall (6)

Much better second half, alot more urgency. The defence was rarely troubled, ironically unlucky to concede the goal. Eboue was shit on the wing against Salzburg but looked very dangerous in this game. Hleb was brilliant centrally, wouldn't mind playing him more frequently there. Diaby was also great, the general in the midfield chopping off every PSG pass and tackling well even though his passing didn't always find the target.

As for Bendtner, provided a aerial target which lead to his goal where he crashed into the goalkeeper and tapped in the ball that spilled free. Had 3-4 other chances where he finished terribly though. Hleb dribbled his way past 4 opponents won a penalty at one stage where Bendtner stepped up to literally pass it back to the goalie (truly embarassing penalty). Despite that, liked the look of him and showed some promise.

Great summary Benno. Exactly how I saw the contest.

Nick Bendtner has the potential to become a real favorite to the hordes at Emirates if he can regularly find the target.

 

[lion_gooner]

would chelsea sell diarra to arsenal you think?

 

[Benno_900]

Do we really need another CM?