• kronke

  arsenalinsider blog as an interesting take on the cesc situation and its one i agree with.wenger has been bullish of late and is attempting to assure us all that cesc is going nowhere.admirable but you have to be an idiot to think he its that certain.cesc wants to go.whether its now or next season or in 2 seasons the fact is he wants out.the point the article makes is that someone who is not wholly committed to the cause cannot and should not be skippering the team.im not doubting that cesc gives his all on the pitch but being captain is more than that.for me the skipper needs to be someone who is committed long term to what the manager and the club is trying to achieve.there is little point in keeping and making a player captain when he is merely killing time until he can get his dream move.its a bit pathetic really.even if cesc does stay i would be all for him not being captain.it would send out a message.if he was happy to stay another year then so be it as long as he performs.however he is clearly not going to be at arsenal for much longer so we need to look elsewhere.

• steve68

  @Dev – I still would rather we get dein back. He was a man who could do the deals.

• yemi

  Nothing new, nothing exciting from the session.
  I hope arsene gets a good defender with premiership experience. That will make my season.

  Other clubs are in the market, we are yet to do anything (and don’t tell me about jenkinson). Does that mean we are waiting for 1st of july ?
  #WaitingAndWatching

• yemi

  @ kronke:
  I agree with you too. When the chips are down, you look up to the leaders in the squad for encouragement (skippo inclusive). If the leaders are in a sour or dejected mood, then the whole team is affected.
  Did you watch the heats vs mavericks game ? The moment lebron james, wade and bosh started dropping balls, missing shots, committing fouls, i knew the mavs were going to win the game. Same applies

• kronke

  Personally don’t see any improvements with this team – need a new manager to give us a change of direction. If only we had won a tropy last season – would have been so different. But the bottleres failed us.
  What we need is a player who can lead by example, who has the all-rounder stills to get a key goal, play in the slide-rule pass, and make a critical tackle. If Wenger wants to get one so that Arsenal can have two high caliber holding midfielders on this team, he better get off his ass and do so. They are going quick. But the idiotic manager gets scared when a player threatens to leave and quickly gives them the captians armband – what a pansy.

• yemi

  BREAKING NEWS! Jerome Boateng has agreed to join Bayern Munich – but the Germans are yet to agree a fee with Manchester City

• kronke

  I really do wonder who this twit is going to sign.

• devday

  @ kronke:
  Originally, I thought the same. But for Arsenal – this is the season of reckoning. I think some changes are happening with the players and staff and this may mean Cesc will stay.

• devday

  @ kronke:
  Dein was a favourite – he always seemed to make the deals happen – I don’t know if he could return under the current board – but certainly someone of his calibre is required.

• devday

  kronke wrote:

  What we need is a player who can lead by example, who has the all-rounder stills to get a key goal, play in the slide-rule pass, and make a critical tackle

  Scott Parker?
  Aaron Ramsey?
  Jack Wilshere?
  Cesc?
  Nasri?

• kronke

  It would be brilliant if the captains armband was taken from Cesc – IMO he’s not a captian – if you look at PV, TA, GS, these people were leaders. And to a large extent even Sol Camobell. Not bloody cesc who’s got barca in his DNA.

• ny

  signing of Samba,Willian and Gervinho will make us strong.

• kronke

  and make RVP the captain

• yemi

  @ kronke:
  I don’t think RVP will make a good captian, I think nasri or even Jack wilshire are more suited than RVP.
  Vermaleen would be better. We have such weak characters in the squad that even makes it difficult to chose a captain !!!!

• steve68

  I found it very pleasing to see dead weight like Denilson and Bendtner unequivocally express their desires to leave the club- Lord knows we don’t want a transfer saga regarding the lethargic Brazilian. I also found it a smart move on Wenger and the club’s part on setting a final deadline at the end of June for Nasri and Clichy to make their decisions and either stay or leave the club- it’s obvious that a summer-long transfer saga regarding a player leaving the club is not wanted at all- it would add an air of instability within the club and would make deals regarding incoming players much more difficult. So, whether someone like Nasri goes or stays, it’s good that we get over this quickly, cause boy, Arsenal’s going shopping!

