fred milne

Unbelievable comment in that post you quoted.

Despite Cole's best efforts at poisoning his relationship with the club, Arsenal still hold the upper hand for me - they don't need to sell but Chelsea definitely need to buy. Del Horno is gone, Bridge looks like he is on his way out too and their most reliable LB (Gallas) is at odds with the club. It may go right to the wire but I think the transfer will go through and Arsenal will get close to what they're after.

You're forgetting Warnock.

There's not much wrong with his touch as far as I'm concerned. His passing can let him down on occasion but I thought he did ok on that score last night.

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I wouldn't write-off 4-3-3 just yet, although we clearly need someone better than Zenden as the left-winger if its going to work. Maybe Gonzalez will be that player - time will tell. Also, if we do land Kuyt then he may be a better bet as the centre-forward in a 4-3-3 than either Crouch or Bellamy. 4-4-2 with Crouch and Bellamy up top and Gerrard at RM or CM is the other obvious option. Then there's 3-5-2. And we shouldn't forget Garcia and Fowler. Oh what fun Rafa is going to have this season....

It certainly was a promising display. I was particularly impressed with his decision-making on the ball.

I would have thought Gerrard will play off Bellamy and Pennant down the right.

Agree with that. I'd actually say passing is where he has the slight edge on Hamann, along with his mobility. Whilst Didi rarely gives the ball away, he does have a tendency to slow the game down.

I saw that too.

What were they?

Agree with that. They've lost their most experienced players in Bergkampf, Pires and Campbell. Cole looks like he's about to jump ship too. That would leave their left-hand side (previously their strongest suit and the key to Henry's game) back at square one. A CM pairing of Gilberto and Fabregas may do ok at home but on the road I think they'll continue to struggle. I think Arsenal will do well to make 4th this year, unless they bring in a couple of top quality players (CM and CB) before the end of the transfer window.

I'm surprised Rafa has even bothered to comment on his form in pre-season friendlies.

Twas ever thus.

Presumably, you don't mean on the ball. To be honest, I'm not convinced he's that much better as a defender either. He's quick and tall (though not strong in the air) and not much else.

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I suspect you may be right. Chelsea were dropping many more points in the 2nd half of last season than they were in the first and I'm hopeful that may in part be down to teams starting to suss them out/Mourinho's motivational skills starting to wane. Utd are still in transition and will miss RVN's goals if he leaves. Arsenal are also in transition and, for all the improvement in their home form in the 2nd half of the season, they still looked brittle on the road.

He should never have been offered a new contract last summer a la Biscan and Smicer.

But if it gets him off our wage bill and our match-day squad, it can't be a bad thing (even if its only temporary).

An interesting way of putting it.

Think they'd miss RVN's goals myself.

Agree with that - I don't think playing him as a CM in an orthodox 4-4-2 gets the best out of him.

I bloody hope so. I wasn't keen on Bellamy but Pennant takes things onto a whole new level.

Did Maldini have a hand in compiling it?