It’s hard to know what to make of todays game…
1) Man United didn’t come to play. Their only objective was not to lose… so they didn’t really come at us. I can’t remember how many shots they had, but it wasn’t many… and they hardly hit the target all game.
2) Arsenal didn’t have a vested interest in the outcome of the league. We wanted to win… but I don’t think any of them will lose sleep over ManU lifting the trophy.
So overall, I think we’ve got to be pleased with the result. We kept a clean sheet against one of the most potent attacking forces in world football with a pretty make shift defence. We’ve also have to congratulate the team for the football they played. We dominated possession and knocked it around in pretty triangles all game.
I thought there were some pretty good performances out there today. Song was moved in at centre back, although he was caught out a few times early on, I felt he grew with the game… he nearly managed to make an assist for the winner. The thing Song has which our other defenders don’t is the ability to attack headers.
Denilson was another player that impressed. People point to him being wasteful, but if you watch him closely he is a very tidy player. Sometimes he picks the wrong passes… but overall, he makes the right decision. Today he played with much more confidence than he has been and I felt he dealt with the dangers in the middle of the park very well.
Up front was a bit disastrous. Robin proved what I’ve been saying for a while… playing up front on your own is ridiculously hard. There are very few strikers in the world who are capable of it. People were giving him a lot of grief in the comments, which I felt was unfair. Ok, I agree he made a mistake in forgetting to put his football boots on… but overall, I was happy with his second half contribution. Next season Wenger has to start with 2 strikers… I think one striker is grossly unfair on whoever has to play the role and hugely ineffiencent.
Something I did like today was the rotational kicking of Evra…
Diaby —> Cesc —> Robin —> Nasri
No one likes to see a professional footballer getting kicked about… unless of course, they are a Manc.
Just a quick mention on Wenger. Seeing him in the press conference earlier today, combined with reading his outbursts at the press conference really humanised the whole situation for me.
I liken it to a turbulent relationship. If you’ve ever been with someone who constantly seeks assurances, you will know that you have to keep reminding them you care and that everything is ok. If you don’t give them the reaction they are looking for; maybe ignoring them… they will push and push and push until it all blows up… somtimes the love can tear the whole relationship apart…
I feel that’s where we’ve been with Arsenal this year. Most of us believed something was wrong at the start of the year, the coach didn’t react. He’s been giving us the same line all season… and last week it culminated in some ugly scenes at a badly timed Q&A. We wanted to know he cared, wanted to know he saw the same things as us… the club appeared to be falling apart and no one was listening.
I’ve read the reports, and I saw him before the game today… It’s apparent he still cares… he looked a broken man. I didn’t like seeing that, but I think he needed the reality check none the less.
I don’t think the coach quite realised how much we all love our club… I don’t think he realised how awful it is to wake up to a text message like, ‘Ebay’s website suddenly crashed last night due to sudden auction of 57,000 arsenal flags… each 1 waves for just 7 minutes’. My flag didn’t sell, but I was still charged the fee’s… is Wenger going to reimburse me that £1.46?
I don’t know how football fans react to each other in other parts of the world… but in the UK, if your team is hammered by United and you meekly retort by telling them you believe in the squad… you get laughed out the room … it’s not nice… and it’s not nice to think the coach is going to keep doing the same things for the next 2 years… it’s not nice to think the only person who can’t see the team isn’t good enough is the man running the show.
I hope the whole Q&A thing works out beneficially for both parties. I’m hoping the coach will now act appropriately and understand another 2 years of experimentation is unacceptable and I hope the fans will let him get on with his job this summer. He knows what to do, he said he has the money to buy… bar Adebayor… I don’t see anyone else leaving.
I’m excited about this close season already… I think all the business will be done early to ease ticket sales and the new players integration into the squad. It will also show the rest of the players our ambitions for the next season… hopefully convincing them to pen new deals.
Onwards and upwards Grovers… despite finishing 4th and without any silverware, there are definitely a lot of positives we can take into next year.
- Song and Denilson have looked much better. They’re not world beaters yet, but they are more than capable when playing in front of a decent defence.
- Robin Van Persie has stayed injury free for the best part of a year.
- Rambo, Wilshere and Vela will feature more next year.
- We’ll have the most exciting player in the premiership from the off.
- Robin (Contrary to NoTW today), Cesc and Walcott will all stay.
- We WONT have a repeat of last summer.
So… the season is over. The fans have had their rant, the manager has had his… We all know that it’s not been good enough. The coach, the board and the fans… we’re all united on that front and we’re all desperate to improve.
Now it’s time to put our trust in the club and see what is delivered.
The one thing we know already is that Adebayor is off… I think his sale will be interesting because I think we’ll only sell him to Chelsea if there is a part exchange involved. Would Mikel or Alex ease the worry of offloading Ade to a rival? It would me… If Milan want him, lets have Flamini or Pato in exchange. Or alternatively… why not use the Ade money to buy Tevez?
