2015/16 Summer Transfer: Deadline Days

Imbula is a B2B... same style as Kondogbia.

Art Morte wrote:lol @ people saying Arsenal should have bought Dzeko. He isn't any better than Giroud ffs.

Buying a Kondogbia for cover, okay, that wouldn't be the stupidest idea... but you know what? In a season or two it would just lead to either him or Coquelin wanting to leave, because both wouldn't be getting enough game time. Furthermore, Chelsea won the title with Mikel as Matic's back-up. Arsenal have enough depth for this season. If they couldn't get a Sanchez type of signing to clearly improve the first XI, it was better to save the money than spend with half-arsed purpose.

Its not "cover" its an option.

You dont win the league playing your best 11 players every week, it never happens. Arsenal's best 11, who are they? And how many games did they play together last season?

Save the money for what? The PL is weaker than ever, this is the time Arsenal really can do something. They have prime (age wise) core of players in Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis, Kos and co...meanwhile Man Utd are going through a transition, Chelsea suddenly look old, Pool are going nowhere and before this season City looked stale as shit.

But no, lets save money and when all these other teams get good again we can spend a tidy 18m on a teenager wh in 5 years might be good.

I still think Arsenal will probably comfortably finish ahead of United, Liverpool, Spurs, and any surprise packages that compete for fourth. However, I also feel they may have missed a great opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea and City who are another tier above the other sides in terms of overall squad strength. Arsenal can, in my opinion, compete with any side in the league when (both are) at full strength but they lack the type of depth that comes will come into play as the season progresses. Ultimately, I think they're probably closer to competing with United (should LvG sort things out and inspire them) than they are to fighting for the title if Mou/City have struggles and/or meltdowns, if only just.

Curtinho wrote:Plenty of parity at the top. Even Chelsea is not out of reach given their form and Mourinho's chances of affecting morale.

Giroud/Walcott - Benteke/Sturridge - Rooney/Martial
Ozil - Coutinho - Mata
Sanchez - Firmino - Memphis?
Cazorla/Ramsey - Henderson/Milner - Herrera/Schweinsteiger
Coquelin/Flamini - Can/Lucas - Schneiderlin/Carrick
Bellerin - Clyne - Darmian
Monreal - Gomez/Moreno - Shaw
Koscielny - Lovren/Sakho - Smalling
Mertesacker - Skrtel - Blind?
Cech - Mignolet - Romero?

Lots of depth of similar quality for all sides. There's no reason that Liverpool can't compete with Arsenal and United for 3rd/4th this season.

putting Romero over De Gea

was put in our CL squad today he will likely be starting after international breaks

Curtinho wrote:Plenty of parity at the top. Even Chelsea is not out of reach given their form and Mourinho's chances of affecting morale.

Giroud/Walcott - Benteke/Sturridge - Rooney/Martial
Ozil - Coutinho - Mata
Sanchez - Firmino - Memphis?
Cazorla/Ramsey - Henderson/Milner - Herrera/Schweinsteiger
Coquelin/Flamini - Can/Lucas - Schneiderlin/Carrick
Bellerin - Clyne - Darmian
Monreal - Gomez/Moreno - Shaw
Koscielny - Lovren/Sakho - Smalling
Mertesacker - Skrtel - Blind?
Cech - Mignolet - Romero?

Lots of depth of similar quality for all sides. There's no reason that Liverpool can't compete with Arsenal and United for 3rd/4th this season.

I can think of one reason off the top of my head

B-Mac wrote:

Curtinho wrote:Plenty of parity at the top. Even Chelsea is not out of reach given their form and Mourinho's chances of affecting morale.

Giroud/Walcott - Benteke/Sturridge - Rooney/Martial
Ozil - Coutinho - Mata
Sanchez - Firmino - Memphis?
Cazorla/Ramsey - Henderson/Milner - Herrera/Schweinsteiger
Coquelin/Flamini - Can/Lucas - Schneiderlin/Carrick
Bellerin - Clyne - Darmian
Monreal - Gomez/Moreno - Shaw
Koscielny - Lovren/Sakho - Smalling
Mertesacker - Skrtel - Blind?
Cech - Mignolet - Romero?

Lots of depth of similar quality for all sides. There's no reason that Liverpool can't compete with Arsenal and United for 3rd/4th this season.

putting Romero over De Gea

was put in our CL squad today he will likely be starting after international breaks

o
Romero is United's starting GK now.Deal with it

^ Anyway De Laurentis said Higuain has a clause of 90 mln   so I think  the problem doesn't arise.
Higuain was probably wrong to go in Napoli , he'll be a prisoner under De Laurentiis if he wants to go away ( as I think he was thinking to do at the beginning ) because noone will give a money rated enough from De Laurentiis .
It's reallyyy difficult to take away a player to De Laurentiis.
Now,  he doesn't sign many players and it's the reason because Napoli fans call him stingy , but hardly he deprives his great players.
Hamsik is finished, but he didn't want to give anyhow to Juventus ( they tried for Hamsik before of Hernanes , confirmed by Marotta ) .
Napoli keeps on bench Mertens and Gabbiadini because of mew Sarri system (4-3-1-2) . a real wastefulness for a club as Napoli, but he didn't want to sell neither one nor the other. Refused even 30 mln by Wolfsburg for Mertens lol .
Cavani and Lavezzi went away simply because they had a clause and PSG paid it, but no clubs look avaialble  to pay this absurd clause clause for Higuain..

