‘Nincompoop Moyes cost Man Utd Thiago Alcantara signing’

Thiago Alcantara

Juan Mata certainly seems to have turned around Jose Mourinho’s opinion of him as well as the fans, while Arsenal fans have officially snapped over Arsene Wenger with his replacement being considered

Have anything to get off your chest? We’d love to hear from you. Have Your Say right here.

 

I rate Mata a lot higher than most No. 10s in the league

Everybody thought, myself included, that he’d be out of the door when Mourinho was appointed. I’m glad he’s become a regular under Mourinho and proved his worth. Mata is one of the most technically gifted players in the league… the first touch is absolutely insane.

I rate Mata a lot higher than most No. 10s in the league. He’s getting more goals than any players in those positions, only Silva has more assists. Can we dispel this myth of Mata having no pace? It gets on my damn nerves when I hear/see people say that.

Yes he’s not the fastest but he’s no snail either. Juan Mata is a great player for man Utd and deserves more credit.

theMartialArt

 

Enough is enough – it’s time Wenger accepted what the fans already have

I’m not going to lie, I might be overwhelmed at the moment and absolutely frustrated but for the spot Wenger has put this club in he just might have lost all the respect he earned over the past two decades.

I’ve just not seen a manager turn into such a loser.There is something to lose with humility and then there’s being embarrassed.We always always always shown the latter route.
Really believe me,I really wouldn’t mind losing to Bayern, but give a good performance.Whenever we play a top side, we play with fear and consequently our performances is dreadful and in turn the result.

Enough Wenger enough, how much more stubborn can you be.I might not be thinking straight but he’s made me hate him and lose all respect I had for him.I’ll always support this club no matter what, but literally I feel there is nothing good too look forward to and Wenger is responsible for that.

thespecialone

 

Arsenal fans need to do a risk analysis on whether Wenger should go or not – yes, if he stays you’re not going to be winning the Champions League or Premier League anytime soon however you will get a Top 4 spot regularly, an FA Cup or League Cup every couple of years as well as entertaining football (generally). If he goes, there is a chance you will win the CL or PL however there is also a chance that you will fall out of the Top 4 and fall into obscurity (similar to United under Moyes and LVG).

One needs to remember that Arsenal have to compete with the financial and pulling power of clubs like Man United, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool which are all arguably greater than theirs at the moment. The competition at the moment is very high both domestically and in Europe so even with a change of manager they can’t expect instant (or any) definite positive results.

In my opinion, Wenger has run his course and will not improve the club any more than he has done – personally as a fan of a rival club I have no problem with him staying there, which I guess is a sign that he maybe should be moved on for the sake of the club.

Sympathy for the Devils

 

Wenger has come to the end of the road at Arsenal and he should have left a while back he will surely go at the end of the season but he deserves the right given everything he has given Arsenal over his complete tenure to walk away and not be sacked.

I’m sure that’s how it will end he’s an intelligent man who loves the club and he now knows deep down that he has to hand the reins over to someone else for the good of the club no matter how much it pains him to do so.

nine nine nine

 

[of_poll name=’What should Arsenal do with Arsene Wenger?’ id=’1436028′]

 

League form is patchy after the New Year and there is a real danger of finishing outside the top 4, deluded fan base are restless fam. Solution: exit the CL in the first knock out round to ensure freshness in the league and scrape into 4th place blud. Occasionally win the FA cup to create the illusion of success innit fam.
Collect £8m annual salary and repeat ad infinitum…

Tim Vick

Jorge Sampaoli: Perfect for Premier League, says Arturo Vidal

So thats this season done and no doubt Wenger done at the club. So my questions is what are your ideal dreams for the summer. Mine below are

Manager – Jorge Sampaoli / Allegri

Sell – Gabriel, Coq, Monreal, Ospina (could sell more)

Buy – Veratti, Robertson, Lukaku

Team for next year, Cech, Bellerin, Kos, Mustafi, Robertson, Xhaka Ramsey Veratti Sanchez, Ozil, Lukaku. In a 433

Doubt it will happen but after last night its nice to dream.

Gooner Si

 

David Moyes a nincompoop for passing up Thiago Alcantara signing

Watching Arsenal getting ripped a new one (again) by Bayern Munich yesterday had me fuming with rage at the grossly negligent decision made by one David Moyes a few years back. For those who don’t know, David Moyes was “unsure” of Thiago Alcantara’s talent and dilly dallied over a decision to buy him for 18 million when Woodward made the money avalable; Moyes’ delaying left the door open for Guardiola to sneak under his nose and secure him for Bayern who paid the same price we paid for Ashley Young; later that month Moyes signed Fellaini for 28 million. David Moyes – what a nincompoop.

This got me thinking, which transfer decisions vex you most in hindsight? I am referring to when a manager decides not to buy an available player who could improve his team. I remember SAF didn’t want to match Chelsea’s offer for Eden Hazard and then boom, Manchester United sign Kagawa instead – horrible business that we are still paying the price for today.

On the flipside of the coin there are also instances when a manager shows good judgement by passing on a player before getting a better one: van Gaal passed up the chance to buy Pedro and then pulled a rabbit out of his hat with Martial.

Any stories of managers saying “no thanks, I’ll pass” fellas?

hatters

 

I don’t see Alcantara as one that got away. Moyes did dilly dally but the player was also stalling and waiting for Guardiola to make a move. He wasn’t totally sold on moving to Old Trafford and in fairness to Moyes he probably picked up on that.

I’d never argue about his talent either as he’s clearly got bags of it…but I would say he looks exactly the sort of player who would get drowned in the Premier League. Especially in the downward spiral of the Moyes reign…”kick it long Tiago. Put the boot in. Chase back you lazy wee *****.”

Excellent use of the word nincompoop though.

TS7

Xabi Alonso: Has fond Liverpool memories

On the subject, there’s quite a few players to slip the net at Liverpool over the years but to name one I’m going for Gareth Barry and the whole saga with Xabi Alonso that followed.

The club dilli-dallied over the Barry deal, sold Alonso and bought Aquilani instead.

I would have fancied our midfield if Rafa had just got to buy Barry and have the makeshift midfield of Masch, Alonso, Barry and Gerrard. With Lucas as backup but somehow we ended up with Aquilani, Lucas, Poulsen, Gerrard and Adam as backup.

Other names that spring to mind, Cantona, The big Dane and Ronaldo. Sanchez and Laudrup.

NotoriousBingo

 

Costa a great striker – but he’s not worth £220k a week

I would sell Costa, good striker but not a £220k a week striker.

He can’t play more than 1 game per week and there is always this worry that you never know when the guy is going to lose his cool on/off the field. Also I think Chelsea have played their best attacking football when he hasn’t played, too often he gets the ball stuck in his feet and doesn’t see the man over. He probably “costa” us 3-5 scoring opportunities over the last 2-3 games. Lastly he never scores more than 1 goal in a game and I can name quite a few games where he has had more than 2 or 3 score-able chances other leading strikers would score.

As I said good striker but think we could do better.

bort

 

Do we really want costa to stay? Every season there is always soemthing that happens with him that causes unrest or bother. I think its a bit silly. A 5 year contract for a 29? Year old just doesnt make sense either. No one at chelsea past 30 gets more than a 1 year deal. I feel like we are slightly been held to ransom by him here

If we keep him. We HAVE to bring in a quality striker in the summer. I would be happy with him and Morata.

Phewpsi

 

Bort – I would be prepared to give Costa the benefit if the doubt

I have to assume that Conte is happy with what he sees on the pitch and during training (plus by all accounts he is goods in the dressing room as well). I do not know where you get the he cannot play more than a game a week from (did I miss something..?) but as per the earlier comment surely the management feel he can otherwise why pay silly money..?

As for his attitude I think it was clear that he was bad when he did not get on with Jose but under Conte he appears to be a changed animal and as a Club we are so far reaping the benefits. I guess “a leopard never changes its spots” comes to mind and that Costa could revert at some time to the player of the past – but I assume that is a calculated gamble we are prepared to take

Cannot argue with your stats regarding goals per game and wasting chances but I would argue that he is the figurehead of our attack and does breed fear into defenders and does have a good understanding with Hazard

Could we do better?, honestly I am not sure but I assume it is possible, but we do have a striker on form, currently apparently happy in his game, with the Club and manager and someone who is already well versed in the requirements of the EPL (which for me anyway will always be the main target for any season). KTBFFH

CFC1905

Given he as scored 52 goals in 103 games despite his poor form for the first half of last season, and I’m not sure we could do a lot better to be honest. How many strikers score at a better rate than that in the top tier in England?

Outside of him, Drogba and JFH we don’t have a great track record of signing big money strikers, so I am pretty happy with Costa. You can add to the goals 17 assists as well. Whilst he hasn’t scored in the last three games, he created the penalty he missed at Liverpool and it was his header against the bar against Arsenal that led to Alonso’s goal.

Sure, he hasn’t been in sparkling form in those games but this shows he is still affecting them. A five year contract for a 28 year old is a bit of a worry, but this day and age, players can keep themselves fit and sharp well into their mid thirties, and we have plenty of evidence at Chelsea to back that up with the likes of Lampard, Zola, JT & Drogba amongst others.

Liquidator

 

Rakitic, not Verratti is what Manchester United need

Ivan Rakitic: Man U link

Verrati is a great player but he needs to be part of a midfield three and that can’t happen with Mkhi, Mata, Martial, Rashford, Zlatan & Griezman (I believe we will sign him in the summer) in the Manchester United team. We need a Kante more than a Verrati. I think Rakitic would be a better option to play in midfield 2 alongside Pogba.

theMartialArt

 

The talk about Verrati coming to OT is pointless,there is no chance of that happening ever,especially after Tuesday night. Anyone who is seriously suggesting that Rakitic (who I rate) could play in a midfield duo alongside Pogba in a physically demanding, high tempo league like we have over here just doesn’t understand football, simple as that.

Blacky

Verratti is indeed top class and would be a brilliant signing and will be veritually impossible to get, but then again I thought Pogba would never ever re-sign for us last year yet it happened.

Money talks very loudly nowadays and we seem to have the capital to get any player (bar Messi).

Sympathy for the Devils