Alex Song

[Trickykid]

If Arsenal don't accept Barcelona's 15M bid for Song, a player (Rafinha, Dos Santos, Fontas, Tello, Afellay) could be added to the bid. [md]

Yeah, seems legit.
I wouldn't even do a straight up swap between Song and Rafinha.

 

[Gervinho]

btw wenger is the one in the past who said he had 2 years left on his contract. he has come out and said he misspoke and the players contract actually expires 2015. No idea why he would say its actually 3 years left on his contract, its not like you can lie about something like this. So yeah it seems he has 3 years left on his contract

 

[Puyol the wall]

In other words, box-box MF.

 

[jairzinho]

If Arsenal don't accept Barcelona's 15M bid for Song, a player (Rafinha, Dos Santos, Fontas, Tello, Afellay) could be added to the bid. [md]

Yeah, seems legit.
I wouldn't even do a straight up swap between Song and Rafinha.

There's no way we send one of our youngsters to Wenger. Maybe they can get Afellay included in the deal,but thats it.

 

[Eduard]

Song is a complete defensive midfielder, yes. But he is in my and i surely hope in others opinions much better than song. When i say better, i mean better than him in almost everything. Sure song might be better when it comes to tackle, because he is more aggressive than busquets, but defesively busquets "brutally murders" Alex Song. And when it comes to ballcontrol, phu, busquets is a freaking genius compared to song. Just take a look at the games he's played against, arsenal, real madrid, chelsea and manchester united, great !

 

[Robbie]

Why aren't you guys in for M'Vila? He's potentially world class, and definitely available.

 

[Ode to Django]

Why aren't you guys in for M'Vila? He's potentially world class, and definitely available.

I think Barcelona scouts are all assigned to Arsenal.

 

[La Furia]

I think Barcelona scouts are all assigned to Arsenal.

I think their only scout is Wenger.

 

[ryuken]

I think we dont have scout

 

[Barcaman]

Song is a complete defensive midfielder, yes. But he is in my and i surely hope in others opinions much better than song. When i say better, i mean better than him in almost everything. Sure song might be better when it comes to tackle, because he is more aggressive than busquets, but defesively busquets "brutally murders" Alex Song. And when it comes to ballcontrol, phu, busquets is a freaking genius compared to song. Just take a look at the games he's played against, arsenal, real madrid, chelsea and manchester united, great !

Hey, welcome!

I think we have to value the fact there's no player like Busquets so comparisons are always going to be hard. Furthermore, we're looking for a versatile backup anyways, not someone who'll claim the spot. If we can get Song for a reasonable price, then we're ok imo.

 

[PhilS]

Is Barca just going to go with Sergi Roberto, not buy anyone? I could see him starting to merge into the first team now, but not starting for months if Busquets gets hurt. Same with Bartra at CB. I'd feel better with Thiago giving it a shot at DM, maybe that's the real plan?

 

[Robbie]

His Cameroon team member Carlos Kameni is talking about it now. Apparently Song wants to go.

"We were together on vacation. He [Song] would like to go to Barcelona, any player would like to. Barcelona are not one of the best in the world, but the best," Kameni told Cope Catalunya.

"[Song would] fit in at Barcelona," he continued. "He has all the features to play there. We all know what kind of player Barcelona like and he is one of them."

"He is like Yaya Toure, but with much more mobility. He is very mobile but can also pass well. He is a complete player."

"He is a hard worker and is very versatile, which makes him a very good team player."

 

[Arachnid]

Is Barca just going to go with Sergi Roberto, not buy anyone? I could see him starting to merge into the first team now, but not starting for months if Busquets gets hurt. Same with Bartra at CB. I'd feel better with Thiago giving it a shot at DM, maybe that's the real plan?

Neither Sergi nor Thiago have ever been used as DM. JDS has, but apparently he's Sevilla-Bound.

 

[zanela]

Arsenal fan here

First time poster, I usually dont register in oppositions forum, but I looked up your forum to see your reaction on the song rumors. When i first heard the rumors, i just laughed them off thought it was nonsense, but the speculation has not gone away and it actually looks like there is something in this. So i wanted to see your reaction and lets just say Im surprised of what im reading.

Im not the biggest Song fan out there and i think he will fail at barca, my guess is if this transfer goes through, i can see him back in the PL within 2 years. I read
some of the post here and I dont want to be disrespectful here, but you guys are really overrating the player. Someone said he's a better version of keita, i would have done anything to have a player with keitas attribute at Arsenals midifeld.