RedOranje wrote:I still think Arsenal will probably comfortably finish ahead of United, Liverpool, Spurs, and any surprise packages that compete for fourth. However, I also feel they may have missed a great opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea and City who are another tier above the other sides in terms of overall squad strength. Arsenal can, in my opinion, compete with any side in the league when (both are) at full strength but they lack the type of depth that comes will come into play as the season progresses. Ultimately, I think they're probably closer to competing with United (should LvG sort things out and inspire them) than they are to fighting for the title if Mou/City have struggles and/or meltdowns, if only just.

i agree with most of that. but i think the big problem with arsenal is bottle. when they are in the title race they fold. when they are out of the title race they are the best team in the lge.

Never really bought into that, to be honest. It's always struck me as a buzzword that lazy pundits use when they either won't or can't analyze a side like Arsenal a bit deeper to see what's going on. It's suitable as PART of an explanation in certain instances, but the fact that it's been continually thrown around as THE explanation by many pundits for the better part of a decade now, even when Arsenal are winning trophies, undermines any resonance it had with me initially.

When you look at Arsenal's bench, and the types of teams they have to play at times in every season (like their defense against us) it becomes clear that there's simply a lack of depth comparable to the Chelsea and City.

It has nothing to do with their depth. They HAVE depth in the main parts. Which is all you really need. Look at Chelsea's squad last year...

Arsenal's failure comes down to them lacking bottle / that winning mentality. Cantona or whichever manc said it was right, there's too many pretty boys at Arsenal. They all expect a victory instead of actually putting a performance worthy enough to get it.

Dont agree with that, im with RO. Think its a lazy sterotype.

When are they in positions to win the league and fall apart? I dont see any evidence of this.

They have multiple different smaller problems, and one of them is they dont have QUALITY depth in KEY positions.

They have a ton of creative players to rely on (Ozil, Alexis, Rosicky, Santi, Ramsey) willing runners (Theo, Ox) and 2 players in every position in the defence.

But they have no options at all in terms of

A. a midfielder who can help protect the back 4 with or in place of Coq.

B. A goalscoring 9 if Giroud isnt on his game.


Comparing their depth with Chelsea is superficial analysis because they play a different style, they have different needs in terms of squad balance.

But if you want to compare anyway, Chelsea had Remy backing up Costa.

In the midfield, say what you want about Mikel but if I want to help defend a lead I would bring him on over Arteta any day of the week. Plus they have Zouma who can play in the midfield and do a defensive job.

I dont see how one can think for a second Arsenal have the total depth Chelsea has.

And unlike Chelsea, Arsenal constantly have injured players so depth is even more important for them.

I am not even that big a believer in the importance of depth, but Arsenal have holes in their squad. For me you want 11 + 6 really good players who fill in different roles and they dont have them.

That's a very fair assessment.

Khaled Al Nouss ‏@KhaledAlNouss Juventus rejected an offer of €100m from Chelsea for Paul Pogba [Laudisa]

Can see him go for 150m if he has a beastly Euro (more so if he wins it for France), maybe even 200m had Zubi still been working at Barca

Anyways with that money, i'd like to congratulate Juve on their next 7 Scudetti

S wrote:Khaled Al Nouss ‏@KhaledAlNouss Juventus rejected an offer of €100m from Chelsea for Paul Pogba [Laudisa]

Tancredi Palmeri reported that a month ago btw if it is true, he deserves credit.

The Franchise wrote:Dont agree with that, im with RO. Think its a lazy sterotype.

When are they in positions to win the league and fall apart? I dont see any evidence of this.

They have multiple different smaller problems, and one of them is they dont have QUALITY depth in KEY positions.

They have a ton of creative players to rely on (Ozil, Alexis, Rosicky, Santi, Ramsey) willing runners (Theo, Ox) and 2 players in every position in the defence.

But they have no options at all in terms of

A. a midfielder who can help protect the back 4 with or in place of Coq.

B. A goalscoring 9 if Giroud isnt on his game.


Comparing their depth with Chelsea is superficial analysis because they play a different style, they have different needs in terms of squad balance.

But if you want to compare anyway, Chelsea had Remy backing up Costa.

In the midfield, say what you want about Mikel but if I want to help defend a lead I would bring him on over Arteta any day of the week. Plus they have Zouma who can play in the midfield and do a defensive job.

I dont see how one can think for a second Arsenal have the total depth Chelsea has.

And unlike Chelsea, Arsenal constantly have injured players so depth is even more important for them.

I am not even that big a believer in the importance of depth, but Arsenal have holes in their squad. For me you want 11 + 6 really good players who fill in different roles and they dont have them.

