Flamini was a nobody when he signed for Arsenal, so why should they have paid him more to begin with?
im not too sure about this... especially since Song plays CB like a holding mid just like we now see Traore back at LM... maybe Wenger is teaching Song something...
I think Wenger had Diaby out on the left wing to improve his left foot, so I think Wenger likes to do that. hell, Diaby may even be left footed so what do i know!
My only problem is that Henry's new deal didn't keep him at Arsenal. I hate to repeat myself but footballers are whores. Like all who patronize whores, we should never love them, only appreciate the services they provide while we pay them. Sex isn't love and kissing the badge isn't loyalty. All I ask is that they give their all while they play for the team, blow as little smoke up my ass as possible while they flirt with other suitors and speak well of us when they are gone. Pretty Woman is a fiction, the whore always goes back to being a whore in the final reel.
It's about $3.39 a pound at the deli counter where I go, but I think it may be less within the EU. (Sorry, I'm just not gonna take any of this seriously until the season actually ends and we see what comes up).
Song played primarily at RM during the ACN and earned rave reviews. The last couple games we've seen Song at CB, Toure at RB and Eboue at RM. Would liked to have seen Toure at CB, Song at RM, Eboue at RB. Wenger nose.
That's more like it!!! From sky sports Happy' Ade out to improve Gunners striker determined to build on impressive season By James Dall Last updated: 7th May 2008 Sunderland v Arsenal Match Betting Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has set his sights on next season as he looks to build on an impressive goalscoring campaign Adebayor has been in inspired form this term, firing 30 goals in 47 appearances for The Gunners. And after such a fine 2007/08, the Togo international has voiced his determination to raise his game an extra level next season. "I know the most important thing is how I perform next season," Adebayor said. "People are going to be looking at what I can do, but as a player you have to be ready for that. "Next season will be a new challenge. I know I can do it now, so I have to push on. "I have scored 30 goals this season - but also missed a lot so that tells me I can score more. I realise now what I can do, so let's just keep doing it." Flamini departure Adebayor also confirmed he has no intention of following in Mathieu Flamini's footsteps by seeking pastures new. "I am at the right team at the right moment playing some good football and scoring goals so of course I am happy," he declared. "The most important thing is playing for the fans, and having the opportunity to play with so many great players at the club. "As a footballer you want to make history and leave your name at a club. I hope I can do that at this club because I love the club."
Why do you say that? I think he can be a real beast in that spot. And who would have thought that Flamini would have done so well this season..he was a forgotten man until Gilberto went AWOL. So until we all have 100% track records of predicting these things can we all be a little reasonable here?
I would have to agree here -- he was looking very promising two years ago until his injury, and then again early this year, when he played in the middle. I didn't like him on the left, like most other people. I think that we are not likely to buy a big name central midfielder, but we will rely on Diaby and the other youngsters to step up.
people clearly forgot, but towards the end of last season he was getting quite a few runs in center midfield and was looking very promising, so much so that I made a thread asking if it would be unrealistic for Wenger to sell Gilberto the next season inorder to give Diaby more of a chance to flourish, and many were saying it may be a good idea.
Diaby as a DCM brings up two concerns for me. One, he's injury prone as it is and the center of the pitch is usually more physical than the wings and I wonder how well his body would hold up under those conditions. Two, the team was at it's best in the first half of the season because of one main factor. Cesc Fabregas was allowed to get forward into the box and control the game in the middle because Flamini was breaking up a lot of our opponents' attacks. Diaby is not that great on defense and this would force Cesc to stay back and cover for Diaby, like he had to do for Flamini when he decided to start pushing forward a lot during the second half of the season. I don't have a problem giving Diaby a chance as the attacking mid. (and resting Cesc) against teams like Stoke next year...he might actually give us that bit of direct play that we seem to lack against lower level opposition who just play 10 men behind the ball. However, I just don't think he's got the necessary defensive skills to be an effective partner for Cesc in the middle.
Diaby does seem more suited to playing centrally. Out wide he often seems a bit lost. Still, his tackling is somewhat poor for a DM. Of course, I don't think he's best-suited to be a pure DM anyway, maybe more of a box-to-box PV type.
I think this is a very good point. I even remember last summer during preseason I thought he looked terrific in the middle of the field. Diaby needs to get healthy and have a real preseason, but this is still a guy who has played for France and was in the team that beat Milan at the San Siro. Sometimes I think people forget this. Also, and maybe this is heretical, but I’m not sure Cesc really needs to play with a prototypical defensive midfielder. So much of what he does is as a deep lying midfielder, and he is such a complete player, so long as he and Diaby share the defensive workload, I still think they could play together. Would still like to see Song get a chance though.
he didnt play with a DMid this season... so I agree with this point... its just that Diaby is a bit more attack minded than Flamini
I didn't say anything about end product being only goals, did I? How many goals did Hleb and Eboue set up this year in the league combined? I just checked the Premier League website, and they have 9 combined. NINE! Is that acceptable over 48 combined league appearances for a team challenging for the title? I didn't say the team could not provide an end product, I said our wide players can't. Read my post properly if you're going to reply to it. Arsene is obviously a brilliant manager, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he does. Sure, the side improved over last season, but if you think a lot of that was down to Hleb (or Eboue), I'd have to disagree.
I'm not ready to say Diaby's tackling is poor. I've seen him lay down some absolutely ferocious, clean tackles at times – but that was when he was playing more centrally (either when he was playing in the CC or when he filled in a few games in the 4-4-1-1). Give him a shot, I want to see what he can do.
Yes. Again, you seem to want something out of the wide midfielders that they are not asked to do by Arsene. If they were asked to be scorers or assist-makers and failed, that would be one thing. That is not their role in this side, and it is not by which Arsene judges them. Arsenal scored enough goals this year to win the title, just had a run of tough luck including the aforementioned injuries to RVP, Rosicky and Eduardo. Even if those players played the entire year and we ended up scoring more goals than ManU, Eboue or Hleb wouldn't have had significantly different numbers on your supposedly important stat sheet.
Well, perhaps it's time to ask the question whether the current style (wingers that can create, not score) is working. IMHO, it's ok if the wingers aren't prolific scorers (like Pires, Freddie), but you do need more scoring from midfield. Too much responsibility is being placed on our forwards and we only have one real forward who can consistently score and stay healthy. If Ade didn't have a MONSTER season we'd have been fighting for a CL place this season.
I like Diaby, a lot, I actually have a higher opinion of his wide play this year than most of you. I would like to see him play centrally, but I really don't think he should be the primary candidate for Flaimini's role. Let's face it guys, we need some more leadership, we need someone proven as a hard nosed tackler and vocal field general. For christ sakes people, Eboue is not the answer. He should be Sagna's back-up and a late-game RM for defensive purposes. His service has improved in the last half, but he's still woefully inconsistent. I'm really hoping Vela can step it up as a wide player, he's looked good for the Mexican games I've seen but I honestly have not been able to catch him in La Liga. I think we'll be fine up front, as Walcott seems ready to take that withdrawn forward role. I think we need to open up and buy a defender, CM and wide player if Arsene thinks Vela isn't ready (especially if Hleb leaves). I know Arsene hates overspending, wants to develop a squad from the ground up, but when you're this close and you lose important starters, it's time to open up the purse strings a bit.