Arjen Robben insists Tottenham are now as good as Arsenal!
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Tottenham are now as good as Arsenal! Arjen Robben insists signing of Rafael van der Vaart will bridge gap between bitter rivals
Making his move: Rafael Van der Vaart
Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben has insisted Tottenham are now finally as good as their north London rivals Arsenal.
Robben, a Dutch team-mate of Rafael van der Vaart, believes Spurs have bridged the gap between the clubs with their signing of the midfielder from Real Madrid.
Robben said: 'Before Rafa signed, I’d still have had Arsenal down as the stronger team - but now I don’t think there is anything between them.
'With Rafa on board, Spurs really do have one of the very best midfield players in the Premier League, maybe even the best.'
Robben admitted he wanted Van der Vaart to join him at Bayern, and is sure Tottenham have made a shrewd move.
He told the Daily Star Sunday: 'I don’t know why he didn’t join Bayern in the end. I really wanted him but Spurs have bought a gem.
'In terms of his vision, his range of passing, his ability to split a defence and his eye for goal he is as good as Cesc Fabregas, Steven Gerrard and of course Frank Lampard.
'He is that bridge for Spurs that makes them go from a very good Premier League club to a team capable of taking on and beating any side in Europe on their day.
'When you consider the amount of money Real Madrid and Manchester City have spent on players, it’s almost unbelievable to think what Spurs reportedly paid for Rafa.
'Madrid almost gave away one of the best players in the world – but that’s their style.
'They got rid of me and Wesley Sneijder in the same summer and I went on to win my domestic league and get to the Champions League Final while Wesley went on to win the Treble and become the best player in the world.
'Madrid’s mistake will very much be Spurs’ gain.'
We're coming to get you! Arjen Robben believes Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger now has plenty of reason to fear Harry Redknapp's Tottenham
Robben also believes that Arsenal star Robin van Persie had been trying to tempt Van Der Vaart into a move to the Emirates.
'I knew of his interest in England and that van Persie had been speaking with him about how great life in London was. I think when Robin was trying to convince him how great London and the Premier League was, it was as though he was trying to convince him to join Arsenal.
'It’s kind of backfired on Robin a little bit now, though, because he has signed for their biggest rivals.'
Meanwhile it has been revealed that Robben could be out of action until after the Bundesliga winter break. The 26-year-old tore a muscle in his left thigh in a World Cup warm-up match, and even though he came back to play in the tournament he now seems to have aggravated the injury.
'It is more than questionable whether Arjen will be able to play for us in the Bundesliga's round of matches before Christmas,' Bayern's director of sport Christian Nerlinger said.
'The healing process is unsatisfactory. It will take a long time before Arjen is fit again.'
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IS ROBBEN RIGHT? ARE TOTTENHAM NOW AS GOOD AS ARSENAL? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW
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no doubt spurs are getting better but as good as arsenal? i dun think so first of all arsene wenger is better than redknapp. compare player with player hardly see which position arsenal lose to spurs. maybe keeper. but gomes is quite clown also. so i tink is evenly fight with the GK. for the back four vermalen and their best defender is king or gallas i dunno. but vermalen is super solid mini vicdi. then midfield fabregas with their vdv no need to say more about this. defoe vs arshavin, van perise vs keane and new dude(chakman) vs crouch. is this clear enough that arsenal are better than spurs? but i dun even know why arsenal comparing with spurs make arsenal feel so low..(no offense to spurs fan but spurs are always behind arsenal shadow)
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If we compare player for player, I am not sure if Arsenal is any better to be honest... Take Clichy for instance, he may have been good these last 2 season but I don't think he have move up another level since.
I feel Gareth Bale have surpass him from last season onwards. This is not to say Clichy is a poor left-back, just Bale doing better than him only. Then how about Modric? I think he is more than an equal to Fab.
And yeah, Vdv includment could make them as good as Arsenal if not better...
And if we are to judge Wenger and Harry Redknapp... I think Wenger have not won much or if anything for the last 5 yrs... Harry still got an FA cup and taken a never before side into the CL for the first time...
The only thing in Wenger's favour is experienced...
