**** OFFICIAL Premiership 2006-07 season Thread!*****

[ThaSaltCracka]

Isn't he Irish? Theo seems to be pretty English, same with Hoyte.

[KDawg]

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Isn't he Irish? Theo seems to be pretty English, same with Hoyte.

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well, I don't really follow aresenal, so just change english to british. He has dumped numerous british players in favor of continental players too many times to count. Its one thing if its in favor of guys like fabregas, van persie, or henry, but when a few guys like Cygan get the nod before a brit, I find it rather silly

[ThaSaltCracka]

I believe Stokes is Irish, not Northern Irish.

Anyways, you are right though. He definitely favors the French players. But who cares, as long as they are good players. Rafa seems to like the Spaniards over there in Pool, and Mourinho seems to like the c*nts, no matter what country they are from.


What bugs me about Wenger, at least what I have seen/read, he seems to be very stubborn about players he chooses. Aliadiere, Song, etc. I would have liked to have seen Stokes stay, especially with this injury to Bendtner. But you can have only so many strikers. At some point, especially young ones, your not helping them by not letting them play at top levels. Stokes at least gets the chance to control his own destiny at Sunderland, as opposed to being loaned out again.

It also looks like Lupoli is going to move one. This doesn't bother me much though. Hopefully Bendtner comes back healthy and makes it into the 1st team. I believe Aliadiere is out, so that leaves RVP, Henry, and Adebayor as the main strikers. Walcott could also play there, same with the Beast, if he stays. So basically there isn't much room for all three of those young strikers. Wenger must hold Bendtner in the highest regard.

[shoxbb6]

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well, I don't really follow aresenal, so just change english to british. He has dumped numerous british players in favor of continental players too many times to count. Its one thing if its in favor of guys like fabregas, van persie, or henry, but when a few guys like Cygan get the nod before a brit, I find it rather silly

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Yes, he does drop a fair amount of talent, especially after they have been in the squad for a far amount of time. It doesn't matter to Wenger whether the players are English, Greek, or Japanese. When he lets go of young players either when they aren't content or haven't established themselves. As for the most recent well-known English players he has dropped, let's go through them.

Matthew Upson: An average Championship-level defender who never lived up to his hype. He never would have more than 4-5 starts a season for Arsenal and there is a reason why he is not playing for a Premiership team right now. I would definitely rather have Cygan over Upson.

Jermaine Pennant: A decent Premiership winger who is also a convicted Drunken Driver with a horrible attitude problem. When he was at Arsenal, he was no where near the level of Pires or Lungberg. He failed to impress on a season long loan at Leeds and was afterwards sold.

Richard Wright: A decent Premiership goalie who was absolutely abysmal in his stint at Arsenal, including scoring an own goal, and eventually not even being placed on the subs bench.

Francis Jeffers: Another signing who failed to live up to his hype, failing to score at Arsenal and also failing to secure a first team place.

As for Stokes, I think this deal is in the best interest of Arsenal. Although he definitely does have potential, It is better for Arsenal to sell him now when we can get the most potential out of him instead of selling him 2-3 years down the line for much less money when he wouldn't have played that many games and would have gotten worse on the bench. As much potential as he has, he would not be getting any playing time for Arsenal in the next couple years. He's not good enough right now to replace Henry/RvP/Ade/The Beast, and with Lupoli/Bendtner returning from loan next season, he wouldn't play in any of the cup games or be close to playing in any league games.

[Newtown]

Add David Bentley to that list, who now plays for Blackburn, and Steve Sidwell on Reading.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Shox, you think Lupoli is coming back? Either way, after this season they will have Henry, RVP, Ade, Lupoli, Bendtner, and Walcott. I don't think Beast is coming back. A lot of strikers there. I know a few of them can play at a wing position. Regardless, they should have tons of attacking options if they want to play either a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1.

[shoxbb6]

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Add David Bentley to that list, who now plays for Blackburn, and Steve Sidwell on Reading.


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Yes, they're average(maybe above average, haven't seen Sidwell play recently) Premiership players but no where near good enough to be playing for Arsenal on a regular basis.

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Shox, you think Lupoli is coming back? Either way, after this season they will have Henry, RVP, Ade, Lupoli, Bendtner, and Walcott. I don't think Beast is coming back. A lot of strikers there. I know a few of them can play at a wing position. Regardless, they should have tons of attacking options if they want to play either a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1.

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Yes, I definitely think Lupoli is coming back. He's only been at Arsenal since 2005 and has done well at Derby. I definitely think Wenger will give him some chances and minutes in the first team next year. As for The Beast, I know there is a pre-arranged fee for him that Arsenal can pay at the end of the season to make the move permanent, but I'm not sure if he has impressed Wenger enough for Wenger to keep him. Yes, Arsenal do have alot of strikers, but I don't think it's too many, although I do think of Walcott as more of an Winger/Outside Attacking Midfielder than a pure striker.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Its been a frustrating season. So many injuries. But once everyone is back, I really don't see depth as a problem anywhere but at the back 4. And even then, the depth is just a matter of quality/experience. I am really glad I picked Arsenal for my squad of choice.

[shoxbb6]

Yea, after everyone comes back from injuries, we shouldn't have many depth problems for the rest of the season. But for next year, We definitely need to pick up a true winger(We're already being linked with Ribery) because Ljungberg is getting old and doesn't have the same stamina that he used to. Also, I'd rather have someone like Rosicky playing in the middle of midfield instead of out wide and van Persie up front instead of as a winger.

[ThaSaltCracka]

if you throw Rosicky in the middle where do you play Gilberto? Because Cesc has to play in the middle. You want to play a 451?