• kronke

  Ok so who does everyone think we should sign? Here is my choices below.
  LEIGHTON BAINES
  JOSE ENRIQUE
  BENOIT TREMOULINAS
  JAN VERTONGHEN:
  GARY CAHILL
  MAMADOU SAKHO

  Explanations to follow:

• kronke

  LEIGHTON BAINES: The Everton man has just finished a spectacular season with the Toffees, getting 5 league goals and 11 league assists- making him the most productive defender in terms of goals in the EPL this season. His surging runs forward are now his trademark style, and his crossing is top-notch, something that could be very useful for us when we’re trying to get a goal. He has become a cornerstone of the Everton team, and is now a regular in the English NT. Honestly, if Clichy goes, then Baines is the best left-back available we can get (Fabio Coentrao, unfortunately, is too busy flirting with Real Madrid to notice us, or anyone else for that matter). And really, with Baines being worth about £15 million, it would be pretty dumb not to buy him unless we get someone who’s just as good as him, and even better, aside from Liverpool (who might get Clichy anyways), there isn’t really any top club with a pressing need for LB- Man U have Evra, Chelsea have Cashley, and City have Zabaleta/Kolarov. So there really isn’t any competition for his signature in England. Perfect environment for Arsenal to work with, right?

  JOSE ENRIQUE: Has played for Newcastle for several seasons now, and was named their best player and included in the team of the year during the 09-10 season- the year they were in the Championship. However, he seems to have progressed in that time as he is held in high regard presently, so much that Liverpool were heavily linked to him after their Andy Carroll splurge. In contrast to a left-back like Baines, Jose Enrique’s main draw is that he is very, very solid defensively- he is good at keeping the ball and very rarely does a winger get past him. Heavily linked to Liverpool in the past, Enrique is thought to be available for £10-15 million and seems to be ready to move to a bigger club- even Barcelona have been linked to him recently. At the very least, he would be a better defender than Clichy, although his apparent lack of attacking prowess could be cumbersome.

  BENOIT TREMOULINAS: The previous two players already play in England, and as such their prices are always going to be inflated. Not so with Tremoulinas. The man plays in France for Bordeaux, who have just finished a very disappointing season in Ligue 1, finishing in mid-table, just two years after winning the league itself! Tremoulinas has already showed he is capable of making the step up to a higher level, displaying some decent performances in the 09/10 Champions League and in the Ligue 1 over the last 3 seasons. Tremoulinas is a very modern, attacking left-back, capable of some dangerous forays forward. In all fairness, Tremoulinas would not represent a significant step-up from Clichy (aside from the numerous lapses in concentration), but rather a continuation of having a decent left-back who is good going forward.

• kronke

  MAMADOU SAKHO: If we fail to get Vertonghen, then I want this guy. 21 years old, French, tall, and plays for PSG, one of France’s best clubs. But the big thing about this guy are his leadership qualities. He was the captain in every setup of the French Youth NT he was in, and is currently the vice-captain of PSG, despite being barely old enough to get a drink in the USA. This would be very good, for example, when we are faced with situations like the 4-4 game against Newcastle- somebody like Sakho can take hold of the team and say “all right guys let’s stop the rut and let’s stay afloat.” In addition, he is proficient in the air, also something we have been found lacking in defense the last couple of seasons. The more and more I think about it, the more I think Sakho would be a very good signing for us.

  SCOTT DANN: More accurately, any starting Birmingham City defender. Despite being relegated, Brum’s central defenders have a reputation for being decent, no-nonsense, rough, English, worth spending money on, defenders. Although Dann (or Roger Johnson, for that matter) would be available at a cut-price following his team’s descent into the Championship, this would be the signing I would least want. He’d be no better than a back-up to Verms/Kos/Djourou, and would probably stifle Bartley’s or Miquel’s development while not providing much more in terms of quality. Should be nothing more than a last-gasp option if we fail in getting any of the other targets.

  CENTER MIDFIELD: Denilson’s leaving, thank heavens. To be honest, I don’t think Center Mid is a position that needs investment, especially compared to more critical areas such as defense and wingers. At the very best, I can see Wenger buying another prospect or someone brought in just to be a backup- which, as Squillaci has shown, isn’t always a good thing. We have Wilshere, who will look to improve on his great breakthrough season, and Songinho, who will be working to perform even better in his currently adapting role as a dynamic, box-to-box guy. Ramsey will get a full pre-season to get even better after getting his leg broken 2 years ago, and Diaby, when he’s not crocked or getting sent off, can actually get the odd good game here or there. Plus, we have Henri Lansbury back from Norwich City, where he had an excellent loan spell and will look to get a shout in the first-team. And we can’t forget Emmanuel Frimpong, who many at the start of last season were predicting he would get his great breakthrough, and is now fit and ready to work up to that challenge. If the club feels that we do need someone new in this area, they could do worse than signing Jan Vertonghen, who has experience already in playing in this position. So forgive me if I think that getting a player in this area isn’t exactly critical- although I certainly welcome any debate on the matter.

  ATTACKING MIDFIELD/WINGERS: Obviously, this a position whose signings will be made relative to whether Cesc and Nasri stay or leave the club. For various reasons, I don’t think Cesc will leave (more on that on a later post), but Nasri right now is a wild-card. With that being said, it’s necessary that we still make investments in this area, seeing as how we suffered from effeciency and ruthlessness on the attack last season. We have been most heavily linked to a certain duo from French Champions Lille, who were they again?..

• kronke

  EDEN HAZARD: Probably the #1 transfer target this summer, next to Aguero and Alexis Sanchez. Of course, being a vital part of your team that won it’s first league title in over 50 years and being compared to C.Ronaldo and Messi can do wonders for your reputation. A speedy, intelligent, highly technical attacking midfielder/winger with lots of vision, Hazard was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Year for his amazing performances and seems destined to leave the club. While his stats (7 league goals and 10 league assists) aren’t exactly eye-popping, it is his overall link-up play and vision which make up for any goal-scoring deficiency, being regarded as one of the best passers in France. In addition, he has a very cool temper, always a plus when dealing with stars (ahem.. *coughBalotellicough*). Hazard will likely only leave Lille on a big transfer fee, upwards of £20m being a possible value. And with City, Barcelona, and others looking at him, he could be the biggest signing Arsenal could make in years.

  GERVINHO: The Ivorian, nicknamed by his ex-Brazilian coach, also played a hugely important part in Lille’s domestic Double last season, getting 14 league goals en route to the title. Has been extensively linked to us and Man City so far this summer, and if he’s going to leave Lille, it’s likely to either Manchester or London. Can play either up front or on the wing, which could potentially solve two problematic areas with just one signing. Has all the makings of a classic Arsenal signing, but this is where City come in- they’re basically willing to offer Gervinho much, much more than Arsenal are willing. We can avoid this problem if City get someone else, like Alexis Sanchez for example. But if they target Gervinho as their #1 transfer target, then unless the player himself has a burning desire to come to Arsenal, then he’s probably going to go Manchester.

  ANDRE AYEW: The young Ghanian was perhaps Marsielle’s best player last season, helping them try to retain the title, that, thanks to him, they almost did. Has really come into his own in France, terrorizing defenders from the wing and scoring several crucial goals along the way. (He got 10 in Ligue 1 last season). He has indicated a desire to stay for at least one more season at Marsielle, but if we lose out on any of the two above then I can see Wenger tempting young Andre..

  FORWARDS: With Bendtner leaving and Chamakh not really convicing anyone of him being a quality striker after his torrid second half of the season, it’s likely we’ll make an investment in this area. The question remains, should Wenger sign, will he make a signing that looks more to the future or a big-name signing who’ll be coming to play immediately? Support for the former would be RVP’s form that proves him as probably THE best complete forward in England and Walcott’s budding talents as a forward, not as a winger. Of course, we don’t know if RVP will last more than half a season and Walcott is still developing as a striker- indicating that maybe we do need a big-name forward signing.