Plenty of options eh! Plenty to get excited about! Though it must be said, I am sad to see Ade leave… his career at Arsenal really has been like watching the slowest car crash since the MP’s expenses scandal. I refuse to accept the fans forced him out of the club, I know that is something people have already begun to trot out… the facts are, he put an end to his own career. He disrupted the start of our season, unsettled the squad… then failed to deliver on a supposed £110k a week contract. Not to mention his 2009 flirtations with Milan, his proclamations of greatness and the cherry on the cake… telling Arsene he needs to sign some decent players. Don’t fool yourself into believing the fans pushed him out if that is the story some outlets go with today. When has Arsene ever pushed out a player based on fan opinion?
Never…
We’ve got one game left of the season, I’m hoping for a carnival day out… the sun will be shining, we’ll spank Stoke, then head into the summer optimistic as usual! This year has sucked the joy out of football for a lot of people… but lets not forget… Wenger is a good manager, he knows how to spend money… and if his hand is forced, I’m sure he’ll come up with the goods. Lets do the faith thing one more year… because if we don’t… I’ll have crap summer… and with all the crap going on in the world… that is something I could do without!
We’re all Gooners, we all share the same love and this summer could be very special!
Player Ratings:
Fabianski: He commanded his box well today, his distribution was pretty solid and he was decisive when putting Tevez off for the main United chance of the day. 7
Gibbs: I can’t help but be impressed with him. He is 19 years old and taking care of Ronaldo like he was a Championship player. He had one hairy moment when he let Fletcher get insided of him, but bar that, a top game. Even more impressive when you consider his cock up in the last game. 8
Toure: A calmer performance from our eldest defender. He put in a few big tackles and made a couple of important interceptions. Geoff reckons he could play in midfield… providing the stamina issues were over exageratted, you have to wonder why he doesn’t get a chance? 7
Song: Started off pretty badly, giving the ball away and allowing his man to get goal side of him… but as the game went on, he improved and grew in confidence. Is this a long term option or an exercise in versatility? Who knows! 7.5
Sagna: It always comes back to the same thing with Sags… he can’t cross to save his life. His defending was average today, but he was part of a clean sheet unit. 6.5
Nasri: A good game from our dimunitive Frenchman. He was probably the busiest out of our midfield today, linking play, taking players on… firing crosses into the box. He is a quiet type of player, unspectacular…kind of how Hleb was. I think he’ll be valuable to us next year. I like the the cut of his jib… and the fact he seems to have lost a bit of that Christmas weight. 7.5
Diaby: Not his worst performance… his distribution was a lot less laboured today, he got the ball out of his feet quickly and linked in quite well with the others. The trouble with our midfield is they all seem to be very similar. Cesc, Nasri and Diaby all play the same type of balls and all fear shooting… that is why our 4-5-1 generally lacks punch… everyone has the same idea. 7
Arshavin: Bar one very exciting run where he took on 4 defenders at once, I thought it was a quiet day for the Russian. Maybe he wasn’t fully fit, maybe he isn’t superman and can’t play well every game? 6.5
Cesc: I didn’t think he had a great game today, his passing was off and the fact he only had one striker to feed added to his poor performance. I still feel he loves the club though… he never complains and he always gives it 110%. He is even starting to look a little bit nasty… who likes his tattoo? Super cool… or a bit try hard? 6
Robin: I’ve already given my opinion on him up the top. He needs a partner up front and he needs some decent boots. He’s remained injury free this year and he’s been pretty productive if you consider him in the second striker roll like I do. His stats match up nicely to what Bergkamp used to do for us year in year out. The only trouble is, whoever he’s played with hasn’t given the 30 goals Wright or Henry would. 6
Subs:
Theo: 6
Bendtner: 6
Eboue: Loving the beard. 8.7
Have an amazing Sunday Grovers… make sure you vote in the poll I’ve whacked up in the side bar! —->
We couldn’t possibly move RVP AND Ade on in the same year? Maybe Ade stays and we have to part with RVP.
I’d much rather lose Ade than VP now. After next season? Who knows?
I thought the Carlos – Nik combo looked good in the CC and pre-season.
So then is it going to be Ancelotti to Chelski with Ade? I hope not. I hope Ade moves to some league somewhere where I don’t have to see his pathetic offside filled waste 5 chances to score one brand of football ever again.
nah, we have to get rid of lazy fucker Ade – RvP at least works hard and cares…
Ade is a disruption, nothing else – he is a liability and is fleecing the club for nothing: it’s pretty much the same what TH14 did in his last season, but fair enough, he earned the right to do so during these years, unlike Ade…
It seems Arsenal Spot and Gooner Talk are competing to see who can write the most articles in a day on newsnow.
If only the cunt had learned something in the past few years and developed the right attitude along with maybe a first touch.
I’m just thinking about Eduardo’s runs and finishing along with Arshavin’s ability to create from nothing.
Marseille 1 Lyon 2 (Sylvain Wiltord) Latest
Pedro; Yeah, I seen that too! What they on??? Must be about 5 posts each by now..
Ade’s touch was amazing before his injury against Spurs. I remember everyone was praising him on improving his team play.
I still think he has a large job to do for us. Our midfield just has to get back to form. For that to happen, we need a great CDM.
