Let the rebuild start... Summer 2018 transfer thread

Discussion in 'Arsenal' started by chjoak, Apr 6, 2018.

  1. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    That’s exactly the kind of policy that led to AWs stacking the squad with a bunch of injury prone immature brats.

    Just look at top sides. Messi, Suarez, pique, busquets. Ronaldo, Benz, modric, ramos. Baoteng, Lewa, Vidal, (boy including the geriatrics). Aguero, otamendi, Silva, kompany. Thiago, thiago, dimaria, cavani. All are over 30 or will be.

    While athletic performance has generally peaked by 30, this is not a given nor is althelitc performance all there is. We need a balance of leadership/experience and athleticism/energy.
     
  2. DaPrince84

    DaPrince84 Member+

    Aug 22, 2001
    MD
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Banega is quality

    This age thing is for the birds. It would be one thing if he was 32 and we paid a big fee. £20 million is like 10 million a decade ago. Not a big deal.
     
  3. Romfordray

    Romfordray Member+

    Oct 24, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A bit harsh. He is a situational player at best on this Arsenal team. There will be cup games etc too. I suppose Unai was honest with him. I would have loved to see him stay as I like his commitment to the club for so long but understand his desire to move in conjunction with the current state of affairs at the club. I think Torreira will be great!
     
  4. thebigman

    thebigman Member+

    May 25, 2006
    Birmingham
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    U would pay 30 mill for 1 year if a top player in their 30s if it got u cl footy
     
  5. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    Read the quoted post more closely, i wasn't saying anything about Wilshere.
     
  6. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    He is quality, my only reservation is very Wengeresque, he would block the progress of AMN.
     
  7. footykid

    footykid Member+

    Jan 10, 2005
    Mississauga, Ont
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    #1157 footykid, Jun 20, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2018
    This all started because I got a new phone... had a hope it would just blow over. Starting to feel like Bigman
     
    thebigman and casoccerdad47 repped this.
  8. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    AMN is English. The chances his progress gets blocked by something is like 95%. A 30yo to learn and compete with is the least of his worries. AMN will get 20 games this year I would guess...and probably none at fullback unlike under Wenger.
     
  9. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    Btw torreira is playing right now.
     
  10. DaPrince84

    DaPrince84 Member+

    Aug 22, 2001
    MD
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    different players.

    Torriera would block AMN more than Banega.
     
  11. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    This is why its critical to sign the juicing outliers

    Players whose physical performance places them at the edge of the bell curve

    I am convinced many of Arsenal's problems are because their juicing programme is poor, and they don't sign players for whom juicing delivers outsize gains.

    Ozil is a better example of the kind of player you want - yes he is 'sick' a lot but he hasn't got injured the whole time like our other midfielders

    Indeed since he "spent time in the gym" somehow he put on loads of muscle with no tradeoffs
     
  12. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    I'm not sure we really know where AMN fits in the midfield yet. We think of him as a 6 or an 8 because he spent a lot of time as a fullback last year, but he has the skill set to play a more attacking role. At the same age Torreira was a forward.
     
    DaPrince84 repped this.
  13. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    A bit cynical, I assume you consider Beardsley and Sheringham the ultimate juicers, though neither ever looked bulked out.
     
  14. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    Many forms of “juicing” not just steroids. Soccer juicing is more similar to cyclist’s juicing.

    If you haven’t watched “icarus” on Netflix then do it. The levels the Russians went to to conceal Olympic doping was pretty significant. Can only imagine footy is similar or worse with players having much more resources than typical Olympic athletes.

    Then you have all the legal doping like atheletes getting bogus ADHD diagnosis so they can take stimulants.

    Testing is a joke. Prem leaves 40% untested for the whole year. Of those tested less than 10% are blood tests which are required to detect some substances. So, effectively 95% of the league can get away with using some PeDs.
     
  15. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    exactly - and as we've seen with Froome & Wiggins in the UK, even if you get caught - it may not even be made public, or have any consequences
     
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  16. Shen-O

    Shen-O Member+

    United States
    Jul 26, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Those stimulants are almost always adderall or ritalin...talk about an ultra competitive advantage, its pharmaceutical grade speed. I wish we could find out who in football has these bogus scripts. "Legitimate reasons" is horse-crap, they don't really need them.
     
  17. cantona94

    cantona94 Member

    Jul 16, 2000
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #1167 cantona94, Jun 20, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2018
    I’m fine with some of the older guys as at least they have some steel to them, something our squad has lacked for years now. If nothing else they can provide and teach that to the youngsters for the next year or two as we continue along this rebuilding phase.
     
  18. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    When Jitty talks about Ozil adding muscle in the gym with no tradeoffs, the implication is he's used steroids. They are the most effective PED for muscle recovery, which would be a significant benefit to soccer players.

    With respect to stimulants, they have to be taken so close to the competition that they are generally easier to detect than steroids. With respect to blood doping, I'm not sure it lends itself to to a rigorous 10 month season.
     
  19. Rewinder

    Rewinder Member+

    Jun 24, 2004
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Using stimulants before a game seems like it would be too much of a double-edged sword to be worth the risk.
     
  20. wanye_stirrear

    wanye_stirrear Member+

    Sep 19, 2002
    Maryland
    Huh?
     
  21. The Foo Fighter

    The Foo Fighter Member+

    Mar 15, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Regardless of who we sign, I don't know how we fit all of our key players will get in the same side.

    ----------------Auba--------------
    Ozil-------------------------Mhiki
    ----------------Rambo-----------
    --------Xhaka------Torreira----
    Kola---------------------------Bellerin
    ----------Mustafi---Sokratis--------
    ----------------Leno--------------------
     
  22. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    Yes, stimulants are more easily detected but they have their use away from the pitch as well—extended training, video sessions, travel recovery, etc. also pretty easy to use legally as noted.

    It’s a small advantage, but if you don’t think there are players looking for any advantage then you are naive. Lots of chatter about it in the nfl and mlb. 10% of mlb players have aderral exemption.

    Explain about blood doping? EPO is the drug of choice among cyclist who have a “season” of Jan to August essentially.
     
  23. wanye_stirrear

    wanye_stirrear Member+

    Sep 19, 2002
    Maryland
    Jitty is right. Steroids aren’t even used for muscle building. They are used for muscle recovery. You get bigger because you can work more without breaking your body down. Endurance enhancements like those used in cycling and way more effective and most likely are more often used since the Eastern Europeans have those down to a science, and they don’t stay in your system very long. You see this all the time in mma. Steroids are so 1990.

    If they aren’t doing random tests, and most of the testing are urine tests, they aren’t going to catch any cheaters except for the extremely careless. Actually, the new thing is gene doping. I honestly think the era of clean athletes is over. It’s too easy to cheat, the testing is always behind, and there is too much money on the line if you are successful.
     
  24. casoccerdad47

    casoccerdad47 Member+

    Mar 31, 2006
    Are you to young to remember blood doping? Blood doping is the transfusion of the athlete's own blood, which is drawn and then stored for future use. It increases the hemoglobin in the blood stream and thus improves the bloods ability to carry oxygen, increasing endurance. It was first used by athletes (primarily cyclists and long distance runners) in the late 60s and not outlawed until 1985. EPO is a method of increasing the hemoglobin without the transfusion.
     
  25. crazy150

    crazy150 Member+

    Aug 27, 2006
    North Cuba
    Ya, I know what blood doping is. I think they generally call EPO blood doping too since the outcome is the same, but maybe I’m wrong about that. So you were only talking about the literal blood doping? Ya, I doubt that’s going on too much since it’s very intrusive, annoying. EPO is rampant I’d bet.
     

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