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PHW: Flamini Signs Not Promising

Peter Hill-Wood thinks that the prospects of Mathieu Flamini signing the new contract waiting for his signature are not good.

He's quoted on skysports.com as saying,

We have made what we think is a pretty generous offer and we are waiting to hear whether he will accept or not.

You just don't know nowadays. You think players have a pretty good life, but, somehow, someone persuades them the grass might be greener somewhere else.

So I don't know the answer, all I know is we think we have pushed the boat out.

On top of everything else, Juve (who I seem to recall saying that Flamini was not in their transfer plans, and declaring so out of their 'great respect' for Arsenal - or was that another italian team?) seem to think they're in the driving seat to sign the driving-force in the Arsenal midfield. In the same article, Juve's director, Lean-Claude Blanc is quoted as saying how they are at the head of the queue, in front of Milan:

We have the advantage (over Milan). As a child Flamini was a supporter of Juve.

We also have a sporting project in place and we will be in the Champions League. Milan will not.

It's hard to know what to think - I really want the guy to stay, but if he were to leave - and on a free at that - i would be an arch hypocrite were I to take issue with him and with Juve.

After all, isn't that how he joined us? I know the circumstances were slightly different as whilst with Marseilles he had yet to sign a senior professional contract, but in essence it's the same. We would be losing a player for nothing that we got for nothing (well, save for the compensation fee we were instructed to pay l'OM for developing the player. And I didn't take issue when he joined for free from the French Ligue 1 outfit.

Apparently Juve are willing to offer him 10K per week more than we are. And he was a Juve fan as a child - it's kinda hard to compete against that. If Flamini is to depart, you have to wonder how much it would cost us to replace him. Let's hope Arsene's got a rabbit he's ready to pull out of a hat...

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Writer: Wingston

Date:Wednesday April 23 2008

Time: 3:48PM

Your Comments

If Flamini is really that mercenary and has no loyalty, then let him do a Cashley. He will regret it. Bring in Barry. Same commitment, same workrate, same type of player.

Cesky

You can't blame Flamini if he does go - even if you might be a little disappointed in him. The contract situation has changed enormously over recent years in favour of the player which makes it all the more important that you spend your transfer budget wisely.

Amos.

Arsene please tell me you put a clause in the deal with Portsmouth so we can re-sign Diarra! Loyalty in football in this day is a very rare thing from both players and clubs. We can hardly moan about matty leaving when we refuse to give top quality servants like Bobby Pires and Dennis Bergkamp more than 1 year deals due to their age.

iceman10

If he does leave, then who you think might replace him? A new signing or a youth player?

Fan of Blues

Lets wait and see what happens before we jump the gun. If he does leave in no way is it the same as Cashley. Flamini did not go behind our backs meetng agents and managers. From january he was free to talk to anyone as he is basically a free agent on the last year of his contract. If Wenger had rated him higher last july he would of offered him a longer contract then.

paul_ownz

I wish we had seen more of Denilson this year because he is a kind of Gilberto/Fabregas hybrid who I feel could perform this role. However next year is so vital we cannot take any risks in regard to numbers in our squad, we must sign a player to replace Flamini if he leaves.

iceman10

Song, Barry or as idiot **** said, Loric Cana.

Goofle

this situation is ridiculous.. i cannot understand how we are willing to let go one of our star players who still has some 4-5 years of quality football left in him.. take a look at what players elsewhere are earning.. obafemi martins 90K/week, ljunberg 70K/week, wes brown 60K/week.. and we r offering flamini who by all accounts is the best defensive midfielder in the league this season a meagre 50K/week.. why cant we just offer wat diarra was earning when he was here to flamini and hleb and tie them down.. i'm sure diarra was getting something in the region of 20-30K/week when he was playing for us.. then just use that money and give flamini the recognition he deserves.. i cannot see any other defensive midfielder who are available apart from essien who will not come cheap.. pls hold on to him arsene.

