Arsenal

[Viperized]

Erm...Chelsea were offering him 70,000 a week, which would shit all over our wage structure. I'm pretty sure he took a cut in wages to come here.

Seeing as we got £2m from Cygan leaving as well as subtracting his wages, I think it is likely that Gallas earns around 70k.

 

[Bish]

I'm sure Gallas will be getting the same type of wage with us as he did at Chelsea. We were willing to give Sol Campbell £90,000 a week so it won't be a problem.

 

[Singh]

They wanted to flog me to Utd

By SHAUN CUSTIS

ARSENAL tried to get Ashley Cole to join Manchester United rather than let Chelsea have him.

Cole has told a Gunners insider vice-chairman David Dein promised to sort out a From Back Page

to Old Trafford if he agreed to snub the Blues. But Cole refused and was transferred at the very last minute of Thursday’s deadline in exchange for £5million plus French defender William Gallas.

Cole’s pal told Sunsport how Gunners boss Arsene Wenger agreed to let Cole go, saying Real Madrid and Chelsea would be interested. But Dein tried everything to keep him, feeling Chelsea should be punished for having tried to tap up the England full-back. The pair met at the training ground after the World Cup and the friend revealed: “Dein was really friendly and said ‘We still want you’.

“Ashley was adamant he was going, so Dein said they would try to sell him to Manchester United or Newcastle.

“Ashley could not see how he could work out a deal with United as they had Gabriel Heinze. He told Dein he still wanted to go to Chelsea and is so relieved the transfer has finally been done.”

Why? :mellow:

 

[Nturtle]

Erm...Chelsea were offering him 70,000 a week, which would shit all over our wage structure. I'm pretty sure he took a cut in wages to come here.

I think reports say he is getting 80k...but what the heck...it's all sorted...I just hope he plays well for us.

 

[adams9802]

I'm sure Gallas will be getting the same type of wage with us as he did at Chelsea. We were willing to give Sol Campbell £90,000 a week so it won't be a problem.

We were only giving Sol that much during his first contract since we got him for free. When we renewed the contract he "only" got 50K. Wenger likes his tight wage structure so I'd be suprised if he got more than 70.

 

[Stella Artois]

An interesting and well-written article from Arsenal-Mania:

Although I have been a big critic of José Antonio Reyes for a few months now, I must admit that as he leaves Arsenal today, I am filled with a strong feeling of sadness and regret.

And let's face it, despite this whole deal being called a 'loan', I think we can safely say it will become permanent next season. And whilst I think Baptista is going to be a far bigger success than Reyes, I share Wenger's sadness as we wave adios to the Spaniard.

Cast your minds back to January 2004, when all the fuss was made over our new signing from Seville. I can still remember how excited I was! Think of all the fuss that was made by Wenger, Dein and all those crowds of Sevilla fans who supposedly gathered outside the ground to voice their protest at the sale of their young star.

I'd never heard anything like it! The footballing world seemed to look on enviously as we captured the 20-year-old who had taken La Liga by storm, for a fee believed to be near £20million, a club record.

Wenger had been watching Reyes for two years before finally deciding to bring him to Highbury, and it was clear that the boss had very high hopes for him; the Spaniard seemed to represent everything Wenger looked for in a footballer and had all the right ingredients to make him an Arsenal legend.

At the time, Wenger told Arsenal.com, "We have a game based on movement, technique and pace. Reyes has all that. He is only 20-years-old and he is already an international. He can play as a striker, on the left or the right. In fact, anywhere as an offensive player."

With the amount Wenger had supposedly seen of him, he would have seen that Reyes played best upfront for Sevilla, but I think the Frenchman's plan was to have him cutting in from the left to score goals and assists, much like Robért Píres had done his whole Arsenal career. Sadly, Wenger didn't take Reyes' mental fragility into account.

It must be said that although Reyes is clearly a supremely talented footballer capable of great things, he has to have the right setting around him. At his first club he was playing for a team he'd been at his whole life, living in the city he lived in his whole life. The setting was comfortable and familiar, so he flourished. The settings were right for his talents to shine through.

Then he moved to London to pursue his career with Arsenal. Allow me to put the whole thing into perspective here: He moved with the heavy burden of an enormous price tag on his young shoulders...to a very different country climate-wise to his native Spain (in the middle of January too!)...to a country where he did not (and to this day still doesn't) speak the language...to a team where he was supposedly being played out of position in a system he clearly didn't understand...all in all, a recipe para el desastre for little José.

