OhForAGreavsie

Arsenal fan TV is a huge success. The lad who does it is pretty good and so deserves the success he's had. He is lucky though. If he had started his channel during a successful period for Arsenal he would not have done as well as he has. Of course football fans have more to say when things go wrong. You might as well ask why does water run downhill.

Once again there is no new information available today. We already knew the problems in the squad. We fans can do no more than hope improvements are made during the summer. For now however, away with the doom and gloom. Not withstanding Sky's blatant schedule-manipulating attempt to manufacture a nail-biting finish to the season for the benefit of their ratings, we have four very winnable home fixtures to play. Collect those points and Spurs are in big, big trouble.

To believe that money specifically will be wasted is to believe that all money will be wasted. In which case, three Thibauts ain't gonna help us.

Can't agree. There is a lot blue tinted optimism about the quality of our squad but in more sober moments I think we all recognise that there are gaps. Antonio has done brilliantly to get us into the home stretch with a lead.

Bats for Diego at halftime looks an attractive option.

I think he took the opportunity to cover the pace Jose selected up front. Indeed, given that Marcos's ailment was known about before the game, it's not impossible that his name on the team sheet was just a ruse for precisely that purpose.

All true but I hope it doesn't cost us £200,000 a week. I really don't want to see us spending £10 million a year on a goalie when we so clearly could benefit from spending big in other areas. I'd have no problem with £300,000 per week for Eden but I think the difference in game by game results between a £120,000 per week goalie and a £200,000 per week one, are too marginal to be worth paying for. I think we gain more by spending an extra £80,000 per week to secure the right outfield player, than we lose by not spending it on a goalkeeper. I like Thibaut. In terms of straight goalkeeping ability I fully supported the decision to choose him over Petr. Loosing him would be a major disappointment, but if that decision has to be made, it has to be made.

I just can't agree with this I'm afraid. For me, Gaz is exactly the same player he was last season when he was taking the blame for things which were not his fault. Scour the world, select the best centre back you can think of, partner him with a clearly past it John Terry to his left and Branna to his right, then play him behind our front six of last season. The result will be chaos. Antonio hasn't improved Gaz, he's improved the team and that seems to be allowing many people to get a better take on our number twenty-four's capabilities.

I think Kennedy has more chance to make it as a pure LB, rather than as an LWB. A vanishingly small chance, but more of a chance all the same. What people see as Kennedy's potential to bomb down the wing, causes them to get hopeful that he is a possibile LWB but I don't agree. It's a valuable trait for an LWB to be sure but he lacks possession skills which are far more important. In any case, his ability to pose a serious threat from the left hasn't yet moved beyond mere potential. The very reasons which made me believe all along that that Marcos could help us, make me feel that Kennedy cannot. As for Rodriguez, I've never understood what people see in him.

We'd all love to rail against this post and explain why we think it's wrong. My guess is that @BlueLion. would like that as much as any of us but, sadly, we can't because it isn't wrong. No one is complaining about a loss of form. A loss of form is a run of the mill occurance we all recognise when we see it. What people are suspicious is happening here is a lack of commitment and a lack of effort. That's an entirely different kettle of fish. Let's hope that facing Jose's team later today will motivate Diego to demonstrate his desire again.

Would be surprised by this. I don't really rate the lad. In any case, didn't his 'pluggers' already try to circulate a story that a move to Bayern was already signed and sealed? It's as if these people believe no one else watches football and is incapable of seeing through the hype.

I wouldn't use that expression but I was unimpressed with his dribbling when he played at Udinese and said so.

I think clubs selling to the Premier League have learned that if they hold out for the buyout clause they have a good chance to get it. Torino will certainly play it that way.

If I read it correctly, the reported bid was £51m + £34m bonuses. That's just over €100m.

As usual, we can't know for sure but there have been reports. As commented upon in the previous page of this thread, The Mirror and The Express say that we had a bid worth €100m, including bonuses, rejected by Torino. According to those stories, Torino want the full amount up front.

James Peter Greaves was better than either of them. A matter of opinion of course, but Greaves was an unbelievable finisher and a wonderful footballer.

It wasn't serious. If you look back to the post which it quoted you'll see where the reference goes.

Fascinating if true. 1. No way that amount would be offered for a backup. This would imply that the club expects Diego leave. 2. In any case, it's hard to imagine Belotti would join any club where he is not expecting to be the starter. The club would be able to work that out as well as we can. Even if they hoped to persuade him to compete with Diego, the lad's representatives would quickly rule that out. If, despite this, the bid is true, this implies again that Diego is moving on. 3. Is Belotti the right choice to replace a departed Diego? As a direct replacement, yes he definitely is in my opinion.

Fair enough, a straight forward difference of opinion. If Nemanja is still starting for us next season I'll feel we've missed an opportunity to make an important improvement.

That Conte will manage Spain later in his career?

Exactly this.

Yes, I think I could get behind that idea. Not so sure Antonio would be worried if I didn't get behind his decisions but you know what I mean.

Some because, as you rightly imply, they thought he was already the finished article. Some of us however just didn't, and don't, share your view about his promise. He will undoubtedly sharpen up his game but I can't see him ever reaching and maintaining £89m performance levels. I'm not saying he won't do extraordinary things from time to time, every footballer does, but to justify the expectations he needs regularly to be a decisive factor in the biggest games. If he has that potential then I have missed it so far.

It's not the man who is crucial, it's his role. There are a whole lot of people who can play that role better than Nemanja does. Ditto Victor Moses. Edit to expand a bit on what I'm saying: It's clear that Antonio feels Nemanja is his best option for that role. The boss sees the alternative options in training most days, so his judgement is good enough for me. We may, however, learn more about the manager's long term thoughts on this when the window opens. I say 'may' because, even if we do not reinforce that position (or Victor's), it won't necessarily mean that we didn't try.

I'm saying that the description of Barcelona which you gave here sounds like you could just as easily be describing Man City. That's probably no coincidence. This plays into an argument I often gave in defence of Jose when his brand of football was being attacked by people expressing opinions which I felt were 'illiterate' in a footballing sense. When people railed at Jose to play full on front-foot football with our squad, I would point out that there was no way our players could win playing like that. I argued that you can only win championships that way if your players are miles better than everyone else's, that otherwise tactics were necessary, and that it was tactics which make football interesting. Antonio has a better squad than Jose did but he's no fool, he uses tactics. Pep is "so so happy" that his players dominated possession against us. Lot's of pleasure for him, not so many points for his team. He won everything playing his way at Barca because he had a great team, some say the greatest team ever. It was an extraordinary collection of players but, now that Barca are slipping back from those superhuman levels, they are going to have to play smarter if they want to continue winning titles. City, of course, have not approached those levels yet. Let's hope they never do, and that their coach never mends his ways. Let's hope that we will be able to trust in Pep for as long as we have been trusting in Arsene. Edit: We may not get our wish because City's owners, unlike their Arsenal counterparts, are determined to collect the very best players. If they manage it, then Pep will deliver trophies by the bucket load. If they don't however Pep will have to learn to give more thought to to the way he sets up his team, and to the qualities he looks for in his players. I'm not sure if Pep has yet suffered from the fact that it's less easy to attract the tip top players to Manchester City, and to England in general, than it is to entice them to Barcelona. If he hasn't yet, he will soon enough. Maybe we can put our hopes in that.