sakaito bro, what i understand from le Boss explanation last time is that Kolo doesn't have the stamina to play in midfield for any match not consecutive matches. so from my understanding, rotating him with Denilson and Alex Song doesn't make a difference anyway

and i also understand that Kolo has pace to recover, but that is only majorly useful when you play in central defender position not central midfielder. you do not have the time to recover the ball whenever you play in the midfield as most of the time the opponent that get away from you already executed the pass, or a shot

yup, we can speculate. or to put it in a nicer words we can put up our argument and reasoning behind it. we might not agree with each other but we sure can have a good discussion about it

i actually want a Matty type of player to partner Cesc. i can only hope Denilson or Alex Song can make that kind of jump performance-wise next season if we do not bring any reinforcement during the summer

Bischoff IINM already moved out

on the subject of Matty, yes he was probably not as good as the best in the world in the position i.e. the Essien of this world but he doesn't really have to be the best, right? he just need to compliment the other 3 players in the midfield area well and this will (or in this case, already) bring out the best from our midfield. and we had the best midfield in the league on the season before last for me, nothing from other teams can compare to us

and i do not know what you are doing SG comparing Matty to Makalele. 2 completely different type of player and one can argue both also not playing in the same position. Makalele is text-book sample of pure DM, and a very excellent 1 at that. while Matty is more to a CM

if we sell Kolo to any of the Premiership club for less than 20 million pound, i am questioning the ability of our management people in negotiating a deal as a big club. an experienced Ivory Coast defender, proven in BPL and in the peak age for a central defender not to mention not in his last year of contract, that is who Kolo Toure is. so anything under 20 million pound is a no no for me

i really hope for once we keep our first team together and add on a couple more players bought solely to address our weaknesses i.e. high ball, Cesc partner etc. it's always we bought to replace, not purely to add on or to strengthen the first team that we have

i'll be happy if we add another man in the midfield area as a partner to Cesc, Matty-like player that compliment Cesc well

and the next on the list for le Boss is to handle Robin contract situation. for me it's easy, either he sign or sell him if he didn't sign the contract offered before August

then i'd also like Billy G to extend his contract with us because he is still a very very good central defender. but i don't think i will get my wish on this 1

Ade has been quiet so far eh?

my point actually is he had learned from his mistake and improving himself off the pitch currently. he's been quiet recently, the whole opposite of what he did last year when he just cannot stop talking to the press and give out very bad image of himself to the fan

but still majority of Gooners in here want him out. i really wonder is it really ability-wise alone being the factor in those who keep on wanting him out of Arsenal

certainly so Zan especially the bold part. most of Gooners seems to happily ignore that fact

while admitting that he did himself no favor at all with his antics during pre-season last year (as per my post earlier), we have to acknowledge that he had been very quiet this time around. which is what i expect him to do if he really serious about playing for the Arsenal. also from someone who doesn't really have great reputation giving his statement to the press, him being quiet is a good thing. of course who knows if actually we are negotiating with Chelsea on selling him secretly

This post has been edited by toshio14: Jun 30 2009, 02:44 PM

finally news about Robin signing a new deal confirmed by Arsenal.com. good la Robin

Robin sign new long term deal

how refreshing it is to see good news during our pre-season for a change

i like Adebayor. i think he's the best striker we have at the moment. and i don't think striker is the position that we should be busying ourselves with now. central midfield for me need more attention for area of improvement

Arsenal Vision has a very good write up about Ade. i totally agree with the article

and ivan, 20 - 25 million pound for Ade is too little for me. certainly it is too little in the current inflated world of football transfers

precisely kimhoong bro. it's things like that make me assumed people just hating Ade for the sake of hating, because he certainly received different kind of treatment from few Gooners in compared to the usual golden boys of Robin and Cesc

zan bro, i was referring to this pre-season when i asked when did Ade requesting for bigger salary. and i believe so does Kimhoong

is Huntelaar really that good? i admit i did not watch him play for a long while now but from my memories i remember him being the poacher type of a striker. can someone who really watch Huntelaar on the more frequent occasions give their assessment to how well / not well Huntelaar will fit into our current team?

if he is indeed a poacher type of striker, did we not already have a very good 1 in the form of Dudu?

woohooo.. Tomas is starting

anybody able to watch care to put out the formation for all of us unlucky Gooners out here? who play left back; Mikael, Billy G or TV?

the first source containing direct quote from le Boss about Ade that i come across. guess that's pretty much sealed that issue then

sos tomato

i'm not sure whether i will miss him or not, but i certainly feel we are weaker now that we sold 1 of our more established striker. anyway, i think we are well covered and the striker area provided at least 1 of Dudu and Robin stay healthy for most time of the season

add on : le Boss short interview about Ade's transfer

This post has been edited by toshio14: Jul 19 2009, 05:55 PM

in the interview le Boss given to the BBC IINM that i posted the link earlier on, there was no confirmation about how much did Ade went for. that is usual for us Arsenal. but all news having the transfer amount to be around 25 million mark. my only concern is that will le Boss spend that money to strengthen the central midfield area?

if we are not strenghtening our central midfielder area, i can tell you now that we are HOPING that at least 1 out of the 3 Denilson, Abou and Alex Song doing a Flamini this season to be able to even challenge for the trophies

c'mon sig bro, share a picture of your new jersey with all of us Gooners here. and not to mention subsequently making us envy you

i'll be getting 1 this November, to be 1 of the item in my hantaran kahwin

OT, but thanks ya. a little bit too early for congratulation though

i go with ncool15; Robin had his fair share of sitters missed last season. but 1 can argue that he always being played as second striker usually off Ade as the main striker. maybe he just need time to regain his sharpness in front of goal whenever being played as main striker

Zan, i always mentioned that we are well covered at the striking department. midfield is the area where i am worrying now. the title-challenging question is who will partner Cesc for the coming season?

only le Boss know what he want to do with this issue

it never was about the size, it's how you use your body when challenging for the ball. Matty is not big, but he compliment Cesc pretty well during the season before last

Denilson and ganas should never be mentioned in the same sentence methink