Will Silvestre ever play again?

[kamikaze80]

general/klaus, what are you two on about? we already had an experienced stopgap CB in the team. his name was gilberto. he was a former arsenal captain, to boot. and even senderos is a better CB than silvestre - and i've been consistent on my opinion of senderos - he's got some flaws but he's not the disaster some make him out to be.

no one's having a moan for the sake of it, we're having a moan cos wenger decided he'd rather let gilberto go (who's the same age as silvestre and much more mobile and technical) and bring in some useless manc garbage who is clearly past it - on a 2 yr contract no less! bergkamp didnt even get a 2 yr contract once he turned 30! wenger claims to have all these principles, and then he makes an exception for... silvestre! it beggars belief!

 

[Klaus Daimler]

general/klaus, what are you two on about? we already had an experienced stopgap CB in the team. his name was gilberto. he was a former arsenal captain, to boot. and even senderos is a better CB than silvestre - and i've been consistent on my opinion of senderos - he's got some flaws but he's not the disaster some make him out to be.

Gilberto was horrible as a centreback, completely out of position. Probably worse than Song's been this season. Senderos I could have lived with, but part of the reason for him moving was probably the limited playing time he was being offered. Djourou emerged during preseason and being fourth choice wasn't enough for Phil at that stage of his career. I didn't expect much of Silvestre so I actually got surprised when he showed he was able to have a couple of good games. I think the fact that he's been there covering has helped Djourou to take the last step as well. Of course, any player could have done that for him, but let's not argue about semantics here. Silvestre's been having two or three quality games, dropped a clanger two or three times and been pretty average in the rest. It is what it is, a stop gap solution to some squad depth.

Also, I think the one year rule is for contract extensions, not for players signing on.

 

[hackajack]

People just enjoy having a f****g moan for the sake of it and this is just indicative of fans who refuse to see the bigger picture. It’s not like we had a collection of world class center backs and Wenger went and rocked the boat.

No it's not just for the sake of it. He started 9 games for ManU in two years because he was mostly injured and fark me he's injured again. Waste of £6M quid which would have been better spent elsewhere (on upping the bid for Zapata for example).

 

[kamikaze80]

Also, I think the one year rule is for contract extensions, not for players signing on.

that makes no sense.

 

[Anzac]

Agreed with both the last 2 posts here.

 

[General]

general/klaus, what are you two on about? we already had an experienced stopgap CB in the team. his name was gilberto. he was a former arsenal captain, to boot. and even senderos is a better CB than silvestre - and i've been consistent on my opinion of senderos - he's got some flaws but he's not the disaster some make him out to be.

no one's having a moan for the sake of it, we're having a moan cause wenger decided he'd rather let gilberto go (who's the same age as silvestre and much more mobile and technical) and bring in some useless manc garbage who is clearly past it - on a 2 yr contract no less! bergkamp didnt even get a 2 yr contract once he turned 30! wenger claims to have all these principles, and then he makes an exception for... silvestre! it beggars belief!

Firstly, Gilberto was not an option at center back and if the reports were to be believed, he made it clear that he did not want to play there. This allegedly led to a bust up with Wenger and was confirmed when we were forced to pair Hoyte and Song at center back at Sheffield United in the CC. What was even more telling was the fact that Fabianski was made the captain that day and not Berto when he duly took his midfield spot. Besides, he was made a very lucrative offer to go to Turkey(?) and wasn’t going to turn it down to become a backup center back/central midfielder. His departure was inevitable and I wish people will just get over it.

Secondly, of course people enjoy moaning for the sake of it. Silvestre was bought for the reasons Klaus mentioned in his post and you’re welcome to have a choice but in my opinion, he’s a better option than that headless chicken Senderos. You cannot go around comparing contracts when you don’t know his remuneration package and the fact that he was acquired for next to nothing. Need I say a two year deal could easily be less than a one year deal depending on the terms of the contract i.e. wages, bonuses et cetera

Do you not think Wenger together with Pat, Boro and his coaches wouldn’t have thought this through before making the acquisition? The impression on this board that Wenger makes decisions without thoroughly thinking them through is largely misguided and as I said earlier indicative of fans who refuse to see the bigger picture. If we had two fully functioning center backs, he would’ve remained the 4th choice CB he was brought in for.

No it's not just for the sake of it. He started 9 games for ManU in two years because he was mostly injured and fark me he's injured again. Waste of £6M quid which would have been better spent elsewhere (on upping the bid for Zapata for example).

He’s made 10 appearances for us! I’d like to know where you got this 6M figure from? You weren’t moaning when he planted the ball at the back of the net against Sp**s or played a solid role in our win against his old team. People keep yapping on about our inexperienced, thin and rudderless squad yet find fault with a 4th choice CB with plenty of PL experience who was brought in for the sole reason of adding depth, experience and some leadership.

 

[Anzac]

Fair call that he adds depth & experience, but for mind his signing is no different to that of Bischoff = a punt that both would return from injury.

My main issue with Silvestre is that IMO we didn't need a 4th choice CB, we needed a #1 / #2, as Toure/Gallas was not working & JD had been our #4 CB behind Senderos. Further to that he again is not a tall commanding CB, but more of the same as Gallas & Toure, so he lacks variety. On the plus side he can cover LB, but then again so can Gallas.

 

[number_0]

Never trusted wenger with defenders really, but if silvestre is willing to sit on the bench, I dont see what wenger did wrong here really, we cant bring a world class defender to rot in the bench, silvestre was a temprory solution. When we bought him neither gibbs or Djourou showed any potential of starting for us, now that they did, silvestre would be flogged in the summer, had they not we would have had tweety as our safety net, so all is good(aslong as tweety doesnt play)

 

[Biggus]

Two years was indeed what was reported. Surely there's some way to get out of it or get him out. Maybe he's being groomed for a coaching gig.

He must be of some use......Maybe we can eat his potato head.

 

[Arsenal1508]

I blame him for us getting knocked out of the Carling Cup. It was a disgrace that he captained the side that night. Fabianski should have kept the armband. He fvcked up our whole defense...and his bad luck charm consequently fvcked with Bendtner and Vela's finishing that night.

Good ridance. Wenger made a huge transfer mistake when he got him...worse than Francis Jeffers. He is an ex-Manc that has disrespected us in the past and he's an ex-Manc.

Should have never got him. Again...good riddance. I'd rather our 4th choice centerback be a young up an comer that can slide into our lineup.

Nordveidt might be ready next season for that role. Senderos was 19 when he broke into our first team...perhaps Nordveidt will do well in the Summer to prepare himself.

 

[Biggus]

He fvcked up our whole defense...and his bad luck charm consequently fvcked with Bendtner and Vela's finishing that night.

You're not a Roman are you? Agree about Mr potato head though.

 

[TomasCR]

Love how Wenger says every week how many weeks are the likes of Fabregas, Walcott and Rosicky far away from a first team return and never says anything about Silvestre. It makes you think he doesn´t give a **** too, or that he just doesn´t need him at the moment.

Don´t want to be rude at all but nah, an useless c**t he is!

 

[Invincible]

How about we take all our frustrations out on the ****? Would make a change from constantly bashing Eboue as well.

 

[-vapour-]

What was even more telling was the fact that Fabianski was made the captain that day and not Berto when he duly took his midfield spot. Besides, he was made a very lucrative offer to go to Turkey(?) and wasn’t going to turn it down to become a backup center back/central midfielder. His departure was inevitable and I wish people will just get over it.

Judging by your question mark you know that Turkey isn't quite right. It was in fact Olympiakos in Greece he went to. Aside from that though I agree fully with everything you say.

And furthermore ThomasCR has a very good point when he says how Arsène doesn't mention a comeback date for Tweety. I hope he gets shipped out to France in the Summer. He is surplus to requirements well and truly. At least he did a couple things right for us. But I will never forgive him for blaming the kids for getting knocked out of the CC, when it was that bloody ****s fault we lost. Well and truly. He will always remain Tweety of Scumchester United in my mind who just happened to have a short stay with us before flying back to France.

 

[Biggus]

You can't fault him for the passion he played with against his old team at Ashburton though.

Meh- everyone plays that way against their old teams, point to prove and all that.

People just enjoy having a f****g moan for the sake of it and this is just indicative of fans who refuse to see the bigger picture. It’s not like we had a collection of world class center backs and Wenger went and rocked the boat.

No, :idea: We're having a moan because Wenger has assembled the worst squad ever in his time here, and that is soon to be proved by our failure to qualify for the CL for the first time in his reign.