Song is nowhere near as mobile or quick as keita, in fact Wenger used to play with 2 midfielders when we had Flamini in there as he was similar to Mascherano. But with Song and Fabregas he had to play with 3 midfielders cause both are slow as hell. Song is a sloppy passer and a risk taker. he made 11 assists this season and some fantastic over the defence passes, but these passes are far from the norm. He places so many of these longer passes away. in fact anything over 20 yards they rarely go to the right target. He's not great at reading the game and has alot of lapses in concentration, poor positioning hence why he makes so many fouls. I truly cant see a team like barca who are known for their accurate quick passing would do with Song in midfield. I have seen mascherano who is a top defensive
midfielder look a bit out of place in barcas midfield, so i would hate to see how Song would look like. Also I have seen 2 Song take a shot outside the penalty area and both times they were close to the corner, he cant shoot at all.

He has some good attributes as well. he's strong as hell, once he has the ball on his feet, its hard to take it from him and he wins alot of 50/50 if you are near enough to tangle with him. Overall he's a good player similar to hleb was a good player. But never a Barcelona level of player. i know some of you think he can play in
defense, and he can, but he's not a great defender at all. hence why he very rarely gets a chance there at Arsenal. The few times he has got to play in CB for us, he looked like a good midfielder playing in defense basically. Good with the ball and all over the place positionally.

Im properly coming across like a bitter Song hater, but I would love us to sell him and get a midfielder with discipline. Anyway despite my wish for him to be sold, I doubt it will happen as he has 3 years left on his contract and the likes of nasri, rvp and clichy all had 12 months on their contract. And Cesc was a special case.....so for the price Wenger would ask, Barca would move on and find another player

Thanks for the post.

I 've to agree with your Song-Keita assessment. I was surprised myself how some of my fellow culés considered Song as more mobile and quicker than Keita. Keita covered a lot of ground, his dynamic runs always posed a threat, and it was his pace, and positional awareness that made him available the right place at the right time. Song may be the better passer, but positional discipline is of essence to how we play. And at 25, its not really a good sign. Besides, non-masia buys at barca are not afforded as much patience and time to rectify their flaws as they'd like. If he comes here, and fails to get with the program, he'll be history before he even knows.

Welcome to the forum, btw.

well, looks like AW likes Songs ''lack of discipline'' , so he plays him in every game.

what are AW's other options? If Song is sold, i expect them to get Yann m'vila.

y is it hilarious?

 

[Barcaman]

Arsenal fan here

First time poster, I usually dont register in oppositions forum, but I looked up your forum to see your reaction on the song rumors. When i first heard the rumors, i just laughed them off thought it was nonsense, but the speculation has not gone away and it actually looks like there is something in this. So i wanted to see your reaction and lets just say Im surprised of what im reading.

Im not the biggest Song fan out there and i think he will fail at barca, my guess is if this transfer goes through, i can see him back in the PL within 2 years. I read
some of the post here and I dont want to be disrespectful here, but you guys are really overrating the player. Someone said he's a better version of keita, i would have done anything to have a player with keitas attribute at Arsenals midifeld.

Song is nowhere near as mobile or quick as keita, in fact Wenger used to play with 2 midfielders when we had Flamini in there as he was similar to Mascherano. But with Song and Fabregas he had to play with 3 midfielders cause both are slow as hell. Song is a sloppy passer and a risk taker. he made 11 assists this season and some fantastic over the defence passes, but these passes are far from the norm. He places so many of these longer passes away. in fact anything over 20 yards they rarely go to the right target. He's not great at reading the game and has alot of lapses in concentration, poor positioning hence why he makes so many fouls. I truly cant see a team like barca who are known for their accurate quick passing would do with Song in midfield. I have seen mascherano who is a top defensive
midfielder look a bit out of place in barcas midfield, so i would hate to see how Song would look like. Also I have seen 2 Song take a shot outside the penalty area and both times they were close to the corner, he cant shoot at all.

He has some good attributes as well. he's strong as hell, once he has the ball on his feet, its hard to take it from him and he wins alot of 50/50 if you are near enough to tangle with him. Overall he's a good player similar to hleb was a good player. But never a Barcelona level of player. i know some of you think he can play in
defense, and he can, but he's not a great defender at all. hence why he very rarely gets a chance there at Arsenal. The few times he has got to play in CB for us, he looked like a good midfielder playing in defense basically. Good with the ball and all over the place positionally.

Im properly coming across like a bitter Song hater, but I would love us to sell him and get a midfielder with discipline. Anyway despite my wish for him to be sold, I doubt it will happen as he has 3 years left on his contract and the likes of nasri, rvp and clichy all had 12 months on their contract. And Cesc was a special case.....so for the price Wenger would ask, Barca would move on and find another player

Thanx for the informative post mate.
There aren't too many Barca fans here who actually followed Arsenal (me included) but I do think people tend to get overexcited with new signings.
And it does look unlikely for Arsenal to sell for 15-20 mil. (if at all).