Thierry Henry

[zonker84]

Walcott only cost £5m up front, which leaves Arsenal with plenty of money to spend I am sure. He isn't the answer to their short-term problems though, but as I said, Wenger's obsession with signing young players isn't going to get them anywhere this season.

However, the future beyong this season is much more positive I believe. Just to bring Liverpool into the equation for one second. They're still (after several years) talking about new stadiums, while Arsenal are moving to their new £400m stadium in a few months. Every time Liverpool and Arsenal play a home game next season, Arsenal will probably be making 3 times as much money out of it. They have several thousand "Club Level" season tickets for example, starting at £2,500 going up to £4,750 (you have to pay 4 years up front for the most expensive half-way line ticket). This is nearly sold out, so from what I have read, Arsenal will be taking £4m+ on average for every home game.

In my opinion, along with Manchester United and Chelsea, this will put them way ahead of everyone else, including Liverpool. Liverpool still need investment and still need to even make definate plans for a new stadium. Unless they find a way to generate more cash, Liverpool will be left lagging behind in the medium to long term

[zonker84]

Originally Posted by all_funkt_up

come 2 years down the line, no silverware and no CL football, lets see who wants a £5 grand a year VIP Season ticket then eh!

30'000 is a vastly inflated number. a certain %age will have died, moved on, changed their mind or now cant afford it.

most of them are probably multiple aplications or touts applications....always the way with waiting lists......

The Arsenal membership schemes are way over-subscribed, and the season ticket waiting list is extremely long. It is estimated that it will take 6-7 years to obtain a season ticket at least at the moment.

This is why Club Level is the only way to get a ticket at the moment, and a lot of people are prepared to pay. I would be prepared to bet a large amount of money that Arsenal do not have a league attendance of under 55,000 for the next 4 years at least

[Brewelly]

Zonker you make a lot of valid points about Arsenal and our new stadium, but are you for real?????

For starters how is it possible for you to critise Wenger, this man has revolutionised Arsenal. He has brought us from an average team to one of the most highly rated teams in Europe. And to say maybe we should get rid. You blasphmer! Wash your mouth out

OK you say we should have bought a midfielder this transfer window- I ask you who?? Who is around that we could have bought? Nobody, Wenger is not just gonna go buy a player for the sake of buying somebody! And like i have said Wenger is being very astitute with his youngsters, he knows we cant compete with Chelsea this season maybe not next but after that all our players will be maturing and we will be a force to be reckoned with for a number of years, which to tell you the truth id prefer rather than jus wasting money now and settling for 2nd or 3rd behind Chelsea. Why settle for being second best, which is all Liverpool and Utd are doing.
And please, please tell me why we should have bought Owen!! Sicknote the 2nd, he simply gets paid for sittin on bench, yeah that would be a real steal wouldnt it Zonker

Then you say no aerial threat, which seriously makes me doubt that you are an actual gunner as im sure we've just bought adebayor for that exact reason, and the you go on say he's gonna be a flop, when he's looke like a real prospect and scored on his debut.

So do us all a favour Zonker and dont post about Arsenal again, cos your giving us arsenal fans a bad name!

Still cant get over you said get rid of arsene!! tsk tsk tsk:

[zonker84]

I would suggest you remove your Arsenal-tinted spectacles Brewelly and look at it realistically, rather than in a biased way.

I wasn't suggesting getting rid of Wenger for starters. I was merely asking if he had possibly been there too long, and if Arsenal needed some new ideas. A few weeks ago for example, I heard Frank McLintock say he wondered if Wenger actually bothers with defensive coaching such was the poor organisation of their defence. Arsenal's style of play has become very one-dimensional and easy to play against for some teams. They just pass the ball for passing sake at times without going anywhere. Teams just sit deep and Arsenal can't score, as they have no natural wingers and there's no point crossing the ball as no one is attacking it in the box anyway. Maybe the answer is to appoint a new coach or two to the coaching staff, who knows?

I also did not say that Arsenal should have signed a midfielder in the January transfer window. I said that they needed an experienced central midfielder, which they do. If Vieira was going to be sold, he should have been replaced in the summer. They tried to sign Baptista before he went to Real Madrid, but it seems they had no plan B.

