[figo_united]

Anyone following the transfer deadline day movements?
Not much happening this year!

Santos and mertesacker to arsenal, bentley to west ham, parker to spurs, Joe cole to lille have been the big names till now.

[naveenroy]

I guess Arsenal also landed Mikel Arteta. Hopefully he will take over duties in midfield - a place where me thinks the actual game is played!

[saildrive]

Arsenal Football Club:
Per Metsacker, Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos, Park Chu Young (signed) and Yossi Benayoun on a 1 year loan.

None of these look as if they will make any difference or much difference to the fortunes of the club!

It really looks that this is going to be their final streak (consecutive) at Champions League....am just wondering where will they be finishing this year. DAMN!

[vb-saan]

No last minute shock moves at the transfer window closure.

I was expecting Man U to do a final big bang with Wesley Sneijder capture, but that did not happen.

I think Arsenal should be reasonably happy after the signings they had post 8-2 mauling. Arteta is an excellent capture, and even better one was to off-load self-proclaimed super star Nicklas Bendtner. It will be a new look Arsenal with the likes of Yossi Benayoun, Park, Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos.

Spurs did reasonably well to hold on to Mordic, but hope it may not be a case of pushing through an year with an unhappy star player.

IMO, Liverpool made the first bad move by off-loading Raul Meireles, that too to Chelsea. He was the most impressive player for the Reds last year, and Kenny should have kept him in the plans. That said, getting the volatile Bellamy for free is not bad, and selling Ngog to Bolton was great.

And lastly it was an awesome move by Man. City to get Hargreaves in.

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by saildrive

None of these look as if they will make any difference or much difference to the fortunes of the club!

It really looks that this is going to be their final streak (consecutive) at Champions League....am just wondering where will they be finishing this year. DAMN!

I know we have not signed a very big player but trust me - We can do wonders with these players. Even I wanted a big name signing like Kaka or Hazard but then I realised Wenger will never do that. ANyways atleast wenger has made the defence better. Signing players was just step 1 of our revival. Now comes the difficult part - Changing our strategy. Our signings cal all become useless if we use the wrong strategy. Wenger was never a good strategy maker nor is Pat rice. I sincerely hope Wenger hires some one else to assist him. Really Excited to see our new team!

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Saanil

I know we have not signed a very big player but trust me - We can do wonders with these players.

Yeah, me thinks the same.

Originally Posted by Saanil

Now comes the difficult part - Changing our strategy. Our signings cal all become useless if we use the wrong strategy. Wenger was never a good strategy maker nor is Pat rice. I sincerely hope Wenger hires some one else to assist him. Really Excited to see our new team!

What exactly do you mean by changing the strategy? As in changing the gameplay - the way Arsenal have been playing - primarily depending on short-passes?

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by saildrive

Arsenal Football Club:
Per Metsacker, Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos, Park Chu Young (signed) and Yossi Benayoun on a 1 year loan.

None of these look as if they will make any difference or much difference to the fortunes of the club!

It really looks that this is going to be their final streak (consecutive) at Champions League....am just wondering where will they be finishing this year. DAMN!

1) Free kick part specialists in Arteta and Park
2) Set-piece defending and attacking in Mertersaker
3) Creativity in a holding midfield with Arteta and Song whilst Wilshere and Benayoun bung forward
4) a Proper winger in Gervinho
5) Captain's armband with the rightful heir

We lacked all the above whilst everyone only spoke of the defense lineup. Think this season is back to the Arsenal Ways without a "central midfield target" to cloud our style. Wenger has surely done enough, albneit at the last minute. The 8-2 was a blessing , not a blackmark is all i can say

Go gunners

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

1) Free kick part specialists in Arteta and Park
2) Set-piece defending and attacking in Mertersaker
3) Creativity in a holding midfield with Arteta and Song whilst Wilshere and Benayoun bung forward
4) a Proper winger in Gervinho
5) Captain's armband with the rightful heir

Yeah!!

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

We lacked all the above whilst everyone only spoke of the defense lineup. Think this season is back to the Arsenal Ways without a "central midfield target" to cloud our style. Wenger has surely done enough, albneit at the last minute. The 8-2 was a blessing , not a blackmark is all i can say

Go gunners

Ah, always liked the midfielders controlling play - playmakers! But yes, the lineup looks great. Now for some good football - Go Gunners!!

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Yeah, me thinks the same.



What exactly do you mean by changing the strategy? As in changing the gameplay - the way Arsenal have been playing - primarily depending on short-passes?

Yes. Signing is not enough. These players will have to work on changing their play also. The have to reduce their passing game in the box and go for direct play. Crosses and Headers - One thing that Arsenal lacks and Manutd excels in - probably not the most graceful way of scoring a goal but hey! who cares about that anyways. Remember that this team needs to compete in 4 competitions.

