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Sat 07/07/01 at 14:31
Regular
Posts: 787
Ok, as a Blackburn supporter, you must forgive my ignorance for thinking that Arsenal are likely to be the most successful English team next season. Blackburn will stay in the Premiership obviously, after 2 years in the second best division in the UK, but for me, Arsenal seem to be the most active "big team" in the top flight in regards to transfers and summer signings. The following text me be unsuitable for Tottenham Hotspurs fans, please take precautions...

Arsenal. 1998 was their year, when they won the Premier League and FA Cup double - the third team to have won the Premiership, and the only other team aside from Blackburn to stop Manchester United from almost ten years of absolute domination, so I respect them for that. 1999 they finished second to United, 2000 they finished second to United and guess what - 2001 they finished second to United, although last season was arguably Liverpool's year after they won a fantastic cup treble. Well done to them.

Now, as a non Arsenal fan I wouldn't mind if they were an also-ran team, a mid table dwelling side that no one paid any attention to, but they aren't, and they're one of only 3 or 4 teams that stand a chance of derailing Alex Ferguson's Manchester Red Devils. One day I hope Blackburn can emulate the success of the 1995 Championship winning side, but nest season I can't see them quite being in the forefront of things - top 10 is a realistic hope I should think, but not a champions league placing or title contention. Leeds, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are the four teams that all stand a good chance of capturing the trophy other than United - forget Muhammed Al Fayed's mumblings about Fulham going for the title, he's obviously not seen some of the top flight sides play.

So, Arsenal - why will they achieve so much this season? For starters, last year wasn't their greatest although I felt they should have won against Liverpool in the FA Cup final, but Michael Owen had different ideas - good for him. Arsenal will be playing in the Champions League again, and of course both the League and FA cups - all of which COULD be won by the Soon to be "mighty Gunners". With such a strong squad at the moment, and with Vieira staying on for at least another season the summer signings will make them a better side, on paper at least, than the mighty Manchester United.

So far, they've captured the multi-positioning Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Rangers, a very talented player and at just 26 years old, his free transfer is probably going to make him the most cost efficient and effective signing. I'm sure he'll play week in week out, maybe alongside last season's player of the year Patrick Vieira. 25 year old centre back Igors Stepanovs looks to bring some youth to the ageing defence, but of course the most controversial, the transfer that has caused the most uproar amongst Spurs fans but has brought electrifying excitement for all Arsenal supporters, is without a doubt the signing by Leicester of Ian Walker....

....I mean, Arsene Wenger's capture of Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell, a.k.a. Sol Campbell! At 26 years of age, Sol finally realised that he wasn't going to achieve anything with the "let's buy old people because they're cheaper" attitude of his old club, and now bitter rivals, Spurs. He's considered to be one of the best defenders in the world, and at 6'2" he's a pretty big blockade. Incredibly quick, immensely powerful and on £5 million a year for the next 4 years, Sol Campbell, and all the Arsenal fans must be feeling fairly pleased right now. It's good for the rest of us too because at a stronger club he's going to be playing with better players, so his standard of football should improve even further, so England will have a better defender than before - we'll win the World Cup - you know we will! So Sol strengthens the Highbury massive, putting the pressure on Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Lee Dixon and Oleg Luzhny.

Richard Wright – England’s next keeper after David Seaman eventually gets dropped (he’ll be about 60 probably) – has made his way from Portman Road for a £6million price, making Ipswich a little worried in regards to their goalkeeping vacancy. He’s proven alongside his newly promoted (previous) team that he is a top keeper and could very easily, hopefully, for the good of the nation, takeover the reigns from big Dave. Everton reject Francis Jeffers has magically appeared on the scene and will become the proud wearer of the classic number 9 and could re-ignite his career – I predict he’ll be the second highest scorer at Arsenal after Thierry Henri. What a team. Henri is the best striker in the Premiership, Wiltord will remain at the club – probably only scoring in the FA Cup games, newly retired, scared of heights but highly skilful, Dutch international Dennis Bergkamp will of course be there too and will play behind the two strikers. Ray Parlour, Silvinho, Matt Upson, Grimandi, Lauren, Ljungberg, Pires, Edu and Kanu (to mention but a few) will all be staking their claim for a place in what I believe will be the best team of next season. It’s not raining & I can see them winning more than one piece of Silverware next year. Mr Wenger, the wrinkly, miserable unhappy faced…person, will have something to smile about. Blackburn as I say will do well, but keep your eyes peeled for the Gunners. Big it up for Arsenal!

Any more signings guv? Err, yes! Arsenal maybe about to give some financial support to Spanish champions Real Madrid after their £40million + signing of the worlds greatest player, Zinedine Zidane – they could be getting Steve McManaman. Although the curly haired scouser has pledged a career away from ye old Premiership ye, he could be on his way to join the other big name signings. Unlike Chelsea, Arsenal have mainly bought British players and that is a very, very uplifting thing to do, lets hope others adopt the correct view that British is best, or at least “good enough” and we’ll have a better Premiership all round.