Things got off to the worst possible start too, with José putting the goal into his own net in the Carling Cup semi-final defeat to Middlesbrough. At this point his confidence must've hit rock bottom and fallen right through it, but then came an important day in his Arsenal career.

The FA Cup 5th round saw the visit of our nearest challengers Chelsea to Highbury. Claudio Ranieri's men started the first half the stronger, taking the lead through Adrian Mutu. We weren't at our best, we had no Thierry Henry that day, so a few minutes in to a more promising-looking second half, Reyes stepped up and powered the most stunning of equalisers into the top corner of the Chelsea goal to score his first ever goal in an Arsenal shirt.

And as the atmosphere lifted around the ground, so did the confidence of the team, and of Reyes in particular, who just minutes later scored a second goal and eventual winner to turn the tie around.

One would think that that was the moment his Highbury career would take off. Afterall, the script had been written beautifully for him; a poor start with an own goal, but then coming back heroically as he single-handedly turns a cup tie against our biggest rivals around. Sadly, it just didn't work out that way.

José proved to be something of a peripheral figure for the rest of the campaign as the Arsenal 'untouchables' finished a historic season as unbeaten champions. The Spanish winger/forward (it was not yet clear) had contributed two league goals to the run. Not bad, some argued, but many expected better.

Then again, there was always next season, when many believed we would finally see the best of Reyes, who would surely find himself slotting into the team better having finally had a full pre-season to train with them.

And for a while, we had the right idea, although I'm not sure many could have predicted quite such a phenomenal start from the Spaniard, who started the season with six goals in six games, alongside some absolutely dazzling displays both on the wing and upfront, which included single-handedly taking Man United apart in the Community Shield win.

But it was in the Premiership game against United when his season would change its course, heading for what was deemed by many as a real disappointment, despite reaching double figures and ending the season slightly stronger with long run in the side upront with Robin van Persie as Thierry Henry sat out with injury.

After being kicked to bits by the Neville sisters at Old Trafford, José just wasn't the same player. Some might say if it wasn't for that game, maybe he would never have dropped in confidence so much, but I think it would have happened at some point anyway. It just happened to be even worse for Reyes as the morale of the whole team must have dropped considerably as our 49-game unbeaten run was brought to an end.

Some claimed that Henry didn't like him, and that the two could never work well together, but I think both those claims are rubbish. Reyes started the season brilliantly with Henry; the two looked absolutely unstoppable. It was clear that they could play together; Reyes' problem is playing well with ANYONE if the mood isn't right, and sadly for him, the mood around the club wasn't right for a good while after that horrible night at Old Trafford, as we moved into the cold, wet and muddy English winter.

Think about it, the start of the season was still the summer, and Arsenal were generally flowing well as a unit - it was a lot easier for Reyes to fit into that. It was far more comfortable than a cold rainy day up North when you're 1-0 down and fans expect to see you at least being able to beat your man or finish a simple chance, afterall - the club they love forked out £20million for you, they're not expecting too much are they?

Reyes just showed he had not yet found that mental strength to make a difference when it really mattered. It was as clear as day that this will be his downfall over the course of his career. He just couldn't seem to adapt.

"Wait," a lot of fans on these forums said. "He's had a full season with us now, maybe this year he'll finally be better." He wasn't.

Reyes only managed six goals in his last season, and it wasn't just the goals; his general play showed absolutely no signs of improving. He still looked unconfident, he still looked unsure, he still, quite frankly, looked as lost as a little boy far away from home. That is, much to Wenger's disappointment, what he was, and after two and a half years of it, enough was enough.

I really feel for Wenger, because as I said, this looked like a dream come true for him. It looked like the absolute pinnacle of a "Wenger signing". He finally had what seemed to be a bit of Bergkamp, Píres and Henry all rolled into one. Sometimes things just don't work out. Sorry, Arsène.

Thanks for trying, José. Good luck in Madrid.

I have to be honest, I'm trying to be mad at a player who cost us a lot of money, but I can't be. I truly believe that had things be right for him mentally he would have been a huge success; such is life, that wasn't to be the case.

I think it's also worth mentioning that he couldn't even speak Spanish until he was 16. It took his teammates at Seville to teach him...

Good luck, José.