• kronke

  FALCAO: The guy is a beast, let me start with that. He absolutely DESTROYED the Europa League, getting 17 goals, the most in the history of that competition. Is very good in the air, plays well with his teammates, and is an excellent finisher. In other words, just what Arsenal need in a striker. Could very well be the big marquee signing Arsenal have been looking for, although the same can be said about Hazard. We’re competing with Spurs for his signature, likely to be around £20m, but I think if we can accommodate him into our system (which would likely mean one of our center mids would be dropped), he could be a very good player for us.

  OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN: Definitely a “one for the future” type of signing, although given how easily our forwards get injured, it’s likely Chamberlain would get a fair number of games should he sign. Big for his age and highly regarded in Southampton, his good performances got him into League One’s Team of the Season, with 10 goals and 9 assists. If we get someone like Gervinho, then I wouldn’t mind getting Chamberlain, but his price (around £12 million), does seem kind of high. And if he’s our only offensive signing, he would represent a gamble- he could potentially be another Anelka, or a Vela. Still, one to look out for the coming years.

  BENZEMA: A very good player who’s not getting the respect he deserves at Real Madrid. Had a much maligned debut season and last season, Jose Mourinho publicly criticized him. Still, Benzema started to try and the goals flowed, ending as with 26 in all competitions. Wenger seems to want him, and to be honest Benzema, being French, being an aggressive forward, and being a good finisher, could very well be fantastic for Arsenal and the EPL. And if Aguero does a Judas and moves to Real, then the door could be opened for Karim to leave the club.

  Based on their price and versatility, I think Arsenal should sign Vertonghen and Gervinho- Vertonghen can play in defense and as a defensive mid, while Gervinho can play on the wing and up front. After that, there may be something left in the bank for someone like Chamberlain, or Wenger and the club could surprise us all and get that big, star signing- someone like Hazard or Falcao, for example.

  This is by no means an exhaustive list, and if you think there’s a player out there who could be good for us, then don’t hesitate to point it out in the comments. And who knows, maybe Wenger will shock us all again and get a Estonian kid.

• steve68

  @kronke- some great additions if only we had that cash to splash. To be honest i think Cesc is staying so we will still be building the team around him.

  And I was looking at that interview with Sagna earlier today. Basically, in my research, I’ve found 3 different categories of “interview” that appear in the English media, in terms of sourcing:

  1) Unsourced (substantial majority of interviews fall into this category);

  2) Sourced, but the source can’t actually be used to verify the accuracy of the quotes (nearly all of the interviews that ARE sourced fall into this category); and

  3) Sourced, and the source CAN be used to verify the accuracy of the quotes (the grand total of interviews in this category is somewhere around 5. I’m not even joking).

  The Sagna comments fall into the 2nd category, and are a pretty typical example of what you find there. A lot of these comments are sourced to interviews with foreign radio stations, and a lot of them are sourced to live interviews at public appearances as well.

  This is probably the trickiest category in terms of assessing accuracy and validity, because you can’t attack the article for inadequate sourcing, but at the same time, you don’t have any way of confirming that the comments are accurate. With these articles, I think it’s best to just use your common sense.

  And in this case, I don’t think Sagna actually made these statements. First, it’s worth noting that Arsene Wenger came out just the other day, and stated categorically that Cesc was NOT going to Barca this summer. I think it’s the 3rd time this summer that Wenger has said that, so it’s clearly Arsenal’s position to attempt to quash the transfer rumors rather than keep them going.

  Now, I’m not familiar with the PRECISE terms of Sagna’s contract w/ Arsenal, but I’m guessing that making statements in the press that contradict the club’s official position is generally frowned upon. In fact, given everything that’s happened in the past, I would be absolutely shocked if all of Arsenal’s players weren’t strictly forbidden from even mentioning the word “Barcelona” in the press.