McGooner

i think there is a good chance we mite resign diarra.......i dont think chelsea will let essien go ...thats out of question

karley

Do we think Arsenal are unfair in how they pay players? if so how comes so many others want to stay? he has played well for ONE year so i dont think he should treat the siuation this way, if that the case at least. I believe as soon as a player is indecisive about staying, for whatever reason, he should be given an easy path to leave. Not that you tell them to leave but that they know its ok to bounce! I say this because as a fan i would not want to go through what Henry and Viera put the team through year after year, its just not cool to the fans, i believe. So if Flam thinks the grass is greener on the other side, he should just go with the blessings of the organization and fans alike. Blessings!

Paulsito

Once you start caving to player's demands, it's a slippery slope. If we give Flamini what he's asking for, then a number of other squad players will start to ask for rises. Juve are in the box seat because he can earn a giant signing on fee there, so if we up the offer, Juve would easily gazump us. Loyalty is a two way street, the manager and most of the fans were more than happy to see Flamini go last summer, he's seen out his contract so we cannot complain. I hope he stays, but I think he thinks he's proved his point and he feels it's time to go elsewhere. It's understandable, but I think he will regret it given the time he spent breaking into the team and forging a partnership with Cesc. He'll have to start over again if he elaves.

Little Dutch

Exactly Paulsito. If Flamini goes it will be a shame, but he's replaceable.

Little Dutch

So you think Essien is available, but his price is the problem? LOL. :))

Fan of Blues

If Flam chooses Juve over us, I don't blame him. If Arsene buys someone, great. If he trusts a combination of Song and Gilberto to do the job, I guess I can live with that too. I still respect Arsene's decision to keep the wage structure stable. He must have done all the calculations, weighing keeping him with an improved offer, versus replacing him, be it through internal promotion or new signing. I'd still hate to see Flam in a Juve shirt in the pre-season cup. Argh.

Lou the Gunneress

He has worked hard to create a great partnership with Fabregas, I can't understand why he would want to leave when he is right at the start of something great at Arsenal. I'm still not convinced he will leave, to me it makes no sense. Then again, I thought Ribery signing for Bayern Munich (Who did not qualify for the Champions League) made no sense at all. Who knows what motivates players these days, is is their agent, their love of money, their love of a particular club, a style of football. Who knows. Arsenal are really ******** bad in this kind of scenario. Really bad. Almost suckers. I do believe Diarra was an Arsenal player for a while.

Professor Calculus

i am more worried about Hleb's situation. we can replace Flamini with Denilson, Gilberto and Diaby all capable of doing that over the course of an entire season. but if we lose Hleb, it's hard to find a player of his level available in the market. even if we sign a unknown quantity like Eduardo, he will take sometime to bed in, and we can't afford to give that to anyone because next season is our season. there is added pressure on the team, manager and the club to succeed next season. we already have Vela coming in, so we can't have any other fresh faces coming in..

luckys_10

and personally, i dun think we really need to make any additions to the squad. surely RVP and Rosicky will play more next seasonand not be so unlucky with injuries, Dudu will be like a new signing when he comes back later this year. and Arsene has been talking about signing an experienced player, hmm wonder who it will be and which experienced player is available on the market. my gut feeling which hasn't always been right, but it tells me that experienced fellow will be Thierry Henry. when he was asked a few weeks ago about bringing Thierry back, he did not really rule it out. and having Thierry in the squad, his experience and quality, maybe that is what we missed a little bit towards the end when our attack lost a bit of steam. anyway lets see what Arsene does in the summer, but please Arsene, make sure yu make Hleb & Flamini stay..

luckys_10

and one more thing, Arsene always gives a straight no when quizzed about his ex players, but in Thierry's case, he made an exception, so lets see what happens..

luckys_10

There are gooners who say that the club should give into Flamini's demands. To them I say: the club is supposed to break the wage structure just for his one good season? I'm sure that, after doing so, there will be no consequences to such a decision. I mean, other players won’t take a lesson from that and make the same demands, forcing the club’s wages to go higher and higher. They’ll all be good little boys and not want the same treatment Flamini gets. Yeah, that’s right, Arsenal should succumb to blackmail from a very good player who had one good season with us. The same player who played the same game with Marseille as he is now playing with us. Who will no doubt start the same shenanigans with his next club. Let Juve have him.

