Have we found our new no.9? 15 May, 2007
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News, Transfers.trackback
Maybe.
It looks quite likely that ‘The Beast’ we be leaving and there’s no chance Reyes will return, so that would make the no.9 shirt will be available. Some say the shirt is cursed, and those people might have a point but I wouldn’t be surprised if Nicklas Bendtner claimed the shirt in the new season. He signed a 5 year deal year today showing us all just how much faith Wenger has in him. There were doubts whether he’d break into the first 11 at Arsenal, and possibly move on this summer but it looks as if Wenger intends to break him into the side. I do like Bendtner, I’ve seen him a few times for the reserves and he looks a good prospect, but I don’t think he’s quite first team Arsenal material yet to be honest.
I know Nicklas said earlier in the season that he’s only interested in the top level of the game now and said he’d only return to Arsenal if he was guaranteed first team football. Sounds as if the boy has quite a big ego because most players are going to find it difficult to beat Thierry Henry, Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and the upcoming Theo Walcott into a team. If we are unlucky as we have been this year with injuries I’m sure Nick will get a pretty decent run in the side next season; but other than that, he’s going to have to work very hard to get in the team. So with this new 5-year deal, don’t be surprised if you’re seeing ‘Bendtner 9′ shirts around the Grove come August.
Emmanuel Eboue also signed a long-term deal today. He established himself well in the last season at Highbury but was always 2nd choice to Lauren, now he’s moved on to Pompey Eboue is now officially our first choice right back. Quite a few people aren’t going to happy about that, and there were shouts that we might sign someone in the summer but it was never going to happen and Arsene’s confirmed this by offering him a new deal.
I’m sure we’ll hear it all summer but here’s the first quote of Wenger saying he targets the title next season. It’ll all well and good saying it and I know one of Arsene’s main points is ‘when we get our injured players back’ but everyone knows if he’s going to challenge with the top teams he’s going to have to spend a bit this summer. I’m sure Chelsea will buy, they always do, Man United will have some extra cash from winning the title so they’ll add to the squad and Liverpool’s new owners have promised Benitez a large sum of money to spend. To be fair, yes we do have some pretty good players coming back from injury but I’m sorry that’s not going to be enough. We’ll see what happens in the coming months.
Thanks for reading.
jeffers, reyes, baptista, not sure if wiltord had it too) retire the number please arsenal.
Wenger needs to start rotating our forwards, not playing Henry every minute of every game (bar the league cup and FA Cup walkovers) through till March when he says he’s knackered.
I like Bendtner, I think he’s got a big game mentality, I like his confidence in his ability and on what I’ve seen I’d only have Henry and RVP ashead of him choosing our best XI - so given rotation and injuries, he should get enough football. And he can defend set pieces which we need with our mini midfield.
Just a thought on a slow news day: Why buy buy buy if those three clubs are all going to spend twenty to forty million pounds each? We could spend the same as them and still end up fourth. Or we could spend just enough to stay ahead of the lesser top clubs each year and possibly move up from fourth if one of the big spenders gets hit with injuries. And/or we could spend very little and still challenge in the domestic and European cup competitions and possibly nick a bit of silverware for the next two years, then, when Arsenal’s squad is mature and Cheski, Manure and the Scousers have teams on the way down, Arsene can plow ahead on youngish legs to the Premiership title as well.
He is as talented as anelka was and with the right attitude.Furthermore he is known for taking his chances when they come along something we desperately need.