  Also, it’s not as if all this transfer speculation is something that Cesc particularly enjoys. Sagna’s his teammate, and I don’t know why he would be fanning the flames and antagonizing Cesc like that. Certainly, I don’t see why Sagna would be interested in “tapping him up” for Barcelona I could go on, but you get the idea…

  My verdict: Sagna didn’t say it. And if you believe that he did, I have some lovely ocean front property in Oklahoma that I’d like to sell you for a very reasonable price

• yemi

  @ kronke:
  Just give us the link, or quote the source when you are copying and pasting…..

  hxxp://arsenal.theoffside.com/transfer-news-and-player-movement/the-shop-window-is-looking-really-nice-a-review-of-arsenals-transfer-targets.html

  OR

  hxxp://www.planetepl.com/

• steve68

  In my opinion the press is trying to do another Adebayor on Arsenal.
  It was clear to see that Adebayor with all his stupid talk after his one wonder season and talking about all those big clubs that wanted him to come to them was losing the love of the Arsenal supporters.

  I was in the Emirates when Adebayor came back after that summer full of rumours. And I heard the booing. Adebayor had made life difficult for himself with all those stupid things he said and now he felt he wasn’t loved like before by the supporters. And he had a bad season and then left.

  The media have noticed this and since then try to do the same with Cesc and now with Nasri also if I may add him. The only reason apart from selling more newspapers or getting more hits is… to weaken Arsenal.

  If not by forcing the player out during the transfer period they hope that the player is having a bad season because they feel unhappy about the support they get (or don’t get).

  I think that all the players should have their name sung from the first game in the Emirates from the first to the last minute of the game. To make sure they will feel at home.

• kronke

  I don’t know if anyone is still checking this thread, but I’ve actually just turned up some information that is very relevant to this topic that I don’t know if any Arsenal fan has ever seen before. And based on that information, I think that it’s far from clear that Cesc would even be interested in going to Barcelona this Summer. Or that Barcelona would be interested in signing him.

  If anyone is familiar with my previous posts, you’ll know that I’m convinced that 99% of the Fabregas transfer saga from last summer was fabricated by the media. But I never had any way to actually prove it. UNTIL NOW, that is. I’ve been digging and digging, and I’ve finally busted the media on one aspect of the transfer saga. This is going to be a little bit long, so I think I’ll do it in two comments. In this one, I’ll post a list of the relevant articles and explain how I can prove they’re fabricated, and then in the next one, I’ll show you what Cesc really said, and give you some comments from him that you’ve probably never heard before.

  The part of the transfer saga that I can now disprove is the part from May, 2010 where Cesc allegedly made a public statement saying that he wanted to go back to Barcelona. Here’s a survey of some of the articles:

  The Sun – Cesc ready to join Barcelona
  CESC FABREGAS is ready to walk out on Arsenal next week after admitting: I’d love to join Barcelona. The Gunners skipper will decide his future this weekend after crunch talks with boss Arsene Wenger.

  The Daily Mirror – Fabregas: ‘I want to go to Barcelona’
  Cesc Fabregas wants a decision on his future before the World Cup after admitting he wants to return to Barcelona.

  The Daily Mail – Cesc Fabregas alerts Barcelona as star admits he’ll decide on Arsenal future before the World Cup
  Arsenal fans face an anxious wait after Cesc Fabregas revealed he is considering his future at the north London club, and would come to a decision before the start of the World Cup.

  The Daily Express – ARSENAL’S CESC FABREGAS COULD QUIT FOR BARCELONA
  CESC Fabregas has stunned Arsenal by admitting he is considering his future and could quit for Barcelona before the start of the World Cup.

  The Times – Cesc Fàbregas sends out signals about possibility of move to Barcelona
  Cesc Fàbregas appeared to open the door for a move to Barcelona last night after saying that he wants his future at Arsenal to be resolved before the World Cup finals. The Spain midfield player said that, should he leave Arsenal, he would consider a return only to the Catalan club.

