• JDD

  i personally dont think we need a striker i would play arshavin and van persie up front,guaranteed goals.then we’v got eduardo vela and bendtner aswell.
  but if we do buy a striker we should get samuel eto’o his price is only around 25mil.
  i would rather us spend the money on a defensive mid – daniel de rossi or lorik cana and maybe another centre half – pepe

• Yemi

  you are correct dev, For the boss to say he is keeping an eye on chamakh, its either it a done deal or its a no go area. or maybe a strategy for the boss to reduce the price or a smoke screen to get someone else.
  As for needing replacements, i think it is very vital If we look at the fact that RVP is injury prone (i hope he’s gotten over that), eduardo is not at 100% yet and should still tread softy. So if both RVP and edu get injured, who do we look up to ? bring arshavin into the middle and deply vela left or deploy rosisky left (if he is fully fit before season kicks off).
  Or on the other hand, bring in jay simpson (he has at least had some premiership experience with WB), or deploy vela centre and push arshavin left. all these pairin up with bendtnar.

  Do we think that is dtong enough compared with drogba/anelka or kalou, torres/gerrard, rooney/berbatov or owen ?

  I think we definitely need a replacement and a good one at that !!!

• devday

  Yemi – I think you’re spot on when you talk about injuries – even though we have 4 strikers – and Arshavin – and the kids (Jay Simpson, Sanchez Watt etc), it would be unwise to think that all 4 of our top strikers would stay injury free for the whole season.

  With Vela, Walcott and Arshavin very useful on the wings, it would make sense to bring in another striker.

  I’d be happy with Chamakh as there are some good noises about him and a relatively cheap gamble at £7m-ish. We still have about £5m left after the Vermaelen transfer and before the Adebayor transfer, so we can easily get two players, Chamakh being one and then a defensive midfielder.

  I’m not sure if Cana is the right guy for us. I would have preferred Melo, as he has got a bit more about himself in terms of all round game, whereas Cana looks like a nutter. My thinking is basically Veloso, bringing back Flamini or looking at someone else.

  Arsene has been speaking about bringing in a defensive midfielder for two years now, so it has to happen this summer.

• Steve

  Rvp and Arshavin would be deadly and AA would be happier playing as a second striker, then Eduardo offers something different with ruthless finishing if he stays fit. But Bendtner, Vela and Walcott are yet to step up the the level needed. Think we could use another player to avoid getting stuck playing Nik for extended periods.

  A friend of mine was suggesting Kolo as a DMF might solve all our problems. Any sign of this from the preseason?

• Berth

  You guys keep talking about Kolo as a DMF; that isn’t going to work. If we keep using players out of position; we could as well play them out of the team. Toure still remains a defender and please no one should mention that idea in this forum before Wenger considers that as an option; look at Smith at Manu then.

  As for a striker; the earlier the better for this team; IMAO Chamakh is crap,Huntelaar; am not sure he is still in the market, Gignac; well he may be okay – at least he is similar to Yakubu and has strength like Drogba + the ability to score from set piece. Wenger should please act fast; the patient is drying away – and the more the linger the more likely we get to sign no one.

• CON-MAN

  berth i respect your opinion about toure but seriously? toure is one of the most versatile players on our team, when he 1st came Im not sure he was a pure CB. He is able to play RB, CB and DM. Hes energetic, got a good eye for goal, and even though hes not the tallest, that wouldnt particularly matter for a DM. Im just saying its an option and is a way to keep him in the team.

• Berth

  Toure is no option for a DMf for me. You already have Song and Denilson and you are taking about Toure. I rather we retain Song than play Toure in that position. Most people think that the DMF position is that easy; Tell me any big team in this world that converted their defender of 5 -6 years to a DMFielder and progressed in that; not one I can remember. Guys grow up and think of what can make this team better other than wasting energy in considering Kolo for a DMF position.

• Berth

  Arsenal – sighs!!!!

• Berth

  *what we can do to make

• Roachy

  For me its about balance and in the current GEC (Global Economic Crisis) Wenger would be unlikely to spend big. That is why at £20m he did not look at Huntelaar. The cheaper option he may consider Chamakh, Gignac, or even Obe Martins, all would be under £10m. That leaves funds for a quality CB/DM.

  The players AW can use as number 9 and 10 in attack are RVP, Bendner, Eduardo, Vela, Ashavin and even Walcott.

  Of those players the ones that will be a higher risk to injury this season are Eduardo, Rosicky, RVP. If these players are dont get injured and Arsene buys more players we have players that will get frustrated on the bench.

  Diaby for sure and even Clichy (back injury) may also be high risk to injury this season. Vermaleen is versatile so he can be used to shore up backline but we still need a CB/DM to assist Fabregas as Song wont go whole year alone.
  Denilson is more of an attacking option (in Fabregas’s role) rather than Song’s.

  IMO I would rather we shore up the defence with a player like Inler and not worry to much about a replacement for Adebayor if money is tight.