wiltord was number 11 which was vacated by Marc Overmans when he left with Petit for Barca. No.9 shirt does seem to have a slight curse but Alan Smith did ok with it - no he wasn’t as prolific as ol Wrighty banging in the goals but he wasn’t that bad surely lol I think Freddie could be releaved from his duties same goes for Hleb. Aliadiere is a good player but unfortunately it doesn’t seem he has a future at Arsenal. Especially with Bentdner coming back (new deal) Flamini is just a squad player for me and I think he’ll do better elsewhere where they’d give him more games/chances. Robinho would be an excellent replacement for Hleb I think, he’s better on the ball and CAN SHOOT in front of goal and not dally about plus he’ll be cheap or swap the crybaby reyes for him. Baptista I think is an ok player but not a brilliant one. I was pleased that he was coming to Arsenal but failed to impress me - part from the mickey mouse cup which he played well, same goes for Aliadiere who again played well. I would like Aliadiere to stay but it doesn’t look like he will. Ribery I don’t think would do anything for us even though everyone seems to be ranting about him hmmmm Bapista springs to mind. Yes we have had some injuries to key players but we’ve done well to finish in the top 4 and we did beat manure twice and the kids even give liverscum a good hiding in the cup oh and not forgetting they beat the spuds too. Ade has done well considering he’s not had an out and out goalscorer to play along side and that Hleb don’t shoot on target but then saying that alot of the midfield don’t shoot when they have the opportunity. So I don’t think we need a lot great deal of players just some quality cover when we do pick up injuries. I think Henry’ best days are behind him its sad to say but lets hope he proves us all wrong and blitz’s the pl again. Just a quick mention about the new kit we’re supposedly having - white! From the images I’ve seen it looks disgusting and I for one will NOT be buying it! anyway peace out ya’ll and have fun
I have watched Bentdner for Birmngham in a few games and he has that strength and ruggedness that English forwards have and Arsenal certainly need.
He also has skill and good passing ability. He will do well for Arsenal and judging by the 5 year contract he has been given I suspect that Wenger will not sign a new forward!
We don’t need much to challenge for the title next season.
Jens has at least another good year in him.
If Toure and Gallas can develop an understanding and we can learn to accept Eboue’s antics (maybe he will grow up), then the defence is decent - with very good covering players (especially Djourou).
The centre of midfield is spot on - Gilberto and Fabregas are as good as anyone in the world and the cover is exciting (Denilson and Diaby).
Up front, TH14 and RVP are also as good as anyone in the world and again there is good cover, which hopefully won’t be needed as much.
That leaves the wide midfield positions. There are two options here:
1. Spend all of the money from Reyes, Flamini, Muamba, Song, Aliadiere, Lupoli, Ljungberg, Poom and Hleb + the extra cash available on Tevez.
2. Force Hleb to undergo two months of weapons-grade shooting practice.
Other players that might be considered:
Benni McCarthy (could move RVP to right wing, like Holland do)
Kevin Doyle (he could fill in anywhere across the front four, and show up like a fox in the box when necessary)
Ribery possibly… Appiah possibly…
(long summer ahead) .
from what i’ve seen of him bendter really does look like he has the ability to succeed for us but he’ll have to lose some of the massive ego and look like he’s giving a shit (a lot of the time at birmingham he seemed to be pretty lazy - he obviously was watching TH14 this season!) if that is dealt with he is a quality finisher with bags of skill and an eye for a pass….a young version of mark viduka if you will
NO PLEASE stop talking about Tevez . Hes had a good run towards the end but not a good season. He’s fat and slow - not an Arsenal player!
Walcott will come good, TH14 will be back on form and RVP wil lget better and better. Ade is good cover and with Danish Nik fighting for a place, we are OK up front.
A winger type would be nice - RVP on the right Ribery/ Babel on the left - nice
i actually like the current arsenal first 11 however it has looked a little scethcy when injuries and suspensions have kicked in. for example the arsenal side that went away to pompey was the worst iv seen in the 15 years iv supported the club. i agree with the comments made by loose cannnon our goalkeeper is fine our cenre backs are great toure and gallas with better understanding could develop the best partnership in the world. our wing backs despite eboue s antics are quality they provide natural width that we ve lacked at times especially when hleb and rosicky come inside.
our cenre midfield players (fab silva diaby denilson) have a combination of skill graft and fantastic creativity. strikers when fit not a problem. however as i mentioned before we can get a little narrow as rosicky and hleb are nt natural wingers so ribery or babbel will do nicely to give the sxide better balence. 2 questions guys.
1 what do you think of joe barton as a potential arsenal; player. wenger a year and a half ago admitted he liked the player
2 why is diaby being played every where but as a holding midfield player. hes been dumped upfront and as a left winger. liverpool at anfield spings to mind.
tevez is a prospect he didnt have a run in the first eleven cause he wasnt given a chance until alan curbishley came along he is a fantasic player and for joey barton what a tosser.give wenger a chance with the kids we have now he knows whats best
the number 9 shirt is cursed.
Yeah, Smudger, McDonald and Stapleton never scored either.
purlease.
i total agree with loose cannon apart from benni mcarthy and kevin doyle i more intrested in our rivals striker berbetov now he would a super sighning even though we did put a bid in for him then spurs offer was accepted why cant they look for there own players?well who is better than wenger in finding players the likes of clichey henry fabregas van persie gilberto i can go on all night
yea i do have alot of faith in wenger he is curtainly the best talent spotter iv seen in my generation. what he has achieved with a next to nothing budget is nothing short of amazing. yea tevez is real quality he would walk in to just about any side. i think alot of enthasis has been made about arsenals strikers not scoring enough goals. i think thats harsh we ve had our best two strikers have been out practically all season and in some games have had to rely on diaby or freddie to fill in as an emergancy second striker. baptista is nt an out and out stiker either he apparently likes to make late runs into the box as an attacking midfielder. i think the main problem has been a distinct lack of goals from midfield. for how tecniqually sound the likes of fab,rosicky and hleb are they dont provide us with enough goals. when you consider pires an freddie used to garentuee 25 a season between them.
Yo all, we dont need all that much of a striker but we do need a midfielder who can score goals like Pires, Ronaldo, or Lampard. Upfront i believe with the return of the maestro Henry and RVP we will be okay. We need a world class wide midfielder and maybe an established striker like Eto’o. In defence we are okay and Eboue’s critics need to back off and let the defender concentrate on his game.
[...] Have we found our new no.9? [image] Maybe. It looks quite likely that ‘The Beast’ we be leaving and there’s no chance Reyes will […] [...]
yea kefa i agree we do need a goal scoring midfielder however if you look around the current transfer market i dont see many available. any ideas? eto is incredible and would love to see him in an arsenal shirt however i think the 30 mil price tag may put wenger off him. henry and v.p will gell just think they need games together dont remember many occasions where they were both fit and leading the line together.
shiza that is dead right that is what they r trying to do exactly. I think they r looking at 3rd 4th + luck FA semi + luck Champions league last 8 + luck. This year and i think it will be the same the next 2 assuming the board and ownership stays the same, then Vella, Merida etc.
smith cause u can,t put 3 in 2 positions
I really hope that ryan babel will join us next season,
he is a very pacey and skillful player which will make our attack faster and effective,
he also a great finisher,
I think babel is enough for us to challenge chelsea and manutd
I think Alves would be a good signing. Versatile, talented and a real mongrel, by all accounts. We could get him on the cheap with a Reyes swap, as well. Unlikely, but nice. And a new striker would be good. RvP hasn’t proved that he can last a whole season without injuries, and Henry’s going to get worse (injury wise). Viduka would be good for a couple of seasons as an impact striker, until Walcott, Bendtner and co. are ready.
Ryan Babel/Alaves or some winger that can play both sides is just what we need.
rosick7 agree wit ya totally…babel would complete this team, will bring the pace we lacked when reyes left & the finishing ability we need. He’s the only player we need! ribery looked good at the wc but check his stats for this season, he aint lighting up the french league…so why would he do it here?…only 3 goals this season. Alves…hmmm i im kinda put off spanish players, they dive and they dont have enough fight for the prem (except cesc ofcourse, but only cause he learnt his trade here from young) eto’o will be available for round £12mil as his contracts up soon, and barca are looking to rebuild, but i rekon old rafa & his ‘war chest’ wil out bid us for him.
what about arjen robben, hes a great winger, and he is on is way, out of chelsea, he would be a great no. 9…
Bendtner has a BIG BIG ego, i smell trouble..
Our team is fine, sure we need a couple of players just to round things off. I don’t think Ribery is the answer, I think he has the same attitude as Anelka & would cost a fortune, I’d like Samir Nasri from Marseille, he’s 20 & would cost a lot less. If Nicklas Bendtner gets a chance then he’s gonna be fantastic
The thing the current crop of players misses..more than most is a fit alert agile berkamp DB10 figure….a man who can play the perfect ball, the perfect weight, defence splitting ,into a goal scorable position to give a great confidence boosting goal to all players..
All hail the missing link… the unreplaced…the master orchastrator… Dennis Bergkamp DB10
robben would be great…and would perfectly suit our team, but he’s too injury prone (another reason he’d suit our team!). The way injuries have ruined our past few seasons dont think itd be wise to go for him
i heard Babel signed a new three year contract at Ajax.
I’ve heard people whining about Bendtner but he’s scored 11 goals in a very tough league starting at the age of only 18!
He’s 6′3″ and 13 1/2 stone, so he’s going to frighten any defender.
We could do worst for a 4th striker and he deserves his chance.
Not everyone is a Fabregas, i.e. a world class international at 18!
alididaei aliadidieree adialiadir adilai aliadiere should stay
I sure hope so for you question…have we found our no.9? was that the question..
Gabriel
i dont think we need aliadiere he is useless we should send him back to wolves .i totally agree with keefa on eboue he is fantastic he is the best right back since lee dixon and he is still young we should flog senderos eh is gettin worse toure and gallas are the perfect match we paid 10 mil on jeffers and what did he do for us f*** all we have a good squad it just needs time to gel and when it does god help the other teams
odds on eto for number 9 shirt
i met bendtner at the bham end of season dinner. i reckon hes gonna b a qulity player-but dont expect him to be happy being on the bench. He is unbelievably confident, bordering on arrogance but is also quite immature and we have to remember how young he is. He did say that he didnt get on with Henry that well and that henry has a huge influence on whom Wenger picks
Bendtner is a international for Denmark and he has shown his abilities at that level. He is possibly the best striker out of Denmark ever. He has got the strength of a bull, he has marvellous ball control and he is a clinical finisher. The sky is the limit for this kid. He is by far the best striker in the world under 20. He is Trezeguet, Batistuta and Ibrahimovic in one.
The big problem with him is that he knows how good he is. His ego is enormous and unless he tones it down, he will burn out from anger and frustration.
His first big mistake came during the under-21s European Championship in 2006. He was selected out of the blue, as no one in Denmark had really heard about him. Only Gunners fans had noticed his scoring abilities for the reserves, so many Danes thought it was a big risk. Anyhow - one nationally televised training match was enough to show everybody, that there was a new king in town. He was miles ahead of his team mates, even though he was the youngest one there. The star of the Danish team, a primitive tank-centerforward was relegated to the bench immediately, as the coach would only use one striker. There was instantly turmoil on the team. Who was this punk ass? And why was the topscorer booted out?
It soon became clear that Bendtner wasn’t well liked among his team mates. During one of the first matches in the championship, he was substituted with the previosly mentioned top-scorer. Bendtner was interviewed after the game, and said to the press corps: “Why put that guy on the field? He doesn’t do anything. He just stands up there , looking at the ball!”
All hell broke loose after that statement, and he had to publicly apologise for his words. Anyone could see after that, that the topscorer was a broken man. The kid was right but no one dared say it.
The Danish national team coach had seen enough, and drafted him on to the full squad, making him the 7th youngest player ever to represent the country.
He scored on his debut against Poland.
It only took a couple of practice sessions with the full squad before he landed in problems again.
This time they were 4 against 1 in a circle. Bendtner lost the ball to the guy in the circle, and therefore had to step into the middle. But he stayed arguing and told the stunned pro’s “that he wasn’t stepping into the middle”. The teams pitbull, Thomas Gravesen, quickly came over to read him the riot act, but the 18year old punk didn’t care. He couldn’t be bothered. To avoid Gravesen beating the shit out of him, the goalie Thomas Soerensen, took the spot for him.
He is full of himself, but he has got the skills to back up his talking.