jaelle

lololololollololollol Did you guys see Ronaldo's penalty?!?!? I think I, someone who's never kicked a ball in any pitch whatsoever, could have done better. muahahahahahhahahah

Lou the Gunneress

hhaha yes lou, it was awesome. i'm still hurting, cuz we shud have been there in the last four, but that penalty miss made me feel a little better :d..

luckys_10

n btw which team do u want to win it now? i dislike all the four teams, dun really know which team i want to win it now. dun want the three domestic ass wipes to win it, so barca even though they beat us in the final, it will hurt the least..

luckys_10

I don't really care but the team I want to win it the least is Liverpool. On the Flamini issue, it would be a crying shame if he left but we will move on. Don't forget that no player is bigger than the club and despite being a great player, he is replaceable.

adamski243

I prefer barca to win it just to see Henry lift the trophy. Notice this game isn't all that great to watch despite all the hoopla about watching two exciting teams as opposed to Chelsea-Liverpool. Face it, the tournament's become lackluster for the neutral now that we're out of it! :-)

jaelle

Luckys I just said how I felt here, basically for me, Barca out of those four, a bit grudgingly: http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=8395&posts=11#M103970

Lou the Gunneress

Yeah Jaelle this is surprisingly not exciting, 1st half was better, now it's bordering on the boring. But still nothing beats Liverpool v Chelsea. Sadly though, I feel this Barca team look a bit like us at our worst in the PL this year. All those pretty patterns, not much meaningful end product.

Lou the Gunneress

Yeah, Lou, too right about barca! Maddening!!

jaelle

I'm with you luckys. Dislike all 4. Normally, I wouldnt mind Pool, but certainly not after that fluke QF win over us.

prits

Come on you guys, Chelsea anyone? ;p

Fan of Blues

Not really, sorry, no. If Chelsea did win it, I'm sure some of your friends will come and brag and when you do so, please also let me know when the open-top bus will go around in London - I'm glad I'll be travelling quite a bit in May. :)

Lou the Gunneress

FOB, if all Chelsea fans were like you, I wouldn't mind so much if your club won the CL. And if you weren't a London club, I also wouldn't mind so much. Still, I can't stand the sight of the mancs doing the double so I won't feel all that gutted if you do win it.

jaelle

I'm sure the stats would look awfully like an Arsenal v Barca game, where one side enjoys the possession and keeps attacking and the other side totally sits back and enjoys the defensive work just as much. I understand the "tight at the back" part when it comes to a knock-out CL game. But did ManU even bother to try and get an away goal - apart from the going down and claiming free kicks, that is? Pff.

Lou the Gunneress

I've been lurking on another arsenal blog where they've been posting reactions to the game throughout. interesting how--typically--the commentators remark on barca players diving yet ignore wonder boy ronaldo's antics. also the UK commentators talk about barca never being a threat, well neither were fergie's boys. manu were thoroughly outplayed in that game. pity barca can't f---ing score. oh and Henry did very well when he came on.

jaelle

If Chelsea won it this year it'd be slightly more bearable cos the "special one" just lost out on the trophy and also won't be there to give us all the flashy drama about how really so fantastically "special" he is - by, er, winning the CL trophy with 2 different clubs. THat thought itself is already nauseating.

Lou the Gunneress

Yeah Jaelle! And Tevez struck me as overly aggressive in some incidents too. You know what, if it's Arsenal, the penalty miss would have been repeated 100 times on the TV by now. And it's only like once, then they moved on to criticise Barca's lack of effectiveness, forgetting ManU's lack of attacking effort whatsoever. The only thing I agree with them is "Zambrotta's still great" lol.

Lou the Gunneress

Exactly, Lou! That's why I could bear it a little more than if Mourinho were still around. I think it would be hilarious, actually, if the mediocre Grant won it while the special one couldn't.

jaelle

Typo: I meant the stats would look like an Arsenal v ManU game. Anyway, I can understand a 0-0 draw, but I couldn't believe how dull it was. A total of 4 hours wasted over the last 2 days.

Lou the Gunneress

"A total of 4 hours wasted over the last 2 days" -- and it's supposed to be the best club football on the planet. a lot of people (myself included) often say that int'l football has become boring. well, frankly, every year, the CL seems to get that way too in the latter stages. whereas the UEFA cup brings up really exciting games. last season's uefa cup final was far FAR more entertaining than the Milan-Pool borefest.

jaelle

and did anyone here watch that incredible 2nd leg quarterfinal between Bayern and Getafe??? Now THAT was an exciting match!

jaelle

Oh I missed that one. How did it pan out?

Lou the Gunneress

that was a couple of weeks ago. bayern got thru but only JUST. bayern managed to score only one goal in regular time and getafe were proving absolutely impossible to break down, so they couldn't score again. finally, almost at the very last second of injury time, getafe got an equalizer. So extra time had to be played. Unbelievably, in the first 15 min. period of extra time, getafe got 2 fantastic goals while bayern's defense turned off. so of course everyone thought, that's it, the tournament's favorites (bayern) are out. Nope--in the very last mins. of the 2nd extra time period, they scraped by 2 more goals so they won on away goals. It was a real nail biter, you couldn't dare to take your eyes away from it. From the start of the tournament, everyone's thought that bayern would breeze thru it and win the trophy. but it's actually been very tough for them, they drew with bolton (yes bolton!) and had some other tough games. they've just scraped thru to the semifinal. now they face a tough Russian team, Zenit St. Petersburg. They should go thru but maybe their luck won't hold out this time.

jaelle

the other semifinal is fiorentina-rangers --- should be a good one. fiorentina are great to watch.

jaelle

typical blinkered English press biased headline re tonight's game, from the guardian: "Man Utd hold Barca to 0-0 draw." Excuse me, didn't Barca prevent Man Utd from scoring a crucial away goal?

jaelle

I always forget those matches. :P Only saw Everton and Spurs go out on penalties after playing pretty well. And yes, Fiorentina are pretty good. Hehe hope I'll remember to watch the UEFA Cup matches tomorrow night. This also reminds us that the CL next year will be tougher - especially when Bayern and Juventus are back in the fold. Hope that'd mean more exciting matches.

Lou the Gunneress

Well if you consider the fact that 95% of attacking moves come from Barca, ManU did "hold" them to a boredraw. I'd also give credit to their defensive work, just that they're putting 9 men on that job, leaving Ronaldo and half a Tevez and half a Rooney to chase the ball if it happened to roll to their area up front lol.

Lou the Gunneress

LOL, jaelle. Thanks a lot! I truely am one of a kind! ;))

Fan of Blues

:-) FOB, may you breed and multiply! Lou, yeah I guess so...I'm just grumbling...*grumble* *grumble* It's what we gooners do. :-)

jaelle

Pastures new for him i fear

quietman

Hey Jaelle, since you watch a bit of the French league, do you know this Lorik Cana in Marseille? It'd be funny if we replace Flam who joined us from Marseille with a guy from there at the same age as him too..! http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=8397&posts=14

Lou the Gunneress

I want either Manu or Barcelona to win the champions league as things stand, Chelsea and Barcelona do not deserve to win it with their boring peformances. On Flamini leaving it would be a chance for Diaby to shine I am thinking he prefers playing in the centre of mildfield I think, I am not really fussed on the possibility of him leaving to be truthful I rate him as a player I just don't really care. Henry was a far bigger asset to the club and we got on fine without him.

Gunners

I actually like Lorik Cana. He's tall, strong and has got great football qualities imo. He would be a good signing for you.

Fan of Blues

He's a bit clumsy to be honest.

Fan of Blues

Er.. so he's got no pace? Is he hard-working like our Flamster? It's the PL player who covers the most ground we're talking about.

Lou the Gunneress

Flamini is a better player imo, but if he'll leave, then Cana might not be a bad signing!

Fan of Blues

And everytime I watch Barca, like I did tonight, I keep thinking it would've been nice to sign Yaya Toure last summer. The boy clearly wanted to come and join Kolo. He was too pricey for Arsene I guess. But he would fit into our team as well. (Heard the youngest Toure brother is a striker playing in Ukraine btw. I wonder if that kid's good too lol.)

Lou the Gunneress

Yaya would be a good replacement, should the Flamster decide to go!

MrArsenal

A good first 30 mins then it was a snoozer until Henry came on then Barca looked their dangerous. I fancy Barca to get a result on a more defensively open United next week. I want them to win it because Henry deserves a European trophy. And Lou I havent heard of a THIRD Toure! Im sure he will be a transfer rumor for us soon :p

gunnerkid107

Yeah his name is Ibrahim Toure (22). And I wonder if he'll get into the Ivory Coast team one day. They don't compete with each other for positions you see: big bro at the back, 2nd boy in the middle, little bro up front, how nice! But tbh I think even that'd be a more likely scenario than Arsenal signing Yaya or him (who's in Ukraine, info's limited so I don't know if he's good or not).

Lou the Gunneress

Jaelle and everyone, this is the English press for you: "Slick" ManU at the Nou Camp according to the Telegraph hahahah. I so wanted to put in a comment to ask: 'Are you sure it's not a typo for "sick"?' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/24/sfgbar124.xml

Lou the Gunneress

Just when I thought Juventus were well and alive and getting back into Europe, it's been revealed that the club and Moggi have been charged again as result of the 2nd part of the match-fixing probe. I wonder if they're still Flamini's "childhood heroes" if they get themselves into trouble again. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/7481128

Lou the Gunneress

Wow just when I thought Juve would of learned their lesson.

gunnerkid107

They might have. I just thought the investigation's over and done with. But this report tells us that it's still going on, probing into the 2006 incidents (not new crime) and there could yet be some more news falling out of the scandal.

Lou the Gunneress

Another interesting fact I read in arsenalreview.co.uk was that Arsene actually has 25 million pounds to spend on PLAYERS PLUS WAGES.. so.. well.. I'd say slim pickings if Flamini goes.. it will be down to good negotiating or the usual.. getting some good youngsters in and getting them in sync with our squad.. if Flamini does leave.. it'll be a difficult situation for us.

arsenalrulz4ever

On 1 hand we have clubs paying inflated trf fees & wages which AW refuses to yield and rightly so in the long-term interest of the club (let's not forget we have a huge debt to service). On the other end we have flamini contemplating a purportedly better wage from Juve. I don't see that is wrong in any sense. Who would not consider an offer with an extra say 10K per wk (which is 0.5m per yr)? And if he just look around and see the inflated wages received by lesser players from other clubs, would he not feel unjust? Let's be honest, how many of us would care as much if he had chosen to leave last season? Flamini's commitment and attitude has been positive, always given his 100% on the field, always obliging in playing any position AW asked of him, never complain or say stupid things, so I think he should have our blessings if he indeed choose to go (PLEASE dont compare him to dat CAshley who). That being say, the one thing Flamini may like to consider is he would be a automatic 1st choice if he does move to Juve. He need not look further than Henry to understand that he may have to settle for a squad player role instead

Temasek

Arsene was preparing for Flamini's departure last year.He almost left in the summer.Later it was said that Arsenal were in the market for Rossi of Roma. Arsene knows what he's doing.We already have Denilson in that position,Diaby could play there too,and we still have Gilberto!He has played a couple of games in a row now,scored a goal,and seem to be happy again,but the main reason for his happiness is I believe he thinks if Flamini leaves,then he will be able to stay and contribute. Flamini had a great season, but he's very much replaceable.Denilson,Gilberto and Rossi maybe?!:)