• CON-MAN

  what about gilberto for us? he was CB and then switched to a DM, i remember Arsene saying that and playing him at CB for a new games

• Gooner Get Ya

  List of possible DM’s

  Age Name Pos Team
  22 Gonzalo Castro RB/DM Bayer Leverkusen
  23 Fernando Gago CM/DM Real Madrid
  23 Migel Veloso DM/CB Sporting
  24 De Jong CM/DM Man City
  24 Mohamed Sissoko CM/DM Juventus
  25 Daniele De Rossi CM/DM Roma
  25 Jeremy Toulalan DM/CM Lyon
  25 Heiko Westerman Def/DM FC Schalke
  25 Lorik Cana DM/CB Marseille
  25 Gokhan Inler CM/DM Udinese
  25 Rio Mavuba CM/DM Lille
  26 Ferreira Pepe CB/DM Real Madrid
  26 Yaya Toure DM/CM Barcelona
  26 Jean Makoun CM/DM Lyon
  26 Marco Donadel CM/DM Fiorentina
  27 Simon Rolfes CM/DM Bayer Leverkusen
  28 Martin Demichelis CB/DM Bayern Munchen
  28 Christian Chivu CB/DM Inter Milan
  28 M. Diarra DM/CM Real Madrid
  28 Alou Diarra DM/CM Bordeaux

• Yemi

  Nice list Gooner, but….. Its all up to le boss, i just hope he doesn’t break my heart again this season. 1. solid DM (20m) and the remain 10m for an ade replacement.

• Yemi

  Nice list Gooner, but….. Its all up to le boss, i just hope he doesn’t break my heart again this season. 1. solid DM (20m) and the remain 10m for an ade replacement. or 15m DM + 15M striker

• Debs

  Guess what, guys? No new players, no trophies this season! Read this from the boss:

  Arsène Wenger has asked Arsenal fans to trust his existing squad in the wake of Emmanuel Adebayor’s departure to Manchester City.

  The Togolese striker finally completed his move to Eastlands on Monday. It leaves a hole in the Arsenal frontline but Wenger has yet to decide whether he will fill it with an external replacement or his internal resources.

  Either way, the Frenchman believes his side can cope with the loss.

  “The message is to trust the players that we have,” he said.

  “This is a very big season for us but I believe that we are in a very strong position.

  “Big clubs have lost big players before. For example Milan has lost Kaka [this summer] and yet Milan will go on. Arsenal have lost big players in the past and still continued at the top level.

  “There are positive messages aswell from the summer. Remember players like Van Persie and Fabregas have stayed here after being announced away.

  “So I feel we have a big enough squad to deal with the targets that we have.”

• Debs

  The last line is the crucial part. Don’t look like we’re getting a DM folks!

• Yemi

  Bordeaux’s Morocco international striker Marauane Chamakh, has given up hope of signing for Arsenal according to the Mirror. However, the 25-year-old would still consider a switch to the Premier League with Sunderland, Blackburn, Tottenham and Fulham all interested.

  Also

  Arsenal have reportedly made a late bid to sign Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid despite the Dutch striker being on the verge of a move to Bundesliga side Stuttgart.

  all on http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/multiplex/30940.html

• Yemi

  Debs, just saw that article too…. I wonder what is on the mind of arsene !!!!! Biz management or trophies ?

• Gooner Get Ya

  Well if our target is to stay in the premier league then he is right…but if our target is to compete in 4 competitions to the bitter end then I think he is a fool to think our squad is big enough and has enough quality once we get a few injuries…which is going to happen at some stage.

  What has annoyed me more is I spent ages compliling that list of DM’s and 15mins later AW announces that…git. lol

• Yemi

  gooner, don’t be disappointed yet. I know there will be one more quality addition to the squad this summer. Arsene will surely feel the pulse of the supporters else he will start losing the revenue he gets from tickets and branded items if he starts losing fans…..
  I think it is all a ploy to get people off his back…..

• els

  Berth with respect mate I don’t wana yank yer crank but comparing toure’s supposed transition to Alan Smiths is not even the same ball park. And off the top of my head thinking of a player converted from a centre back for an entire career to a DM we need look no further than our very own Petit, who in my eyes formed the most formidable partnership with Vieira in my Arsenal supporting years.

  It is also similar to a sweeper role that was well used in the 80′s and early 90′s often these players were defenders who could play a little, like Gullit for one. They hung behind the defenders but on the offensive had a bit more freedom.

  As CON-MAN mentioned Toure is versatile, he can pass he’s physical and also as we have an abundance of defenders, he is one of the ones without height, so it all makes sense.

  Yeah we are a cheep club but cheepness has never had a better time with the economy the way it is and also the inflated transfer fees with the kaka and shitnaldo fall out.

  I would prefer a world class signing but let’s be realistic, so this to me is a great alternative.

• els

  Well that’s just fantastic, i agree with the striker situation but why not use the whole lot of cash and get a World class DM.

  For F’s sakes, same old same old. I predicted this a few days ago.

• Debs

  The season hasn’t even started and we’ve got our first major injury. Apparently Nasri’s suffered a broken leg in training in Austria. Not the way to start a new season. He’s out for 6-8 weeks.
  But maybe that’ll remind Wenger that we’re quite an injury-prone team for some reason, and make him reconsider his stance that we’ve got a strong enough squad and SPEND SOME MONEY!