Thierry is gonna have his hands full with this punk.
comgrats! i am an arselanmaniac and keep up the goog job
i think Aliadiere should go.. and stick with Nicklas Bendtner. Aliadiere is injury prone. and about Sanderos.. it is good to have him to mark taller player but one thing is that he is slow. Flamini can be sacrifice because diaby and denilson competing for his place.. hopefully eto can be swap with reyes… arsenal need hard striker and can’t always depend on henry… hope wenger have the eyes to find another pires for arsenal…
Has anyone else noticed that as Wenger has gradually reduced the number of English players in the squad that Arsenal have become shitter and shitter ? Last year they reached the CL final and weren’t too good in the prem but had Campbell and Cole. Having ditched them we now have to cameo appearances from Walcott and Hoyte as the last vestiges of Englishness at the club that with Wright, Thomas, Winterburn, Adams, Keown, Seaman, Dixon, Hillier, Parlour etc was was actually better than it is now before Wenger made it an entirely foreign team playing in the English league.
1-cambell had a few problems
2-ashley cole is greedy fucker
and 3 there is no decent english players out there the ones out there are all past it or retired.we r a better than we was 20 years ago wenger has unearthed real gems and we have a loyal captain henry i dont know y bendter has a problem with him if bendter is going to be a problem we should get rid of him before the problems start
my first 11 would
almunia
clichy
toure
gallas
eboue
rosicky
denilson
fabregas
ljungberg
henry
van persie
what a squad
kjohn. we got to the final of the champions league despite sol campbell and with flamini doing a wicked job instead of cole who spent all last season bitching about what wankers arsenal were to him!
Bendtner’s certainly different from other striker’s we’ve had at the club under Wenger’s reign. I said the same about Baptista when he came on loan that he’s a big, powerful target man who would reply on his strength more than anything to bag us some goals. Let’s just hope he doesn’t turn out the same as the not so mighty ‘Beast’ and can actually play football.
chris.your right m8 flamini played well in left back its a shame we r letting him go. cole was a wanker to arsenal and his team mates he was having a shit season with chelsea wich served him right for being a greedy fucker
I would like to see more consistency from Lex Hleb. I have felt that the midfield players we have lack physical stature, Rosicky, Hleb and Fabregas probably have a combined weight of Gilberto. We lost games becouse of this. Ribery isn’t a great goal-scorer nor is he strong. Im not sure he will do it for us. Babtista can go, Bendtner will replace him.
I would not like to write Senderos off just yet, he has great quality.
hmm… maybe. i reckon he’s doing alright, but he needs to prove himself a bit more.
we need british mentality on the pitch, and in the squad..
to much of that south europe mentality..
i know english players are way to expensive for us, but thats what we missing, right now.. a high quality british player… maybe 2
how many good british player out there is there?
hleb is a different winger to pires and ljunberg he needs another season to find his feet a bit more
bn
we should push for SWP, he cannot be happy with his situation in chelsea, deep down he is a Gunner, scott parker and micah richards would be good signings.. but quite expensive to i guess….
yeah he would be a decent signing if we could do what we done with henry and turn him into a striker he has got the qualitys to be a top notch striker micha richards wants to come to arsenal its his preffered club i dont know about scott parker we have denilson and cesc
chris i think your starting 11 sucks. first of all, you’ve put clichy as right back and eboue as left back, and it’s supposed to be the opposite way.. second of all, almunia isn’t good enough to be first choice goalie at a big club. he should go back to spain and play for a smaller club like villarreal or osasuna for example. and why should we play denilson instead of gilberto? without gilberto we would get run over by every team in england. he is the strenght of the midfield and he works his ass off every single game. sure denilson is a very interesting player, but he is a player for the future and actually i think diaby will be a much better player than denilson so even in the future, when gilberto is too old i think diaby will take the place next to fabregas.
dont get me wrong gilberto is a fantastic player i like gilberto but time will tell on him but will he stay withn us when wenger only offers 1 year contracts to older players thats why pires went and viera.diaby is lookin very good at the moment so is denilson so its lookin very tight who will take gilberto,s place in the future
LOOKS LIKE TEVEZ WONT BE OUR NEW NUMBER 9 HE WANTS A MOVE TO ITALY OR SPAIN WHAT A SHAME THAT IS HE WILL GO TO EITHER AC MILAN OR REAL MADRID IF REAL MADRID WE COULD POSSIBLE MOVE FOR ROBINIHO
we might have a new number 9 in the form of darren bent charlton have put a 15mil tag on him
his he worth that much?