While Gunners are touring Asia....the new Summer Transfer thread

he was 19 with very little experience, jumping up 2 leagues, to a massive club and in his first year.
it's not his fault wenger decided to use him as 2nd choice rb instead of 3rd choice with some, but limited, games to ease him in, as he probably should have been. saying that, he's shown both naivety and promise in equal measure. he's decent going forward and gets some good crosses in, but lacks experience and guile when defending.
i think we'll see more consistency over the next 2 years and then be able to judge him properly. the thing is, we do still need depth for both full back positions anyway, preferably an experienced rb who can cover lb without too much problems when needed.

oh, and let's not forget something important......he's a born and bred gunner.

 

Agreed. I think Arsene is showing a little naivety (at least publicly) in regards to Diaby. No part of his track record has shown he can stay healthy for any reasonable amount of time. And Jack is hardly a sure thing at this point.

So we start the season with Rosicky & Wilshere out. If Diaby gets crocked, that leaves us with Arteta, Song, & Coq at CM. Anyone know the timetable on Ramsey's return, and if he'll be given any time off?

Sounds like quite the gamble to me....

 

Yeah, coming around to the earlier calls for a CAM. I really think that, if they are saying October for Jack, we can expect a post Christmas first appearance.

Does anyone watch much of the Russian league? I ask because I am curious about the Honda kid from CSKA Moscow. Dzagoev and Doumbia were linked to us but in looking at the squad, Honda seemed like a useful player for us. Good freekicks and a bit on the larger size so useful both with and without Jack on the pitch. Can't judge too much from collections of You Tube videos though.

 

With Arsene you never really know.

Of course, when he says, "If we have setbacks in pre-season it could be different," about Jack and Diaby, has he really said anything at all?

 

I'm disappointed we're going into the season with any expectations of Diaby making a contribution to this team. Honestly.

 

Getting himself injured in the game tomorrow so we had to sign M'Vila would be a pretty good contribution to the team ;-)

 

Hear, hear!

 

Dubloons.

 

Here's what I wrote:

Be on the lookout for Cazorla.
I think we'll see some public links soon.

 

they were already out there before you posted though.

 

ElConfidencial was the first to report it. That was after I posted.

 

i'm sure journos on twitter had it out already. i had read it from reasonable sources before you posted here.

 

I'm sure you did.

 

Diaby's middle name is setback and to expect Jack who hasn't kicked a ball in months to really contribute for more than half the season is lunacy in my opinion.

 

Wenger's comments were pretty discouraging. A bright start the summer is turning dim quickly.

 

as i'm sure you had a scoop and were first to reveal to the world a link with cazorla....

well, all except the fact you weren't and it was already out there.

 

When he claimed never to heard of Cazorla, then you know somethings happening there. Wenger knows about the 15yr old 2nd choice goalkeeper playing in the Nigerian Under 16s 4th division. He certainly knows all about Spanish internationals

 

The thing is that this summer, and so far, things were really looking up. 2 pretty good early signings and strong rumors about several players made it seem like this was gonna be the summer where the team really turned the page. Which is why Arsene's comments are so surprising. I doubt he is being honest. At least Cazorla is looking pretty likely at this point. Incredible set piece taker.

 

If you're referring to Anthony Imbobwetumba, Citeh's in for him too. So, don't get your hopes up.

 

Well-played (I hate how you can no longer add comments to rep).

 

From what ive seen of Cazorla he tends to come in narrow from the left hand side. He isnt natural width and doesnt go around too many defenders....if our first choice full backs pick up injuries again then our play will be back to what it was last season when Sagna, Gibbs and Santos were out but this time we wont have RVP to bail us out.

It also answers the question about Podolski starting on the left of a 3 man attack. Are we going with Poldi as our CF?

Cazorla doesnt excite me in the same way Gervinho's signing didnt excite me. There are far better players that we should be signing.