  The Independent – Fabregas admits desire to play for Barça and wants future ‘sorted’
  If Cesc fabregas is trying to break it to Arsenal fans gently that he wants to leave them this summer, then yesterday’s declaration that his next club will definitely be Barcelona can be seen as another big step on the road back to Spain.

  There are literaly thousands upon thousands of articles making these claims, but the list above should give you a general idea.

  Ok, on to how I can prove that they’re fake. The reason it’s been so hard to disprove any aspects of the transfer saga is that it’s almost impossible to find the original sources for any of the statements or quotes that the media has been printing. Most of the time, there’s no source provided at all, and even when there is, you can bet that it won’t be anything that you can trace to check the validity of the quotes. Even on the rare occasions when the media provides video of the press conference where they got the quotes, they’ll heavily edit it so that you can’t see the quotes in context.

  The press conference where these particular statements by Cesc were allegedly made was part of a promotional appearance by Cesc at Port Aventura amusement park in Barcelona on May 13, 2010. And true to form, despite the extensive coverage in both the English and Spanish medias, no media outlet in either country published a full video or transcript of the entire conference (even though it was only 15 minutes long). However, luckily for us, nobody bothered to tell Port Aventura park about the media blackout.

  Their promotions department posted all of their videos from the appearance on their website, and right there next to the video of Cesc on the roller coaster, I found the unedited video of the entire press conference. And what that means is that we can now fact check every single article that reported on Cesc’s comments. And from what I’ve done so far, I can definitely see why they didn’t want us to be able to do that. I’ve probably translated less than a quarter of the video, and I can already completely debunk every single one of the articles above. There are some parts of them that are just wildly exaggerated and taken out of context, as opposed to being outright fabrications, but none of them accurately represents what Cesc actually said. More on that in the next post.

• steve68

  SSN -Breaking News: Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has been speaking about his future. Full story to follow shortly.

• steve68

  taken from sky sport:

  Cesc Fabregas has admitted he is frustrated at Arsenal’s lack of recent success but maintains he is happy at Emirates Stadium.

  The Spain international continues to be linked with a return to Barcelona, where he started his career before moving to North London as a teenager.

  The 24-year-old insists that no decision has been reached over his future and admitted that the Gunners and manager Arsene Wenger would have a major say over where he is playing his football next season.

  Fabregas, who missed the closing weeks of the season through injury, revealed he had not spoken to Wenger since early May when he was interviewed at a promotional event in Spain.

  The gifted midfielder remains confident that the Gunners can end their six-year silverware drought, but would not be drawn over the latest Camp Nou reports when the question was inevitably raised.

  Lying
  “He (Wenger) is the boss, the one who makes the decisions. You should ask him. I was injured at the end of the season and I haven’t seen him for about six weeks.”

  Cesc Fabregas

  Quotes of the week

  Fabregas said: “A player who is not frustrated at not winning titles is either lying to himself or lacks ambition.

  “There is a good team and a good manager and one of the most faithful fan bases in Europe. With those I believe we can make progress and one day win an important trophy.

  “I am an Arsenal player. I have been very happy for eight years and I am very happy. I am not thinking about football right now, just about my holidays.

  “There have been no decisions. The truth is that it doesn’t always depend on the player and at the moment I don’t know anything.

  “He (Wenger) is the boss, the one who makes the decisions. You should ask him. I was injured at the end of the season and I haven’t seen him for about six weeks.

  “I am very happy where I am. Anything else would be speculation that is untrue. You can never say never in this life as so many things happen that you can never predict.”

• kronke

  which team has lined up to pay Nasri £110,000 a week? I have seen no confirmed reports of any team tabling a bid and in fact if anything the market looks like it’s cooled on Nasri since his salary demands have been announced.

  If he had folks lining up, as you say, Arsenal would have already sold him or have paid him what he wants. This lull in activity indicates to me that Arsenal’s valuation is either generous enough already or maybe even overly generous.

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