Ok, so if you’re a White Hart Lane Faithful, do not worry. You’ve got the skills of Poyet & Sheringham to look forward to. They’re both old-ish, but they’re still superb players.



Who do you think will win the League?
Sun 08/07/01 at 14:34
Posts: 0
Francis Jeffers is good, but I doubt he'll be put straight in the first team. Henri and Kanu is the way to do things.
Sun 08/07/01 at 13:16
Posts: 0
CJJ007 is dillusional
Sun 08/07/01 at 13:02
Regular
"Great Scott's"
Posts: 1,036
With Franny Jeffers in the Arsenal side, i think Arsenal will win the FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League, League Cup and not lose a single game!
Sun 08/07/01 at 09:42
Posts: 0
I'd join you, but I don't know where I am at the moment. Also, if you paid for the bet thing.
Sun 08/07/01 at 00:13
Posts: 0
I am the biggest Arsenal fan you will ever come across in your life (I'm 6' 8" and 16 stone). Nah honestlay I am a really big Arsenal fan and normally can find little criticism for the way Mr Wenger handles affairs at the club. But throughout his Highbury career the one thing I have had to agree with my Liverpool and Man United supporting friends about is his transfer dealings. Sometimes I wonder how we are so successful with some of the players we buy. Grimandi, Vivas, Malz, and Luzhniy just to name a few (coz I can't think of any more at the moment (!)). They are in my opinion the complete failures. Then there is Wiltord. £13 million for a super sub. I mean Alex Ferguson has someone who does exactly the same job as Wiltord, only better, in ole Gunnar Solksjaer. So why did Arsene Wenger see the need to spend £13 million to be on equal terms with Sir Alex's bench options.

This summer I was in a way isolated from the outside world. I hadn't read a newspaper or seen the news for a good few weeks, and when I went out with my mates, and they got onto the subject of Football's summer signings, I was horrified.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. Tell the truth I can't recall how much he was bought for, but I really can't see why. A player that has been used to playing in Scotland's premier division for a good few years, brought to highbury, and all of a sudden has to adapt to the pressures of the premiership. I really can't see him settling in too quickly. the premiership is far more superior than scotlands equivalent, and the jump between the two in my opinion will be too much for this mediocre player.
Next Francis Jeffers. £11 million!!!!! I can see this being a repeat of the wiltord saga but at a saving of £2 million. Arsene Wenger bought this youngster in response to the calls for a natural finisher at highbury. He might as well have sent his scouts to a local school. Although to be honest Jeffers is half decent, and I predict that in years to come he will be a brilliant player, especially with the help Arsenals coaches can give. But the problem needs adressing now. When Man Utd run away with the title 3 years in a row and we lose an FA Cup Final because we can't finish the opportunities we so regularly create, it is no use buying a youngster who in 3 to 4 years time will be good enough to be in the arsenal starting lineup. The next arrival was Richard Wright, now this signin I am quite in favour of because although he is young, he has had first team, and even national experience. But something tells me he isn't quite up to the standard of Arsenal's first team keeper. I can't really back this up with any evidence but sometimes you just get a feeling about a player.
Finally there is Sol Campbell. 26 years of age. 6' 2" and built like a bulldozer. There is gonna be some tired strikers in the premiership next season trying to break through our defence. But being the cynic I am, I still am worried. Firstly, because of the blazing rivalry between us and Sol's former club, he is going to be the target for some pretty bad abuse. Seeing some things I have seen on the news, this could turn pretty nasty, and the only way Sol is going to be able to manage, and not let this affect his game is if he is as strong mentally as he is physically. Secondly, who exactly is he going to replace? Arsene will think twice about breaking the Adams-Keown partnership and if he does, who exactly will go? Adams because he is old and slow, or Keown because he is simply not quite as good as Adams, and he realises that losing Tony as club captain would be devastating? Or could he play 5 at the back, which would then mean taking out Parlour or Pires.

This is the dilemma he has given himself in signing Sol, and indeed Francis, because he has some pretty difficult choices to make up front as well. And this is why I am very pessimistic about next season, because it will take a while for Arsene to find the winning formula with these new signings, and once that has been achieved, they will need time to gel.

Anyway I have bored you enough now, I'm going down the bookies to put £50 on Man United to win the premiership for the next 3 seasons and for Arsene Wenger to waste another £30 million of Peter Hill-Wood's money. Anyone gonna join me?
Sun 08/07/01 at 00:07
Regular
Posts: 15,579
Arsenal have never really been the same since Petit left last year. The Petit and Vieria partnership was THE arsneal team. Midfield is the most important part of the team and unitl arsnal find someone to replace petit they wont challenge man utd.

The success of Arsenal a few seasons ago was down to the physical dominance of petit and vieria. Very very strong, and i dont think any of the new arsenal signings (bar cambell) have that same sort of dominance.

United cruised the title last year. And they havnt lost any players from that side. Signed a quality finisher and a world class playmaker. i see a fourth succesive title for Man utd.
Sat 07/07/01 at 21:00
Posts: 0
"the fact that Man United are a better team than Arsenal"

This remains to be seen doesn't it. I agree with your statement that Van Nistlerooy is a superb player, that Veron will add a certain Venom to the squad - but c'mon - I can tell you hate Arsenal, if I supported Spurs, so would I, but I have a feeling you'll be eating your own words come the end of the season. Blackburn will probably be competing for a mid table position with Spurs.

Anyway, whatever happens - whoever is right about whatever, it is going to be one hell of a great season. Rest assured Man U will not run away with it - they will not finish 20 points ahead of the closest rival, but yeah, we have to agree that they stand a very good chance - it would be nice to see another team take the League trophy though. Liverpool haven't strengthened their squad that much, but they had an outstanding finish to last season. Arsenal I feel have the best chance to improve.

Roll on Season 2K1/2K2!!
Sat 07/07/01 at 20:30
Posts: 0
My view on this forum is the fact that Man United are a better team than Arsenal and they will have more chance of silverware than them next season, even though Arsenal have made a few decent signings this summer. So far this summer, Arsenal have signed the following:

Francis Jeffers - Everton - £10m
Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Rangers - £8.5m
Sol Campbell - Tottenham - Free
Richard Wright - Ipswich - £6m

To start off with, Francis Jeffers is a young, decent player, but Arsenal have already got strikers who are better than him, such as Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Dennis Bergkamp. So to be honest, Arsenal will not really do much better upfront this season, than they did last season.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is a talented midfielder and I must admit that he is probably better than a few of the Arsenal midfielders. But players like Viera, Pires and maybe Ljungberg are better than him so basically; van Bronckhorst will probably bring a few more goals from midfield, for Arsenal, next season.

Sol Campbell is a world-class player and he has recently signed for Arsenal after 10 years are Tottenham. As a Tottenham fan, I was very disappointed when I found out that Campbell had decided to join our arch rivals, although I will agree with him about the fact that he feels Arsenal have got a far better chance of silverware next season, than Tottenham. Sol Campbell is younger than the current 2 best centre backs at Arsenal, Martin Keown and Tony Adams, although I reckon all 3 of them are about the same when it comes to their ability at football. If I had to choose between the 3, I would pick Campbell and then Adams. But Arsenal would probably be better off next season if they played all 3 of them and so they changed their formation. I just hope that Arsenal don’t win anything next season because then Campbell would be able to say he made the right choice in joining them.

Richard Wright is another young goalkeeper who recently signed for Arsenal, for £6 million form Ipswich Town. Arsenal signed him so that he could put pressure on David Seaman, although it has been said that Richard Wright will be given the No. 1 goalkeeping spot. In my opinion, Seaman is a better goalkeeper than Wright although he is also a lot older than him, so Wright has got more seasons ahead of him. Basically, I reckon Wright will not do much better than what Seaman did last year for Arsenal.

Arsenal are also trying to sign a few other players but the players that they are after and the players that they have already signed, are really not much better than the ones they have already got and so there will not be much difference in how they do this season compared to last season, although they will probably do better.

So far this summer, Man United have only signed Ruud van Nistelrooy from PSV Eindhoven for a club record, £19 million. But they have practically signed Juan Veron for a new club record of around £24 million. Man United have also said that they do not want to sell any of their players and so if United sign Veron, he will definitely be in the first team every week, and so will their other signing, Nistelrooy, who will probably be their first choice striker. Man United will be quite stronger than last season and so they will once again be challenging for the premiership title, as well as challenging for other Cup competitions, such as the Champions League.

Overall, Man United are a better team than Arsenal and they will do better than Arsenal next season. If I had to choose a team in the premiership who I felt would be able to challenge Man United throughout the season, I would choose Liverpool, even though they have not really made any decent signing this summer. They have only signed John Arne Riise from Monaco for £4m, who is said to be quite a good player, although I reckon Liverpool have already got better players in the team than him. If Liverpool can carry on from where they left off last season, Liverpool will probably win more silverware this season and have more chance of winning the premiership.

Below is how I reckon the top 5 teams will finish up in the premiership next season.

Man United
Liverpool
Arsenal
Leeds
Chelsea
Sat 07/07/01 at 19:17
Regular
"Whatever!"
Posts: 9,320
What about the Charity Sheild?? Liverpool 3-0 I reckon!! Come on you REDS!!!
Sat 07/07/01 at 19:06
Regular
"Too Orangy For Crow"
Posts: 15,844
Absolutely, I would like to see a close title race, maybe a last game decider, with Liverpool being the winner.

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