Pat; I think Arshy and eduardo could work well. You dont always need a big lump uptop. And the pair of em are sooo effin clever and clinical, could be awesome…
Pedro – how many years how you and Geoff been doing Le Grove for?
Ade’s touch was amazing??? What are you smoking man? Can I have some..
With Arshavin and Eduardo up front we could win the match with about 5 shots. Eduardo scores everything and AA is almost as clinical on his day.
Lovedup, definitely a bit weird… I always thought blogs were supposed to be about your musings on the topics of the day… not to act as an news outlet!
Ade is capable of moments of magic…. His goals against the spuds, Villareal, etc… And lets not forget his disapearing act versus the mancs in the Champions league…
G786… September will be 2 years.
Ade needs drive… he lost that when he got his contract.
The sign of a true great is motivation past money…
Ades touch has never been anything short of poor. Apart from his goal against Spuds last season no great touches come to mind. And im not even sure he meant that touch either.
Lovedup,
Yes I think that would work. Would also like to see Arshavin and Theo.
At the start of this season, Ade looked much improved from last season. Up until that injury against Spurs, he was doing well.
United have won 3 titles in a row now. No big lump up top, is there? Rooney and tevez were the most effective for them.
When Ade came back from the injury he picked up at the spuds place, he looked like his old self for a bit, he scored about 5-7 goals, then, he just went back to being lazy and lookin uninterested again…
IF he simply cannot raise his game due to his wallet weighin him down, then he really needs to be somewhere else… And I hope its to a team in another country too.
Pat;
Maybe it wasnt just Ade, but i remember him and a few others playin well within themselves. Games against Fulham, Hull, Villa at home spring to mind… The Hull game at the Grove was one of the most lacksidazical and arrogant performances i think ive ever seen… Why that was, i have no effin idea..?
Pedro;
Wrighty7′s at it now!
le grove till i die lol
I think depending on how Mahamadou Diarra’s injury is progressing..we should go for him.
He will be 28 this year..meaning he will not kill Song Denilson etc….because he will be reaching 30 soon.
Real now have the other Diarra plus Gago and also De la Red coming back……
Diarra would be an excellent stop gap until Denilsong learn the trade well.
The only problem is the ACN….Mali generally are not one of the better teams so maybe he wouldnt be there long?
In that period Denilson and Diaby will have to fill in. We know Wenger wont sell them so we have to deal with them.
Diaby should be told to learn the dm role.
It seems almost unfeasible that we could lose both RVP and Ade in the same summer, but it could happen. I dont think we’d need to buy 2 strikers if both went. But 1 top striker would be an absolute must.
as people point out. £13m net spend is not that bad. wenger always sells a couple of players and makes money. Even if he does not sell an expensive player, a couple of £5m playes sold would give wenger a total of £23m to spend. To be honest we cant really expect more than that in these difficult financial times.
we can get the 2 defensive players easily for that money. Agree with whoever above that Eduardo and Arhavin would be my pick. you dont always need a big man up front. Nik B can provide that role anyway, from the bench.
And I thought everyone was in agreement Ade simply had to go. I think he’s excess and Wenger could maybe use the money. He has showed flashes where he has improved but was injured and lazy the whole season. If Wenger had 23 mill to buy one striker who could he get? Benzema maybe.
if Real get Alonso (they are rumoured to want him according to Guillem), then I can see them putting M. Diarra or de la Red on the market…hopefully they have no recurring injury probs
My summer list.
Mahamadu Diarra
Bruno Alves/Zapata/Big guy
DOnt even bother mentioning Chillieni because he wont leave Juve or Italy.
If Ade goes….we promote Walcott to CF and buy Eljero Elia from Twente to be right winger.
Then get Porgrebnyak in January.
If Ade stays then all we need is
Mahamadu Diarra
Bruno Alves/Zapata/Big guy
We also need to practise set pieces.
Learn better team defending.
Thats it.
Positives?
Rambo, Wilshere and Vela will feature more next year.
We WONT have a repeat of last summer
Robin (Contrary to NoTW today), Cesc and Walcott will all stay.
There not positives there assumptions the only positives is the improvement of Song and the signing of Arshavin.
Ja_Gunner
Denilson will never be anything more than just a squad player, and we should not buy Africans if Europeans or South Americans of comparable quality are available…
all this ACN nonsense is being played in the middle of the season every 2 years, so buying an African for the first choice DM , when we already have another one going there is a shit idea if you ask me…
Diaby to learn DM role? puh-lease…
it has been proven that his best role is behind the striker, so we should not dwell too much on him being a bit of Vieira’s lookalike: he can’t be bothered to track back and is too attack-minded, plus he can’t tackle to save his life and is shit in the air – do I need to go on?
I think injury permitting Mahamadu Diarra would be a perfect signing..but yeah the ACN messes up that move.
But we all know that Wenger trusts Denilson to cover…so maybe he would still go for a signing like that….
Most other signings I am thinking of might be very expensive….eg Alonso, Barry, De Rossi, Lucho Gonzales etc…….
We all know the club will try to do things within a certain economic scope…so I just think that Diarra would be affordable because Real have Gago the other Diarra and possibly De la red.