• Pete

  Bugger! From Arsenal.com

  Samir Nasri has sustained a fractured fibula during this morning’s training session at the Club’s pre-season training camp in Austria.

  The midfielder will be out of action for two to three months.

• els

  Hope thats a sick blessing in disguise and it makes the powers dip there hands into there pockets.

  How badly in debt are we that we make £25m and have to keep the lot. We are fine with what we’ve got, he admitted that we were not fine at the end of last season. Times abviously a fantastic healer, hope all the team have been to gazza’s soccer school over the f’ing summer.

• Yemi

  fractured fibula, 2-3months. boss its time you Go get a midfielder + huntelaar with our 30m!!!!

• Debs

  I do think that the squad we’ve got is good enough to proper challenge for all four trophies, but that’s if we don’t have any injuries, and as today has proved, we’ll always have one injury or the other.
  Without injuries, the squad’s good enough, seeing as only 11 players can be on the pitch at any one time, but it’ll be silly to not prepare for injuries, cos they’re bound to happen.
  Come on Arsene, we know the squad’s good enough, defintely, but we need back-up for unfortunate events like today!

• Pete

  Hopefully you’re right els. Remember what happened when Cesc got injured? We bought Arshavin. Hopefully something similar will happen this time around.

• hello

  .
  GOONER… loving the list… very helpful…

  HOW ABOUT WE ALL PICK OUR TOP 5??

  1. Yaya Toure
  2. Flamini (not on list)
  3. Ever Banega (not on list)
  4. Lorik Cana
  5. Mohamed Sissoko (good shout i reckon)
  .

• els

  good call hello mine are

  1. Yaya Toure
  2. Patrick Vieira
  3. Vincent Kompany
  4. Mat Flaminni
  5. Christian Chivu

• Yemi

  hello, apparently sunderland are going for cana so if we dont do something concrete now, u might have to strike him off your list

• Yemi

  My five

  Yaya toure
  Lassana Diarra (not on list)
  Flamini
  sissoko
  M. Diarra

• fan

  Obi Mikel (i know)
  De Rossi
  Marcos Senna
  Tulalan
  yaya

• steve

  Nasri has broke his leg… sigh looks likely wenger is going to have to buy

• Gooner Get Ya

  Yaya Toure
  Jean Makoun
  De Rossi
  Sissoko
  Inler

  ps. Get well soon Nasri…and try not to get fat again while you are recovering :-0

• hello

  .
  Great response… it looks like Yaya is our overall favourite and i don’t know an arsenal fan who would be disappointed with that signing!! Get on it Wenger!!

  Good suggestions in Vieira and Kompany (forgot about those two!!. Would be well up for senna but I think he signed a contract extension this summer.

  Bloody Nasri and his FAT FIBULA!! – come on Rosicky this is your time to shine!!
  .

• els

  I think wenger and the board are bricking it now. Because I think they tell fibs ‘No we don’t need anyone we got THE squad’
  but then Nasri crocks it. So the squad they were talking about has a gaping hole to fill and tomas aint match fit.

  I think the real reason we don’t invest is because we are financially flipped.

• Debs

  Good match going on at the moment on ATVO, even though the picture quality isn’t the best. Bendtner and Ramsey combining really well. We’re leading 3-1 at half time…

• Fabrez

  Yeah debs…fairly good stuff. Shame about Nasri…buy Le Boss! Hope the 2nd half is a cracker!!

• Pete

  Good first half. Rambo is looking good.

  Senderos is playing as a DM in the second half!!! :-S

• Fabrez

  Yeah Pete…interesting! Traore looking ok… Want to see some goals tho!

• Pete

  RvP scores a penalty. 4-1 to Gunners

• Fabrez

  Nice! I’m impressed with Traore’s speed…but not expectin to see many goals with all those defensive players on…

• Shan

  Senderos as a DM….

  i like it …

  what do u lot think ???

• Pete

  7-1 full time. Bendtner, RvP and Ramsey score two each, and Gallas scored one.

• Debs

  Good game. And yeah, Traore’s really quick. Not sure whether he’ll play as LB or on the left wing, though. He played on the wings for Pompey, although he’s a LB origninally. But we’ve got Clichy and Gibbs.
  But come to think of it, I don’t think we’ll miss Nasri that much, at least not in the first half of the season. And thinking like Wenger, we’ll be getting a new signing come November/December!

• Fabrez

  Not convinced about Senderos as a DM…don’t think he’s that fast but he did well there today. Kinda weird seeing Song as an attacking midfielder. And Traore seems a little one-dimensional besides his speed but we’ll see how he develops. And i’m pretty sure he’ll b more a midfielder than a LB. Can’t w8 to have Nasri back…i really like the kid.

• Adeniyi

  I see no reason why Wenger shouldn’t bid for Miguel Veloso and also Simon Vukcevic from sporting lisbon.. those pair are a handful to handle. Vukcevic will give a lot of options in the attack and veloso most definitely in the defensive midfield role. We can as well get Lukas Poldoski, David Guiza or Oscar Cardozo of Benfica(I rate him highly). I believe Wenger can get any of the players and at a very good bargain.

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