Arsene Wenger – The second coming

The arrival of German International Lukas Podolski from FC Koln marked a change in Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy. The signing of the £11 million rated striker would be the peak of the change in the way players are bought into the club. But this change is not sudden, it did not start overnight. Maybe the actual spark was the 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Manchester United that hit Arsene right at his head; it really must have nerved him to watch his team lose so badly at the hands of his long-standing rival, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Dejection

That loss saw the panic button being pressed and saw Wenger bringing in a plethora of players (Park Chu Young,Mikel Arteta,Andre Santos,Per Mertesacker).Till that day,he had made only what you would call ‘ Wenger Signings’ which included Alex ‘Ox’ Chamberlain,Gervinho,Joel Campbell and Carl Jenkinson,all great talents, unproven and young. The difference in the two groups of players were easily identifiable, the second set,the ones bought after the 8-2 loss were all older and more experienced.

Change of ways??

Out went the regular scrimmaging for a bargain and a more readiness to pay the top dollar for the proven talent was seen in the old warhorse. It looked like he is more ready to pay money to get his targets before other teams come in and swoop away a deal. This also shows with his dealing in the current season. He already has secured Podolski and looks to add Yann M’vila, Shinji Kagawa and Matias Suarez to the ranks. All reputed and proven names (maybe the exception of Suarez, but what would Wenger be if he can’t bring in at least one gem??)

New-Boy Lukas

Seven seasons without a trophy would be enough for any person to take a change, and this has been long enough for Wenger and this could be part-II of Wenger’s reign at Arsenal. There are many reasons being said, some say it was the move from Highbury and the debt that followed. Some would say the loss of several high profile players in the span of 2-3 years. All this together forced Wenger to build a squad deeply based on Youth Development and Shrewd Bargain Buys and hoping that the team chemistry and raw hunger among the players would help them win trophies. Somewhere along the way, Wenger lost the plot, that foundation he built never had the strength to mount a serious challenge. There were moments of greatness but there was never enough substance for them to ever become serious enough. Each time, the failure was more hard to take and more players kept leaving off for ‘Greener Pastures’.

More to come?

Now it seems that the time has passed and Wenger is making a very hard effort to keep his best players and sign more well-accomplished ones. Wenger was heard saying that he wanted to build another invincible squad and I and rest of the gooner community hope that this is the dawn of a new age at the Grove.

For some of you viewers who are interested, Podolski's first interview as an Arsenal Player.

Transfer Rumors-The Good and the Bad (Part-2)

Arsenal had the team with the most depth in the PL last season.That is a fact.But we lacked players who had a driving force,a player who could conjure up some real magic in our most desperate moments.

We discussed who all could be leaving in the first part of this post.Now we shall talk about who all could be coming in to the squad.

Probable New Gunners


Gervinho

What we need?

The Ivory Coast international who plays as striker or winger for the Ligue 1 champions Lille FC  has been constantly linked with Arsenal throughout the summer.Latest news from various papers say that an agreement has been made and we are waiting for the player to return from holidaying to get his signature and get the personal terms agreed.He is supposed to cost around 11 million pounds and is seen as a strike partner to RVP.He is a skilled player who can play as a lone striker or a right winger,even work as a support striker.He has got good pace and dribbling skills,also he is very strong,also we can even polish his forehead and use it as a distraction to goalkeeper during set-pieces (lame-joke),

Eden Hazard

New Ronaldo?

Another player from Lille FC who is in Arsenal's radar is Eden Hazard.Him and Gervinho were two of the main reasons behind their first title in years.At 20 years old,he is already an established player and also he would be one who could stay in the line-up for years to come.He has got a lot of pace and is very comfortable with the ball,always looking to beat the defender (beats the defender most of the time!).He can play on both wings and also in attacking midfield. He is a player of very high standard and skill and don't come cheap.Lille will be looking at something between 20 and 25 million pounds.Maybe Wenger will be willing to break bank for this shining star.

Christopher Samba

Aerial Prowess

The 27 year old defender was rumored to join Arsenal in the winter transfer window and it still hasn't changed this summer.The Rovers center-back is a very strong and tall defender with bucket-loads of premier league experience.At this age,he would be at the peak of his career and he would be the perfect defender to use against the lesser teams of the PL against whom we struggle.He could also be a fantastic asset for us while defending set-pieces,With Rovers already down a CB,it would take some convincing (and spending) on Wenger's part to bring this Congolese player to the Emirates.

Gary Cahill

Winner in the air

A player similar to Samba in most aspects Cahill is a aerially powerful center back with good ball-winning ability.But his price has been inflated because he is English and Wenger will have to shell out 20 million pounds to sign him.At 26,he too will be at his best and could be a good partner for Vermaelen.As good as it seems,I couldn't see Wenger giving off such a huge sum for one player.But weirder things have happened and maybe he could end up at the Emirates next season.

Thats all the rumors we have for you today folks.Goodnight and have a great day tomorrow.You can follow Goonerburgh on Facebook,Twitter & Tumblr as well! Take care!

Transfer Rumors-The Good and the Bad (Part-1)

Well a season has come and gone and Arsenal are once again left wanting.At one point in the season we were in for a historic Quadruple,but as they say it, "We Choked",again.What went wrong? What is it that needs to change? Goonerburgh discussed this on its post on 27/04/2011,so we won't go more into it.
The topic of this post will be mainly about the transfers that could take place at the
 Emirates,the entries and exits.We shall take a look through on who all could be 
leaving and also a look at possible newbies.


PROBABLE Ex-ARSENAL PLAYERS


Nicklas Bendtner

Supremely Confident

Bendtner joined Arsenal in the summer of 2004 from the Danish club  Kjøbenhavns Boldklub.He has had a pretty decent time in the club considering he has being played out of position by Wenger most of the time. In 196 appearances for the club,he has had 58 goals and 31 assists, a decent return by any standards,and in this season he has had 32 appearances (18 as subs) and gave a return  of 9 goals and 8 assists.This,after being played on the right wing as a sub of Walcott,should be considered a good contribution.But the Danish Mr.Confident has fallen down the pecking order and with possible recruits coming in this summer,he could fall further down the ladder.He has gone as far as saying that he wants to leave publicly and supposedly Sporting Lisbon and Dortmund have made bids.With him down the pecking order,I would like to see him play some good football for some other club rather than sit idle in ours.And he is the kind of player who doesn't sit idle.Dortmund is the more exciting offer and I hope he gets it.

Carlos Vela

Mehican Chipper

The Mexican International,joined Arsenal in November 2005,but was unable to play till 2008 due to the lack of a work permit.He has had a disappointing time at the Emirates despite his massive promise.He will be remembered for his 'Chips' and was a classy finisher,but he failed to make even one PL start for Arsenal this season and his winter loan off to West Bromwich was a failure as well.With him being 5th choice (RVP,Chamakh,Nicklas,Arshavin)and with the emergence of J.E.T,chances of him starting for Arsenal in the future are getting slimmer.There are many clubs interested in signing him,with Galatasaray and Swansea City being the main 2 in the race.

Manuel Almunia

The man who fumbled...a lot

The Spaniard joined Arsenal from Celta Vigo in 2004 and since have made 109 appearances for the club.He has had quite a lot of opportunities to prove himself and has shown flashes of brilliance,but never was it consistent.He started this season as first choice goalkeeper,but fell down the ladder behind Fabianski and Szczesny. Even when both of them were injured,Wenger brought in the Mad German to play b/w the sticks rather than have him play.This showed the fall of faith in this once touted keeper.A lot of clubs are said to be interested in this glovesman and maybe he will go somewhere where he will get a lot of playing time.

Denilson

Not the no.1 prospect anymore

Maybe the most underrated player in the squad after Rosicky,Denilson has been very vocal about his desire to leave Arsenal.He joined from Sao Paulo after making only about 12 appearances for them.But Wenger was supremely confident when he signed him and early sights of him were very promising and it looked a bright future for this young Brazilian.This season has been anything but great,after making 32 appearances (12 as subs),he failed to score a goal or even make an assist.He was even criticized by many fans for his side passes.But they for one failed to see that the much touted "Best Passer" in the world made more side-passes than poor Denilson.He has been pretty disappointed,but chances have come plenty and well,he hadn't shined as much as he could have.Personally I would like to see him play for another season and then make a judgement.But he has been saying he wants to leave and we should respect it,also his loss is affordable,with the emergence of Wilshere and Ramsey.We could see him going to a German club mostly.

Thats it for the day people.Will come back later with the second part,where I will talk about who all could be coming in to the squad. Have a great day folks.You can follow Goonerburgh on Facebook,Twitter and Tumblr.

What we really need...

It finally looks like it could be over for Arsenal this season.We had been playing catch-up all season and finally we seem to have run out of steam.And this is more saddening than any of the other seasons as this one had so much promise and in the end,it looked like we just faded away.

Even in the last game,the guys showed no signs of urgency.There was a kind of lazed manner going around, the way they played in the first half.Only after Chezzers saved the penalty did i see some life.They pushed and pushed and some really good chances fell to some of the players,the best being to Samir Nasri when he got an over the top pass from RVP and was 1 on 1 with keeper and what did he do? He shot it straight at Jaaskelainen.He blew it when he needed to just calmly slot it in.

The goals we let in yesterday were in a typical Arsenal fashion,set-pieces.This just goes on to show,more than buying new defenders who will make the same old mistakes,its better we educate the ones we have on rectifying the regular mistakes we make while defending.

We can't have this happening often.

The manager himself admitted that 'defense' was a weakness in our team.I would like to disagree.It is not just the back four,but the team as a whole has been weak defensively.A team can be rock solid only when all the eleven players work together.Even when a mediocre team works as a unit to defend,they can be world class.So we need a team ethic which will help in making us a tough nut to crack.

Also,our players need to calm down,whenever we seem to go down,or the opposition piles up some pressure,we seem to panic and make silly mistakes.This is something else that needs to change.We need to be confident off-the-ball.

Talent-wise there is not much of a big difference b/w the Invincibles and the current team.The one major difference would be the mentality.The guys don't seem to have that real 'want ' to win.They seem to wait to get a chance rather than going out and taking it.

The teams of old used to put soo much pressure on the opposition even without the ball,this made them a very strong team to play against.We had some instances where we played like this,a memorable one being the 3-1 win  against Chelsea.That high tempo has to be maintained throughout 90 mins,all through 38 games.

Bringing in new players will only do one thing,restrict the growth of the current crop,and we will have to sit around watching them make the same old mistakes. So more than bringing in new personnel,its about improving the knowledge of our current crop.We need to learn how to win.

I agree some of the deadwood needs to be let go.But further discussion into that shall be done only when the transfer window opens.Till then,let us support our players.They need to know that the fans are behind them.

Arseblog talks about how money is a big factor in the players' minds.How its not just the big name players,but the mid level ones as well, are all on good money and how some of them refuse to go to other clubs that offer them 1st team football,but not as much money.Players refusing to go to clubs who have a proud history, where they are guaranteed playing time just because the money is not great.

So when did playing the game become secondary motive?When did winning not matter as much as the wages you were on? This trend has created a sort of laziness or complacency in the players,that winning did not matter as much anymore.

Winning Matters

So more than anything,what REALLY needs to change is this attitude of the players.They need to prioritize things the right way and bring that winning mentality back.In the end, WINNING MATTERS.

Finally,i would like to talk about Le Boss. A lot of people have been shouting for the sacking of Wenger,our manager who has kept us in the top 4 throughout his reign.Something no other manager has managed.The Professor has been the best manager in Arsenal's history,period.But he has immersed so much of himself into his project in these recent years,that he might have forgotten what it is that was needed to win.I think he should take a step backward and have a look at the situation.I want the project to continue,but Wenger should concentrate more on the First Team from next season other than finding out all the prospects in the world.He should let his staff worry about that for once.THE LOSING STOPS HERE!!!!

The Losing Stops Here!!

A new Tumblr profile has been opened by Goonerburgh.Follow us there for the latest videos from ATV Online and quotes froms players and the manager and  pictures and songs of Arsenal .You can also follow Goonerburgh on Twitter and Facebook.

Finally we would like to give a shout-out to Arsene T-shirts.They are a group of Gooners who started a T-shirt business to fight all the anti-Wenger movements going around.

Have a good day folks.All sorts of comments are welcome,as long as it is constructive.