i keep saying arsenal are a shambles but nobody listens! i'm a huge klopp fan - i'd rather he didn't go to arsenal, they'd ruin him
Purely based on the Sociedad game, I felt our problem is that we didn't have the players to play out comfortably from the back regularly, or the big man in an advanced area to use as an escape. I think the simpler solution is the big man, and seeing as Toivonen is meant to be good in the air and also likes to play with the ball at his feet, he could well be the right man. If we want to play out from the back more, someone like Alderweireld would be nice, particularly as it helps reduce pressure on Bassong, and I'd like to see more of Bennett. I think we'd also need a ball-playing DM if we went that route, and that would release Howson to the CAM role.
I think Klopp would suit them to the ground though. He wouldn't need to change the wage structure which seems to be in place but he seems to have a better eye than Wenger at the minute at young talent. Despite what Arsenal fans think, they are a selling club, a stepping stone, much like Dortmund are as well. I think if you have that kind of wage structure nowadays you'll always struggle to hold on to Fabregas, Gotze, Van Persie etc. Difference being Klopp has got Dortmund into a Champions League final, and won 2 league titles in the last 3 years.
Please, what evidence have you for saying that Bernard was "a big Arsenal target" during this window? Wenger specifically dismissed reports that Arsenal had made a bid for him. He is a largely untried 20 year old with very little high level competitive experience, who plays in positions where Arsenal are already strong. There would be no pressing reason for Arsenal to sign him this window; they are interested in players who'd improve them straight away, not a few years hence.
every single newspaper reported arsenal's interest in bernard so although they may not have actually bid for him you'd have to assume they were at least looking into buying him. john cross has long stated arsenal's firm interest in the player. i really don't get what they are doing. the suarez thing is beyond bizarre
El Hamdaoui seriously impeded Frank de Boers reign in the locker room. De Boer didn't have it and send him the reserves and was eventually sold cheaply to Fiorentina. The guy has brilliant technique. Made some of the best goals I've seen in my life. Some a la Bergkamp to give an indication. He is agile, quick on his feet and most of all, his positioning an creativity are brilliant. Now here are his flaws: Massive ego, bad tamper, individualistic, slow, selfish, complacent and a bad attitude. Not just at Ajax, at AZ Alkmaar as well. He then had to deal with Louis van Gaal, who has the biggest ego in Europe so that worked for him. At Ajax he did well under Martin Jol who didn't seem to care. Frank de Boer did, and put him in exile.
Judging from that, he sounds like the kind of player that would clash with Lambert, but maybe not so much with Hughton (if you compare and find the similarities to them and De Boer/Jol).
Well that will be largely at odds with the transfer policy Wenger has stuck to for the past 15 years or so. Sorry, but I don't really understand why you think Arsenal wouldn't have been interested in him due to his age, lack of experience etc as the majority of Wenger's signings have been "ones for the future" (Anelka, Fabregas, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlin, Toure, Flamini, Song, Van Persie even). Admittedly they've not been very successful in the past decade and perhaps a change in policy is exactly what they need, and I'm certainly not saying what he has done has been the right strategy at all, however the fact Yaya Sanogo has been their only signing this summer - a 20 year old free transfer from a French second division club - suggests that Wenger hasn't given up on plucking young rough diamonds from out of his magician's hat just yet
Exactly so; this season they have said explicity that there will be a change in policy and they will look for signings that will strengthen them for the coming season. That doesn't mean exclusively. Very few people took the Bernard bid seriously because the price being asked was somewhere around £22M. If Wenger had paid that for a youngster like Bernard, Superman would certainly be firing off another salvo about the shambles that is Arsenal. The rumours about Arsenal's interest appear to have been sparked by a journo in South America. Arsenal keep their business closer to their chests than virtually any other club apart maybe from us, so people should be a bit more sceptical about what they read.
munky, i've had debates about arsenal before. robbie is an arsenal fan and he does NOT like the club being criticised in any way! unfortunately for him, they are very easy to criticise because, as i say, they are all mouth
Ah, I didn't realise Robbie had a connection with the gooners, this all makes more sense now so thanks for informing me
ah, ok. i think he went to ajax a few years ago for nearly £5m so i guessed he'd still be worth similar but i must admit i'd lost track of his career completely
I take Cove's point about his flaws ("Massive ego, bad tamper, individualistic, slow, selfish, complacent and a bad attitude"), but as fourth striker would that so much matter? At 28, now, I wonder if he might have 'grown up' a bit and been chastened by previous problems. At £2m, the risk doesn't seem that great to me compared to Toivonen at £4.6m or Quagliarella at £9-10m.