Sourena

is it just me, or is the arsenal board just too damn greedy to give us a fair chance of competing at the same level as the other top PL clubs. once again it seems that come the summer buying time, Wenger will have no funds to try and sign any top flight players. we all talk about deepening the squad, signing this guy signing that guy, time for Wenger to spend some..... the harsh reality is that there is no money. 25mil to cover signings AND wage increases is laughable. we are suposedly one of the richest clubs in europe yet year in year out... no money. whoop whoop whoop i cant wait to hear what the excuses are this year

KBGoon

Well KB, the fact that we dished out £400m for a stadium might have something to do with it. Losses have been made on the Highbury Redevlopemnt due to the property market being in chaos. The board haven't received dividends in six years or more.

Little Dutch

Was it me.. or did Keith Edelman say that we had something like 70 million pounds to spend? If there isn't that sort of money right now.. why is he making such foolish statements? All that does is that it puts total pressure on Wenger to spend.. we know he wont do that, but still for a CEO or whatever huge position he holds, it is a very irresponsible statement to make, whether he was right or wrong.. it feels as if he has lied about our "transfer war chest".

arsenalrulz4ever

He didn't say that the £70m was all there to spend on transfers, but basically he alluded to having £70m that wasn't tied up last September. You're right, it's a very irresponsible statement that has put enormous pressure on the manager. However, since then, with the Labour party on a mission to destroy the property market in this country, the Highbury Redevelopment has seen us incur some losses since last September, which that £70m pot will have to cover. A lot of people are misunderstanding basic business practise when constructing their Champ Manager wishlists. Edelman is equally foolish for revealing any sort of hand, one can only imagine he was intoxicated by the team's success at the time and the economic position looking good at that point. A basic error from somebody who ought to know better.

Little Dutch

Hey everyone. About LORIK CANA forget it!!!! He is tall, yes, and it is all, he is slow, silly, make a lot of fouls and can't pass a ball more than 5 yards..... Now in Marseille he plays center back cos of his lack of creativity, passing ability and intelligence, in the midfield it is M'Bami and Benoit Cheyrou (Bruno Cheyrou's brother). Cana....lol. Seriously, trust me, not a good signing for you at all.

FloG

If Keith Edelman did say ALL 70m was for Wenger's transfer kitty, then yes it was rresponsible to say so. But he did NOT. He said "We've got 70m in the bank. If AW chooses to spend some money in the transfer market, we support him, as always." That's CASH IN THE BANK according to the accounts, not CASH IN THE KITTY per se. To say otherwise would be irresponsible on our part too. Let's not. It might have been foolish for them to be as bullish about the property business, but on that quote, let's be fair.

Lou the Gunneress

Again, I can see we were totally misled by the media who kept saying 70m = Wenger's warchest. If you did look at the accounts or at least see the club's or KE's statement, that's not the case. I was 100% clear and not surprised to hear some of us were misled.

Lou the Gunneress

jaelle I really thot it was only me that wondered how it was the barca were not a threat? Am quite sure van der saar made more saves than Valdes? And it is for the fact that mounrinho is no longer at chelsea that i do not mind them winning the double LOL

TeamSpirit

yeah should have know it was english press at its best. Slick Man U? They must have been watching another game me thinks

TeamSpirit

TS, exactly. Anyone who watched the game with a clear head saw that it was VDS who was busier than Valdez. Valdez could've spent the night gone out on the town and left the Barca goal totally open for all the threat Manu posed. Hey Lou, I wasn't around yesterday when you asked my opinion on Cana. He can be a decent player but I really wouldn't consider him good enuf to spend money on. Maybe he'd benefit from Wenger magic, who knows, but I tend to lean toward FloG's description of the player, tho maybe not as harsh.