I also hear we are in for Blaise Matuidi..he could be Flamini number 2….the only thing is he is another guy well under 6 feet.
Wenger will have to scour the premier league and the world to find the right person.
Come to think of it another good option maybe Lucho Gonzales of FC Porto.
I am sure he would like a new challenge……
He is the right age 28..meaning he probably wont kill Denilson and Song since Wenger is worried about this…
If he can give us 3 good seasons while Denilson and SOng mature..that would be awesome.
He also has a good shot on him and he can create as well to take some of the burden off Cesc.
So I say for the summer
Lucho Gonzales
Big Defender
I don’t know how much we’d have to pay for Diarra, but I’m guessing Cana would cost more or less the same and he is Albanian, so we don’t have to worry too much about World or European Cup, as they are unlikely to qualify
plus, he is quite unlikely to get injured on international duty – no one wants to fly into tackles with this nutter, lol…
besides, as far as established players are concerned, we should go for an asset (Cana) rather than surplus (Diarra), IMO…
Alonso has just ruled out a move to Arsenal – we had our chance thank to FSW’s momemnt of madness, but we missed our slot due to our usual penny-pinching…
Barry is overrated, if he wasn’t he would be playing in a Top4 club a long time ago – maybe it’s just me, but I just don’t think he would complement CF4, who needs an enforcer around him would allow him to express himself…
Cana would not let anyone anywhere near Cesc, allowing him to spray the balls all across the pitch…
Denilson should be dropped to reserves or sold, he is NOT a DM, it’s just another twisted experiment, end of…
the truth’s coming out now wenger had a meeeting with perez hmmm interesting
we will wait and see what comes of that one
What is the best kept secret in Barcelona ?
Alexander Hleb’s goal celebration.
experiment SUGA3?! Denilson has been a DM all his life, his strongest attributes are his defensive abilities in terms of reading the game, and intercepting passes or nicking the ball off the toes of the attackers. However his lack of athletic ability and size means he’ll never be top class in that roll, but he’s a good squad player and back up, and in situations where we have to play extra defensive with two DMs he’s very useful alongside a more physical DM.
I wouldn’t mind Cana, heard good things, I agree about Barry too, ridiculously overrated and nowhere near good enough for us.
Alonso we’d more or less agreed a deal for, but the Americans at liverpool called the plug on the Barry deal at the last minute, so Benitez phoned up Alonso who was in London to sign on the dotted line, and cancelled it at the last minute. Now it wouldn’t happen though, and I don’t think Alonso is what we need anyways, though he’s a terrific player.
wenger’s off to madrid
i wonder who they will replace him with
I’ll tell you one thing. . .Scott Minto was shit!
I think we should buy Cana and let Denilson and Song fight it out next season for 2nd choice DM. Whoever comes out on the bottom gets sold.
It will create competition and they will have to play on top form to guarentee their spot. We dont have enougn competition within the squad for my liking!
Also it would be interesting to know exactly when Wenger met with Perez. Was it during the 02-03 or 03-04 season or during the summer. We all remember what happened that season.
aahhaaaa scott minto lolllllll
BBK, where did you get that info from?
don’t think it’s true, but if it is, fuck him – pulling out at the first sign of criticism, good luck at the Real Madrid merry-go-round…
I bet he wouldn’t last a season over there…
Why Bernard? Whats he done?
i reckon wenger will surprise us all and take the madrid job,could you imagine the a.k.b’s they would be distraught,they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves i reckon they would become real madrid fans
Boy Better Know – Where did you read Wenger had a meeting with Perez ?!
A. – How do you know Alonso was in London to sign ?!
Fuck this summers going to be long, I miss the days where I’d be too busy playing football to worry about thinking about it, actually I lie I’d dream about playing it.
Denilson’s 21, if he adds a bit of muscle he could be pretty decent, or a bit of aggression like when we played Everton earlier in the season, the only thing either he or Song ;ack is a bit of pace, they both have pretty good stamina, their passing is good ad they can still improve bya considerable margin.
Neither Alonso or Barry play the defensive midfielder role, and Marseille’s Chairman lie with Ribery has already almost priced us out of a bid for Cana, he valued him at somewhere near 24 million.
BBK,
keyser it everywhere.even the daily star have got that story going
Keyser, that was last summer tho. Maybe he changed his mind?
BREAKING NEWS:Wenger has left arsenal
Cana priced at £24M? worth every penny, IMO
I reckon if we knock it down to £20M, we should buy him – we could chuck in Diaby for a good measure, then we could pay them £16-18M cash
sorry, Keyser, but Denilson’s passing is shit – OK, it may have high successful passes ratio, but DO ask yourself what kind of passes are these?
Denilsons passing isnt shit but it isnt great either. He is great at short wasy passes but doesnt make any telling forward passes. Even for a DM he should be looking to pass forward a lot of the time imo.
Oh ok, you mean the usual bollocks they print every other week.
Heh, forget the AKB’s considering Wenger’s happy to work with whatever resources the club gives him I’d be fucking worried about where the board was going with this. If we can’t even keep someone like Wenger interested, we’re fucked.
Stu, exactly my point – is it a coincidence that Song raised his game after Fab returned and Denilson got benched?
no, I think they just cannot play together, therefore AW should abandon this 4-5-1 nonsense, which he is trying to implement to keep some players happy, but id just doesn’t work, does it?
£5million-rated defender Roland Juhasz has emerged as a target for Barclays Premier League clubs this summer.
Aston Villa, Arsenal, Tottenham, Bolton and Hull have all shown an interest in the Hungary centre back, who is also being watched by Inter Milan and several top clubs from Germany.
Juhasz, 25, has helped Anderlecht to two Belgian titles and played in the Champions League since arriving from MTK Hungaria four years ago, but is keen on a move to
Denilson’s passing isn’t shit, thats what people ike to say because they want to find scapegoats for our poor season.
What do defensive midfielders do exactly ? They tackle, break up play and erm defend from midfield ? Mascherano doesn’t launch searching 50 yard crossfield balls, he passes to Alonso, same with Mikel and even Essien and I’d still say Denilson has a very good passing range when called upon, watch his ball for Arshavin’s goal against Blaackburn.
Keyser – People from the Liverpool press office leaked it, along with bloke from the Liverpool echo apparently. Benitez had to call at the last minute to cancel it, because the americans told him he could only sign keane or barry, and he chose keane.
Denilson is a DM – his job is just to win the ball back and to give it to the creative players, his passing isn’t meant to create goals or be spectacular, and it’s currently much better than Makalele’s was at his prime, and he was the best DM in the world! Likewise his passing is better than Gilberto’s ever was, and he was a world class DM….
His passing is very good for a DM, as is his reading of the game, but it’s just his lack of speed, height, and strength that limits him massively currently, especially when in probably the smallest and weakest midfield in the prem, and alongside someone who’s also very slow!
There’s no way we’d ever pay 20 mil for a DM, and no way we ever should, certainly not for Cana!! Maybe the best DM in the world would be worth around 20 mil, but not Cana or anyone who’s just good.
Keyser re a meeting with Perez wenger didn’t say he’s actually had a meeting with him, the interviewer asked if he’d ever had contact with Perez, and wenger said that he felt things like that should be kept secret, that’s it!
Steve bould for new arsenal manager
Keyser, it was a one-off pass – I am not trying to blame everything on Denilson, but I think our midfield was crippled with him and Song in it – no creativity whatsoever, slow and ‘crabby’
wenger felt like that should be kept secret.lolllllll and the truth will set you FREE!!!!!!!!!!!
We have no pace in the middle either. Denilsong, Cesc are all slow and Diaby may have a huge stride but he is pretty shit so they cancel eachother out.
A. – Is this the Myles Palmer thing or is there another link ?!
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=1268&cntnt01origid=30&cntnt01returnid=42
I’d say small or weak doesnt mean much, it’s not exactly drastically different from last season, he could still bulk up.
Did anyone watch the telefoot thing or is this all from the 3 sentances the papers have taken out ? heh.
To be fair also although Denilson’s passing at times is limited, he’s contributed more going forward than any other DM in the prem!
Carrick has 4 goals 4 assists
Fletcher 3 goals 0 assists
Mascherano 0 goals 1 assist
Mikel 0 goals 2 assists
Neville 0 goals 3 assists
Petrov 1 goal 2 assists
Barry 5 goals 7 assists (takes pens and fks/corners)
Denilson has 3 goals and 7 assists
If he was anywhere near as bad as some claim, there is no way he would have contributed 10 goals in the prem this season!
I know we won’t pay such an amount of dosh for a DM, but I think he is worth that much – he’s not just good, he is like Flamini, only MUCH bigger & stronger – he’d be a monster for us…
I would think Ivan could knock the price down a few bob – Cana would be quite an asset…
There was something else Keyser, can’t remember where I saw it, though I thought it seemed pretty genuine. Could well have been taken from the Myles Palmer thing though.
I think small and weak was a problem last season too – we could get bullied by some teams just as we have this, and got troubled by long balls just as we have this. It depends on the opposition though, currently I like the fact we have song who’s strong, good in the air, and denilson who’s a fantastic reader of the game and at snuffing out attacks, and they could rotate depending on the opposition. However if we could get a yaya in to do both then that would be preferable!
them stats don’t mean shit,the only stats that count are the stats that state you are a winner of the premier league, fa cup and champions league
Though also we could do with the third type of DM – the running around like a madman kicking people type, like flamini was, but someone who encompasses all three skills groupings would be perfect!
In fairness i had the Marseille – Lyon match on tonight. Wasnt playing particlarly close attention to it or anyone but Cana didnt do much. Cherou(sp) was much more deep than Cana. But he was helpless for Lyons goals.
bbk goals and assists aren’t just “stats”
you can’t sit watching a match and losing 3-0 but say it doesn’t matter, those goals are just stats
Suga3 – One off ? Come on, watch him earlier in the season where he played with a lot more freedom, we done that crab thing a lot last year aswell, there’s loads of things we could change or try out before the season starts before we have to bring someone else in.
BBK actually spoke alot of sense earlier today when he said we need to keep everyone together, part of what we’re missing is continuity and familiarity.
We’ve got 3 months now to help cultivate that, Fabregas is one of the few I think that will be called up to the Confedarations Cup in the summer.
Exactly A, Why have 3 different players doing 3 different things when we should have 1 players able to do everything and face all types of opposition.
Gilberto could read the game and was ready for a physical battle. He just didnt have the energy but players around him has it.
keyser it’s the only way we are going to move forward.
A, it’s just another case of ‘lies, damn lies, statistics’ – think of number of starts/games for everyone on your list…
I think Barry would match or better Denilson there, maybe Neville as well…
A. The link in there is from some dude at the Liverpool Echo.
Also with Villa, I’d say Sidwell was the DM, O’neill fucked up bigtime in thinking he could let Barry run around up front doing what Fabregas does with only Petrov sitting behind him.
And those stats mean fuck all to me. Those stats should be for attacking players. What are his defensive stats? How many times has he lost his marker and its cost us.
Denilson aint the worst but he isnt ready imo. I dont think he will peak until mid to late 20s and we definately shouldnt have to wait til then.
things just don’t seem to be settling at arsenal these days it has cost us so much now we have got another summer of who’s what and what’s who its bollocks for just one season can we keep a team together add the right blend and fucking come up with a right royal go at wining another trophy.
Yeah I agree stu – though there are very few players who have all those three skills groups – in fact vieira was something of a freak that he did! Can’t think of anyone who does, Yaya is the only one close to it that I can think of, or essien
SUGA3
Barry has played more than Denilson, Neville the same….
I’d much rather have Denilson over either of them, just because they aren’t very good at all imo! Certainly not Neville!!
The point is though that DMs generally aren’t amazing passers, and the likes of makalele, and mascherano are/were considered two of the best in the world as DMs, but both are worse passers than Denilson
Barry isn’t a DM, and I doubt Cana could matach Flamini’s workrate, we got 5 yellows or something or Saturday for almost nothing, Cana isn’t going to be able to compete just by kicking people.
Blaise Matuidi maybe could, at the very least we should get some of the french commentators over to take over from Andy Gray, he’s getting fucking dull now.
Mascherano is a different type of DM tho. He just gets the ball and gives it to Alonso. He does nothing fancy. He is just energy in midfield. Much like Fletcher and Flamini from last season.
Keyser – yeah second half of the season certainly O’Neil got ahead of himself and changed tactics. First half all of Petrov, Sidwell, and Barry were DMs!! 3 Dms in a team, it was just embarrassing. Though when O’neil decided he didn’t need to play as defensively they didn’t win for 3 months!
Stu, those “stats” (goals aren’t “stats” ffs!!) were just to illustrate that it simply isn’t true that denilson is just shite at passing, nor than he has such an incredible pass completion rate because he doesn’t pass forwards.
I agree he isn’t ready to play game in game out for us at the moment though, because of his physical limitations. He’s not lost markers, but he’s lost runners, simply because he’s SOOOO slow that he can’t keep up with anyone
Yeah i know stu – but that’s what denilson’s main job was – to win the ball back and give it to cesc or whoever. It’s just that he does it by being a step ahead and intercepting the ball rather than running around like a headless chicken as flamini did!
the denilson experiment has failed it didn’t help us win a trophy so time to move on hopefully next season if things go accordingly we will not have to see much of him,fingers crossed
A. Villa are a poor mans Liverpool/ Chelsea, they weren’t 3 DM’s they just don’t have enough about their game to be classed any different, but like Liverpool say :
Sidwell – Mascherano, Petrov – Alonso, Barry – Gerrard.
They’re the lite version of every position. You could probably carry on into every other position aswell, funny thing is Liverpool much like Villa in the early part of the season eneded up having used the least amount of players from their squad. Both of those teams are far nearer their limts then we are.
Keyser, there is no point in cultivating something that clearly did not work – we need more pace and strength, it’s as simple as that really…
Boy Better Know – Don’t go back on the most intelligent thing you’ve said all year, how can you advocate continuity as a way of letting the squad improve, they write off players after less than a season.
Yeah I agree Keyser – Liverpool were very lucky with injuries this season, and couldn’t really have done much more. If they get Tevez though it’d improve them a fair bit, as would a top class creative midfielder like Silva, but currently i’m not too worried about them next season!
Suga3 – There’s 3 teams above us, compare how many games any particular partnership has played together on the pitch and I’d say it’d be a value exponentially different to our corresponding one.
It’s like with our defence, it might not be the greatest defence ever but play the back 5 together regularly like they did for a few months after Christmas and you’ll get us not conceding a Champions League goal at home until the Semi-finals or a league goal at home until the Chelsea game I think it was ?!
Keyser-We won’t be seeing denilson in the starting 11 will we if everybody is fit
People seen the sakho/silvestre swap rumours?? Be delighted with that if true….
we can keep the team together but denilson won’t be getting a look in will he
he’s not experienced enough yet it’s not what we need,i watched the psg game the other day he was far from what we need right now
depends on the nature of the opposition etc bbk
So Wenger is on his way then.
yeah not to come straight into the team bbk obviously – that’s why would be a swap for silvestre. He’d replace silvestre, come in as 3rd/4th choice centre back to start with, and would be much better as that than silvestre imo!
What im talking about is keeping the main players who wenger regards as number priorities and adding to them,denilson doesn’t fit into that category
Someone at PSG must be an Arsenal supporter to approve that.
he well i’d imagine it would be plus money lazer – but silvestre would still be a decent player in the french league, and it would mean that they’d get in a like for like replacement rather than having to try and find one
If we must I would take Gallas, Toure, JD, Sakho.
sakho needs more first team football it would do him no favours coming in and sitting on our bench
Boy Better Know – It’s not really an experiement then is it, it’s born more out of neccessity than anything else. Roscikky is a big miss and he’s started training with the first team now, so he could be back for next season.
I’d just about take that Lazer,but still think we need a top top quality centre back
at very worst i’d accept Gallas, Toure, JD, Sakho.
i’d prefer Gallas, Toure, Senderos, Sakho.
my number one preference would be Gallas, Toure, Lucio(or equivalent), Sakho, maybe Gallas going and Senderos returning
I would want Diaby, Silvestre and Ade to be moved on for sure. Perhaps RVP as well but that would mean we need one real quality signing up front, depending on who we could get I would consider letting both go.
Diaby, Silvestre and now Adebayor dont fit into that category either BBK.
No could about it Keyser, Rosicky WILL be back and fully fit by the start of next season!
well i think,just by having denilson at arsenal it is one big experiment he’s part of the many young players we have at arsenal and he’s had the most playing time out of all of them
well Keyser, our defence was all about Willy, tbh – he marshalled it greatly and put in a lot of effort – thing is, he got injured and we got fucked…
like I said, Denilson is a squad player and I would not like to see too much of him playing first team football next season – I’d play him in the reserves to keep him sharp, if he makes a fuss, sell him…
If the team breaks up again we will be fucked,if this cycle continues it will be 8 years and counting without a trophy
Remember Traore will be back as well and may get his chance on the left with Arshavin playing behind the striker. It would be interesting to see the following starting line up.
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Senderos/JD Clichy
Rosicky Cesc Nasri Traore
Arshavin
Eduardo
SUGA3 Denilson is far too good to play in the reserves regularly! He’s a member of the first team squad, and a valued member at that, even if he’s not starting regularly!
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Senderos/JD Clichy
Rosicky Cesc Nasri Traore
Arshavin
Eduardo……that team is weak lazer
lazer-do you really think that team could challenge for the premier league title?
Traore might stay next season and might make the bench at times, he’ll start very few games though because he’s miles behind alot of other players who aren’t starting currently.
No way we’ll play without a DM Lazer
Its a very attack minded line up. I would like to see how it would work out if played like that.
Senderos should never come anywhere near Prem, as he is too slow and clumsy – I guess Serie A may suit him better and getting raped in the Prem week in week out would not do his confidence any favours, would it?
A- no way is denilson to good to play in the reseves that is about his mark at the moment
suga3 i agree
I never said its the be all and end all of a lineup. I just wonder if we could make it work without a DM where Cesc, Arshavin and Nasri can dominate the midfield with Rosicky and Traore for width.
I expect our main team next season to be
——Fab/Almunia
Sagna Toure new Clichy
—song/denilson/new—
Theo/nasri-Cesc-Arshavin-Rosicky/nasri
—Eduardo/VP/Bendtner—
when gallas goes and sendy comes back that will be terrible
Of the players we have:
Almunia
Sagna Gallas Senderos Clichy/Gibbs(either or)
Nasri Cesc Song Rosicky
Arshavin
Eduardo
Or AA for Nasri and Bendtner next to Eduardo.
A, no he isn’t – I watched reserves game the other day, we played Chavs and Malouda played there, now he plays in the first team banging in goals, right?
I think not playing Diaby and the like in the reserves ruined them, as they are just not match fit or have no awareness, which you only get by playing against real opposition, IMO…
a- your forgetting diaby
Probably not eh. I really hope Wenger stops playing his beloved 451, not with Ade or a similar type player up top.
SUGA3 senderos has played in the prem, and been raped by drogba and torres, but been very solid apart from that. Granted he’s too slow and clumsy to be top class for us, but imo he could be class at another more defensive club, and is on par with the likes of Hangeland and Lescott. Still not good enough for us though imo.
BBK denilson has played in the reserves and pisses all over that level. Obviously he’s not going to play reserve team football regularly, because he’s a member of the first team squad. The first team and reserve squads train seperately, and Denilson obviously isn’t going to get demoted from the first team squad
Even if its an adapted version of 4-5-1 i still dont like it. 1 matural forward is shite. VP/Nik/Eduardo cant play there alone. They need a partner to be any good.
no way does he piss all over that level that’s bollocks im sorry
Suga3 – It’s a team effort, that’s really the point, it’s not all down to Gallas, it’s all 5 of them, Toure is not shit, this bollocks about him being past it is a load of crap aswell, but take one part of a very good defence out and it obviously becomes one that is not as good.