I am sure many players signed for Arsenal just for the Champions league quailfications. I realised how important it is to qualify for champions league. I just hope Arsenal finish atleast 4th in EPL. Now all attention to the Swansea match. It will be interesting to see what team will Wenger pick. Anyone has any idea about when will Wilshere return? I sitll think he will be the one dictating mid-field. Gunner for life! Cheers!

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Yes. Signing is not enough. These players will have to work on changing their play also. The have to reduce their passing game in the box and go for direct play. Crosses and Headers - One thing that Arsenal lacks and Manutd excels in - probably not the most graceful way of scoring a goal but hey! who cares about that anyways. Remember that this team needs to compete in 4 competitions.

Have to totally disagree here! No offense but that is what Arsenal is about - ball control and short passes. Agree about headers but that is about it. If we were to start playing like that team - then what is the difference? Beautiful football is also important - it is what makes us stand apart and has brought results in the past.

I am certain our style of play will not change. I am no fan of ManU neither!

[StarrySky]

Is anyone going to watch Messi and his Argentina team in Kolkata tomorrow?

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Have to totally disagree here! No offense but that is what Arsenal is about - ball control and short passes. Agree about headers but that is about it. If we were to start playing like that team - then what is the difference? Beautiful football is also important - it is what makes us stand apart and has brought results in the past.

I am certain our style of play will not change. I am no fan of ManU neither!

Exactly my point. ALways playing the same thing against all the teams will not help us. I am not saying to leave the style of football we play but we have to mix several styles of play. I think Wenger's strategy all the time is - "Just go out and play football". While this might work against Udinese or Swansea, it might really back fire against big teams. There is a reason why we have been trophyless. Signing big players will not make us win everything. Manc had a formidable squad last year too but there was something missing in their team. This year however see the difference. Ofcourse the season has just started but I see some good improvements in Manc. Dont you get frustrated when someone gets a shooting opportunity in the box and instead of shooting one looks for someone to pass the ball to.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Dont you get frustrated when someone gets a shooting opportunity in the box and instead of shooting one looks for someone to pass the ball to.

Though no laughing matter when a match is on, yes, thats true!

[nfsfreak]

4 signings in 4 days and 1 about to be completed!!! record breaking signings streak for Arsenal.

I would say - its a commendable job AW has done,if you consider the prices. None of them too high and all are decent players. Seems, board finally listened to Professor.

Arteta - definitely a great addition. He & Wilshere can do wonders with Gervinho,Walcott on wings & RVP upfront.
Mertesacker - he needs time to adapt. Dont expect any immediate improvements in our defence. But he with Vermaelen is a really good partnership worth waiting for.
Santos - heard that he is not so good in defence but excellent going forward.
Chu - Young - Free kick specialist and times his run very well and more importantly 'good finisher'. Definitely he can play ahead of Chamakh.

Bennayoun - a really good backup and can be used as impact player. Really can make huge impact, if he can find the form he had a couple of seasons back with Liverpool (when they finished 2nd).

So, Now we have two teams:
1. Szczesny, sagna,Mertesacker,vermaelen,santos, song,wilsher,arteta, gervinho,vanpersie,walcott.
2. fabianski, jenkinson,Djourou,Koscielny,gibbs, Frimpong,Benayoun,ramsey, Miyaichi,Chamberlain,park.
And the useless ones;- Almunia,Squillaci,Diaby,Rosicky,Arshavin and Chamakh.

Hope the competition now beat some s**t out of Rosicky, Arshavin & Chamakh - so that they gain some playing form.

Would be great if we can get M'villa & Gary Cahill or Scott Dann also (am I hoping for too much?)

These signings WILL NOT assure us a top 4 finish but atleast gives us a chance to do so.

Arsenal is stepping in right direction and I'm very happy.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by vb-san

No last minute shock moves at the transfer window closure.

IMO, Liverpool made the first bad move by off-loading Raul Meireles, that too to Chelsea. He was the most impressive player for the Reds last year, and Kenny should have kept him in the plans. That said, getting the volatile Bellamy for free is not bad, and selling Ngog to Bolton was great.

I guess you can term Arteta's transfer as a shock move. The guy probably never knew he would be transferred to another club this season. Apparently, he took a pay cut to make the transfer possible.

It is a big loss for Liverpool to lose Meireles. I guess he was looking for more first team appearances. You can't do much when a player hands in a transfer request. I hope we will not miss him.

Apparently, the Joe Cole deal also has given Liverpool a right for first refusal for Eden Hazard's transfer next season. I hope this rumour is true.

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Would be great if we can get M'villa & Gary Cahill or Scott Dann also (am I hoping for too much?)

Arsenal is stepping in right direction and I'm very happy.

Scott Dan signed for Blackburn yesterday. And yes, with these signings, they look they are stepping in the right direction. Hopefully, there are no injuries to either Arteta and Benayoun. They are injury prone.