jaelle

did you see all the comments from manu fans on that stupid Henry Winter article calling them "slick"? If you read the blogs and reader comments in the papers today, they're full of criticisms from mancs against Ferguson. Oh–and to those who saw last night’s CL semi: did you see how the superior, invincible, billion-dollar Manchester United looked absolute CRAP? A friend from Brazil who watches the PL fairly regularly (but supports no PL club) said it well: The two big teams who best exposed the “invincible” ManU’s weaknesses this season, for all the world to see, were Arsenal and Barca. What let Arsenal and Barca down was the lack of clinical finishing. Man United were very lucky to win against us at OT in the league and to draw last night. We stopped them from scoring in open play, we marginalized Cronaldo just as Barca did. MU are not as imperious as the hype leads everyone to believe, nor are we that far away from improving enuf to beat them.

jaelle

Jaelle, I can understand why the ManU fans said that. If I were them, I'd even feel short-changed. That's not a ManU team, that's a Chelsea or a Liverpool (AND when they're 1-0 up), really. 10 men behind the ball, only half a Ronaldo/Rooney/Tevez to chase the ball if it did roll to the other half of the pitch. That's about it. But look, Murdoch is ManU's best friend. Oh, and Sky happens to hate Arsenal too. (It's not my own guess, I have history to back it up. But that's a long story.) Yeah another reason why I want Barca to win the CL is that they're the ONLY positive team left.

Lou the Gunneress

We have never really filled that role what patrick viera played for us even with flamini playing outstanding football this season ... and i think thats what we miss ... some1 who is just a clear cut ball winner someone who is going to be there no matter what and make an attempt to win everything he possibly can and wont give up, flamini at times is just to small and not strong enough, doesnt show the mentality that a player like patrick viera did ... i would love to no if de rossi would be a possibility to lure him away from roma and snap him up in the summer, may set us back some serious cash but he would be a great signing and fill that roll perfectly, ok denilson is in the team but still he is very young and still learning ... he is a player for the future still ... and what a player he will become!

Achilles

Lou, I wasn't criticizing the manu fans for their attacks on Ferguson, I was agreeing with them! My point was that so many gooners who trash Wenger all over the net talk about manu as if they're utterly invincible, as if all the manu fans are one great big unified voice against their manager because he's so superior in every way. They use manu all the time to compare against Arsenal and Wenger. These gooners forget that it was only a couple of years ago manu fans were launching petitions to demand Ferguson's resignation because he hadn't won any trophies in what they considered to be "too long."

jaelle

Nah, I was with you too - for once I felt for ManU fans. Just that I felt even more for the Barca guys. I also guess some of us have this illusion about ManU cos they by and large grind out results even when they're crap - again last night, be it with luck or grit. Yeah in fact the 2006 summer was when they called for him to retire, and the Ronaldo/Rooney thing in the WC made them feel very pessimistic about the team's camaraderie and stuff. Tbph, I see nothing but money that they're superior to us. Same for Chelsea and Liverpool. Otherwise, we have a better manager, better board, and the club's run in a much more responsible way with long-term planning, imho anyway. That's also why I'm very seldom jealous of them.

Lou the Gunneress

Which one are you watching Jaelle btw? I'm watching both matches, thanks to your reminder yesterday. Oh, penalty..

Lou the Gunneress

What a crap penalty - only Ronaldo's at the Nou Camp would beat that one... :\

Lou the Gunneress

At the moment I'm not watching either one!! I'm going to have to watch them on delayed broadcast :-( I'm at work and I can't access either one online or on one of our satellite or cable TV hookups (I work at a cable TV network).

jaelle

Oh right - sorry I ruined it :P

Lou the Gunneress

that's ok, Lou, I don't mind hearing about results before I actually see the game. That's never bothered me.

jaelle

Hey, I know you don't go to the forums very often. I posted a link there and just wanted to share it with you too. The Brazilian doc said Eduardo's recuperation's going well and that he could go back to training as soon as August. Not getting my hopes too far up just yet, but this is great news: http://arsenalanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/04/eduardos-doctors-now-put-his-comeback.html

Lou the Gunneress

If this is the case it looks like the decision to let Diarra go will hurt us. He was the type of player that i feel could have held down a midfield birth for many years. Any chance of bringing him back? I think we really need to hold onto both Hleb and Flamini. They are integral to our team, although neither are irreplacable.

Aussie Gooner

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