As for Michael Owen, he is a proven world class player who has done the business season after season. Adebayor is not and never well be. He may be tall, so may win the odd header, but he is lazy and by all accounts has a bad attitude. I obviously hope he does well, but in my opinion it is an absolutely crazy signing, especially considering Wenger's previous statements about not signing a striker. I'm not suggesting Owen would've been a good signing at the price that Newcastle paid, but he would've been a hell of a lot better than Adebayor. His broken foot could've happened to anyone and he appears to be over his hamstring problems. You comments about him are ridiculous in my opinion, but that's not important really.

Some of Wenger's signings have been unbelievably good (Anelka, Vieira, Overmars, Petit, Pires, Henry, Toure and so on), but no one gets it right all of the time (Jeffers, van Bronckhorst, Reyes, Cygan, Senderos, Wright, Stepanovs, Pennant and Diawara for example).

I want Arsenal to win as much as anyone else, but I'm not going to sit here and say every player they sign is great and that Wenger never makes any mistakes

[Silke]

"Arsenal's style of play has become very one-dimensional and easy to play against for some teams. They just pass the ball for passing sake at times without going anywhere"

That's odd. they must've changed approach then as I've always under Wenger seen Arsenal as playing very direct and quick towards the opponents goal. If he has indeed changed the tactics (maybe towards success in europe ?) then it will naturally take some time to adjust...

[Silke]

oops sorry just realised yousaid 'at times' Zonker so that would suggest that they still play direct MOST of the time, no ?

[zonker84]

You're missing the point Silke.

If teams give Arsenal time on the ball and space in behind them, then Arsenal can quickly counter-attack and score goals. Arsenal do try and exploit spaces with quick and direct attacking play as you say. But what if the opposition just sit deep and deny Arsenal time and space on the ball?

If I were an opposing manager about to play Arsenal, I would just instruct my players to sit deep and do not allow Arsenal space in behind. I would also tell my players to close them down quickly and pressure them in midfield.

Arsenal's problem is that with Vieira and Edu gone and not properly replaced, they cannot dominate teams in midfield any more. They have always played pretty much the same way under Wenger, and have been usually able to over-power domestic opposition. Arsenal have failed time and again in Europe because teams just come to Highbury to sit deep and defend. Arsenal just play in front of these massed defences, passing it side to side without going anywhere. This is exactly what Liverpool did the other night. Arsenal didn't play very well, but Liverpool just did not allow Arsenal any space near their goal and Arsenal barely had a chance. I felt that Arsenal would not have scored if they'd still been playing now. This is how Chelsea, Manchester United and every other team play against Arsenal. Arsenal can have as much as 65% possession in some games without ever looking like scoring. They are always looking to score the perfect goal, and usually it is just not going to happen.

Defensive errors and lack of strength in midfield means that Arsenal are getting found out more this season than they have previously. The lack of a bit of variation in their play is why they have not been as successful in Europe as they should have been.

For example, look at Chelsea v Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge last season. Chelsea just basically hit long balls to Drogba all night and Bayern Munich could not cope at all. This is the main reason that Chelsea won. Arsenal do not have that option. They have to play balls to feet, which is much harder to do. Chelsea have beaten Arsenal a couple of times this season with long balls to Drogba, who has brushed Senderos aside to score.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that Arsenal should just buy a couple of 7 foot tall strikers and start lumping the ball forward, but their play is too predictable and teams know how to defend against it now. If Wenger wants to persist with this style of play, he needs to find some midfield players who can allow them to get away with it again.

[raven]

OK you say we should have bought a midfielder this transfer window- I ask you who?? Who is around that we could have bought?

Javier Mascherano.

[all_funkt_up]

Its not just about this transfer window though is it? Edu started playing funny buggers with Arsenal a year ago - at that point they should have started looking for a replacement. Plus it was he who sold Viera and so should have had a replacement for at least one of them lined up. It was however, a rare mistake from Wenger.

He has been far more astute than other managers on the tranfer front (Houillier, Ferguson and more come to mind). What he did on the tranfer front, with players such as Anelka and Overmars is nothing short of spectacular.

[Brewelly]

ok lets just get this clear, im not raving about arsenal nor sayin we're the greatest team in England.

I just have faith in Wenger and our young team to produce the goods eventually.

[mrmuzeman]

Some quality from Henry here, particularly love the angle on the goal at 1.20
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/77992/thierry_henry/

[mrmuzeman]

You gota love foreign commentators


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_-J...related&search=

[ONEDUNME]

What is it with that cunt? Can't he kick a ball straight?



Pure class