Vidic without Ferdinand is good, he’s not great, we went into a Semi-final aginst Chelsea who had no injuries, without Gallas, Clichy, Almunia, Sagna and Djourou, yet this somehow translates into Toure or our defence is shit.
It’s the same with Denilson, he’s played most of the season without a regular partner next to him, forget about on the wing, up front, or even in the defence.
He would have been a squad player or played a lot less if we’d have everyone fit doesn;t mean he should be written off, otherwise no player would ever get a chance.
Denilson pisses all over the reserves? How very rude of him.
LAzer, we would get smashed to bits playing without a DM with this team selection – I just cannot imagine midfield containing Rosicky, Cesc, Nasri & Traore dominating the midfield – not enough strength and pace, IMO…
I hope Wenger see it like that too Stu. I don’t know if he felt forced this term to go to that formation but I don’t really remember a single time we dominated with that setup. Perhaps when we played Diaby in the hole and he had one of his 1 game outta 10 performances but otherwise it was useless.
well it hasn’t helped having the likes of denilson to come in for cesc we should have better quality then that to play rather then denilson
Never gonna happen LAzer, wenger is trying to copy the barca formation, and we’ve got the players to make it work and it’s better suited to our current squad than 4-4-2 imo.
It’s 4-3-3 more than 4-5-1, but currently because we’re so so shit defensively and not playing with much confidence the wide forwards are having to drop back into midfield too much. As we get our confidence back and sort out defensive frailties it’ll become 4-3-3 as intended, and could work very very well
SUGA3 Malouda played for chelsea’s reserves against us as he was coming back from injury, as eduardo did.
The first team and reserve team train seperately, so noone training with the first team will play for the reserves on a regular basis, the standard is a joke 99% of the time, it’s not much more beneficial in terms of keeping someone sharp than a training match, less so in alot of ways!!
Denilson should be a cup player for the next season or two, as well as start against shit opposition with Song/new DM on the bench as a backup…
sorry, but he is not at the required level yet – can’t blame him, he is only 20 or 21, but it is not an excuse for the manager, is it?
Boy Better Know – Have you watched the reserves ? There is no level to it because there is no consistency, Malouda could play one week to gain some fitness the next there’s Youth team players everywhere.
We won about 5 games all season in it and Chelsea still finished below us I think.
Well A, if thats true and i hope its not then we should continue with our usual 4-4-2 until we sort the defence out.
4-5-1/4-3-3 with this team just doesnt work because of the reasons you gave so why keep using it when we have an understrength defence?
xavi yaya iniesta
messi eto henry……even with everybody fit we couldn’t match them lot
of course not bbk – but it’s the style of players we’re matching
yaya=song/new player
xavi=cesc
iniesta=nasri/rosicky/arshavin
messi=arshavin
henry=theo
etoo=eduardo/vp
theo, arshavin, vela, nasri, rosicky all have to play out of position in a 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 allows them to play in their best positions, which don’t exist in 4-4-2
Keyser, I never said Toure was past it, he is 28, for fuck’s sake…
never said Denilson should be written off, but he is not a regular material atm, I’m just trying to figure out how to keep him sharp and available at all times, which rules out a loan…
Stu – heh, he’s just answered your question.
You keep usuing 4-5-1 because it helps us out defensively, hopefully we’ll have everyone fit for the start of next year.
I think Wenger will still revert to 4-4-2 anyway, it’s only because ofall the players we’ve had out that we’ve stuck to it all year.
At our best we’ve got a pretty fluid formation anyway, Bergkamp practically sat in midfield or pulled out so he could pass to whoever was running off of him on the counter.
I dont think any of those players match up in style.
Rosicky, Nasri, AA. Their best positions are behind the striker. We cant play all of them there. Same as Theo doesnt have a best position because he is a poor winger with just pace and never player as a striker.
Yaya and Song are nothing alike. Nothing!
Eduardo and Eto dont have many, if any similarities imo and Theo and Henry only have pace in common.
Keyser, it doesnt do much for us defensively tho does it. We still concede so many goals with 4-5-1. If the defence is shite, putting another midfielder in there wont do anything. Especially when its Diaby and Cesc is basically played as a supporting striker.
A
for once we agree , to have senderos back is a step backwards , he was obviously deemed by wenger not good enough or consistent enough to remain in the squad , and as much as i backed him whilst he was with us i would hate for wenger to use him as another excuse to save money and potentially be mediocre at the same time .id rather give nordveit’s or gibb’s more opportunities to make it than accept a player back who wenger didnt feel was good enough to play this season with us ..
Suga3 – It was just an example, just because Denilson hasn’t suddenly stepped up to some World Class standard, doesn’t mean he’s shit, we’ve barely had a chance all year to see how far this team can go.
This pre-season hopefully works out like it did two seasons ago, where everything just clicked from the off.
Stu – We’ve barely played it once with the same starting 11 and come up against United, Chelsea and Liverpool with fuck all injuries and almost their first team squad to choose from. That doesn’t mean it’s failed, two of those teams made the Semi’s of the Champions League and one’s in the final.