 

[adams9802]

I think it's also worth mentioning that he couldn't even speak Spanish until he was 16. It took his teammates at Seville to teach him...

Good luck, José.

I'm not mad at him per se, I just think he' probably the thickest person I've seen at out club in a while (bar Cuntly) He's just a person that seems to like rolling around in self pity as well. i don't buy the whole poor me this is too hard bullshit. We payed an ass load for him and revised his contract twice to make him happy. Maybe he should grow the fuck up and ship his mommy back to spain. All in all I guess he's just and idiot.

 

[Stella Artois]

Meh he is from a gypsy background which makes things more complicated. His mentality isn't right and would never be no matter what we did.

It also clearly doesn't help when you make no effort to learn the language.

 

[adams9802]

Meh he is from a gypsy background which makes things more complicated. His mentality isn't right and would never be no matter what we did.

It also clearly doesn't help when you make no effort to learn the language.

Very true, the little hug from Cesc a couple weeks ago in the Champions League pretty much sealed it for me. Wenger looked fairly annoyed from the bench.

 

[Bish]

Yeah i hold no hard feelings towards Reyes, i like him as a player but just didn't work out for him. I still think he can become a world class player in the future. I remember that Chelsea FA Cup game very well, what an introduction it was. Good luck Jose, hope to see him perform like i know he can.

 

[adams9802]

Yeah i hold no hard feelings towards Reyes, i like him as a player but just didn't work out for him. I still think he can become a world class player in the future. I remember that Chelsea FA Cup game very well, what an introduction it was. Good luck Jose, hope to see him perform like i know he can.

I do find it odd however that Arsenal fans aren't pissed off at him considering that he mouths off to the press, wears Real shirts and moans constantly. A bit of a contradiction to be pissed at ashley and not Reyes.

 

[Bish]

I do find it odd however that Arsenal fans aren't pissed off at him considering that he mouths off to the press, wears Real shirts and moans constantly. A bit of a contradiction to be pissed at ashley and not Reyes.

The difference is Ashley is a greedy, money grabbing twat whilst Reyes wanted to leave because its always been his dream to play for Real Madrid, can't argue much with that.

 

[adams9802]

The difference is Ashley is a greedy, money grabbing twat whilst Reyes wanted to leave because its always been his dream to play for Real Madrid, can't argue much with that.

A dream? Comon just like the Hargreaves situation. You don't sign a contract til 2010 and then want to get out of it because you harbour some prepubescent dream. He's 23 he needs to grow the fuck up. Its not like we keep him in a dungeon and force him to play barefoot on a field of glass.

 

[Bish]

A dream? Comon just like the Hargreaves situation. You don't sign a contract til 2010 and then want to get out of it because you harbour some prepubescent dream. He's 23 he needs to grow the fuck up. Its not like we keep him in a dungeon and force him to play barefoot on a field of glass.

He knew he was struggling in this country and always remembered how happy he was and how well he played in Spain before he signed for us. He never adapted to life in England, so it was no surprise he wanted to return home.

 

[Stella Artois]

A dream? Comon just like the Hargreaves situation. You don't sign a contract til 2010 and then want to get out of it because you harbour some prepubescent dream. He's 23 he needs to grow the fuck up. Its not like we keep him in a dungeon and force him to play barefoot on a field of glass.

There's more to it than meets the eye.

He's clearly not very bright, I know for a face that only a month ago a translator had to go with him to get a video. The guy couldn't even speak Spanish at 16, and his team mates had to teach him.

Spain is his home and he needed to be there.

 

[adams9802]

He knew he was struggling in this country and always remembered how happy he was and how well he played in Spain before he signed for us. He never adapted to life in England, so it was no surprise he wanted to return home.

Do you think he even tried? I certainly don't.

 

[Bish]

I agree with Stella's post. He isn't the smartest and he moved to England way too early in his career. He probably could have tried a bit harder but again, he isn't the brightest.

 

[Joel]

What is Reyes' first language?

 

[wrigh2uk]

I actually still love the guy as much as he frusrated me on the pitch. Hes a great player who is built for the spanish game not the english one or the lifestyle.

England is a hard place to adapt too.

Weather
Culture
Lifestyle

Lets not forget english is one of the hardest languages to learn.

Me thinks Reyes has little option in the move.

 

[Bish]

What is Reyes' first language?

Good point :unsure: