Gonalons is good for Ligue 1. He's been a big player for OL this season (currently in 3rd, but might nick 2nd from Marseille). He's 6'2 and pretty strong, so hopefully he can help us out a bit more with ball-winning and such. No idea if he's ready to step up though - Wenger seems to think so.

Is there another source apart from gunnerblog?

spaceman spiff wrote:

Gonalons is good for Ligue 1.

Stop right there!

Gazza M wrote:

maximum gonads

that's my contribution

You certainly have bigger nads than me as i chickened out!

5 days later

We need some more players with massive cojones.

This rumour has been picked up by a few of the "bigger" papers now, but I think I saw one of them referencing Caught Offside as a source, so I'm not giving it any credence whatsoever.

Those papers have just gonalon with the rumour, I suspect.

For those interested LeFrenchGooner on twitter has likened him to Xabi Alonso so I assume good positioning/reading and good passing. Says Capoue is more in the Vieira mould.

Burnwinter wrote:

Those papers have just gonalon with the rumour, I suspect.

Well played sir.

Vieira wasn't renowned for good passing?

Haven't really watched Lyon this season, can anyone tell me if this guy is better than any of Capoue, Wanyama, Rode, Gustavo?

Klaus wrote:

Vieira wasn't renowned for good passing?

Not what I meant!

I would say his style is quite similar to koscielny, except as a midfielder.

i can see this one happening. such a classic wenger move. he'd better be f*cking good.

JazzG wrote:
Klaus wrote:

Vieira wasn't renowned for good passing?

Not what I meant!

I know. I was wondering out loud what the twitter guy meant. There's nothing Alonso can do with a football that Viera couldn't, which makes me wonder why he settled for that particular dichotomy. From what I've seen Capoue is nothing like Vieira. He's more in the Frimpong mould: Energetic and hard-working but not really an accomplished passer or capable of dictating a game.

If Gonalons is an able two-way player then by all means, bring him in. We've lacked that type of midfielder since Paddy left.

I would say he's more Gilberto than vieira.

Klaus wrote:

I know. I was wondering out loud what the twitter guy meant. There's nothing Alonso can do with a football that Viera couldn't, which makes me wonder why he settled for that particular dichotomy. From what I've seen Capoue is nothing like Vieira. He's more in the Frimpong mould: Energetic and hard-working but not really an accomplished passer or capable of dictating a game.

If Gonalons is an able two-way player then by all means, bring him in. We've lacked that type of midfielder since Paddy left.

I think I'd rate Alonso's ability to dictate the game with his passing higher than Paddy, I think whereas Alonso would pick up the ball and ping it 40 yards Paddy would probably pick up the ball, run with it before passing. His dribbling imo was top drawer and he used that to devastating effect, he had great control even in confined space. I think that is what he might be getting at.

http://lefrenchgooner.wordpress.com/ An article he put up today comparing the two.

Irish gunner wrote:

Is there another source apart from gunnerblog?

DM are running with it now, they mention that he's recieved "glowing" reports from Grimandi, that we're sending scouts to watch him and that Wenger is ready to lighten the "warchest" by £10m.
No source revealed, just a generic transfer rumour report, must have read the same one in relation to about 100 different players by now.
So underwhelmed by this I haven't even looked him up

hopefully we're not sending whoever scouted chamakh, park and gervinho, cos he's useless.

I have read that this guy's passing is as simple as Denilson, everything in his locker is about protecting the defence.

In other words, out and out DM.

To be fair even Artetas passing is simple when hes playing the DM role. You can't afford stupid passes in that position of the pitch as the defense is moving up to squash the play.

Denison's passing was simple but it is also slow.

otfgoon wrote:

Denison's passing was simple but it is also slow.

Not really. He rarely took 3 touches. The problems with Denilson were his passing was too simple, when he did take 3 or more touches he got in trouble and defensively he was shit.

It could be one touch but it was still slow. His passes were so telegraphed. He'd look at who he's passing to then spend an eternity looking at the ball before executing his pass. Was infuriating.

Arteta was what people hope Denilson will become.

The problem with Denilson is a lack of heart. He has never put in 100% for us.

Denilson truly was shit.

He'd skew his passes just enough to kill any moment in a move.

Horrific player

Denilson short passing was pretty good, as was his long shots. But he wasn't physically strong enough, and he wasn't intelligent enough either. You have to have at least one to compensate for the other.

Used to put people in trouble all the time with his passing. He would complete the pass then the bloke receiving it would have to perform miracles to find the next pass.

They said, he could be a pretty decent midfield pivot, but not in the premier league.

This looks good on paper. We desperately need a tall DM.

But I just can't get excited about it. A French, ligue 1 player just feels so underwhelming after players like Gervinho and Chamakh.

Personally that's not the type of defensive midfielder that I want, I'd prefer a destroyer as opposed to an anchor man.

@[deleted]: Agree, another Ligue 1 signing would be so underwhelming...

Irish gunner wrote:

Personally that's not the type of defensive midfielder that I want, I'd prefer a destroyer as opposed to an anchor man.

Few of the so called top clubs have a midfield destroyer in the team. I think the game has evolved since those days. The player who sits in front of the defence is usually the point where attacks start and I think they need to have efficient positioning and be able to break up play but most importantly be able to start off attacks quickly and have a good range of passing.

I always had high hopes for Song but his positioning and lack of awareness there used to let him down but he ticked all the other boxes. Arteta has done well in that role but I think we need someone who is quicker on the ball, I think he has struggled against the top clubs and I do feel at times he slows the pace of our game down. In the Champions League in particular at times he has looked a bit out of his depth. Look at Carrick for Man Utd this season who has run games from midfield with his excellent range of passing and how quickly and efficiently he starts off their attacking play.

I'd like a deeplying playmaker (Arteta) and destroyer (Wanyama/bender) combo.

Something similar to Pirlo + Vidal

Arteta dictates from deep, stays disciplined and covers the defense. The destroyer can hassle the opposition and help win the ball high up the pitch, ideally he would be physically good enough to get around the pitch quickly and make a difference at both ends.

EDIT: to clarify, I don't envision the destroyer as being the deepest midfielder covering the defense, he would be positioned higher up the pitch so the he can proactively stop attacks.

Irish gunner wrote:

I'd like a deeplying playmaker (Arteta) and destroyer (Wanyama/bender) combo.

It's not Christmas, IG.

I'd like what Bayern has, a €40m defensive player who is good on the ball and a pigmounter. Too much?

we'd all like a pig mounter, my dear fellow. they're not a dime a dozen though


Looks like a younger version of Arteta

I agree with how similar to Arteta his game looks. I mean the way Arteta plays for us. He can also play CB.

Rex wrote:

I'd like what Bayern has, a €40m defensive player who is good on the ball and a pigmounter. Too much?

Claudius wrote:

we'd all like a pig mounter, my dear fellow. they're not a dime a dozen though

Pigmounter? Never heard the expression.