VDV < Arshavin
O'Hara = Aaron Ramsey
Aaron Lennon < Walcott
Crouch > Bendtner
Defoe = Van Persie
Robbie Keane = Chamakh
Pavlyuchenko < Carlos Vela
Ledley King = Vermaelen
Dawson < Koscielny
Gareth Bale < Clichy
Corluka > Sagna
Palacios = Denilson
Jermaine Jenas = Samir Nasri
Huddlestone = Emmanuel Eboue or Abou Diaby
Kranjcar < Rosicky
Gomes < Almunia
Dos Santos = Jack Wilshere
Gallas < Djourou
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bale dun play left back for spurs. he play left mid i know he can play left back as well. defensive i dunno abt bale but attacking he might be better than clichy. jenas = nasri?? so modric is better than fab? lennon better than walcott? maybe last season yes. but overall walcott is a better player than lennon u might say lennon cross better, decision making and many more but walcott isnt winger in the first place when he bought to the club he is a striker and most importantly he score goals . and for vdv i dun see him often but i saw him in wc he dun really impress me at all. And i feel rosicky is better than kranjcar. i tink rosicky did very well againist blackpool and liverpool. maybe u will say is only two games but rosicky dun play many games. i feel abou diaby is slightly better than huddlestone. dawson and koscieny, koscieny didnt really impress me for both games but i dun tink dawson is any better. And lose at home againist wigan show how good is their manager
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for me vdv is better than arshavin cos of vdv all round play.
pavlyuchenko is defintely better than vela
bale is not even playing in the same position as clichy now.
gomes is definitely better than almunia lol
dos santos n wilshere are different type of players
kranjcar is super under-rated man..
jenas confirm lousier than nasri
in epl, i think dawson is currently better than koscieny.
somemore next season fabregas will leave. so how? you think arsenal can find a replacement for him? no way man unless iniesta or xavi go arsenal lol. spurs midfield's gna bully arsenal's midfield around next season when fab is not around, all other variables remaining constant.
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what? palacios = denilson?????
denilson sucks imo
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u talking abt next season already? i dunno whether fabregas will be staying arsenal next season cause i aint no god. but one thing for sure spurs dun have any players better than fabregas now
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Bale indeed played left-back last season and his improvement came while he was playing in that position. But overall, he seem to have overtaken Clichy from last season. On Modric, I just said he is more than an equal to Fab and not below him.
Just my opinion but yeah, Jenas and Nasri both are just above average players nothing great kind...
And yes, we can say Walcott was originally a striker but he has been playing on the right for most of the time thesedays. I think it's fair to say he is Arsenal's most recognized right winger now cos I can't think of another name that easily comes to mind that plays in that position for them more than him. Therefore, i think we can use Lennon as a just comparision... On the right, Lennon is indeed more effective than Walcott. In fact, even by some margin as all Walcott have is speed which Lennon could also match with some dazzling skill to go along.
On Vdv, well I think not many of us have seen him play a lot, maybe in WC here and there a bit. I am not saying he is a great player like Sneijder or Robben but he is still a good enough player to be compare with Arshavin...
And the lost against Wigan... Well, like i said, the only thing in Wenger's favour is experienced... Coming back after a high from qualifying for the CL, the Spurs players are still not used to it I guess... But they will learn and gain from the experience and it will only make them better for the future...
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we will see how when the season go into the later stage. :D all got their own opinion. robben like to talk alot ar. first he say liverpool attack trio can compare with barcelona. and now this. i think he too bored while injure ba. earn extra cash while talking to the media haha.
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I thought i saw Bale playing or hitting form as a left winger last year, with Ekotto playing the left back..
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Well, does it really matter? The point here is player for player, which would you rate as a better option right this moment? Or who would probably cost more to buy at this point in time? So whether he is a LB or LW, I still rate him better than Clichy who I already said earlier isn't a bad LB himself... or Rosicky if we decided to look at him as a LW too... It's just my opinion but I'm just being true to myself. Just think, if all 3 became available in the next transfer window, I already know which one i hope my club would go for.... Cos he is already there and the potential for improvement is so much greater... A LB who can play so well as a LW or should we say a LW who can also play well at LB... lol.
Like I said, Clichy isn't a bad LB himself but he seems more one dimensional to me... At present, I think only A Cole and Evra are a shade better than him cos of the experienced they have over him... But these 2 have probably reach their max... Bale on the other hand, at 20 only, have great potential to be a very good attacking wing back...