I do understand where you're coming from, and whilst I agree with certain parts (needing a better "Giroud" and a backup to Coq) I still see it as a mental problem.

Comparing both squads, Arsenal's squad IS better than Chelsea's talent wise. The manager makes the difference of course, and whilst Mourinho is a better manager than Arsene it doesn't stop the fact that Arsenal's squad as a whole lack that winning mentality which seperates the two over a whole season. They lack that mental understanding of knowing how to be champions. They cannot win ugly like Chelsea can.

How many games did Mikel play last season after Matic signed? He only played when he was suspended, no? The same goes for Remy. They have decent depth; but they don't utulise it enough. Arsenal have a lot more depth than Chelsea.

And how many teams in the PL play with anchors nowadays? It's essentially just Chelsea. Maybe United too, but that's just me looking at paper thinking they play Schneileden there as I haven't seen him play this season yet. Liverpool almost won the league without any sort of defensive midfielder at all a couple seasons back. City WON the league that year without it. They're dominating right now without one. It's one of the biggest flaws of the current English game. It's all about firepower and your final third and midfield nowadays.

There's not much structure in the PL anymore. It's why English teams generally in Europe are so poor and have been in the last 5 years or so. Arsenal SHOULD be competiting against Chelsea AND City. Don't get me wrong, they definitely need a player with more steel and more of a presecence in their midfield like a Vieira because they've lacked it for over a decade now... but in the competition right now they just need to pull a finger out and grow a set of balls. Because they'd blitz passed sides. The PL may have this TV deal and make "smaller teams compete" but it's the weakest PL era in a very long time. Arsenal just need to start showing up to games.

OK, well I just dont agree. I dont know about winning ugly, but Arsenal do win games they dont play well. Not to the degree Chelsea do for sure, but Chelsea almost never play well while Arsenal do. Its just the different style's which make it that way.

I think Arsenal fundementally havent won the league simply because they havent had a good enough team. Good enough in some areas? Sure. Good enough offensive midfielders? Sure. But overall squad balance, not for me.

Yes, Remy and Mikel only played when Matic and Costa didnt..thats what they are there for. Costa gets injured alot, they need Remy. They dont need Mikel so much because he cant play with Matic..only instead of him.

But like I said, Arsenal have a different kind of team so they have different needs. They really could use someone who can help Coq out more, because they play a more open game than Chelsea..they dont have Oscar/William/Ramires doing more defending than attacking..they dont have fullbacks who choose wisely when to go forward.

No doubt in my mind, if Arsenal were in trouble in a game and they took off Santi or Ramsey and put in someone like Kongdobia they would be better off.

Chelsea can take off Cesc and put in more defensive players in a midfield which already has strong defensive players. Can Arsenal do remotely the same?

It would be a total waste if Arsenal bought, say, Kondogbia. Because a) both him and Coquelin wouldn't get enough game time yet both deserve to play (and as a result one would ask to leave in a couple years anyway) and b) I don't see Wenger fielding both of them in almost any situation, that's just not how he plays.

Chelsea's 12th most used player in the Prem last season was Felipe Luis. That, if anything, tells that you don't need amazing depth to win the league, you need a quality XI. And there were no players in the market that would have guaranteed an improvement in Arsenal's best XI.

That is simply because Wenger is sadly is an old man now who forgot why he was great to start with.

"Market"

There were many players who can improve Arsenal's best 11. He just dont want to pay for them.

Art Morte wrote:It would be a total waste if Arsenal bought, say, Kondogbia. Because a) both him and Coquelin wouldn't get enough game time yet both deserve to play (and as a result one would ask to leave in a couple years anyway) and b) I don't see Wenger fielding both of them in almost any situation, that's just not how he plays.

Chelsea's 12th most used player in the Prem last season was Felipe Luis. That, if anything, tells that you don't need amazing depth to win the league, you need a quality XI. And there were no players in the market that would have guaranteed an improvement in Arsenal's best XI.

Then how come this great great squad only came 3rd in the league last year ? even with 4 points less assembled than the Arsenal squad in 13/14 ?

Barca won the treble and WITH A TRANSFER ban, went to strengthen their squad. You always strengthen from position of strength...that's what Chelsea didn't do this summer and will massively regret.

They finished 3rd because their first-choice XI wasn't good enough and that is my argument, they have enough depth right now and should only buy players that obviously strengthen the best XI. An Özil or Sanchez signing. Only this summer such weren't available (or maybe Cech was and they got him).

We, Liverpool, have bought all sorts of players in the last few years and look how much that depth has helped us... Players being off-loaded a year after signing without given a proper chance.

Chelsea bought fine, 25m depth in Cuadrado... gone after six months.

You don't need to have two equally good XI's. Arsenal have enough depth.

I sincerely apologise to Chelsea fans on criticising their loan all the players project.

Juventus' list of their loaned players. 47 of them

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COEVP9XWgAAuBkT.jpg

Jorge Martinez lmaoooooooooooooooooo

What happened to Scirea's heir, Masi?