yes sir.

When is the Champions League Final? Have I missed it? Is it still some weeks away?

I was watching pretty steady up until about a week ago.

you haven't missed it. man u plays barca @ wembley i believe on may 28th.

Karim Benzema for Arsenal? Sorry Gunners Fans, Not This Summer - FanHouse UK

^ i agree with this though red, what system would we deploy to put benzema on the pitch? i don't see wenger moving away from his tweaked 4-3-3 formation anytime soon, and even with all three of our strikers out against stoke, we never once went 4-4-2 and bombed away into the penalty box. it's not in our blood.

the only way i can see RvP and benzema on the pitch is if
1) we do adopt the 4-4-2, with van Persie behind benzema to act as an AM/CF, and benzema as an out and out ST.
2) we lost fabregas, drop van persie into a 'classic' 10 role, keep the 4-3-3 with nasri and walcott still on the wings, benzema becomes a target man.

...either way, it doesn't feel right.

28th of May

Cool. I was worried that I'd missed it.

I didnt read about that online, i've got good intel from local English newspapers according to my friend Laura, who actually has an apartment in the Ashburton area, lucky ass.

Not sure how we'll add him to the system, but i'm all for letting RvP settle into a more midfield position, in fabs old spot. He's an amazing creator and distributer of the ball, he also holds possession well, all depends if he feels like leaving his old spot up top, which I dont think he will.

I'm thinking a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield would suit us well, something like this:

-----0-----
-----------
-0--0-0--0-
-----0-----
-0-------0-
-----0-----
-----------
-----0-----
-----0-----

RvP as a creative forward and Benzema as the target man, I mean, we've got all summer to try new things out, friendlies n such, so i'm not worried.

I don't really have a team yet. I just mainly follow players who I recognize from World Cup and international play. But I enjoy watching the matches.

ah, the diamond formation, the chelsea of old.

so...i still see a problem

....................szczesny
..sagna.....vertonghendjourou.....vermaelen....clichy (still don't see this guy leaving :ugh2:)
.....................song......................... ..
.......wilshere.................nasri.
...................ramsey.
..............van persie...................
........................benzema..................

1) this assumes fabregas is gone, and i really, really hate to assume that. i still want cesc to be in red and white next season. if not, slot him behind van persie, but then i worry our spacing of our two most creative players is all off. cesc to rvp is like a ball on a string, and playing them that close together will make that very, very difficult.
2) walcott goes where? in fact, wingers go where? you could play theo instead of jack, but then where does jack go? also, our spacing on the wings goes to hell, and id be more concerned that we'd try even more to walk it through the middle of the defense than anything else.
3) people always claim jack wilshere = claude makalele. okay...then suppose he takes song's spot, where does song go???

this is why i'm not a football manager :ugh2:

i wonder if we're still going for eden hazard?

2nd thought, if we get benzema, do you freeze out chamakh? i imagine he didn't come out here just to warm the bench and get pittance minutes. i know everybody's turned against him lately b/c he's devoid of confidence, but i still appreciate his contributions early in the season, and i think with the summer training he'll get back to it. he deserves better imo.

players who do NOT deserve any further chance though: almunia, eboue, diaby, rosicky, denilson, bendtner (unfortunately...he's running his mouth too much for my liking, and his skills aren't where his talk is)

also will be interested to see if arsene takes a gamble and promotes young emmanuel frimpong to the first team. i think it's too early for him, but this is arsenal FC, so you never know.

Walcott IMHO is always going to be our super sub, the guy that comes in in the 70th when the opposition is already worn out. I've seen us shift formation to accomodate subs, so I would assume he'd be a replacement for Benz or RvP, and instead of a link formation up top, they'd open up to a LF and RF combo.

I've resolved to Fabs departure, Marca is already claiming his family has met with Pep, and honestly, I think fab has become more a liability to the team than anything, he doesnt play with heart and gusto anymore, he has too much respect for the club to come out publicly and say he wants a transfer, but you can see it in his play, hes made up his mind. If he doesnt go to Barca, he'll be bought by City for whatever Arsenal wants to sell him for.

Not sure about hazard, but I do know we've sent a transfer inquiry to Dortmund for Goetze, according to Laura, his agent is currently in negotiations for a transfer fee. I also hear that we may even try for Tasci to fill a CB position.

vertonghen and vermaelen in the back! let's bring ajax to arsenal :rofl2:

how is vertonghen?

Dont get your hopes up on Benzema!

good summary of everyone we're linked to.

Arsenal Transfer Rumours: 5 Players Linked with a Move to the Emirates | Bleacher Report

Lukaku will go to Chelsea, the dude is practically fellating Drogba with how much praise he gives the Ivorian.

Tasci would be an excellent signing, no mistake about it.

We like FC Lorient players, don't we? What, do our scouts get free tickets and some "benefits" when they go there? :p